Hello! This is R2D2!
I have recently gotten the DS remake of Final Fantasy 4, (So I can now REALLY call myself an RPG junkie, for getting my first Final Fantasy game) and it is so far REALLY GOOD. I haven't completed it yet, but I will be sure to write a review about it in the near future. I will right now tell you in general what are my thoughts of the game:
Story: Good, pretty original
Graphics: Excellent, given that it's on a Nintendo DS.
Gameplay: Good, Easy controls, may be a bit complicated to play for Final Fantasy
n00bs. (Like myself)
Music: Good music, one of the only games that my brother barely ever complains about the music in.
Full review coming soon!
-R2D2
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
DS vs. PSP
Sure, it's been done a million and one times, but you can never pit the two handheld gaming systems against each other enough. Here's my point of view on the two. Please keep in mind this review is opinion, and you have the right to disagree with it.
___________________________________________________________
Screen
DS: The Nintendo DS sports two screens, a touch screen and normal screen. The touch screen opens up huge possibilites for game makers, allowing them to make more original games. The touch screen also adds to the fun. On the original DS "Brick", the brightness isn't too bright, but it gets the job done. The DS Lite's screen, however, is very bright and even gives you different settings to either maximize battery life or view the screen better.
PSP: The Sony PSP has a beautiful widescreen screen that puts all other handheld screens to shame. The screen is perfect for no matter what you're viewing, whether it be games, pictures, or movies. The major downfall of the PSP's screen is battery life. The PSP gives you three settings for brightness. I usually keep my PSP on the lowest setting for maximum battery life, but even then, my battery only lasts 6-8 hours. I'd hate to see how short the battery lasts on the middle or brightest setting.
Winner: Tie. The PSP's screen is wonderful, but I can never utilize it to the fullest with it's battery eating brightness. The DS's two screens are also far more useful. Because of this, it's a tie.
Battery Life
DS: The DS's battery life lasts a very long time, usually more than 12 hours, even up to 18! Really, that's all I need to say.
PSP: Ugh. 4-8 hours is not good enough Sony. I may not play a game for more than two hours usually, but I don't want to have to recharge my PSP after two or three uses.
Winner: DS. Clearly the Nintendo DS wins this round. Even with the impressive specs of the PSP, I'm sure it wouldn't have been that hard for Sony to improve battery life.
Controls
DS: The DS's control scheme is simple, yet effective. You have a D-Pad for movement, A/B/X/Y buttons, L and R triggers, and Start/Select. Most games also utililize the touch screen for various uses. The buttons are all crisp and responsive. The DS may lack an analog stick, but the d-pad actually works fine for most games.
PSP: The PSP also has a D-Pad, but most games use the analog stick (or pad thingy, whatever you want to call it) for control. I suppose the analog stick is better than nothing, but it is slippery and difficult to use. The PSP also sports four buttons with shapes, cross, circle, triangle, and square. Near the bottom, there is a huge cluster of buttons, which I find to be rather annoying. It just seems like Sony thought "Oh, we need someway to configure these options... why don't we just throw all the buttons near the bottom?". It looks messy and just thrown together at the last second.
Winner: DS. The PSP's buttons are sometimes unresponsive and difficult to push. Unlike the DS, the buttons feel squishy instead of crisp. The whole control scheme feels sloppy and thrown together quickly.
Load Times
I don't even need to do a comparison for this. DS is fast, PSP is slow. On some PSP games you spend more time waiting than playing.
Winner: DS, duh.
Portability
DS: The DS "Brick" isn't the smallest thing out there, but it will fit into most pockets. The DS Lite, however, is quite a bit smaller and really improves on the original design. The DS Brick is very durable, I should know, I've dropped mine quite a few times. The DS Lite is also durable, albeit not as much as the Brick.
PSP: The PSP is friggin' huge. When compared to other handhelds, it's like hauling around a desktop computer instead of a laptop. Sure, they made it a bit smaller when they released the PSP Slim, but 15% smaller or whatever doesn't make me wanna spend another 200 and something dollars to buy it. Also, drop your PSP from more than a couple feet up and you can kiss goodbye to it.
Winner: DS, yet again. The DS isn't exactly the definition of portable, but it sure kicks the PSP's butt in this round.
Graphics
DS: The DS's 68-bit graphics are a large improvement over the 32-bit GBA graphics. It's pretty easy to see that the graphics are better than the Nintendo 64's graphics (4 bits better to be exact), which is impressive for a handheld.
PSP: The PSP's graphics are very similar to the PS2. I don't really need to say much more than the graphics are the most impressive graphics on a handheld to date.
Winner: PSP. The DS's decent graphics are outshined by the PSP's console worthy graphics. The PSP finally wins a round!
Game Choice
DS: The DS has almost any kind of game you can imagine, from platformer to RPG to puzzle. Although it has such a large collection, it doesn't really specialize in any kind of game, so if you only like one type of game, you may only be able to find a few games of that type.
PSP: The PSP's variety is seriously lacking in choice, but what it does have, it has a lot of! If you like racing, shooting, and sports, you're in luck, the PSP is for you.
Winner: DS. It all really comes done to choice, and it turns out the DS has more games that I like than the PSP, and therefore is the winner.
Media
DS: The DS does games, that's it. Media can be expanded by third party add-ons, but nothing much actually comes with the DS in terms of media.
PSP: The PSP does so much more than games. Music, Videos, Pictures, Internet, and Games. PSPs are almost like mini-laptops, storing and viewing practically anything you want. Sure, you have to buy a decent memory card to store anything large, but it's worth it to be able to take movies and other media with you on the go. The PSP is also getting more media features with firmware updates coming out all the time.
Winner: PSP. The PSP has a huge amount of media options and beats out the DS by a long shot this round.
Conclusion
Tie: 1
DS: 5
PSP: 2
The DS wins by a long shot! The PSP isn't bad, and does what it does really well (media and graphics), but the DS does well in so many other areas. Some people may rate the PSP higher than the DS solely for the graphics and media, but I believe that you need more than just that for a good handheld. I find myself playing my DS far my often than my PSP.
~Burnt Waffle
Whaddya think? Good, bad? Discuss in the comments, if you wish.
___________________________________________________________
Screen
DS: The Nintendo DS sports two screens, a touch screen and normal screen. The touch screen opens up huge possibilites for game makers, allowing them to make more original games. The touch screen also adds to the fun. On the original DS "Brick", the brightness isn't too bright, but it gets the job done. The DS Lite's screen, however, is very bright and even gives you different settings to either maximize battery life or view the screen better.
PSP: The Sony PSP has a beautiful widescreen screen that puts all other handheld screens to shame. The screen is perfect for no matter what you're viewing, whether it be games, pictures, or movies. The major downfall of the PSP's screen is battery life. The PSP gives you three settings for brightness. I usually keep my PSP on the lowest setting for maximum battery life, but even then, my battery only lasts 6-8 hours. I'd hate to see how short the battery lasts on the middle or brightest setting.
Winner: Tie. The PSP's screen is wonderful, but I can never utilize it to the fullest with it's battery eating brightness. The DS's two screens are also far more useful. Because of this, it's a tie.
Battery Life
DS: The DS's battery life lasts a very long time, usually more than 12 hours, even up to 18! Really, that's all I need to say.
PSP: Ugh. 4-8 hours is not good enough Sony. I may not play a game for more than two hours usually, but I don't want to have to recharge my PSP after two or three uses.
Winner: DS. Clearly the Nintendo DS wins this round. Even with the impressive specs of the PSP, I'm sure it wouldn't have been that hard for Sony to improve battery life.
Controls
DS: The DS's control scheme is simple, yet effective. You have a D-Pad for movement, A/B/X/Y buttons, L and R triggers, and Start/Select. Most games also utililize the touch screen for various uses. The buttons are all crisp and responsive. The DS may lack an analog stick, but the d-pad actually works fine for most games.
PSP: The PSP also has a D-Pad, but most games use the analog stick (or pad thingy, whatever you want to call it) for control. I suppose the analog stick is better than nothing, but it is slippery and difficult to use. The PSP also sports four buttons with shapes, cross, circle, triangle, and square. Near the bottom, there is a huge cluster of buttons, which I find to be rather annoying. It just seems like Sony thought "Oh, we need someway to configure these options... why don't we just throw all the buttons near the bottom?". It looks messy and just thrown together at the last second.
Winner: DS. The PSP's buttons are sometimes unresponsive and difficult to push. Unlike the DS, the buttons feel squishy instead of crisp. The whole control scheme feels sloppy and thrown together quickly.
Load Times
I don't even need to do a comparison for this. DS is fast, PSP is slow. On some PSP games you spend more time waiting than playing.
Winner: DS, duh.
Portability
DS: The DS "Brick" isn't the smallest thing out there, but it will fit into most pockets. The DS Lite, however, is quite a bit smaller and really improves on the original design. The DS Brick is very durable, I should know, I've dropped mine quite a few times. The DS Lite is also durable, albeit not as much as the Brick.
PSP: The PSP is friggin' huge. When compared to other handhelds, it's like hauling around a desktop computer instead of a laptop. Sure, they made it a bit smaller when they released the PSP Slim, but 15% smaller or whatever doesn't make me wanna spend another 200 and something dollars to buy it. Also, drop your PSP from more than a couple feet up and you can kiss goodbye to it.
Winner: DS, yet again. The DS isn't exactly the definition of portable, but it sure kicks the PSP's butt in this round.
Graphics
DS: The DS's 68-bit graphics are a large improvement over the 32-bit GBA graphics. It's pretty easy to see that the graphics are better than the Nintendo 64's graphics (4 bits better to be exact), which is impressive for a handheld.
PSP: The PSP's graphics are very similar to the PS2. I don't really need to say much more than the graphics are the most impressive graphics on a handheld to date.
Winner: PSP. The DS's decent graphics are outshined by the PSP's console worthy graphics. The PSP finally wins a round!
Game Choice
DS: The DS has almost any kind of game you can imagine, from platformer to RPG to puzzle. Although it has such a large collection, it doesn't really specialize in any kind of game, so if you only like one type of game, you may only be able to find a few games of that type.
PSP: The PSP's variety is seriously lacking in choice, but what it does have, it has a lot of! If you like racing, shooting, and sports, you're in luck, the PSP is for you.
Winner: DS. It all really comes done to choice, and it turns out the DS has more games that I like than the PSP, and therefore is the winner.
Media
DS: The DS does games, that's it. Media can be expanded by third party add-ons, but nothing much actually comes with the DS in terms of media.
PSP: The PSP does so much more than games. Music, Videos, Pictures, Internet, and Games. PSPs are almost like mini-laptops, storing and viewing practically anything you want. Sure, you have to buy a decent memory card to store anything large, but it's worth it to be able to take movies and other media with you on the go. The PSP is also getting more media features with firmware updates coming out all the time.
Winner: PSP. The PSP has a huge amount of media options and beats out the DS by a long shot this round.
Conclusion
Tie: 1
DS: 5
PSP: 2
The DS wins by a long shot! The PSP isn't bad, and does what it does really well (media and graphics), but the DS does well in so many other areas. Some people may rate the PSP higher than the DS solely for the graphics and media, but I believe that you need more than just that for a good handheld. I find myself playing my DS far my often than my PSP.
~Burnt Waffle
Whaddya think? Good, bad? Discuss in the comments, if you wish.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Super Mario Kart-Retro Game Review
Hi there, I'm Burnt Waffle Productions. What do you think? Good? Bad? Discuss it in the comments.
~Burnt Waffle Productions
~Burnt Waffle Productions
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Our Newest Member...... Burnt Waffle Productions!!
Mario Blog is pleased to announce that we have a new blogger on our team, Burnt Waffle Productions! BWP is the creator of the Bob the Blob series, and neighbor of mine. So, lets all give him a warm hand!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Blob 3 Review
Hey guys!
Sorry about the recent period of inactivity, but I've been busy with uther things (*cough*Algebra 1*cough*). Anyways, this is a review on a game no, not by Nintendo, but by Burnt Waffle Productions, a local game devoloper, creator of the Bob the Blob series. I have a review on his latest game, Blob 3.
Story: Bob was out exploring one day, and got dragged into a cave by two giant Ovils. Bob's mother got worried, formed a search party, and basically goes the 4 worlds/30 levels and tries to find Bob. Nice storyline, pretty original.
STORY: 9/10
Gameplay: Simple gameplay. Arrow keys. That's about it. There's also space for invincibility for Blobetta, but that's only her. There's a nice replay value, because there's three charecters, each with their own abilities. Flame is super fast, Blobetta can turn invisible and invincible, and Blobia can take two hits.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
Graphics: The graphics were apparently made in Paint.NET and Game Maker's painting utility. Looks good for something that came from that. Of course, nothing earth shattering, but good for his third game.
GRAPHICS: 7.5/10
Music: All original music, made in Anvil Studio. Catchy, nothing groundbreaking.
MUSIC: 9/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.265/10 - Impressive
What do you think? Good? Bad? Discuss it in the comments.
P.S. Burnt Waffle Productions site is burntwaffle.net
P.S.S. Burnt Waffle Productions recycles! He told me to say that!
Sorry about the recent period of inactivity, but I've been busy with uther things (*cough*Algebra 1*cough*). Anyways, this is a review on a game no, not by Nintendo, but by Burnt Waffle Productions, a local game devoloper, creator of the Bob the Blob series. I have a review on his latest game, Blob 3.
Story: Bob was out exploring one day, and got dragged into a cave by two giant Ovils. Bob's mother got worried, formed a search party, and basically goes the 4 worlds/30 levels and tries to find Bob. Nice storyline, pretty original.
STORY: 9/10
Gameplay: Simple gameplay. Arrow keys. That's about it. There's also space for invincibility for Blobetta, but that's only her. There's a nice replay value, because there's three charecters, each with their own abilities. Flame is super fast, Blobetta can turn invisible and invincible, and Blobia can take two hits.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
Graphics: The graphics were apparently made in Paint.NET and Game Maker's painting utility. Looks good for something that came from that. Of course, nothing earth shattering, but good for his third game.
GRAPHICS: 7.5/10
Music: All original music, made in Anvil Studio. Catchy, nothing groundbreaking.
MUSIC: 9/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.265/10 - Impressive
What do you think? Good? Bad? Discuss it in the comments.
P.S. Burnt Waffle Productions site is burntwaffle.net
P.S.S. Burnt Waffle Productions recycles! He told me to say that!
My Weekly Video Game controversy rant: Jack Thompson
As I said a week ago, I would do this weeks rant about a man who's battle cry is
OBJECTION!
When it comes to annoyinng, he's more annoying than Mr. Game & Watch in SSBB.
When it comes to evil, he's Ganondorf.
His name is Jack Thompson.
*Ahem*
Sorry about that. I really had to get that out. Now to the serious part of the post.
Jack Thompson, as everyone who reads my blog should know by now, is an attorney who is constantly pestering and attempting to sue the video game industry. The following is a list of games which he has forged a personal vendetta against:
*Please wait while I get the long list*
Okay. Here goes:
Bully (Rockstar Games)
Grand Theft Auto series (Rockstar Games)
Killer 7 (Capcom)
The Sims 2 (EA) *Lol*
25 to life (Avalanche software (Stil in development))
Manhunt (Rockstar Games)
The Warriors *Movie Based* (Rockstar Games)
My take on Bully:
Bully is a game where you take on the role of a troublesome schoolboy and stand up to bullies and mean teachers, and play various pranks. Jack Thompson... OBJECTS!!
He says that it will be used by school children to rehearse varying degrees of violence. Oh, yeah, he also sent something of a threat to Bill Gates regarding it,
saying that Bill had 54 days to stop the release of Bully, and also told himself to "Govern himself accordingly"
Anyway, how is Bully going to be used to rehearse varying degrees of violence?
From what I've read, it isn't violent. In fact, if we are going to extremes, then I could say that it teaches kids to stand up to bullies. Of course, the kids ARE going to be violent if they have BAD PARENTING!!!
My Take on the GTA series:
(See my "Video Game Violence" rant)
My take on Killer 7:
In Killer 7, the player takes on the role of an assassin who is required to eliminate some warlord who has unleashed evil zombies upon the world.
The Game is rated M.
Jack Thompson... OBJECTS
Jack Thompson says that he has "evidence" that the game should be rated AO (Adult-only) He blamed the ESRB for conspiring with the video game companies in an agenda to distribute sexual content to minors through video gaming.
I am NOT kidding!
Also, the evidence that the game should be rated AO is a review of the game saying that it had sexual themes and violence. The reviewer also said that "this time, the M rating means something".
IF THE M RATING MEANS SOMETHING, THEN WHY SHOULD IT BE RATED AO???????????
Jeez, how stupid are these people?
My take on The Sims 2:
(See my Sims 2 rant)
My take on 25 to life:
25 to life is a gang violence game where you can play as an evil gang leader or the cops trying to arrest him. Jack Thompson says that it can be used as a cop killing simulator. As I have said before 100% of shooting games are no way realistic enough to be used as simulators, and how will it corrupt people if you can play as gangs OR cops?
My take on Manhunt:
Similar to what I said for 25 to life. This game was blamed for the murder of some real life policemen.
My take on The Warriors:
Jack Thompson says that the level of violence could be.... Offensive to some people?
HOW WILL VIOLENCE ALONE BE OFFENSIVE?
Oh yeah, did I mention that my 13 - year old brother (According to JT, too young to be playing these games) bought this game, and from what both of us saw, nothing was excessively violent or offensive.
Conclusion:
VIDEO GAMES: INNOCENT
JACK THOMPSON: WHAT THE HELL??
OBJECTION!
When it comes to annoyinng, he's more annoying than Mr. Game & Watch in SSBB.
When it comes to evil, he's Ganondorf.
His name is Jack Thompson.
*Ahem*
Sorry about that. I really had to get that out. Now to the serious part of the post.
Jack Thompson, as everyone who reads my blog should know by now, is an attorney who is constantly pestering and attempting to sue the video game industry. The following is a list of games which he has forged a personal vendetta against:
*Please wait while I get the long list*
Okay. Here goes:
Bully (Rockstar Games)
Grand Theft Auto series (Rockstar Games)
Killer 7 (Capcom)
The Sims 2 (EA) *Lol*
25 to life (Avalanche software (Stil in development))
Manhunt (Rockstar Games)
The Warriors *Movie Based* (Rockstar Games)
My take on Bully:
Bully is a game where you take on the role of a troublesome schoolboy and stand up to bullies and mean teachers, and play various pranks. Jack Thompson... OBJECTS!!
He says that it will be used by school children to rehearse varying degrees of violence. Oh, yeah, he also sent something of a threat to Bill Gates regarding it,
saying that Bill had 54 days to stop the release of Bully, and also told himself to "Govern himself accordingly"
Anyway, how is Bully going to be used to rehearse varying degrees of violence?
From what I've read, it isn't violent. In fact, if we are going to extremes, then I could say that it teaches kids to stand up to bullies. Of course, the kids ARE going to be violent if they have BAD PARENTING!!!
My Take on the GTA series:
(See my "Video Game Violence" rant)
My take on Killer 7:
In Killer 7, the player takes on the role of an assassin who is required to eliminate some warlord who has unleashed evil zombies upon the world.
The Game is rated M.
Jack Thompson... OBJECTS
Jack Thompson says that he has "evidence" that the game should be rated AO (Adult-only) He blamed the ESRB for conspiring with the video game companies in an agenda to distribute sexual content to minors through video gaming.
I am NOT kidding!
Also, the evidence that the game should be rated AO is a review of the game saying that it had sexual themes and violence. The reviewer also said that "this time, the M rating means something".
IF THE M RATING MEANS SOMETHING, THEN WHY SHOULD IT BE RATED AO???????????
Jeez, how stupid are these people?
My take on The Sims 2:
(See my Sims 2 rant)
My take on 25 to life:
25 to life is a gang violence game where you can play as an evil gang leader or the cops trying to arrest him. Jack Thompson says that it can be used as a cop killing simulator. As I have said before 100% of shooting games are no way realistic enough to be used as simulators, and how will it corrupt people if you can play as gangs OR cops?
My take on Manhunt:
Similar to what I said for 25 to life. This game was blamed for the murder of some real life policemen.
My take on The Warriors:
Jack Thompson says that the level of violence could be.... Offensive to some people?
HOW WILL VIOLENCE ALONE BE OFFENSIVE?
Oh yeah, did I mention that my 13 - year old brother (According to JT, too young to be playing these games) bought this game, and from what both of us saw, nothing was excessively violent or offensive.
Conclusion:
VIDEO GAMES: INNOCENT
JACK THOMPSON: WHAT THE HELL??
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
RPG maker VX
Hello!
Today I am going to talk to you about an awesome PC game which I have recently downloaded the free trial of.
ARR-PEE-GEE-MAKER - VEE EX!!!!
*RPG maker VX*
RPG Maker VX is a PC program made by Enterbrain that, well, allows you to create your very own RPGs!!
(Yes, I am an RPG junkie)
So far the game is awesome, and I will likely buy the full version of it. I'll also be sure to write a review about it.
This... Eccentric Youtube PR video is how I discovered the game
I know... He's... Loud, isn't he?
Today I am going to talk to you about an awesome PC game which I have recently downloaded the free trial of.
ARR-PEE-GEE-MAKER - VEE EX!!!!
*RPG maker VX*
RPG Maker VX is a PC program made by Enterbrain that, well, allows you to create your very own RPGs!!
(Yes, I am an RPG junkie)
So far the game is awesome, and I will likely buy the full version of it. I'll also be sure to write a review about it.
This... Eccentric Youtube PR video is how I discovered the game
I know... He's... Loud, isn't he?
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