So I was playing some games today (shock), when I started to think of great gaming innovations. Then I remembered that with all my other projects going on I forgot to make a blog post on RFG. So, here you go community:
10: Button Combos
I know what you are thinking. Button Combos!?! WTF? Alright, so it might not have been the first thing you would have thought of, but think about it for a second. Where would we be right now if you could not memorize a few combos and go kill your friend at Street Fighter? I will tell you where. We would be in a chaos of button smashers. If I wanted that, I would go play Smash Bros. (You ever wonder why it is called "Smash Bros?" There you go!)
9: Lvl Up!
Good job killing that slime there dude, you just reached Lvl 3. Have you ever set down and thought about how much this simple idea changed the gaming world? If not, then go play through Jade Empire (or any BioWare game for that matter). Lvling up is not only addictive, but lets you control the outcome of your wizard or knight or whatever. Besides, without it I could not cast Fira.
8: Achievements
You know who you are. You are the one who played Gears for hours just so you can get that achievement. You sir have a problem, as do the rest of us who play XBL. People will play games they don't even like just to get a few more achievements on their Gamer Tag. It's like crack, McDonalds and WoW all in one. Run, coward!!!!!!!!
7: Unlockables
So how many of you that played Pitfall! on the 2600 thought that you would be unlocking characters in Ultimate Fighters Megamix? Without unlockables, the fighter fans out there would be stuck playing Ivy over and over and over (which is not a bad thing).
6: Percentage
When I first got 100% on Crash Bandicoot 2, I almost died. Then I found out there was more to get. Getting 100% in games keeps people playing and gives them something to brag about to their friends. Now go and get over 200% on Castlevania.
5: Character Creation
People love to customize. If you can create someone in a game that looks like you, or just looks cool in your mind, then the game has just won over your heart to the story. When we have something we create, we look out for it. We want it to be the best, and that is what people like with character creation.
4: Dialog Tree
This is one of my favorite things that people can put into the games that they make. It makes you feel like you are the character. The only games that I have seen this done to really well are games like Mass Effect, Jade Empire, and KOTOR (all from BioWare I might add. Are you getting sick of the love for them yet? Because I can move on to Capcom or Valve).
3: Cheats
We have all cheated on games in one point of our lives. If you have put in a code or read some info to get you ahead in a game, then you are a cheater. Now, while I don't like to cheat in games on my first play through (It takes the fun right out of it), I do like game
cheats and think they need to be on this list.
2: Online
We humans spend most of our time online now days. We read, learn to cook, mail, shop, etc. So why not game? Why not show off your skills on GH? Or beat someone down with a sword in Halo? Online has brought gamers from around the world to join up or smack talk their way to the top.
1: Saving
Remember the good old days? When you could not save your progress on Mario? Had to
enter a password on Mega Man? While those were the good old days, passwords and
no save options were not. Saving has made gaming amazing. Now you can save right
where you left off, and it makes games like Morrowind possible.
The search for good places to buy games is often a difficult one. Many choose to buy their games solely without the help of the internet, which may include game stores and yard sales, while others rely on it almost entirely. Others still, rely on a combination of the three; some stores in your area, some yard sales, and some online buys. This blog is to help you decide what online stores you should use. Also, I may review some stores in the Chicago area, but that most certainly will NOT apply to everyone. Let's Begin!!!
eStarland is awesome. Plain and simple. Many may have not shopped via this wonderful site, but I have, and the result was nothing short of AWESOME.
- Selection: You can't have a good store without having a good selection of merchandise, can you? Well, they do! From the new consoles (Wii, PS3, 360, PS2, DS, GBA), to the old classics (NES, SNES, Genesis), to the oddballs (Neo Geo, 5200), they have IT ALL! 5/5
- Prices: Nothing short of good. Notice I didn't say great, because on somethings, they overcharge. Many sites do, but I am not willing to pay $35 for a Genesis, plus shipping. On some items, the prices can't be beat. On others, it is worse than abysmal. 3.5/5
- Customer Service: Quite good. I had a question, and sent them an e-mail. One day later, I got a clear and concise answer. I was very pleased. But, they do have a customer service chat line that never seems to be online... 4.5/5
- Shipping Charges: Again, good, but not great. Shipping for the first item is $4, and each is $1 after that. But, they do offer other shipping methods such as Express ETC., ETC. 4.5/5
- Shipping Time/Turnaround Time/Packaging: Amazing. That is all I have to say. I got my package 3 days after payment went through, and it is advertised as "2-7 Days, 24 hour processing time". And, for the safe arrival of your games, they shrink wrap them all, for your satisfaction. 5/5
Now, my success story...
I ordered a copy of Corpse Killer for the 32XCD. It was advertised as "USED - Complete". For only $5, I couldn't resist. But, I was tempted to buy the "NEW" copy, for only $11. I went ahead and bought the Used copy. A few days later, my package arrives. Looking through my goodies, I notice that Corpse Killer has a different type of wrap on it, and its even shrink wrapped different. I rip that sucker off, and what do I find inside? A NEW GAME!!! Complete with the registration card, and even the tattoo! The game disk smells new, and looks virgin, as though it has never been played.
All I know is, I have had a great experience through them. They get a well earned 22.5/25!!!
Have any of you guys (or gals) ever had a success story with them? Maybe a horrendous experience? Leave a comment, post a blog, PM me! But don't just sit there!! 
You know, I hear that Samba de Amigo is coming out for the Wii soon. Might be coming out on September 23 of this year in the US. Should be a lot of fun, but then I am a biased source. I love rhythm games. Probably now my favorite genre of games, either that or Sims, and Samba De Amigo is a quality experience, well, at least it was on the Dreamcast. Fortunately for those of you who never played it on a Dreamcast, it is coming out on the Wii, and it's coming out soon. Personally, I am enthralled by the thought of playing this game, I hope you will be too after playing this mini game, located after the jump.
Continue reading Samba de Amigo is going to be Awesome... Again
Antimind is one of the original founders of RF Generation. Love homebrew? Why not read more, and check out her shrine to DS homebrew.
Nintendo's DS is awesome. The problem is the overflow of crap commercial games. The DS is capable of (and deserves) far better material. Enter homebrew games and applications.
How does video game trivia sound? Good? Awesome! It's available on DS. Wish you could play PC first-person shooters on the go? You can do that too. How about having a portable classic game library? Check! You can also play hundreds of otherwise unheard of games. Everything from puzzle collections to RTS with wifi play and leaderboards.
Want to play Japanese games in English? You can do that too thanks to homebrew. You can also turn your DS into a feature packed PDA. Want to read comics on the go? How about chatting on IRC? Done and done!
Check out my Homebrew Guide for the previously mentioned goodness and more. I've even included a Homebrew For Idiots guide. What are you waiting for? Unlock your DS's potential today!
Hey there. If you're here, you're likely either a gamer or collector, but some of you might actually have other interests, and enjoy doing other things as well. I know that I sure do. One of the fun things that we do around here is about this time every year we have a fantasy football league. It's a good time, and we all have fun doing it. The question is... why aren't you doing it? You too could join in all the fun and potential smack talk just like the rest of us. It's really a good time, and we hope to see you there.
The strength of last week carries over into this week as well with the launch of a game that's been in development for 10 years, the first true sequel to Galaga, and a bite-sized follow up to one of the greatest PS3 games.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | | ... | •Smash Court Tennis 3
•Too Human | ... | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | | •Fading Shadows (GameStop Exclusive) | •Commando Steel Disaster | ... |
 Not a big list, but there's a lot of great stuff coming out. First is Too Human, the long in development Action RPG from Silicon Knights and The Canadian Loudmouth, Denis Dyack. In case you don't know, Too Human is an third person action/Dungeon Crawler RPG. I played the demo last week, and my impressions were that it was pretty fun, but chances are that the game could get very boring if it's stretched out to (supposedly) 10 or more hours. Not to mention replaying the game with all the various classes. So, I'd check out some footage or the demo if you're unsure about it. The buzz so far has been very mixed.
Also coming this week is the stunning sequel to Galaga, Galaga Legions. Galaga Legions is like the original game, but with several new features that change up the gameplay. What those features are, nobody really knows outside of a greater emphasis on combos, multidirectional attacks, and some serious bullet hell patterns. The game was made by the same team at Namco-Bandai that did last year's Pac-Man Championship Edition, which is an incredible game. So considering the team and the INCREDIBLE footage released so far, this game should be a winner.
 The final highlight this week is Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty for the Playstation 3. This pirate themed downloadable follow-up to last year's installment is a 3-4 hour experience with a heavier emphasis on platforming and puzzle solving than seen in the most recent games in the series. Insomniac has also introduced several new gameplay elements into the game including the ability for Ratchet to pick up and manipulate objects with his wrench, puzzles involving shadows, and more. What's awesome about this game is that it has all the polish and graphics of a $60 game, but as a 2GB download for only $15! I'm sure a lot of you would bitch about the $15 price, but I'm willing to pay that price in order to support Insomnaic and what they are doing. Hopefully this sells well enough to warrant future downloadable episodes.
Have a great week everyone.
 Gran Turismo. One of the names most associated with the Playstation-brand whose popularity is met by only a couple other franchises out there. In 1998, with the release of the original Gran Turismo came the DualShock, probably the most recognizable modern-day game pad there is and something that shows how big an impact this series has had.
Gran Turismo 3: A-spec (2001) was the first racer Polyphony Digital released to the world to show what the Playstation 2 was capable of. With Gran Turismo 4 (2005), Polyphony Digital tried to realise what they couldn't with part 3.
Let's start out with what is new. Immediate eyecatcher is the highly needed, slick new menu layout. Every screen in the game feels like it's part of a bigger whole and the same fonts, colors and icons are used throughout. This gives GT4 a much more streamlined feel, aswell as provide easier mobility while navigating through the game's massive options.
As usual, there's an Arcade Mode where you can do single races, time trials or go up against others in a 2-player splitscreen or LAN. The not-so-interesting Replay Theatre is back aswell, but most important still is the Gran Turismo mode, the place where you'll spend 98% of your time.
Here, you'll immediately notice the difference in layout, with much more icons than in the past. In the classic home screen, the garage has become much more flexible for searching through your collection of cars with listing categories like country, power-to-weight ratio and so on. You'll also notice your "diary" which is nothing more than a log of your purchases and race results.
In GT4, races are devided into much more categories than before. The beginner, professional and expert races make a return, but new are the country- and manufacturer-specific races. There are, for example, Japanese, American and European events, while you have to go to the manufacturers to see if there are model-specific races available.
One thing in which GT4 excels is content: There's over 700 cars and 50 tracks in the game, making it a much bigger game than GT3. The same however was true for GT2 compared to GT1, probably because the developer has more time for their second release on each console. New this time are all the classic cars from the 50ies and beyond, aswell as some crazy concept cars and some of the first cars ever made. To make things easier in the beginning of the game, you can buy used cars of all ages. However, there's so many races to do and cars to collect in this game, it'll take you weeks (or even months) to finish it.
Also new are the B-spec and Photo mode. In B-spec mode you don't drive yourself but assist an AI driver by giving him/her directions (accelerate, break, etc...) for what to do next. Photo mode is (as the name indicates) a mode in which you can take pictures of your favorite cars, put them on a USB stick and print them out if you want.
Now for the actual driving. (This is where opinions will clash the most concerning GT4) Depending from what you, the gamer, expect from a racing-game, you'll either love GT4 or you won't. If you're looking for adrenaline-pumping, faster-than-lightning races with brutal competition, chances are big you won't like GT4. If, however, you're looking for a realistic (and therefor sometimes a bit boring) driving simulator, you'll find GT4 (almost) everything you're longing for.
When it comes to simply simulating driving, GT4 is fan-tas-tic. Especially when turning off electronic aids you'll be able to really show what you're made of. Couple this with the rich content and you can already justify buying GT4. However, there's some bad sides to the game aswell, quite a few actually...
For starters, there's no online play. This'll surely dissapoint alot of people wanting to test their skills against others online, who don't have a racing friend nearby.
Secondly, the AI is as dumb as ever. The other cars (still only 5) always drive in the perfect racing line, almost never miss a turn and stay together as a group unless there are major differences in the cars' performances. A third complaint is the fact that you can still use cars ahead of you as airbags for taking sharp corners aswell as ride off-track on several courses. (Apricot Hill, anyone?)
A penalty system has been introduced in the Dirt & Snow events, making you drive 50km/h for 5 seconds if you hit the other car, however, sometimes you get a penalty for the other car hitting you! These Dirt & Snow events are another thing that bothers me in GT4. Instead of them being realistic (like, say: Colin Mcrae) you feel like you're trying to manoeuvre a bar of soap on a wet plastic surface, constantly sliding towards the sides unless you break like mad. Although the B-spec mode sounds like a nice new feature at first, it's boring as hell and I really don't see the fun of not driving yourself.
Lastly, there's still no damage model, but it depends on what you expect from a driving simulator if that's a bad thing or not.
On the bright side, both graphics and sound are perfect in GT4, with beautiful cars and circuits aswell as realistic engine sounds. The soundtrack is elaborate although I'm not sure it'll appeal to all with mostly rock songs. Luckily, you can customize it in the "jukebox" so you only have to listen to the songs you like. Especially graphically, you can see the improvements made since GT3 with nicer cars, reflections and lighting. Especially the clouds seem to have been improved, showing much more detail than before. The addition of a new over-the-hood view of your car is very welcome, bring the best of the other 2 views together.
Scoring GT4 is difficult because it really depends on what you expect from it. I'd personally give it a 8.8 or maybe even a 9.0 out of 10 but considering the many faults this game has I'll give it a more diplomatic 8.2/10.
This weekend turned out to be a very big letdown in terms of the trophies I found. The weather was absolutely perfect, not too hot, not too cold, sunny but not overly sunny. I knew, however that it wouldn't be a spectacular weekend simply because I could only put in half a day of saling on Saturday as we had to go to my uncle's for a cookout at 11:00. Oh well, I may not have gotten a lot of games, but I got drunk on free beer and had a fun night.
So, here are my treasures.
Playstation Games
Paid $5 for all of them.
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Yep, that's all the gaming related swag from this weekend. The flea market had a ton of people, but none of them had anything good. Although I did see a loose Maxi 15, but it was $50, way too much for me.
Non-gaming related finds weren't much better.
Non-Gaming Finds
The Def Leppard CD was $1, the blanks CDs were in a trash can at one sale, so I grabbed them. They are all like new.
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On the way to the flea market, we stopped at a single garage sale, everything was drastically marked down, things that were marked $2 were now marked $0.25, and they said everything was half what it was marked. These are the sales I LOVE, people just want to get rid of their extra stuff. There wasn't much there I wanted, except a large box of men's clothes, 99% of them are my close enough to my size, so I paid the $0.50 they wanted for the box. Some of the stuff is like new and nothing is in bad shape. But, once I got home, I realized there was some other things in the box. Like a couple old credit card statements (with these people's credit card and social security numbers and other stuff. Luckily for them, I shredded the stuff and then burned it. Same as I would do if it were mine. There were also a couple "personal" photos of them 
And some of you more astute readers, will notice that I changed my format quite a bit. Marriot_Guy really helped me out with it and I think it looks great, but I'd like to get an opinion from my readers of how you guys like the new format, so feel free to comment on that since my finds were so pitiful.
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