While waiting for fall’s game releases, I’ve been revisiting some previously played titles collecting dust. I got the smart idea to “beat” Me and My Katamari by completing the collection. That means collecting everything there is to collect in the entire game. I’m beginning to think it’s a matter of luck more than persistence. Even with eternal mode (which has no time limits) it’s proving to be harder than I expected. But, this weekend is the first weekend off that I’ve had in a while. After seeing Hamlet 2 this afternoon, I’m going to try to beat the first boss race in Need For Speed Carbon on Xbox 360. I’m finding the race particularly hard. My car doesn’t seem good enough to keep up with him, but I’ve been too impatient to make it too the end. I get speed hungry and end up going over the edge. But anyways, after that it will be more Katamari collecting.

There’s a ridiculous PR war that fans are taking pretty seriously: Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero. I’ve mentioned it before as being silly, but a quote got blown out of proportion, and fueled a fanboy bonfire of comments. Many swore they would never (or, to quote, “NEVA”) buy Guitar Hero. I used to work at a movie theater, and occasionally people swore they would NEVER come back.

They came back. It’s rarely an intimidating threat, but that isn’t the issue at hand. The issue is many wanted to call Brian Bright a copycat after he called Rock Band a copy cat. The obvious Pot vs. Kettle vs. Pot nature of this isn’t the issue either. The common argument is that neither Activision or RedOctane created any music anythings, and they are big fat cheaters. And, unrelated but often mentioned, Tony Hawk games suck.

Well, Activision knows they didn’t create anything. That’s why they hired John Devcka and his Enterprises, creators of MTV’s Drumscape, released in 1997 on the basis of 1996 Devecka Enterprises pattens. (DrumMania wasn’t released by Konami until 1999.)

Harmonix originally wanted to make music accessible to those who found traditional instruments too challenging or intimidating. They didn’t seem to previously have an interest in games with controllers that simulated instruments, like guitars, before working on Guitar Hero with RedOctane. It was RedOctane who asked them to created a game that would use a simplified guitar controller.

And, to flesh out this history, it was Konami that created a game link between their drum and guitar arcade games, effectively creating the first gaming band. Konami and Harmonix worked on Karaoke revolution before the Guitar Hero series came about. Konami hadn’t previously released a drum or guitar game in America, likely because their formats would be in violation of the patent held by Devecka Enterprises.

so

Devecka, in America anyways, had the original idea for realistic instruments that created a realistic music experience, and filed a lot of pattens.

MTV Drumscape, made by Devecka, was the first drumming game, not DrumMania by Konami.

Harmonix made music games, but not with realistic instruments. Their most literal was with Konami for Karaoke Revolution, which used a microphone.

RedOctane asked Harmonix, critically acclaimed for their games FreQuency and Amplitude
to create a guitar game for a controller that they would produce. RedOctane previously made high quality dance pads for Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution game.

Konami did not release neither DrumMania nor Guitar Freaks in America, likely because their instrument designs violated Devecka Enterprises’s pattens. They did release Taiko Drum Master and BeatMania, probably because these devices were not specifically in violation with Devecka’s patent.

By September 2006, Harmonix was acquired by MTV games and RedOctane was acquired by Activision, who delegated the Guitar Hero series (Red Octane apparently holds the rights) to Neversoft.

RedOctane and Activision separately copyrighted different game titles, including “Drum Villan” and “Band Hero” while working on Guitar Hero 2.

Konami got hosed. They (without obvious malicious intent) improved upon vague patents and then were not part of their realization in the US home market.

Harmonix and MTV, in their creation of Rockband, both seemed to take advantage of previous partnerships to flesh out the first Rockband, but the basic idea started long before either of them.

I don’t know why Activision is charged with malpractice here, or why Harmonix is assumed innocent. All games come on discs, Microsoft is getting avatars, and Rockband isn’t completely original. Neither is Guitar Hero.

And thanks to commenter Setzer IIDX for mentioning some of this history on the Kotaku post.

Gamesutra has the full text of an interview with accomplished game creator Hirokazu Yasuhara. The article goes beyond games to explain how game design can mirror the challenges and emotions in life. The cycle of fear and relief that we can identify in life is the same principle that shapes good game design. What he uses to create positive gaming experiences correlate to reality in their foundations for success (such as being comfortable in your environment and achieving goals). He states there is no real freedom in games, and that a responsible, caring master creator is necessary for a good gaming experience. It’s a very holistic approach to gaming, and evidence that this man should write a book on his musings. Whether you agree or not, it’s intriguing to hear what he thinks about games.

Yes, I’m kickin’ it old school. It’s Nintendo’s Super Scope for SNES. I bought this a couple years ago at a garage sale for $1.00.

yes. $1.00. That fact is either amazing or appropriate.

It came in the box, in the original plastic, with the twist ties and everything. absolute madness. There’s no signs of use. It looks just like what that boy holds there. I’ve used it a couple times, but (surprise!) it’s not that comfortable.
The receiver is hooked up, so it isn’t pictured. This is by far one of my better garage sale finds. Too often you find clothes that smell like sour cigarette smoke and Christmas decorations; this was definitely a rarity.And, being such a sucker or peripherals, I know I’ll never get rid of it.

My two month old PSP has already been undermined, and you bet I’m bitter. I know this is the way things go. That’s why I waited so long to get an Xbox and continue to stall on a PS3. It’s why I waited to get a DS and even why I waited to get a PSP. I didn’t want to be stuck with something old, clunky, and featureless when undoubtedly something new, shiny, and feature-ful came out the next year. Despite my efforts this has (sort of) happened to the PSP. The 3000 was announced officially, and I want to be mad about it.

But, I know that’s a wasted emotion. I know that this happens, but why so soon? It’s a function of electronics at large that they consistently get smaller/better as time goes on. I waited for a higher storage capacity iPod, they came out with color. I wait and buy a video iPod when my old one breaks, they come out with thinner models and a touch screen. I know I can’t be mad about it, because in some sick way it’s exactly what I want: something newer, something shinier.

Though I only own original versions, I believe SNES and Genesis, among others, came out with later, better versions. It’s certainly something to be expected in the hand held market (along with fancy new colors!). Even though it brings better products to the market, it makes those who buy first feel like guinea pigs. Sure, I could trade in my system and lose less money, but I don’t want to lose any money. I want the brightest strawberries on what I’ve already bought.

I also don’ t want to feel foolish for buying/not buying the new/old Xbox360/PS3. There’s work that goes into planning a good purchase date, which figures in price drops, obscure system parts, and a complex graph of how important online capabilities are to me. At some point, I just say “screw it!” I buy the system and close my ears to the news about what a big mistake I’ve made.

At the same time, I know this has all been done in the effort to please me, the gaming consumer. As a collective voice we are always bitching about something, and the booming industry is eager to improve. So, what I hate is what I create… sounds like something I’ve read before (and heard before, and watched before, and played before…)

I’ve never done it in real life, because I like not being in jail/dead. But, in a video game, I can’t get enough. I discovered this hidden love while playing Midnight Club 3. I had stayed away from racing games in the past, as the ultra-realistic Gran Turismo never interested me. But tearing up the city street in my customized car? Count me in!!

I’m branching out now, trying Need For Speed and Burnout. The latter isn’t all I wish it was. It’s fun to crash cars, but I quickly get bored. All the same, I’m thinking bout getting Burnout Paradise for Xbox360. I’ve heard good things about the Need For Speed series, often from people I would never expect to love a racing game. It’s taken me until Carbon to get around to playing it. It was one of my first games for Wii, but I was never comfortable with the controls. Now that I have it for Xbox, I’m enjoying the game much more.

One thing I dislike about Need For Speed is their forced narrative. I don’t remember any narrative for Burnout. What narrative is needed? Drive. Crash. Repeat. I’m sold. There was a small storyline in Midnight Club, but you could skip it if you want and it just helped to transition between different racing events, cities, and explain unlocked content. NFS wants you to be a part of the story. You’ve got a history with this girl, you left town quick, etc. I understand that they are trying to integrate this racing into a greater narrative. However, your driving doesn’t seem to affect or enrich the narrative. Though it should make the story more interesting or engaging, the mid-scene driving is tedious.

I don’t blame them for this interruption method of starting their story. The same technique in used elsewhere, know as “in media res.” At it’s best, it promotes engagement and interest. At it’s worse, it’s confusing, generic and uninformative. Need for Speed hovers somewhere in between. My many hours with Midnight Club make the races easy, so the plot advances quickly. To someone new to the genre, it would be frustrating to fail these mini races and be unable to advance the unnecessary plot.

This distraction doesn’t keep me from loving the game. I initially hated the crew member feature, which forces you to team up during races. Then, my teammate won after I was demolished by other cars, and it saved me from restarting the race. I like the blocker because it fits with my established style of racing. The scout seems to always stop in front of me and slow me down.

The gameplay is easier than Midnight Club. It’s easier to stay on course, and the wide streets are an advantage as well. However, the multiple types of races (Sprint, Speed Trap, Drift, etc.) offer more variety than MC3. You also aren’t forced to complete every race in order to advance (something that MC has adapted for their upcoming Los Angeles).

One downside to NFS is the styling. I hate the mercury glow of everything (including the people) in the videos. And there’s something else about the sheen of the races that bothers me. Maybe my issue with Need for Speed is “it’s not Midnight Club,” which is unreasonable. But I digress.

This post rambled a little, so in summary: I love racing and I don’t need a story line.

This project was an escape from senior year college stress. I actually painted it twice due to unintentionally spraying gloss on top of gloss (very bad idea). I used acrylic craft paint, a silver sharpie, and triple thick clear coat glaze. I sketched many different designs before deciding on this one. I’ve been a kotakuite for a couple years now and was surprised this hadn’t been done yet. I tried to imitate site header, using silver for the buttons and accents. The buttons were a little sticky, but now that the glaze has completely set, its not noticable. Here are a couple close up pictures:

I intend to paint my other ps2 guitar in the future. I’m not sure what design I want to use, but there are certainly things I will do different:

1. Less layers
I used a few layers of white to make the coats look smooth, despite my use of a foam brush. But, in the end, the gloss made the paint beneath look smooth.

2. Different glaze
The triple thick was nice and gave a super glossy finish, but it was a pain to spray and took forever to set (due to spraying multiple layers in the effort to achieve uniformity)

3. More patience
I tried to rush through reassembling the guitar, which damaged the clear coat. It would have been ideal to let the paint set completely before putting it back together.

4. Avoid painting the frets
They were a pain to sand and I think the color beneath dissolved with the clear coat… there are unexplained blotches of faint color on the neck.

So, that’s it. For those interested in your own craft-taku, the paint colors were Craft Smart “Bright Magenta” and “Citron” and the background was Delta Creative Ceramcoat “Light Ivory. The silver was a Metallic Silver Sharpie and the glaze was Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze

Any suggestions for the next guitar’s theme?

Truthfully, I still don’t know the answer. My PSP is still pretty new (though already undermined) and I’m trying to build up a library. One of the few games I remembered playing was the original Lumines on a friend’s PSP. I obviously didn’t remember how bad I suck at it (really really sucked, for the record). I rarely return or sell games once I buy them, and I was determined to keep from making an exception.

The basic concept of the game is to get a single colored block of four squares grouped together. Many squares together are worth more points. The blocks are dissolved by a vertical time line, which moves incessantly (just like time!) across the screen, from left to right. The blocks eventually start falling faster and faster, and you must scramble to get the screen cleared. It’s a tetris-style “how long can you last?” type of thing.

I kept playing with only fluke-like moments of success before utter failure. Frustrated, I went to the tutorial. I didn’t want to need the tutorial, because it’s a damn puzzle game. If it just said “get a block of the same color to win! More blocks equal more points! Good Luck!” I’d be even more pissed.

And that’s mostly what it said, with some helpful animations. This tutorial showed me that it could be done, but I just didn’t understand how to replicate the process. Searching the menus for more options, I found a mission mode that acted as an action tutorial. I was asked to dissolve blocks in a certain number of moves (often one or two). By solving the puzzles, I learned the strategy of the game that I had been lacking. (On a separate note, I still don’t understand the puzzle mode.)

So, I know how to suck less at Lumines: Try the mission mode and practice a lot. I got 15th today on the scoreboard, my highest finish so far. Still, I fear being truly skilled at Lumines may forever elude me.

Hello, and thank you for visiting my blog. My posts will mostly focus on gaming, with a few other diversions. They’ll be lots of updates today to get things started, and after that I’ll post as much as time allows.

I personally have an Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Playstation 3 and a PSP. I’ll post about game reviews for these systems from time to time as well as commentary on gaming news at at large. Right now I’m playing Lumines II, Beautiful Katamari, Zoo Keeper and Need for Speed: Carbon.

I’ll also post movie and television opinions, and pictures of different crafts.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll return soon.

–100tacks