COMBAT for the Atari 2600!

Combat was a very special game for Atari, as it was the one came packaged with MOST 2600s (mine came with space invaders.)

Here is the setup of Atari reviews, with an explanation of why.
Gameplay- 5 points. Gameplay is what really makes an atari game good and why most people play atari games, unlike the reason MOST people play PS3, Xbox, and Wii. (Good graphics, to see a red ring, and to wave arms around madly respectively.) Those are the casual gamers. HARDCORE gamers mainly are retro gamers, so Atari gamers are almost 100% hardcore. So, they are about gameplay.

Graphics- 2 points. Basically whether or not it hurts your eyes to look at, since the 2600 is very unpowerful in graphics. Just if the color combinations are good or not.

Sound- 3 points. Most atari games don’t have music, so there’s not much to review except sound effects, which aren’t too important. However about 30-40% DO have music, so its a 3 instead of a 2.

Replay- 4 points. Why would you keep coming back to a 30 year old game if it gets boring after about a day? Replay is a huge factor in seperating the Classics that came to fame from being good and.. ET (the extra terrestrial game that caused the video game crash.)

Creative-ness- 3 points. Atari games really feel like indie games. Most are very creative since the developers don’t have much to play around with *cough cough wii cough cough* Creativeness can be a huge factor leading up to Gameplay and Replay. There are not 100,000 FPS games on the atari *cough cough XBOX and PS3* and most games have lots of variety compared with each other, unlike SOME game consoles *cough cough all three*. Not to be harsh, but good games are much more common on the atari then on our current consoles.

Combat currently sells for about 4$ used on amazon.com and 35$ new.

NOW onto the review. Atari had a genius idea- make a GOOD home video game system. No, not one that’s black and white and has only one game, no, not one that has 5 games that are completely horrific, but one with interchangable games that you buy at the store from all game developers. Atari did not play every game sold, so the good, bad, and awful were on the market. To prevent people from buying a really bad game and giving up on the 2600, Atari packaged in COMBAT!

Gameplay- Combat is a two player only game where the goal is to shoot your opponent in over 20 different modes (take that Pswii60. Most you have is what, 3?) while controlling a biplane, bomber, jet, or tank. The best modes are the ones that have tanks in them. You basically rotate your tank and move in the direction it is facing, and then fire away. Your tank is slow, so you develop a strategy so you can hit your oppponent without being hit- this is alot easier in the Tank Pong mode where the bullets bounce around. Other modes include Invisible Mode where both tanks are invisible unless they are firing a bullet- THAT one takes even more strategy, because you have to know the right time to fire so you can see you to control without your opponent seeing you good enough to come in for an attack- and a mode where you can curve your bullets as they move to make them move around obstacles. There are several different courses that have different layouts of walls, but you mostly play the same ones over again. The next vehicle is the biplane. This one is a bit different since you can’t stop moving, and there are no walls. Different modes in biplane mode include a mode where there are clouds all over to hide in, a mode where it is three biplanes on a bomber plane, and a mode where there is three biplanes on three biplanes, just to name a few. The jet vehicle is the best of the flying ones, probably, but there aren’t many differences between the jet and biplane. You and a friend will mostly be playing the tank mode. Speaking of you and a friend, that’s the only way to play; no computer, or anything like that. Still, combat is an extremely fun game to play. (you win there, Pswii60. Atari has no online!) 4.8/5, the only fault being no one player. An excellent and fun atari 2600 game.

Graphics- This game is a little lower than average in the graphics department. You can see everything fine, but the color choice is a slightly unpleasant green and light brown-ish yellow. This game was the earliest in Atari’s life, but it still could’ve been much better, I think. The rotations are pulled of very nicely, and are advanced for the Atari. The tanks look like tanks, and the colors don’t really clash, but its just the bad color choice that brings this down to a 1.5/2

Sound- Combat isn’t horrible or awesome in the sound area. There isn’t music that I noticed, but no annoying blares. Just a noise that happens when you hit somebody, pretty much. It would be nicer with music, but the sound effects are perfect here, so 2.2/3.

Replay- Combat is a game like Super Smash Bros.- It hardly ever gets old if you have 2 players, but is really lacking for one player.. This game definitely gets a 4 for its multiplayer, though, and the no one player brings it down by about a point. THAT leaves the replay value at… 3.1/4!

Creativity/Creative-ness- This is a pretty creative game, and has been cloned MULTIPLE times, so it isn’t really all that creative by today’s standards. However, in 1977 this was very creative, but not as creative as some ofhter games like Burger Time. 2.4/3.

Overall- 14/17, if I added right.. That translates to an 8.2. Combat is a great game, and is pretty much a must have. The reason its not a 9.6 or so is because there is no single player… If you have someone to play against, do yourself a favor and BUY. THIS. GAME. Its on amazon for 1 cent, plus the 4$ shipping makes 4$. If you are a collector, it’s 35$ (shipping included) to get this one brand new. Seriously, though, and no offense to you collectors, collecting games is stupid. They should just be played for fun. I highly reccomend buying the 4$ used version off of amazon… But if you don’t have an atari, try Ebay or your locan retro game store. Amazon has bad prices on Atari 2600s..

More to come soon, and a happy new year!

Bug

Up For 2010!

2010 has a lot in store here. I will be reviewing tons of games, including Mario and Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario Kart DS, Scribblenauts, Wave Race 64, Duck Tales, Ms. Pacman, Burger Time, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 and Pitfall just to name a few. I got my Atari back, so there will be tons of reviews for that. Today, I will review one atari game to get started.

Also, a number of games will be coming from me (not very many will be good, trust me.). I forgot to list my fav games of 09 (only games released in 09 for this list..)

DS
Mario and Luigi- Bowser’s Inside Story

PSP
I actually haven’t bought any psp games made in 09 so far.

Wii
The only GOOD wii game since Smash Bros. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS WII (aka super mario bros 4 or super mario world 3)

Indie
Focus, by 2dcube.

Happy new year!

Multiple things

1. I just realized that this snow came back without me putting it on.. Cool.

2. Its the start of advent! Yay!

3. I will review a game called Beetle Adventure Racing for the n64.

In case you forgot, the new review system is below.

Graphics- Worth 4 points (Does it look pretty?)
Sound/Music- Worth 6 points (Does it sound pretty?)
Gameplay- Worth 12 points (Does it play in a pretty way?)
Replay- Worth 6 points. (Does the amount of prettiness last?)
BONUS- Worth 3 points (These are special bonus things about the game that are not counted against it.)
OVERALL- Worth 28 points. (A game can not be more than 28 points, even with bonus so if a game gets a 28 without bonus, no bonus can be awarded.)

Graphics- Beetle adventure racing has stunning visuals. They are just amazing, and are of ps2 quality (they’re that good.) there isn’t any lag or slowdown, and the effects are great. This is probaby the best looking game on the Nintendo 64. The explosions look great, the fire boosts look great, and the cars themselves look great. The mountains are snowy, the water is excellent, the farm looks realistic- this game is perfect in the graphics department. 4/4

Sound- The music and sounds in this game aren’t really amazing. The music is OK and the sounds are OK. The announcer is kind of annoying and repetetive. Its not TOO bad though, the tunes are just really quiet and simple things that are way over repetitious. Not something that you’d hum along with. It is very unmemorable. The sound effects block out the music quite a lot, and can be pretty annoying. The music and sound department could REALLY have been improved. 4/6

Gameplay- Racers choose to take themselves in one of two paths, mostly. The over serious extreme realistic racer, or the unrealistic mario kart racer (the later has blue shells that kill whoever’s in first.) I did say mostly, those who say “Mario Kart SNES,” or “Beetle Adventure Racing,”. Yeah, Beetle Adventure is neither- not really that realistic (look at its tracks.) but actually skill based. It also has some puzzle aspects in it. The main part of Beetle Adventure is finding the best path to finish a race. There are multiple “Shortcuts” in each track, but some aren’t really all that much of a shortcut. Finding the best path and being a great driver is CRUCIAL to winning in BA. Somewhat hidden cubes also can little power up things- no, not mario kart style, but a short little boost that starts RIGHT WHEN YOU GET THE BOX. So, you have to know where they are and which one to use. The game is somewhat hard, but still managable. One of the bigger issues, though, is that at first you think your N64 controller is broken- the turning is just awful! However, you soon come over this difficulty to know that you have to stay on the middle, and not the inside or outside, and be ready for those curves! The issue doesn’t really do anything to the game, but sometimes other players push you aside into a bad shortcut, which is really cheap! The few small issues and that one somewhat bigger issue take just one point away from this. 11/12

Replay- This game has excellent replay. It hasn’t gotten old yet for me, and improving your times and finding better paths never gets old. There is also a battle style multiplayer (that is skill based, don’t worry.) and a traditional-style race multiplayer. Also, there are lots of tracks and cars, which I haven’t unlocked all of yet… It hasn’t yet gotten old for me, and I don’t expect it to soon. One of the best replay values on the 64. 6/6

Bonus- For an extremely good serious but not serious gameplay type that is really something new, I award B A R with 2 bonus points.
Now.. 4+4+11+6+2(bonus)=
27/28! Which, according to google calculator, is approximately 0.964285714. I call that 9.6/10.

Definitley worth having, only brought down by its music and cheap opponents (and they’ve only been cheap to me once or twice out of the hundreds of races I’ve done.)

Great game.
Bug

A trillion things at once!

Multiple things at once! First, I will talk about my upcoming “epic” platformer. (okay, we all know my games aren’t really that epic..) THEN I will talk about what system(s) and games you should get for the upcoming holiday. Lastly, I will share my experiences with the first 2d flagship console mario game since Super Mario World (unless you count some other ones..).

Upcoming EPIC!
***********
The main highlight of my upcoming platformer is the highly advanced (for me…) engine, which I guess is sub-par with everyone else’s. I have realistic fire, non realistic water, non-realistic double jumping, non realistic trampolines, non realistic blocks that crumble away.. The list goes on and on. Its pretty advanced ish enough for me to make a game thats actually decent… I really need to get good at this level design thing that everyone is talking about. But it will be a somewhat puzzler and revolve much on the fire. I will also use my EPIC 3d skills (ha, not really.) to make a fancy shmancy 5 level 3d minigame thing. Or I might just extend it really far and make the game have two modes- 3d _____ and 2d platformer thingy. I don’t know. Anyways, the music is insanely kind of eerieeeeee. (I think I spelled that wrong, by the way..) I didn’t make the music, but I’m fairly sure it belongs to me.. I used this cool high tech thingy that randomly generates music.. You don’t know how many tries it took to get a good one.

WHAT TO GET FOR THE HOLLIDAYS!
***************************
NOTE- I do not own all of these, but have played most of them and researched most of them and their capabilities and games.
PS3-
If you really want a new-gen system (which I wouldn’t reccomend, honsetly.) I would reccomend the playstation 3.. Mostly because it can play blu-ray, has decent controls and a handful of good games including LITTLE BIG PLANET. Not all the good games are world war 2 shooters, as well.

XBOX 360-
I would reccommend this to those who want a really good online experience and don’t care that nearly all the good games are world war 2 shooters- its pretty uncreative (even the button layout is a dreamcast rip-off.) and so are its games.

Wii-
I would reccommend this LEAST of all the current gen systems. There are less than 10 games that I personally liked for the wii. Its not really all that worth it, and I’ve gone through 2 smash bros just because if they get one miniscule scratch then they stop working… Seriously? I could care less about the accessories as long as the games are good.. What Nintendo currently does not understand. They’re getting the sense knocked back into them, though, and gave us a new 2d mario game that doesnt really use motion controlls. YAY!

Moving back a gen.

Gamecube-
I would highly reccomend this console. It is very cheap now since all those modern gamers consider it “obsolete” (sure, you just keep moving your hands like a madman.), but it is one of the most hardcore consoles out there that’s very affordable. You don’t feel like spending 200 bucks to get all those megaman games? They have a collection for 10 bucks on amazon. The Gamecube has a lot of collections. And it has metroid prime. Resedient Eveil 4. Super Monkey Ball. Smash bros MELE. The list goes on. (I have all those accept Re4, and am aware I spelled half of those things wrong. WHO REALLY CARES?) Its worth picking up.

Play Station 2-
I don’t think I would reccommend this one as much. Sure its a DVD player, but you can get a portable dvd player for 50$ nowadays. It did have a share off good games, but most of these are very similar and lots of the good ones are also on the GAMECUBE. Its not really as good as the gamecube, but if you need a cheap DVD player, I guess this is your console.. *cough cough gamecube is better cough cough*

XBOX-
I don’t have experience with this at all, really. Never felt like doing any research into it, either. The games sort of interest me, but almost all of them are also on your PC or Gamecube. I say pass on the XBOX.

Dreamcast-
Sad tale about this one. I bought 4 different games, but none of them work (except for the really crappy one that came with it.) Soulcalibur is amazing but its just not worth it since it cuts out every 20 minutes.. Maybe I just have bad luck, but I say pass on this one.

Moving back a gen.

Nintendo 64-
This one is VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (thanks, rareware!). You have the greatest game of all time, Ocarina of Time (which I really need to review soon.. 10/10 by the way.), and some of the greatest games of all time like Mario 64 and GoldenEye007. Not the greatest system for multiplayer, but there are a few like mario kart, smash bros, and mario golf. You can also pick this one up relatively cheap.

PSone-
Meh, I wouldn’t really reccomend it. Most of its good games can be found on the 64 anyways. If you REALLY want this one, get a PS2, they can play psone games.

Now’s a bit of the more.. Less known ones in gen 5..

Atari Jaguar-
Never really played this one very much, but it can be expensive. If you find it cheap, buy it because there are some good games and if you don’t like it, you can sell it for much, much, higher than you bought it for. Has about the same amount of good games as the wii- it has Rayman, AVP, Doom, etc.. Would not get this over a 64 or gamecube, but I would get it over a ps2.

Sega Saturn-
You may be screaming at me for calling this one “less known”, but really, it sold awfully. It does, however, have a handful of good games such as Saturn Bomberman (one of the earliest online games for a home console.) Virtua Fighter, and NIGHTS INTO DREAMMSSS!! I would reccommend it slightly above the Jaguar but definitely not above GCN or 64.

BACK a generation..

Super Nintendo- The obvious choice. I’d get a retro duo instead- see the little text describing that below. There were games for this that are amazingly good- Super Mario World, F-Zero…. It goes on forever. It would take at least 3 people to count the good games on your hands.

Retro Duo- This is not in the genration that the super nintendo is in, but here’s the good things about it: You can play NES and SNES games, games work on try number 1, controllers work fine and you can use your own controllers, and you can use S-Video. Its cheaper than getting a NES and SNES together, and it is more power efficent. Also, you can get it brand new for 40$. I’d put it right in front.

Genesis- I would reccomend this right below the jaguar. It does have some good games, but most of them can be found in compilations now, or on the super Nintendo.

Back one!

NES- See RETRO DUO above, which I would get before this. Amazingly good games such as SMB 3, 2, and 1, KIRBY, ZELDA, METROID.. (duck tales.) Yeah, it has lots of good games.

Back again!

And again!

Yeah, I skipped some but those aren’t even worth mentioning.. HERE’S THE REAL DEAL!

ATARI 2600- Yay! This one is just awesome, and the games are really cheap too. However, you can find some of them in compiliations so I wouldn’t put it above the gamecube.

GAMES to get! Specifically hidden gems, cuz you know all the other ones.
Wii- New Super Mario bros, the only worthwhile wii game for this holliday season! Not really any hidden gems on this system.

Gamecube- You probably already have most of the good ones, so I’ll just reccommend a little gem I found. Looney Tunes Back In Action is a very good platformer for the gamecube that you’ve probably never heard of before, yet alone played. You should own that game. Besides a few minor flaws, its a very good platformer that I would give around an 8/10

N64- Beetle Adventure Racing is the ultimate hidden game that nobody’s heard of before. You drive around in a beetle car, but the game actually doesn’t take itself too seriously like those realistic racers, and not too un-seriously like mario kart. The game has a lot of replay value, too, and each course has multiple secrets. Lots of the game’s racing is emphasized on the secrets, since sometimes they are shortcuts and sometimes they slow you down. You need to find the best route. Plus, multiplayer is fun.

Super Nintendo- You might already have F-Zero (If you don’t, that’s the game to get.) but a great game that I thoroughly enjoyed is Lost Vikings- you may have heard of it, or you probably heard of the company that helped make it (Blizzard.). Its a co operative platform puzzle game. You switch between three vikings, however, only one can attack, only one can jump, and only one can shield (the shield can be used to block, to parachute or as something that the jump viking can jump on to get a boost.) Multiplayer is great, and its relatively cheap.

NES- I don’t really have any hidden gems for the NES, but one game I am getting for the NES is duck tales. It looks amazing and ign even called it the 10th best game of all time. What do you expect from Capcom, though? Especially when the music is done by the very same person who did the music from megamans 1-3. I’d recommend it.

PS2- I did really like Star Wars Battlefront 2, not sure if many have it.. Its a very fun game. Its pretty much a 3d person shooter where you run around, stealing bases and killing the other team.. High replay.

Its MAI list, so who really cares that I left out lots?

Now for handhelds and what to get.
PSP- Reccomended. Get Space Invaders Extreme.

DS- Reccommended. Get Pokemon Platinum. This isn’t a hidden gem, however, but I don’t really know of any DS hidden gems.

DSi- Not reccommended. Just get a DS, it plays the same games! (actually, the DS plays MORE games.)

GBA- The DS lite and DS (see DS above) play GBA games, so this isn’t really recommended since the DS has many good games. HOWEVER, it can play GB and GBC games, making it more worthwhile than the DS. I recommend it the highest.

GBA SP- A better version of the above.

LASTLY
******
New Super Mario Bros Wii (which I have played a demo of) is amazingly good- however, not as good as the NES versions or SNES versions. It is a great game that you should definitely have in your library- Co-Op isn’t pulled off all that great, however, but its a solid mario title that is MUCH better than the super-easy mario galaxy. And this one is more nostalgic.

Finally! That took me forever.
Bugaham

F ZERO ON THE SUPER NINTENDO! NOW WE’RE PLAYING WITH POWER!

I really need to post more.. Around mid october I got a SUPER NINTENDO and NES in the form of that retro duo thingy (people think its bad but its actually really good. maybe its just the fact that I got the newest model.) along with a few amazing games. One game is F ZERO!! Yeah, I like it. The seller really messed up on my order- he/she accidentally sent me a brand new copy of the game (supposed to be used) so I got the manual, the game, the box (factory sealed) nintendo power thingys.. I kept it. But anyways, onto the game. According to the super colorful manual that, I might add, I have never seen anything like in modern games, says that F Zero is a super dangerous racing game where you go over five hundred miles per hour in racing tracks across the galaxy…. Sounds good. Its not. ITS AMAAZZZIINNNNGGG! I set up a new reviewing system now too, because my old one had graphics, sound, gameplay, and replay all equal. This is the new one.
Graphics- Worth 4 points (Does it look pretty?)
Sound/Music- Worth 6 points (Does it sound pretty?)
Gameplay- Worth 12 points (Does it play in a pretty way?)
Replay- Worth 6 points. (Does the amount of prettiness last?)
BONUS- Worth 3 points (These are special bonus things about the game that are not counted against it.)
OVERALL- Worth 28 points. (A game can not be more than 28 points, even with bonus so if a game gets a 28 without bonus, no bonus can be awarded.)

Here’s teh review!
Graphics- This truly showcases what the super nintendo could do. It isn’t topped by any genesis game in its graphics, for sure, and if you think you can find something with better graphics on the Jaguar, and its 3d, you are joking. It takes excellent advantage of the mode 7 capabilities, and its actually FAKE 2D. Take that Jaguar, its FAKE 2D and it looks better than your REAL 3D. Proves that having 6 processors that somehow make 64 bits don’t really make a difference… Anyways, the graphics are crisp and clear, and perfect. Just perfect. No frame lapses, no anything of that sort. Its just amazing how pretty this game looks. Full 4 points.

Sound- For everything graphical in F-Zero, it is matched by a truly amazing musical thing. You’ve probably heard these before- Port Town Aero (or whatever they call it), Big Blue, Mute City… It goes on. And on. And on. AND ON! The soundtrack is extremely good. Since you can find this game cheap, its worth it just to get it for the music. It’s that good. It doesn’t get repetitive, there’s lots of variety, each song matches the feeling of the game.. To sum it up in one sentence.. The music in F-Zero represents the game as well as how well the super Nintendo did compared to its competitors; it starts out slow, but then turns magnificently EPIC! Full 6 points.

Am I being generous? No, this game is just awesome.

Gameplay- French Fries, and ketchup are to the Sound and graphics of f-zero. Adding a cheezburger and getting paid for eating the meal is the equivalent of adding Gameplay to your sound and graphics. This game is EPIC! You choose from 4 characters that are faster than SONIC and race around a race track floating on a planet that is in a strange galaxy at 500 MPH in your super high tech hovercar that levetates.. Yeah. Its a skill based racer. You move around with the D-Pad and use that one button to accelerate. You use that other button to use your boost. However, your boost is dangerous to use, unless you know when. Imagine boosting 100 mph from your previous 400-500 mph speed. Its really fast. You need to know where the straight paths are, so it requires WIT as well as SKILL- two things its hard to find in a racing video game such as mario kart wii these days. There are 6 or 7 tracks, each amazingly un repetetive and epic, and you have a health bar. Bumping into another car or an edge runs your health bar down. If you’ve played one of those more recent mario kart games, you know that bumping another car hurts you. In this game, it hurts both of you. It is SO fun to run into a car that is almost out of health just to see it explode! Boom. You can regain health by driving on yellow striped stretches of track, where a UFO flies over, sprays you with bugspray, and you get more health. Its an EPIC game that you really need to have. The difficulty is perfect, the tracks are unique.. There’s nothing that can be improved. Just epic. You need to have this game. 12 out of 12 points.

Replay- Sadly, once you have your ketchup, fries, and burger, you figure out they messed up your drink order. Oh well, you can get a drink when you get home from your dinner, but you still are disapointed. F-Zero isn’t multiplayer, which is its only flaw. This would’ve made replay easily full points, but there is not a multiplayer. Still, the single player game never gets old, and is extremely awesome, but I can visualize the multiplayer.. Split screen goodness… Ramming the other person when their health is low… Still, the one player mode is a very solid experience and will keep you entertained for at least a month, even though there are only four cars and seven tracks and a few modes- its the fact that the gameplay, graphics, and sound are so good, you keep coming back to it. 5 out of 6.

Bonus- I would give this three, but I can only give it one. The track design is amazing, the gamplay is amazing, the graphics are eye candy, the music is possibly nintendo’s best… This is one of the greatest games of all time. I give it the only bonus point I can give it for being so innovative with the genre of a 3d racing game, and this is sufficient proof that retro games are better than modern ones. If you play a round of this and a round of Mario Kart Wii, you’ll find out that they just don’t make them like they used to. I would give 3, but a game cannot get more than a 28/28.

Overall- A near perfect game. One of the finest games I ever played. If you own a Super Nintendo, or a FC Twin, or a Retro Duo or whatever you own- do yourself a favor. BUY THIS GAME! If this is a sign of what is to come for my venture into the retro duo, its going to be awesome. 28/28 = 10/10 = A+ = 100% = MUST BUY.

Now lemme go back and play some more.
Bugaham Games

First Impressions

I finally picked up OoT (Ocarina of Time to you n00bs.), yeah, I know, should’ve got it earlier. Here’s the first impressions for each category (its a strange system.) The parenthesis tell how many points each category is worth. See?

Graphics (2)- The graphics aren’t amazing so far, but they are still very good and there is no lapse in frame rate, so I will give it a 1.5

Sound (3)- The awesomeness that is Zelda always had good music, and OoT doesn’t disappoint me. Epically good tracks! 3, easily..

Gameplay (6)- This game is very very good. Once you get used to the controls, its amazing- however, its pretty hard to figure out what to do. I played it for an hour, and finally managed to get into the Duku Tree. Played it for another 30 minutes, and I got a slingshot. About 15 minutes after that, I couldn’t continue. I had got to this part where there was no where to go except one door, and the only exits were too high to reach. The giant spider killed me (yeah, I know I’m supposed to hit it when it turns around, but it wouldn’t.) and made me start the whole tree level again, which made me sad. However, still an amazing game. 5.5/6

Replay (4)- I can tell I will be playing this game multiple times. 4.

Presentation (1)- Yeah, I added this. This is just how a 3d Zelda should be. I’ve never played a 3d Zelda before this, and this is possibly my fav in the series. Transition was perfect. ALL 1 POINT.

Other (3)- The camera can be a bit messy at first, and that fairy is annoying. 2.5..

OVERALL IMPRESSION- 17.5/19! That means .921052632, aka .92, aka 9.2/10 for just the first impressions. Haven’t even gotten into the game yet.

AMAZING game, better than any wii game (yeah, including SSBB.) but I’m not sure if it is ready to take on the awesomeness of a few other favorites such as M&LSS or Pokemon Silver… Okay, it can.

Bugaham
(a full review will be coming.)

But wait! There’s more. I have a DREEEAMMMCCAASSSTTTT now. Yeah, but no games for it. :’(
Hoping to pick up CHUCHU ROCKET or SOULCALIBUR or CRAZY TAXI!! (and of course, rayman 2.)

First Impressions and reviews will come out when I actually get around to picking up a dreamcast game at my local game store… I dunno when that will happen. Definitely before the end of November (hopefully…)

Hope you liked this first impression!

Please. No.

Not a wii 2.
NO!!!
You can’t be serious. A Wii 2? Wow.. http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/29/possible-wii-2-specs-leaked-1080p-blu-ray-2010-oh-my/ I hope its faked- it was on ign too, so it must be getting pretty big- I hope its fake. I really do. I’m gonna rant a bit about gimmicks.

Let’s start by defining a gimmick- my definition compared to wiki’s. Mine: Anything that is used to trick consumers into buying a product that adds nothing to the product at all. Wiki’s:a quirky feature that distinguishes a product or service without adding any obvious function or value. Yeah, pretty much the same only mine was coolerer(er.). Wikipedia’s not coolerer(er) enough. Just joking..

Ok, so let’s define a few things that are gimmicks. Starting from the NES era, I’m gonna define a few gimmicks from the years, until I get to the modern gaming era. Then I’ll just do a few general gimmicks. So, here goes the nes! ROB The Robot is a gimmick. Seriously, a robot that gets to press a button for you, because there isn’t enough buttons? COOL! … Well, that sure added some sales to the NES very cleverly (it really did.) but… Why not just make the controller have more buttons, or allow player two to press buttons, or make an addon, or ANYTHING! Not a super slow battery draining robot. Seriously. The power glove was another gimmick, but we all know how that one worked out…

Now at the time of the Super Nintendo/Gen/Turbographx. Nintendo gets rid of the ROB (yay. also, there have been quite a few misunderstandings: READ CAREFULLYER. Rob is a great nostalgia thingy and a great character in nintendo games. He just is a stupid selling gimmick; just like Atari’s not a failure, but the thought of a Jaguar 2 is.) and feels the need for a rocket launcher- ok, sounds fine, we had a light gun, right? A rocket launcher’s better. WHY do you need to change something so simple in the first place? And they added one of my major hates; MOTION SENSING! *shudders.* So increase the weight, make it a rocket launcher, make it more complex without making the games it uses more complex, slightly more inconveineinceing the player??? Giiimmmiiickkk!! The gen and turbo don’t have that much gimmicks, while nintendo does. Seriously. WAY too much.

Nintendo 64!!! Yeah, we’ve what, tripled? Quadrupled? the bits, so shouldn’t we get rid of the gimmicks now? Introducing, the rumble pack. Yeah, a pak thingy that costs a bit of money- you plug it into your controlller, and when you DIE, an earthquake appears in your hand. Sweet, right? Now, you may be thinking the controller itself is a gimmick- kindof it is, I’ll get to that later, but the analog stick greatly improves the amount of directions you can move in games, making 3d platformers much better- so an analog stick is NOT a gimmick. HA! Ok, you have a rumble pack. Pay money, and the controller.. Shakes! YEAH!! Because instead of improving gameplay in a game, all you have to do is make your controller shake! Its 4 dimensionsal! (yeah, that’s seriously what the media thinks four dimensional is- feelings and emoitions.. So water, fire, etc are all 4d. Not really.) So why wouldn’t you want it? Well, put it this way: Why would you want it when you can buy a good game instead? Because it shakes…

Gamecube..!…! Ok, now here there’s tons of gimmicks; if generation 7 didn’t come along, this gen would be known as ‘gimmick generation.’ You’ve got too many gimmicks to count; Donkey Kong Bongos, DDR Mat, (in the case of the ps2) Guitar hero Guitar… Just alot of gimmicks as music games are now ‘fads.’ However, not all of these gimmicks are bad, really; the controls are much better with these than pressing buttons in a certain way; imagine moving the analogue stick on your fav controller back and forth and pressing A, B, Y, X/ Sqaure, Circle, Triangle… ETC instead of the guitar’s simpleness. I’ve tried that once; it can hurt your strummy thumb more than the guitar does. So in a way, these gimmicks aren’t that bad, like the SNES rocket launcher, which wasn’t that bad, just didn’t need to be over gimmicked.

GENERATION NOW Please… Do I have to explain this? Natal. ps3 wand. Wiimote. Wiimote plus. Wiifit. Guitar. DDR. Baseball bat. Glove. Zapper. Seriously, I could probably just fill a few more lines with these, but you get the point. WAY too many gimmicks! WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY can’t I just use my good ol’ gamecube controller? Or, I’d be perfectly fine by using my n64’s controller. But no, we have to get gimmicky…. NO!!!

Generation Wii 2 PLEASE NO! NO NO NNON NOONONONONON! If this is real and not a rumor, I’m going to destroy my wii with a sledgehammer (even though it has SSBB and all the VC stuff) mail the peices to nintendo, and tell them I’m never buying a new nintendo product again (I’ll just buy all the retro stuff.) That would totally make me mad. Too much gimmicks to handle! I thought that nintendo may possibly go back to a good ol’ normal controller. HOPEFULLY this is false. Hopefully. I really, really, want it to be false.. PLEASEEE be false. PLEAASEE. If this is true.. WEll, if this is true, I’ll lock myself in a closet with only a N64 and a flashlight and a TV and some cords and power supply and cheezits. For 20 hours. And then I’ll play some games.

So, Please nintendo… PLEASSEEE tell me this is just a rumor.
Bug

The Next Generation Of Gaming: BUG’S PREDICTIONS

Ok, here’s my predictions: Before I start, though, I apologize for my lack of posting. Now, onwards!

Sony
Sony will NOT come out with a playstation 4. It may still be playstation, but not have the 4. Possibly playstation ADVANCED or superplaystation, or perhaps not playstation at all. Motion controllers will be standard. The system will pack in around 212 bits of processing power. It will have extremely realistic graphics, and cause sony to get back in their previous winning streak with the first 2 playstations. The price will be around 400$ for the cheapest model.

Microsoft
Microsoft WILL keep using the name XBOX. Possibly some strange acronym AFTER Xbox, or something like Xbox Xtreme. However, it WILL NOT be Xbox 360 2 or Xbox 720. Yeah. Motion controllers will be standard, only a slight bit more unique then sony’s. The system will pack around 180 bits of processing power. The graphics won’t be much better than the ps3’s graphics are. Microsoft will lose, and possibly get out of the gaming competition and play a SEGA. It will be out around the same time as the next sony system, 2011, possibly? The price will be around 400$.

Nintendo
Nintendo WILL NOT use motion controllers. Think of it this way: Casual gamers have one system, why get one that’s similar? It will be completely different, but STILL a stupid gimmick (hmm, perhaps virtual boy to the NEXT LEVEL of fail?). Of course, it will fail highly, because of its release date being a year or two AFTER the new sony and microsoft. Casual gamers will buy it and buy it, though, but nintendo is too late to get ahead. They don’t lose too badly, though. It will have a price tag of around 450 but quickly drop to around a 350$ price. Its coming will be signified by a 20$ gamecube price drop. It will not have virtual console; this may seem unfair that I’m really elaborating on Nintendo, but it’ll all make sense. Why no VC? With a gimmicky controller that’s not motion controlled, how can wii backwards compatability exist, let alone gamecube. That means no gamecube controller ports, and your only controller is a huge gimmick- that stinks at almost everything except making you look like an idiot wearing a tutu and jumping off the empire state building- only to land on a matress to survive barely, and then you get hit by a football thrown by two random people, and on your jump back up, you get knocked off the course of the matress- and land in a giant hole filled with wet cement. So, its like wearing a power glove- on your third arm that’s coming out of your back. And the power glove is purple. With green polka dots. So anyways, try imagining- you have, say, microsoft’s natal. Would that be good for pulling off your SSBM moves? Nope. Fail.

Sega-
Yes, sega. Sega may make a comeback- though its like trying to pull a lemon seed out of a giant pit filled with spears and spikes, only using that power glove on your third arm to retrieve it- oh yeah, those dorks are throwing their football, you’re wearing that tutu, and your legs are paralyzed- but, what sega does, is make the pit just 1 inch. Yeah- sega would just create an awesome game that’s five levels, and it would still be awesome. They’ve lost that tradition recently, though, and the casual market rising would make them motion control idiots. Possibly, revival of the dreamcast since it has better graphics then the wii, so it still could compete..

Atari-
Fail.

Philips-
Fail.

Magnavox-
Odysey 3- the GIGANTIC BALLERINA system for those football dorks- yeah.

So, I hope you like my theorys.

Bug
A
Ham
GAMES

Is the DS dying?

Is it? I’m gonna try my hand at poetry here..

Is the DS dying?
no wave of good games
no excitement of innovation
no youth left in the aging system
Price rises instead of price cuts
Excuses aren’t excuses; unless you know the DSi
They can cram a nintendo 64 into something twice as big as a GBA sp
(but they forgot a little thing called an analog stick.)
In (whenever) the super nintendo came. It was somewhat big. And they fit it into something smaller than your hand, the GBA sp.
Couldn’t they fit something with the graphics power of… Say, a 360? Couldn’t they put THAT in a little box with an analog stick?
Its aging. No youth lies in it. Its 5 years old, the average lifespan of a system. Is america ready for the DS to die?
Yeah. We just want a portable system that plays n64 nes snes and gcn (ok, thats not gonna happen but it would be awesome)
Sony’s on nintendo’s tail- soon the psp will creep above the DS
The big N has one shot of getting this right- or dyeing like sega. Their choice.

Didja like my poem?
Bug

POKEMON

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven’t posted in such a long time, but anyways..

Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver are out. Truthfully, I like the originals better from what I’ve seen (haven’t played the game yet). The music is just not up to par, and they added hardly anything new that I really care about (it would’ve been very nice to see battles in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and of course another battle with red.)

I gotta say something about HGSS that really makes me mad- the final boss is messed up. The only pokemon game with a suitable final boss and they just messed it up. HAILING DURING THE FINAL BOSS??????!?!?!? Its supposed to be in a CAVE. Doh! Hail just makes the battle so much more luck based and easier to beat. The good thing about red is when you are playing Silver or Gold, and all the sudden you find a mysterious cave, wander for an hour, find the back, and find a trainer. But didn’t you already beat Blue and win the game? (yeah, thats another thing wrong with this game, they don’t get their names right. ITS BLUE, not GREEN.) Yeah, but you still gotta beat the trainer you were in the last game- oh wait, you are battling yourself? How nice. How you wished you didn’t level up your snorlax so much- anyways, you find that its level 80s. OUCH. The hardest fight in any game if you aren’t prepared (my team of level 50s barely managed to beat him ((YUS!!)) but when I clone my trusty level 100 espeon, its a peice of cake.) and the only thing they could do? Add something else if you beat him where you can play him again and he has all level 100s, or even better, some weird storyline thing where he gets super strong pokemon. I don’t care, either would be nice. Another thing they messed up was the music- its a close fight between Silver and Superstar Saga for my favorite video game music, and it makes me sad when they remix perfectly awesome music- and they didn’t JUST remix, they remixed it so it barely keeps the same TUNE. Fail. And the graphics… Silver just won’t be the same without them. I don’t think they need to remake this game. I’ll just fork out the 100some (130 bucks isnt too bad for this awesome game) bucks it is on amazon to get a brand new one when my eternal battery fails. I don’t care. Also, the little tiny GImmick thingys; I DO NOT CARE! Why should I care if my little trusted Espeon follows me around? What I would really like is a few more people he can cream.

That’s all I really have to say for now
Bug