• 18Oct 07

  How I made my Final Decision

  Life for a Gamer is full of challenges. One such challenge is making sure you make the right choice. Many people have chosen quickly for things such as a console, while others chose to wait. I chose to wait until 1 year after the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 was released then make my final decision on which 2 consoles I wanted. This is because of several reasons.

  1. The Lines

  I do not want to wait over 24 hours on a line just to get a new console. Especially if it's in low stock like the PS3. There would be a very strong chance that they will be sold out. I would end up leaving looking like a fool empty-handed.

  2. The Price

  As we all know, the prices at launch tend to be high. Waiting for at least a year will ensure that the price tag will drop about $50 or $100. There are many examples of this like the PS3, but the Wii seems to be an exception, not that it needs one now. It won't drop since the demand is still high. Not to mention Nintendo can't meet Wii shipping goals for the holidays. According to the law of supply and demand, when the demand is high for a product, the price increases. In other words, the high demand cancelled out the possibility of a price drop this year.

  3. The games

  At launch, there are not a lot of games. Many top tier games come a few months or even a year after the launch window. Here is a list of games I was looking forward to this year and the next:

  Super Smash Bros Brawl

  Metal Gear Solid 4

  Final Fantasy 13

  Final Fantasy Versus 13

  Super Mario Galaxy

  Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction

  Note that there are no Xbox 360 games. I know how great Gears of War and Halo 3 are, but I didn't want an Xbox 360 and I haven't played a FPS since Goldeneye for the N64. It would feel odd making that transition since I would only get fragged, blown up, or shot down constantly. Also, that console isn't getting any Final Fantasy or Metal Gear games as of right now. I'll tell you more later. Almost all of these games were meant to come out in late 2007.

  4. Post-Launch Issues

  Just about every console has them, and this generation is no exception. Most post-launch issues are solved within a few months. For example, the "Flying Wii-Mote" story is a thing of the past. Nintendo solved this by improving the wrist straps on the Wii remote in Early February of 2007. However, the Red Ring of Death the 360 is plagued with is still a problem.

  

  I know that Microsoft extended the warranty to 3 years, but you will be empty-handed for a few weeks depending on where you live. It could be 5-15 weeks depending on where you live and when you call them. This can be a real pain for impatient people. My plan was to get a Wii this Christmas and a PS3 next year and get a PSP to play Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. This seemed like a perfect plan, until it happened.

  There are so many titles that got delayed and pushed back from it's 2007 or 2008 release. Of particular note are Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Final Fantasy 13, Final Fantasy Versus 13, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. This throws off my groove and makes this choice tricky. I wanted at least 2 games to play on my new console this year. That won't happen if I get a Wii or PS3. Unexpected delays can make or break a console and influence the difficulty of making the decision to buy a console. This kept me pondering for days and days until I decided to get a PSP this holiday since MGS: Portable Ops and FFT:TWOTL are out now. This decision is final.

  • Posted Oct 18, 2007 11:02 am PT
  • Category: Opinion
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• 15Oct 07

  Why I stopped playing competitive Smash For Good

  If you are reading this, you're wondering why I stopped playing Super Smash Bros. Melee competitively. There are actually several reasons why I stopped playing at tournaments. Before hand, You can tell by my user name that I'm a Yoshi user.

  I'll start off with the first reason, the insanely god-like competition.

  The smash community is simply way too good. I practice my teching skill, edge cancelling eggs, wavedashing(not a problem for me now), DJCing(Double Jump Cancelling), and other things on a daily basis. I also study the match ups frequently. However, it seems to be not yielding me results other than my error ratio dropping. I keep getting defeated time and time again. Even though almost all of my matches end quickly with my opponent with 1 stock, it doesn't seem to be enough.

  I can see part of how they are so good. They come from neighborhoods that have a lot of competitive smashers. This allows them to easily set up matches. I, however, do not come from such a neighborhood. I can easily Pwn 98% of the people who play Smash in my neighborhood. There is only 1 of my friends who stands a chance, and he uses Fox. Despite not mastering the shine, he still gives me a run for my money although I win most of the time. However, he's not playing Smash anymore on account of playing Gears of War and Halo 3. Basically, when I play against them like at that Smashfest at my high school, I show them the ropes and a little bit on why they are getting pwned.

  Another factor I discovered was when they started playing competitively. I was a little shocked to find that almost all of the people who play competitive smash have been doing so since I first got the game in 2003. They knew all the advance techniques for 4 years. I didn't learn them then since I didn't have Internet access then and wasn't as social. I learned the short hop, fast fall, wavedash, shield grab, wall jump, float cancelling, double jump cancelling, and the dash dance naturally. I didn't learn the rest until I got internet access and watched Wak's Advanced How To Play Tutorial video in May 2006.

  Another reason is that Brawl is almost here. Many people say that playing Melee will help you practice. However, there will be changes to the characters' movesets. I don't want to get too accustomed to using certain moves since they will likely get toned down. Also, when Brawl gets here, there is a good chance people will forget Melee and just play Brawl. This is likely to happen since at Zenith(a SSBM tourney), everyone was focused on Melee. There were SSB64 tournaments, but only a few people entered and there was only enough for a SSB64 single tourney.

  The last reason is money. I graduated high school already and don't have a job yet. The reason is I don't have a valid form of ID yet. I plan on applying for a driver's permit later this week. I am becoming broke losing these tournaments. By the time I win one without a job, I'll end up losing more money than I gained. This wouldn't be a problem if I had a job.

  So, for now, I have decided to stop playing Melee tournaments. There is a chance I might return in the following months when I get a job, but that's no guarantee...

  Edit: I will not return to Melee tournaments. I have decided to wait for Brawl's releaseon Februrary 10, 2008 instead.

  EDIT 2: Another reason I have decided to stop playing is because Brawl plays very differently from Melee. A lot of advanced techniques that were in Melee were removed in Brawl, and it would be better for me to just wait so that it will be easier to adjust to not having, say, the Double Jump Cancel. I thank all who supported me.

  • Posted Oct 15, 2007 5:34 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 10Oct 07

  When and Why I Started Playing Metal Gear

  It started in 1998. I heard of Metal Gear Solid all over school. It became a hot topic in various places. Unfortunately, I couldn't play it on account of My Playstation's adapters and modulators breaking. So I HAD to stick with the Nintendo 64 then. This is because my 2 cousins would come over and play with me about 2 times a month. The problem was that the PS1 had only 2 controller sockets. Every time there were only 2 sockets, they would fight over whose turn it was since 1 person would have to sit out. Back then I wasn't interested much in MGS since it didn't come out on the N64. Also, I wasn't playing video games for stories much except for Mario, Zelda, and Starfox.

  

  4 Years later, Metal Gear Solid 2 became a hot topic and was only on Playstation 2. I still didn't have much interest in it since I got the Gamecube and Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Party 4, and Super Smash Bros. Melee a few months later. Eventually, one of my friends tells me about it. The story was a little confusing then but captured my interest. My family got a PS2, but I didn't play it much. My Brother dominated the gameplay hours with GTA 3 to the point where there was no time for me anyway.

  

  As time goes by, I begin to hear more and more about the MGS series from my friends. I heard and saw more from a TV channel I found in 2004 and 2005 called G4. I saw gameplay footage and a documentary show about the history of the franchise. It was very compelling and interesting to see.

  

  What also helped was that they covered the release of Metal Solid 3: Snake Eater. It looked really cool to me.

  

  In 2005, I started playing my PS2 a lot. My other brother got me Final Fantasy X, X-2, and Kingdom Hearts. I enjoyed those games throughout that year. I got Kingdom Hearts 2 in 2006. I Finally in got into Metal Gear Solid in 2006. Why? Well earlier, I got Kingdom Hearts 2 in the hopes it would tide me over until Final Fantasy 12 and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess come out later in that year since they both got delayed again. However, it wasn't enough. While KH2 was a great game, it was too easy and I finished it in less than a week. Then I felt the urge to try something different from Final Fantasy and Zelda. This urge got so strong that I went shopping days later. I bought Sonic Mega Collection Plus, Ratchet: Deadlocked, and finally, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.

  

  I played it in secrecy for some reason at first. When I played it, I had a blast with game. The story was intriguing and easier to understand here since this takes place before the other MGS games. I got addicted to the gameplay once I got used to it. It easily became my favorite game of 2006. Excluding Twilight Princess. I kept playing it constantly in secrecy until I was ready to talk about it. I became so curious about what happened next that I tracked down and found MGS 2: Sons of Liberty and MGS: The Twin Snakes, and enjoyed those games as well. I'm currently trying to get Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops for the PSP when I get one and eagerly waiting for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots. And that is why I play MGS and became a full-pledged fan of the Metal Gear Solid Seres.

  P.S. I did not pick up MGS to learn more about him since he was in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I knew who he was before Nintendo showed the E3 trailer of SSBB in 2006. Fin.

  • Posted Oct 10, 2007 11:13 am PT
  • Category: Games
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