Time Hollow

Earlier today, I finished a relatively unknown little gem of a DS game known as Time Hollow. I've had it since about a month after its UK release, and I finished it before and hadn't played it since. That is, until yesterday.

I was looking through the Let's Play section of the Something Awful forums, a few days ago, when I saw a post in the Sandbox Magnum Condom on the Flaccid Wang of Suck of This Forum thread (and yes, MCotFWoSoTF is its name as of late) by a goon named Graceful Graveler and it was a test post of the opening of Time Hollow. I gave it a quick skim but thought nothing of it (since I'm not in the habit of seriously reading an SSLP in the Sandbox thread), since if it was bad there was no point in reading it and if it was good it'd end up with its own thread and would undoubtedly end up in the archives at some point.

Then, sometime around yesterday lunchtime (GMT) I saw a thread on the first page of the Let's Play subforum entitled "Try Not To Become Your Own Grandfather in Time Hollow!" (link to the thread for those that care). This time I gave it a proper read and thought the game didn't look half bad and I swore I'd played it before but couldn't remember crap about it. I looked up at my somewhat small collection of DS games since it looked somewhat familiar and I saw Time Hollow on the top of the second pile.

Seeing as how I couldn't remember anything having not played it in months, it felt like a new experience to me. The gameplay is pretty much entirely touch-screen oriented but that's not a problem. It plays out sort of like an Ace Attorney game due to it's design, general structure, overall plot and the fact that it's one of those mystery-solving point and click games that are insanely fun for some unfathomable reason. Overall, if you like Ace Attorney (or Hotel Dusk apparently, which I have yet to play), it's worth either following the thread (linked above) or playing the game yourself. Just a caution if you intend to do the prior; sometimes the threads become inaccessible to non-members. It usually happens once a month for a few days to a week and a lot can occur in that time.

When life gives you lemons, make a forum/website

http://forums.somethingdreadful.net/index.php - Here is the forum created by Anima and I

We created this forum just for fun and not to be serious about LPing and what not, but we do have a forum for just that.

The main reason for this post was to bring the blog back to life. Come on, guys, we need to post more here. That is all :P

ITSALLOVER

The Month of nothing is over, and Part 4 of Let's Play Final Fantsy V Advance is up. GOREADNAOPLZ!

E3 Special! Microsoft Press Conference Reactions

I’ll be going through the Press Conferences in order as they happened at E3. If a game was there, then console update, then Hideo Kojima Ruling the world; then that’s the way it’ll be here. I’ll give you my reactions and opinions to everything bit by bit as they happened in the Press Conferences. Then I’ll more or less conclude it with what I think they could have/should have done, my personal surprises and other stuff I might think of. First up is the Microsoft E3 Press Conference:



The Game stuff is up first:

The Beatles RockBand- There’s not really much to say here. It’s RockBand… with The Beatles’ songs…. that means win. It does look like the graphics have… well it’s hard to explain. It’s a different “look” then what you’re used to. It also seems have a little extra thing at the Instrument tracks as well. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks good though.



Tony Hawk Ride- Wii fit with a skateboard. Haha, no. Seriously though, it’s basically a skateboarding game with the deck (the actual board part) as the controller. Now, I’m not a big skateboarder, or fan for that matter, but this game looks like fun. Yeah, we all know in previous games that X+O+[]+landing=big points, but this actually challenges you to get off your butt and do something. Sort of like what the Wii seemed to be made for, but that’s another thing altogether.



Modern Warfare 2- YES! I loved the game and now they’re coming out with a second one! The gameplay seems to be up there with the previous one; so I don’t think one would be left wonder what to do. After watching the demo it would seem that Infinity Ward has done it again. Just ten minutes of a demo, and I already have it near the top of my “Here’s what I want for my 360” list. Yes sir, I want this game….bad.



Final Fantasy XIII (13)- It looks like there’s some new stuff in this, and it looks good. Oh yeah, they were serious about FF being on Xbox 360 consoles. Graphics are awesome, the music sounded incredible and Odin looks like he could chew me up and spit me out… then again for fun. The battle scenes look like they’re rather complicated, but then again, so did FF8 in comparison to FF7.



Shadow Complex- This game looks like it could be very fun… but it also looks like very very complicated. It looks very Metroid and Castlevaniaish. Scratch that, it looks like a complicated form of Metroidvania. We’ll just have to wait to find out.



Joy Ride- Looks like a casual racing game that you can customize and then put your beloved avatar in it. It’ll be free on XBL in the winter, so we’ll see then.



Crackdown 2- There was a crackdown 1? Never heard of it, never played it, and honestly, from the trailer, I probably won’t. Nothing really grabbed my attention here except for the who “city is infected, kill them all to live” kind of thing. Next please.



Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2)- Well, the first one is still broke, but who cares! You get a chainsaw and a frying pan! I like the trailer, I like L4D, and I REALLY like killing things with a chainsaw or blunt object (see GTA: Vice City). Unfortunately, I’m impatient and they’re making me wait till Nov. 17 to get it.



Splinter Cell: Conviction- Really?! This is awesome. I was always a bit of a fan of Splinter Cell, and now it shows why. Times you need to be stealthy, times you need to be super awesome don’t–jack-with-me-or-you’ll-be-messed-up. The demo looked incredible and the story (from what I saw) is very good. This game will keep you entertained easily…. especially if you’re a fan of Call of Duty or Metal Gear Solid.



Forza Motorsport 3- Honestly, I saw a racing game with a bunch of bells and whistles. Then again, I’ve never been much of a racing genre fan.



Halo 3 ODST- I like this. I like this a lot. I’ve been a Halo fan throughout it’s history, and that won’t change with this. They’ve put in some innovative stuff, like a couple sound suppressed weapons, low light visibility, and basically a Halo 1 pistol that’s been improved…. I’ma be enjoying this when it comes out… In September. Oh yeah, Halo Reach, the “Top Secret” project by Bungie- It looks good. We’ll see it 2010.



Alan Wake- Wow, this game looks good from the demo. A man’s book (super natural thriller BTW) comes to life before his very eyes. I will get this and I suggest you do to… unless Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or any other horror game made you absolutely crap your pants. Also, a Spring 2010 release date.



Now for the Non-game stuff on the 360:

Music is coming for the 360 via Last.FM and seems like a pretty good idea. The only problem is that it is basically internet radio…on a console you can already put your own music on. I’m not diving in for this one, but it’s free if you’re an XBL Gold member so…. yeah. If that’s your cup of tea- more power to you and congratulations on getting Microsoft to provide you with internet radio.

Netflix is going on the 360. It was already there? You had to download stuff? No more they say, just hit play and enjoy yourself. As if that wasn’t enough, with the help of Skye TV you can now watch live TV on your 360. I don’t sound excited? I’m not. Why would I watch TV on my gaming system? I want cool games or things like that! Besides, I have Dish Network DVR in my house. I can record what I miss… just not in HD… because I don’t have a HD TV.

There is good stuff coming though, Zune Video HD (the video store for Xbox live) is coming in 1080p HD. There is something really awesome though, ever wanted to watch a TV show with your friends, but said friend lives in Maine while you live in England? Fixed. You can do music, TV, movies, etc with a friend, at the same time. Good call Microsoft, good call.

Facebook and Twitter are coming to the 360. I’m actually kind of excited about this. I have both, though I forget Twitter a lot, I still have both and use them. There are some pretty innovative things on the Facebook side of this, Friend Linker being one of them. This little thing meshes both the XBL network and Facebook together by showing your Facebook and XBL friends together. You can link your Facebook page and your XBL account and invite friends from Facebook to be your friend on XBL. Pretty nice touch as far as I’m concerned since I have a few friends who have XBL, but I’m too lazy to ask them what their Gamertag is. Also, you can do the basics like post updates, read updates, etc… the normal stuff you do on Facebook and Twitter

Next up, big news: Metal Gear Solid is coming to the 360! Metal Gear Solid: Rising (the lightning bolt), according to Hideo Kojima (the maker of the series) says that the main character is NOT Solid Snake. Nope, it is in fact Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2. Yup, the most confusing MGS game ever in my opinion. The big question is this: will it be good? Many people think (myself included) thought MGS 4 kind of… well dropped the ball. So let’s see what Hideo can do with a “new” main character. Also, he said it will be a completely new experience. We’ll be waiting Mr. Kojima, we’ll be waiting.

Project Natal: Basically controllerless gaming. They say it’ll work with ever 360 they’ve ever sold. It seems a lot like what the Eye Toy was going to do only on a much larger scale. Your entire body as a controller? It’s a daunting task, even for Microsoft. Face recognition, motion sensor to sense your exact body movement and position, you can even control the 360 dashboard with your hand! It can track more than one person, it’s got voice recognition… just the prototype they showed was amazing. I’m looking forward to this.

Lionhead Studios (Fable series creators) got a chance to play around with a Project Natal prototype, and I have to admit, it was impressive…. incredibly impressive. I mean, it’s just amazing what they were able to do. Wow.


I was impressed with the majority of what they had to show; everything from Modern Warfare 2, Alan Wake, Facebook on the 360, “Instant on” Movies and TV, and Project Natal. Good job Microsoft it seems like it’s going to be a very good year in gaming if you own a 360. One thing that really bugs me though: I recently bought Assassin’s Creed for my 360, and am thoroughly enjoying it. I was ecstatic when I found out they were going to release a sequel: Assassin’s Creed 2, but after all the games they showed, why no mention of AC2? Is it because it’s coming out on more than one platform? It would make sense, but it still bugs me though.


You can expect my reactions to Nintendo’s Conference next as I go through and analyze the crap out of it… and get over my anger of them bleeding Mario for all he’s worth.

Let's Blondly Go...

So yeah, I stole Frezno's idea [along with OmegaZultan, may I add] to do Let's Blindly Plays. Will be updated daily. Have fun :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4OEHyiE730&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LIeqQzReuw&feature=channel_page

I'm leaving....

but only for a week though. I'm going on vacation to Pennsylvania and then to West Virginia for 6 days.... the cool part is that the majority of it is paid for. The tickets, hotel, rental car, food... it's all paid for. I'll try and have an update for yugioh done unless I get sidetracked somehow.... which never happens 5% of the time, and that's right 95% of the time. Anyway, just letting ya know.
Peace McNuggets. mmmmm McNuggets *gargles and drools*

Update: 2021... or just what I'm doing now.

What do you know, I'm doing something I'd say I'd do for once. It's amazing what you accomplish when you find yourself bored at 2 in the morning. Anyway, on to the meat of this post:

As many of you probably don't know, I recently got Guitar Hero: World Tour (360), Assassin's Creed (360), and Final Fantasy 10 (PS2).
First off, I know a few of you are wondering why I got FFX; simple, I got stuck on it in my younger years, and put it off until the disc was worthless. I never finished it, so I plan on doing that now, that and my PS2 is in my room, so I wanted something good and long to playthrough while I am in there. (The 360 and Wii are in the living room) Now on to the rest-

I got GH:WT now because I got Rock Band 2 first. Yes, I'm a drummer. The drum kit for GH:WT was a piece, and as far as I know still is. The cymbals can come loose very easy, and the red pad was somewhat worthless. Like I said, I don't know if they fixed it or not, and I don't care. I have the game, and I have my RB2 kit. Thank you backward compatibility. All my RB2 instruments work for GH:WT, and that's what matters. Plus, if I really want the cymbals and that extra note on the screen, I'll go buy the cymbal kit. It's so easy.

Now then on to why I got Assassin's Creed... It's awesome, just awesome. Go get it now. I'm not kidding. I'm just past what I would call the tutorial levels, basically the end of memory block one. First part of Masyaf, and it's awesome so far. Like so awesome in every way I felt crying because of how incredible it is. I might even post my views on it (A Jim Daddy Review-ish Thing).

That's basically what I've been up to. Oh, and before I get ragged about it, I got the next update for Yugioh Screenshotted, but not typed up as I've been busy with other things lately regarding school and a week-long vacation next week, but more on that later.

Peace McNuggets. mmmmm McNuggets *gargles and drools*

Hi, I'm Jim Daddy....

... and I have a neck breaking problem. As many of you know I've been ranting on MGS2 lately, and am on my 2nd playthrough of it. However, I've noticed that on this run I've broken an insane number of necks, thus alerting the guards more often because I'm too lazy to drag them into lockers or dark areas. The bad part is, if I'm not breaking their necks, I'm shooting them or tranquilizing them (pending the number of guards in the room). For some strange reason I just want them all to die... maybe it's because of how badly I got bullet raped towards the end of the game. Actually, just that one portion. You know what I'm talking about if you've played it. If you haven't played it, GO NOW. I'll wait...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
You see what I mean?
Oh, BTW- the swimming in MGS2 sucks.... like hardcore suck.

OMG Guys! I'mma getting married!

You know what I don't get: why is it that some people try to be random? That sort of defies the whole point of random. According to Merriam-Webster, the act of being random is defined as:

without definite aim, direction, rule, or method

Surely, trying to be random completely contradicts the definition of the word as if you were to try you're putting effort into it which has aim and method...

This is purely a thought I had earlier today that I felt like sharing with you all and I'm sure those of you who paid even a minor amount of attention will have noticed that the post title has nothing to do with the subject matter :3

Well, that's all for today so ta-ta for now!

*Wanders In* Wow, I Forgot About This Place...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone laugh at the guy who FORGOT. Meh. I've had a lot on my plate. Namely exams. So, there.

But now I'm back, and I've got something a little special for you guys...

Basically, at my school, you get study leave. Yay. That means that, during exam times, you get to stay at home and 'study'. However, I have such a low concentration span, that I can barely study for 2 hours without dying. So... I propose this.

STEP 1: At the moments, I'm LPing Xena: Warrior Princess. When that's finished [hopefully soon], I'll be starting on another LP, unless something else takes over. What I want you guys to do is to suggest a game. ANY GAME [obey the Shithard, Generic and ROMHack clauses]. I will then choose one by random selection.

STEP 2: After I've chosen the game [remember, I'm putting something on my Y'T' about this], I'll ask you guys for quirks. 'Quirks' are not ways to play the game. Rather, they are ways to COMMENTATE e.g accents, 'Clean' Tourettes etc. I will then randomly pick them out and assign them to a video. I'll be selecting a few people to do co- commentary [these include everyone on this Blog, along with a select other few]. I will then post the list here, amongst other places. These guys need to obey the Quirks rule also [if they agree to do it, of course].

STEP 3: *Make her open the box...* *Ahem* This is where the GIMMICKs come in. You guys need to then determine how to play the level. For example, you may want me to play it with my contrast way up, a song looping etc. It doesn't have to make it harder though. Remember that.

So, that't about it. Post your suggestions for all, in the comments below.

HUZZAH!

- QC (Gay Weirdo)

Woo I'mma Back! :D

As JD lampshaded a couple of days ago, I had some computer troubles but as can be noticed from both the fact that I'm posting this (and the thread title) these are gone now :D

As I posted in my thread, I'll be updating KHCoM (Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories) later tonight; most likely sometime after 9PM GMT (that being 3PM or 4PM for those that live in the States depending on whether in Central or Eastern time.

Now, to respond to a few points the easy way :

"Rath has abandoned the FF4 SSLP (at least as far as I know) and he hasn't told anyone why... or at least not me. I'd really like to know why too- he had a good thing goin."

This one is easy: I just didn't like how it was turning out, and I wouldn't really call it abandoned either: I'll re-start it eventually. Not for a while, mind, but I will. And by that, I mean once I'm more experienced.

"Oh, and I might consider a SSLP of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. I'm not entirely sure yet, but it's pretty fun to play, and there's alot that the readers can participate in"

As long as you handle it differently to NotPigeon (i.e. avoid the rifftrax approach), I'd love to see it... just gotta hope that Grawl doesn't do a Slowbeef and ban Pokemon LPs ;D

"I have been checking this daily, seeing if anyone else besides me had made a post."

I've been the same, and I remembered I could (seeing your name on the right makes it easier ;P), but I just had nothing to write about.

And, on a minor off-topic note, my neck really fucking hurts.

Well, that's all for today, so ta ta for now!

What soft? But light yonder window breaks or whatever the hell Shakespeare wrote

First off, I'd like to say that I agree with JD. I have been checking this daily, seeing if anyone else besides me had made a post. I sorta forgot I could...but that's another story. Anyway, you won't see much of me on the internet for the next 3-4 weeks because of various reasons. Baseball, for starters, is getting into high gear right now. Then there's finals for some classes at my high school...which I'm not excited for. Point is, I won't be uploading videos often, if at all, for the next month or so. I'll still be on skype, but that's about it =p

Slow Times... like the New York Times... except not at all

Well then, there hasn't been much posting as of late, but there's good reasons though:
Me and Rath both are having computer issues at the moment. Well, he is, I just fixed mine today, so the next update shouldn't be to horribly far away. Keep in mind that word- shouldn't. I haven't test my desktop with both the emu and SnagIt going at once, so I could be in hot water there, though I doubt it. While we're on the topic of SSLPs- Prestige updated his like he said he was going, so if you haven't seen it (even though it's been done like a week now) you should, unless you hate children that is. Rath has abandoned the FF5 SSLP (at least as far as I know) and he hasn't told anyone why... or at least not me. I'd really like to know why too- he had a good thing goin. QC.... well I think he just forgets about the Blog alot. Oh well, maybe one day we'll have more that 7 people read this.... and maybe one day I'll make a video for this and upload it. Anyway, more of my stuff.... since I'm the one writing this.

I'm hoping to start doing fairly regular things on here- things along the lines of ranting, reviewing the game I just completed, speaking on how MGS2's ending crammed my head with some much information about the game that I forgot for a moment if the game actually had a story line until that point or if they were going to complete the entire thing in that 45 minute cutscene, how I'm doing on my current games... things like that. I'm hoping that the other authors will do that as well just because it's cool. Anyways, just dropping by to say that we're not on our death beds. Oh, and I might consider a SSLP of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. I'm not entirely sure yet, but it's pretty fun to play, and there's alot that the readers can participate in. Plus it's a pretty nice story so far, I'm through it for the first time at the moment, and reading Not Pigeons SSLP of PMD: Blue RT at the moment as well. However, the biggest reason I wouldn't do it is because, as far as I've seen, there's not one damn difference between Red Rescue Team for the GBA and Blue Rescue for the DS (NP's one). They're the fucking same thing! Even the damn dialogue is recycled! Like I said though, so far it's not different. NP's much further than me so I'm not the authority on it by any means. Oh, and just BTW, do women have a thing for unemployed men? I lost my job and now they're lining up for me- it's crazy.

Peace McNuggets. mmmmm McNuggets *gargles and drools*

Moar update news? Nowai!

Much like JD and Rath, I'm ready for an update. I've got the next part of the game played, taken 65 screenshots, and I'm ready to write it up later on tonight, so watch this space.

As for the update itself, the actual game progress isn't much - most of it is just wandering around a town. There's one boss fight at the end, but other than that, minimal action.

I should have it posted by tonight, so watch this space!

Speaking of Updating....

And speaking of updates, JimDaddy when are YOU gonna update again?

Ok Rath, you called me on it so I got off my lazy butt and typed the thing. Not much to say here except for this update is ridiculously long, 40 some-odd images to be exact. I've been busy lately playing MGS2 for the first time ever, and planning on getting MGS3 and possibly Bio Shock pending if I like the game play. Link to the LPF is in the title. Link to SLPB is here.

Final Fantasy IV Update?!

So, for the first time in around a month I updated my Final Fantasy IV Advance LP. Link can be found in the title and I was wondering: do y'all actually care about this LP any more (I know that Metroixer does, due to his response when I told him I was writing it)?

I know CFBalla has something he'd like me to do after Kingdom Hearts (it's a secret for now :P), so I was wondering if y'all think I should stop this LP (there are pros and cons for both; for example the game's about to get really fucking awesome... but we're nowhere near 1/10th of the way through the game yet) and I'll definitely finish KHCoM first (due to weekly updates and all) which means that - for all intents and purposes - the other LP (which will not be revealed just yet) can be started but I'd like to have no other SSLPs ongoing when I start that so I can focus on that without another one at the back of my mind. Decisions, decisions...

And speaking of updates, JimDaddy when are YOU gonna update again?

My new Avvie...help

Well, I made a new avatar in the paint application I found on Vista after browsing my computer for a bit...and as you can see, it looks like a freakin' 4th grader drew it or something. I just wanted some feedback on it and if you guys know any artists around these parts =p

Mah First Post here

Right, well here goes...

Got onto my reelputer for the first time in ~2 weeks just now >_>. Can't remember what the hell I'm meant to be

doing in my Final Fantasy V Let's Play, so I'll need to resort to some youtube. Hopefully I'll have section two of that written up in an hour or two.
EDIT: Accidentally closed the Fucking tab, so I'm leaving it till tomorrow. Learning from mistakes isn't fun.

Got Rock Band 2 last Saturday week, which is awesomes. Avenged Sevenfold "impossible" album challenge was awesome fun to play. Finished all the FC trophies off yesterday, but the game refuses to give me the 100% solo one >_>. I've done it twice, but gots nothing to show for it.

Well, I guess that's about all I have to say today, honoured to be part of this blog.

~Prestige

A Jim Daddy Reviewish Thing- Afro Samurai 360 Demo

So I took a break from moving today to play a demo from my most recent OXM Demo disc, and I have to say 2 things:
1. I haven't play the Halo Wars demo yet
2. Afro Samurai is AWESOME!

Yes that's right, there really isn't anything I didn't like about this game. There were no Quicktime events (which made me vewy happy) and near constant action with some of the best music in a video game ever IMO. There was something akin to bullet time, but they made it awesomer than any bullet time I have ever seen. There nothing like rushing around with a katana in your hand and your white headband flowing in the wind as slice and dice your enemies. I wasn't quite clear on how the health worked though. The best I can guess is that it is done from the amount of blood on your screen, I'm not sure though. The characters were somewhat well explained, but you can't expect everything from a demo ya know. I don't know much about the anime unfortunately, so I can't say anything on that front other than I know there was an anime (apparently an awesome on at that), about it by the same name. There was plenty of gore for those of you (and me) who are into that, and by into that I mean you though Nemesis from Resident Evil was beautiful. HOWEVER, the camera pissed me off. BIG TIME. Sometimes the control for it was inverted.... and sometimes not. It like a kid with ADD let loose in a candy store with a bottle of Vodka. So yeah, the camera I wasn't a fan of. The rest of it though.... freaking yes. If I actually had the money, I would buy it, and suggest you do the same. As a matter fact, go get it now; I'll wait....
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Did you get it? Good. Now play it and agree with me.
Oh, did I mention it had Samuel L. Jackson voicing and narrating? Yeah there's that too. :P

360 Issue fixed! and Yugioh SSLP Chapter!

So I went on the internet today (like everyday) and searched to see if anyone else had issues with their 360 like I had been having, and guess what; Jackpot. I stumbled onto this forum (don't ask what 'cause I sure as hell can't remember), and saw something to the likeness of install the game on the HD. Blew my mind, I had totally forgot about being able to do that. So I installed Rock Band 2 on there (6.3GB mind you), and played it for about 3 hours. Then I decided "Hey if this worked for RB2, then it should work for Fable 2" (as I have had the same issue with it as well). You guessed it, perfection. So now having installed my two "problem" games, I am quite happy (though not happy about them taking up 12.5GB of space). Not to mention I'm moving and have a hot date this Saturday. I'm going to watch Last House on the Left, so don't be surprised if post my opinion on it. I still have a crappy car though, but one thing at a time suppose. ;P
Also, I added Chapter 2 on the Yugioh SSLP which can still be found at Let's Play Forum and Super LP Bros, though LPF is way ahead in replies and fan-art. :) This chapter contains a surprise at the end, so you may to check it out sooner than usual.
One last thing, I may start a Let's Review Demos kind of thing soon . I would mainly be reviewing demos from the Xbox magazine till my internet at the new house gets situated right.

Let's Play Mickey's Safari in Letterland: Best game ever fucking made

Ok, so QC and I were in a call because I did some commentary for his LP of Nemesis, which I kinda sucked in, but this video was a lot of fun to make. Of course I'd play in "Super Advanced" mode...this game was made for fucking 3-year-olds. You can NOT die, and there is voices. MICKEY HAS A VOICE. "Oh boy!" is definitely my favorite line. We try the voices ourselves in the video, and I have to say, I think I did the best. This game was made for educating kids in the alphabet...how sad. The game was developed by Beam Software, who made titles such as "The Way of the Exploding Fist" and "Sherlock" for the Commodore 64. They're based in Australia now...fucking Australia. I would definitely reccomend playing this game if you want to laugh at something. Go check out the video on the title to see what I mean.

Disney......OH BOY!

Let's Play Forum and Super LP Bros. combine to form Let's Play Bros!

This procedding is quoted from the Let's Play Forum:

Well, we didn't really catch a good start with the new LP-Forum Super LP Bros - but that's past.
In past weeks we settled our differences and even more: We made plannings. Plannings to become the one - the one ultimate LP-Forum: Let's Play Brothers
And today is the day we ultimately announce it. On Thursday, April the 2nd at 00:00 (GMT +1) - there will be no LetsPlayForum anymore, also no SuperLPBros - only LPB: Let's Play Brothers.
The site is already setup, the forum databases are merged and cleaned up, so there's nothing in the way that this site will be online at the crucial date.

Q&A

Q: So LetsPlayForum and SuperLPBros won't exist anymore?
A: Yeah, that's what I told you, dummy. :p Of course the old sites will redirect to the new letsplaybrothers.com-site so people who missed this day won't be lost.

Q: I got an account on both forums, so which account will be used in the end concerning my settings, password etc.?
A: The LPF ones.

Q: How does the new forum structure look like?
A: The new forum structure will be a mix of both. There will be still a Spam Can and also still the LP-Status request.

Q: Yeah, LP Status - is this still going to be the same?
A: Pretty much. Just with the difference that there are two different kinds of LP status now - "Offspring LPer" and "Seasoned LPer".
The Offspring LPer Status is the first one you get, the demands are very basic so that also younger and unexpierenced people can get this status without any problems if they put a little bit of effort into it.
The Seasoned LPer status has higher demands plus the member needs to be an Offspring LPer for quite a time before he can become a seasoned one. But you'll see how it works out in the end when the site is up.

Q: I was bannd once from LetsPlayForum/SuperLPBros - Am I still welcome at the new forum?
A: Yes you are. We cleared the list of bans for people who got banned in the meantime. (except for trolls or other scum)

Q: Who are the administrators/moderators of LetsPlayBrothers?
A:

Admins:
- FalsePower
- LuigiFan64
- Grawl
- Cauchemar

Moderators:
- dannychic
- GabrielWingue
- Soapynome
- Rainiac

If there are any questions left - ask, just ask.

In this sprit, let's look forward to the new age of LP'ing communites: LetsPlayBrothers!

So then, with argueably the best two LP Forums merging (SA notwithatanding), what are your thoughts on the whole thing?

The Adventures of Alundra ~ A Dragonatrix Review

Alundra is a good ol' classic 2D ARPG (Action Role Playing Game) made by (the now-disbanded) Matrix Studios in 1997. This game went practically unnoticed then, and it'd take the "patience of a saint", as some would say, to find either a CD copy of the game or someone who has even played it in this day and age. It's one of those games that you either love or hate, and personally I love this game.

The Adventures of Alundra follows, perhaps unsurprisingly, the tale of a young male named Alundra. Alundra is both blessed and cursed as he is one of the last few members of the Clan of Elna - an ancient race whom have the power to enter people's dreams as they sleep - and he must use his power to rescue the village of Inoa from their eternal nightmares. Initially, Alundra sets off to Inoa on board a vessel guided by the sage-like Lars, someone who has no tangible form and initially only appears to Alundra in his dreams. On route to Inoa, the ship gets caught in the most ferocious storm it's ever been in (the captain says it's been in worse but based on given evidence I find this hard to believe) and ends up getting TORN IN HALF by a tidal wave. By sheer luck, Alundra ends up washing ashore on the island he was heading to and a villager by the name of Jess finds him, and takes him to Inoa, where Jess used to work as a blacksmith. After meeting a few of the local villagers - such as Sybil, a young girl who dreams whilst she is awake, and Nadia, someone to whom sleep is not a reprieve as it causes nearby objects to violently explode - he encounters an old man named Wendell who's locked in a fierce nightmare and no one is able to help him. Wendell's grandchildren, Bergus and Nestus, ask Alundra to go fetch a man by the name of Septimus as they believe he may be able to help. Septimus is a scholarly man who has studied the nightmares that have plagued Inoa and is distraught with his failure to be able to help on his own. Realizing Alundra's potential, Septimus sends him off to the manor of Tarn - Septimus' old master - to retrieve an old book. Once he reaches the manor, Alundra encounters Melzas - the game's main antagonist - who threatens Alundra before retreating for the time being. Alundra eventually retrieves the book, and returns to help Septimus and Wendell. Septimus helps Alundra enter Wendell's nightmare, and the dark overtures of the game slowly become more noticable from there...

Now, with the plot summary out of the way, I can begin this review in earnest. Alundra is one of those few games that has aged exceptionally well. It's just as thought-provoking, and immersive now as it was a decade ago. Some people may be instantly turned away from such a classic due to it being in 2D. If this game were in 3D, it'd be a step in the wrong direction. This is a game that deserves to stay as 2D as it plays perfectly fine as is. The graphics leave nothing to be desires, and the visual effects that many take for granted as of late - such as smoke emenating from a chimney - only enhance the visual factor. The only noticable downside is that depth perception is remarkably annoying; there are many jumps that look like they can be made but actually can't, and vice versa.

As a whole, the soundtrack is exceptional. Some tracks, such as "Torla Mountain" aren't overly good but others ("Gemini Dreams" (I believe it's called) for example) are far superior, and as a result help average out the few bad tracks. The intro alone has a splendid guitar track playing, and is a beautifully rendered CGI scene to boot (it sort of has an anime style to it... but it does lead to the question: is Alundra's hair ginger or blonde?). There isn't much that I can say about the OST other than it's certainly worth a listen.

Now, one of my first real problems with this game: the puzzles. Many of these puzzles are exceptionally difficult, to the point of frustrating. Several are - literally - trial and error affairs. The first truly difficult puzzle is in the third non-dream dungeon at the very beginning, as it requires you to talk to 5 characters in a certain order. This is the first time you'll need to write down key information to try and piece together the solution (the instruction manual even recommends that you keep a pen and some paper at hand while playing), and even then it can take a while. The puzzles get exceptionally harder as the game progresses, but there is one puzzle in particular in one dream sequence that annoys everyone. It looks easy, and with some lateral thinking it is, but you need to treat it like a chess-game: think several moves ahead. Some of the puzzles in this game are insanely difficult the first time through and when you grow up playing this game, very few puzzles become a challenge any more (there's one classic puzzle that appears in this game on a very difficult scale; many switches, have to get them all the same colour, flipping one changes the colour of those around it as well... that puzzles is notable twice and it's not overly easy either time; the second time isn't required but helps).

The plot is also overly convoluted at first, and may take some time to understand. Nothing overly major seems to happen (aside from a few NPCs dying) for a while, then as you approach the end of the game a lot of plot gets thrown outta nowhere. This game may actually offend some people, as it has an anti-religious plot... only this isn't known, prevalent or even brought up until past halfway through the game.

There's very little I can genuinely critisize this game for, as it's a masterpiece that outshines many of the modern mainstream games. Even better news, is that it's apparantly available on the PS3 version of PSN (as to whether or not it's a Japan exclusive I'm not sure) so it's easy to get access to play if you'd wish.

Yugioh SSLP Update and a new guy

The Yugioh SSLP has been updated! Chapter 1 is up and once again hosted at The Let's Play Forum and Super LP Bros. Chapter 2 will be up as soon as I stop being lazy and put it in BB Code.
Wait.... laziness.... procrastination.... hey look, I'm turning into what was Dragonatrix. :P

Also, we have another author who just signed on! His name is TheAdamantArchville, and is quite the funny guy. He's said he might do some abandoneware game reviews, which is good because many of those go unnoticed and unplayed, but are very good. Then again....

New LP from the one and only Jim Daddy!

It's been "highly publicized", and it's finally happening. I got the OP done for my very first SSLP, Yugioh: Forbidden Memories.
You can find it hosted at two different spots at the moment:
Super Let's Play Bros. and The Let's Play Forum as well. Both the links go straight to the thread. You should go check it out now... go ahead, I'll wait...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
You go see it? Pretty cool I'd say.... 'course then again I am the author, so I'm just a bit biased. :P
Keep it tuned here or one of the other two mentioned above for updates!
EDIT: Thread was locked on LPF because Grawl thought the OP was an advertisement for said LP.

Fantasy Table of Elements and Other Things

Whilst browsing on my favourite general gaming site, I came across the picture in the post title. Yes, it's a periodic table of elements. Yes, it's consisting entirely of Final Fantasy characters. For a better quality picture, just click on it. (Bad thing is, I recognise almost everything on it...)

Now for the alternate reason to this: My LP. No, I'm not posting an SSLP here, so hush. It's of a little known PSX platformer called Croc 2... only I'm playing the gameboy colour port (hindsight has allowed me to see this was stupid, but I'll live with it).

YouTube videos:
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm05FyTK1Po
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xrXfcuPdb8
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyIVZbSrl08
Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP0lieLXRps

Viddler videos:
Part 1 - http://www.viddler.com/explore/Dragonatrix/videos/7/
Part 2 - http://www.viddler.com/explore/Dragonatrix/videos/8/
Part 3 - http://www.viddler.com/explore/Dragonatrix/videos/9/
Part 4 - http://www.viddler.com/explore/Dragonatrix/videos/10/

Daily Motion videos:
Part 1 - http://www.dailymotion.com/user/Dragonatrix/video/x8os3i_lets-play-croc-2-part-1_videogames
Part 2 - http://www.dailymotion.com/user/Dragonatrix/video/x8p4uf_lets-play-croc-2-part-2_videogames
Part 3 - http://www.dailymotion.com/user/Dragonatrix/video/x8pbs8_lets-play-croc-2-part-3_videogames
Part 4 - http://www.dailymotion.com/user/Dragonatrix/video/x8s5t7_lets-play-croc-2-part-4_videogames

Ordinarily, I'd do part 5 today but I didn't have the time to record so :( (I'll be back on schedule next week though; this just means this weeks updates will finish on Saturday instead of Friday).

New Name possibly

So, we have decided on a name for our blog: The Blog for True Nerds. As such, I want to change where the blog is located. Instead of being located at jimdaddyscorner.blogspot.com, it would be located at truenerdsblog.blogspot.com. So, what do you think? Is it too much trouble to move the blog? Should we keep it where it is?

China bans Youtube, again [Rant]

The link in the title is the article I used to base this rant on. There are many others that have simpler messages, but that was the longest one I could find.

Ok, so guess what: China bans Youtube. What does that mean, exactly? Well, if you live in China, and you want to get on Youtube, you are screwed. Now why does this make me angry? Oh yeah, THE SAME THING HAPPENED LAST YEAR. Of course, I can understand why China did it last time. I'll link you to the article to save me some time http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9895796-7.html. Anyway, the thing that is bugging me is what the Chinese spokesperson had to say about it. He totally avoided the question. Here is the exact quote: Chinese government has taken up management of the network according to the laws," Now, I don't know about you guys, but I'd expect China to at least admit that they BANNED the site. This doesn't seem fair to the 300 million internet users in China that most don't care about the political stuff, just looking for some entertainment. There is also another website that Youtube faces "stiff competition" with the other Chinese video hosting site, Tudou.com. I don't know if China is trying to make people use that instead of Youtube, but I doubt that.

Of course, we shouldn't be surprised at all. China is well known for blocking foreign websites that have "objectionable" content. This all started because of the March 20 video Tibetan Government in Exile. Since China doesn't like hereing about Tibet for some reason...which I'm too lazy to research.

To conclude, Youtube has been banned by many countries. Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and Thailand have also banned it for various reasons, many relating to religion or the high authority. The main point I want to get across is that it's Youtube. Nobody is gonna start a war because of a video that seems questionable. I'm not Chinese, so they might differ in this view, but I've seen loads of videos dealing blows to America and our friends, and I don't see us really caring. And another thing is that China would not give the press an honest answer. That seems fair, but I think the people of China should know WHY the site was banned.

Disagree with me if you want, but I was kind of mad when I read the article. And, meh, it was my first rant. It might not have some key points, but I thought it was ok =D

The End Of Mobile Emulation?

Originally posted on the Let's Play Forum:

'Now, how many of you guys own a DS?
How many own games?
Illicit games?
A mobile emulation card for it e.g R4 Cards?

Well, that might be all changing. Anyone who has a DS game case for a game that's brand new [Sonic Chronicles is what I have], go look at the back of the box. If you compare it to an older game box, you'll see a little difference. Namely a big red box.

For those of you who don't have one at hand, it reads:

'IMPORTANT: The use of an unlawful device with your Nintendo DS system may render this game unplayable.'

So, what does this mean? Well, I'm presuming it's cracking down on copyright breakage. For example, I think that when either an illicit game card or a mobile emu. card is used on a DS, it has to use some sort of copyright bypass, similar to 'chipping' your old PS1/2. The DS then logs that fact, creating the event that all new DS games are unplayable.

Or I may just have a hold of the wrong end of the stick

Anyways... Anyone know any more about this?'

Questions about the Blog

I have a couple questions here that I wanted to ask you guys. They entitle a couple pretty important things if this blog is really gonna work out well, or be a total fail.

Question 1: Who do you guys think we should add, if there would be anyone else?

This question has a couple meanings to it. First off, should this be an only LPF kind of thing, or should we include others? Since this first came up and is all JimDaddy's idea, I'll leave that up to him. That doesn't mean there can't be a discussion or anything. Anyway, I was just wondering if it would be an LPF thing or a whole "internet" thing, but we should know them somewhat before having them join.

Question 2: Does a Skype chat sound like a good idea?

I was talking to QC, and he said he would host it, since he's on the most apparently, but I was wondering if there should be a big chat for all of us to share ideas, help each other with LPs, reviews, or just talk about whatever the hell we want. Of course, another group has something like this(You know who it is...don't be an idiot), and it seems like a really good idea.

Question 3: Are we going to advertise on Youtube?

Simple enough question. My first answer would be 'no', because the idiots would just want to join or bombard with stupid posts. I want this to be a somewhat mature blog, to say the least. What do you guys think?

Question 4: How often should we update?

This was an idea from QC, and by update, he means post in the blog. I think what he's asking is should we update every day, or whenever we feel like updating. I'd go with the 'laissez faire' method, but that's up to you guys, I suppose. This also depends if it will be just us 4 or if others join.

Question 5: Would a Youtube page be a good idea?

Another brilliant question from our gay blogger, QC. What this would entitle would be we could post whatever we wanted on this page, sorta like a vlog type thing. We could do some LPs together and such, or just post random crap there or updates on the site. I would say it's a great idea, but what bothers me is what some peoples reactions would be if they thought we were copying "Blog for Non-Losers". There channel is posted right here -- http://www.youtube.com/user/nonloserschannel. I'm sure all of you have seen it. Again, discuss.

This is all I have for you guys today, so what do you say? (haha, rhyming closer =3)

Psychonauts ~ A Dragonatrix Review

Psychonauts is often regarded as a game that is one of the best ever made by reviewers (professional or otherwise) and players alike. Whilst it's remarkably difficult to find people who have even heard of the game - let alone played it - should you happen to know someone who has, chances are they'll tell you the same thing I'm about to (unless they're a first person shooter fanboy, then that's just weird): screw Halo 3. This IS the best game ever made.

(One of the main reasons why the game didn't sell as well as it should have, may be that it was never actually advertised properly. I certainly had never even heard of it until sometime two years ago when I chanced upon it in a backdated copy of my then favorite PS2 game review magazine; I have yet to even find a TV advertisement for it, or even some snippit from a magazine that wasn't said review.)

Since you've likely never heard of the game, I might as well give a minor explanation as to how the game came into creation; Double Fine Productions is a company created by Tim Schafer (the guy who helped create Grim Fandago and the first two Monkey Island games; you just know this game is gonna be good with that knowledge alone) in 2000 shortly after he left LucasArts. It's personel is made up of the Grim Fandago development team and several other people. If you've never heard of Double Fine either, I'm not surprised, as at the time of writing, Psychonauts is the only game they've ever made; 5 years after the company was formed and 4 years before the predicted release of their second game.

Well, I'm four paragraphs in and I haven't even started discussing the game yet so I might as well start now, otherwise this'll have been a giant waste of time. Psychonauts is about a child named Razputin Aquato (Raz for short) who runs away from the circus to go to Whispering Rock Psyching Summer Camp where psychics are trained to become the elite agents known as Psychonauts. He manages to get in with minimal worry, but quickly gets caught and is technically not allowed to participate in any camp activites as he doesn't have parental permission to be there and thus one of the camp councellors - Mia Vodella - calls his father (who caused Raz to run away in the first place, because he hates psychics) to come and collect Raz. This leads to Raz attempting to complete the entire camp course within one day to prove his worth, yet he manages to get involved in something much bigger...

Psychonauts gameplay is one of the places where the game really excels, due to the nature of every powerup being a plot-related unlockable (even the seemingly optional ones are needed at some point) that can be upgraded eventually. Each powerup takes the guise of a new psychic power, and they are fairly predictable for the most part; Psi-Blast is the main offensive powerup but it isn't actually the first (the easiest way to describe what it does is by simply calling them "mind bullets"), that works as a gun in an action game; it actually has ammo that CAN and frequently does run out. Pyrokinesis is the standard psychic ability of burninating (yes, I said burninating) with the mind. Telekinesis is another standard ability for anything to do with psychics (telekinesis is the ability to move things with the mind for those that don't know). Invisibilty is one of those things that do exactly what you think it does. Levitation is a rather interesting one; it can be used to make Raz float but it's also used a method of moving faster than normal (at the slight cost of ease of control) via a colour-customisable sphere that appears like a balloon. Shield is nothing worth using overly much, aside from in a few specific areas where it's needed, it prevents all ranged damage done to Raz for about 3 seconds. Finally, the power of Clairvoyance. This is normally a power associated with the ability to see into the future but in this case it does something a bit different. By holding an item, when you activate Clairvoyance you can see exactly what this item will show you; more often than not, it's what the other characters see Raz as, but some items show things like a bonus scene, and one is used to solve a puzzle via this very method. [Don't worry, none of these powers are surprises or anything; they're all in the manual.]

These abilities allow for some interesting gameplay choices that you can make, but I invariably end up using Psi-Blast, Levitate, and Pyrokinesis. Everything else isn't really all that useful or is merely designed for puzzle solving.

The really interesting gimmick that Psychonauts has, however, is the ability to enter specific characters minds. Some of these are pretty much exactly what you'd expect, some have hidden secrets that the character doesn't want you to find out about, and some are just plain weird. The minds, as well as being fun little romps inside a characters psyche, are technically the levels of the game. There aren't really many minds to enter [13 in total; not everyone's can be entered] but some of them are pretty lengthy, and/or really difficult to compensate. Each mind has a pretty interesting mini-plot that goes with it (for the most part anyway), but there is one mind in particular that no one can ever forget because it's just so awesome (and random). I would explain it, but since it comes pretty late in the game it's a spoiler. Of awesomeness.

Another really good quality of Psychonauts, is that there's never a moment where nothing is really happening, unless you intentionally just stand in an awkward spot. In almost every screen, there are a couple of bonus scenes that tell you more about the other campers, or are just little short scenes. A lot of them are really easy to miss as well; I've played through this game many times and I don't think I've seen them all yet!

I might as well give my opinion of the unimportant details now, like the graphics. The graphics are pretty good for a 2005 release game, and still manage to hold up well today. I don't find myself looking at the graphics of the game that often though, because I'm normally having fun doing, well, anything. The music is also very good, but some tracks are pretty boring and dull (these are only found at the end of the game though). Another little quirk with the game, is that even though it could be considered a childs game with regard to the difficult of a good 98% of the game, some of it is actually pretty scary all things considered. I dread the end-game optional backtracking, due to some of the stuff that can be encountered then. And if you don't get this one specific item, you have to do it. That's pretty much my only qualm with the game; you need seemingly optional items that you aren't even told you need until the very moment you need them.

In conclusion, I highly highly reccomend giving this game a try. Don't worry if you have neither a Playstation 2 or an original Xbox (any more), as it can be bought through Steam for the Xbox 360 or PC. I'm not entirely sure of the price, but I highly doubt it'll be too expensive; even if it is, you can also try someone elses copy. This game is worth playing at least once just for the experience of doing so. And there's a lot to be experienced in a world as detailed as this one is.

New Stuff already?

Yes, you heard (or saw) me correctly, we are going to have a few more authors to make this blog the most awesome blog ever-ish. So now we have an issue, I want to rename the blog since it's not just my corner anymore. It's several people's now. Jim Daddy, Dragonatrix, and in the very near future (or already past) Quantum Crayons, and CFBalla and possibly more people. So now then, what to call this awesome piece of awesomeness? Also, how many more times can I say awesome in this post?! You decide.

Stupid Xbox 360

So I went to put in the new disc I have for RockBand 2, and guess what... that stupid disc unreadable message comes up. Turns out, the eye is just a wee bit dirty. DIRTY! I've had my PS2 now for... 6 or 7 years and have never had that problem. Never did I have a problem with the original RockBand when I got it for PS2. Way to go Microsoft, if the eye is that sensitive, you should probably not put out a game system until you learn how to do it right. At least the original Xbox never gave me any trouble.