Saturday, July 4, 2009

New Video... Sort Of


I've got some good news and some bad news. Typically, I give the bad news first. However, the bad news won't make any sense if I give it first, so I'm starting with the good news.

Good News: There will be a special 4th of July video about games with the number 4 in their title.

Bad News: Due to some technical issues, I'll only be able to post that tomorrow. Thank you all for being patient.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

And I Thought He Was Annoying In English

Deals of the Month - July 2009

One of the things I've been thinking about doing for a while now was do a monthly post about deals with Video Games, Anime/Manga, Computers Parts & Software and other cool things. Sort of like what LifeHacker does, except not restricted to tech stuff.

Right now, Borders is having a BIG sale on CDs and DVDs. The DVDs are going on sale for about $7, and the CDs for about $8. I'm going to just talk about the DVDs right now, just because what exactly is on sale.

Basically, the deals for this month are anime:



Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Hawwwhhhhhaaaaa!??!?!?!?

We all know that Hollywood is coming up with a bunch of silly ideas for films, what with the Bazooka Joe (yes, the guy from the gum comics) movie being made. It also appears that it's not just Hollywood that's doing that, as there is currently a Spider-Man Broadway Musical in the works. Yes, you read right and the calendar is not April 1 - this is for real. It appears that Bono and The Edge from U2 are writing all the music for it.

Is it me, or does this sound like a stupid idea? Yeah, I can see Monty Python's Holy Grail and Young Frankenstein, but not Spider-Man. I mean, come on, really? Even it's title (Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark) sounds just plain absurd.

Well, we'll all have to wait until February of next year for this. Until then, I'll just hope there's nothing like this in there:

Monday, June 29, 2009

He's Doing the Big Pitch in the Sky


Yeah, yeah, I know James already did a thing on Billy Mays (and no, James, I'm not trying to show you up or something), but I'd just like to say some things about him too.

I remember back when I was a kid and saw him on TV, and not really knowing his name so I referred to him as "That Shouty Guy". I liked his ads, not really because of the latest thing he was hawking, but more because I just really saw him as a crazy man that talked really loud. So I guess all that (for a lack of a better term, because he says that it's not for him) "shouting" and flashy colors sure caught my attention as a wee one. Heck, a TF2 Dub of one of his Kaboom! ads was the first real post on this blog.

The thing about the stuff he did ads for that set him kinda apart from all the other TV Pitchmen was that the stuff actually were fairly practical, and according to Popular Mechanics, worked more than you'd think they would.

One of the things I'd like to know about his death would be the cause. Some say it was a bumpy airplane flight, others blame Vince Offer (aka, the ShamWow Guy). Either way, he will be missed. One of the things I hear some people are doing as a sort of tribute to him is wearing a blue shirt like he had, kinda like how mourners wear black arm bands. In fact, I might do that myself if I can find one.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Another Sad Day


Well people, another influential person in media has recently died. The infamous Billy Mays, king of direct-response advertisements was found dead in his house at 7:45 A.M. today. He will be remembered for the (probably) essential products he has pitched us, as well as the excellent show Pitchmen. Something seems amiss, though. I find it odd how two influential men, both 50 died within a few days. Just thinking

Now to finish with a tribute:

Parappa the Rapper Review




Sorry about the long post time. Computer problems and laziness caused this.




Usually when people play or review sequels of video games, they always tend to gauge on how well it stacked up to its predecessor, which always leads to lower scores. The purists of a franchise tend to hate sequels (even though they are the reason developers make these), while first-timers are pleased to play an improved version of a series. But more often than not, a sequel falls flat on its face in terms of… well, overall quality.
Personally, the game I’m about to review, Parappa the Rapper 2, was on my ‘please get’ list, since I couldn’t find a copy in four years. Since I never played the original, and I don’t have a PSP, I decided to just get the sequel. Even though I’ve read forum topics that have said the second game is very inferior to the first, I shrugged those feelings off. No harm done, right?
Unfortunately, even without playing the original, this game is pretty disappointing. The game starts off with a rapping puppy named Parappa that just won a lifetime supply of noodles, which in turn, makes him sick of eating them. However, due to a recent diva tantrum at his girlfriend Sunny’s house, his maturity is questioned, and he must prove that he’s become a man. He also needs to stop the town from becoming victim to a noodle syndicate. The story is pretty crazy, but it’s kind of sub-par when it compares to recent fare, like Space Channel 5, or Katamari Damacy (yeah, these games came out after Parappa 2, but still…)
Gameplay is in the simple department. During a stage, Parappa will be doing a task with his rapping teacher (a spirit of a restaurant owner, an instructing cow, an ant, etc.). As the teacher raps, buttons will be corresponding with some of the words, which in turn, the player must imitate. If Parappa does not follow the line, the meter at the bottom-left hand of the screen turns from ‘good’ to ‘bad’ to ‘awful’, and after that will end the game. The player needs to get at least a good rating to move on. This scheme can get pretty easy, as one could just line up button presses with the layout.



However, in order to get the highest rating, ‘cool’, and thus allowing even more freedom to the player, he or she must improvise the line to make it sound better. For example, if the line is “cook those burgers,”, a player could manipulate the presses to say “ cook, cook, burgers, cook cook those burgers.” It sounds nice on paper, but this is the main flaw of the game. Sometimes I would make a perfectly good rhyme and the computer wouldn’t register it, but I could make a terrible sentence that sounded like a castrated cat and it would give me full points. However, the reason I’m really docking points for this one is because of the fact that even perfectly following the right phrases would be incorrect. I don’t mind losing points for being creative, but when I lose points for following the directions, I’ll get ticked.

There's also a versus mode that's pretty petty in terms of depth.
The music isn’t half-bad, but that means it’s only half-good. Some of them are upbeat and exciting, while some of them are mellow and quiet. They range from all different styles of rap, from a little upbeat pop rap of the military instructor to the reggae tones of the octopus (thing) barber. They all have distinct styles, but are kind of… common. Of the eight tracks that are in the game, I only really liked four of them, and while I did play through all of them, I only found three that were really memorable.
While it is fun to play for a couple of hours, it’ll be just that- a couple of hours. There are eight songs to choose from, and you’ll have to beat the game four times to experience everything, but after that, there’s not much there. True, I’ll put it away and then play it again, but I’d rather be satisfied that I finished it and wait for a month to eagerly play it again. While I do repeat some of the lyrics from time to time, it’s not something I’m going to remember for a long time.
If you’re looking for original zany gameplay that has top notch weirdness, you could try this game. However, if you’re looking for something that will eat your time up, I suggest picking up a copy of Katamari Damacy or the original Parappa (so I’ve heard).


Score: 6/10
P.S. Watch out for Space Channel 5 (in rememberance of Michael Jackson...)

Sorry...


Sorry for the lack of news yesterday, Vic, James and I were all out doing stuff today, including seeing Big Man Japan.