May 29th, 2007

Games Played: World of Warcraft (PC), Aegis Wing (XBLA), Lumines (XBLA), Archon (C64, PC, NES), Archon II (PC), Archon Ultra (PC)

Movies Watched: Matrix Reloaded, The Fountain

Games Bought: Bust-A-Grove 2 (PS1), WCW Thunder (PS1), WCW Nitro (PS1), Tenchu (PS1), Tenchu 2 (PS1) [total: $20.00], Odin Sphere (PS2) [$34.99]

Well I haven't bought a lot of games recently as far as I can see. I'll probably be downloading a lot of VC titles to play (not play) on the Wii for the upcoming Classic Gaming Night. The last few VC updates have been pretty amazing. Streets of Rage 2, Blazing Lasers, Actraiser, Ninja Spirit... all top titles from the 8-bit/16-bit era.

The Fountain held up to my high expectations and let them down simultaneously. The movie definitely has it's problems: the plot was far looser than I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting a very cohesive plot, after all, I knew exactly what this movie was about, but it felt like the narrative was shoe-horned in to avoid a totally exposition-free movie. However, thematically, the movie held up extremely well. Aronofsky's passion bled through bright red. If anything, I'd have liked for him to ditch all pretext of a linear story and just shot brief moments to let the audience assemble them. After all, with what he did, he knew he was alienating audiences anyway. Just let it all hang out there and you can do something really great.

World of Warcraft is back all up in here. It's awful that I came crawling back, but it loves me like no other does. Level 44 Druid in about a week and a half. I should hopefully be 60 in two weeks and get get to the BC content again. I'm still playing on my rogue occasionally too.

I was playing a lot of Archon for awhile. I was kicking around the idea of doing a video podcast and was taking footage and information but forgot that I'm a lazy bum and would never actually edit and release a final product. Good thing I remembered before I bought the equipment. But, it did put me back in touch with one of my favorite games. I never played the PC or C64 versions of Archon either, it's very interesting to compare differences from the pretty polished NES version. Archon II is fantastic as well, it take the whole chess idea and ditches it entirely for a unique take.

I may just pick a game like that a month and go and play the hell out of it to learn more about it just for fun. I think next time I'll look at Elite and Starflight since I have such eternal love for Star Control II.

May 8th, 2007

Games Played: SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters DS (DS), Catan (XBLA), Tony Hawk's Project 8 (X360)

Movies Watched: Deja-Vu

Games Bought: NRA Gun Club ($9.99) [PS2], One Piece: Grand Battle ($9.99) [GCN], One Piece: Pirates Carnival ($9.99) [GCN], Puzzle Challenge: Crosswards & More! ($4.99) [PS2], Gunpey ($9.99) [PSP], Pac Man World Rally ($9.99) [PSP], M&M's Break 'Em ($19.99) [DS]

Lots:

[All NES]1942, Al Unser Jr. Turbo Racing, Bad Street Brawler, Bee 52, Big Nose the Caveman, Danny Sullivans Indy Heat, Dragon Warrior (Complete), Duck Tales (Complete), F-117A Stealth Fighter, Fisher Price: I Can Remember, Jaws (Complete), John Elways Quarterback, The Karate Kid (w/box), Legend of Zelda x2 (Complete), Life Force (w/box), The Lone Ranger, Mike Tysons Punch Out, Peter Pan & The Pirates, Rally Bike, Silent Service (Complete), Terminator 2, Top Players Tennis, Zelda II (Complete) - $86.76 shipped

[Saturn] X-Men – Children of Atoom (Complete), [N-Gage] Rayman 3 (New), Crash Nitro Cart (New), Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer (New), MLB Slam (New), Bomberman (New), Ashen (New) - $50.00 shipped

First off. This collecting thing needs to stop. I'm spending too much damn money. Sadly, I've got my eye on a ton of Saturn imports. Oh lordy.

SNK vs Capcom is bad. Still as bad as I said. But I can't stop playing it. I need help.

Tony Hawk 8 is a LOT harder than any one before it. Some of the harder goals are brutal. I'll beat it, no doubt, but the 100% thing is NOT going to happen. I don't have it in me.

Catan is fantastic of course. I've actually played some random pick-up-games online with great success. It'll be in rotation for a long time.

Last, I need to post more...

May 2nd, 2007

Games Played: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Xbox), Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox), Killer Instinct 2 (MAME), King of Fighters '99 (MAME), Twinkle Star Sprites (MAME), Star Fox 64 (Wii), Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Wii), Settlers of Catan (XBLA), Pinball FX (XBLA)

Games Bought: Genesis Collection (PSP) [$10.00], The Guardian Legend (NES - PAL version) [$29.54]

Games Downloaded: Star Fox 64 (Wii) [1000 points], Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Wii) [800 points], Dragon's Curse (Wii) [600 points], Bonk's Revenge (Wii) [600 points], Pinball FX (XBLA) [800 points], Settlers of Catan (XBLA) [800 points]

We had classic gaming night last night, played a bit of MAME, played a lot of Street Fighter. Was reminded how totally awesome Panzer Dragoon Orta is. I will be playing that again soon for sure.

Downloaded several new games for the Wii but we didn't get a chance to play it (hook ups disappeared). Kind of a small turn out too. I played a few before we got there. Beat Star Fox 64 on the easier routes. Forgot how fun that game is too.

Downloaded and purchased Pinball FX on the 360. Achievements are killing me. I did check out the demo first thought and I did enjoy it. It's quite a bit of fun. I might have been on a pinball high from the show though. Good physics even if the tables are kind of boring.

Catan is fantastic for the little bit I played. Every bit as good as the boardgame version with an outstanding trade interface. I only played the CPU this morning, I'll probably play online soon. Very pleased with the translation to Xbox Live.