Author: CrashWire « Page 2

Man Make, Man Can Break

Back in those days, the PlayStation 2 was, and still is, a notoriously secure console, while the Xbox, with its PC-based architecture, was easy to crack.

I’ve been following news of this for a couple of months now, so I wasn’t all that surprised when the people of the scene announced that an Xbox 360 crack is now in the wild.

We don’t condone piracy, so let’s just say that unless you’re willing to relinquish use of Xbox Live, which many Xbox 360 games depend on, performing any form of hanky-panky on your console isn’t a good idea.

Still, this is big news. Big enough for Microsoft to respond. And there you have it.

Watch out for something on ways to cut costs while staying clean. I’m sure a couple of you are lost on that issue.

Slow Weeks, Funny Stuff

It’s been a really busy period for me lately, so here’s something funny to quell the boredom. Yes, it’s old. But I’m pretty sure many of you haven’t caught it yet!

Have fun watching, and share the joy!

Lite Price Speculation

A couple of days ago, Nintendo issued a press release announcing the DS Lite’s launch in the United States.

The price? US$129.99, or a rough S$215 after conversion. It’s currently selling in Japan for 16,800 yen, or S$240.

A quote I’ve received from a game shop in Singapore was S$329. That’s expensive, but altogether reasonable considering how high the DS Lite’s demand is. Factor in markups by middlemen here and there, and by the game shop itself, and S$329 is actually considered quite reasonable by Singapore standards.

But hey, I’m the silly one who rushed out to get a normal DS after hearing rumours that the local distributor could price it as high as S$400. After hearing about the US release price though, I highly doubt so.

Then again, it was supposed to be launched in mid-April, and it’s already May.

My take on the DS Lite’s price in Singapore? Up to S$299, to be launched in mid to late June. That’s from the distributor’s track record, a quick analysis of international launch dates, and throwing in a bit of price differentiation into the factor. People do need to clear out their normal DS’es, you know.

For those of you looking to jump into the fray now and get a DS, I’ll say hold your horses unless you really, really have to play a game. Or you could consider one of the many normal DS’es available on the second-hand market for as low as S$100.

Why Wii?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you should probably know that the Nintendo Revolution is now called… the Nintendo Wii.

Which er, happens to be one of the most pun-erific names around. We? Why? Wee? Double-ew-ai-ai?

I’ll leave it up to your imagination how many other bad puns can be created.

And for the occasion, here’s a list of the 10 Weirdest Game Console Names. I still think Wii’s the weirdest. The rest? Ahh, seasoned already (for our foreign audience, it’s a perfectly acceptable use of Singlish).

Above all though, it’s just a name. I’ll love to see the name of a console decide its fate, but I highly doubt it would apply to this one.

My Ears! They Burn!

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.

Being Charged Well

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.

The Ultimate Stoner

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:

Rez
Katamari Damacy
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Beyond Good & Evil
Lumines
Sly Cooper & the Thievius Raccoonus
Viewtiful Joe
SSX Tricky
Fantavision
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.