Category: Geeky Stuff


Motion sickness.

Filed Under: Gaming, Geeky Stuff, Personal Moans by Gareth — Leave a comment
January 9, 2012

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

I’ve been playing on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword over the last week or so since receiving it via the Father Christmas Delivery Service. Typically for a Zelda game, it’s pretty damned good; I’m not all that far into it at the moment, but it definitely feels fresher and more involving than the slightly disappointing Twilight Princess, which I still haven’t got around to completing. One thing I’m really not sure about is the motion controls, though. In fairness, Nintendo have done a brilliant job of integrating them into the whole experience, particularly the combat. There’s a whole range of sword swipes that can be pulled off, so it isn’t just a matter of a wave of the Wii Remote for an ‘attack’ (which I think is what TP was on the Wii – I’m not altogether sure as I’ve only got the GameCube version). In general it all works really well, though there are a number of times when the accuracy of the Remote – even with the necessary MotionPlus adaptor thingy – doesn’t quite seem accurate enough, which can be pretty frustrating when a misread sword-swipe causes you to die.

My real concern with it is the same that I have with motion-controls in general: I’m not sure what it adds to the experience. Sure, flying Link’s Loftwing around the sky using the Remote is different and it works, but is it actually any better than using an analogue stick. I’m not sure that it is. Waving the Remote around to simulate the bird’s flapping wings is fine, but I don’t believe it really adds anything to the experience apart from arm ache. Likewise, the combat is an interesting experience and is a step above what Zelda games have featured before, however I’m not convinced that it’s the best direction to go in.

Maybe it’s just me being a little stuck in the past and too glued to the controllers of old. Maybe I’m just a bit lazy. Still, I just can’t escape the feeling that the motion controls aren’t enhancing the game enough to put up with the potential inaccuracies and physical tiredness they produce.

Tags: , , ,
Comment

It’s the PSP – but better!

Filed Under: Geeky Stuff, In the News by Gareth — Leave a comment
January 27, 2011
<div class=\"postavatar\">its-the-psp-but-better</div>

So, Sony have finally announced the PSP2, or NGP (Next Generation Portable, apparently, and almost certainly not the name it’ll be known by when it comes out), after years of speculation, rumour and all the sort of stuff that you get in the fevered melting pot of the Internet. It looks pretty cool, what with its touchscreen, HD resolution, dual analogue sticks and more processing power than you could shake a 3DS at. I won’t bore you with the technical details of it, because you can find out all of that on better sites like Engadget, but suffice to say it seems to pack quite a bit of a wallop.

Thankfully, those horrid it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time UMD discs are gone as well. Sony originally thought they would be a new portable medium, but sadly they went the way of the MiniDisc into obscurity. The problem with UMDs was mainly that they were slow and seemed to soak up a lot of battery power (and also, they made a horrid access noise that sounded like someone scraping metal across tarmac), and also came out about five years too late, just as large-scale flash memory storage was starting to become affordable. Funnily enough, large-scale flash memory storage is also what the PSP2/NGP/whatever will use.

In terms of appearance, it looks pretty much like the old PSP, which is not a bad thing as Sony’s old handheld was surely one of the loveliest-looking pieces of consumer electronics in the last ten years. Yes, the iPhone and iPad have Apple’s wondrous minimalism on their side, but the PSP looked cool and shiny without compromising its functionality. Here’s a picture what I nicked from Engadget:

It's the PSP2!

What worries me, though, is if you rewind the clock back a staggering seven years to when the original PSP was announced, everyone at the time said how cool it looked, how powerful it was, how it was going to beat the upcoming Nintendo DS, how it would revolutionise portable gaming and basically change the world for the better, so that we would all be living in peace and harmony together, black and white, man and woman, and all that crap. But, erm, it didn’t. The PSP suffered a lack of decent third-party games (well, games in general), as well as an horrendous piracy problem. Too many things on the PSP were poor ports of PS2 titles that just didn’t play as well with the single analogue nub. It also fairly poorly compared to the DS which was seen as more appealing to the mass-market with its Brain Training games and similar. It’s rather ironic that now the DS market is seen as over-saturated.

Still, let’s not get negative about it already; I get fed up enough as it is with everyone on the Internet moaning about things. Let’s just wait and see what games launch with the PSP2/NGP/thingybob and what price it is. I’m looking forward to it more than the 3DS, I have to say, and that’s not just because my less-than-20/20 vision means I probably won’t be able to view the Nintendo machine’s 3D effect properly. Roll on Christmas 2011!

I bet the battery lasts about twenty minutes, though.

Tags: , , , , ,
Comment

Last time, on that thing you were playing.

Filed Under: Gaming Humour, Personal Moans, Pointlessness by Gareth — Leave a comment
September 19, 2010
<div class=\"postavatar\">last-time-on-that-thing-you-were-playing</div>

On 23rd July, the day it was released, I bought a copy of Dragon Quest IX. I played on it for a bit and then stopped. Not that there was anything wrong with it, you understand (on the contrary: it’s a very good game), but rather because I have a tendency to go through phases of playing things and not playing them, fickle man that I am.

Now though, I want to pick it up again, but I can’t exactly remember where I was up to. I always have this trouble with RPGs, and I must have restarted a whole load of them and lost hours of playing time just because I’ve forgotten where I’m up to and what I’m supposed to be doing (I’ve done it with Final Fantasy XII several times; one day I swear I’ll complete the sodding thing).

What RPGs really could do with is a ‘Previously on…’-type feature, like they have at the beginning of US dramas (usually recapping the entirety of the previous fifteen episodes). I’ve had a bit of a thought on what some of these could look like…

Previously on Final Fantasy VII…
Midgar, sector 7, 8, 9 or whatever.
CLOUD: SOLDIER rock, I really want to be in SOLIDER! Sephiroth is really cool!
Cut to scenes of Sephiroth massacring pretty much everyone in the Shinra building.
CLOUD: On second thoughts, maybe Sephiroth isn’t all that he’s cracked up to be.
Cut to Nibelheim.
TIFA: We grew up here, Cloud, don’t you remember?
CLOUD: Erm… not really.
TIFA: I really fancied you then, too, but for some reason you always fall for the ill-fated whinny damsel rather than the male-fantasy stereotype that I am. Look – I’m in a low-cut top even when it’s really, really cold and I have breasts that would surely hinder my fighting style!
CLOUD: Yeah, that’s great. Hey, what’s in this coffin thing?
VINCENT: It is – Vincent Valentine! I shall say very little throughout the course of this game supposedly so I appear cool and aloof, but mainly so that the writers don’t have to provide the dialogue for a character that a large proportion of players will never find.
CLOUD: Never mind – you’ll get Dirge of Cerberus all to yourself.
VINCENT: Aaarggghh!
Cut to City of the Ancients.
AERITH: I shall just sit here, completely exposed and on my own summoning the spell which should stop the all-powerful, psychotic evil bad guy from carrying out his sinister plot!
SEPHIROTH (for it is he): Hiiiiii-yaaaaaaa!
AERITH: Ooooh, pointy. (Dies.)
CLOUD: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
TIFA: I’ve still got these breasts, you know.

Previously on Dragon Age: Origins…
Ostagar, before the DLC.
KING CAILAN: I cannot wait to fight those darkspawn! Surely my brash overconfidence and shiny gold armour will more than compensate for my lack of armed soldiers and complete absence of any strategy!
Cut to Cailan being butchered by darkspawn.
KING CAILAN: Oh, dear.
Cut to the Warden, Alistair, Morrigan and a Dog entering Lothering.
MORRIGAN: This is the town of Lothering. It is completely indiscernible from any other town you may have visited in any RPG ever.
WARDEN: Hey, look: a tavern!
MORRIGAN: See what I mean?
Cut to the tavern. A fight breaks out. Leliana joins in and shakes hand with the Warden. Cut to her singing in the camp, lips not quite in synch with the sound.
WARDEN: I don’t suppose you fancy sleeping with me, do you?
LELIANA: Sure thing, as long as you complete my sub-quest first.
WARDEN: (Pumps fist.) Achievement unlocked!
Cut to numerous other scenes of dialogue, often involving characters absolutely covered in blood despite having only killed one hurlock.

Previously on Mass Effect…
Eden Prime.
SHEPHARD: Come back here Saren, you dastardly fiend!
SAREN: Nyah, nyah – you can’t catch me!
SHEPHARD: Never mind, I shall stumble towards this scary-looking Prothean artifact instead.
ASHLEY: Are you sure that’s safe?
SHEPHARD: Yeah, of course. It’s not like it can telepathically communicate with me or anything.
Cut to the Citadel and an audience with the Council.
ASARI COUNCILLOR: You are a Spectre, Shephard. We’re giving you carte blanche to do pretty much whatever you like as long as you end up defeating the bad guy.
SHEPHARD: Cool. Do I get a badge or something?
Cut to the human embassy in the Presidium.
CAPTAIN ANDERSON: Quickly, Shephard, you must save the galaxy from the evil schemes of Saren before it’s too late! We don’t have much time!
SHEPHARD: No problem. Though, if it’s okay with you, I think I’ll spend hours driving around barren planets in my little tank-thing looking for random collectables.
Cut to the Normandy SR-1.
SHEPHARD: So… I can choose to sleep with the hot blue chick or the slightly racist human bird?
JOKER: Shouldn’t you really be out saving the galaxy from those giant killer robot things?
SHEPHARD: This is why you won’t even get laid in the sequel.

Previously on Kingdom Hearts…
SORA: I’m really happy here on my island which oddly has no parents and my friends Rikku and Kairi.
RANDOM ANNOYING FINAL FANTASY CHARACTERS: Don’t forget about us!
SORA: Er, yeah, sure. It’d be great to stay here forever. Nothing can go wrong!
Something goes wrong.
SORA: Oh no!
Cut to Traverse Town and the appearance of Donald and Goofy. They do funny Disney-esque things for a bit whilst Sora goes around beating Heartless up with his Keyblade.
SORA: These evil Heartless, I will stop them!
Cut to a montage of scenes from Kingdom Hearts 1, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts: 365/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts 2. At random points a voice-over can be heard muttering things about Ansem, Organisation XIII, Heartless, Nobodies and that kind of stuff.
SORA: None of this makes any sense!
LEON: And why aren’t I called Squall any more?
MICKEY MOUSE: Hot dog! Don’t worry, it’ll all be explained in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep!
SORA: Will it?
MICKEY MOUSE: No.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment