Hot Dragon Quest slime utensil set

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Manga review: Ghost in the Shell: volume one, 2nd edition

I am a massive fan of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell manga series (I am not a huge fan of the current Stand Alone Complex anime sub-series/spin-off, despite the better graphical style). Unfortunately the Volume One (issues one through eight) version that I have always read is the Titan Book/Dark Horse Comics published June 1997 UK first edition. Don't get me wrong, the adaptation is outstanding as it contains an excellent translation by Frederik Schoot and Toren Smith and lettering/retouch (effects) by Tom Orzechowski and Susie Lee, but then I saw this at the local comic book store today.

Recently (well, two years ago), Dark Horse Comics decided to reissue the volume, this time reprinted on much better quality paper and in the original Japanese A5 size. For most part the reissue is 99% exactly the same as the first edition. I won't attempt to explain the story itself, but much like William Gibson's novels, Ghost in the Shell can easily be overlooked as just another cyber punk manga. But like Gibson, beneath all the glitz, Shirow has laced the plot with subtle critique of human nature. It is a good story, but I rather not analysis Shirow's context on humanity, science and technology in this post. You just have to read it yourself, as this isn't your typical shonen manga.

The second edition, which retains the same left to right mirror localisation of the first, includes a couple of pages of previously 'lost' material and restored graphics. Translation has been re-done on a couple of previously censored pages. With this, an ugly 'explicit content' sticker thus don the front, reminding us how prude Americans can accept the extreme violent content on comics (actually everything, from TV series to video games) but unable to even glance at virtual lesbians having sex... Sadly the bonus comic book covers that were included at the back of the first edition were omitted in this version, so really, both editions has trade-offs one way or another. Regardless the second edition is the definitive English version as it does contain the previously censored content.

Paperback: 368 pages A5
Publisher: Dark Horse; 2nd Revision/Edition
ISBN: 1593072287

A review of Man-Machine Interface is forthcoming.

Raiden

I just started my third playthrough of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty yesterday (currently half way through the Plant Chapter). Some has lamented the inclusion of Raiden as the main playable character in the fourth Metal Gear game, but I never understood why. Many has dubbed him an annoying bugger and worse, a fag (in a derogatory sense).

Sure he has an androgynous appearance, but I think this probably highlights the cultural difference in gaming between the West and the East (well Japan and Otaku sub-culture). One has to look at Gears of Wars, Halo et. al, big budget American games with big burly grunts as heroes, to realise this. I like my video gaming characters to have a 'normal' body. And while Solid Snake is in no way like any id/Epic grunt, he does conform to the archtypical stereotyped male character of the West.

I understand why some are annoyed, because Kojima did (mis?)lead people to believe that Solid Snake would be the main character, due to the box art work (only the original Sons of Liberty Japanese cover that Raiden is featured on the cover before the Substance version is released two years later) as well as the Tanker Chapter. But I do not know why they have to get worked up with playing as Raiden. In a way, by introducing Raiden, Kojima and also introduced new moves that were only being capable of being replicated by someone more agile. In addition to that the gameplay is 99% similar to Metal Gear Solid with Solid Snake.

I like Raiden as a character. He fumbles, trips, and questions a lot, but this is the proper behaviour of an innocent rookie isn't it? Raiden is also a good playable video gaming character with a wider range of moves. In fact I look forward to him taking over from Snake from MGS4 and beyond.

Manga Impressions: Love Hina & Ikki Tousen

Without a DS Lite now (temporary I hope), I wonder what do you do when you are bored, stuck on a public transport and have no access to any entertainment that can speed up time? I guess I could play games on my PDA, but nothing good or original has been released for the past two year. I probably could read the free evening papers, but usually there is nothing there that I haven't already read on the web. And I am hopeless at reading paperbacks on moving transport.

Anyway I was sooo bored I read two mangas today (I hate TV anime). Apparently there are plenty of manga adaptations of video games now. I saw Devil May Cry and Suikoden III in Borders, but decided to get Ikki Tousen vol. 1 and Love Hina vol. 1 instead. Both features, uhm, plenty of manga nudity, but nothing reaching hentai level fortunately. So they are alright. I particularly like Love Hina 's relationship between Keitaro and Naru. It is a typical Shonen manga. Kinda like Ranma 1/2, so this is a series I will most likely follow (the whole series available in Tokyopop trade paperback English is readily available in many good book stores).

Ikki Tousen (Battle Vixen) however has plenty of action, but lack any emotional substance (at least in the first volume, although according to fans it does touch on the deep history of China, Japan, three kingdoms, whatever etc.). Consider this blurb from TOKYOPOP:

Hakufu Sonsaku, a young girl blessed with a large chest but a small brain, lives in the country with her mother. She is a Toushi, and as such she has a burning desire to beat people up, but her mother has forbidden it. Yadda yadda yadda.

Can you be more forward than that? It seems more geared towards creating a market so young people can buy quality resin figures of sexy manga half nude ladies kicking about with their panties exposed. Already I am tempted to get this, but they just had to go fudge it up by sawing a quarter of her leg out! Can't wait to see what happens in the next few volumes. ;)

My DS Lite's nasty super crack hinge

Hello boys...



One of the stupid Internet myths regarding the of high Sony's PS2 sales numbers are people are rebuying PS2 consoles because they break down one year after purchase. Chalk up one for that myth, but for Nintendo's DS Lite this time.

I was travelling on the Tube when I decided to whip out my DS Lite to play a little bit of Advance Wars: Dual Strike. After inserting the headphone and sliding the power button, I pushed upon the top lid. Immediately I heard a crack and noticed that the right hinge has broken off. Embarrassed I quickly closed the lid, picked up the broken hinge and walked out at the next station.



After I immediately inspected the part that broke off once I reached home, I believe that there is an inherit design problem with the DS Lite's right hinge. I am not stating this as fact but based on my observation I believe it to be true.



The right hinge also happens to house the mechanism to allow the DS Lite to 'lock' in place when opened, so not many of the plastic area is connected to the main body. Actually I first started noticing a problem when I played Hotel Dusk two months ago. There weren't any cracks then (or at least none that I noticed) but the top screen when opened would not clicked properly. Having used the DS Lite hundreds of time the clicking sound did not sound right. The first (visible) crack that appeared was this tiny piece of plastic pictures below which I first blogged about here. While it did not allow the screen to completely break off it significantly increased the pressure on the right hinge as the right side of the top screen would float a little bit.



If you see this picture of the broken of bit, you will notice that this bit used to secure the right side of the top screen is only connected through the main body through three rather tiny surface. Frankly I am not surprised by this after examining the broken piece. It is shoddy quality and you do not need an engineering degree to tell you that the right hinge is weak. Unfortunately for me as this is an imported unit, it is highly likely that any plea towards Nintendo to fix this, even for a fee, would probably fall on deaf ears. Ironically enough I did send an email to Nintendo Europe a few days ago enquiring about the crack but they have yet to reply. Not even the "sorry we can't do anything" kind.



As I am pretty peeved off with Nintendo at the moment I am not much in the mood to hand in more money to them, so I will be attempting to fix this (or ask one of my engineering mates to fix it for me for free), as amazingly the device still works, albeit in a non practical manner (the top screen is being held by the LCD ribbon through the left hinge). I am sure the right hinge can be glued back with industrial glue (any recommendations?), but with the PCB exposed I am reluctant to do so. I will probably get one of those proprietary silly named tri-wing screwdriver to remove the PCB first before laying down glue and before attempting to reinforce the hinge.

I love portable gaming and most of all I love Nintendo portable games, but for this to happen, it is bloody annoying. But what can you do... whatever I do, from keeping the DS Lite in a case when not in use to cleaning it up like a baby every night, nothing can protect you from pure bad luck.

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Update (01/04/07):

Jennifer's DS Lite has also suffered a DS Lite hinge crack. Fortunately it is only the "normal" left hinge crack that countless others has suffered, but as this crack is merely cosmetic and doesn't affect gameplay it should be alright. But to have two separate DS Lite suffering from cracks in the same week? What is going on Nintendo?



BTW She got the crack while playing Hotel Dusk. That game is evil.

Five exclusive PlayStation 2 games you should own

With the recent arrival of the PS3, there hasn't been a better time to get a PS2. Unlike Microsoft and Nintendo, the PS2 has yet to be abandoned, a testament to its versatility - despite it being the weakest in terms of raw power of all the last-gen consoles. New games are still being released for the PS2, such as Rogue Galaxy, Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria and Atelier Iris 3.

With many early adopters trading in their PS2 collections, pre-owned PS2 games are increasingly becoming widely available. Just yesterday I saw a guy trading in his almost mint condition copy of Shadow of the Colossus. Inspired by Richard's take on PS2 games, I decided to write this up. It's only five games though as I am just too lazy and tired (shakes angry fist at politicians who thinks British Summer Time is a great idea)!

5. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater / Subsistence
Kojima Productions, Konami (£10-£15 / £25-£40)


The thick forest setting is quite a departure from the mainly urbanised setting of previous Metal Gear games.

While Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was a great game, but if you can afford it, Subsistence is the definitive version to get. With an improved 3D camera (the same one to be used in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4), massive amount of additional content and other bonus stuff usually included in a "director's cut", as well as the first two games in the Metal Gear series - both based on the superior MSX 2 releases, there really isn't any point in getting the flawed (but still awesome) Snake Eater.

Snake Eater is set in Russia during the Cold War and centers on Naked Snake (Big Boss), a CIA operative sent to rescue a weapons researcher. Unlike previous Metal Gear games, Snake Eater begins with Snake infiltrating the enemies territory through the jungle, a far departure from the usual urban environment of previous Metal Gear games.

Subsistence also contain Metal Gear Online, and if online multiplayer rocks your boat then go get it. Take note however that the North American server for MGO will shut down next month. It is possible that the European servers would go before the year's end too, so beware. Regardless MGS3 is a solid 3rd person stealth shooter with an amazing plot. It also host what is arguably one of the most memorable boss fight in video gaming culture.

4. ICO
Team Ico (In-house), Sony Computer Entertainment (£15-£35)


ICO's architecture is a marvel to look at, even through the dated visuals and ugly textures.

ICO's failure as a commercial item is a sad affair. To be fair, part of the blame can be attributed to SCE's reluctance to market the game properly, but even then it isn't entirely their fault. Such risk taking can only go so far in a video game market dominated by uninspired titles. Even despite the recent reprinting, the only place to purchase this game today is eBay and online stores dealing with niche products.

At the age of twelve Ico, the game's protagonist who was born with a pair of horns, was taken in by warriors to a castle where they locked him up, offering him as a sacrificing token to keep evil at bay. The boy escapes from his casket. He soon finds Yorda, a fellow captive in the fortress, and together they work together to make way out of the massive fort, solving kindergarden easy to brain busting difficult puzzles and occasionally battling wraiths and ghouls as they progress.

It's only fault lies with the camera system, which sometimes hamper our ability to marvel at the inescapable beauty of ICO's architecture. The graphics of ICO may seem primitive by today's standard (even back then the lower polygon was somewhat against it - this was a PS1 game), but don't let that fool you as the visual design are still outstanding. The gameplay, surreal atmosphere and architecture is just as majestic as when it was when released. ICO is a beautiful game, and a highly artistic one at that, even down to the surrealist art cover.

3. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Level-5, Square-Enix (£15-£30)


There never has been a Dragon Quest game where Akira Toriyama's character designs are blown to video game life so realistically, giving the group of protagonists much charm - something that their next-gen photo-realistic counterparts lack.

There is hardly any difference between Dragon Quest VIII when compared to the near two decade old DQ III. Apart from the graphics and plot, nothing much has changed. Battles are still very much and combats are done through the traditional turn based system. This is very much a love-hate game, and it is entirely up to the gamer whether he likes his gameplay old school or otherwise.

The plot is the simple but effective 'once upon a time' and 'they live happily ever after' kind, and can take a massive 70-80 hours to complete (and that is just for the main quest). The game begins with you, the nameless royal guard known as the hero, who has travelled to Farebury, with a mysterious companion known as Trode, hunting for a mysterious jester known as Dhoulmagus. The jester, armed with a magical sceptre, has unleashed a curse upon the kingdom, cursing everyone within including the king and the princess. Only you, the hero, remained unscathed and it is up to you to rescue the kingdom.

Where the game truly shines is the graphical overhaul, all thanks to Level-5. The cel-shaded look is stunning and the overworld is amazingly huge. It compliments the game very well.


Dragon Quest VIII features an excellent translated script as well as brilliant voice acting by European actors.

2. Final Fantasy XII (review)
In-house, Square-Enix (£25-£35)


XII is the first Final Fantasy numbered game to introduce a hybrid turn and menu based combat system. I hope they keep it.

Final Fantasy XII is the direct opposite of Dragon Quest VIII. It eschews jRPG traditions for new innovations, even more so than the pitiful Final Fantasy X-2. Unlike X-2 however, they got many of the new and old stuff right.

The plot, built over from Final Fantasy Tactics' political unrest of Ivalice (although in a different time line), is an acquired taste, as it lacks the individualism of the more popular (but in my opinion over-rated) Final Fantasy games. It is still on an epic scale, providing much relief in the overcrowded angry teens as protagonist RPG market. Final Fantasy XII highlights that there are still people within Square-Enix's internal development team intent on progressing a stale genre and introducing new gameplay ideas.

1. Shadow of the Colossus (review)
Team Ico (In-house), Sony Computer Entertainment (£15-£30)


SotC's visual design is not unlike that of Ico's, with washed out pale colours and majestic architecture.

Ignoring the lack of frame rate and the occasional camera reset, what you have here is the spiritual successor to Famitu Ueda's Ico, times ten. The plot is shamelessly simple. A young man known as the Wander (or Wanda in Europe) has travelled far with his faithful horse Agro to arrive at a temple in the middle of a barren land. In order to restore the life of a girl, he was commanded to slay 16 fabled ancient creatures. You then spend the entire game travelling, climbing, killing and repeating the process ad nauseam, minus the nausea bit.


Travelling through the desolate landscape, said to be the size of Tokyo, is a surreal experience.

Shadow of the Colossus isn't any conventional platforming game. For one the game consists of only 16 'enemies'. And second, the platforming levels are the giants themselves. There are no dungeons to traverse upon, no minions to battle through, just the pure adrenaline rush scaling the giant beasts, admiring the view from the top (and holding on), then slaying them.


You will often feel insignificant when battling any of the Colossi, but not so much after you slay each one of them.
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There you go, five fantastic exclusives that I recommend you get. Five games that makes owning a PS2 worth it, even if those are the only five games you will ever play.

Other recommendations:

Yakuza (SEGA)
Suikoden III & V (Konami)
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 (Atlus)
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (Nippon Ichi)
God of War (SCEA)
Devil May Cry 3 (Capcom)
Okami (Clover)
God Hand (Clover)
Soul Calibur III (Namco)

Next week, five exclusive GameCube games you should own... or maybe the Dreamcast...

Cycling quiz

Beeb's cycling quiz

I got 7/10. The one that I got wrong: you may cross the stop line when traffic lights are red. Apparently we mustn't. Bollocks.

Knackered

Note to self: if you are planning to go cycling and then playing badminton in the early morning, do not drink sake and play OutRun until the wee hours. It won't do you any good!