Not Morgan, some great ToeJam & spinning the Rainbows – Welcome to the not trying to phone it in but I’ve got two cans and a string known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. Well last week I was in Baton Rouge on a business trip. No excuse I know, I’ll be better prepared next time. (Or I could always secretly send brain waves across the land so somebody could ghost write my column…yeah in complete HTML code, that’s the ticket)… So as a result I’m kinda behind. I’m trying to bring everything up to speed and this column should be normal by next week. Me, however I might be normal by 2036…2042…nothing immediate.
Ode To Morgan Webb
Wait, that’s not Morgan! That’s Blair Butler. I figured on the week that I’m gone, would be the week I get to mess with my new TV Tuner card. Except all the X-Plays for that week featured Blair (well almost all). Morgan went on a wee bit of a vacation (she was with me, what do you expect). So you get a picture of Blair, she’s nice…wouldn’t kick her out of bed or anything. I think she was on Last Comic Standing.
Quick news stories of interest
Sony Computer Entertainment Interactive announced today the first official set of PlayStation 3 peripherals for Japan. The company has a couple of PS3 accessories planned for Japanese release in the near future: a remote control and a memory card reader.
The remote’s official name is BD Remote Controller, apparently to indicate the device’s convenience for Blu-Ray disk playback. Model number CECHZR1J, the remote control will cost 3,600 yen, but it won’t be available until 12/7. The device will use Bluetooth to interact with the PS3.
Finally, the memory card reader, which will help you maintain your PS2 save game collection. Officially called the Memory Card Adapter, this device, model CECHZM1J, will retail for 1,500 yen when it sees release on 11/11. It connects to the PS3 via USB and accepts memory cards for both the PS2 and PlayStation. Once you’ve connected the device, you’ll be able to transfer your save games to the PS3 hard disk, so you’ll presumably only have to use this once.
Hrmmm, a Remote Control that uses Bluetooth, about time and nice to see. Of particular interest is the memory card reader. Kudos to using USB and Kudos for PS2/PS1 support. Anybody want to guess the amount of time it will take for people to make Windows drivers for these? Sony basically making us a Dex Drive if you remember that third party periphial. Even if Sony doesn’t make the drivers, expect people to write some. I mean there are a few tools out there for PS2, but none that lets you essentially connect your memory cards to a device and plug into your computer. Doesn’t seem too expensive either. Nice, very nice!
SmackDown 2007 Legends: Confirmed
THQ reveals all 16 celebrities and adds a superstar to the standard roster.
THQ has confirmed all 16 future and current hall of famers that will appear as “WWE Legends” in the upcoming WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 videogame. In addition to the big names listed below, THQ has also confirmed that Mick Foley, a character originally scheduled to appear as a legend, has now been moved to the regular superstar lineup. Of course, his various alter egos (Dude Love, Cactus Jack, and Mankind) are still part of the legends roster.
Here’s how the lineup will shape up when SVR ’07 hits the shelves in November:
WWE LEGENDS
Bam Bam Bigelow
Hulk Hogan
Roddy Piper
Bret Hart
Jerry Lawler
Shane McMahon
Cactus Jack
Jim Neidhart
Steve Austin
Dude Love
Mankind
Tazz
Dusty Rhodes
Mr. Perfect
Eddie Guerrero
The Rock
Meh, I really have to just say Meh on this one. The only surprises have to be Bam Bam Bigelow (I’m calling cartwheels and headbutts and his finisher Greetings from Ashbury Park) and Jim Neidhart (so you can make a tag team with Bret Hart ala Hart Foundation). But with the wealth of characters WWE has in their past library (that they own the rights too), this is all they could come up with. I mean geez, come on people! And while you are at it; put Jeff Hardy in the freaking game! He just won the IC belt off Johnny Nitro on Monday night. But I guess I’m too much of a purist for this crap so I’ll just create him or wait for a save I’m sure.
Reasons the Sega Genesis was better than the SNES
ToeJam & Earl
Truly one of the cult hits for the Sega Genesis, ToeJam & Earl was the tale of two alien hipsters who crashed on Earth and had to look for parts. Their weapon of choice was the tomato in this really fun game that revolved around the idea of funk. It had a style similar to early 70’s funk music and blaxploitation films. While that might sound a bit weird for a 16 bit game, it actually came off quite well. TJ&Earl sported great gameplay and a feature where there could be two characters on the screen but in different places (via split screen). This game would be followed by couple of sequels. However, these games could never live up to the original. Expect TJ&Earl to be a virtual console download when the WII touches down.
Retro Game of the Week
Rainbow Islands – Arcade, NES, SMS, etc
A few weeks ago you saw touch on Bubble Bobble a great retro game that seems to find its way onto every system. However, I find myself playing more often than not its supposed sequel: Rainbow Islands. This game, awfully similar to Bubble Bobble featured the dinos Bub & Bob in human form as they used rainbows rather than bubbles to trap their foes (awww ain’t that cute?). I found this game more interesting since the rainbows seemed to do more and there was more interesting uses for them. Also, I liked the idea of a long upward moving stage and treasure chests full of coinage and fruit (I’m sure the fruit goes bad after a while but its probably magic!). It was a very fun game, and even though it was more kiddie than Bubble Bobble, it was a worthy sequel. (this game also appears on Taito Legends for PS2)
PS2
9-26-06
Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova
Fast & The Furious
Greg Hastings Tour Paintball Max’d
Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Just Cause
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
NBA Live 07
10-03-06
NRA Gun Club
Star Trek Encounters
PSP
9-26-06
Moto GP
Spectral Souls
10-03-06
Gangs of London
Mercury Meltdown
Stacked
Star Trek: Tactical Assault
Moto GP
Spectral Souls
XBox 360
9-26-06
Import Tuner Challenge
Just Cause
XBox
9-26-06
Ford Bold Moves Street Racing
Just Cause
Gamecube
9-26-06
Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
DS
9-26-06
Mage Knight Destiny’s Soldier
10-03-06
Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
Alex Rider: Strombreaker
Bubble Bobble Revolution
Rainbow Islands Revolution
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
Hannah Montana
GBA
9-26-06
Backyard Basketball 2007
Backyard Football 2007
Pokemon Fire Red Greatest Hits
Pokemon Leaf Green Greatest Hits
10-03-06
Alex Rider: Stormbreaker
Dora the Explorer: Dora’s World Adventure
Harlem Globetrotters World Tour
Little Mermaid: Magic in Two Kingdoms
Princess Natasha: Student Secret Agent
Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots
Uno/Skip-Bo
Unfabulous
Naruto: Ninja Council 2
Disney Princess: Royal Adventure
If you look over the titles (yes I was nice to enough to include the previous week I wasn’t here as well), there really isn’t much to be had. The newest DDR title, Valkyrie Profile 2 and NBA Live 07 are the only ones you really need to know. NRA Gun Club for PS2 is thankfully becoming vaporware (or so I secretly hope). Stacked is a decent poker simulator for PSP as well. I just always sit back in amazement the amount of crap..I mean titles that comes out for GBA. Really you could probably publish a game about taking a leak for the GBA if it could get past the censors. (This is Nintendo we are talking about).
Some Final Thoughts and Mutterings
Well while I was in Baton Rouge last week, I did manage to pick up a couple of games. One, Evil Dead Regeneration for PS2 at a crazy price of $6.96 (Circuit City). I played, loved and beat it; all in the same weekend. Check out the review to the left. Also I purchased Final Fantasy Legend III for the original Gameboy, one of those little gems I hope to get around to play sometime. That particular store also had the original Final Fantasy Adventure, but I passed for right now. Well thankfully this week I got back in stroke, and I hope to bring you up to speed as we proceed forth, into the..the…ahhh screw it, you are used to my writing as now. Now can you dig that?
As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)
