Sun, 31 Dec 2006
Who could ask for anything more?
I've been getting into these rhythm games a lot lately. Everyone's been talking about Guitar Hero so much in the last little while, I've been curious to see what all the fuss was about. I've played DDR a few times, and not thought too much of it, though seeing two girls half your age bop along, in perfect synchronisation, to a song that had you stumbling, and almost sprawled out on the floor just before, is a truly humbling experience.
The two girls in question were the younger sister of a friend of mine, who I managed to hook up with over Christmas, and that sister's friend. I brought my Wii home to London for the holidays, and their family gave it a try, while they let me try out Guitar Hero 2 on their PS2.
I have to tell you, DDR is okay, but GH2 for some reason, I found absolutely enthralling. Perhaps that's partly because I didn't embarrass myself quite so badly, but I think I just enjoyed the play of the game. In fact, so much so, that when I read a very favourable review for a rhythm game for the DS, called Elite Beat Agents, I pretty much went out and bought it right away. It's quite awesome.
Anyway, happy new year everyone. I hope that things only get better for you in 2007.
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Sun, 17 Dec 2006
Wii're back in business!
Much earlier than I expected, I received a replacement sensor bar in the mail early this week. Which pleased me to no end. I'll give Nintendo credit, I had a good customer experience that only reinforced my warm fuzzy feelings about owning a Nintendo console.
Not only that, but EBGames was able to get some more hardware in stock, and Justin was nice enough to give me a lift down there to pick up two more Remotes, as well as Super Monkey Ball, and Elebits, a delightful showcase of the Wii technology.
Shatton commented on, and he's definitely right, that the mini-games in Super Monkey Ball really are hit or miss. There's a lot of crap in there, but there's a few gems as well. It's tough to keep digging through there to find some of the good ones. It's not really so much that the bad ones are bad ideas, (though there are some of those too,) its just that the way that the interface was implemented for some of the games makes control so difficult that it's exceedingly impossible to enjoy the experience. The single player controls seem quite natural though, and easy enough for anyone to pick up.
Elebits though, is a surprising delight. If you make it pass the awful voice acting in the intro, you'll find a hunt and seek style game where you can manipulate every object in your environment, shaking them, turning on electrical toys and appliances, lifting and throwing things aside to discover tiny electrical creatures, slowly gaining power, and thus able to throw around bigger and bigger objects, a la Katamari Damacy. The controls take a bit longer to pick up, but once you make it through the (somewhat over-long) tutorial, you'll be tossing things around like a pro. Plus, the overwhelming cuteness of the tiny elebits scurrying around when you uncover them are a wonderful treat.
The holidays are fast approaching, and I'm still well behind in my shopping. My plans to visit Dare over Christmas fell through which is unfortunate. She's having a rough time, and she's just not in a position where she can accommodate visitors right now. I hope things get resolved soon. I miss her terribly.
But on the plus side, I'll be bringing my Wii to London. My brother-in-law has been keen to check it out apparently. And I'm interested in seeing how the rest of my family makes with it as well.
Still a week to get through before that happens though. Things will be busy with work, and with getting ready for the holidays.
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Sun, 10 Dec 2006
...
My life continues to be non-wonderful. Last week, on Friday, I came home to found one of my cats had chewed completely through the cord that provides power to the sensor bar of my Wii. It's such a tiny little cord, that I can't easily splice it back together without short circuiting the two wires within the outer casing. After trying for a short while, I eventually gave up, and called Nintendo, who sold me a new one for a somewhat reasonable $12. Nonetheless, I was pretty disgruntled. I was all set to spend the weekend showing it off to various friends.
And to top it off, I've been pretty sick all week. I've missed a few days of work, plus dragged myself to a local conference that would have charged me $50 had I not showed up. I've been fairly sick through the weekend too. Boo.
I don't really want to go to work tomorrow, but unless I'm worse, there's no reason for me to stay home, though I'm still not recovered yet. I just need to get my rest, and take care of myself.
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