Shameless Birthday Plug
So, this past Thursday was my birthday, and I decided to treat myself with an ill-advised trip to Electronics Boutique (which I think officially changed its name to EBGames at some point, but will soon become GameStop) that ended up costing me almost $200 of money that I don't have. I was there to pick up two preorders, make two more preorders, and browse the used Playstation games section, looking for a classic RPG gem like I always do (incidentally, due to the merger, EB will soon stop selling used PC games, since GameStop doesn't deal in them-- they've already stopped accepting used PC trade-ins). The games that I picked up were two that I'm really looking forward to playing: Fire Emblem for GCN and Shadow of the Colossus (formerly Wanda and the Colossus) for PS2. The former is the latest in the Fire Emblem series, a long-standing series of turn-based strategy RPGs that have been phenomenally popular in Japan since the days of the Famicom (the Japanese version of the Nintendo), but have only recently become popular here with a pair of GBA releases. I have yet to play either of said GBA releases, but I own both, and suspect that I'll play through all three games in a row at some point. I know that I'll enjoy them, since I've played emulated versions of previous Japanese Fire Emblem games.
The second game that I bought has me even more excited, however. I've been following Shadow of the Colossus for some time, and am eager to play it now that it's finally out. It's the latest effort from the team behind the critically acclaimed but financially unspectacular ICO, and is apparently quite similar aesthetically, although a bit of a departure in gameplay. You play a fellow looking to resurrect a dead woman (presumably a love interest), and, towards that end, pursuing a morally ambiguous quest to kill roughly a dozen+ towering behemoths who generally just wish that you'd leave them alone. Essentially, the game is a series of visually spectacular boss battles, and as such isn't particularly long (which is music to my ears these days). It hasn't been getting quite the same universal critical love that ICO did, but it's not far off, and I'm sure that I'll enjoy it.
While checking out the used PS games, I happened to notice that there were several copies of Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii (known here as We <3 Katamari), a game that I've been resisting the purchase of for some time, since I can't really afford it and it doesn't really offer much improvement over the first game, which was delightfully fun and off-the-wall. However, it was my birthday, and I'm a weak, weak man, so I bought it as well. How else is that sumo wrestler going to put on enough weight for his title match if I don't roll him over lots of tasty food? Besides, if I wan't more fun and innovative games like it, then I should be willing to invest money in it so that developers can feel more confortable taking a chance on similarly zany projects in the future. I suspect that it'll be a while before I get around to playing it, but hopefully by then it'll all feel fresh again. And I can't wait to listen to all of the fun new J-Pop on the soundtrack.
The two games that I preordered were Mario and Luigi 2 for DS and Suikoden Tactics for PS2. Like Fire Emblem, both of these are sequels to games that I own but have yet to play, and again like Fire Emblem, I'll probably play them in sequence when I do finally get around to it. I've heard only good things about the Mario and Luigi games, zany RPGs with a sense of humour similar to the Paper Mario games. As for Suikoden Tactics, it's a turn-based strategy direct sequel to Suikoden 4, which I have yet to play and have heard bad things about, but apparenly die-hard Suikoden fans still liked it, and I count myself among that group. Since I've always liked the army battles of the Suikoden games more than the more traditional RPG battles, a Suikoden turn-based strategy game has me quite excited.
Anywho, as the subject of this post might be seen to imply, I've had a pretty uneventful week, and for once I'm not really pissed off about anything (well, aside from the NASCAR race I just finished watching, but none of the readers that I'm aware of will care about that), so I think I'll leave things there. See everyone in another four days (that's the gap I've been consistantly aiming for recently, and I've been somewhat successful thus far).
The second game that I bought has me even more excited, however. I've been following Shadow of the Colossus for some time, and am eager to play it now that it's finally out. It's the latest effort from the team behind the critically acclaimed but financially unspectacular ICO, and is apparently quite similar aesthetically, although a bit of a departure in gameplay. You play a fellow looking to resurrect a dead woman (presumably a love interest), and, towards that end, pursuing a morally ambiguous quest to kill roughly a dozen+ towering behemoths who generally just wish that you'd leave them alone. Essentially, the game is a series of visually spectacular boss battles, and as such isn't particularly long (which is music to my ears these days). It hasn't been getting quite the same universal critical love that ICO did, but it's not far off, and I'm sure that I'll enjoy it.
While checking out the used PS games, I happened to notice that there were several copies of Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii (known here as We <3 Katamari), a game that I've been resisting the purchase of for some time, since I can't really afford it and it doesn't really offer much improvement over the first game, which was delightfully fun and off-the-wall. However, it was my birthday, and I'm a weak, weak man, so I bought it as well. How else is that sumo wrestler going to put on enough weight for his title match if I don't roll him over lots of tasty food? Besides, if I wan't more fun and innovative games like it, then I should be willing to invest money in it so that developers can feel more confortable taking a chance on similarly zany projects in the future. I suspect that it'll be a while before I get around to playing it, but hopefully by then it'll all feel fresh again. And I can't wait to listen to all of the fun new J-Pop on the soundtrack.
The two games that I preordered were Mario and Luigi 2 for DS and Suikoden Tactics for PS2. Like Fire Emblem, both of these are sequels to games that I own but have yet to play, and again like Fire Emblem, I'll probably play them in sequence when I do finally get around to it. I've heard only good things about the Mario and Luigi games, zany RPGs with a sense of humour similar to the Paper Mario games. As for Suikoden Tactics, it's a turn-based strategy direct sequel to Suikoden 4, which I have yet to play and have heard bad things about, but apparenly die-hard Suikoden fans still liked it, and I count myself among that group. Since I've always liked the army battles of the Suikoden games more than the more traditional RPG battles, a Suikoden turn-based strategy game has me quite excited.
Anywho, as the subject of this post might be seen to imply, I've had a pretty uneventful week, and for once I'm not really pissed off about anything (well, aside from the NASCAR race I just finished watching, but none of the readers that I'm aware of will care about that), so I think I'll leave things there. See everyone in another four days (that's the gap I've been consistantly aiming for recently, and I've been somewhat successful thus far).
posted by Jordan at 7:10 PM
3 Comments:
EB stopping PC Games sales? ZUUHWAHBAH?
I am sputtering in consternation. Screw you, Gamestop.
EB stopping USED PC Games sales, yes. Although it's not really so much of an issue for me, I have picked up a few used PC games there before and been very satisfied, so I'll be sorry to see it go. Given the current status of my PC, used games are pretty much the only way that I can presently get my PC game on, so to speak.
Oh I totally read past the word "used" there. Thats... not so bad. Their used prices were always gouge fests anyway. When you are essentially being able to sell your games twice, you can do more than price them down by a whole 5 dollars on the second go around.
Post a Comment
<< Home