My PSPeed on your DS Lite! A.K.A.-Why I think flame wars are stupid.

So the other day I was reading this article in Gizmodo 8 reasons the psp will never ever overtake the ds. This is a reply to an article last week on why the PSP has a good chance of being up there with the DS. As I was reading the second article I thought to myself "why do we as gamers care so much about what console is better?" Does it mean we're cool if we have the right console? It just puzzled me. Personally I like any game system that is sitting in front of me at that point in time. I think that next-gen gaming is amazing in all it's formats, and will play a game on any format it might come on. My thought is that people are using this question of which is better to answer where they should put their hard earned money. To me the better question is "what do you want to play?" Buy the system that has the games you love.

So as I said above, it's not about "My PSPeed on your DS Lite!" I don't have the time for that argument. I'm too busy playing the new Castlevania ;-)


Moral of the story: Love the one you're with!

All I want for Christmas......

...Is Everyday Shooter on my PSP!!
I have been marinating on this idea since I saw Everyday Shooter on the 1UP Show. They were so addicted to this game, and not ashamed to let people know. Now, I have seen that Geometry Wars is coming out for DS also. This makes me mad. I want something other than ridiculously hard puzzle games to have that trance effect on me. Something I can just sit back and get immersed in. No platforms, no FPS, no RPG. Just good old Astroids type shooting, amazing visuals, and engulfing music.

So Sony, I'm not asking for much... Please port Everyday Shooter to my PSP!!!

The Death of a Joystick

RIP

2006-2007





Sadly a few weeks back I had to put my old joystick on my PSP to rest. I had bought that nice big chunky nub so that it didn't kill my thumb on long gaming runs. Well, Said nub ended up putting too much pressure on the mechanics of the stick and it broke. It clicked something awful, and it would just stop working. I spent more time trying to get it to fall back into place, so I could use it, then actually using it.




Moral of the story: No more big nub.

Crawling my way into the future

This weekend some friends came in from out of town. We decided to go bargin shopping at some obscure hole in the wall places. In the last place we ended up I had an amazing find. They had a PSone for $20. So, I am now slowly working my way up to next-gen. Now to try to find games for said PSone.

What are you playing VECTAN!!!

So, as you can tell from the image above, I will be playing some Killzone this weekend, among other games. The list consists of some SOTN, of course Castlevania DXC, and maybe some Dig Dug and Contra 3. I figure I should probably get these in while there is still a bit of time left too. Well, let us know what's going to occupy your time this weekend.

Castlevainia...more like Castle-insainia!!!

Sorry this review has been so long in coming. I've been able to spend some serious "review" time with Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles. I'm almost done with it, but really just want to hold off and savor it. I know I heard the crew of Retronauts talking this past week about the discussion they had with Koji Igarashi about Rondo Of Blood finally coming to North America. Iga talked about how he was pretty much
tired of hearing people begging for Rondo, so he gave it to them. Unfortunately for Iga He did too good of a job. I have a feeling they are going to want many more 3D remakes in the future.

Visually this game is beautiful. I think we all knew that when we saw footage a while back. But, Youtube clips can't do it justice. The opening scene alone was breathtaking. I couldn't believe they could do this with the PSP. Syphonfilter is known for it's cutscenes. Dracula X's opening scene makes the best of Syphonfilter look like Saturday morning cartoons.

On top of all the amazing visuals, The music is unbelievably engaging. Updated Scores that create a sonic masterpiece to go along with the visuals. I started off with just the PSP speakers, but once I plugged in my Bose headphones, there was no other way to play. I see now why people love, and claim this game as the best. I've played a few versions of Castlevania, but none is as polished as this one.

I quickly learned about the characters of this game. I started off as a loyal "Richter Only" Castlevania player. Once I got Maria, I was astounded. She makes Richter feel slow and weak. Everything about her character is tuned to shred up stages.

Now, not everything about this game is great. I worked hard to unlock Symphony of The Night. I quickly went back to the title screen so I could fire up SOTN. I was thinking that it would fill the screen when I fired it up. Sadly it did not. I hunted through some game forums to see if there was a fix. Apparently they said the unlockable games were Full screen. Meaning not Wide screen. you can adjust it to full screen though, and it is very much playable. I haven't gotten into SOTN or the Original Rondo yet. I will say though, The new Rondo is very true to level layout. And SOTN is a perfect PS1 port.


This game can not be passed up if you have a PSP. They took one of the most revered games in Castlevania lore, and gave it legendary treatment. The only thing that could have made this better, make it fit your pocket, was thrown on for good measure. Last, they said "let's make this stupid ridiculous!" and made both the original and SOTN, arguably the most beloved game in North America, portable. Koji Igarash, I don't know about anyone else, but you have left me speechless.


Moral Of The Story: Kids don't fear about putting your money down on this title. Best $30 you'll spend in October.



....And with that I'm pulling the plunger on this review.

I think things are about to change!!!

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So today I went to pick up my copy of Castlevania!! I can't wait to get into it, and do a review for you guys. But, back to the topic I am meaning to write about. When I went to pick up my game the salesman said that they had 10 copies preordered. And then said that they had sold 8 PSP's along with those preorders. Is this the game this system has been waiting for since launch? This game might do for North America what FFVII has done for Japan. If Sony keeps stringing games like this together the DS just might have a legit competitor for the handheld market. Sometimes I'm still puzzled how people can say there are no good games on PSP.

MGS PO
KILLZONE:LIBERATION-Up for golden joystick game of the year!!
LOCOROCO
TEKKEN
CASTLEVANIA-Possibly one of the biggest game collections to hit any console in America in ages!!
FINAL FANATASY 7 CRISIS CORE
SYPHONFILTER DARK MIRROR
SYPHONFILTER LOGANS SHADOW
DAXTER
RATCHET AND CLANK:SIZE MATTERS
LUMINES
GUNPEY

Not to mention all the different company compilations. So in parting, you might laugh at the commercials now, but I believe that the phrase "Get Your Own!" will become a stinging reminder to many in the near future.