Nov112009

In my very slim
amount of free time…

Mother 3 Fan Translation Patcher

I own the GBA cartridge, you cretins, so I hold the moral high ground here. =] It was just getting too frustrating having to constantly refer to a translated script… you really miss a lot of the game, which is a shame when the most interesting thing about the Earthbound/Mother series is the writing.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 8:08 pm · Tags , ,

Apr162009

wonderfl

This isn’t exactly news, but I created an account on the Japanese social network/code sharing site Wonderfl. It’s kind of cool… you can use the site to automatically compile Actionscript 3 code, then save it for other people to check out. If you see some code you like, or that sparks a new idea, you can “fork” it — copy it and save your own version. I was kind of surprised… I added two small demos on Monday, and by Wednesday some other users had already modified my demos. There’s a lot of random crap, but you can also learn some cool techniques by browsing through the user-submitted code. If you have any interest in Actionscript, you should check it out.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 1:28 pm · Tags , , , ,

Mar262008

Review: Moero! Nekketsu Rizumu Damashii
(Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2)

Great crap of craps! In the attempt to have the longest game title ever, Nintendo released (a few months ago) the sequel to its quite popular DS music game, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (roughly translated to “Yeah! Fight! Cheer Squad”). As you might expect, this game is completely ridiculous… a point hammered home when you actually see the characters who comprise said “ouendan“: butch-looking dudes (yes, dudes) who sport long leather trench coats and scream manly-sounding Japanese.

How does it work? Various denizens of a city find themselves in various predicaments (illustrated by hilarious cut scenes). One kid has a crush on a girl and is challenged to a dodge ball match in order to win her heart. A tired, worn out old racehorse is running one last race and crosses paths with a robber running from the law. Cleopatra has indulged a bit too much in the starchy foods, and has to whip herself back into shape before Marc Antony comes home. You know, problems that normal people face every day. Once they realize that their problem is beyond their power to solve, they scream, “OOOOUUUENNNNDAAAANNN!” and get cheered to victory.

The Ouendan shows up and cheers and dances to a famous (I have to assume) Japanese pop song. Numbered circles appear on the screen, with shrinking outlines. When the outline is just on the border of the circle, tap it with the stylus in the order it appeared on the screen. Better timing yields more points, and keeps the Ouendan cheer meter raised higher.

Like all music games, the real point of Ouendan 2 is the songs that you tap the touchscreen in time with. Unfortunately, I don’t really follow Japanese pop at all, which makes the game a bit harder to enjoy. I did recognize some of the tracks from the first game in the series (due to karaoke and such), which made it rather enjoyable and nostalgic.

You would think that if the music is somewhat unaccessible for the Japanese versions of this game, I might recommend the North American version, Elite Beat Agents. You would also be wrong, and I would probably feel compelled to hit you with a truncheon. I searched for “elite beat agents song list,” and the first hit was from Game|Life, ironically enough. Check that link, and you’ll see that the song list is total rubbish.

My recommendation is to grab the first Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and try out its different take on the music/rhythm genre. If you just can’t get enough, go for either the true sequel (Moero! Nekketsu Rizumu Damashii) or its spiritual brother (Elite Beat Agents).

No comments · Written by Nathan at 10:24 pm · Tags , ,

Mar262008

Small world

Remember that not-yet-day-old post about the Miyamoto-signed Super Famicom? In a bizzaro twist, it turns out that the seller, one Nathan Smart, is an attendee of the same church as my good buddy Soulman. If I would have actually looked at the seller’s location, I might have anticipated this coming. Nathan writes a bit about his motivation behind selling the system. I can totally sympathize with his concern – just having too much stuff to cart around. Some dude in a movie once said, “The stuff you own ends up owning you.” However, I can guarantee that such a one-of-a-kind item would make its way to the top of my “stuff to keep” list.

1 comment · Written by Nathan at 8:48 pm · Tags , ,

Mar242008

America’s MGS4
“bundle”

I was actually looking forward to the release of the “gun metal” PS3… I probably would have actually bought it, due to the fact that it looks a lot better than the glossy black plastic of the original PS3 chassis. Oh yeah, and it would have come with really the only game I’m interested in playing on the PS3 – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Well, my dreams of gun-metal-PS3-owning are dashed – apparently the US only gets a lame, limited edition version of the game itself.

I still might get it (‘cos I’m a sucker for that sort of stuff… remember the dilemma regarding my Mario Galaxy commemorative coin?), but I’ll be very annoyed while forking over my money to the morbidly obese cashier.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 9:39 pm · Tags ,

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