Ian Lewis' Blog

So Street Fighter IV is coming to Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PC but is there anyone out there that things that it looks just plain awful? Give me Capcom vs. SNK 2 any day.

Last Sunday I bought JUMP Ultimate Stars for the Nintendo DS. Since then I've been pretty addicted to the game. The format is that of a melee type game like Super Smash Bros for the Gamecube. But the characters are all from the weekly JUMP comic book in Japan. JUMP is kind of like a weekly book/magazine with various comics. Part of the reason it's so addictive is the number of recognizable characters. JUMP prints comics like "Fist of the North Star", "Dragonball", "One Piece", "Naruto", "Bleach", "Kenshin", and "Yugioh". All of whom have representative characters in the game.

You progress through the game by traveling to different planets that are themed around each of the JUMP comic series. At each planet you advance by winning a number of battles which generally have different objectives like gaining the most points, or collecting symbols, or just defeating all other players. Because the types of matches are limited they do get somewhat repetitive. But usually they change it up by pitting you against different characters from the various comics or forcing you to use the characters from the comic to achieve your goals.

In order to choose which characters you play with, you create a deck or what looks more like a comic page using cards or comic pictures for each of the various battle, support, and helper characters. Each card takes up a specific amount of space on the page so you have to arrange them so they fit. The cards come in 3 types, battle, support, and help. The battle cards are those used for the characters you control in battle. The support cards are for characters you can summon to perform an action and help you fight during the battle. The helper cards give the battle cards extra power ups and abilities. Each character could have any array of cards. For instance, Naruto has 2 different sizes of support cards and 3 different sizes of battle cards. Of course the larger sized cards are more powerful versions of Naruto since they take up more space on your comic page. Of course it also allows full wireless play with those who also have the game and a limited amount of wireless play for those without (they can download a piece of the game wirelessly so they can play). Though I haven't had a chance to check it out with anyone yet.

I recently bought a Nintendo DS and though I've had it only about a couple weeks or so it's already become one of my favorite game systems, handheld or otherwise. The touch screen, and level of innovation in the games adds greatly to it's appeal.

So far I've picked up 3 games. One is Kanji Kentei which is a practice and learning game/software for learning Japanese characters. It follows the Kanji Kentei standarized test and includes a testing mode and practice mode. The practice mode has separate modes for testing how to write kanji, reading kanji, and stroke number/order. As you practice it saves the data on which you got right and wrong for each level and mode. The testing mode combines all three of these modes into a test which it grades and gives you a pass/fail score.

I also picked up the Kirby DS game. Somehow I really like Kirby and how you can suck in enemies and use their powers. It also has really nicely designed levels. It's a refreshing game that doesn't require a lot of time . More recently I've had less and less time I've been able and willing to give to playing games. It also has some simple but fun mini games which yo u can play with friends. One of the nice things about the DS is that you can play with others who have a DS without both of you owning the game. The person without the game can connect and temporarily download the part of the game they need to play along.

I also picked up Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin which like Dawn of Sorrow borrows a lot of gameplay aspects from the PS Symphony of the Night. Which is one of the cooler Castlevania games. So far it hasn't disappointed. I especially like the dual character aspect. And as an added bonus the game has a coop mode so you can play two player! So far I don't have anyone to play with but it seems like it would be fun.

Anyway, if you don't have a DS I strongly encourage you to get one. They are relatively cheap but are a lot of bang for the buck with all the features.

That's it. I've been thinking about it long enough and this is the final straw. I'm going to have to buy a PS2. It's an old console I know but there are just too many awesome games that are exclusive to the PS2 that I can go without owning one. Especially now that Soul Calibur 3 is coming out exclusively for the PS2.

PS2 got just about everything right except for a couple things that gives the X-box the edge as a system. The built in HD and four slots for controllers. PS2 has the games though it seems so I just won't be able to escape getting one forever.

So I got X-Men Legends for the X-box the other day. I have to say that it's true. It is the best X-Men game to date. I think they got the characters down pretty good. I'm especially pleased with my favorite character, Nightcrawler.

In other games Nightcrawler, not having a "combat" power, always seems to have some wierd quirks to try to make up for his lack of combat power but never ends up being very well represented in the game. Not so in X-Men Legends. His fighting ability is good and his in game powers represent his powers in the comic as well. Being able to teleport and become partially invisible is a great boon to this often misrepresented character. Not only that but I was pleasantly surprised that Nightcrawler can save your character from death if the computer is controlling him. He does this by teleporting your character away. I thought that, along with being able to teleport other characters around was a excellent gem.

In truth every charater is well balanced and has "in game powers" that represent their powers in the comic well. That combined with the relatively large number of playable characters, combined with the multiplayer aspects, combined with the overall gameplay and story telling makes this game a must have on the X-box. True to the movies, the game is rife with cameos of non playable characters too, including Havok, Multiple Man, and even Bishop.

The only thing I don't like about the game, but is totally forgivable, is how they did Magneto. Magneto looks a little wierd to me. Maybe it's his solid grey costume. Is it me or doesn't Magneto normally wear red? Also, Magneto's true character is really a bit more complex than what is portrayed in the game. In game he's a total lunatic bent on ruling the world who does nothing but speak angrily. In the comic he's a little more soft spoken and has better reasons for his schemes. And another thing, the voice they chose for Magneto is the same guy from Soul Reaver. It's like the Mark Hamil for game voice actors. It's soo recongnisable. I can't help but think I'm playing Soul Reaver every time I hear it.

While Magneto is a bit distracting, it doesn't really detract from the overall coolness of the game. If you have an X-box, go get this game... You have to. It's your duty... or something.

Just got back from a fun filled gaming weekend. Went down to Harrisonburg to hang out with friends and play games. Played a decent amount of OFP, some FarCry (even though I'm not a huge fan of it), and UT2004.

I've devoted quite a lot of time to games the last month or so. I kinda feel guilty about it. There's so much I could be doing instead. My programming projects and Japanese would probobly be so much better off if I cut video games out of my life. It's pretty hard to do though when you enjoy it and friends are pretty into it too. *Sigh*

BTW. The Reporting Team at work is getting broken up and we're all going to be moving on to projects on other teams. Here's a pic of us and our three interns from our farewell lunch.

I finally finished up Deus Ex this past weekend. That, I'm pretty sure, is one of my favorite games of all time. Lots of depth and cool interesting aspects to game. It combined FPS with RPG aspects like the ability to choose skills and Bio-augmentations. Almost everything in the game can be attacked in multiple ways even the ending (there are three).

Finally, I can start Deus Ex II. I actually started it yesterday. It seems pretty cool. It adds some new features to the world of the first game. Much better graphics for one as well as the non-linear flow. Even though it is supurb, I do have some serious gripes.

The game adds rag doll effects which are pretty decent except the bullets in guns have way to much force. A sniper rifle shot causes a person to do backflips and whatnot. If a shoot a dead person with a sub-machinegun I can blast their body across the floor. If you hit a dead person's body (especially in the legs I've found) with a hand weapon their body jumps spastically. Pretty silly.

Also you don't take damage in different parts of your body now. This is replaced by a single health bar.

The guns all use the same ammo (matter clips) and you don't have to reload. Like... what? You don't have to reload? You even have clips! Why no reload? Silly.

Even though I have these gripes the immersion is good. Voice acting is everywhere and supurb (like in the first one). Integration with the storyline and reuse of characters is also good. I'm looking forward to completing it.

I'm excited today because I managed to find my all time favorite game soundtrack online. Mechwarrior 2 had the best soundtrack of them all. Not only does is it really cool to listen to by itself but the music fit the game perfectly. The only gripe is that the tracks were too short. It's 27 songs of electronic music weighing in at about 2:30 each. Every one is gold.

Total Annihilation (my favorite computer game) managed to put together a really good soundtrack too and even though they're similar, I don't think I liked it as much as Mechwarrior 2's soundtrack.

I, as always it seems, have been playing alot of video games recently. I've come to the conclusion long ago that I don't like how much time I spend on it so I try to limit myself as much as I can. I'm not so bad that I'm losing relationships with my family and I'm shirking work but given how many hobbies and interests I have my free time is precious to me. And philisophically, games don't get you anything right? They don't make you a better person etc.

The other side of the coin is that some games are just too cool not to play. Take Morrowind for example, the sheer massive size and attention to detail, expandability, and replayability in the game makes it so engrossing that it's hard not to play it. Also, Operation Flashpoint. That game has all the same features mentioned above. The ability to shape the game and add content, in this case in the form of missions and addons, makes these games infinitly replayable. I just don't know where to begin.

Maybe sometime I can curb my desire to play games but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen soon.

So I'm updating my blog now. My good friend Spiffo seemed to think that it needed updating. I'd like to say how glad I am that she said something. I was under the impression that noone, or close to noone, read my blog. It's good to know that at least Spiffo cares enough to read it. Thanks Spiffo!

Recently I've been working on some mods for Morrowind since I recently got it running on my new computer. Check out the BCGamers website later if you are interested in them.

A little less recently I have been spending time studying Japanese and gaining some more headway. I think I could definitly pass the level 4 proficiency test in December, but if I studied hard I might even be able to pass the level 3. It seems like level 4 would be well below my level by December but I'm not sure what the tests look like so I might have to be safe and just take the 4. Level 3 would be a decent amount more prestigious.

To work on my speaking and listening skills, I started going to japanese language meetups in Northern Virginia every month. I met this guy there that is on about my level. He seems to know more vocab but I think I know more context so I'm sure we can learn a lot from each other.

Jaa, Sore Dake. Later

I just added a website for the gaming needs of me and my gamer friends. Hopefully we can use it to communicate and coordinate and put up links, downloads, and reviews ,and such that comes out of our gaming adventures. Hopefully we'll be able to let others what mods are good for games and what aren't and maybe produce some cool ones of our own.

Back at work today after a good free weekend. Since I didn't have much in particular to do this weekend I found myself playing some video games. I finally finished up my evil jedi character in Knights of the Old Republic.

By chance, Wes and I went to CompUSA the next day and I picked up Halo and Splinter Cell. Since both have come down in price and are now affordable, $30 and $20 respectively, I figured I couldn't put off getting them any longer. I think it was a good decision despite the seemingly wasted hours playing the games cuz Wes and I played the cooperative mode of Halo well into Saturday night. That's fun because being old doesn't lend itself to free time playing games with friends like it used to in the early years of college.

So I'm back in the U.S. I came back from Japan last Wednesday and I'm currently working on getting things strait. I've been eating subway subs for the last two days because I didn't have any food until yesterday (partly because I'm lazy). I still haven't fully unpacked either. I think today's the day tho. I'll probably start uploading the pictures I took also. I'll talk a little more about the trip tomorrow.

It hasn't helped my unpacking effort that I've been playing Enter the Matrix either. I found myself really enjoying that game way too much. It takes place during the second matrix movie but with characters that aren't in the movie. ...Which is cool because it adds depth to the second movie which seemed wierd to me. I think I like the second movie more after playing the game. By the way I beat it after two days of playing it. Thursday, I stayed up until 4 in the morning, Friday, I slept after work, and Saturday I beat it (with both characters, which is essentially beating it twice). Maybe a little short/easy but I didn't really notice ... very enjoyable.

Holy Crap!!

I just found out about this game called The Sims Online. It's basically a version of the Sims where you control an avatar online. You can chat, run a business, own a house etc.

The most interesting part is that communities have formed in the online world that are quite disturbing. These include bondage and sadomasochism groups, a mafia, and a shadow government. These groups have fund set up to finance activities within the game. Some of their activities within the game include distruction of property in the game, extorting online money (which can be turned into real money on e-bay), and prostitution. And apparently many of the prostitutes in the game are minors in real life.

Around the same time all of these things were forming a philosophy professor at the University of Michigan, Peter Ludlow, created an online blog that was meant as a newspaper for the biggest city in the game, Alphaville. It was called the Alphaville Herald. This dood reported on various happenings within the game but found out about many of the activities going on and started reporting on them.

After bringing many of these things to light Maxis, the developers, and EA, the distributers, banned Peter from the game and removed all references to the Alphaville Herald from the game and banned future mentions of it. They claimed it was for breaching the Terms of Service by linking to a commercial site (the site had banner ads). They gave him 72 hours to fix it and he did by removing the banners on his site (making it non-commercial) but they deleted his account and banned him from the game anyway.

All I have to say is WOW. I, for one, think this has big implecations in for online gaming and censorship. Crazy.

Over thanksgiving Wes, Sean, Chris, and I had a four day gamathon. This might have included Jedi Academy but multiplayer didn't seem to work well. Both Wes and I got packet errors when starting multiplayer games.

Well, yesterday I got it to work after installing the new patch (1.01). However they removed g_saberrealisticcombat (model dismemberment, increased lightsaber damage etc.) which I use constantly. I've read around that it doesn't work for Jedi Academy like it did for Jedi Knight 2 but it worked for me. So with the original multiplayer doesn't work and with the update the single player g_saberrealisticcombat doesn't work.

So now I have 2 installs of Jedi Academy, one with the update and one without. The reason that I put up with this is because multiplayer is actually pretty good. Jedi Knight 2 multiplayer blew compared to single player combat. Lightsabers were like baseball bats. If you hit someone they flew around like you were in a pingpong game. How wierd is that? And when you use the absorb force power it used to make you glow so that everyone knew you were using it making it unable to really do it's job. Noone in their right mind would try to push you if you had absorb on.

Fortunately these issues go away in Jedi Academy multiplayer. I'm glad they realized the stupidities of the previous game's multiplayer mode and fixed it.