Some Video Game Pick-ups For The Weekend

To celebrate the onset of last weekend, I decided to indulge in a bit of shopping. I was looking for a title to play alongside Uncharted 2 multiplayer to tide me over until Modern Warfare 2. Title soon became plural and I got a little carried away –

Yes, I picked up Demon’s Souls. The rave reviews and the high level of difficulty sparked my interest. I got the slightly more expensive deluxe edition, which comes with a guide, art book and soundtrack, as none of the import stores in Akihabara had the regular version in stock. Besides, I have the feeling that I will become rather thankful for the guide. I will be using my older controller for Demon’s Souls, in preparation for a bout of pad throwing/smashing/biting.

As I wrote about a fortnight or so ago, I am going for the SEGA SATURN CENTURION. I only needed three more JPN titles to hit 100, and two of the games that I have settled on, Akumajo Dracula X (Castlevania – Symphony of the Night) and Segata Sanshiro Shikenyugi are in the picture above. I paid the standard rate for the collection of bizarre mini games that is SSS, but I got a pretty good deal for Castlevania as the instructions are a little dog eared and the spine card is missing. It’s nothing that will stand in the way of enjoying the game. Unfortunately, I have yet to track down Message Navi, my intended final entry into the centurion. It wasn’t through a lack of trying mind, as I spent a good 20 minutes rummaging through boxes full of discounted Saturn games looking for the elusive katakana symbol “?”. It’s not everyday you see a well dressed westerner (I was suited-up after a day in the office) sitting on the floor rummaging through a box of Saturn games that no one wants!

I have read good things about Dead Space Extraction, and I have got a great deal of enjoyment from on-rails Wii shooters in the past. I feel like I have to buy a Wii title every now and again, if not just to justify having the system. I had a brief go last night, and unfortunately the voice track is all Japanese. I was hoping it would be similar to The Umbrella Chronicles and The House of the Dead Collection and be in English with Japanese subtitles. It should still be easy to play though.

Um Jammer Lammy was a junk box pick up. At only ¥180 and having recently played and enjoyed Parappa the Rapper, it was a no-brainer. And lastly, I finally picked up my own copy of Uncharted. Although I have completed it 3 times, I have never owned a copy, so I thought it was about time that I picked one up.

It’s been a while since I went on a bit of a splurge, and it felt good!


ODDS & ENDS


As I mentioned before, I have been writing over at criticalgamer.co.uk, which is well worth checking out. One of my articles posted there was recently featured on slashdot.org and attracted 137 comments, and I’m told north of 5000 hits within one day. Of course, I made the mistake of reading the majority of the comments, a mistake I shall not be repeating again. There were some thoughtful and interesting ones, both positive and negative, but there were also those that made my blood boil, in particular by people who clearly hadn’t taken the trouble to read the whole post. Anyway, it’s good to get noticed. Probably.


I almost bought two other games during my shopping trip. Left 4 Dead was going cheap, and remains one of the few 360 games that I have a strong desire to play. The other was Halo ODST, which was on sale for a very reasonable ¥2900, but on the basis of my recent introduction to the Halo series, I decided to pass. I started playing Halo 3 about a month ago, in an attempt to introduce myself to the series and in preparation for my intended purchase of ODST. However, I gave up about 3 hours-in and was sorely disappointed. I didn’t think it was a bad game, just a decidedly average one that could not hold my interest for any extended period of time. I guess Halo just isn’t for me.