Category Archives: Games

Isn't Broken Anymore

I have to say, I’m very impressed with the Resident Evil 5 Demo.

Impressed that it took CAPCOM five whole iterations of this franchise to realize that their control scheme was broken, and finally fixed it.

Downloaded the demo on the 360, and to be honest, was not expecting too much. However, once I got into playing the demo I found something I didn’t expect: decent controls. Continue reading

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Dear Microsoft

Please, please please release Metal Wolf Chaos as an xbox originals download for the 360.

Please.

And I agree completely with offworld on this.  Easily my dark horse candidate for game of the year, whichever year that Microsoft gets around to releasing it.

How this never made it to the United States is way beyond me.  I think, on the whole, that it may have been too high concept for American audiences.  There’s just no appreciation for the fine artistry and contextual subtlety that composes a game like Metal Wolf Chaos.

Ha.  Subtlety.

I mean for gods sakes, it’s the POTUS* in a giant robot suit kicking ass and destroying everything.

What part of that does not say, “AMERICA” in all caps?  Which of course may or may not be followed by “WHATEVER-EXPLETIVE-YOU-DEEM-APPROPRIATE YEAH!!”

So anyway, yeah, Microsoft, bring it on.

* True story:  I worked in the State Department for six months before I learned what this meant.  Pronounced, “poh-tuss.”

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Interactive Fiction

It is times when I think about how games were better, “in the old days,” when I realize just well, how old video games are.

When I started playing video games, there were no three dimensional graphics.  There was a command line and a green squiggle that may have been a character, I don’t know.  I had to use my imagination.  (“Why, back in my day, we had to load games from a cassette tape!  Both sides!  And we liked it!  And there were multiple floppies!  And code wheels!”)

Then there were text adventures.

You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
>

I was really into interactive fiction.  I actually had a couple of boxed INFOCOM games, I’ll have to dig them out from somewhere.  I just remember that the games came with such great swag.Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams, was about a wishing stone.

Inside the box, there was a map and a letter you had to deliver, and a descriptive leaflet about the origins of the stone, but best of all, there was a small plastic replica of the stone that glowed in the dark.

I just thought that was awesome.

I held on to that stone for years.  I think it was still on my bookshelf when I left home to go to college.

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Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Yes, that’s the whole title.  And yes, it’s still Super Street Fighter II Turbo, it just looks a little different.

Okay, a lot different.

Okay, awesome.  It looks as awesome as I remember SSFIIT looking when I was playing SSFIIT in the arcades.  The lens of nostalgia is affecting my memory, admittedly, but it’s really quite a good looking game.  It’s Street Fighter, but it looks a lot better.  The gameplay was already sound, and the tiny changes that they’ve made affect a very small portion of the hardcore street fighter community, but they’re good changes.  They’ll never affect my level of play, but from what I’ve read, they’re improvements.  This is apparently the definitive version of Street Fighter II.

Which would make it the sixth or seventh version, depending on how you want to count “versions.”

I’m not sure that Ryu needed a fake fireball, but apparently he has one now.  I’m not complaining.  What’s neat is that CAPCOM actually went to OverClocked, which is a video game ReMixing community and asked if they could compose the new music.   You know, instead of sending them cease and desist letters.

The worst part of playing this game is the fact that I don’t really have anyone to play against.  I mean, that was the whole point.  It’s not really a fighting game unless you’re competing.  I’m more interested in getting folks to play in informal tournaments at my place, but that will have to wait until I have decent controllers.  The 360 controller, while fine for most games today, really does not fare well as a Street Fighter II game controller.  Hell, the SNES controller was a better controller.  At least the directional pad worked on the SNES.

I find myself punching way too often when I feel like I’ve input a down, downforward, forward, punch.  Or maybe it’s just been too long.

I remember the days when I would put my quarter up on the machine to indicate next.

Sadly, that arcade is gone now, replaced by a Mongolian BBQ.  Yellow Brick Road at University Town Centre, I will miss you.

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A Little Out of Hand

Getting back (however briefly) into World of WarCraft exposes me to all sorts of WoW related things.

For instance, the Steelseries World of WarCraft MMO gaming mouse, which has no less than 15 programmable buttons.

Which is a lot of buttons, but I guess enough buttons to be the official World of WarCraft mouse. Continue reading

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