Geek on Stun

The Great Game Finish Fest

I'm one of those gamers. And by those gamers, I mean the kind that buy games constantly. I'll buy a game on day one, drop fifty dollars, spend two hours with the game and move on. I visit Cheap Ass Gamer on a regular basis to pick up the occasional liquidated title that never sees the inside of a console (Chrono Cross, Crazy Taxi 3, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Vib Ribbon).

Those days are over. Or, they will be, following the completion of the Great Game Finish Fest. Between May 1 and December 25, I will be "finishing" the following dust-collecting games:

• Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS2)
• Champions of Norrath (PS2) finished 05/02
• Chrono Cross (PSX)
• Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2)
• Final Fantasy X (PS2) - unloaded this nonsense for $10, just painful
• Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
• Grim Fandango (PC)
• Halo (Xbox)
• Incredible Crisis (PSX)
• Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)
• Manhunt (PS2) finished 05/30
• Mark of Kri (PS2)
• Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PC)
• Metroid Prime (GC) finished 06/19
• Otogi: Myth of Demons (Xbox)
• Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox)
• Sly Cooper and the Thevius Raccoonus (PS2)
• Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
• SSX 3 (PS2)
• Vagrant Story (PSX)
• Viewtiful Joe (GC)
• Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (PC)
• Xenogears (PSX)

That's 24 games in 35 weeks (not including upcoming purchases such as Samurai Warriors, Half Life 2, Doom III, Metal Slug 3, Gradius V, Front Mission 4, Way of the Samurai 2, etc). Some are close to being done, while some have yet to make it past the initial loading screen. Each one will see a 500 word review following its completion (apologies to my employer) and will checked off on this list with it's completion date.

Wish me luck!

Awesome Approved

It seems that SCEA put the approval headlock on the SNK NEO GEO USA Consumer Corporation (SNKNGUSACC for brevity) and finally got their way. Metal Slug 4 and 5 will be released, after seeing almost 8 months of delays, as a single package. Nice.

Also, Midway just gave out the details on Midway Arcade Treasures vol. 2 which will contain: A.P.B., Arch Rivals, Championship Sprint, Cyberball 2072, Gauntlet 2, Hard Drivin’, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat III, NARC, Pit Fighter, Primal Rage, Rampage World Tour, Spy Hunter 2, Steel Talons, STUN Runner, Timber, Total Carnage, Wizard of Wor, Xenophobe, and Xybots. Very nice.

Hopefully, it will perform better than the original Midway Arcade Treasures, which, during a recent Smash TV-fest, was the subject of some serious, unforgivable slow down. Regardless, Midway is doing the right thing, and some other companies should take notice.

The Post

Have you ever fantasized about working in the game industry? Have you ever thought "If I had the chance to make my own video game, what would I create"? I know I have, and so have many of my peers. And whenever I've asked a friend or coworker what they would like to create, the answer is invariably the same: superdeformed, historical dodgeball.

It looks like while everyone else was just daydreaming about superdeformed, historical dodgeball, the D3 company was actually doing something about it. Not content with churning out hits like The Mahjongg, The Bass Fishing and The Taxi, D3 and Access have released the 49th volume in the Simple 2000 Series -- World Champion Dodge Baller.

Ever wanted to pit famous Greek mathematician Pythagoras against Japanese fuedal leader Oda Nobunaga, dodgeball-style? Or is a Johann Sebastian Bach/Wyatt Earp dodgeball face-off more your thing?

Or would you rather just protect Tokyo from a giant, bikini clad mystery woman with the Japanese Defense Force's tanks, fighter planes and gunships? I think D3 might be able to help you there. The very next Simple Series 2000 volume (that's number 50), The Large Beauty, will be shipping soon. Believe me when I say that this is a deadly serious war game, not an excuse to ogle a 48-meter tall, well-endowed, wholesome-looking, seemingly brainless girl.

Please, D3 is better than that.

You got your common sense in my N-Gage!

Gamespot has some new shots and official information on the new Nokia N-Gage QD. They have all the details, but the important stuff is:

• $99 (with service plan)


• no MP3 or FM radio support


• no more sidetalkin'

Good news and bad, I guess. I'll still have the Nintendo DS to mock. I kid!

Just one more thing, brought to my attention by Morgan: ONE LEGGED DDR FREAKAZOID. Thank you for reporting to the dancefloor.

Mega

I like making Mega Man bitmaps. Your webmaster:

Laser Squad Nemesis

The demo for Laser Squad Nemesis is out. From contributing editor Larzon's upcoming preview:

"The title really does make the game sound interesting. Imagine being in control of a laser squad and now imagine that laser squad has a nemesis. I'm already on the edge of my seat and I haven't even played the demo."

MLF

I'm longing for a good, dedicated video game cover art site. You know the kind. Like DVD Cover Art for when box art goes hideously bad.

Gameforms has a pair of updates (Resident Evil and Super Smash Bros. Melee) in the Boxart Remake section, but they haven't had new submission since May of 2002, even though XS Games published Mobile Light Force 2 (nee Shikigami No Shiro) since then. And, you can't possibly suggest that this is an acceptable replacement for this. I didn't think so.

Fine, I guess I'll have to do it myself.