It is Friday. Yay!
Creative Zen Nano Plus 1GB
My Creative Zen Nano Plus hasn’t arrived yet because as the lady put it, Creative hasn't got enough 512MB Nanos in stock. Why did they eBay it then? After much hassling Creative has upgraded the 512MB for a 1GB version and ship them today! So that is £33 for a 1GB DAP. Last I checked £33 can only get you a half a decent dinner at a posh restaurant. Nice one Creative Dublin!
Metroid Prime: Hunters preview
My import copy of Metroid Prime: Hunters has finally arrived, less than five days affer the US release! Double yay for good importers! Been waiting for this for months now and it is finally here. I can't believe I am staring at it. However right now I am just too busy. I will probably break it in during the weekend. Can't wait to go online and get fragged by a bunch of American kids. Friend code later.
Initial impressions based on a single player level - breathtaking graphics, if a little bit blocky in parts (due to the lack of texture filtering on the DS hardware). Despite the fact that the game is in proper 3D and runs on a 66Mhz ARM9 processor, the framerate is smooth and only slows down slighty during the heat of a battle. I can't believe I am playing this on a DS, which many dismissed as a kiddie's hardware not a long time ago, as the graphics are brillant and almost on par with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City on the PSP.
The control system is very straightforward and as intuitive as the PC/mouse set-up for generic FPS games. D-pad is similar to WASD on a PC keyboard - walk up, backwards and straffing. The touchscreen controls the players view - look up and down, turn left and right. You know the drill exactly as it would be on a mouse - but this is better. Firing is through triggering the left shoulder button. You can jump by double tapping the screen.
As a fan of 2D Metroid games for some reason I feel right at home. While there are many open arenas there are also clostrophobic tight spaces to navigate around. Ah, playing as sexy Samus Aran has never been more satisfying. Who gives a damn about Joanne Dark anyway?
The Legend of Zelda - The Phantom Hourglass
OMG, OMG, OMG.
I was talking to Jennifer last night about how much we would love to see The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker on the Nintendo DS using the Animal Crossing engine. The latest announcement on the new Zelda game for DS isn't the Wind Waker but the graphical style is close. Gameplay looks similar to the Minish Cap. The use of the stylus seems to be extensive, for example to open doors (by drawing patterns ala Dawn of Sorrow) and draw the path for Link's boomerang. Can't wait! You can download the high-res video here.
DS download
Take a trip down to your local gaming store. You may find DS download pods there where it is possible to download demos of Polarium and Meteos. You will be able to meet Miyamoto-san's dog as well. Burly also asked me to remind you all that Animal Crossing: Wild World is out next weekend and that some stores have demo pods as well. The excellent and comedic Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is also out next week. The US version was so rare that you could find used copies on eBay for up to £50!
V for Vendetta
I will try to catch the film later today or more likely tomorrow. God knows whether I will like it or not and I may end up dissapointed (after all the hype surrounding the film). Plus I have never been a fan of Natalie Portman. Hopefully all these won’t cloud my judgement.
Commonwealth games
Kudos to the BBC for giving extended coverage on the games by creating extra digital channels. It is just too bad that Australia is in the pacific, which meant any games coverage would be mainly after midnight and into the mornings. Still I enjoyed watching some of the athletic events yesterday. I also caught a little bit of Malaysian badminton – I had no idea that a Malaysian is currently ranked second – before the Beeb switched the coverage to hockey!
Handwriting
The news on the decline of handwriting shouldn’t surprise anybody. After almost exclusively confined to using keyboard for many years I find my handwriting to be extremely shoddy and resembles that of a five year old doodling on a piece of paper. It is amazing that I still ‘remember’ how to write. There was even a time when I found my handwriting to resemble that of ‘grafitti’ – the handwriting style of PalmOS.
Wedding
One other thing before I sign off, I will be attending a wedding this summer. Any recommendations on where (in London) can I rent good wedding related (for guests) suits? No tie, summer ‘Ascot’ style – whatever that means.
That is it for today. Have a nice weekend.
1 comment:
Lucky you, how did you blagged an upgrade?
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