‘Tis the season to empty my wallet.

Why, oh why, must there be so much video gaming goodness coming out this holiday season? Just how in the hell am I supposed to afford all of these choice titles I’m interested in, let alone find the time to play them?!? Yes, much has been said on these internets about the glut of AAA games being released so close to each other, but c’mon, this is nuts. Its unprecedented! Even if you leave out all the great games that have recently been released that I either haven’t had the time to complete (I’m looking at you, Metroid Prime3, and Halo 3), haven’t had the time to even start a game yet (sigh, soon Zelda PH, soon) or haven’t had the opportunity to pick up yet (every time I wanna get The Orange Box, something else comes up…), there are far too many options I see coming my way in the next little while. These are gonna be some tough choices in the days ahead, hell, this week alone I’m struggling with what to pick up: Guitar Hero III, or Zak & Wiki? And even if I totally buckle and get both of ‘em (lucky me, birthday money this week), those are apparently a couple of long-lasting, fun, great games which I’ll be playing for god-knows how long, where am I gonna find time for all the other great games ahead? I just absolutely know that Super Mario Galaxy will own me once I get it, and it’s a no-brainer day-one purchase, but then when will I have time for anything else?

And hey, that’s just a couple games for Wii, never mind all the other great games coming for 360 and DS (and the Wii) between now and the years end, I don’t know where I could possibly find the time to play all the games that look good to me, rental or purchase, there’s just not enough gaming hours in the day for all the quality that’s coming our way. This could only be worse if owned a PS3 too, as Eye of Judgement looks like a ton of fun, Ratchet & Clank Future would so rock my socks off, and I just know I‘d never put down Everyday Shooter if I had it. Haze looks frickin’ awesome too. This is truly a great time to be a gamer, as there’s something for just about everyone out there, but you know what? It’s a rather crappy time to be a hardcore gamer, as there’s just too much coming in such a short amount of time, it’s a real sensory, and financial, overload. It’s a funny thing to complain about - “there’s just too many good games out right now” - I certainly never thought I’d say it, but it’s true.

I was really looking forward to playing Army of Two this year, as it looks like a total blast, but now it’s early ‘08 for that one. I was also disappointed to read that Super Smash Bros. had been delayed until next year at first, then it dawned on me that I’d actually have more time to enjoy other worthy games before they finally came around, and I realised that it was really for the best. First time I’ve ever been glad about delays. Same thing for another Wii game, Forever Blue, which was originally supposed to drop on the same day as Battalion Wars 2 if I remember correctly (another game I’m trying to find some extra cash for, and if I do, will have to find lots of extra time for), but has now been thankfully delayed until February. That game is all about sitting back taking your time, relaxing and enjoying the underwater scenery, sense of exploration & discovery, apparently. And it looks interesting, like something that a gamer could unwind with, especially considering you can swim around with someone else over wifi (although I seriously hope that Nintendo wises up and releases a headset of some kind for voice chat by then). And as much as I’d really like to play it, and could see myself getting into it a bit and actually relaxing with it, if I did have it, would I be playing it or Mass Effect? Probably Mass Effect, but only if I wasn’t playing Mario Galaxy, or Ninja Gaiden DS, or Bwii, or CoD4, or Geometry Wars Galaxies, or Assassin’s Creed, or Contra 4, or The Simpsons, or maybe even still GH3 or Zak & Wiki, or….. I’m sure you can see my point here. There’s just too much good gaming to be had for any one gamer out there this year. It’s literally too much of a good thing.

I know that there’s usually time in the early months of the new year to catch up on everything you missed over the holidays, or just get better acquainted with what you did pick up or receive, but there’s so much coming out that there still may not be enough time in the day for gamers out there to play everything they want to. This is made even more evident when you look at how many high profile games are coming out in the first half of 2008. Even if you just look at only the so-called ‘casual’ system, Wii: There’s of course the aforementioned juggernaught Super Smash Bros., the equally-likely-to-be-huge Wii Fit w/balance board (which my Mom told me I have to get, go figure; I‘ll even be competing w/my Mom for console time…), and of course online Mario Kart, as just 3 examples for Wii alone that will be asking me to play them early next year (plus, as mentioned earlier, Forever Blue). That would do me in even if all I played was Wii, but then when you factor in all the 360 & DS games that I’ll also likely be coveting during that time period as well (don‘t even get me started….), I could go mad I tells ya. I’ll have to pick and choose this amazing game instead of that amazing game, every time I go game shopping. If my wife thinks I spend way too long at EB when we’re at the mall now, just what’s she gonna say over the next few months? And for the first time I’m actually kinda glad I don’t have a PS3 yet, as I’m sure MGS4 would command every single idle minute I had. There’s just not enough time

Oh well, there’s certainly worse things one could be complaining about, but I just wish these companies could stretch out these AAA titles a little bit over the year, my bank account and free time can’t keep up as it is. You know, Dickens really said it best as far as it pertains to diehard gamers this year; “It was the Best of times, it was the Worst of times”.

-Kimo

System Check…..Online Status: OK…..GO!

Look who’s back on teh muthalovin’ internets!! Our other computer has apparently passed on, and after much deliberation and delay, we finally have our replacement in the form of this spiffy new laptop. Yes, it’s good to be back online, if only because I have somewhere to post all this stuff I was writing and thinking about writing in my spare time offline. Damn has there ever been a lot of gaming info and related stuff over the last couple months, lots of stuff has happened, been revealed, or been released. So, there will probably be more updates to the site over the next couple days than there were total posts previously, but that reflects my new attitude towards my blogs: to actually post blogs! Maybe I’ll gain a few more readers than just me while I’m at it too. =)

-Kimo

Review: Pac-Man Championship Edition (Xbox 360)- Buy This Game!

Best. Pac-Man. Ever. Yes, I know its pretty darn clichéd to declare things the Best_____Ever these days, but this is simply how I feel about Pac-Man Championship Edition; this game is Pac-Man, perfected. Now let me tell you, I love Pac-Man. When I was a kid, I dumped untold amounts of quarters into that game, and its brethren Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Jr., Super Pac-Man, the hacks, all of 'em. Yes, as a kid I had the Pac-Man Fever. But the thing is this, much like pneumonia or bronchitis, once you get 'the Fever', you never really lose it.

I've sought out and played countless renditions of Pac-Man over the years; I had the red-LCD table-top 'Arcade Machine'; the Atari 2600 & 7800 versions (btw: Pac-Man on 2600 = Worst.Pac-Man.Ever., but I still played the hell outta it, it was Pac-Man!); the superior (but not arcade perfect) NES version; the GameBoy version (but unfortunately not the GBC version, which apparently had an awesome 2-player mode); the GBA Pac-Man Collection (still not arcade perfect, even with the power of GBA!); Namco Museums for each generation of hardware; the Plug & Play versions; the good spin-offs and semi-sequels (Ms. Pac Man, Pac & Pal, Super Pac-Man, etc.); the bad spin-offs and semi-sequels (Pac-Mania, Pac-Land, Pac-Man Arrangement (ugh), etc.); internet flash-based Pac-Man games; the good ol' arcade hacks back in the day (speed-up, slow down, special effects, etc.); and the countless stream of Pac-Clones over the years, both good and bad. Yep, I think I've played them all. I even have MAME running on my cell phone for the sole purpose of running Pac-Man & Ms. Pac-Man on the go, anytime, anywhere (I think I've paid into the Pac-Empire enough to not feel guilty about these emulations). I really do dig Pac-Man, see, and this is why I'm so over the moon for Namco-Bandai's latest Pac-Man effort, as they've taken the game I love and truly updated it and improved upon it in each and every way.

Unveiled at the Pac-Man World Championships in New York City (kinda like SMB 3 was in The Wizard, as the finalists had to compete for the final prize on this new, unknown game, as opposed to the one they knew & played so well to get there), and the first designed by the series' creator Toru Iwatani (who retired from game design with this amazing game) since he created the original, the game was made available exclusively through Xbox Live Arcade. That might be the titles' only downside really, its current exclusivity, as I would love to see this released as an actual arcade machine, or to be able to play it anywhere on Nintendo DS, whenever the urge hits. But, that may still happen down the road, for now though, let me tell you why if you only download one game off XBLA, it should be this one (although if for some reason you hate all things Pac-Man, get Geometry Wars, as it too rocks).

The game now plays in a widescreen presentation, unlike the vertical presentations of prior versions. Instead of level after level of essentially the same damn screen with only the speed and patterns of the ghosts and the types of fruit changing, you now get one timed level, the screen split into two halves, with the ghost house in the middle of the two. You still try to escape the clutches of the ghosts (still Inky, Bliky, Pinky, and Clyde) while chomping pellets to clear the screen, but there's a new twist here; once you clear one half, a piece of fruit (or item like a Galaxian Ship, Cake, Key, etc.) appears on the other half, next to the ghost house. Eating this fruit (or whatever) causes the half you just cleared to re-populate with pellets, and alters that half of the stage into a different maze altogether.You repeat this process over and over, while the pace quickens with each cleared maze, until you either run out of lives, or time expires, and the lone goal is the same lone goal of its arcade ancestors: getting an unbeatable high score by clearing wave after wave of pellets, and chomping ghosts. That brings up another twist on the classic formula: chomping ghosts. You still eat them when they turn blue after eating a power-pellet, but now you can chain these together into a high scoring combo if you can eat another power-pellet before the 'attack phase' time runs out. The point value for the blue ghosts grows and grows from 200 to 3200 (where it maxes-out) with each successive ghost you eat in a combo, and you'll keep getting 3200 points for each ghost you can keep squeezing into that combo. Here's a little video I put on YouTube of one of my scores, to give you an idea of the play-mechanics at work here.


Pac-Man has always been about Zen-like concentration, whatever method you approach it with, whether it be running one of the various patterns for each level (personally, for me, the only way to 'finish' or even attempt to 'finish' the original game), or Billy Mitchell-style where you just react to the situation from second to second, the game was designed to always keeps you on your toes (and to keep making you die, & dump in more quarters). This aspect of the game is still ever-present in Pac-Man CE, in fact its been turned up to 11. The game now has a truly frantic pace (which does build gradually), as both the ghosts and Pac-Man himself gain more and more speed as the mazes get cleared. You can also gain a little teeny-tiny speed boost by turning early around corners (Pac-Man emits sparks when doing this), which adds even a little more depth to clearing mazes as well. Extra lives are a lot easier to get, but as an extra emphasis on not dying, the point value of each pellet munched now goes up after a certain amount are cleared, starting at 10 points each, and maxing out at 50 points each. You'll obviously get a much higher score crunching 50 pts per pellet than 10, so while you'll most likely have enough lives to finish the level, the less you die the better your score's gonna be. This point raising is also true of the fruits, as the score for each fruit or item increases the further you progress.

All of this gives you multiple ways to play, as there are different strategies you can employ to get that super high score you're after. You can concentrate just on chaining ghosts together into huge combos, or on clearing as many pellets as possible without dying, thus gaining 50 pts. each pellet, or just focusing on getting the ever-increasing-in-value fruits or items (which in the later stages give you tons of points). Or of course you can try to do all 3 at once, trying to find that delicate balance between them all that will put your score in a place of prominence on the worldwide online leaderboards. At the end of your run, you're given a total breakdown of exactly how and when you scored each and every point, so you can study where you went wrong, or see when you picked up a ton of points, and how (ghosts, fruit, or pellets). Very, very cool feature. There's 6 different modes for your selection: Challenge Mode 1 & 2, Extra Mode 1, 2, & 3, and of course, Championship Mode. The main differences between them are their layouts and themes, with some having much less power pellets than others and some having really tight boards for you to clear, or some starting at top speed, or having the entire stage in darkness except for the area around you and the ghosts, and their length (Challenge Mode 1, Extra Mode 3, and Championship Mode all have 5 minute timers, the rest, 10 mins.). As it is basically the same game across all modes, you'll likely find yourself sticking to your favorite one and trying to master it, playing the other modes for variety and practice. For me, and likely most of you too I'm sure, that mode is Championship Mode, the 'main' variation in the package. But they're all good. Think of it like the old 2600 days (if you were playing back then), where you could 'change' the game into other modes (extra difficulty, more ships, enemies, etc..), but it was essentially the same game each time, and you mostly just played the main game anyways.

Namco has tried many times over the years to re-invent Pac-Man, to varying levels of success. I feel that the only true sequel to Pac-Man previously has been Ms. Pac-Man (which was, honestly, more fun to play, and a better game), and that wasn't even made by Namco, but the American distributor of the game, Midway (after purchasing the rights to a hack of Pac-Man called Crazy Otto, then sprucing it up with a bow), after they grew impatient for Namco's official sequel to the then-worldwide phenomenon. That game, Super Pac-Man, did come, and while a great game in its own right, it just didn't quite feel the same. There were no pellets for one thing, as you ate pieces of fruit instead. It wasn't the same. They tried to make Pac-Man cool and 3D-ish with the isometric PacMania, which retained the style of mazes and the pellets, and even added jumping (!), but that game just wasn't much fun to play at all. The abomination that was Pac-Man Arrangement was really the closest they ever came to it prior to CE, as they really tried to stick to the look of Pac-Man, and really tried to implement new things (speed dashes, new, weird ghosts, warps, dynamic and colorful stages, etc.), but it all just worked out to be an utter mess.

No, this time they absolutely nailed it, and surpassed it, as this surely stands as the definitive version of Pac-Man. This isn't the same game you (or your father,..God I'm getting old...) remember, but there's more than enough of that game's spirit and style here to make it a worthy successor to the throne. The looks, updated and made retro-future cool with the bright neon look and widescreen presentation, the gameplay, which is the same, but somehow better (and I don't know how they did it, but this game controls like a dream with the 360's analogue stick. Really!), the sounds, which retain their nostalgia from earlier games, even the new music (yes, music) for the game strangely fits too. As I said above, the only thing I could ask for is for this to be released on more systems, as I crave a Nintendo DS version of this game like you wouldn't believe (Namco Museum DS is among my most anticipated titles coming for any system, as it contains arcade perfect Pac-Man (with proper screen-ratio too, with the DS in 'book-style'), and Pac-Man Vs.! Oh Joy!), and I think that this game would find a much, much larger audience on that and other systems. But hey, I ain't got nothin' to complain about here, I just want to sing this titles praises to all gamers, and I encourage you all to at least download this and give it a try. But be warned, as you too may come down with 'the Fever', of which there is no cure.

- Kimo

The WCLC Pac-Man Scratch & Win Lottery Ticket

The ticket, pre-scratch.

Saw this at 7-11 last night, and just had to buy it. Sure, it's not nearly as cool as that other Pac-Man Scratch & Win from Texas, where you could win an actual Pac-Man cocktail cabinet (drool....), but hey, there's still a $25,000 grand prize! The rules are pretty simple, scratch off each row and hope to find 5 Pac-Man's in a row w/o any ghosts, and win the corresponding prize at the end of that row. If, along the way, you happen across some fruit you nab the 'fruit bonus' for getting them, $20 instantly for a cherry symbol, and $50 for a strawberry symbol. There's also the obligatory "Bonus" spot that appears on every Western Canadian Lottery Ticket, which fools you into thinking you've actually got another chance to win something here. It's shaped like Pac-Man's head. All in all I feel that while the graphics are very nice, and control is a breeze, the overall fun factor and replayability were pretty much non-existent :P

Anyways, pretty cool lottery ticket all together, I guess, but a bit disheartening at the same time to see Namco pimp Pac-Man so easily and so half-assed lately. I mean, a lottery ticket is a pretty unlikely place to find the Pac, but oh well, 'll probably buy a few more of these the next few weeks, I'm sure. I'm such a sucker for this kind of stuff. Scroll down to see how I did on this particular ticket (I'll give you a hint: not good), and to see what it looks like fully un-covered.....

I didn't win a damn thing :(

- Kimo

VC Crystal Ball smashed, New Ball in the Mail...

You may have noticed the complete lack of activity 'round here the last couple weeks. Well, for starters, the good 'ol VC crystal ball rolled off its platform and smashed. I've ordered a replacement ball, and it should be here in time for the long-delayed site re-design/reboot I've desperately been trying to get around to. There have been other issues to deal with, like time, for example. See, between work, and trying to look after/take care of my house I now live in (so much more to do than just living in an apartment), and my family of seven that lives there, the free time I do get usually gets chewed up by actual gaming, as there is simply a ton of good stuff out right now, and I've been having more fun actually playing them than writing about them.

But, I now look to re-affirm my blogging commitment to this site, starting with the previously mentioned re-design coming very soon, coinciding with, or possibly even preceded by, a few reviews that have been a long time coming (like Pac-Man CE, Quickspot, Picross DS, Mario Strikers Charged, and others), and some interesting (hopefully) features/essays I've been mulling over. You may see one or two posts before then, but not much. See you soon.
- Kimo

Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/30/07

Ugh! What a week, no time for anything. This is just about the only thing I even get to do online anymore, when I can even make time for it that is (missed it a couple weeks back). Oh well, its fun though, so I'll keep at it, now lets see what happened last week. We got Devil's Crush for TG-16, Shining Force for Genesis, and Kirby's Dream Course for SNES. So, technically I only got 1 outta three right (sure, I got all three systems right, but big deal), but I cannot make any sense of why Sega released the second game in the Shining series (that being Shining Force), instead of the first game in the series (that being Shining in the Darkness, which I predicted last week). Its inexplicable to me, and I don't get it, so I'm just gonna go and give it to me. Seriously. Would you ever think that a part 2 of anything would come out before a part 1 of something (without 'part 1' actually being a prequel or something)? Of course not, so I'm gonna give it to me, and just say that I called the series debuting on the VC, apparently, and that's just the way I'm gonna see it this week ;) So, with that in mind, the updated stats now read 11 outta 15, or 73%. Gotta try to get it bumped up, and I'm confident I will, as I think I'm gonna have another 3 for 3 week here:

TurboGrafx-16
Drop Off - G-Mode

NES
Donkey Kong Jr. Math - Nintendo

SNES
Super Turrican - Factor 5

I feel making these three picks this week are like shooting ducks in a barrel, as both Super Turrican and DK JR. Math have been 'mentioned' as being released for July in Nintendo Power magazine (which isn't always a credible source mind you, but you can't deny it is the only kind of official word on VC releases in any way straight from the big N themselves, and this is the last Monday of July, so....), and Drop Off has been confirmed by Hudson as this weeks TG16 release, so these picks are really no-brainers, though I did have one or two others in mind to predict, I feel I just have no choice but to put these 3 up there. Seriously though, if Super Turrican isn't released this week, I'm gonna stop predicting it, this is its third appearance on this list already!! I really want to play it already too!!! Loved that game back in the day. As for DKJR Math, well, Nintendo is doing everything it can to un-demonize gaming in the media, expanding the market, blue ocean, yada yada, and this would be just one more talking point for them, I guess, but I really doubt many gamers will ever download it though.

That's all folks! Just another short update, still searching for more free time. Sure, Super Parer Mario and PacMan CE have been consuming much of my free time that I could be spending writing, but that not likely to change until I finish SPM, or PacMan CE gets less addicting (which I'm sure ain't gonna happen), so back to SPM for a bit! See ya!

-Kimo

Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/22/07

Missed the update last week, and its a shame, as I totally called Paper Mario for N64 on Monday, but didn't have the time to update the site (been so incredibly busy the last couple weeks around the house and with work, you have no idea), so, oh well, missed one week, onto this weeks predictions:

TurboGrafx-16
Devil's Crush - Compile

Super Nintendo
Super Turrican - Factor 5

Sega Genesis
Shining in the Darkness - SEGA (Sonic! Software Planning)

There you have it, this weeks predictions, very short and to the point this week, but like I said, time is short. But have no fear, this site will soon be seeing updates out the yin-yang, Pac-Man Championship (Xbox 360) & QuickSpot (Nintendo DS) reviews will be posted within one or two days, and of course there's that E3 stuff I still wanna write about, plus if I can, there's this feature I've been dying to write, so yeah, there's a ton of content (finally) coming soon. Not to mention the impending site re-design (its coming). Stay tuned, and we'll see tomorrow morning if we can improve this 9 out of 12 (75%) track record this crystal ball's got goin' on here. See ya soon.

- Kimo

Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/09/07

Wow, what an amazingly good week for the 'ol Ball last week, going 3 for 3, as Dragon Spirit, Ecco 2, and Super Mario Bros. 2 all got released onto the VC last Monday, bringing this site's prediction stats up to 7 out of 9 so far, or 78%. Yay for me! Don't really have too much time for this post (and I'm really tired, so I might ramble and not make much sense), so I'll get right to this weeks predictions:

TurboGrafx-16
Air Zonk - Red Entertainment

Sega Genesis
Shining in the Darkness - SEGA

NES
Mach Rider - Nintendo

This week's releases come just a couple days before E3 kicks off, and barring any unforeseen huge surprises (Mega Man, for example), or Nintendo finally unloading some of their big guns they have in waiting (Metroid/Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, PilotWings, etc..), I think these 3 are noteworthy of an E3-week release for different reasons.

I feel Air Zonk is noteworthy in the fact that this character represents the last attempt NEC made in the console market, as he was their mascot for the ill-fated Turbo-Duo. That, and it's already been confirmed for Monday. The other 3 are pretty good bullet-points for the VC in more direct ways I feel.

Shining in the Darkness is the first in the Shining series, which has a large following among RPG fans (not FF-large, but still well known), and will likely be downloaded in pretty high numbers when it releases. This can be seen as a pretty high-profile release I would think, and one geared towards the core gamer, the type who crave more RPG's for VC. For all the talk of expanding the market and casual gaming this and that, Nintendo knows to dance with the one that brought them, and will always try to appeal to the 'hardcore' as well. This would be one more example for them @ E3 to cite that they are doing that (along w/MP3, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros., Zelda PH, all coming on the horizon, and likely to be focused on @ E3).

Mach Rider fits the bill in the fact that, if it follows the Australian and European releases, it will be a VC release that is improved over the original. Not Xbox Live Arcade-like improved, unfortunately, but still, improved nonetheless, as they have added the ability to save your custom designed tracks, something you could not do in the original NES release (a NES launch game, btw). Another good E3 VC talking point for Nintendo I would say. That, and its already released in other regions (Eur and Aus), and I've been expecting it for weeks now.

OK, so I rambled on anyways, I always do. See you soon with E3 reactions & opinion.

- Kimo