file under wtf
I blame the car fu and crazy eye candy and the way it full-heartedly embraced the wackiness of the original subject matter. Also, was prepared for it to be complete ass. Huh.
up and away
full circle
A long, long time ago I worked at a magazine called
GameFan. One evening, around midnight
or so, a bunch of us were still in the office, all
crowded in front of our main “internet machine.”
There we were, watching images (very) slowly fill in
on some Japanese site (Square’s? I can’t
remember...), whooping and hollering with excitement
as each screenshot was fully displayed.
It might seem silly now, but at that time there was
nothing more thrilling. Hell, we were young, and the
game being unveiled was Final Fantasy VII. OMG. We were some
of the first westerners to lay our eyes on those
pictures, and witnessing the (now admittedly crude)
screenshots was a landmark event in our
lives.
I’m only partially kidding.
In the following months Famitsus that revealed new main
characters were carefully examined, and often the
artwork pages were cut out and hung on our walls.
Each new screenshot or bit of information was
dissected and digested, and we talked about little
else. To say my GameFan pals and I were obsessed
with the game would be a scary, scary
understatement. And, when Final Fantasy VII was
released in Japan, I played through my import copy
several times, not minding the fact I couldn’t
understand 99% of what was going on.
And now, all these years later, after the whole
“Compilation of Final Fantasy VII” has
(apparently) run its course, delivering lots of
great (and not so great) new content, we’re back
with the original game again. A part of me is sad
that the Final Fantasy VII announced (and released) yesterday
isn’t a remake, but the part of me that remembers
the wonder I felt as a much younger person is
thrilled to be playing it again.
On my PSP. Rad.
god can be funny
Hot damn I enjoy Regina Spektor’s music (amazing voice
+ fantastic lyrics = constant iTunes rotation), and
her upcoming album’s new single (iTunes) is a nice reminder of why.
June 23rd really can’t come soon enough...
wow
A wonderful (and powerful) 42 second film by director Chris Milk, with a beautiful mix of imagery and music. And Pauly Shore. I’ve already watched it a bunch of times today, and it still gives me chills.
flashback
OMG, this podcast is my old life.
The one that (almost completely) revolved around
collecting and trading inane Japanese gaming
minutia, where friends would try to out-geek each
other by spouting off about little known import
gaming facts while discussing other, slightly more
well known gaming facts.
Maybe it’s just the nostalgia talking, but yeah. Really
missing those days right now. That said, I have no idea
why it took me until now to start listening, but I’m
damn happy I started, and just as pleased that I’m
hooked.
hot day, cold sake
Yum. It’s certainly not the most expensive (or, likely,
best) daiginjo out there, but I’ve been
hooked on Wakatake Daiginjo Onikoroshi (Demon
Killer!) ever since a pal bought me a birthday
bottle a year or two ago.
And for a hot day like today (combined with an ice-filled carafe), there’s very
little better....
unofficially awesome
I’ve always loved “music shooters,” and Everyday Shooter is one of my favorites. It seemed strange, though, that such a music-centric game never had a stand-alone soundtrack. Apparently someone on Last.fm had the same thoughts, and ripped his own. Two of them, in fact.
One of the unofficial albums is “real” (with sound effects generated by gameplay) and the other “pure” (he enabled an invinciblilty code and just sat there, recording the instruments only). Both are excellent, and can be downloaded by joining the Everyday Shooter Group at Last.fm and checking the discussion forum for direct links (along with a slightly amusing conversation with Jonathan Mak).
better
Crystal Defenders surprised me twice.
The first time was right after I bought it, when I realized Square was pretty much screwing iPhone (and iPod touch) owners over with a super shoddy “port” of their cell-phone-turned-iPod “tower defense” game. Instead of adapting it to the iPhone screen and interface, they instead just pretty much re-released the iPod game, and added a super crappy control scheme that emulated the scroll wheel input. Lame.
Then the second surprise happened today, when my phone alerted there was an update for the game. And not just any update, but one that made this title an actual iPhone experience. Now supporting an optional landscape view and full touch control (with some general visual enhancements to boot), Crystal Defenders is finally what it should have been from the beginning. Which means I’m now just annoyed at Square, instead of pissed. Yay!
Before
(Note the harsher sprites and horrible
interface)
Now
(Much, much, much nicer...)