Monthly Archive for April, 2006

My Ears! They Burn!

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CrashWire
on 28/4/2006
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I don’t know what it is with the voice-acting industry, but Japanese dubs are almost always better than English ones. It’s the same for the case of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Cloud just isn’t Cloud anymore, Kadaj isn’t Kadaj, Tifa isn’t Tifa, so on and so forth.

Heh, this is just my fourth time watching, which isn’t all that bad, considering there are people out there with thirty-over rewatches. Scary, considering that’s over fifty hours of life spent, but when you’re a fanboy/girl, it’s worth it.

Kaa-san~

In any case, here lies a quirky re-review of Final Fantasy VII.

Talk about insults. From:

Cloud seems like a carefree badass at the adventure’s beginning, a self-assured mercenary with a heart of ice and an oversized sword that appeared to have lived a former life as a jumbo jet tailfin. But he really wasn’t. On the contrary, he was a neurotic loser wracked with insecurity and incompetence; though he aspired to badassery, he was in truth a SOLDIER program reject who cravenly patterned his personality and mannerisms after his personal hero, Zack. Hell, he even went after sloppy seconds with Zack’s old girlfriend… it doesn’t get more pitiful than that.

To:

Cloud Strife is the everynerd — wrapped up in delusions of greatness when allowed to take things on his own carefully-selected terms until he sees the world for what it is and is forced to come to grips with the fact that he’s actually completely pathetic. That’s your average game-obsessed message board dork in a nutshell: the petty tyrant of a tiny little niche of the Internet but a failure in real life.

Oh here’s the kicker:

Kefka broke the world in his quest for raw power, then ruled over the ruined remains with divine fury; Sephiroth wanted a hug from mommy and babbled a lot.

Alas, it’s always a lack of knowledge and understanding of the differences between the Japanese and American role-playing game genres. Final Fantasy VII isn’t the only game with a so-called nerd-for-hero, or a villian who just wanted parental love.

I won’t claim to know role-playing inside out, since it’s something people notice after time and lots of playing different games. But yeah, check the re-review out. It’s worth a laugh… or cry if you’re a Final Fantasy VII fanboy/girl.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Being Charged Well

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CrashWire
on 23/4/2006
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A couple of days ago… I think it was Thursday, My Nintendo DS died on me on the MRT, on the way to work. Yep, the first part of the journey - without exhibiting any red-light symptoms the previous nights, which would have reminded me to charge it.

All’s fine now. I just have to remember to be more consistent in charging my DS.

Which brings me to something I stumbled upon while looking for information on earphones: Proper lithium battery usage.

Lithium batteries, as most people would know, are being used in practically everything but AA and their brothers. But what gripes me is how many people still believe that the old rules that applied to other kinds of rechargeable batteries applies to lithium as well.

Old rules? Ah, there’s only one really. How people only charge their batteries when they are about to run out.

I point to someone more credible:

Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

See!

Just charge your gadgets regularly. You’ll change them by the time the battery dies anyway, or else, there’s always buying a new one.

It sure beats having a device die on you when you need it the most.

Popularity: 8% [?]

The Ultimate Stoner

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CrashWire
on 20/4/2006
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I really wonder what the meaning of stoned is, but here’s a list of games that are really quite… out of this world.

For those with a short-term memory as bad as mine, or are just too lazy to watch the video:

  1. Rez
  2. Katamari Damacy
  3. Super Smash Bros. Melee
  4. Beyond Good & Evil
  5. Lumines
  6. Sly Cooper & the Thievius Raccoonus
  7. Viewtiful Joe
  8. SSX Tricky
  9. Fantavision
  10. Parappa the Rapper

I’ve not played some of these games to comment, but considering that my all-time favourites do include Rez and Katamari Damacy and Lumines, maybe I really am that stoned after all.

There are two games by Tetsuya Mizuguchi-san on the list, so here I am wondering if the much-awaited-for N3 Ninety-Nine Nights would be as fun and wacky as some of the games of this list. Alas, the demo I played was boring (except the really dramatic cutscenes), but that’s for another day.

Popularity: 8% [?]

BRAIN-AGE! Train Other Parts Of Your Body!

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on 18/4/2006
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The first time I saw Brain Age, it was at the IT Show 2006 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Brain Age was the game featured with Nintendo’s DS Lite, and wow did it rock then.

Here’s the curious thing: Brain Age is played with the DS on its side. So the touch-screen would be on your right, and the actual screen on the left.

And something interesting about me? I’m left-handed.

The great thing about Brain Age is that it’s nice enough to look out for southpaws and offer to rotate the DS the other way around. But of course, during the IT Show, we didn’t know that. All we had access to was Quick Play, after all. So I was writing numbers with my right hand, which isn’t all that hard a task, given Brain Age’s excellent handwriting recognition.

Here’s the thing I’ve been doing for the past month or so. I’ve been playing 押忍！闘え！応援団 [Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan], which is the ultimate music game for the DS and my all-time favourite… and something for everyone. With my right hand.

Timing and rhythm, it’s not easy playing games with your non-dominant hand. In fact, it almost makes you seem retarded, since your other hand is usually slower. So yes, it’s like training your other hand, you know.

I’d love to hear stories of others using their non-dominant hands to play games. Do share them if you have any.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Quirky Game Revival

Published
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CrashWire
on 15/4/2006
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So many people wanted Koei to make a Gitaroo Man sequel instead of more and more seemingly similar sequels of Dynasty Warriors.

Well, you guys have got your wish. Koei’s coming out with Gitaroo Man Live for the PlayStation Portable! Brand new music and two-player versus and cooperative modes!

Let’s hope they manage to find a way to stick Flying To My Heart, which arguably has to be one of the better Gitaroo Man songs, in there. Heck, an unlockable extra would rock.

Definitely a must-buy game judging from the great gameplay of the original Gitaroo Man alone.

In other news, my favourite game, Katamari Damacy, is still quite pretty much alive and kicking. Even after the closure of the official Japanese website, we have the website on Namco, which features a Katamari cosplay competition!

And talking about really crazy, we have We Love Katamari speed runs. I may be hardcore about the games, but I doubt I can memorize positions and optimize a path for speed.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Super Console Wars!

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CrashWire
on 13/4/2006
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Here’s something really cool derived from the Star Wars universe - a video animation incorporating plenty of retro stuff.

Have a pair of 3D glasses handy for an enhanced viewing experience (it’s fine without them as well) and watch out for cameo appearances by Street Fighter and Pokemon characters. Those cracked me up real good.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Waiting For The Advent… In English!

Published
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CrashWire
on 10/4/2006
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I’m sure most of you have watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children already, but for those who haven’t, or are just woefully ignorant of release dates…

The English version releases on April 25th!

Here’s something on the English voice actors of the dub.

Hands up those of you who think that this will be the one and only release of Advent Children on DVD though… We all know how the movie industry works, after all. There’s going to be a Super Duper Limited Edition Collector’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Deluxe Boxset coming out soon.

Popularity: 6% [?]