Protocol Snow

I leave all my consoles at home so whenever I go back to Los Angeles for Christmas break, there’s typically the “big game” of the year that I can’t wait to play. For 2007, it was Halo 3 and Mass Effect. 2006: Gears of War. And so on. For 2008, I was expecting it to be Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, and Gears of War 2. However, lately I have become so weary of investing time into single player campaigns (and gaming in general) that I ended up playing none of these. Instead, Geometry Wars 2 and Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix were my games of choice this holiday when I did sit in front of the TV, both supremely excellent titles on Xbox Live Arcade.

But I’m here to talk about my first experiences with the PS3. When the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundles were first announced almost a year ago, I was excited about the PS3 finally having an appealing bundle/deal. However, I wound up talking myself out of buying the system. It wasn’t until Amazon restocked the limited edition Gunmetal MGS4 system for $200 off the original price that I was convinced and bought the PS3 in November.

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Wow. With the buyout of 1up.com and many Ziff Davis properties by Hearst, scores of Ziff employees have been suddenly laid off. A very harsh reminder of what a volatile and shaky industry videogame journalism is. I wish the best to all their staff. I’ve personally met only a couple of their writers years back when I was writing for GamerFeed/GameDaily, but I’ve long enjoyed the articles and podcasts by the group. They have a talented ensemble over there. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the staff banded together and created a GiantBomb.com-like resurrection.

Coincidentally, I was giving a classmate a ride home literally this afternoon when he asked me completely out of the blue whether I still worked for “that videogame company”. I could only wistfully reply, “Nah, that was in a former life.” Writing about videogames was never a serious career I had considered for a second and I did it only for my own entertainment, but nonetheless I still spent many hours dedicated to the company and got to enjoy many very cool experiences as a reward. It had provided many unforgettable memories. I’m sure the 1up.com staff are now feeling the same way looking back.

Special New Year’s Eve delivery from the mailman! I’m a huge fan of the DJ Max Portable series on PSP, made by a Korean company called Pentavision. It’s a rhythm game series similar to Beatmania and has great soundtracks and slick presentation. I own the Limited Edition prints of DJ Max Portable 1 and 2, both limited to 1,000 copies each. With the newest installment in the series (titled Black Square), Pentavision outdid themselves again and produced a stellar Quattra Limited Edition. This set is again limited to a scarce 1k run. Being the fanatic that I am, I made sure to reserve one the moment Play-Asia started accepting pre-orders.

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My brother printed this awesome Star Wars: Force Unleashed poster for me recently. I might frame it at some point, but it has some awkward dimensions so I’ll have to order a custom made frame that would probably be more trouble than it’s worth. In the meantime, I taped it onto the wall.

If you’re wondering about the eyesore behind my chair, no, I didn’t make a giant hole in the wall. Not yet anyway. The covering is there as a preventive measure for chair damage since I like to lean back and don’t want to pay damage fees when I move out of this apartment.

I’m not much of a decorative person so all the walls in my apartment are pretty much plain white, but in the past couple months I’ve put up posters of Casino Royale (James Bond), Hitman, The Dark Knight, and Lost in Translation to make it a bit more interesting. I also have these Penny Arcade comic prints still sitting in my closet that I have yet to find frames for.

A big happy birthday to the Sega Dreamcast, which launched on September 9th, 1999 and is 9 years old today. It is to this day still my favorite console, and I’m still buying Dreamcast games every now and then to add to my collection. Cheers to the good times, and I can’t wait till Christmas break when I can go home and play Napple Tale. I actually don’t know anything about this game except that the soundtrack is phenomenal. Good enough for me.

Image from a NeoGAF thread.

Retronauts, one of the 1up.com podcasts, did an episode last week dedicated to the Dreamcast. You’ll have to skip about 40 minutes into the show before the discussion starts, but Tycho from Penny-Arcade and the Player One Podcast crew were featured guests.

Samba de Amigo is one of my favorite games and, like I’ve written countless times, is one of many examples of the creativity that blossomed during Sega Dreamcast’s brief run. It is an unusual music rhythm game featuring weighted maracas that you shake in time with festive music. A re-make of the game will be coming out for the Nintendo Wii, which at first made me groan because the game is nothing without maracas. However, it has been confirmed that maraca attachments will indeed be released.

Having actual maracas is crucial to the Samba de Amigo experience, and these two videos will show you why.

First, check out this enthusiastic kid showing the right way to play the game (this is the arcade version). This video alone never fails to make me laugh.

Second, watch videogame journalists at a Nintendo media event last year play the upcoming Wii version. See what a big difference the maracas make? (On a side note, the contrast between the two videos is simply hilarious. If you don’t laugh at both videos, then I’m sorry, we don’t have similar taste. These two videos should be my litmus test to judge compatibility.)

I am now feeling bullish on Samba de Amigo Wii. The wireless controllers will certainly eliminate the one problem I had with Samba de Amigo Dreamcast edition: cumbersome wires that detracted ever so slightly from the experience.