Metal Gear Solid 4: Gameplay

I was reading about this on Kotaku but the video wasn’t working so I looked them up on YouTube for myself. Obviously, sickness ensued…

PSP 3.40 OEA

Aside: This is my first post on WordPress. It’s fitting that it’s got to do with looks, because I think this new page is looking pretty hot with the Blix theme (and my own header image). I can’t edit my CSS on the standard, free web version but with themes as clean and functional as these, it’s not a big deal.

I’ve been killing it on my custom firmware for the past month or so and honestly, I don’t understand how people can get by without it. I mean, yeah, the standard come-with Sony firmwares are fine and all (not to mention pretty) but there’s just so much you can do (i.e. not very much at all) in terms of customization. I mean, you can change the hue of the icons/ shadows/ text and the image used as a background but that’s about as far as it goes when it comes to the basic Sony-brand firmware. I’ve yet to install my own theme yet but I intend to once my PSP is done charging (I have a tendency to be a complete battery whore). So, did I brick up?

info @ the P.Pole 07.19.07

This is the big 500th post! Woo! Thank you! Thank you! This place couldn’t have come this far if it weren’t for you (or me, I suppose).

Last night’s LoaH didn’t really go as great as I’d have hoped but I suppose it can’t be helped. Anyway, I still think it was alright (it could’ve been better… or could it?). The amps never came (in time) and I assume they are probably going to arrive between now and next week (right when we’re done “needing” them). I guess it’s probably best though, that we didn’t get new bass and guitar amps to play with in the rain. I think we did what we were decided on doing. I just hope we’ve got some better weather foreknown for us in the weeks/Wednesday evenings to come.

info @ the P.Pole 06.30.07

5 of my PSX games that I’m now rehashing:

• Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage – IMO one of THE best games I’ve ever played/beat. This series has got a special place in my heart because I spent many hours with Grant beating Spyro games (and Crash games) in our childhood days (which are, sadly enough, coming to a close quite quickly).
• Final Fantasy Tactics – I’ve always owned this game but I never took it up seriously because I was either too young or in the process of playing “Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together” which is another RPG/strategy type game that’s about the same in style. Now that I’ve got it on my PSP and I’ve got the energy and mind for it, I’ve taken it up and let me say, this game is amazing. One the best, definitively, that I’ve ever played (and I’ve played a lot).
• Metal Slug X – I technically don’t have this exact game but I do have a few other “Metal Slug” games in my library. I’m generally not a huge fan of arcade-like sidescrollers but this one is one that I enjoyed because I used to play it a lot with my uncle Keith when he was a visa student here (that was WAY back in the day, when I was seven or so). Fun pick-up and play distraction is alright.
• Vagrant Story – This one I’ve yet to actually start but I intend to soon. All I remember about this RPG game is that it had a weird way of doing the battle system. My dad loves this game and used to play it while I watched. It was pretty neat and so I intend on giving it a good thorough whirl myself.
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together – Here’s the last title to make the cut so far. I mentioned this game before. To give you an idea of how much I am a fan of this game, on my actual PlayStation game savefile I’ve achieved a 150+ hours of gameplay with all my characters uber’d. This game, I think, was the first of its kind that I seriously ever got into. I remember playing this after school when I went to my grandma’s. I’d blaze through any homework and then get a-crackin’ on the training. Now that I’ve got it portable… well, I don’t see how I’ll be doing much of anything else once I start. That’s why I’ve got to put off starting a new game for as long as I can so I can finish the other games first.

Note: Click the titles to see their pages on Amazon.

Let the games begin!

My last exam went down not without a hitch yesterday. What can I say, Math is a beast. It wasn’t difficult for the most part, I just did not know the formula for one of the questions at all which meant I spent a lot of time recreating the formula from scratch. The rest of it was fun. Anyway, English was also pretty smooth but I’m sure Olsheski will find one or two spelling mistakes worth >25% of deduction.

I spent a good two or three (if you include the morning session both the exam) hours playing Tekken yesterday as a sort of preemptive strike on summer, getting the juices flowing early. Of course, I don’t plan on playing games all summer… Here’s my unofficial to-do list of summer 2007:

• start/do/finish insurance classes for driving
• learn to drive from an instructor
• work on my extended essay
• read up on C. S. Lewis’ life (biographies)
• read works by C. S. Lewis (novels, apologetics, etc…)
• get in contact with an English professor at Tyndale who will be speaking about exactly what I’m writing about (sweet!)
• go downtown to Burrito Boyz with some friends from school for a feeding frenzy
• get a lot of practicing done for retreat worship
• get a crackin’ on reading through Romans twenty times**
• watch each and every installment of Lucky Star to come out
• rest and relaxation
• finish off the third season of House and get caught up with Arrested Development
• make some more shirts
• (to be announced once I figure it out/think of it)

** I did 1 Peter until around… seventeen times before I chickened out.

I know I should be studying but…

I just found this game, Echoes, thanks to Kotaku and I gave it a whirl. I have a tendency towards games with simple and beautiful graphics (see Torus Trooper and fl0w) but Echoes is out of their league.
Essentially you’re a small ship taking down killer asteroids via process of reduction and elimination. You’ve got 100 hp to get nailed with before you die. There are small health bubbles to patch you up if you need it. Shot boosters also float out after blowing stuff up which power you up to take down bigger, badder asteroids. Sounds simple, but lemme tell you, it gets nuts. It’s a lot like Asteroids (as the creator himself admits) but… You need to play this for yourself. I think I’ve found my new time killer.
My current high score is a little bit into level 10 (~1000000 pts).

This Day Has Come

The wait is finally over. It’s almost been ten years but Blizzard just released info about their upcoming game (their newest “OMG!”), Starcraft 2. If you’ve played the first one (and chances are you probably have or have at least heard of it), this is a continuation of that golden formula that got the world addicted (to this very day) in 1998. I’ve never been a hardcore player but I’ve always had a place in my heart for this awesome game now turned series. I’m just drooling in anticipation for when I can get my greasy hands on a copy… Click on the title for the official SC2 website (make sure to watch the cinematic movie).

Just Add Acid

Click on the title to be taken to a really cool flash game I found the other day. I was originally linked to the site/its affiliate site (tangerinepanic.com) through Kotaku (also found in the sidebar) the other day. When I first saw the title (“The Pattern Game”) I thought it was a lame name for a game. And we all know we only play games with cool names right? Anyway, check it out along with Tangerine Panic too. Warning: these games may be insanely addictive. Addictive like a fox.

Disturbingly Cool

I’ve had a PSP for awhile now. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them that my dad was the one to want it first–I just have fun with it whenever he’s not using it–but it’s true.
Having played with it on and off for many months now, I think I can give a pretty good summary of the sweet package. My PSP is a white one which hails from Hong Kong. Before you write it off as a fake, I assure that it’s the real deal. It’s made in Japan and thus, has a Sharp screen (as opposed to the Samsung screens used in models made in China–that is, the ones available state-side). I remember it cost my dad about $150 CDN when he bought it a month or so after it was released here in NA.
My favourite part about the PSP is its screen. The screen’s beautiful. It’s sleek, wide where it counts, and views beautifully even from the side (I’m still talking about the screen you pervs). I remember having brought it to some event night at church and watching Advent Children on it while almost four children crowded around to join me. Everyone go a piece and no one go the dreaded side-glare that some devices (like the backlit GBA SP) give off. And all this is important, especially if you don’t buy into Nintendo’s BS that graphics don’t matter, and if you plan on watching movies off your PSP. Really, if I’m going to shoot a zombie’s head off, I want to see ALL the splatter effects you can conjure up.
Anyway, without going into any more detail, here are a few pics of my baby running Tekken and her pretty backside.


For the more… gadgetsexual ones out there, here’s a pretty interesting picture I found on Kotaku the other day. I’ve been dying for a chance to post this.
NOTE: I think today I accidentally stumbled upon a second (that’s right, a second) PSP in my dad’s room. That’s just like him to go buying electronics without anyone else knowing (I’m sure my mother would go nuts if she found out… He pulled this same stunt with GBA SPs too, which explains why I have two). But get this: this fabled second PSP is neither black nor white, it’s silver. I’ll sneak some shots of it the next time both my mom and dad are out. >_O

info @ the P.Pole 04.02.07

5 things I really don’t like:

• wet socks: there’s no arguing it, having soggy socks sucks, especially if you’re someone like me who hates the feeling of moisture in such confined places as in my shoes
• when it rains into my coffee: I don’t drink coffee often, but when I do, I’d rather not have it watered down with rain and the stuff coming out of your car
• being told what to do: it’s not so much that I can’t handle being given objectives or goals or tasks, I just hate being told how or when to achieve them or work
• reiteration: I hate having to say things more than once, especially when other people should have heard me or been listening the first time around; obviously this works the other way around too: I don’t like asking for clarification either
• wet grass: damp or muddy grass results in a crappy game of Ultimate Frisbee since it’s less springy (which is bad for players like me who rely on big take-offs) and more muddy (which is also bad for players like me who tend to sprint and cut a lot)

The UF season is almost here at Vic Park and I can’t wait. Very soon we’ll be tripping over ourselves in ecstasy as we partake in what ought to be one of the greatest games ever invented by human minds. I’ve been itching to play ever since it was warm enough for shorts. There’s nothing like the feeling you get after leaping over 3 defenders and landing a left handed catch in the end zone for the winner. Makes me feel like driving a Lexus.

EDIT: This was the 444th post. w00t for superstitious Chinese numbers.

EDIT2: You can add people who walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk/ hallway as part of this list. Jerks.