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Well, another week with a late blog post. Our county fair was this past week and I wasn't home from Friday until today, so this was the earliest I could get it written up. Unfortunately, because I was at the fair all weekend, I didn't get to go treasure hunting this weekend. My dad went without me, and he was instructed to call me if he found anything, but he supposedly didn't see anything.
However, I was able to stop at a sale between classes on Thursday. It was a massive "tent sale" but I didn't see much that I wanted. I got a pair of big old truck horns for $1 each, but neither ended up working. Luckily, before I left, the guy says that there is a Nintendo and an Xbox in a trailer outside the tent. So I walk over and find this stuff:
[img width=700 height=524]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/Mike_2_0_0_6/Game%20Collection/2008%20Scores/DSCN9934.jpg[/img]
The SNES stuff was marked $25 for it all, the Xbox and hookups were $35 and the Xbox games were $1 each. All very acceptable prices, but I figured I could do better. I offered $50, which they accepted. However, since I wasn't planning on garage saling at that moment, I didn't have $50 on me, so I had them put it aside and told them I'd be back to pay. Which worked out pretty well because she didn't have the power cord, but by the time I came back with the cash, she had it.
So, now I finally have my own Xbox. All I need is a SMS and I'll be satisfied with the consoles I have for a long time now.
There was also three boxes with a boxed 4 switch VCS and a loose 6 switch, plus several boxed games and a couple dozen loose games (all commons, only a couple I don't have) and a few other old electronic stuff for $20. I thought about buying it, but it was just too dirty for me. I knew I would end throwing half of it away and the other half would need to be fumigated for cockroaches, so I left it.
Hey, I bet you like games. You're here, right? Chances are that you even have a computer. In fact, I'd almost guarantee that you have a computer. Anyways, on a rare occasion, some people like to give out something truly awesome for free. You see, as a kid, I really enjoyed the game Red Alert. It was a fun time spent playing as the Soviets, reeking havoc on the allied bases and infantry with MiGs and Tesla Coils. Oh my oh my, good times to be had. So yes, imagine my surprise to find out that EA, the cold corporation you love to hate, has decided to let you download Red Alert for free. That's right... free. How can you turn down free? I bet you can't and you'll use the link below to get the game as quickly as humanly possible.
Get Red Alert for Free (Scroll Down Page)
Our databases would be nothing without the submissions of our members. Thanks to the submissions of our members, we can say that RF Generation is THE Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.
August saw lots of submissions - 2962, to be exact. Lots of people helped to make us have 2962 new submissions, and this month, Funk_Buddy kicked ass and took names with 840 submissions! Way to go! We really appreciate it! Rounding out the top 3 were Apolloboy and NES_Rules, and our top non-staff submitter was eaglebeak99! Of course, while these four people submitted a lot of data, they are not the only submitters, and we'd like to thank everyone who submitted, including the following people who made 50 or more submissions:
Funk_Buddy, ApolloBoy, NES_Rules, eaglebeak99, Tan, ga5ket, NayusDante, Sirgin, totalgridlock, Alabama-Shrimp, Darth Sidious, blcklblskt
Of course, for all the submissions, someone must review them all. This month, Tan was the excellent gentleman who reviewed your submissions the most. NES_Rules also helped out a lot. Thanks you two and everyone else on staff that helped with submissions!
From all of us at RF Generation, thanks for the awesome August! Here's hoping for an even better September!
Thanks for the submissions, all!
The fall release season marches on this week...if you're a PS3/360 owner. The rest of you get nothing much at all. Here's the lineup:
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | •FaceBreaker
•Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
•NFL Head Coach 2009
•Rapala Fishing Frenzy
•Vampire Rain: Altered Species
| •FaceBreaker
•Infinite Undiscovery
•Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
•NFL Head Coach 2009
•Rapala Fishing Frenzy
•Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
•Warhammer: Battle March | •Rapala Fishing Frenzy ($10 more than the PS3/360 version?!) | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | | ... | •Picto Image | •Mercenaries 2: World in Flames |
 This is actually a pretty good week considering how early it is in the season. Mercenaries 2 is the sequel to the 2005 PS2/XBox original, and expands on its sandbox style of gameplay. This new installment features enhanced physics (powered by the ever-popular Havok engine), the ability to light things on fire, swimming (along with boats as an added vehicle type), air support, a grappling hook, and more. I haven't played the first game, but the new installment looks pretty neat.
Next up is a game that I have tried, Facebreaker. This is the first game to be published under EA's new label: EA Sports Freestyle. Freestyle, as explained by EA Sports head, Peter Moore, provides "a lighter gaming experience and an easier entry point into EA Sports." Enough with the businessy talk, the game is pretty damned fun based on the demo. It's a simplified version of EA's own Fight Night series but with cartoony characters and a humorous tone, much like Ready 2 Rumble for the Dreamcast. FaceBreaker is nothing outstanding, but it certainly should be worth getting when the price drops to around $20 or $30. If you're interested in the game, give the demo on PSN or Xbox Live a shot.
Next up: Infinite Undiscovery, the much anticipated ( ) Xbox 360 exclusive RPG from Square-Enix (that's something you don't see every day). I honestly don't care about this game, I only highlighted it for Square fanboys (the most annoying variety) so that they don't totally deride me and rip me to shreds.
Finally, the true follow-up to possibly the greatest game on the 360 comes out this week. That's right, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. The new game includes 30 new species, new areas, and an Eye of Judgment rip-off like feature which allows you to scan cards using a Live Vision camera and get new Piñatas that way. But unlike Eye of Judgment, Rare is actually going to be making these cards free on their website and maybe bundled with promotional partner products.
That's all for this week. Be sure to check back next time!
Now this is a review on Mortal Kombat that this guy, Sizzler07 on youtube did. This has got to be the worst video game review of a video game that ive ever seen! I dont even think that he has even played the game before he turned the camera on himself! He says that the game shouldnt have ever been ported from the arcade. He also has done a Contra review that was even removed because he bashed the game so heavily that people were creating so many video responses and flaming his review. The MK review pissed me off so badly, and it may even piss off some of the most hardcore MK fans. Anyway, just watch it.
[img align=right width=200]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-072/bf/U-072-S-01210-A.jpg[/img]Maximo: Ghosts To Glory (2002) is Capcom's effort in trying to create a modern platform game with the classic Ghosts 'N Goblins feel to it. The game was originally planned for release on the Nintendo 64, but after being delayed a couple of years it found itself on the PS2 instead.
When starting a new game you'll see Maximo returning home after war in a nice CGI cutscene. Things aren't exactly as he had hoped because Achille has taken over his kingdom and opened the door to the underworld. To make matters worse, Achille has captured four princesses aswell as Maximo's wife, Sophia. With a devastation spell, Achille sends Maximo to the underworld where he's given a chance by the Grim Reaper to resque the princesses and regain control over his kingdom.
Despite being a difficult game, the gameplay of Maximo isn't complicated at all. Maximo is restricted to four moves: a basic swing of his sword, a power strike, a downward strike after double-jumping and throwing his shield. When venturing through the five worlds of the game you'll encounter different enemies that each require a unique combination of moves to defeat.
Knowing how to defeat each enemy is critical for your success, because just like in games of the past, Maximo dies after only a couple of hits. Furthermore, you need 100 coins each time you want to save; which is only possible in the central hub-level of each world. If Maximo happens to loose all his lives he'll return to the underworld where the Grim Reaper will ask for a Death Coin to revive the fallen hero. A Death Coins is obtained by collecting 50 Blue Spirits. If you die without any Death Coins, it's game over for good. All of this results in a game that's far more difficult than other platform games on the PS2, or even modern games in general.
Needless to say, Maximo will require a lot of trial & error, figuring out how to defeat certain enemies or remembering where the next armor chest is located.
To make things less repetitive, Maximo will find abilities along the way aswell as power-ups for his sword and shield. Some abilities are almost vital to survive (like the double swing or throw shield abilities) while others aren't of much use throughout most of the game (like Thunderbolt) The sword power-ups however always come in handy, as they make Maximo's sword stronger and are needed for certain abilities. To get the most out of these abilities it's best not to die, because Maximo looses all but a few "locked" ones when faced with death.
Each world features five levels that are to be completed to gain access to the world's boss and the next world eventually. Each level has its own difficult moments but luckily a couple of checkpoints can be activated, so death doesn't necessarily mean starting all the way from the beginning of the level. After clearing a level you'll get a great feeling of success that is hardly present anymore in most modern games.
Maximo's graphics match its old-school gameplay in a sense that everything (except the character models) looks a bit blocked and flat. Often, walls or floors aren't more than a single huge polygon with a texture slapped onto it, clearly showing Maximo's history on the N64. This never bothers me because Maximo is intended to feel like a 16-bit era game. On the other hand, character models are detailed and animations are fast and smooth.
The sound of the game does the job well, with nice sound effects and good voice-acting for the (scarce) CGI cutscenes. I especially like the the game's music that enhances its classic mood aswell as each world at the same time. A couple more songs would have been nice though.
Overall, Maximo is a double-edged sword. Novice gamers will be frustrated with the game's trial & error gameplay and cumbersome save system while old-school gamers will love the game's nostalgic feel. If you're up for a challenge, like platform games or like 16-bit games, be sure to check out Maximo: Ghosts To Glory. 8.6/10
This should be Treasure Hunt Chronicles #18, but I accidentally erased it, please forgive me. Although I guess it is 3 weeks old at this point, so why are you reading it anyway, go read the new one!
Hope you've braced yourself because the onslaught of new games starts to ramp up this week! RPG fans have two great "next-gen" games to look forward to this week, and golf fans get the latest installment of EA's Tiger Wood series. Nintendo fans also get in on the action this week with a new Mario sports game...and a shit ton of shovelware. Think this week is loaded? HA! It's only gonna get worse as we approach the holiday season.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | •Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
•Ferrari Challenge
•Tiger Woods 09
•Vampire Rain: Altered Species | •Tales of Vesperia
•Tiger Woods 09 | •Ferrari Challenge
•Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery
•Mario Super Sluggers
•Pajama Sam in Don't Fear the Dark
•Rebel Raiders
•Spy Fox in Dry Cereal
•Tiger Woods 09 | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | •Fading Shadows (GameStop Exclusive)
•N+
•Tiger Woods 09 | •Commando Steel Disaster
•Digimon World Championship
•Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
•From the Abyss
•Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
•My Chinese Coach
•N+
•Picto Image
•The Quest Trio
•The Sims 2 Apartment Pets | •Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
•Tiger Woods 09 |
 So, highlights this week include Tales of Vesperia, Disgaea 3, Tiger Woods 09, Mario Super Sluggers, and N+. I'm not going to spend a lot of time detailing each title, but I'll give you a brief rundown of them all. Tales of Vesperia, fun JRPG (holy shit, an RPG I like...at least based on the demo), latest in the Tales series, fans start screaming kawaii now. Disgaea 3: latest in the JSRPG (that's Japanese Strategy RPG for short) series, weeaboos rejoice and have a seat, I'm Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC. Tiger Woods 09: You know what this is about, more golf and jesus shots. Mario Super Sluggers: more casual games from Nintendo, thanks Cammie! N+: It's like the original PC/Mac/Linux or Xbox Live Arcade game on the go, you can't go wrong.
You know, coding a game progress tracker is a lot of work. God knows when it will be finished, but to keep myself from going crazy, I like to play Guitar Hero. See, I like rhythm games. In fact, I like them a lot! They might form my favorite genre, and I wholeheartedly look forward to future releases like Samba De Amigo and Guitar Hero: World Tour. I don’t know what it is about rhythm games, but I find them utterly addictive and extremely enjoyable. Perhaps you hold the same opinion, or maybe you don’t. The latter is cool, except that some people in that group take their reasoning to the extreme, and it makes me angry.
See, I used to be a musician. A band geek, so to speak. In addition to being a band geek, I also wore broken plastic glasses, a monochrome short-sleeved shirt, and a pocket protector in the shirt pocket. Just ask the Black Perl, he’d vouch for that. You know, we band geeks are horribly nerdy. That must have been why the jocks always beat the crap out of me and my friends. But, aside from being an über nerd, being a musician gave me a love for all things musical. Can I still play a saxophone or clarinet? Hell if I know, but I can still play my recorder. But, it was a good time, and being a musician gave me some skill sets that others just don’t have.
So, I was a musician, marching in Ohio’s Finest (Only) All-Male Marching Band. I am proficient in reading music sheets, and if I practiced (and I don’t), I could probably become a decent musician once more. I really enjoy my musical prowess to a certain extent, but that certainly doesn’t exclude me from liking things that bastardize music. What could possibly bastardize music? Why, rhythm games, of course, and this bastardization make some of you very unhappy.
Continue reading The Cynical Gamer #9: Rhythm Whining
[img align=right width=200]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-016/bf/U-016-S-03370-A.jpg[/img]Guild Wars: Prophecies, released in 2005, was the first game ArenaNet ever developed. It's an MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that shares many traits with other games in the genre, but also introduced some interesting things; most importantly maybe that there's no monthly fee for playing this MMO.
If Guild Wars (GW) would've been an offline RPG, its story could've been considered a bit shallow. It is however an online RPG, where story is somewhat less important than the actual online interaction with other players.
You start out as a new recruit of Ascalon, which has been at war with the Charr for years. The Charr are a bunch of savage creatures from the North, who look like upright walking tigers with horns. Suddenly disaster strikes as the Charr launch a massive, magic-fed attack and almost completely overrun Ascalon; an event later called "The Searing". You regain control over your character two years later in the now post-apocalyptic Ascalon where the story further unfolds...
This story is what it should be and drives the main missions well. However, you already get to play with your character before the Searing, all of which serves as a big tutorial. In this tutorial (which can easily take up 10 hours) you learn the basics of combat for all professions and have to choose your secondary profession before you'll get thrown into the actual game.
As with most MMO's, you first get to create your character: male or female, tall or short, brown or blond hair. Also, you immediately have to decide which profession you want to be: ranger, warrior, monk, elementalist, necromancer or mesmer. This is a choice that'll profondly effect your further gameplay, so it's wise to try a few professions first before investing too much time in one that doesn't suit your style of play.
GW features pretty standard gameplay. Each profession can wield any type of weapon, but can only wear its own specific armor. The attributes of each profession are different though, which is why it's best sticking with weaponry suited for you. A ranger, for example, has an attribute called "Marksmanship" which improves damage done with a bow.
You gain attribute points every time you level up, until level 20, the maximum level. Different than in most MMO's, getting your character to the maximum level doesn't take hundreds of hours, but can be completed within 50-60 hours on your first playthrough. (Incredibly fast for a game of this type) Also armor and weapons which feature maximum stats aren't that rare, giving GW quite a unique perspective on achievements compared to most MMO's.
In GW, the real goals are titles which you can display under your name. These can range from obvious ones as "Champion", "Hero" or "Explorer" to "Drunkard", "Party Animal" or "Unlucky". Some of these are relatively easy to complete but most take tens or hundreds of hours, some almost a thousand hours to complete. Craziest title of all is "Legendary Defender of Ascalon". To achieve this title you need to get to level 20 in the tutorial area (before The Searing) which requires you to make enemies level up by letting yourself die over and over again. A perfect example of playing the game without actually playing it, something that can be said of alot of the titles in this game.
To advance through the world you'll have to explore Explorable Areas (what's in a name) by yourself or in a party, making your way from outpost to outpost. Some of these areas are linked to specific missions, which also push the main story along. Don't worry though, because the other areas are filled with NPC's giving you lots of FedEx quests to gain some more experience. GW's world map is huge; exploring it alone takes hundreds of hours.
In these explorable areas, you'll come across the unavoidable monsters, which drop some gold or items for you to pick up. Every profession has different abilities, which you collect along the way. Only 8 abilities can be used at the same time, making for some strategic tactics when putting together the ultimate set of abilities.
Graphically, GW is great, with nice characters and monsters and interesting and diverse scenery. I think the water is particulary nice, even maybe by today's standards.
Music and sound are pretty standard, same goes for the voice work; although there are some catchy musical themes. It's not mind-blowing, but never gets on your nerves aswell. (Very important for a game that never ends)
Now to discuss my theory on MMORPG's as a genre, and something that GW suffers from too. The problem with an MMO is you're either addicted or you're not. There's no middle way. (Atleast not for me)
When you're addicted, the game you're playing is the greatest game ever and you don't want to play anything but that game. With objectives (in GW's case: titles) taking hundreds or thousands of hours to complete, you can easily spend a whole year on an MMO, completely submurged in the game and everything about it.
However, once that addiction fades it's hard to stay interested, because games like GW or WoW are specifically made so they're only fun when played alot. Finding the motivation to perform these long, tedious tasks becomes much harder without that obsessive drive aswell.
As a conclusion I can say that Guild Wars is a great game in its genre, but it's still an MMORPG, so beware! Once you're hooked, you might not play another game anymore for months. Don't say I didn't warn you... 8.5/10
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.
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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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