Technology makes us dumb, apparently

"Technology isolation syndrome" is the reason that people are dumber than they use to be, according to research sponsored by Tesco (who plans to con people combat this by releasing an "internet phone technology" - which already exists in the form of VoiP). The research points out that teens have lower vocabulary than those in their mid 20s to mid 30s and games and music are to be blamed. Surprising isn't it, yes but, no but...?

via Guardian Gamesblog

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I was at a GameStation store yesterday and the guy in front of me was buying the following:

3x Wii Remotes
1x Wii Classic Controller
1x The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess for Wii
1x Madden 07 for Wii
1x Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz for Wii
1x The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess strategy book

Nothing wrong with wasting around £240 (though why bother with a strategy book when you can download free FAQs) especially if you can afford it, but this customer didn't have an actual Wii console. He was stocking up regardless. Nintendo, it must be great to have the amount of money coming your way, but for people to actually play those games that they bought, they must also own the console. Good luck to him, but I suspect that this guy's recent purchases will see no action before Christmas!

Technorati tags: Video Games Nintendo Nintendo Wii Wii

Sonic/Mario GAME gift cards / Dragon Quest IX on DS!

I don't normally go for GAME stuff but these gift cards are awesome. Great for any fans of Sonic and Mario. Too bad the new Sonic the Hedgehog game blows. Pokemon (Pikachu) and The Sims 2 (bleh!) cards are also available.



Anyone moaning the lack of RPG goodness on the DS platform should send letters to thankfulness to Yuji Horri. After one successful Dragon Quest spin-off and another one on the way, the creator of the series has decided to bring the next major installment (numbered) of the series, Dragon Quest IX, to the DS platform. And it won't be a spin-off either. The early build looks great. Combat will move from turn based to action orientated (ala Mana series), which may enrage some hardcore fans. But to me RPG isn't about the combat system, it is about role-playing. This is why the genre is called RPG (role-playing game).



The super deformed characters reminds me a whole lot of the SNES era and this wil solidify the DS as the new SNES. Fixed consoles like the Wii and PS3 may have better graphics than portables, but with people like me always on the move, bringing one of the best series to a (successful) portable platform may actually pay off for Squenix. By the way, it will be developed by Level 5, the developers who made the pretty Dragon Quest VIII.

Waiting for the inevitable special edition Dragon Quest DS Lite. My enamel navy DS Lite is getting seriously needing a replacement. I counted about six specks of dusts under the touch screen. Bloody annoying, especially in the sun.

Jenni's surprise birthday party

We held a surprise birthday party for Jenni yesterday. Had a great time. Here are some pictures:























Absolutely freezing today. Had to go back to London in minus temperature. The NatEx coach I took had a busted heater too.

Christmas controversy

India nuclear export okay according to US.

Bloody fucking hypocrite!

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Ooo... about 15 days to Christmas and we already have a Christian vs Seculars, Muslims Vs Christians, believers Vs non-believers etc. war of words going on through the mass media. With nothing like Jerry Springer: The Opera planned on the BBC, I thought we would have a boring December. But no... Let me say this, this Christmas will be a lively one.

First up, Muslim Association of Britain has decided that after the way the right wing media managed to kill of any possible release of Rule of Rose video game, they thought that they could do the same - this time on a crap game based on crap Christian books, titled Left Behind: Eternal Forces. In this RTS title you command a Christian army, out and about killing non-believers (apparently modeled after the UN). Wow. The Times reported (wrongly) that the game could be heading for the best seller chart (didn't they know how un-Christian Britain is?). They also failed to mention that progressive Christians in the US has already condemned the game. Even seculars are joining in, but fortunately stop short of calling a ban, instead respecting our rights to make decisions on our own.

Next up, Channel 4 has decided to drum up some kind of controversy, by inviting a veiled Muslim lady to deliver the 'alternative Christmas message' - which is kind of stupid, even by C4's standard. But it brings in the kind of irrelevant religious debate that we are hoping for. First strike by Christian Voice UK's Stephen Green: "The niqab is a veil of separation between Muslims and the indigenous Christian community. This will expose multi-culturalism for what it is – a bias against the indigenous Christian population". But nobody takes him seriously so nobody bothered to reply.

A Wii dilemma

I had a dream last night that I took the tube to Central London at 6am and walked into GAME's flagship store in Oxford Circus and purchased a Wii box (which isn't going to happen, because by 6am everything would be sold out), sans Twilight Princess. It is weird because up until then, I rather delay getting it until sometime next year when more quality games are available (It took half a year before developers started making good games on the DS). I still won't get it this weekend, but now the thought of getting it during the launch window will always be hanging over my head. Ah hell, at least I can look forward to the new Castlevania game this Christmas.

BTW always remove your socks when walking down a carpeted stairs. It really fucking hurts if you slipped...

Technorati tags: Nintendo Wii

Christmas isn't that offensive

I love it when right-wingers whinge about the 'secularisation' of Christmas and hiding behind their favourite 'political correctness gone mad' sayings. I mean many of us non-believers love Christmas too. It gives us a chance to sample booze and looking forward to capitalism's greatest and only gift to us - the massive January sales, during which when we can laugh at the hundreds of Chinese girls queuing up in the cold for outdated Gucci bags.

Christmas to me is about sitting in front of the telly, putting on winter fat, while watching the endless re-runs and Doctor Who specials, and cringing at the latest Tim Allen bomb. Anyway it isn't like Christmas is the celebration of Christianity, when all they did was nicking the festival from the pagans.

Technorati tags: Christmas Christianity

Top 100 games of all time

Another utterly worthless post to keep this blog from heading down the gutter. This time a top 100 games of all time, that I have ever bothered to play.

I didn't put much thought into the list. Who would? It isn't a serious list, just a list of games I love(d), as of November 2006. It doesn't include pretentious games that many people pretend to like though. Also, not all that made the list, I would even consider twice of playing again. For example F-Zero was great and I had fond memories of it, but will I ever play it again? Hell no. It has aged rather badly me thinks (faux 3D games tends to do that).

I did think hard (for like 10 minutes) of ranking the top 10 games though and why I love them. Commentary on the top 5 (because I am lazy enough not to justify the latter five).

List updated as of May 2008

1. Total Annihilation (PC, Cavedog Entertainment, 1997)
- This is the ultimate game as far as I am concerned. When I first played this many many years ago, I had no idea that it would ever lodge Red Alert from my top RTS game list, but it did. Incredible graphics (even in this day), soundtrack and huge maps. Enemy A.I. was a bit patchy, but so what? The cool thing about this game was building up a massive army (hundreds) of cyber robots and watching the mayhem as they destroy the pitiful enemies. This game rocks, and still rock hard today. I pity the fools who prefers StarCraft over this.

2. Chrono Trigger (SNES, Square Co., 1995)
- Still the greatest RPG ever made, Chrono Trigger, while short, featured multiple ending due to the non-linear gameplay offered through time traveling.

3. Final Fantasy VI (SNES, Square Co. 1994)
- While not too dissimilar with fanboy favourite Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VI was without doubt a much better game. Nothing more nothing less. That is of course my opinion.

4. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2, Square Enix/tri-Ace, 2006)
- Without a doubt one of the best RPG game in recent history. The sequel to the fantastic PS1 game eschews jRPG cliché for a more modern uptake on the stale genre.

5. Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix, 2006)
- The developers of Final Fantasy XII with much flair, revamped the series for the PS2's final Fantasy swansong. Purist may hate it, but this is destined to be a classic.

6. Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PC, Westwood Studios, 1996)
- Who could ever forget playing Red Alert on those creaky Windows 95 Pentium machines, cranking up the speakers to full blast whenever 'Hell March' plays, annoying the neighbours at the same time? The sequel to another masterpiece, gameplay hasn't really aged well, but the graphics (made up of 2D sprites over 3D isometric plane) still hold up well.

7. Rollercoaster Tycoon (PC, Chris Sawyer, 1999)
- It is quite shocking that such a behemoth of a game was developed by a single man who was obssessed with rollercoaster, which in turn turned many of us into obsessed Rollercoaster Tycoon gamers - with so many sleepless night wasted trying to create the most insane rollercoaster there is.

8. Gyakuten Saiban 3 (DS, Capcom Production Studio 4, 2007)
- An utterly bonkers of a game, yet a fine example that text adventure role playing genre can still do well.

9. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GCN, Nintendo EAD, 2003)
- If I was a well known guy and this was a well known list, Zelda fanboys would be sending threats due to my ranking of Wind Waker higher than Ocarina of Time. Fortunately this is the internet and such a simpleton like me isn't important enough to warrant an assault. Put it simply, in my opinion, OoT has aged rather badly, whereas Wind Waker, like an old Disney classic, still looks stunning (granted it is newer after all).

10. Soul Calibur (DC, Namco, 1999)
- When I got the Dreamcast for the low price of 20 quid, I bought three games with it, all original, and all at a fiver a piece. This was one of it. Beautifully executed moves were a joy to create. Maybe I should start looking for my old Dreamcast again.

11. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2, Team-Ico)
12. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2, Level-5/Square-Enix)
13. ICO (PS2, SCEI)
14. Metal Gear Solid (PSX, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan)
15. God of War (PS2, SCEA)

The rest (in alphabetical order):

Advance Wars (GBA, Intelligent Systems)
Age of Empires (PC, Ensemble Studios)
American McGee's Alice (PC, Rogue Entertainment)
Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS, Nintendo)
Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA, Treasure)
Battle City (NES, Namco)
Beach Life (PC, Deep Red)
Bubble Bobble (NES, Taito)
Caesar III (PC, Impressions Games)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, Konami)
Command & Conquer (PC, Westwood)
Commandos 2: Men of Courage (PC, Pyro Studios)
Contact (DS, Grasshopper Manufacture)
Contra (NES, Konami)
Crazy Taxi (DC, Hitmaker)
Dead or Alive 2 (DC, Team Ninja)
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive (PC, Spellbound)
Dino Crisis (DC, Capcom Production Studio 4)
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2, Nippon Ichi)
Doom (PC, id Software)
Double Dragon II (NES, Technos Japan)
Dragon Quest III (SNES, Enix)
Empire Earth (PC, Stainless Steel Studios)
Final Fantasy IV (SNES, Square)
F-Zero (SNES, Nintendo)
God of War II (PS2, SCEA Santa Monica)
Golden Sun (GBA, Camelot)
Gradius (NES, Konami)
Gunstar Heroes (SMD, Treasure)
Half-Life (PC, Valve)
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (GBA, Marvelous)
Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2 (PC, Ritual Entertainment)
Hexen (PC, Raven Software)
Hitman: Codename 47 (PC, IO Interactive)
Ice Climber (NES, Nintendo)
killer7 (GCN, Capcom Production Studio 4/Grasshopper Manufacture)
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (GBA, HAL)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA, Flagship)
Lode Runner (NES, Hudson)
Max Payne (PC, Remedy Entertainment)
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC, 2015, Inc.)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (PC, Lucas Arts)
Mortal Kombat II (SNES, Sculptured Software)
Mother 2/Earthbound (SNES, HAL)
No One Lives Forever (PC, Monolith)
Okami (PS2, Clover)
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS, iNiS)
Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast (PS2, Sumo Digital)
Paperboy (NES, Mindscape)
Parasite Eve (PS1, SquareSoft)
Populous: The Beginning (PC, Bullfrog)
Prince of Persia (PC, Broderbund)
Quake (PC, id Software)
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii, Capcom Production Studio 4)
Resident Evil Code: Veronica (DC, Capcom Production Studio 4)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC, Gray Matter Interactive)
Sam & Max Episodes Season One (PC, Telltale Games)
The Secret of Monkey Island (PC, Lucasfilm Games)
Seiken Densetsu: Secret of Mana (SNES, Square)
Sensible Soccer (PC, Sensible Software)
Shenmue (DC, Sega AM2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2, Atlus)
Shogo Mobile Armor Division (PC, Monolith)
Shogun: Total War (PC, Creative Assembly)
SimCity 2000 (PC, Maxis)
SiN (PC, Ritual Entertainment)
Snails (PDA, PDAMill)
Sonic the Hedgehog (SMD, Sonic Team)
Suikoden III (PS2, Konami)
Super Bomberman (SNES, Hudson)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo)
Super Metroid (SNES, Nintendo)
Street Fighter II (Arcade, Capcom)
Tales of Phantasia (GBA, Namco)
Tetris (GB, Nintendo)
Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS, Atlus)
Unreal Tournament (PC, Epic)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2, tri-Ace)
Viewtiful Joe (GCN, Capcom Production Studio 4)
WipEout Pulse (PSP, Sony Studio Liverpool)
The World Ends With You (DS, Square Enix)
Xenogears (PS1, SquareSoft)
Yakuza (PS2, SEGA)

DC: Dreamcast
DS: Nintendo DS
GB: Game Boy
GBA: Game Boy Advance
GCN: GameCube
SMD: Sega Megadrive/Genesis
N64: Nintendo 64
NES: Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom
PC: Windows PC/DOS
PDA: Pocket PC/PalmOS
PS2: PlayStation 2
PSX: PlayStation
SNES: Super Nintendo/Super Famicom

Technorati tags: Video Games Total Annihilation

Tabloid victory over Rule of Rose

Just had the misfortune to watch a couple of minutes of the gross Madonna Confessions Tour on Channel 4. Ugh. Didn't even bother to wait for the hypocritical religious critique.

Am getting my arse pwned in Final Fantasy III by entering the Forbidden Land Eureka before I was ready. It is a great place to level up and earn some gils though.

Sticking with gaming, thanks to several right wing tabloids, a Japanese game titled Rule of Rose has been shelved for any UK release. Although not banned by the government (it received a PEGI rating of '16' after all), publisher 505 Games (the same publisher of that bible 'game') has decided to pander to media pressure and canned the UK release, which means until some other brave publisher picks it up, the UK gamers has to import to play it.

Reviews of the game has been mixed but when I showed the clips to Jenni a couple of weeks ago, we found that we were interested in a game that allows us to play as an underage British school girl, hacking away at her peers. The game must be good then, and the macabre style reminds me a lot of American McGee's Alice - a game that I enjoyed.

For some time we gamers this side of the Atlantic, has been pretty lucky to be spared the moralistic crusade by politicians attempting to blame violence on video games, much like what has been happening in the US for a number of years. I think the BBFC and PEGI has been doing an outstanding job in rating games effectivel. Obviously some EU twit down in Brussels thought otherwise, calling for changes in the way PEGI issues rating, evoking a sense of deja-vu to those who follows the US gaming scene, where Hillary Clinton et al. is attempting to pursue changes to the ESRB rating system.

Technorati tags: Madonna Final Fantasy III Rule of Rose