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Posted on Dec 14th 2008 at 02:54:30 PM by ( Sirgin) Posted under Magic, The Gathering, TCG, Trading Card, Game, Free, Shards, Alara, Tenth, Naya, Blue |
After getting the White, Green and Red Tenth Edition theme decks for free I decided to buy the Blue and Black decks. Although I'm not really getting back into Magic, I thought it would be neat to have the whole set.
I went back to the card shop where I got all the free cards a month ago, because I had some questions about some game mechanics that I'm sure that guy would be able to answer.
Continue reading Gathering The Magic: Part 2
I am seeing that Chrono Trigger on the DS is a port of the original SNES RPG with new touch screen features in the game. I also have a lot of the fans of the game on this site saying that it is a game that I have got to play. So I'm wondering...should I use this game to experience the game, or should i just track down the cart version for the SNES. It seems easier to just get the DS version. What do some of you think?
Now, generally I do not like to review something until I have completely beat the game, and as such, this post is going to be impressions of the game, which to a certain extent is probably a review.
For those of you not in the know, I got the first disbursement of my sign-on bonus this week, and promptly splurged it on a PlayStation 3. Of course, the very first game that I bought was LittleBigPlanet. Why wouldn't I have bought that game first? Everything I've seen about it on the internet suggests that it oozes creativity. To a certain extent, it shows that this generation Sony and not Nintendo has the creativity wand when it comes to games. I had to buy this game, and by golly I did.
LittleBigPlanet is based around the concept that this world managed by Creator Curators is created by the combined imagination of the world and you, as Sackboy, get to explore it. On the surface of playing the game, LittleBigPlanet is a semi 2D platformer. You can only move left, right, or back and forth in the background. But, see, just because the game is in essence a 2D platformer does not take away from the fact that it oozes with creativity and fun.
This game is customizable, and not just a little customizable, but "HAVE AT IT WON'T YOU?" customizable. As you progress through the game you are gifted and obtain lots of stickers, objects, and doodads to fool around with. In story mode, these stickers can be placed wherever, and sometimes these stickers serve as triggers. But, the real beauty of collecting these customizations is the fact that the game allows you to create your own levels. These aren't some corny shallow level but often full fledged levels limited only by the imagination of the creator, and that's really neat. Theoretically you could never run out of levels to play because the community keeps pumping them out. It's really truly amazing.
That said, the Media Molecule (developer) levels are also very cool. Basically, each creator curator has a theme and mini storyline that ties in with the other curators, and levels get harder and harder as you progress through the story. Of course, once you beat a level there are plenty of reasons to go back. See, chances are you won't be able to get all 100% of the items on your first go, so there will always be that reason to come back to the level. Secondly, you could play the level by yourself, or you could play the level with someone online. The neat thing about that is that you sometimes have to have another Sackboy with you to get certain items and cause certain events to occur. Thing is though that I am so addicted to the game that I just want to beat it through before playing with someone online, so I don't know for sure how that works, but I imagine it's pretty cool.
From customizing your own levels to customizing your Sackboy, you have a lot of freedom in this game, and this freedom makes the game so damn enjoyable. I'd say I am about 70ish% through the story mode, and this game keeps calling me back. If you have a PS3 I don't think you have to buy the game, but you'd be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn't at least try it out. After all, Sackboy is so damn lovable. Forget Home's avatars, Sackboy should be our official Sony avatars. He's just so damn precious.
Have the game? Want the game? What are your impressions of LittleBigPlanet? Is it everything you thought it would be, or is it something that you hope it will be?
Today i was out with the misses doing a little shopping for her. After a few stops and i finally found her gift, that is for another time, i proceeded to drop her off at work since her car is in the shop. On the way back home i decided to stop at goodwill since i haven't been to this particular one in months. Nothing really of interest except a bundled N64 and a few spawn comics. Right up the road is a mom and pop gaming shop that i use to visit at least 3 times a week up until i found a new job in the city we live in. So i decided to stop in there because i can't remember the last time in there. Her prices are usually high (some even higher than ebay). I have purchased a few smaller dollar items from her in the past as well as traded in a few games that i couldn't sell or trade online. A pone browsing the glass display that she has the systems in, I noticed this tiny hand held that was sitting next to a copy of Fire Emblem for the SFC. It was a Swan Crystal. I was shocked to see her actually have this since she said she doesn't except imports. It was there along with Final Fantasy II. I ask the guy could i see the "Crystal" and he pulled it out and popped in the game. He starting telling me about where it came from and all (I knew more than he knew). This is the first time i have ever seen one in person so i had to play it. I fiddle around with it for a few minutes, trying to get the button layout and all. It is a pretty neat system, aside from the fact that most of the games aren't English friendly. I remember how i had wanted one back in 2005 but things changed and i never got around to it. Now i am like a kid again, i gotta get me one soon.
The import seen is kinda dwindling in the US. I admit i stopped playing imports back in 2006 due to lack of funding. Still have a copy of Front Mission for Super Famicom but no Super Famicom to play it on. I have started playing Gundam again on my Playstation and i think the love is coming back. If you haven't at least tried some import games that were never released stateside i think you should. Can we really call are selves game enthusiast if we haven't experienced what is to offer in other countries? There are a few hidden gems out there that quite possible might be better than what is offered today. Do yourself a favor and look into imports, more so of the previous generation.
For my entire collecting "career" I've only bought stuff locally. I've never purchased anything from the internet, including eBay. I've always been very proud of this fact, because there are so few collectors out there that do it the "old school" way.
But, as my collection has grown, I've not only been having a harder time finding games I don't have, but I've accumulated hundreds of duplicate games. Now, for the past few months I've been trying my hardest to sell those duplicates. But, I've been having trouble doing that, which brings me to the point of this post. I've been considering becoming open to trading. In the past I was against trading over the internet as much as buying over the internet, but I'm not so sure anymore. Trading would essentially mean turning duplicates into new games, but I can't help but feel as though I would be going against my principles.
So, now I'm turning to you my fellow collectors, what do you guys think? Should I be open to trading or should I stick to my local roots only?
So, it's come to my attention that those of you that were using our chat client (known as mibbit) to get to our chat room may have found yourself more often than not with the wonderful welcoming sight of glined. What does that mean? Well, it appears quakenet places a temporary ban on connections via mibbit when too many users connect to the network via the program. In this case, it was almost always happening, and as such I view mibbit no longer as a viable option for our chat program.
What does that mean? Well, in short terms, we're back to using our old Java Client. Same chat room, same network, new webchat client. All the links should have been updated, and you should be able to get on easily, provided you have Java installed. Here is a link below to the new client. Again, sincerest apologies about the previous webclient dropping the ball, especially when I've been whoring out the chat in recent times. Do join, won't you?
Click Here for our Chat Page
Can you hear them? Why, it's the faint sound of crickets in the distance? Is it a summer night? Nah, it's the RF Generation chat room, and it's so quiet in there that you can hear the chirp of crickets in the vast emptiness of our chat room.
Of course, chances are that you can't hear the crickets because you're not in the chat room. The question is why wouldn't you be in the chat room? The chat room loves you, and is greatly sad that you're not in the room. It's not as though we have a vendetta against anyone in the chat room. We'll talk about most anything as long as it does not violate any US laws. We're really a fun bunch, and it'd probably be a lot more fun if you were there as well?
So, why aren't you in the chat room yet? I mean, the link to join is right below? Don't want to use our applet? Well, the room is #rfgeneration on quakenet. If you're IRC saavy you'll know what that means, otherwise, we hope you'll use the applet below. See you in chat!
Click Here for our Chat Page
Sorry for being so late with this, but this is the last week of the semester for me before finals, so the professors have been dumping all sorts of homework on me. Yippie. So, I need to keep it short and sweet this week.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | • Prince of Persia
• SingStar ABBA | • Destroy All Humans 3: Path of Furon
• Prince of Persia | • Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• King of Fighters Orochi Saga
• Mushroom Men: Spore Wars
• My Fitness Coach
• Nancy Drew: The White Wolf
• Safecracker
• Ski & Shoot
• SPRay
• The Tale of Despereaux | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | NOTHING
PC
• Disney's Bolt
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• The Tale of Despereaux
• A Vampyre Story
• Zoo Tycoon 2 Ultimate | • Animal Boxing
• Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
• Emma at the Farm
• Emma in the Mountains
• Happy Cooking
• Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi
• My Fun Facts Coach
• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
• Slingo Quest
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Wordfish | • Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
• SingStar ABBA
• The Tale of Despereaux |
 Yet another slow week, but there's some good stuff. Such as Prince of Persia. This installment in the long-running series has UbiSoft trying to reinvent the game with a new cel-shaded Okamiesque art style and open world gameplay...and apparently the results are good if early reviews are to be believed.
The other big game I'm interested in this week is Mushroom Men for the Wii. Why is this shovelware sounding game so intriguing? First of all, the game's music was composed and performed by none other than Primus bassist, Les Claypool. However, what makes the game really interesting is that the entire game is synced to a metronome that runs at 120 beats per minute. The result is a very unique look and sound that I've never seen in a video game before. It really must be seen to be fully understood, so take a look at this trailer from GameVideos about the metronome system. IGN also has a great article about the system. Oh, I supposed I should probably mention what the gameplay is like. Well, it's basically your standard platformer, but with some neat MDK2/Fallout 3 like weapon creation elements. I just hope the gameplay is as brilliant as the metronome system, but even if it isn't, I know I'll like the game since it's a bold experiment in sound design. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy this game right away.  If anyone gets this game or hears anything about it, leave a comment, because I'm dying to know how this game turned out.
Oh yeah, there's some new Kingdom Hearts game out this week on the good ol PS2. It's a 3D remake of the GBA game, Chain of Memories entitled Re:Chain of Memories (clever). Since I don't know anything about Kingdom Hearts other than a lot of weeabos that don't normally like Disney love this game...probably for "kawaii" artwork and stuff. Never understood the appeal of this game.
If you missed out on the consoles, GTA IV will hit Windows this week in all it's SecuROM-protected "glory" (if you can call it that). Hooray DRM!
Anyways, check back next week when I'll be burned out by final exams. But then I'm done with school for a month. 
WARNING!: This may be uninformed, biased, offensive, and incoherent. Enjoy 
After playing some N64 and SNES today i was VERY disappointed.
Not with the games i was playing but with the fact that many of the newer console games i have been playing have been garbage.
I don't know if maybe it is nostalgia, or maybe i just happen to buy all the shitty newer games.
I just feel that the "magic" of most games is missing now. I could probably count on my digits how many games i have played in the last 6-8 years that i have invested a real length of time in.
Take out Super Smash, Mortal Kombat, Halo, Pokemon, and RPGs that i have actually found enjoyable enough to finish and that takes me down to probably my fingers alone.
Am i the only person who feels this way?
I know there are alot of people on the boards buying games for *multiple new platforms*. How many of them would you say you have sat down and played for 50+ hours? And was this out of actual enjoyment? Or out of necessity for completion, gamer points, or to clean up some of your backlog?
I like to think i can get at least 1 enjoyable hour of game play for every dollar i spend on a game.
Pretty much from the Gamecube(You can throw PSX and PS2 in for good measure) on it seems like the crap to awesome ratio has **skyrocketed along with the prices**.
It seems that the games people are spending any real amount of time playing anymore are the heavy hitters, Halo, GoW, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, WoW, etc, etc.
I guess my major problem is with the sheer volume of games coming out, all the cool "innovations", there should really be more of an effort on making things people will truly enjoy rather than trying to make a quick buck and fuck over the poor consumer who is lied to about the actual quality of a product.
*I sadly only have the DS and Wii which could possibly have the highest shit to acceptable game ratio. Then again i don't even try to find anything decent on the ***PS3...*** so who knows
**I know not entirely true i spent 60$s on new N64 games and i am fairly certain SNES and Genny got that high too
*** Tony that PS3 jab was in your general direction if you bother to read this drivel
You know, normally we'd let other fine establishments waste your time with posts on game cakes. But, sometimes exceptional cakes deserve exceptional credit.
In this case, this Super Mario Galaxy cake was made for a daughter's 4 year old birthday party. As you can tell from the photo, it looks pretty damn awesome. I personally like the glass pill from the Good Egg galaxy or whatever special Galaxy it was from. Well, I know the Good Egg Galaxy had a pill, but it might not have been that exact pill, but still it's pretty damn cool.
Either way, this is a cake for the ages, and any game geek should be giddy with glee from the sight of this game cake. What? You say you aren't? Well aren't you a heathen? Well, perhaps a video of the cake might change your mind, as seen after the jump.
Continue reading An RFG Aside: Cake of Pure Awesome
Here's the post that makes the weekly release list look like child's play. The black friday deals! For those of you in Euroland or where ever and don't know what Black Friday is, it is the day after Thanksgiving here in the US in which all the stores try to get people to come in and buy stuff for Christmas by offering insane deals. Of course, many stores entice gamers to come in and get stuff, so here's what's being offered this year. Before I get into it, I want to give props to cheapassgamer.com, bfads.net, and blackfriday.info for all the information found in this post.
Please note that the deals in bold are the ones I recommend most of all.
To get started, choose a store below to see what they have to offer.
External Link: Amazon.com deals from Cheap Ass Gamer
Best Buy
Circuit City
Costco
Game Crazy
GameStop
KB Toys
K-Mart
Meijer
Sam's Club
Target
Toys R Us
Wal-Mart
Continue reading 2008 Black Friday Deals
In 1989, at a time when the NES was increasing even more in popularity, Sega, who already had some popularity in the United States with the 8-Bit Master System, and Arcade games such as Altered Beast and After Burner II, released a video game console that was meant to take on Nintendo's NES, the Genesis, which became one of the greatest 16-Bit consoles of all time.
At the time of it's release, Sega's main success was in the arcades, and overseas in the UK, where the Master System was extremely popular. On October 29, 1988, Sega release the MegaDrive in Japan. About a year later, on August 14, 1989, Sega release the Genesis in the United States. Sega pushed the Genesis on American consumers with the classic "Genesis does what Nintendon't" commercials. Those who paid the money for the system got the system, controllers, hookups, and the arcade port of Altered Beast. Many of the games released at launch were arcade ports and sports games. These include: Strider, Pat Riley Basketball, James "Buster" Douglas K.O. Boxing, and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. The graphics of the system made people question why they were still playing on the old 8-Bit NES. Some kept their Nintendo's, and some took the leap into the 16-Bit era. Early in the Genesis' lifetime, Sega released a peripheral for the system called the Sega Power Base Converter. This peripheral slid into the cartridge port of the system an allowed the user to insert Sega Master System games into the converter, giving it backwards compatibility with practically all Master System games, and game Cards.
As the years went on, the Genesis saw some fierce competition coming from Nintendo, with their Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and NEC's TurboGrafx-16. Sega held on, however, and gained even greater popularity with the release of the game Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was, as most today know, a blue, bad ass, in-your-face hedgehog, and was much more fierce when compared to Nintendo's little Italian plumber, Mario. Also, Sega was able to beat out Nintendo with one fighting game, Mortal Kombat. While the Genesis version of the game didn't look as good or sound as good as the SNES version, the Genesis version had full blood, and no censored fatalities.
As the Genesis passed into the 32-Bit era, Sega tried to keep up with the graphics of the more advanced systems. They began to push the games to their graphical limits, and even released a couple of add-ons to make the system more powerful. The first of the two was the Sega Mega CD, released in Japan in 1991, and released in the United States in 1992 as the Sega CD. As the name states, this add-on was a disc drive that attached to either the bottom of the model 1 Genesis or on the side of the model 2. The add-on also enabled the Genesis to play audio CDs. Most of the games on the Sega CD were crappy FMV (full motion video) games. Some of the better ones, however, were Sonic CD, Snatcher, The Terminator, and Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat on the Sega CD featured the same Genesis graphics, but arcade sounds, speech, and music. Later on, in 1994, Sega released the Sega 32X, which was inserted into the cartridge port of the Genesis, could play all of the regular 16-Bit games, and also had its own line of 32-Bit games such as Mortal Kombat II, Knuckle's Chaotix, Star Wars Arcade, Doom, and Virtua Fighter. These add-ons are infamous for their low amounts of killer titles, and extremely high prices at launch.
In closing, Sega made their greatest benchmark on the video game industry with the Genesis, and many gamers of today swear by the old Blast Processor. This system gets a 8/10.
Collector's Dilemma: Lending Games
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We are a community of collectors, gamers and the likes, and some of us enjoy to let the world know what is on our mind. For those members, we have the community blogs, a place where they can publish their thoughts and feelings regarding life, universe, and everything. Some of those members might even choose to write about gaming and collecting! Whatever they write about, you can find it on their blog. You can either see the latest community blog entries in the feed you see to the left, or you can browse for your favorite blog using the menu above. Interested in having your own blog hosted on RF Generation? It's rather simple, first be a registered member, and then click the "My Blog" link that you see in the navigation above. Following those two steps will certainly get you on your way to blogging.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy our entries, rantings, and completely unrelated series of thoughts. We write for you to read, so we certainly hope that you enjoy our material.
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