What’s that, eh? Laundry list of things I did today, in chronological order:<p>
->Ran 3 miles
->Got my teeth checked/cleaned (they’re beautiful!)
->Applied for 3 (more) jobs
->Deposited some money from traveller’s cheques my bank rejected
->Filled in a pothole in my parents’ driveway
->Dug out an old birdhouse in the backyard
->Made arrangements to begin an independent web design contract
Gotta stave off the boredom!
Just got in this morning, and the first thing I see on Wired is shots of the new Nintendo system controller. Obviously there was a lot of speculation on the final form it would take, but this is even more of a departure than most people imagined, I’m sure. It basically looks like a remote control, but with sensors that can detect rotation and movement.
Wired
1up.com
Translated video of the Tokyo Game Show keynote speech by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata
As I may have said in the past, I think the future of games revolves around tactile input, such as using a stylus (something Nintendo has already done). From what I see of this concept, I'm actually rather excited. Using the remote to control aiming in FPS games is going to be quite intuitive. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to wait until Wal-Mart gets demo units before I can try this sucker out.
Allow me to spew some nonsense about my ongoing trip and forthcoming relocation to Ohio. The general purpose, at first, was to find an apartment and move out, then obtain employment. Right now, it’s almost a sure thing that I won’t accomplish what I set out to do in the way I thought I would. On a whim, I accepted an invitation to a church-associated beach trip from September 2-11, and ended up meeting lots members of the church, which is called Xenos. The entire church structure is something rather different, but I’ll let you follow the link if you’re interested. The end result of all this is that I made quite a few new friends really quickly. Most of these friends live in ‘ministry houses,’ which are group houses loosely affiliated with Xenos. After somewhat unsuccessfully trying to find apartments that were both affordable and in good locations, right now I’m seriously considering moving into the mens’ ministry house. Coming back to Columbus is a 100% sure thing, and I think the advantages of living in a group house outweigh the disadvantages, at least for now. This evening I’m scheduled to talk with the church leader about this very topic. I return to Nebraska on Friday, but I’m sure I’ll want to drive back out to Columbus ASAP. <p> A bit more about the beach trip: We drove down to Holden Beach, North Carolina and stayed in a (large) beachfront house. There were perhaps around 25-30 guys staying in this one house. It was difficult because I didn’t know many people, but by the end of the week I became fairly well acquainted with lots of the guys, just by attending devotionals and generally wasting time together. I managed to not get sunburned, and lost the horrible tan lines I had on my legs from hiking the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures (which, to those in the know, is hardly surprising), but my friend Andy snapped a few. Yes, now you can see a few pictures of me, and many pictures of people you don’t know. Yes, that is a hookah, but filled with tobacco, you cretins. I think in general, a good time was had by all, excepting the 12-hour drive both ways. <p> I started reading The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand, at the beginning of the beach; got about 100 pages done per day, but then hit a block around page 500. Really interesting at the beginning, but drags on and on. It would be much better if it was cut in half. The entire book espouses Rand’s ideal of humanity, basically the worship of the self. She states that man’s first duty is to himself, and smashes the idea of self-sacrifice. Interestingly enough, the self-sacrifice in her book didn’t seem to be associated with Christianity, although one can read between the lines. She decries anything which uses other people or relies on them. Dunno if I’d recommend it; go for Anthem, which spouts the same ideas in much less space.
When Metal Gear Solid 2 was released, my excitement was palpable. I went to Electronics Boutique and bought the game, along with a memory card. Then I retreated to my basement room, set up my stereo and TV, dimmed the lights, and went on a magical voyage with Solid Snake. Get your mind out of the gutter, you filthy pervert. Did I mention that I didn’t even have my own Playstation 2 at the time? By the way, I didn’t even have my own Playstation 2 at the time. A friend left his over at my house, and then, like an annoying person, said he wanted it back right when I started playing the game. Of course, I killed him, and there was no more argument about the subject.
Metal Gear Solid 3 was more of a careless purchase. The game was released in November of 2004, which was an unfortunate time due to the fact that I was living in Japan, and didn't have a Japanese PS2. I eventually got one of the slim-design PS2s, and when I had a few thousand yen to blow on video games one month, I bought MGS3. I thought that I might have had a chance to understand a bit of the dialogue, or at least stumble through the game. Wrong on both counts. I learned a few, shall we say, "infiltration-related" words, but aside from that all of the dialogue was in incomprehensible Moon Language (or Japanese, if you will). As I quickly realized, about 60% of the game (a purely speculative number) is dialogue and cut-scenes, which made my Japanese copy of the game almost totally worthless.
Fast forward about six months. After returning from Japan, one of the things I knew I wanted to do was to play Metal Gear Solid 3, so after returning from a family trip, I rented a copy from the local video store. Frustratingly enough, I didn't have time to finish the game before I left on yet another trip, but I think I played it enough to get a decent impression.
The time is 1963. A Russian weapons scientist named Solokov, who is working on a top secret project, wants to defect, and a man code-named Snake is sent in to extract him. As Snake and Solokov are about to escape, they are waylaid by Snake's old mentor, The Boss, who beats Snake to a pulp, knocks him off a bridge, and re-apprehends the scientist. It turns out that The Boss has defected to the U.S.S.R. herself, and has become allies with an evil Russian general who wants to seize power from Nikita Khrushchev. Snake is suspected of having a hand in all this, so in order to clear his name, he must go after Solokov (who, of course, was working on a tank with nuclear missile-launching capabilities), and take down The Boss.
Veterans of the Metal Gear series will have no trouble picking up the gameplay mechanics of MGS3. However, there are a few differences. In a throwback to the original Metal Gear, many of the levels are in an organic jungle environment, as opposed to the harsh, angular interiors of MGS and MGS2. Basically, this means that Snake can no longer hide around corners, and must sometimes sneak around in full view of enemy soldiers. To help the player with this aspect of the game, a new camouflage system has been introduced. Throughout the game, Snake will collect different suits of camo, which will help him blend in with his surroundings. Depending on his position and camouflage, Snake can be almost completely invisible. For example, at one point in the game I was in an area with basically no cover, sniping at enemy soldiers. Although they knew they were being sniped at, they ran around aimlessly, because Snake was hidden so well due to camouflage.
Another new feature of the game is something called CQC, or Close Quarters Combat. Using certain weapons (or while unarmed), Snake can grab an enemy and perform a variety of combat techniques. With CQC, Snake can instantly KO an enemy, kill him outright, use him as a human shield while shooting other soldiers, or threaten him for information. CQC actually makes hand-to-hand combat a viable option for neutralizing multiple enemies, as well. In previous games, the player had to knock down an enemy, wait for him to get up, then knock him down again to KO him. While this was going on, Snake would be getting punched full of holes by the soldier's comrades. In MGS3, Snake can grab one guy, throw him to the ground, and then move on to the next threat.
The third new element in MGS3 is stamina-based health, along with a new injury system. Below his life bar, Snake has a stamina meter. Stamina-draining activities (such as running and swimming) will lower this meter, which is replenished by eating food. Food, in this case, is anything Snake can lay his hands on, including various wild animals encountered in the jungle. When the stamina bar is full, Snake's health will quickly recover. However, when it is low, Snake recovers more slowly, and will eventually lose consciousness if the bar is emptied. Therefore, eating regularly is a critical part of the game. In addition to this, many times in the course of the game Snake will be injured beyond the scope of the simple "life bar." In these cases, the player must access a special 'Cure' sub-screen, which allows for various wounds to be treated. Of course, the most common types of wounds are cuts and bullet injuries, but others (such as leeches sucking your stamina away, or broken bones) are also encountered. If these wounds aren't treated, Snake will constantly lose stamina, or else will be unable to fully regain his health.
The real question, of course, is, "Do these enhancements add to the quality of the proven Metal Gear Solid gameplay?" The answer is, as lame as it may be, yes and no. Changing camouflage, eating, and healing Snake all require pausing the game, and accessing sub-menus, which is both time consuming and also breaks up gameplay. Many times during intense boss fights, the player must pause and cure Snake of some annoying injury; failure to do so results in a fairly hefty penalty. Also, since the terrain changes many times during the course of the game, get used to constantly changing Snake's camouflage. On the plus side, CQC is a great addition, and makes the gameplay a bit more interesting when fighting enemies in enclosed areas. One other thing I liked about MGS3 is the fact that it's completely possible to kill all the guards in one area, which was impossible in MGS2, if I recall. Instead of infinite backup units pouring in, the enemy commander will say something to the effect of, "Sorry, no backup for you!" while Snake offs the existing baddies one by one.
My overall impression of MGS3 was a positive one. It's not perfect; however, the plot is engaging, the voice acting is decent, and the gameplay is much the same (with a few tweaks and gimmicks). As far as sequels go, MGS3 is probably par for the course: not mind-bogglingly good, but decent enough to play through and expound the Metal Gear universe.
Status: Unfinished, due to the game bein' a durn rental
As everyone knows, sequels are a necessary evil in the game industry. I say “evil” because, for the most part, I would rather play a new and creative game instead of a lame rehash. Of course, not all sequels are completely bad. Some can use the same gameplay engine to continue the story of the first game; if the story is worthwhile, then I have no problem with these types of sequels. Others tack on a few new ideas and levels and package it as a new, amazing update! Which is usually not worth buying.
Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy (Everybody Loves Katamari) is a sequel which straddles some of those definable sequel borders, so to speak. On the one hand, the core gameplay idea is exactly the same: roll stuff up into your katamari. On the other, so much content is added that it really feels like a different game. After completing Katamari Damacy shortly before the sequel was released, I felt that I had had enough rolling. The idea was great, I thought, but where can you possibly go from here? The answer, it turns out, is many, many places.
(The reader will have to forgive any mistakes I may make in regards to the story and dialogue of Everybody Loves Katamari. I played the Japanese version, and will be the first to admit that my Japanese is, um, not too great.)
The premise in Everybody Loves Katamari is a bit different from that of the first. The Prince wanders around bits of the earth, and meets up with various people. These people either need his help, or have a particular favor to ask, obviously invariably involving rolling. One example is a woman whose child's room is messy. You roll around in the kid's room, cleaning it up. Another is a student who didn't pay his energy bill, so he can't study at night. The Prince therefore rolls up a giant ball of fireflies to cast some light on the problem. A third is the boy who loves camping, and needs help lighting a campfire. The Prince's katamari is a ball of fire, and he must roll around collecting more and more burnable items, otherwise the fire will go out.
These examples, while showing the some of the different things the player can roll, may not be enough to convince you of the differences between the first and second Katamari games. How about an underwater level, which is effectively a low-gravity environment? I hope everyone experienced the Quake level 'Ziggurat Vertigo,' and knows how much fun it is to take a normal physics model and reduce the gravity. What about the guy who loves both racing and Katamari Damacy? In his level, you race your katamari around a track at insane speeds, rolling up other racers as you go by. The Prince also helps out Hansel and Gretel, rolling up the Witch's house of candy (including the Witch herself!).
You're probably tired of hearing about all the new stages, but I have to mention just two more. One kid is a sumo wrestler, but he can't build up bulk just by sitting inside and playing Katamari Damacy! The Prince takes him out and rolls him around, collecting more and more food items. Of course, the kid's bulk increases to ridiculous sizes; it's quite brilliant. Another kid has a sick friend, so the Prince rolls around a school building, collecting origami cranes to help him get better. That idea is just very clever, for those who know the significance.
There are many other small enhancements that make the game just more fun to play. Now the player can use any of the Prince's cousins to play the game; they aren't just for multiplayer anymore. For the obsessive collector, small icons now tell you whether or not you grabbed all the cousins or the present in each level. The vs. multiplayer mode has been enhanced, making it much more competitive. Now a dash attack will decimate your opponent's katamari, making it harder for one person to gain an insurmountable advantage. A new cooperative mode also exists, which allows two players to push the same katamari, and requires a bit of the ol' compromise and teamwork (unfortunately, I haven't actually played this new mode yet).
As much as I wax on and on about the brilliant new features of this game, I must confess that I haven't actually completed Everybody Loves Katamari. For me, this is not as much an issue of boring gameplay, but more related to the fact that I'm playing the game in Japanese. Instead of just turning my brain off while playing, I have to concentrate on the text and dialogue. This would not be so bad normally, but the King speaks in all katakana, and many times the text bubbles advance too quickly, not giving me enough time to read. These issues are a bit frustrating, and make it more difficult to play the game, but I will no doubt finish it in the future.
In conclusion, Everybody Loves Katamari is a worthy sequel; more interesting and creative than the first. Although I left it unfinished, I don't think that is a factor against the game. I expect you all to go buy it, you philistines.
STATUS: Unfinished
US Release Date: 9/20/05
Links of interest:
Official site
Desktop wallpaper collection
Feature on 1up.com
Incomplete list of presents in Everybody Loves Katamari