Month in Review: March 2010

A pretty large number of new acquisitions this month, anyone on a slow internet connection should probably turn back now because there's a lot of pictures. I've tried to keep them all relatively small though! I also indulged in a fair bit of gaming with some killer titles.

New Acquisitions

My first purchases of the month were a couple of proper old-school computer RPGs. Betrayal at Krondor is so minty fresh it could be mashed up and used as toothpaste; the same goes for the strategy guide. The other CD is the complete Ultima Collection, which features Ultima I through VIII, as well as Akalabeth. I already have Ultima VII (in all it's forms) and VIII, but I've been looking for a hard copy of the earlier games for a while now. This loose CD will tide me over for now.

At last, the wait is over. You have no idea how glad I was that Final Fantasy XIII was released on 360, I really didn't want to have to fork out for another console just for this. I bought the game and the guide brand new, pre-ordered of course to ensure they got here on release day. The game arrived fine and on time (thanks, Royal Mail), however the guide was kicked around by the Home Delivery Network for a week before getting here. I've already stopped using Amazon thanks to HDNL, looks like Play are next. When will online retailers stop using these cowboys? Anyway, the game is pretty darn awesome.

It's amazing what you find lying around. I almost didn't see this, in fact it was only the WHS logo that caught my eye. I looked closer simply out of mild curiousity: I work for Smiths, and just wondered what sort of rubbish we used to sell. Turns out we used to sell rather snazzy accessories for the 8-bit home computing market of 80's Britain. This is basically just a souped-up mono tape recorder, optimised for use with the ZX Spectrum et al. It's solidly built and works like a dream. I've already swapped out the Sony tape recorder I usually use with my Speccy.

Three brand new games courtesy of Zavvi online, costing £17.95 apiece. Considering Silent Hill and Crystal Bearers had only been released a couple of weeks earlier, that's pretty good going. I also wanted Magna Carta 2 before it disappeared completely from the shops (note to self: pick up Tales of Vesperia and Divinity II soon).

A selection of games from two seperate visits to Game Zone, a new shop that has opened just across from where I work. It's not the same as the nationwide rental store Game Zone, these guys only have about three stores that are all fairly local. Anyway, they have pretty good prices on used stuff; PS2 games are all 2 for £5, which is great if you find something worthwhile.

I picked these up in a charity shop for 50p each. I don't have a Mega Drive, but I was going to stay with some old uni friends that weekend who do have a Mega Drive, and wanted something we could play together and have fun with so I picked the only non-sports title I could find. I think Whizz (the PS1 game) is a PAL exclusive, and it's not bad for 50p.

A selection of items from eBay, all from different sellers and all games I've wanted for a while. The Sam & Max/Day of the Tentacle twinpack continues my adventure binge. Both this and Might & Magic VI are games I should have bought years ago, but I always put off buying them even when I saw them everywhere for like £2.99 new. I guess I thought I'd always have the opportunity to buy them... then they disappeared and I had to resort to eBay. I didn't have to pay too much for them though. The War of the Worlds is based on the Jeff Wayne musical and it is quite different from the PC game. I'm a big WOTW fan, so it's nice to finally own a copy. The black cart is the Codemasters release of Super Adventure Quests (aka Quattro Adventure) for the NES.

A brace of Channel F cartridges! I've owned a Channel F (the Adman Grandstand version) since last year but I've never managed to track down any carts for it. I know they are pretty hard to find everywhere, but here it is like trying to find Bigfoot. I could have bought some off eBay US, but the shipping would have killed me. So I patiently searched the European eBay sites, always coming up empty until now. Two auctions, two sellers, both ending at a grand total of 99p. Videocart 3 is complete, Videocart 2 is loose, but both are in good nick for their age.

I love freebies. My brother came home to visit for a week this month and brought presents. He gets all kinds of stuff for free, but since he has to keep up the appearance of being a man I get gifted everything of the plushy variety. It's nearly always Warcraft related, but I don't care because they're so damn cute!

Two new games from PC World and their mega clearout. Might & Magic IX was around £3, Banjo Kazooie was just under £5.

I've longed for the good old days of the real expansion pack and a part of me wishes all this DLC and micro-transaction nonsense would just die, already. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (what a mouthful) is a real nostalgia trip in that sense. Yet just like the main game, it manages to be traditional and fresh and exciting, all at the same time. I love Dragon Age and hope there's a ton more expansion packs on their way! I bought this new on release day. Red Faction Guerilla was a freebie, it came with my brother's copy of Metro 2033, and since he already has the game he gave it to me. It's disc-only, but it's a free game.

A selection of games bought used from CeX. The two GameCube games are kiddy games, but they were cheap and Billy Hatcher is actually quite good (it's by the Sonic Team). Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel completes my Fallout collection and Might & Magic VIII is just another cIassy addition to my PC RPG pile.

Two used DS games, ticking another couple off my wishlist. Blue Dragon was under a fiver in Game, it's mint and complete. Devil Survivor was from eBay, it is quite literally 'as new'. I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy of the first Megaten DS game and finally I found one. It was never released in Europe, which usually means I have to go down the import path and get hammered with the shipping. Luckily I found this from a UK seller, just in time to start my hunt for the second game, Strange Journeys. While we're on the subject: does anyone know if the soundtrack CD that comes with Strange Journeys is included with all copies of the game? None of the import sites are very specific and I don't want to pay through the teeth if I won't even get the soundtrack!

Another acquisition from Game Zone, a used but mint copy of Zelda for Wii (it's still even got the unused Club Nintendo card in the case). The PS1 games were cheap pick-ups from a charity shop, not games I especially wanted but solid additions to my collection.

Two more games from a charity shop, The 7th Guest and Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Both are disc and case only but were very cheap and are in great nick. I actually owned The 7th Guest once before, but it was sold off in the great PC game cull of the early noughties. I'm glad I got another copy. Riven for PC and Return of the King for PS2 were picked up on the first carboot of the season, it was a bit gloomy so there weren't many sellers, but the morning wasn't a total bust. I can't wait till the weather gets a bit better, carboots are great for game hunting.

Games Played

Discworld (PC)

I've been on a bit of an adventure binge lately. It's been a real nostalgia trip for me. The first Discworld game isn't one I'd played before (I've only ever played Discworld II and Noir) but now, having finally played it through, I am suitably impressed. I'm a huge Pratchett fan - I love the books, the TV adaptations, you name it... and the games are sublime. High time for another installment, I think, maybe in episodic form a la Sam & Max?

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (PC)

I was really looking forward to the first proper expansion for Dragon Age. I loved the main game and thought it was a great mix of traditional role-playing and modern technology in a brilliant setting. I make no secret of the fact that I dislike the way DLC is usually handled; high prices for little content is a worryingly prevalent trend these days. So I was pleased when Awakening was announced as a full-blown expansion, just like in the good old days. While I wouldn't say it was a huge add-on, it is at the least a good-sized one, featuring a satisfying story, new characters, further character options and around 20 more hours of gameplay. I really enjoyed this one.

Dragon Quest Swords (Wii)

I've played a few Wii games this month, but the major focus of my attention has been Dragon Quest Swords. It's basically a Wii version of the old Kenshin Dragon Quest TV game, a game that is perfectly suited to the Wii's controls. It's a shame then that the whole thing was so poorly implemented. The controls are not sensitive enough for the fast-paced gameplay and are also utilised in an awkward way. I ended up with cramp after only a short time playing. It's not such a bad game overall though, I still had fun with it and will no doubt persevere to the end.

Final Fantasy XIII (X360)

Ah, the biggie. I was really hyped for this as I'm a pretty big fan of the series. I am not a mindless sheep, however, and am able to see that even my favourite games have flaws. Final Fantasy XIII is flawed. It is big, it is pretty, the story is good, the characters are fun and the gameplay is mostly excellent... but there is something missing. At first I thought it was the linearity of the game - although most FF games are linear to a degree, this one literally has you walking in a straight line for the first ten or so chapters - but in reality I'm not too fussed about that. I was at first, but I thought about it and realised that some of my favourite games are strictly linear. Some exploration would have been nice, but I can live without it. I love good stories and in my opinion (contrary to some), FF XIII delivers that in bucketloads. So what's the missing ingredient? I have no idea (yet), but I'm just not feeling the wow factor quite as much as I was hoping. At the moment I'm on Chapter 10 and have dinged 11 achievements for 230 points.

Full Throttle (PC)

Full Throttle is a great game, an adventure cIassic to the bone. I love the biker theme, mixed up with a bit of Mad Max and a whole lot of cIassic Lucasarts humour. I even like the action sequences (I know many don't) - the bike fighting reminds me of Road Rash and the destruction derby looks like something straight out of Micro Machines! I finished this over several evenings, thanks to the retro-enabling power of ScummVM.

King's Quest (PC)

Since I recently picked up the King's Quest collection, I thought I'd go right back to the beginning, where it all began for Sierra adventures. King's Quest is short and crude by today's standards, but it is still a joy to play. Difficult but never frustrating, funny but never cringe-inducing, it's easy to see where later Sierra adventures (and others) had their roots. I don't like King's Quest as much as Space Quest, but that's probably because I grew up with Space Quest. Once again, I got this running via ScummVM, which I encourage all adventure fans to check out if they have trouble running their games on modern systems.

Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (X360)

I didn't play this much this month, as my 360 gaming was taken over by Final Fantasy XIII, but I did manage to make some progress. I've finished the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in story mode and am working on completing each hub to 100%. I've also finished Raiders of the Lost Ark in story mode, which got me one more achievement, for 15 points.

In Conclusion...

I am aware that today is 1st April, and that traditionally one is supposed to post a spoof or something else funny. Truth is, I forgot today was April Fool's Day until I was already home from work and it was much too late then to muck about trying to be funny.

So I'll just leave you with one of my favourite pranks of years gone by.