FORT90

In this post:
1. took part in a SF2 tournament in Willamsburg
2. then, went down to Coney Island
3. finally got a PS3!
4. and dealt with the MTA’s latest blunder
5. and am struggling to give away a pizza to a homeless person

Street Fighter Club 2

So Sunday was that Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition tournament I mentioned at the tail end of last time. The action went down in the heart of hipster hell, Willamsburg, at Mishka, this Russian owned and operated clothing/design space…

… Been meaning to check the store out for some time now, ever since I first got wind of their semi-customized SF2 cab, primarily for my big NYC game scene article in the latest zine. In the end, I just didn’t have enough time to run out and take a picture, but better late than never I suppose….

And here we are around 2PM, as folks are signing up for the tournament…

… Unfortunately, Dave Mauro was out of town, visiting friends upstate, but at least my other ace in the hole, Joe Salina, was available. I actually ended up participating myself, despite my rather not so great SF2 skills.

The deal is this, and I’ll be totally honest here: I knew without question going in that Joe would be the victor. Why? Because he’s one of the best fighting game players I know, plus I assumed this tourney would be filled with hipsters who… and no offense to anyone out there… are categorically horrible when it comes to video games in general. Why else center a tournament around Championship Edition of all things? Which was great in its day, but is now totally irrelevant thanks to Turbo. But hipsters love old shit from their childhoods. Again, I readily admit that I suck at most video games myself, especially fighting games. But I still had my reasons for assuming I’d have a fighting chance this time around.

Plus, I’d much rather play alongside hipsters than a bunch of Chinatown Fair rats, who are the types of folks who normally turn out for tournaments, that’s for damn sure. Again, apologizes to my fellow diehard gamers, but then again, I’d like to think I have far better social and hygiene skills. As for who actually turned out, it was an interesting mix of the aforementioned arcade rats, but not many, along with a few vaguely hipster-ish types, but no more than Joe and myself. Translation: no jerk-offs that you see crowding the L Bedford Ave stop. That also meant that the people on-hand actually knew how to play!

But before going on, some additional shots of inside the store…

… That’s Joe, who had a super strong showing in the beginning. But in the end, it was not to be. And here he is again, a moment before his final match, in the semi-finals…

… And just a few seconds later, the moment of defeat…

… Joe was upset, though more annoyed than anything else, and one can’t blame the guy on either count. The main problem was the controls on the cabinet; the buttons and especially the joystick were way too tight. The stick also had a nasty habit of re-centering itself too much. Both Joe and myself both got hit unnecessarily even though we were blocking, though apparently we weren’t pushing back hard enough. And forget about pulling off fireballs motions, hence why we stuck with charge characters. And not once as Blanka could I do electricity, thanks again to wonky buttons.

But hey, this isn’t EVO or a “proper” tournament, so there’s not much room to really bitch. Yet I still found the overall lack of organization a tad bit annoying; as for how I personally did, I lost in the first round to a store employee. Thankfully, I wasn’t totally creamed in ten seconds, which was what I was afraid of most, and my opponent was actually a really cool dude. It was best two games out of three, and it literally went down to the wire, the last round of our third match. The controls once again were not helping, plus I had forgotten how to grab, thanks to it being different in each subsequent Street Fighter since, but ultimately shot myself in the foot with a stupid mistake. Also, I was hardly in any real shape to compete due to the night before, which was Mike’s housewarming party, where I was up fairly late drinking tequila from a gun and talking about random nonsense, like folks who frequent the OTB and Ninja Warrior. Though the guy who beat me never played again; apparently all the store employees simply filled in for each other, which was, I dunno, a tad bit unfair. Yet once again, this was just a nice casual little thing, so I wasn’t seriously upset (and I think everyone knows how easily pissed I tend to get).

Here’s a funny moment, late into the proceedings, when these two kids hopped onto the machine while the next players were gathering. She said that they couldn’t play at the moment, but the two could have cared less….

… In the end, neither Joe and I walked away with the grand prizes, but Mishka was nice enough to provide everyone who participated with a goodie bag, including a large eyeball pillow (unfortunately, I don’t have it handy to take a pic, since it’s still in the back of Joe’s car I believe). Which easily blows away a XXL shirt like most tournaments generally give out! BTW, for anyone that’s interested, you can check out their own take on the events.

A Fake Diamond In The Rough… But A Diamond Nonetheless

Afterward, Joe’s girlfriend joined us and we all decided to beat the heat by heading down to Coney Island for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, traffic was far more congested than expected, plus Google Maps pulled an epic fail on us all. Couple with the annoyance that is trying to find parking anywhere in NYC, especially Brooklyn, it was pretty much early evening by the time we actually set foot on the boardwalk, but at least that meant dinner time and a chance to munch of Nathan’s excellent hot dogs and french fries! It had been a while, my first trip to Coney Island all summer actually; this was the very first year in which I skipped the Siren Fest, something that even Joe Simko passed on as well. I myself at least had an excuse of sorts, Otakon, whereas Sweet Rot was simply not interested.

Back to the cuisine: I found myself seriously tempted by the numerous new eating options that were available on the boardwalk. And on a related note, the entire place was in surprisingly good form! I was half expecting large piles of rubble strewn around the park, and maybe there was, just nicely hidden. I had also clearly underestimated the draw of Barnum and Bailey, because they certainly attracted an army of families, which directly led to our parking headaches. The beaches were also totally swamped, making those long bathroom lines especially long and intolerable (at least if you were a female).

In addition to the brand new food selections, Beer Island appears to have expanded, instead of being just a ten foot wide circle like in years past, though I didn’t partake in any booze this time. Aside from having way too much that weekend already (in addition to the night before, once again, got super loaded while watching Gundam on Friday), it was dehydrated as it was from the extreme temperatures; for those who aren’t in NYC, we’re in the midst of a heat-wave at the moment. Besides, the thing that interested me the most was the much advertised Flea Market, which I made a bee line to after our meal; when I first got wind of the thing earlier this year, I couldn’t help but expect a train wreck and had to see for myself what the real deal was. And according to Salina, who actually did make it out for Siren, there was a decent amount of Willamsburg hipsters selling silkscreen shirts and other overpriced goods that can be found on Etsy for tons cheaper the last time he checked. But on this particular afternoon, there was just one person selling such ares, and the rest was the same swap meet junk you’d find anywhere else (including Coney Island in years past, which always had a flea market component, just not officially). Basically, tables after tables of cheap sunglasses and bootleg DVDs. Including one guy selling a copy of Black Belt Jones!

I actually have it on DVD already, which was created from a VHS source. Specifically a LP recording from The Movie Channel, circa sometime during junior high. Joe theorized that what I was buying was perhaps the same thing, and I figured it had to be at least a little better, but lo and behold, the dude was completely correct. It is based on someone else’s crappy video tape, hell maybe my own somehow, since I have made copies for friends. Still have to check. Moving on, check out this fine assortment of luchador masks…

… They ranged between 10 to 30 dollars, and the quality was fantastic! Far better than these Michael Jackson watches at another table…

… Back to the rest of the park, the thing that got shocked me the most was the plethora of sideshow acts. There was one right in the middle of Astroland that I initially thought was the same group that’s always been near Surf Ave… The Great Fredini, Koko The Killer Clown, and the rest of that game… but soon realized that it’s a totally different outfit. There was like three additional acts in addition to the main one, which I think is pretty neat! Sorta felt like the golden area of Coney Island back again, or so in my mind. Besides, instead of seeing a bunch of animals forced to humiliate themselves for a meal (sorry, but I still loathe Barnum and Bailey from their idiotic unicorn stunt back in the 80s, and I understand that they actually treat their animals with respect instead of abusing them, I’m still not a fan of the circus on principle alone), I’d much rather see humans do the same.

We also checked out some of the arcades that’s on-hand, and Joe agreed with me how every new game these days still looks like stuff on the Dreamcast. The only real disappointment was discovering that the Ms. Pac Man machine in the El Dorado bumper car rink/arcade is now 50 cents to play! At least it’s still there and fine operational condition. Better get my hands on it before it gets classified as a historical object or something. On the flip side, I ended up getting roped into one of those carny games and ended up winning Katie a stuffed dog! So yeah, a fun day was definitely had. One of these days, I’m gonna have to drag either Katie or Hilary to check it out.

Here Comes Number Three, And There Goes The Number One

Guess the big news of the day is Sony finally spilling the beans on the PS3 Slim, which was formally announced at Gamescom this afternoon. As crazy is it sounds, I had serious doubts that they’d actually owe up to the damn thing, due to them being so (needlessly) tight-lipped up till this point. That and it’s Sony and how they’re so hopelessly retarded these days. Many folks out there also didn’t believe the pics that had been floating around, and can’t say I blame them. This….

… looks hella chintzy, and that logo totally screams Chinatown bootleg. Which should have been everyone’s first clue as to it being legit! Again, Sony has been both frustratingly and even a tad bit fascinatingly inept this generation. Anyway, once it was finally final, I at last had my signal to run down to the one and only Gamestop in Manhattan that isn’t manned by complete morons and actually pick up the system! And that’s just what I did; I am now the new, proud owner of the PlayStation 3. Haven’t set it up though… gonna wait till my new television table comes in; the current one can barely handled the weight of my set plus the two Xbox 360s (one’s a debug unit btw… would like to get a third one from Japan to be totally honest).

As for this actually decent Gamestop, it’s located on 105th Street and Broadway; the people who work behind the counter are honest to God totally cool and perform their jobs admirably… meaning they actually know what they’re pushing and aren’t annoying about it…. especially in light of the customers they’re forced to deal with, who unfortunately are the same gang of idiots you’ll find generally anywhere else. Basically, loud mouthed gangstas or sweaty mouth-breathers who are dying to “talk shop” with anyone who might know a little about video games, since no one in their immediate circles are into them, or perhaps are but are simply too repulsed to actually engage in any sort of dialogue. Also, these people generally know nothing about gaming, despite thinking they do. Anyway, heading down there meant taking the 1 train…

Where I live, which is on 181 Street, there’s two trains to choose from, the A express, which is literally around the corner from my apartment, and the 1 local a few blocks away. I generally take the A obviously, but will sometimes utilize the 1 if it takes me closer to where I need to go, like the aforementioned Gamestop near Columbia University for example. And despite being a local train, it’s often faster than the express at certain parts of the day, for reasons I don’t even have to explain to any seasoned subway rider in the Big Apple. Well, yesterday morning, the roof collapsed in the 1 station, so a significant portion of the line has been shut down, with the end result being complete chaos, more so than usual from the MTA. In lieu of the train, which goes all the way up to the Bronx, people are now forced to use shuttle buses that go, no joke, 2 miles an hour (I saw some poor woman on the train claim on the news that it took her over two hours to get home last night, which should have normally taken her 30 minutes). Or commuters are forced to transfer to the A train at 168 Street, which is now where the 1 shuts down. The big problem here is how the 168′s 1 train platform is not designed for the heavy flow of foot traffic that final subway stop stations are supposed to accommodate. Basically, there’s four elevators that brings people between the tracks and the entrance upstairs, and they’re located behind a wall, where there is normally no place to stand while waiting for the next elevator. Again, anyone with any remote familiarity with the architecture of subway platform can attest to how completely nonsensical they are, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fantasized about getting in a time machine and killing every singe person that created the floor plans for all the stations as children. Oh, I’ve also heard all the excuses, and unforeseen jump of people using the space or not, some of the design choices, like walls directly in front of elevator doors make zero sense no matter how you rationalize it.

Anyhow, considering how difficult it is for people to get on and off, but multiply their numbers by fifty at least, and the end result is not just insanely frustrating but legitimately dangerous. No joke, the entire scene is a terrorist’s or crazy person’s wet dream, something that every single person who has to deal with such nonsense is fully aware of. Adding to insult to injury of course is how the subway fare was recently increased. Even better is how it’s been recently revealed that this collapsed roof could have been avoided if the MTA had heeded the multiple warnings they were given, all of which were summarily ignored. Of course. A local representative recently called out the organization, and while I normally cringe whenever anyone tries to paint themselves the victim due to race needlessly, the guy had a rather valid point by noting how, if such a thing had occurred at Grand Central, the problem would be fixed in one day. Meanwhile, the MTA claims that it’ll take a week to clean this mess, and anyone knows them at all is well aware of how they take forever to do anything, plus it’s always the stations in the poor, minority neighborhoods that get the shaft. My part of Manhattan, Washington Heights, has a heavy Hispanic and Latino population, btw.

Though what made my trek to pick up a PS3 so absurdly difficult, which culminated with me getting stuck in a sea of people trying to get in and out of an elevator for 25 minutes, with a near riot almost taking place (the heat-wave certainly doesn’t help anything, and another wonderful slice of bullsh*t is how every 1 train I took today had faulty air conditioning), was the look of all the MTA employees, who were so clearly annoyed to be forced to do something else that their usual bare minimal. It’s truly disgusting actually. Mayor Bloomberg as of late has recently begun talking about his 33-point plan to fix mass transit. Many of this suggestions sound totally awesome, though most are completely obvious and should have been instituted a long time ago. I just wonder how he’s going to pay for it all, let alone actually motivate the MTA to in-act any of it. I want to like Bloomberg, but I still hate the guy for being a pussy the first time the MTA went on strike, early into his first term. The billionaire mayor simply suggested us New Yorkers deal by going out and getting bikes. What an *sshole.

What Does A Guy Have To Do To Get Some Homeless People Up In Here?

So earlier this evening, I decided to order a pizza, cuz I was just too lazy to make dinner, and wouldn’t you know, the pizza joint messed up my order. They added anchovies onto my pie, which I tried to pull off and give to the cat, but it just wasn’t happening. So I called and lodged a complaint, and a new pie was eventually sent over, but I still had this whole pizza that I didn’t want.

Well, instead of just tossing out food, which I hate to do, I decided to go out and find a homeless person who might appreciate a meal without the need for dumpster diving. And it was surprisingly difficult!

I was just going to hand it over to the one guy that always hangs by the corner deli, but for the first time ever, he was absent, so I had to look around. Not to long thereafter, I spotted a dude in the distance that was clearly destitute across the street. As I approached, he began harassing some woman who told him to f*ck off and die. Instead of being docile like most homeless people in NYC, or at least Manhattan these days (I swear, especially compared to those found in San Fran or Baltimore, they’re practically Disneyland-like characters), his spastic body language told me to avoid this guy like the plauge. Plus upon closer inspection, he was also eating Chinese food, so the guy already had dinner covered.

Moving on, I spotted a second candidate, but as soon as I got close, he had finished stealing some bike that was resting against a street light and rode off. Drat. The third homeless guy I came across was actually the neighborhood crackhead who my super uses as a part-time slave to do menial jobs in the building. I’ve always been annoyed by how he gets so much free crap from all the white people in my neighborhood, who all have a serious case of white guilt.

But this guy was my one and only semi-deserving recipient, but I still felt conflicted, and tried calling Katie for her advice. During this, two dumb college students came up and passed along $40, so he can get his own damn pizza if he wanted I immediately decided. So I ended up bringing back the unwanted pizza.

I’ll try again out later tonight.

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In this post:
1. an old friend visits New York City
2. my two cents regarding the G.I. Joe the movie, plus a few words on Harry Potter 6 and Transformers 2
3. am not enjoying Devil Survivor all that much, I’m afraid
4. Konami also came to town, checked out a few of their stuff
5. plus assorted video game news and nonsense

Been a fairly busy week…

That Is One Ghetto Goku

- First off, an old friend from back in the day, Suzanne, was in town with her new husband Mark, on their honeymoon. Here they are in my apartment this past Wednesday night, after a day spent in Chinatown, with a little something they picked up…

… Mark needed a gift for his son (from a previous marriage), and in Chinatown there’s like a zillion gift shops to chose from, which can be a bit overwhelming. So I took them both into one at random… actually, not entirely true, because this particular spot used to be my primary destination for bootleg Hong Kong movies and bootleg Japanese game soundtracks, both of which are hardly around thanks to the internet these days. Anyhow, way back in the corner and near the floor was this lone, ultra ghetto assortment of Dragon Ball Z figures, that I bet has been in the store for like ten years, at least, and which I mostly pointed out for a cheap laugh. But Mark thought it would be just fine (apparently he also purchased a full set of ultra ghetto Power Rangers that his son loved to death… he’s like six in case anyone’s wondering), hence the purchase!

Another highlight from last night was showing them both what Manhattan-ites do for a good time: prank calling cable access show. Katie and I had a really awesome routine going with the old British female psychic, till she started using caller ID on us. Oh well. Though I’m not sure who enjoyed hanging out with Suzy more, me or Katie. My girlfriend simply had a blast hearing about how I was back in my high school daze from a second person, and on my end, it was nice to hear someone else recall the same tales of the wacky people I was surrounded by in Washington State, again with a slightly different point of view. Suzanne actually made me remember certain details that I had long forgotten about, like how the Mad Shitter was REALLY mad.

- As for the night before, on Tuesday… I almost feel embarrassed to admit this, btw… I went to see the live-action G.I. Joe flick with Dave Mauro and Joe Salina. A while back, dmauro suggested a drunk viewing of Transformers 2, which never materialized cuz no one else was interested in wasting their time and money in such a manner. Can’t say I blamed them. So when G.I. Joe was suggested as a replacement, I figured why the hell not. Was never a fan of the show, nor was I really interested in the toys, so I had zero emotional investment going in, whereas I’m still pissed that Transformers has been “ruined” for lack of a better term. Plus I’d finally get the chance to check out the ghetto $5 theater in Queens, which I had only heard about. And it certainly lived up to the hype; the seats were uncomfortable, plus many of them broken, the audio wasn’t even in basic stereo, instead all the audio came from behind the screen, leading to a garbled, headache-inducing mess, and the bulb running the projector was clearly close to burnout, meaning the picture was super dark and even more of a migraine maker. If you head there to see The Ugly Truth, whose screen was directly next to the bathrooms downstairs in the basement area, here’s the sign that’s directly above it’s entrance…

Anyway, G.I. Joe… what can I say? Just another ridiculously stupid orgy of explosions and cgi from Hollywood, as expected. But one I actually enjoyed, though I believe the booze and the low cost of admission played a large part in that. Also, somewhat attractive ladies in tight, vaguely super-ish/S&M gear beating each other up is always going to be a thumbs up in my books. Most of the problems that the film suffers from are hardly unique at this point; it’s pretty frustrating how it’s just a big set up for a planned sequel, since everything has to be a trilogy these days (that’s just how stuff is pitched in Tinsel Town at this point), especially since you just know that there’s not going to be a sequel. At best there’ll be a second G.I. Joe movie that’s direct to home video and totally done in CGI, sharing almost nothing with the live-action bomb. It is a bomb, right? Much like Transformers, there’s this idiotic need to do away with whatever worked in the past, just for the sake of being new; I hate to be a spoiler, but Cobra Commander doesn’t look nearly as cool as he did in the cartoon. At least the Baroness in the movie was fairly faithful, though I wasn’t the biggest fan of her glasses. Also, Snake Eyes has these goofy lips molded onto his mask, but since his attire is still all black, you hardly notice, plus everything else is more or less exactly the same.

The one thing I was looking forward to the most, that being bad-ass vehicles, which was the only element that drew my attention from Transformers back in the day, was completely absent and that sucked. But on the flip side, I was actually somewhat impressed by the pacing and editing, especially near the end, in which there’s like four sets of people and action set-pieces that’s happening concurrently, with the film constantly jumping back and forth in-between, but not once was it confusing. I guess that’s the handy work of the Academy Award winning editor that was brought in after that initial test screening, which was so bad that the director was fired on the spot. God I would give anything to see the original cut. Again, hate to spoil stuff, but this is G.I Joe we’re talking about, but there’s this big chase sequence in the middle that features those retarded bionic suits that everyone’s seen in the trailers, though the drama that drives the action, that being the impending destruction of the Eiffel Tower, was quite satisfying. The two expected outcomes is either it’s saved at the last minute and the day ends on a happy note, or you think it does but the whole thing crumbles at the very mast moment. Instead, disaster befalls the landmark, but then there’s this urgent rush to save what’s left, and I found that rather intriguing. Again, we’re talking about a cookie-cutter Hollywood blockbuster, so my standards are going to be lower.

Hey, did I ever mention that I saw Harry Potter 6 a while back? On opening night in fact, at midnight! Long story short, I liked it, even though I had no idea what the hell was going on for the most part. Never got around to reading the 6th book, even though everyone uniformly says it’s the best one; the ultra boring 5th one simply scared me away that much. All the complaints seem fairly consistent and hardly surprisingly, that being why such-and-such cool thing wasn’t included, and once again, it’s more or less impossible to translate every little thing in a considerably dense book into a two, even three hour movie. As the still to this day awesome third movie showed, the best approach is not so much cramming all the fine details but just creating a compelling atmosphere that also embodies the spirit of the book. Once more, didn’t read the source material so I can’t say if that mark was met, but I was happy enough with all the bits and pieces, despite being confused by a number of things. Most important part was how Hermione and most of the ladies of Hogwarts in general were totally awesome, though I vastly prefer the Katie Bell featured in previous flicks. Dave Roman also agrees that this new one is not nearly as cute as before!

BTW, hung out with Hilary last night, who suggested we catch Transformers 2, after checking out this review (as many have already pointed out, the film as at least managed to produce countless different hilarious reviews…. all of them infinitely more enjoyable than the subject matter itself). But instead, we just got drunk at my place and watch lots of Zeta Gundam. Cuz that’s what Friday nights are for!

- And as for what I’ve been playing, Microsoft was kind enough to pass along a copy of Shadow Complex for me, and thus far, it’s been awesome! Though I’m afraid of saying too much, before it’s officially come out, and wondered if it was even okay to mention that I have it in the first place, but since Brandon Boyer and Mike McWhertor have already done so, guess I’m not breaking any rules. Though still, to be on the safe side, may as well move on right now and simply state that I’m super close to giving up on Devil Survivor.

I really, REALLY want to like it, but only because it’s a Shin Megami Tensei title to be perfectly honest. I constantly hear how awesome the story is, but I’ve been stuck on day one since forever. Now, I fully accept how punishing the MegaTen fight mechanics tend to be, but the added strategic gameplay is just way too much. Then again, I’m a novice when it comes to the genre, so maybe it’s supposed to feel like the computer knows exactly what your doing and have an unfair advantage. Perhaps those kinds of folks also don’t mind spending close to an hour, chipping away at the enemy’s defenses, only to get completely (and unfairly) obliterated by the enemy in one foul sweep, over and over again. It’s beyond frustrating. Though what really pisses me off is the reward system at the end of each of bout. Depending on what you do, a fight that would have normally netted 5 XP points and 15 bucks can get you 50 XP and 500 dollars instead… or 1 XP points and 0 dollars. Guess which I end up with the most? It would help if I knew what criteria is being used to make such calls to then better myself. Speaking of, the game has one of the worst interfaces for any DS title I can recall, and not at all suited for a game with such depth. Because things are either explained poorly or not at all, I screwed up a few times when first fusing Personas, which I’m still pissed about. The idiotic inventory system sure doesn’t help, which like virtually every issue could have been easily avoided if they had simply used both screens. The complete lack of stylus driven navigation and/or control is also totally befuddling.

One of the biggest additions is the ability to buy Personas via an online auction, which sounded great in the beginning, till I realized that the entire system is fundamentally broken. Not to the point that it breaks the whole game, but simply in one of those “well, what’s the pointing of having it in the first place?” kind of fashion. It’s actually a lot like eBay; what’s the point of even bothering with an auction when you can just pay the Buy It Now price? It’s okay right now, but I can easily see myself getting frustrated beyond belief later down the road, hence why I feel like bailing. Have hardly put a dent in Nocturne, which I know is hard, but at least doesn’t have the bullshit strategy component, far more interesting characters, better graphics, etc. Did I mention already how dumb some of the character designs of Devil Survivor are? Sub-par DeviantArt levels indeed.

It’s Like Dance Dance Revolution, But With Your Hands

Back to games that aren’t out yet; Konami came to town as well (man, everyone’s either been or still is in NYC this week, including Heather Campbell, whose performing at the UCB all this weekend, for the Del Close Marathon), with a bunch of upcoming holiday releases. And the ones that stood out in my mind…

- Pop ‘N Music (Wii): At long last, the one Bemani series that’s been kicking it in Japan exclusively since forever is finally coming stateside. But for the Wii (there’s been like 72 editions for the PS2 back home) and sans its custom controller. Instead, you wave the Wiimote and nunchuck in a certain direction, almost in DDR fashion. So yeah, the action isn’t as precise as hardcore Pop ‘N Music fans are used to (who as far as I can tell, are nonplussed by this latest version, to say the least). Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit, though it hardly felt like Pop ‘N Music proper, despite the decent amount of J-pop (plus some Western standards will be included, but that almost can’t be helped) and a few recognizable faces. Due to its change in mechanics and emphasis on upper body movement, I guess it’s actually closer to Para Para Paradise?

- Reflection (DSiWare): I forget if I’ve stated this title already; there’s always tons of games I’d love to pass along info about, but you all know how sporadic my posting schedule is. It’s actually a student title that was picked up by Konami, mostly because one of the folks who run the school the title originates from is a key employee at Konami. It’s an action side-scroller played with both screens; the same character appears on both, and the same input controls each simultaneously, but their environments are often slightly different. The character on top might not be able to go forward despite a lack of obstacle… cuz more than likely, that thing in the way is down below. That make any sense? It’s similar to another DSiWare title from Way Forward, Mighty Flip Champs, but that one is more of a puzzle game with platforming elements, and this once is the other way around. Only got the chance to play around with the early levels, which were simply tutorials, but I totally loved the controls and animation. Not so much the art design, which screams indie game. But that already sets it apart from the rest of the pack, so maybe it’s a good thing?

- Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii): When the game starts, your character is talking with a shrink who asks you to fill out a questionnaire. At that point. my demo person excused herself, because she noted that in the past, a few journalists felt uncomfortable answering some of the questions in front of other people. As I went down the list, I began to see why; the final question was “have you ever cheated on a girlfriend?” Interesting… The answers one supplies then directly influences various elements within the following game. The actual events that play out is one long flashback… that of the first Silent Hill. Though the remake changes things up quite a bit, with the same faces playing different roles, or so I’ve been told. But the biggest difference is in the combat; there isn’t any. Instead of beating random creepy things with a pipe, all one can do is run away from them or throw them off if they’re on top of you. Not sure how I feel about that, but then again, combat has never been the series’ strongest points. Still, it’s by far the most interesting looking and sounding Silent Hill game since part 4, and definitely one to keep an eye out for later this year.

“It’s really a phenomenal idea and it’s uniting families, apparently.”

Hey, time once again for a bunch of random game related links! Sure some it’s old news, but I’m certain some of it won’t be…

- The biggest news from the past week, at least for me, was hearing how Insert Credit is coming to a close. The reason is quite simple: Insert Credit was one the first online destinations of it’s kind back in the day to cover all the aspects of gaming that I love the most, primarily all the really cool stuff happening in Japan that no one else was talking about, along with all the cool stuff happening on this side of the ocean that was again wasn’t much of the mainstream’s concern. Both areas were firmly rooted in an understanding and appreciation for the classic era of gaming to a large extent, whether it be a look at a forgotten classic or a tribute of some kind. IC was a true revelation to many… myself included… and since its debut, countless website and blogs have popped up to do the same thing … this one included as well.

I too have been seriously bummed with the lack of serious front page activity in recent months, along with all the technical problems that’s also plagued the message board as of late (that place simply has some of the most knowledgeable gamers you’ll find anywhere). And hearing that Brandon was quietly putting his brainchild to pasture was quite sad, yet not entirely surprisingly either; the dude is way too busy these days, plus there’s now so many other resources out there delivering the same kind of information, that perhaps it’s time has past? Who again, were all directly inspired by Insert Credit, so perhaps there’s some irony in all of this. All I can say is that I’m still quite proud of my time as a front-page contributor, as brief as it was. When I first got wind of this announcement, I was somewhat tempted to drop him a line and ask if I might be able to possibly help keep things going, but it’s been made abundantly clear that it’s his baby; if Brandon wants to lay it to rest, so be it. Too bad that, much like solidsharkey.com and click-stick.com before it, another major inspiration of mine is no more, or at least will soon be.

- I’m assuming every Xbox 360 user out there has already downloaded and installed the update to their dashboard, which brought with it a slew of improvements and enhancements, some big and much needed, whiles others… not so much. The added Netflix options are gladly welcomed, whereas the addition of the avatar marketplace is fairly douchey as expected. Funny how it’s so obvious that MS wanted to nickel and dime people for personalization options since day one, but held off initially due to a possible backlash. Whereas now, it’s not such a big deal I guess. Though the fact that people actually like Microsoft’s wannabe Miis still blows my mind. I can’t stand looking at mine, and the same goes for Katie. And hey, I like Tokidoki and all, but enough to fork over $2-$5 of real money to adorn my still not as interesting Wii avatar? Yeah right.

Though I must admit, I do like the BioShock Big Daddy helmets, and the remote control Halo Warthogs, but I were to get them, I’ll immediately become that guy who clearly wastes money on stupid crap. Which I do in the real world already, but virtually? I’ll also be dying to know the sales figures for these items once they become available.

- In addition to Konami, Sega was also in town this week, though I wasn’t invited to stop by. Oh the perils of no longer being associated with a major publisher! Though Stephen Totilio was, naturally, who took the opportunity to grill them on a variety of topics. And as a result, we discovered that they won’t be making a fuss over the Dreamcast’s 10th anniversary, which is a real crying shame, how they’re basically are never gonna give what longtime Sonic fans have wanted since day one, as well as the reason why Bayonetta has been delayed, which at least makes sense, along with various notes and observations on the successes, or lack thereof, of recent releases. I guess at the end of the day, when you get down to it, the Sega of old is dead, it’s a completely new company. Which I suppose is a bit depressing, but that’s just what happens.

- BTW, along with the DC turning ten next month, on 9/9 (which is also the birthdays of both Joe Simko and Hilary, though I’ll be busy that day seeing the Boredoms), yesterday was also the twentieth anniversary of the Genesis! To mark the occasion, I played a bit of Sonic 3, Gunstar Heroes, Ranger X, Thunder Force 4, and Virtua Racing. How about yourself?

I must say, after all is said and done, the Sega Genesis remains my personal favorite console of all time. I’ve been obsessed with gaming since the age of 4, when I encountered Phoenix in an arcade at the snack bar inside the PX in South Korea, which is where I grew up before coming coming to America. I dearly loved both my Atari 7800 and NES later on, but the day I got my hands on Sega’s 16-bitter (Christmas 1991) was when my life was seriously forever changed. It’s hard to explain, but I suppose it’s worth noting that I had just turned 13 and my eyes were finally opening to the world at large, so my memories of playing the first Sonic and Quakshot, as well as each subsequent awesome Genny game, is firmly sandwiched between many other powerful moments of the past. I could seriously go on forever, recounting my favorite Genesis-specific moments, though this one image is perhaps my favorite, since it embodies a time when video games were truly exciting, in a way that has yet to be equalled in my mind…

- Okay, back to modern times: I know most people have seen this already, but for those who haven’t, Steve also recently wrote a fairly terrific piece on Nintendo’s foray into the world of motion control, and how it hasn’t exactly been as smooth sailing as it would seem. Though I will say, I’m pleasantly surprised to hear that as many Wii Sports Resorts have been sold thus far.

Again, it’s funny how both MS and Sony and pointed at laughed at Nintendo for their use of a non-traditional control mechanism, and despite the fact that it’s hardly perfect, they still feel the need to play copy cat. Natal I’m still convinced about, but I do feel there’s some potential, whereas Sony… using an actual baseball bat to swing a pretend baseball bat in a video game might be dumbest thing ever. Seriously.

- I’m generally content with living a life without cable. But this past Sunday, I really wish I at least had QVC to witness the hour spent selling their home shopping audience on the splendors of The Beatles: Rock Band. And apparently, their bullsh*t skills were in full-effect: “I think it’s going to be great to realize that Ringo really WAS a great drummer.”

- Hey, so what’s going on with the game’s primary competitor? As some might have already heard, Guitar Hero 5 is set to feature the late, great Johnny Cash. Seems about as classy as when Diet Coke featured Fred Astaire. As in, it’s not very. Also, nice to finally see this much lauded change in art direction in action. As in, what change in art direction?

- Caught the following in the pages of Retro Gamer recently… or what it EDGE? I forget. Anyhow, anyone else every hear of the Pocket Retro Game Emulator?

Looks pretty neat, huh? The idea of a GBA Micro-sized device that plays NES, SNES, Genesis, and a whole bunch more via SD cards seems like a gift from the heavens, though as I would discover, it does indeed not perform as well as one would hope. Bummer.

- Meanwhile, and back to Sega, did anyone else catch this? It was quietly revealed at this past E3, and only GameSetWatch managed to pick up on it. Color me interested, though the hardware is nowhere as sexy as the Nomad’s.

- Sticking with GSW, and Sega to a certain extent, anyone remember Typing of the Dead? Well, here’s somewhat of a spiritual successor, though this one’s all about texting!

- Here we have a dude that makes really tiny arcade cabinets…

… dmauro once told me of an arcade kid that’s ultra tiny that he felt I’d be interested in, since I’d love an Astro City in my apartment, but I just don’t have the space to spare. Reminded me of that. Unfortunately, Dave is out of town at the moment, so I can’t ask him about that thing.

- Does anyone remember Dark Presence? Probably not. It’s a Mortal Kombat-esque digital 2D fighter that I first mentioned a long whiles ago (wish I could bring up the original post, but once again, WordPress’s search function totally sucks ass), and it’s finally coming out soon!

… You simply cannot believe how badly I want to play this thing. Thank God it’s still alive.

- So what could possible be bigger news than Virtua Hamster’s prototype ROM getting released to the public at long last? BTW, that game was seriously on my list of reasons to justify the purchase a 32X back in the day. Anyhow, back to the question at hand, it would have to be the release of the X-Men: Mind Games prototype rom, also for the same system! I had zero idea that such a game existed. Now, if memory serves me right, there was a X game slated for the console that never should have been, but it was set to star only it’s female team members, called X-Women. I wonder if that became this? On a side note, man, I miss Scavenger, Inc.

- GSW is also the home of numerous awesome columns, like Roboto-chan, which is all about games featuring mecha and penned by arguably one of the most authoritative minds on the subject, Ollie Barder. I particularly liked his recent piece on all the various Transformers games that we’ve been graced with, mostly because he’s one of the few to point out how cruddy that one title for the PS2 based on the Armada line actually was (I recall being one of the few at the time that wasn’t totally blown away, unlike everyone else).

- Then you have Tokyo Beat, a relatively new column that explore game culture in Japan, and I found the most recent piece, on what it’s like to play along side expert Street Fighter 4 players in a Tokyo arcade.

- There’s also the occasional interview with notable game related talents, like with classic Sega composer Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, the man behind the sounds of Daytona USA! Which reminds me, I really to stop screwing around and nab Let’s Go Away anniversary collection before it becomes too late. I should also point out that the linked video fills my heart with so much joy that I can’t come close to putting it into words properly.

- And here we have a few words with Japanese doujin distributor for the West, Rockin’ Android.

Though they’re not the only ones bringing out niche, esoteric Japanese fare to American audiences at long last. Let’s not forget Manga Gamer, which specializes in eroge titles and recently brought out KiraKira (NSFW btw), yet another title I also mentioned not too long ago…

… At least the idea of controlling the lives of a bunch of ladies in an all girl rock band seems a tad bit more approachable when compared to their most release, the very well known (at least in it’s respective circle) Shuffle! Again, NSWF! Seems like standard hentai shlock, a bunch of teens from either heavenly demonic or heavenly backgrounds in the same highschool, screwing. Yet I still feel the need to at least know and then write about this stuff, don’t ask me why.

- Sticking with Sankaku Complex, did anyone else catch their Dragon Quest 9 coverage last month? They appeared to be the only ones with the real straight, and not so kind story.

- And here’s the girls from that hostess title that I’ve made note of more than a few times, dressed in different game-related garb…

- Back to doujin-soft, here’s a little something from Original Sound Version that has something to do with Touhou Project and Last.fm, but as I’ve said countless times, I’m confused by what Last.fm is supposed to, so it’s there for those who might be interesting. At the very least, it does trace a popular meme that I was a big fan of last year, i,e, the Japanese Werther’s Candy YouTube vid that I was obsessed with, though the linked Ronald McDonald one is not too shabby either.

- Unlike Dark Presence earlier, I’m assuming that all of you will recall my serious disdain over the look of Athena in KOF 12. Well, here we have what she looked like during the game’s development at different points, and unfortunately, we totally got shafted in the end.

- For those who have DSi’s and might have missed it, Flipnote Studio is finally out in America! I already downloaded mine, but have been too busy with Devil Survivor to give it a spin just yet. I wonder if I’ll need the manual?

- On a semi-related note, another reason why I hate being so sporadic with my posting schedule is how some stuff will simply disappear by the time I get writing about it, like the essay by psychiatrist Rika Kayama in Japan?s Mainichi Daily News, who talks about how many of his patients feel so withdrawn from society due to personal electronic devices, including handheld game systems. Thankfully, Eric at TC was able to pass along an expert. I also really dig the illustration that goes with it….

… Must say, it does perturb me to see sitting around Central Park on a beautiful day, their faces deep into their DSs.

- Offworld recently had a fantastic look back at one of the most criminally ignored titles for the GameCube, Cubivore! I know the VC is all about old NES/SNES/N64 titles, but it would be nice if classic Cube games could also be distributed for those who missed the boat originally. Plus we could then have a taste of Doshin The Giant and Giftpia! Hey, one can always dream…

- Brandon also gave the head’s up on a designer who claimed that everything he learned about game design stems from… Disneyland?

- Speaking of Disneyland and Offworld, yet another oldie but still goodie: I totally can’t wait for the dystopian Magic Kingdom title that Warren Spector is creating…

- Hey, even more super old news. Yay! The creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus has a few things to say about GTA 4 and Super Mario Galaxy and not much if it is kind. I agree with his points on Grand Theft Auto, obviously, though I have to wonder if his tune might change about Galaxy when the sequel comes out, in which Miyamoto promises to go the extra mile that they couldn’t the first time around.

- Then there’s this, which at least flew under everyone’s radar at the time: this Craigslist post that promises expert StarCraft tutelage from an “authentic” Korean.

- Man, the Indie Games section of Xbox Live is a weird beast, that’s for sure. Not surprisingly, the stuff coming from Japan is generally the most noteworthy (again, not necessarily the best, just noteworthy), like the game that’s all about interior design created by people who traditionally create software for more salacious material.

Though when it comes to the really obscure from Japan, Siliconera covers that base like no one else. Again, via the 360′s indie channel, here we have a Zelda clone…

- And according to Spencer, Tomensanner, the Wii game that’s a port of a Japanese cell phone title in which you do everything from avoiding piles of pink poo to break dancing, all with just the touch of a single button… and is yet another potential gem that I could have sworn I’ve written about already, but my WordPress’s search function might once again epically failing on me… might be coming to America! I might be interviewing someone over at Konami, over Reflection, in the coming weeks, so I’ll be sure to ask about this one. I just hope it looks as good in motion as it does in still pictures…

- I’d normally wait till another rundown of toys and figures to pass this along, but what the heck; here we have a very nice Mushihime-sama Futari statue that’s available via National Console Support…

- Also stopped by Good Deal Games, for the first time in ages, and just noticed their beefed up NES selection. My top-loading NES is buried in dust and I’ve have been looking for a good reason get it back in action. Perhaps the NES version of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier could change that?

- Guess what’s happening next weekend? Why, Game Unicon, a brand new (I think) game convention that takes place in Massachusetts. Most of the convention appears to be driven by assorted game tournaments, mostly standard fare like Street Fighter, Smash Bros, and Halo. But I saw air hockey included in the schedule (1am on Friday). There’s also a dealers room of sort, along with panels it would seem, though I couldn’t find a schedule for them of any sort. Then you have the “concerts”, featuring assorted video game tribute rock bands, though the one thing that caught my eye was: “Dive-In Movies … That’s right Movies in a pool.” Sound interesting! I’d like to go, but the timing is just not right. Maybe next year?

- As for later this weekend, one last thing for you New Yorkers out there, there’s an old school Street Fighter 2 tournament going on in Williamsburg tomorrow that I might be checking out with Joe Salina. Too bad Dave Mauro isn?t around, otherwise it could be Street Fighter Club part 2…

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