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If you guys thought that things were going to slow down submission wise after the contest run in may, boy were you wrong. Game images may have been way down comparatively, but the other important info kept pouring in. Game Edits and Non Image Game Submissions where somehow actually higher in June than during the Submission contest. We're talking 2300+ more Game Edits and 1900+ more Non Image Game Submissions than in May!!
Considering there was no incentive other than to better the database/community (not greedy people like me trying to cash in on a prize) I find the month's numbers to be amazing. The real shining star of June though was someone you'rE definitely familiar with if you frequent the forums. Our very own Postmaster General, Defender of Variants and all around Mortal Kombat aficionado, Izret101! He had more than 3x the submissions of his closest competitor for the month.
But the others weren't slacking off either. In total we had 10 members make over 100 submissions each last month. So if you run into Shadow Kisuragi, y2richie, pdrydia, ixtaileddemonfox, raffa1985, ApolloBoy, blcklblskt, aeroc, or Marriott_Guy on the street make sure to give them a great big hug for their contributions to RF Generation. There were dozens of other members who found the time to add anywhere from 1-99 items to improve our database also.
And lets not forget the staff members who work tirelessly and often thanklessly to approve all those submissions. Shadow Kisuragi lead the way with over twice his nearest comrades approvals. Also make sure to thank Tynstar, ApolloBoy, Izret101, NES_Rules, ga5ket and Paully3433 for their behind the scenes contributions to the site approving (or rejecting) the thousands of submissions sent in last month.
Thanks for the incredible commitment to keep improving an already fantastic place everybody!
For anyone interested in checking out the stats for themselves just highlight the part on the top bar that says "Submit" and then click on "Submission Stats" or just use this link:
http://www.rfgeneration.c...p?action=submissionreport
Its got submission info from late 2006 to now so you can see how we've progressed over the years.
[img width=300 height=300]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/8/197898_27938_front.jpg[/img]
Well, it's official. I beat my fourth Summer Gaming pick. Appropriately enough, it was Mega Man X4. And wow. Let me start by saying that the first X game was, and is one of my all time favorite Mega Man games. In fact, it would rival Mega Man 2 and 3 for the top spot as my definitive favorite. Truth be told, I've probably spent the most time with X above all others. And yet I can say with all honesty that I enjoyed this game just as much. It really brought back memories of how exciting it was playing through the first game. You see strangely, I haven't really played most of the other entries in the X series. I suppose because of all the talk of the series having gone down-hill over the years. But X4 is a true masterpiece to me.
Oh, before I forgot I want to plug this excellent article by Alex Reo about X4. It was published in GameSpite Quarterly #8, and I had just read it around the time I was picking my Summer Gaming list. My friend Flake had urged me to add the game to my list, and upon reading this how could I argue? So here: http://www.gamespite.net/...ex.php/Games/G8-MegaManX4
[img width=300 height=200]http://ui09.gamefaqs.com/2344/gfs_27938_2_70_mid.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://ui30.gamefaqs.com/1565/gfs_27938_2_42.jpg[/img]
Now the thing about X4 is it does having stretch marks from the growing pains of 16-bit moving onto 32-bit. But your own perception will decide what to make of the hilarious voice acting, the need to included anime cutscenes, and so on. I however loved every moment of this game. The silly voices were endearing. The fact that the double agent robot was named Double made me smirk. The music was great, the sprite work to die for and the detail incredible. There were levels where I'd just stop and look at all the little things -- like water trickling -- that just totally showed off the PlayStation's graphical abilities. Remember, we were supposed to believe that it didn't handle 2D games well.
Admittedly, I blew through most of the game pretty quickly. Then went back to look for E-Tanks and other upgrades. But really the bulk of my time was spent on the last stage. I can't tell you how many times I went through that boss-rush. I can only tell you that I can beat all eight robot masters in under ten minutes. Usually without taking a lick of damage. But the last Sigma battle is intense. He takes three (or technically four) forms that get progressively harder. It's not something you can luckily blast your way through. And as frustrated as I got trying and re-trying, it really made me realize how much I loved the game. I never wanted to stop playing in disgust. I just wanted to get good enough to see the end credits. Like so:
[img width=480 height=640]http://i.imgur.com/bKpAkl.jpg[/img]
Chrono Trigger
Dead Or Alive
Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
Mega Man X4
Metal Gear Solid
Mr. Driller
Myst
Ridge Racer
R-Type Delta
Silent Hill
I'm not sure which game I'll focus on next. Probably Chrono Trigger, Metal Gear Solid, or Duke Nukem as those are the three I've spent time with already this Summer.
First off, when I decided to jump back into game collecting, I decided that I was not about to waste my time on sites that were not run solely by the collectors themselves. And I wanted a site that would allow a very simplified yet user-friendly way to track my collection. RFGeneration was recommended by some trusted collectors, and is definitely worthy of adulation.
So here comes my recommendation for the site.
Design a location map of members that choose to be involved, so that we can link up outside of the website. I would be interested to hear everyone's opinion and get a discussion started.
I'm beginning to wonder if its time to retire from garage saling. You may have noticed there was no Treasure Hunt Chronicles last week, that's because I found next to nothing, and this week was no different while out saling. That makes it four weeks since I've had a good weekend. But, I did have a couple trades this week that give me something to post about this time. Check it out after the break to see what I bought over the past two weeks.
But first, why don't you take a look at what YOU can buy from me! Check out this link to see what I have on GameGavel right now. There's nothing new this week, as I still have some good stuff to sell before I get into listing new stuff. This week I have a total of 4 PlayStations, 3 Genesis systems, two Atari 2600's and partridge in a pear tree. Oh wait, skip the partridge, I sold that yesterday.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #7
[img width=300 height=300]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/7/366817_127505_front.jpg[/img]
So I finally beat a third game from my Summer Gaming list. Ridge Racer is of course the classic PS1 launch title that showed off Sony's new piece of hardware as a viable option for near arcade perfection. (See: dsheinem's blog for a wonderful post on this game's release). This was a game I had at least tried before this Summer, but never spent any real time with. Now before I get started, brief disclaimer: when I say I beat Ridge Racer, I mean I beat it on Mid-Level. To me, that's beaten -- at least for the purposes of this challenge. My goal with these games was to get through them for once. To play them to the extent that I get to the end credits, and can say that I've honestly experienced the games to a point where I can have an actual educated opinion on them. So although I didn't try to beat it on the hardest mode -- I'm just not a completionist gamer. I don't care about unlocking everything, achievements, 100% or any of that kind of thing. To me, it's about the experience and having fun.
[img width=300 height=200]http://ui32.gamefaqs.com/1791/gfs_10965_2_6_mid.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://ui26.gamefaqs.com/697/gfs_10965_2_7_mid.jpg[/img]
So what did I think of the game?
First, The Good: Ridge Racer looks phenomenal, even now. I mean I'm playing this on a PS3 and still impressed with what Namco was able to pull off all those years ago. The game feels great as an arcade racer. Though it certainly doesn't trump OutRun in my opinion for pure arcade racing thrill -- it is a blast. The Galaxian mini-game to unlock more cars is unique and actually makes the loading screen fun.
The Bad: Really the whole game is just one track. I mean, the track gets switched up a bit depending on difficulty level, and you can even race it backwards. But still. One track. Certainly this wasn't a big deal upon its release, but by today's standards this felt very limited to me, making the game slightly boring to keep reattempting. Also, I found that drifting never really clicked with me. I peeled out a lot, even using the car with the best traction. The other thing I found was that I handled curves much better playing in first-person view, which kind of irked me as I much preferred the third person perspective otherwise.
Ultimately, I'm glad I spent the time to get through this one. It's still fun and challenging today. But more likely I'd next check out a sequel with more tracks than come back and revisit the original again.
Chrono Trigger
Dead Or Alive
Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
Mega Man X4
Metal Gear Solid
Mr. Driller
Myst
Ridge Racer
R-Type Delta
Silent Hill
As for other games, Chrono Trigger I need to get back into. I kind of stopped around the 10 hour mark. I'm somewhere around the third or fourth mission of Duke Nukem. Mega Man X4 is still infuriating me, as I can easily make it up to Sigma, but he kills me in his final form even though I have two E-tanks. And I recently started playing Metal Gear Solid, in which I'm about an hour and a half into and really impressed by.
1. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)
2. Vay (Sega CD)
3. Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
4. Wario Land (VB)
5. Battletoads/Double Dragon (SNES)
6. Panzer Dragoon (Sat)
7. Kung Fu (NES)
8. Gex (3DO)
9. FFVIII (PS)
10. FFXII (PS2)
7/10 games down now. Added Vay to my list of accomplishments yesterday morning. It was great from start to end. Not a dull moment throughout. I had no expectations going in and was pleasantly surprised. Lots of humor scattered throughout the game, fantastic music, and the battle system was standard but super fast so battles didnt feel like a chore. The final dungeon was BRUTAL and I'm really glad I was able to finish off the last boss on my first attempt (barely) because I would have had to replay approx 4 hours to get back to him. I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a good Sega CD game to play.
Also been logging a fair amount of time into FFVIII. Just started the 3rd disc. Still not really feeling it. The story is getting slightly more interesting than it was when I started, but the battle system is horrible and driving your airship around the world map looking for things is a massive headache. I'm still going to try and see it through to the end, but its not shaping up to be very memorable.
Gex will most likely be my next target.
Here are some of my favorite tunes from Vay if anyone was curious:
Title Screen:
Battle Music:
Boss Music:
Danek Castle Music:
Last Boss Fight:
Drove to nes-rules house (mike) on Sunday and picked up the atari I won on gamegavel. it came with 26 games it was a very good deal.
While I was there I bought Final Fantasy Anthology,spyro, and Guantlet Legends for playstation and Naruto Ultimate Ninja for PS2 for $10.00.
Then I also traded him a nintendo calculator and super mario bros 3 guide for a Game Genie for game gear, a gameshark for gameboy color, and Gran Turismo 2 for PS.
On Saturday I got NFL 2k for dreamcast for 50 cents.
1) Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (360)
2) Metroid Prime (GC)
3) Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (PS2)
4) Sonic Spinball (Gen)
5) Perfect Dark (N64)
6) Front Mission (DS)
7) Halo Wars (360)
8 ) Ico (PS2)
9) Kessen (PS2)
10) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GC)
11) Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC)
12) The Lion King (Gen)
13) Sonic 3 (Gen)
14) Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (xbox)
15) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360)
16) Marvel VS Capcom 3
17) Portal
18) Beautiful Katimari
19) TBD
20) TBD
After years of procrastination, I've finally beaten Sonic 3... which i will now consider to be the worst of the original 2D sidescrolling sonics. Each level felt painfully like i was playing another, sub par platformer, and not the breakneck speed thrill that was the rest of the sonic series. The music sucked, power ups were lame and unnecessary (except the fireball ^_^) and it only had 6 levels. What the balls?!
Even weirder, at the end...you blow up the death star.
That looks like blatant copyright infringement if you ask me. I'll do a longer rant on the sonic series in the future... so I'll save it for now.
Also, just discovered how to customize the blog! Awesome new theme added for extra flare. Let me know what you guys think of it....although i'm sure i'll get bored of it and decide to change it to fit every new blog post.
till next time
~Neo
Official Backlog count: 208
Some of you may remember me talking about doing a Speed Run of TMNT for the NES to submit to Twin Galaxies waaay back around Christmas time. I did infact record a run I was happy with (could be cleaned up a bit, but it was fairly decent) and sent it off to get verified. Unfortunately the same week I sent the tape in the NES ref left his position at TG.
It was unclear what was happening with submissions until a new ref emerged early in June. It was my hope that the tape was forwarded along to the new ref for verification, but it seems that he has cleared his submission backlog and my tape wasnt there.
Luckily for me I sent in a copy and still have the original. Sucks that I have to re-submit it, but at least its already done and hopefully things will go smoother this time. I'll update with some good news next time I hope.
Its been to long since I've updated the pictures in my game room. Its grown and changed a lot since my last update in February 2010. I've added several new system with gems like the NEO GEO AES and SEGA CDX and some oldies like the Colecovision and Intellivision and even rounded out my modern system with a 360 and PS3 (neither of which are pictured since they are hooked up to the living room TV for now). My collection has expanded slowly in some parts (PS2, PS), exploded in others (TG16, SEGA CD), stayed the same in some (XBOX), but grown moderately in most areas.
We had out basement flood during the winter and even though it wasnt close to my game room I unhooked everything and made sure it was safely away from the ground. This caused a bit of disorganization, but it seemed like a decent trade off. When rfgen had its last submission contest I was interested in contributing. Because we dont have a scanner at home I had to transport every single item that was scanned or added in some way. This just demolished anything resembling organization in my room. Game were scattered around the room in tubs and boxes.
Last week it was finally warm enough to remove our outside door frame and get the pesky leak (which was being held at bay by a tarp I rigged up underneath our deck for the last several months) fixed. With that worry out of the way I finally had the drive to get this room back together. I spent hours cleaning contacts and stickers off cases in order to put as much of it as possible out on display. I nearly got it all with only around a dozen items not shelved at the moment (they are still awaiting cleaning or some sort). It became apparent that I was going to need some more space and to juggle a few things around. This meant adding yet another row of shelving. Luckily I saved my paint swatch (is that what they are called?) from last time so I was able to match it perfectly and paint the new shelf and also touch up a few spots that got scuffed.
With the new shelf up I set out to cram all my game related crap onto it. Turns out I was still in need of some room so I had to remove anything that wasnt gaming related that previously resided in the area. This mean bye bye comics, cds, and records. They were all moved to other areas of the house to make room for the good stuff.
Now onto the pictures!! I'll leave a little note under each one describing anything I think is important or new from last time. There is a really cool new item at the end too so make sure you scroll all the way down.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2546.jpg[/img]
View when entering the room.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2547.jpg[/img]
First box is the cleaning/repairing/shipping box. The other two are items for resale or trade. Guitar Hero drums are always out since my kid just likes to mess around with them when I'm cleaning up in the room.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2548.jpg[/img]
A big upgrade in comfort from the old futon I had in the room. My in-laws left town and if that wasnt gift enough they didnt want to take this with them and gave it to us for free! Its in really great shape and was from a pet free home. Feels great to lounge around playing RPGs now.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2549.jpg[/img]
View from the couch
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2550.jpg[/img]
Close up of the setup under the TV.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2551.jpg[/img]
My crappy CRT
[img width=700 height=933]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2552.jpg[/img]
System tower. Comics on top have since been removed. Now I can add another system or 5!
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2554.jpg[/img]
Right side view of the closet
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2557.jpg[/img]
Lefty
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2555.jpg[/img]
Up high Right
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2556.jpg[/img]
Up high left
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2566.jpg[/img]
Middle
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2558.jpg[/img]
Half a CIB VB set
[img width=700 height=524]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2559.jpg[/img]
Some of the rarest or valuable NES games in my collection. I meant to take a pic of my Recca also, but forgot. I'll definately add one to my profile pics soon though.
Now for my newest goody
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[img width=700 height=933]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2561.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2564.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2563.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/IMG_2562.jpg[/img]
I've been offering to buy various Arcade Machines from a place called Bubbabaloos (its like a poor man's Chucky Cheese) for literally years now. A little while ago we were having a dinner with my wife's cousins and someone mentioned that it closed down a few days prior. I was excited and nervous to hear that. It was really my only chance at having an Arcade machine for a decent price. It either meant I could finally score one or that I was to late. We drove down the next morning and my wife asked if she could go in and talk to them. After waiting patiently in the care with my son I saw my wife skipping out of the building. She said that most of the machines were gone to staff members, but the remaining few had to be gone by that evening or they were going to the dump. Knowing I had my eye on the Metal Slug 3 Neo Geo machine my wife recognized it was still there with a staffs name and number on it. She gave the owner our number to call if they were hauling any machines off to the dump for us to pick up. I had to work that night so it was off to bed.
My wife startled me awake around 18:00 the same day which was about 4 hours into my sleep for the day and said they just called and wanted the machines gone. We called my father and borrowed his vehicle while he watched my son. Grabbed my brother and sped off to see what they had left. All that was remaining was a Virtua Tennis cab and a WWF Dual cab that had been stripped of some of its hardware. After chatting breifly with the owner about the games, (and seeing my wife grin from ear to ear when learning there would now be 2 NAOMIs in the house) we loaded them both up and took them home. No you didnt miss the part where money changed hands. Free Arcade Cabinets!!!
Since we had our door frame off to fix the leak in our basement it made moving the Virtua Tennis cab in relatively easy. Which was nice since it weighs a freakin ton. I did manage to sneak a game in on my driveway against my brother before hand though. We scuffed the back of the machine a bit when moving it in, but its mostly unharmed and it pretty good overall condition. The marquee lights work, sound it great, screen has very minimal burn in and no discoloration, coin slot works like a charm and the buttons and stick are all very responsive.
Unfortunately the WWF Machine wouldnt fit into our house even with the frame of our door off. I stripped it for its parts and its making its way to the dump now. Got 2 monitors, 4 joy sticks and a big ol box of buttons and wires out of it so it wasnt a complete waste.
My wife also surprised me that she had secretly gotten the name and number off the Neo Geo cabinet. We bugged the girl a couple times offering her a few hundred dollars for the machine, but apparently her brother was very attached to it. We left the offer on the table and our number, but dont expect to hear back from her. Still a good day! So I went back to sleep to squeeze in one more hour of zzzzzs before I started work. Man was I tired all night, but it was totally worth it.
I probably wouldnt have had this cabinet if it wasnt for my wife, so she likes to brag how great she is now and I cant argue with her at all. She is definitely great to have around.
Now I'm just looking to convert the machine into something more my style. Any suggestions for good NAOMI games??
Well The start of a new week all I have bought so far was the lengendary cars pack for burnout paradise off the playstation network for $4.99.
Well its monday now and I got Legend of Dragoon off my brother I traded him an old 3.0 megapixel digital camera for it.
Just went to see my mom and she gave me a pocket blackjack game made by radica.
Ordered Nier for ps3 off amazon on monday for 13.00
Well Wendsday I traded 3 playstaton wrestling games for sonic for playstation 3.
On Thursday I think I made a pretty good deal with my buddy I traded him mortal kombat vs dc aand $150 for his 3ds and dead or alive dimensions.
And Then I found a great deal on craigslist I got 4 psp game and 3 ds games for $1 dollaer each. they didnt have cases or instructions though. PSP Games were Star Ocean first departture , Tomcancys endwar, Secret Agent Clank, and Naruto ultimate ninja heroes. NDS games were Simanimals, Julian michals ultimate fitness 2010, and Elite forces unit 77.
Got three stand-alone handhelds at the thrift store on friday for $2.00 they are pacman, classic baseball, and yahtzee.
Its Saturday and I took a trip to the goodwill and got a new shelf for my games for $10 and an iquest for $2.00.
Why Didn't I Play This Sooner?
Volume 1
Grandia
[img width=300 height=300]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41mvYQ5wLSL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img]
Ok, I'm a bit of an RPG fan. One look at my collection will show that's a majority of my console games, but I'm getting better at representing more and more genres! Anyway even though I have a good deal of console and PC RPGs, I started with the Japanese bastardizations of the traditional PC and pen and paper role playing. The two sides of the ocean have different style, I believe that does not mean that one should be put down or discriminated against as there are still fans of both, just that Western ones have been gaining popularity in recent years as PC exclusivity is not pretty much non-existent.
Anyway now that I have that little rant done it is time to get started on this little micro review. Here I'm doing a little twist on my normal format on this blog so far where I kick down a bad game and beat the crap out of it while it is down, and instead find a game that I love and ask the question, Why Didn't I Play This Sooner? And I'm starting off with a console RPG for the PS1, I did not even know about this series until the third one on PS2, but hey, my parents were cheap and I was a child of the 90's, although completely separated from the internet, making it quite a bit harder to hear about some more obscure titles. Anyway, this is Grandia, originally released for the Sega Saturn, only in Japan, and then ported to the Playstation and released internationally. It was developed by Game Arts, the same company behind Lunar, the Sipheed shmups, and GunGriffon mech piloting series, and was published in the USA by SCEA, hence its exclusivity.
[img width=700 height=525]http://www.rpgamer.com/games/grandia/grand/themes/grandia_wallp_1024x768(dragonsquallz).jpg[/img]
I found this in near mint condition, complete, for an incredible price a couple weekends back and have just now started playing it in my free time. And I must say that this is a charming, unique, and fun take on the RPG genre. The battle system is fast paced and fun, making grinding fairly simple early on. Yet the battle system has some depth to it, which is explained as follows. Characters are fairly pre-built, able to equip certain items, most of which I've noticed so far breaks across gender lines, but I'm still pretty early in the game and that might change. It is a turn based system yet it sometimes does not feel that way as characters move on the battlefield depending on their orders and the speed of your other characters.
Send the hero, Justin to attack with his sword while his token childhood friend Sue uses her bow? Well Justin will charge in and slice the enemies while Sue hits them from a distance, and will move away from enemies, showing decent battle AI at least for your characters. You also level up each weapon type you have equipped by using it in battle, which leads to more hits per attack, a nice addition the usual level grind and attack power increase. The game also does away with random battles, instead opting for open spaces occupied by roaming mobs, you touch said mob and you go to the battle screen, meaning you can sometimes fight on your own terms. I'm a grinder though so I'll kill everything, then go back, recover, save, and fight everything again.
The game's camera controls are quite good, taking a cue from Xenogears to let the player use the shoulder buttons to spin it around and get a good angle to look for hidden treasures or NPCs to talk to. Anymore in RPGs I avoid the NPCs as they tend to be totally useless, because of the whimsical and comical nature of this game though, I found myself talking to them again, all of them, and laughing more often than not at what is said. From a man who is fine having nasty, rank B.O., to another man having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that his Sergeant woman boss is beautiful yet harsh, the perfect S&M mistress perhaps?
Now it is time to discuss at least the beginning of the game. You play as Justin, a young troublemaking rogue from the town of Parm, of course the town names will not make any sense, this is a Japanese RPG we're talking about! Anyway Justin has a childhood friend, like 90% of these games, named Sue, she in a twist of originality, has a flying bunny... thing, follow her named Puffy, which may as well be a pokemon.
[img width=558 height=702]http://images.wikia.com/grandia/images/1/14/Sue_Visual.jpg[/img]
These are the two you start off with and the game starts with a treasure search of sorts, the opening has you getting chased off by a man for digging through his shed, then Justin goes back to his archrival Gantz (which is the name of an amazing manga and much less so anime) as they are in the middle of a treasure hunting contest. By now the player should be laughing, oh laughing heartily. The reason I say this is because the voice actors are horrible, absolutely awful, terrible, with inflections completely wrong. But, you can hear from their performances that they are having fun with their jobs of reading these lines, it is horrible, but laughably bad, making the acting and voice overs do a complete 180 spin into the realm of awesomely bad. Something that helps the voice acting become this way is the fact that the writing is actually quite good from what I've seen so far. I mean I can walk up to some random man in Justin's mom's, Lilly's, restaurant and tell him he has B.O. Only for the man to retort that his scent is a manly scent that is brought about by the working of metal, and brawn. Best. Game. Ever.
[img width=640 height=507]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c42/Stoirmeacha/bra.png[/img]
Now after finding all the treasures you go back to Gantz in time to see him getting scolded, then Justin and Sue run by and escape to Lilly's restaurant. Of course, like every Japanese RPG, Justin's dad is nowhere to be seen, yet he is referenced as a great man and even better treasure hunter. You get this nice dinner scene after a bit where Justin is able to speak to both Sue and Lilly, getting dialogue options. This is actually quite a nice idea to stuff in some light character development between major scenes and acts in the early part of the game, I'm too early to know whether or not it continues until the end, but I'll let experience say that eventually, I get too far away from home to do that on a daily basis.
Justin just dreams to be a great explorer and treasure hunter, so after going for a visit to the local museum and breaking a statue, he gets a nice envelope that lets him into the nearby ruins that are being excavated. Now you head there, first grind, and then head into the ruins, meeting three Sergeants on the way, all women, and all angry and annoyed at everything. They revel in their power to discipline their troops and when Justin approaches them with his letter, one of them rips it up and tosses it down a hole. Not one to give up, Justin goes down into the ruins anyway, probably thinking in his head a less clever way of the words, Disregard Women, Acquire Currency. Here is where I am currently at in the story, not very far in, but since the beginning all I can think is, Why the *^%$& didn't I play this sooner?
[img width=555 height=729]http://troll.me/images/joseph-ducreux/disregard-women-acquire-currency.jpg[/img]
Its still early in my playthrough, but this game did what a good game should do, catch your attention early and keep hold of it with style, wit, and great voice acting. Now I am rather anxious to get hold of Grandia II & III, too bad my local game store has them and wants to charge twice what they're worth. I shall wait and then work my way to getting them through the internet like series of tubes. Until next time, stay classy my friends.
Just thought I would share the deals I found during the week.
Wheel of Fortune Handheld game and a loose copy of Unreal Tounament 2 for $1.00 on friday.
Just wanted to add I i got a leapfrog leapster wirh 2 games learning with leap and kindergarten and a segagenesis vol 1 plug n play tv game and 3 playstation controller extensions oh and the leapster came in a case. I got that on saturday and it all cost $22 dollars. Plus I picked up PK ,out of the shadows for $2.99 at Game on a local gamestore here.
And X-men origins: wolverine uncaged edition from same place for 15.99 for ps3. And on saturday I orderd Dissidia 012 off square enix,s website for 29.99.
(I recently wrote a paper for school discussing the Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out the law in California banning the sale of "violent" games to children and thought I'd share it here! I've been wanting to start blogging here for a while now and thought this would be a great starting point. Let me know what you think and expect more to come!)
 Trying to link popular media to the corruption of young people is nothing new in America. From Tipper Gore and the PMRC going after musicians in the eighties to the formation of the Hays code for rating movies in the thirties, people have tried to make the argument that material which some may find objectionable is detrimental to the minds of those who experience it and can be clearly linked to deviant behavior. The extent of that particular type of influence is a debate that may never reach a conclusion that satisfies both sides. With its rise in popularity over the last few decades, the video game industry is the latest target being made an example of by those who wish to limit a consumer's access to material that they find objectionable. California has tried and failed to pass a law prohibiting the sale of certain games. As with any other form of artistic expression, this is a type of censorship, something that is clearly against the First Amendment of the Constitution. With a voluntary, self imposed rating system and a lack of clear evidence as to the influence that games have on the minds of players, the dismissal of California's law by the United States Supreme Court is the right decision, the only decision, in defending the rights of game makers to be able to freely express themselves through their creations.
In 2005, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a ban on the sale of violent video games to minors. Retailers caught in violation of this ban would be subject to fines of up to $1000. Before the law was even put into effect it was tossed out in a San Francisco federal appeals court. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court in June of 2011 before yet again being struck down by a ruling of 7-2 as an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of video game makers as outlined by the First Amendment. Proponents of the law state that the government "has a legal obligation to protect children from graphic interactive images when the industry has failed to do so" (Mears). That begs the question as to how and to what extent the gaming industry has failed.
Continue reading Supreme Court Sides With Gamers
Good news for everyone that takes joy when I strike out while saling. Yeah, I know you're out there! This will be two weeks in a row without a massive haul of awesomeness. But, I do have a good excuse this time. Once again, I had other obligations that interfered with treasure hunting. The only day I got to do much hunting was on Friday, which is generally the slowest day anyway. You see, Saturday I had to quit saling at 11 AM to go to a great party (two-vehicle-accidents-two-head-injuries-and-one-trip-to-the-emergency-room great) and on Sunday I was just too tired from drinking all day to get up early for the trip to the flea market.
But before we get into this weeks deals, be sure to check out my GameGavel auctions, there's only one new auction, and its a relist for this week. But there's plenty to look over from last week that are still going on and at low bids.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #6
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