I have a serious backlog problem. Thushenceforthwith, I'm going to tabulate anything progress-related (that I can think of at that specific point in time) in my head on this here blog. It's time to rid my backlog once and for all, to make room for new gameses. (Funny how some of those games currently being played in my backlog were purchased as recently as the Nintendo launch on November 19th.) Brain dump - go!
Guitar Hero - All songs played. Approximately 10 left to 5-star.
Guitar Hero II - Core 40 songs played. Approximately half left to 5-star of those played. Trogdor and Arterial Black of the unlockables played. Trogdor 5-starred; Arterial, not so much.
Age of Empires DS - Played through the French (5), Japanese (5), Mongol (6) and three of the Islamic (6) campaign. That's 19 missions down and at least 9 more to go (Great Britain is the final single-player campaign set).
Ocarina of Time - Fire Sage awoken. I think that's 5 out of 9 dungeons? Or more?
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - about 22% complete, according to the game counter.
Trauma Center: Under the Knife - Somewhere in the middle of Chapter 4.
Call of Duty 2 - Completed the Soviet campaign. In the middle of the British campaign after you have to call in the artillery to blow dem tanks up. In other words, not a clue as to my completion rate.
Call of Dutii 3 - On chapter 10 of 14.
Rayman Raving Rabbids - Five plungers I think. Got my first rug and poster in my cell.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Somewhere right outside of the Chucklehuck Woods. Oh I have no ******* clue, dammit.
Gears of War - A third through Chapter 2.
Condemned: Criminal Origins - Somewhere near the beginning of Chapter 3.
F.E.A.R. - I have no clue, and I'm lost because the level design totally blows. Thanks, Monolith.
Can't think of anything else I'm working on. Jesus, I need to stop buying games. I'll likely be done with Call of Dutii 3 first, then finish all the songs in Guitar Hero II (finish, NOT five-star). I wish I could say Age of Empires DS will come in third, but those missions are very long and very difficult at times. (What a sleeper, by the way. If you own a DS and thirst for turn-based strategy, this is a fantastic choice. Advance Wars DS is excellent, but you owe it to yourself to own both of these then.)
MrCHUP0N Blog
Aiming for the Swiit Spot
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
When Red Steel was first revealed in the pages of Game Informer magazine, the dreams of some First Person Shooter fans looked like they were about to come true. Pointing and shooting at the screen as if pointing a gun, in a full-fledged shooter - despite what some jaded videogame pundits may have thought - was a tantalizing, immersive and obvious idea. However, the idea of the sensor bar hadn't fully sunk in yet. You don't, in fact, point directly at the screen and look down the remote. The Wiimote and sensor bar combination does not act as a virtual light gun in that direct sense. Instead, you would point the on-screen aiming reticule as you would a laser pointer. The results on the screen would reflect smaller movements you made from your seat a few feet away, translating them proportionally. So, when prospective customers saw Red Steel footage at E3 2006, there were mixed reactions - many of them were, "The control looks janky."
The standard for developing a solid, controllable First Person Shooter using Nintendo's Wiimote functionality hasn't exactly been set yet. Red Steel keeps the person's virtual "face" looking in the same direction until you nudge the reticule against the edge of the screen. Though I haven't played the game yet, reports are that - with video footage as my only evidence - the speed at which your character turns and changes his looking direction is intolerably slow. Trying to fend off an enemy firing at you directly from your left, then, becomes much more difficult than it needs to be.
We haven't seen results for the soon-to-be-released Far Cry: Vengeance (a "launch window" title developed by Red Steel's own Ubisoft), and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a ways off (though reports are that it nails the control). So, the only other challenger at the moment is Activision's Call of Duty 3. Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty 3 appears on all three current-gen platforms (wow - can you believe it's no longer "next-gen"?) with varying traits. The most obvious assumption can be made here: the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions excel in presentation, with high-definition graphics depicting the war-torn French vistas in all their rubble-strewn glory. The Nintendo version, however, looks only slightly better than a middling multi-platform Xbox title. About the only impressive visual effects here are the chaotic trappings of war and the surprisingly well-done volumetric smoke from massive explosions and smoke grenades. What it "has going for it" is, of course, the Wiimote's aiming capabilities.
I'm about halfway through Call of Duty 3's campaign, having just completed the sixth out of fourteen chapters as they are laid out in the game's Chapter Select screen. Based on this experience, along with video footage from Red Steel, I'm inclined to say that Call of Duty 3 is much, much farther along in the growth process of First Person Shooting on Nintendo's Wiivolutionary console. Treyarch went so far as to include two modes of control - one mimicking a mouse-and-keyboard setup, and one mimicking Red Steel's setup (which succeeds already by providing a faster turning speed). Which one hits that sweet spot we're all waiting for?
Going with the mouse-like setup will have your reticule tied to the center of your screen. Aiming your Wiimote directly affects where your character is "facing" and, as a result, where your character is aiming. Keeping your Wiimote aimed at a certain vector from its "invisible center" (time to learn your sensor bar's range inside and out, folks) keeps your character turning in that direction. Returning it to its invisible center stops your character from looking. In this way, you effectively get a combination of analog stick and mouse control. While pointing your gun at a certain spot on the screen becomes much faster than a regular old analog stick, it's still slower than a mouse. When you want to make a 180 degree turn, your turning rate is still fixed to the speed at which you initially turned your Wiimote. It does require about 10 minutes of learning, but it ends up working surprisingly well. However it's somewhat of a melancholy medium, because when you think about it, why emulate simple mouse input when the really tasty proposition of the Wiimote is to be able to point and shoot at something on the screen without having to shift your viewpoint?
That's where Treyarch's "dynamic aim" method, which is switched on by default, comes into play. This is the control method that emulates and ultimately trumps Red Steel's first attempt. Though the base mechanics are the same - aim at anything directly on the screen, push the reticule to the edge of the screen to turn - the position of the reticule on the screen also affects your turning speed. The further out your reticule is from the center of the screen, the faster you turn. This allows you to actually control how fast you turn; with the horizontal and vertical sensitivity set to the max, by the time your reticule is nudged up at the edge of the screen, you're turning at an almost-as-fast-as-mouselook pace. (That I was able to jump and do a 180 is testament to how precise the sensitivity is, especially given how low characters in Call of Duty games actually jump.) Treyarch has also taken care of the problem of, "If I'm aiming at something that's somewhat off center, won't my viewpoint change?" There is an option - which is on by default - that eases up on the turning when your reticule is on a foe and you're firing upon him. It's another form of lock-on, except it's not of the cheap "auto-aim" variety. You've got to aim and shoot first before the game helps you out.
This latter, default control method is what really feels bad-*** and satisfying in the most cathartic sense. It's what allows you to go commando (no, not in the underwear sense) and march straight ahead while picking off enemy soldiers to the left and right of you, above and below you. You're aiming your gun, not your head, so your aim and walking direction are somewhat independent of each other; you also end up not making that "beeline" that you do when playing other console and PC first person shooters (look, walk, shoot, turn, walk, shoot, turn, walk, shoot). Whether or not this comes into practical play often enough is a separate issue, but for the time being it's the fact that you can pull this off - and the sensation that you feel from pretending like you're actually pointing at something directly and pulling that B trigger - that makes it all sensational. The learning curve is there, but it's no different than learning how to use a mouse if you've never done it; actually, it's a bit easier because of the fact that you're manipulating something you're holding at the screen as opposed to something laying flat on a table.
Of course, it must be said that under no circumstances should you be playing this game after drinking espresso or any caffeine-drenched energy drink. Red Bull might give you wings, but it'll also give you the damn jitters. Aiming down your gun's sight on the real battlefield, when you're jittery and hyper, won't let you snipe very well now will it? The same principle applies here. Whether or not this is a good or a bad thing depends on your preference for realism and immersion versus practicality in gameplay. All I can tell myself is to keep my damn hands steady when firing.
The rest of the game has plenty of issues, but we're here to talk more about the effectiveness of the Wiimote as a first-person aiming device than we are about Call of Duty 3 itself anyway. The point is, and developers take note, Call of Duty 3 demonstrates the shooting power of the Wiimote incredibly well with its default control setup. Treyarch has developed a control scheme that allows you to aim at something on the screen while maintaining your direction; that allows you to vary the speed of your turns intuitively; whose sensitivity settings go high enough to allow for a maximum of near-mouse levels of precision. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption may have, according to website IGN's editors, developed a keen mouse-and-keyboard emulating setup. I want more, though. I want this. Hitting that sweet spot with the Wiimote needs to go further than just emulating the prime method of controlling shooters - it needs to add something new.
If developers could take Call of Duty 3's control scheme and perfect it, I think I'd be a happy camper. I'm writing this on vacation from a beach in St. Croix, and as beautiful as it is, all my hands can think of doing is returning to the battle for Chambois and aiming right for some punks deserving of World War II lead. Even in its nascent stages, Wiimote shooting is addictive as all hell. We just need more games to learn from Red Steel's mistakes and follow Call of Duty 3's lead. Or how about taking the two modes that Call of Duty presents - "mousing" and "Red Steel" mode - and make them both available at the touch of a button - remember Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64? Possibilities are out there. Let's find out which ones work.
As a note, anyone who's played Red Steel is encouraged to comment and provide your thoughts on the control scheme as I've not played it yet.
 [Originally written by myself and published in Trigames.NET. It appears here unabridged.]
The standard for developing a solid, controllable First Person Shooter using Nintendo's Wiimote functionality hasn't exactly been set yet. Red Steel keeps the person's virtual "face" looking in the same direction until you nudge the reticule against the edge of the screen. Though I haven't played the game yet, reports are that - with video footage as my only evidence - the speed at which your character turns and changes his looking direction is intolerably slow. Trying to fend off an enemy firing at you directly from your left, then, becomes much more difficult than it needs to be.
We haven't seen results for the soon-to-be-released Far Cry: Vengeance (a "launch window" title developed by Red Steel's own Ubisoft), and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a ways off (though reports are that it nails the control). So, the only other challenger at the moment is Activision's Call of Duty 3. Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty 3 appears on all three current-gen platforms (wow - can you believe it's no longer "next-gen"?) with varying traits. The most obvious assumption can be made here: the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions excel in presentation, with high-definition graphics depicting the war-torn French vistas in all their rubble-strewn glory. The Nintendo version, however, looks only slightly better than a middling multi-platform Xbox title. About the only impressive visual effects here are the chaotic trappings of war and the surprisingly well-done volumetric smoke from massive explosions and smoke grenades. What it "has going for it" is, of course, the Wiimote's aiming capabilities.
I'm about halfway through Call of Duty 3's campaign, having just completed the sixth out of fourteen chapters as they are laid out in the game's Chapter Select screen. Based on this experience, along with video footage from Red Steel, I'm inclined to say that Call of Duty 3 is much, much farther along in the growth process of First Person Shooting on Nintendo's Wiivolutionary console. Treyarch went so far as to include two modes of control - one mimicking a mouse-and-keyboard setup, and one mimicking Red Steel's setup (which succeeds already by providing a faster turning speed). Which one hits that sweet spot we're all waiting for?
Going with the mouse-like setup will have your reticule tied to the center of your screen. Aiming your Wiimote directly affects where your character is "facing" and, as a result, where your character is aiming. Keeping your Wiimote aimed at a certain vector from its "invisible center" (time to learn your sensor bar's range inside and out, folks) keeps your character turning in that direction. Returning it to its invisible center stops your character from looking. In this way, you effectively get a combination of analog stick and mouse control. While pointing your gun at a certain spot on the screen becomes much faster than a regular old analog stick, it's still slower than a mouse. When you want to make a 180 degree turn, your turning rate is still fixed to the speed at which you initially turned your Wiimote. It does require about 10 minutes of learning, but it ends up working surprisingly well. However it's somewhat of a melancholy medium, because when you think about it, why emulate simple mouse input when the really tasty proposition of the Wiimote is to be able to point and shoot at something on the screen without having to shift your viewpoint?
That's where Treyarch's "dynamic aim" method, which is switched on by default, comes into play. This is the control method that emulates and ultimately trumps Red Steel's first attempt. Though the base mechanics are the same - aim at anything directly on the screen, push the reticule to the edge of the screen to turn - the position of the reticule on the screen also affects your turning speed. The further out your reticule is from the center of the screen, the faster you turn. This allows you to actually control how fast you turn; with the horizontal and vertical sensitivity set to the max, by the time your reticule is nudged up at the edge of the screen, you're turning at an almost-as-fast-as-mouselook pace. (That I was able to jump and do a 180 is testament to how precise the sensitivity is, especially given how low characters in Call of Duty games actually jump.) Treyarch has also taken care of the problem of, "If I'm aiming at something that's somewhat off center, won't my viewpoint change?" There is an option - which is on by default - that eases up on the turning when your reticule is on a foe and you're firing upon him. It's another form of lock-on, except it's not of the cheap "auto-aim" variety. You've got to aim and shoot first before the game helps you out.
This latter, default control method is what really feels bad-*** and satisfying in the most cathartic sense. It's what allows you to go commando (no, not in the underwear sense) and march straight ahead while picking off enemy soldiers to the left and right of you, above and below you. You're aiming your gun, not your head, so your aim and walking direction are somewhat independent of each other; you also end up not making that "beeline" that you do when playing other console and PC first person shooters (look, walk, shoot, turn, walk, shoot, turn, walk, shoot). Whether or not this comes into practical play often enough is a separate issue, but for the time being it's the fact that you can pull this off - and the sensation that you feel from pretending like you're actually pointing at something directly and pulling that B trigger - that makes it all sensational. The learning curve is there, but it's no different than learning how to use a mouse if you've never done it; actually, it's a bit easier because of the fact that you're manipulating something you're holding at the screen as opposed to something laying flat on a table.
Of course, it must be said that under no circumstances should you be playing this game after drinking espresso or any caffeine-drenched energy drink. Red Bull might give you wings, but it'll also give you the damn jitters. Aiming down your gun's sight on the real battlefield, when you're jittery and hyper, won't let you snipe very well now will it? The same principle applies here. Whether or not this is a good or a bad thing depends on your preference for realism and immersion versus practicality in gameplay. All I can tell myself is to keep my damn hands steady when firing.
The rest of the game has plenty of issues, but we're here to talk more about the effectiveness of the Wiimote as a first-person aiming device than we are about Call of Duty 3 itself anyway. The point is, and developers take note, Call of Duty 3 demonstrates the shooting power of the Wiimote incredibly well with its default control setup. Treyarch has developed a control scheme that allows you to aim at something on the screen while maintaining your direction; that allows you to vary the speed of your turns intuitively; whose sensitivity settings go high enough to allow for a maximum of near-mouse levels of precision. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption may have, according to website IGN's editors, developed a keen mouse-and-keyboard emulating setup. I want more, though. I want this. Hitting that sweet spot with the Wiimote needs to go further than just emulating the prime method of controlling shooters - it needs to add something new.
If developers could take Call of Duty 3's control scheme and perfect it, I think I'd be a happy camper. I'm writing this on vacation from a beach in St. Croix, and as beautiful as it is, all my hands can think of doing is returning to the battle for Chambois and aiming right for some punks deserving of World War II lead. Even in its nascent stages, Wiimote shooting is addictive as all hell. We just need more games to learn from Red Steel's mistakes and follow Call of Duty 3's lead. Or how about taking the two modes that Call of Duty presents - "mousing" and "Red Steel" mode - and make them both available at the touch of a button - remember Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64? Possibilities are out there. Let's find out which ones work.
As a note, anyone who's played Red Steel is encouraged to comment and provide your thoughts on the control scheme as I've not played it yet.
 [Originally written by myself and published in Trigames.NET. It appears here unabridged.]
Happy Thanksgiving from Johnny Wishbone in St. Croix
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
For anyone who didn't get the Beverly Hills Cop II reference, shame on you!
When my sister asked where we should go for vacation on Thanksgiving, on the spot really, all I could think of was Beverly Hills Cop II's Axel Foley (played by Eddie Murphy )saying, "My name is Johnny Wishbone, and I'm a psychic from the island of St. Croix!" in an effort to mask his identity from Chief Lutz.
Thusforth hencewith, here we be's. That beach is the perfect spot to write up some new soapboxes.
Polyphony Digital's next "real boating simulator":
Mondo Gecko!
When my sister asked where we should go for vacation on Thanksgiving, on the spot really, all I could think of was Beverly Hills Cop II's Axel Foley (played by Eddie Murphy )saying, "My name is Johnny Wishbone, and I'm a psychic from the island of St. Croix!" in an effort to mask his identity from Chief Lutz.
Thusforth hencewith, here we be's. That beach is the perfect spot to write up some new soapboxes.
Polyphony Digital's next "real boating simulator":
Mondo Gecko!
UPDATED Wii Launch Vid Pts 1 and 2 (Toys R Us, Nintendo World Store, Gamespot)
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
Index:
Part 1 - Toys R Us, Prelaunch until Midnight; Interviewing two line-goers, Meeting with Gamespot, Catching the first console sold, Listening in on Reggie and Isiah "Triforce" Johnson's answers
Part 2 - After launch, Toys R Us, Nintendo world Store; taking a look at merchandise and the scene outside, walking to Nintendo World Store, and Interviewing multiple people including the guy who started the light-affects-sensor-bar rumor, Greg Nugent (Mario) and Adam (Luigi)
Part 3 - Sunday, 11-19-06, 6AM in the Morning - the Nintendo World Store does NOT know how to run a launch for pre-orders (video to come soon)
Here's Part 1 of Trigames.NET's Nintendo Wii Launch Coverage from the NYC Toys R Us in Times Square. We get INTO the store at the 8:45 mark in the video, witness the first console being sold just before the 10:00 mark and run into Gamespotters at the 12:40 mark. (A few minutes later I chat with Ryan Mac Donald, which you may have heard on Gamespot's live streaming coverage.) Immediately after we catch interviews between the media and Reginald Fils-Aime and Isiah "Triforce" Johnson (customer number one).
[video=IHw0wWH55bgJsj_f]
[back to top]
Part 2 below - and it consists of us milling about the store afterwards checking out the merchandise, hitting up the Nintendo World Store to check out the lines, and the Trigames.NET podcast crew acting silly as normal.
[video=JSFhxDH85bgKuzDb]
[back to top]
Part 3 will come soon; you'll watch as AnTiPoDe and myself get up at crap-o-clock in the morning to pick up our preorders at that same Nintendo World Store. The line was hideous, the logistics of the NWS launch were horrible, and we ended up waiting for hours to get a console that we PREORDERED. And finally, I still hate that stupid name.
[back to top]
Part 1 - Toys R Us, Prelaunch until Midnight; Interviewing two line-goers, Meeting with Gamespot, Catching the first console sold, Listening in on Reggie and Isiah "Triforce" Johnson's answers
Part 2 - After launch, Toys R Us, Nintendo world Store; taking a look at merchandise and the scene outside, walking to Nintendo World Store, and Interviewing multiple people including the guy who started the light-affects-sensor-bar rumor, Greg Nugent (Mario) and Adam (Luigi)
Part 3 - Sunday, 11-19-06, 6AM in the Morning - the Nintendo World Store does NOT know how to run a launch for pre-orders (video to come soon)
Here's Part 1 of Trigames.NET's Nintendo Wii Launch Coverage from the NYC Toys R Us in Times Square. We get INTO the store at the 8:45 mark in the video, witness the first console being sold just before the 10:00 mark and run into Gamespotters at the 12:40 mark. (A few minutes later I chat with Ryan Mac Donald, which you may have heard on Gamespot's live streaming coverage.) Immediately after we catch interviews between the media and Reginald Fils-Aime and Isiah "Triforce" Johnson (customer number one).
[video=IHw0wWH55bgJsj_f]
[back to top]
Part 2 below - and it consists of us milling about the store afterwards checking out the merchandise, hitting up the Nintendo World Store to check out the lines, and the Trigames.NET podcast crew acting silly as normal.
[video=JSFhxDH85bgKuzDb]
[back to top]
Part 3 will come soon; you'll watch as AnTiPoDe and myself get up at crap-o-clock in the morning to pick up our preorders at that same Nintendo World Store. The line was hideous, the logistics of the NWS launch were horrible, and we ended up waiting for hours to get a console that we PREORDERED. And finally, I still hate that stupid name.
[back to top]
Beast and the Harlot - Expert - 5-star, Picture in Picture
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
Before I bless you with Nintendo Launch footage (watch this space throughout tomorrow)... Beast and the Harlot. Expert. 316K score, 5 stars, picture-in-picture.
[video=cHM1wjfw5bgJsjHd]
[video=cHM1wjfw5bgJsjHd]
Nintendo Launch Coverage Coming Soon! (And me on the Live Stream)
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
I'm bum tired. Really tired. AnTiPoDe and I are waking up in approx 1 hour and 40 minutes to pick up our units, but we've been and running around catching footage of the Toys R Us event. Ethan and Tony were running around the lines getting interviews as well. We're all exhausted, but Ethan and Tony - not having pre-ordered their units at the Nintendo World Store - actually got theirs inside the Toys R Us event. We were lucky enough to have immediate access to the counter because we had press/media passes, and AnTiPoDe and I are starting to wish we had picked up ours there and cancelled our preorders at the Nintendo World Store. But, we felt like "honoring" our preorders. In any case, I regret the Trigames.NET podcast crew couldn't unite like this during the Sony launch this week. Those weekday launches, man - drat.
In any case, I heard I was on the air during the live stream. Boy, I wish I was home with my browser open so that I could have heard myself talking to Ryan MacDonald. No wait - that's a paradox... I also got to meet Ricardo Torres and apologize in person to Tim Surette for misspelling his name earlier (it's ONE "r", people!)
Footage coming whenever Ethan and I can get some sleep and dump this to our machines.
In any case, I heard I was on the air during the live stream. Boy, I wish I was home with my browser open so that I could have heard myself talking to Ryan MacDonald. No wait - that's a paradox... I also got to meet Ricardo Torres and apologize in person to Tim Surette for misspelling his name earlier (it's ONE "r", people!)
Footage coming whenever Ethan and I can get some sleep and dump this to our machines.
Podcast 26, and Beast and the Harlot's "Switch Off"
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
I haven't updated the RSS feed yet, but after getting some quiet time at the computer I was able to edit up the 26th episode of the Trigames.NET podcast. Only Tony and myself this past weekend. The upcoming 27th ep looks like it's going to miss Al.
Get #26 here. As usual, if you have sensitive ears, steer clear. We censor for nobody.
But! Never fear, Al's right here. We decided to do Beast and the Harlot from Guitar Hero II, Co-Op, and switch guitars whenever his girlfriend Evelyn yelled out "SWITCH!" Of course we did some switching of our own volition as well, but needless to say, we needed a third try to get it right. On try 1, his guitar cord snagged on my foot for the first switch (which was yelled out during the solo). On try 2, I switched guitars but forgot to switch which side of the screen I was watching. So we decided to restart and try fresh with try 3 - which still saw me hit "Pause" by accident - but we weren't going to try a fourth time.
Voila.
[video=K3Q2n2P75bgIvDDZ]
Get #26 here. As usual, if you have sensitive ears, steer clear. We censor for nobody.
But! Never fear, Al's right here. We decided to do Beast and the Harlot from Guitar Hero II, Co-Op, and switch guitars whenever his girlfriend Evelyn yelled out "SWITCH!" Of course we did some switching of our own volition as well, but needless to say, we needed a third try to get it right. On try 1, his guitar cord snagged on my foot for the first switch (which was yelled out during the solo). On try 2, I switched guitars but forgot to switch which side of the screen I was watching. So we decided to restart and try fresh with try 3 - which still saw me hit "Pause" by accident - but we weren't going to try a fourth time.
Voila.
[video=K3Q2n2P75bgIvDDZ]
Guitar Hero II - Beaten 12:35AM 11-8-2006 [6 updates, 5 videos]
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
ORIGINAL POST: Just finished Sweet Child o' Mine. Must venture forth... see how far my non-fail streak takes me. Video to come - check this space later tonight I wanna rock you tonight. I mean, just, yeah, tonight.
UPDATE: Vidja below -
[video=IyYxxWCs5bgIvzLW]
This song isn't really that challenging - I was just so excited to have purchased this game that I had to post something. I figured Sweet Child is a fun song everyone likes.
Right now I'm at Set 6 - Relentless Riffs. The first sing is Crazy on You. Does my non-fail streak end here? Update to come. I haven't ripped straight through a console game immediately after purchasing it like this in a long time. I think it's just because this series is that damn addictive... go buy now.
UPDATE 2: Erm, why is Psychobilly Freakout *before* YYZ? YYZ is incredibly easy, and Psychobilly is - well - PSYCHO. Just barely made that one out alive, and I know I can 5-star YYZ, so let's say that right now I've passed seven sets without yet failing. Which means that as soon as I put up that Hangar 18 video for Thraxen, you'll all get to see me FAILURE.
UPDATE 3: And thus, he failed. Institutionalized did me in - the song right after Beast and the Harlot (video of Beast to come). 77% through, I tried to press Select to get Star power because I was WAY in the red. I pressed Start instead, and when I unpaused I couldn't get my bearings straight. Chances are, I would have failed anyway. AlexN, you win this round!!!!!!!!!!!111111111one
Beast and the Harlot below.
[video=I3Mzn2Cr5bgIvzDY]
UPDATE 4: 40 tracks, done and done. Freebird was quite insane, but I beat it by sight-reading (first attempt) with 4 stars (81% only). I still say Misirlou and Institutionalized are way harder. Time to go after the unlockable tracks, but I've gotta save that for tomorrow. My head, eyes and arms are in immense amounts of pain. Video of the game-ending song to come, but for now, enjoy Hangar 18 - DEDICATED TO TEH THRAXEN!!!111omgz
[video=d3UxkzP_5bgIvzHd]
UPDATE 5: Freebird!
[video=IHw1xWSs5bgIvzHY]
UPDATE 6: For the curious, Trogdor on Expert. It's actually pretty fun (and difficult).
[video=JCYylDP75bgIvz7e]
For your notes: Game started at 6PM, 11/7/2006. Game ended at 12:35AM on 11/8/2006. With, of course, a few hours out for video-editing, dinner, dish-washing, (non)voting, and a co-op Sweet Child o' Mine playthrough with my sister on bass.
UPDATE: Vidja below -
[video=IyYxxWCs5bgIvzLW]
This song isn't really that challenging - I was just so excited to have purchased this game that I had to post something. I figured Sweet Child is a fun song everyone likes.
Right now I'm at Set 6 - Relentless Riffs. The first sing is Crazy on You. Does my non-fail streak end here? Update to come. I haven't ripped straight through a console game immediately after purchasing it like this in a long time. I think it's just because this series is that damn addictive... go buy now.
UPDATE 2: Erm, why is Psychobilly Freakout *before* YYZ? YYZ is incredibly easy, and Psychobilly is - well - PSYCHO. Just barely made that one out alive, and I know I can 5-star YYZ, so let's say that right now I've passed seven sets without yet failing. Which means that as soon as I put up that Hangar 18 video for Thraxen, you'll all get to see me FAILURE.
UPDATE 3: And thus, he failed. Institutionalized did me in - the song right after Beast and the Harlot (video of Beast to come). 77% through, I tried to press Select to get Star power because I was WAY in the red. I pressed Start instead, and when I unpaused I couldn't get my bearings straight. Chances are, I would have failed anyway. AlexN, you win this round!!!!!!!!!!!111111111one
Beast and the Harlot below.
[video=I3Mzn2Cr5bgIvzDY]
UPDATE 4: 40 tracks, done and done. Freebird was quite insane, but I beat it by sight-reading (first attempt) with 4 stars (81% only). I still say Misirlou and Institutionalized are way harder. Time to go after the unlockable tracks, but I've gotta save that for tomorrow. My head, eyes and arms are in immense amounts of pain. Video of the game-ending song to come, but for now, enjoy Hangar 18 - DEDICATED TO TEH THRAXEN!!!111omgz
[video=d3UxkzP_5bgIvzHd]
UPDATE 5: Freebird!
[video=IHw1xWSs5bgIvzHY]
UPDATE 6: For the curious, Trogdor on Expert. It's actually pretty fun (and difficult).
[video=JCYylDP75bgIvz7e]
For your notes: Game started at 6PM, 11/7/2006. Game ended at 12:35AM on 11/8/2006. With, of course, a few hours out for video-editing, dinner, dish-washing, (non)voting, and a co-op Sweet Child o' Mine playthrough with my sister on bass.
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