Viewing Category: Video Games
2011 Apr 07
We recently added a PS3 to our household and the first game I got was Final Fantasy XIII. Since we’ve had a Nintendo Wii, I’ve been missing out on the big Final Fantasy titles so I was pretty excited to find FF XIII for the low price of $29. I guess it’s been out over a year so it’s considered a PS3 oldie or something. Anyways the game is amazing! Visually, the 1080p graphics are stunning. The artwork is so detailed and the opening cutscene is incredible. I really like the movie-like feeling of the game. I switches from cutscenes to playable portions seamlessly and the story flows quite well. Granted I’ve only completed about 5% of the game, but the momentum and pacing seem perfect.
Like in all FF games, there’s a lot of combat in it and this worried me a little. I didn’t want to get bogged down in really intricate battles, or be turned off by fights that were stop/start turn-based. FFXIII avoids those situations by using an active-battle system, and simple menus. Basically you have a timer bar which dictates how quickly you can perform your attacks, then you have a choice of attacks to use. It’s all just one or two buttons away. The battles keep moving even if you just stand there, so there isn’t much time to dawdle. There are also battle stances called “paradigms” that you can switch to during battles. This helps out a lot because you can go into defensive mode if you need healing, or full offense if you want to deal maximum damage. These paradigm shifts are also easy to execute so you don’t waste time fumbling with the controller.
There’s so much more to the game and it’s been reviewed extensively by all the major game sites, but I have to add that the storyline is really engaging. The characters and voice-acting are excellent and the backstory is interesting. There’s a journal that you can pull up at any time that has the story explained so you don’t miss out on anything.
Right now, this is one of my favorite games and I’m trying not to go through it too quickly. I’d like to enjoy it for as long as possible! On the horizon is FFXIII 2, so hopefully I can finish the first game before the second part comes out.
2011 Mar 07
Yesterday morning I went with Bay to the local Walmart to pick up Pokémon Black/White for the DS. Both Bay and Koa wanted to get the English version of the game (the opposite color than their Japanese version) and I wanted to pick up a copy for myself since I’ve been enviously watching them enjoy the game ever since they got them in Japan last Xmas.
The game has similar gameplay to all the previous Pokémon games, but it’s a lot slicker and the environments are pretty nicely rendered. It even looks great on my DS Phat circa 2005. The dialog in the game is actually quite funny, and some of the TV shows I’ve watched in the houses you can visit are really interesting. One of them has a lot of romaji in it. Not sure if the translation team was taking a day off, but it was really funny.
I was reading the instruction manual last night and some of the things you can do via wi-fi seem pretty cool. It’s pretty confusing reading without actually having the chance to go through it in the actual game, but the wi-fi trading and battling look fun. One frustrating thing I encountered is that our new router is not compatible with the DS. In previous firmware versions, there is a simple setting to change to enable the DS to connect but in the firmware I have, there is no option, and I don’t want to downgrade the firmware for fear of screwing up the rest of our setup. But luckily, the DS’s can access wi-fi via my G2 phone and it’s awesome wi-fi tethering. Which is great, because there is a special Pokémon named Victini that you can download right now.
I haven’t played a game on my DS in a while now, but Pokémon Black/White are a perfect excuse to dust off the old console. Lots of fun!
2009 Nov 13
Some hilariously awful video game voice acting.
2009 Aug 14
Here’s a screenshot of the current wallpaper on my G1. It’s from the upcoming MMORPG from NCsoft called Aion. I haven’t played the game yet, but the artwork is very cool. They have a bunch of other wallpaper at their website and all of them are really nice!
2009 Aug 12
We’ve been playing DDR Hottest Party 2 on the Wii for a few weeks now and loving it. There are some really cool songs in it, but this one is my favorite by far. It’s been going through my head since last night. (Hit the HQ button to listen in higher quality)
(Don’t stop till we leave the ground)
I have traveled all around the world
Seen the face of different boys and girls
Dreamin’ a dream of starry nights
As they wish, they wish upon the shooting star
Embers of hope bring burning light
And their dreams, their dreams they don’t seem so far
Somewhere, there’s a perfect rainbow out there
Waiting to be found let’s get away
Let’s walk, can you feel the wind blow, don’t stop
till we leave the ground, we’re on our way
Let’s fly (let’s fly)
Let’s fly (let’s fly)
Daydream, dream, dream
Daydream, dream, dream
Daydream, daydream, daydream
Dream, dream, dream, dream
Now that we’ve come this far
We’ve got a place here where we can leave our fears behind
Far away
We’ve got a secret place where we can leave our fears behind
2009 Jun 02
I’m really looking forward to this game. I’m a little tired of Fantasy MMO’s, so I am hoping this Sci-fi MMO is worth playing. I loved Star Wars: Galaxies first came out and would love to relive the experience!
2009 Jan 28
One of the things I like about my G1 phone is that it makes a great alarm clock. I have such a difficult time setting the alarms on regular digital alarm clocks. There have been several times when the alarm on these clocks would go off and I can’t figure out how to silence them so I just unplug the whole thing. My GE clock is particularly awful. I swear I want to smash that thing with a sledgehammer!
But back to my G1, which is kept next to my bed every night. I set the alarm (excellent UI, btw) to go off each weekday morning at 5:50am. But the really cool thing is that you can choose among many ringtones and alarm sounds, or even your own songs that are loaded on the SD card. I have found the perfect wake-up alarm for me, and that is the Animal Crossing tune that comes on at 5pm during the games. It’s totally soothing and eases me out of my dream-state and immediately puts me in a good mood. In fact, there are a lot of great Animal Crossing tunes that would work perfectly for this, like the main title theme. Just do a search for Animal Crossing midi files and you will find them. And speaking of Animal Crossing, if you have the Wii version and want to trade friend codes, send me a message!
2009 Jan 16
This looks so good! Trace Memory for the DS is one of the only games I ever finished (it was short), and I loved it. The music and overall feel of the Wii version looks perfectly aligned with the DS version. I am really looking forward to the Wii sequel!
2008 Aug 22
I’ve been “playing” Wii Fit a bit more regularly lately, and have been enjoying it a lot. What’s really cool is that it’s got a good mix of activities for the entire family. The kids love the balance games, especially the ski jumping and the running, while I like the yoga training the best. I try to do a few yoga poses mixed in with some strength training, and then maybe a balance game to try to break a record. Speaking of records, the leaderboard is pretty cool. Koa loves to see his name at the top in some of the activities, and I am hanging on to first place in the Short Run, at 104%. Mariko is leading the Hula Hoop activities, and Bay is really good at the tightrope walking.
My favorite yoga poses are the Sun Salutation and the Tree Pose. The Sun Salutation really stretches my legs and gets the blood flowing. The Tree Pose is difficult for me, but it feels satisfying to stand in that position for a while. My left leg is so much more stable than my right leg, for some reason, although my right leg is getting stronger. In most of the yoga poses, the Wii shows you how your balance is doing in real time. This is kind of cool, but also distracting. I find that I do better if I don’t focus on the balance indicator too much.
I still have a bunch of activities yet to unlock, but I am getting there. It’s fun to keep up with the body test too, to see how my BMI and weight are changing. I set a goal to lose five pounds in a couple months, and I am getting there. I haven’t been so diligent about doing Wii Fit consistently, but now that the school year is starting and the family routine will be more predictable, I think I can work it in to an everyday thing. Even if I don’t lose weight, the morning yoga poses really get me ready for the day. If you can find Wii Fit in the stores, I highly recommend it!
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