Geek on Stun

Are you safe from DDR?

Harmless arcade game, or deadly killer?

A Bellevue, Nebraska teen is now recovering from a vicious attack by a game called "Dance Dance Revolution", popular with local youth. Read about this horrific event and the local heroes who pulled her from the brink of death at Omaha's source for breaking news, KETV-7.

R3VI3WS

After reading the mediocre IGN and Gamespot reviews for DRIV3R, I was quite surprised to pick up a friend/co-worker's copy of EGM and see the near-glowing scores handed out in that publication. It's Web outlet, 1UP, was nice enough to eliminate the two lowest scores and let DRIV3R walk away with an 8.5 out of 10, along with the adjective "superlative". A more damning review of the game can be seen over at Eurogamer.

But, numbers don't mean anything (you have to read the reviews) and you could simply chalk it up to bad decision making. Something stinks here, but is it a bastard child of the PR/exclusivity union or just the nature of print reviews? Spong just wrote about this on Friday, an article which leads to some interesting questions, and like many Spong news stories, it should be taken with a little salt, especially considering its message board origin.

It did make me take pause while reading the EGM review to read the words "DRIV3R is such a frustration-free game" right after reading things such as "fiddly, erratic and irrational collision detection", "the slightest turn around a corner is a tire-screeching, sliding-out affair", "you constantly feel more like you're fighting to stay in control of the car" and "can be catastrophically frustrating". It almost sounds like two different games.

I rarely have the opportunity to read print reviews. Gamespot is typically my main source for grounded, objective (fanboy-free) game evaluations, and, having admittedly not played DRIV3R (nor any game in the Driver series), it's difficult to determine who's "right". But, like I said, something stinks.

You're Super!

I bought Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance this weekend, but I played it cool.

Me: "Can I get that Mario RPG for Game Boy?"
Her: "Sorry, what?"
Me: "The, uh, Mario RPG... Superstar something or other..."
Her: "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga?"
Me: "Uh, I guess so"

Now to go play it on my pink GBA.

But before I do that, let me just note that when you don't want me to buy your upcoming game, just let me know about your card based battle system!

I Really Do ♥ My Game Boy

Even though I said I'd be picking up the NES Limited Edition Game Boy Advance, I think I may have lied. Now that it's out and that there are very few new and upcoming GBA releases that interest me (Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Mario Golf Advance Tour), I think I'm going to hold off until the DS hits.

But, even that is not a guaranteed purchase at this point. With little in the way of confirmed titles, EB listing each release at a $50 price point, and fears that the thing is still a handheld built around a gimmick, I may be forced to suffer with my pink GBA for the time being.

And while I'm on the subject of emasculating gaming, don't forget to check out all the Star Wars Galaxies videos created by Windspire Entertainment.

Let's Fever!

Yes, let us fever. Puyo Pop Fever that is! The next Puyo game doesn't hit the US of A until July 21st, but to make that wait seem even more painful, check out these Puyo flavored goods from Sega Direct.

Let's clock! Even though I hate my job, I would meet every morning with glee should I awake to thee, Puyo Clock.

The Sandal! Die cut sandals with a little puyo on a chain. The Babelfish translation is spot on: "Summer it is the exactly item."

Cup get! Uh, fuck Williams-Sonoma. I want to register with Sega Direct for our household needs.

No Shikigami no Shiro? No!

Apparently, XS Games, console publisher of Siberia and other budget titles, will publish Castle of Shikigami 2 (nee Shikigami no Shiro II) for the Playstation 2 this fall.

If you don't know what Shikigami no Shiro is, you may have seen it published under the name Mobile Light Force 2. MLF2 is not actually the sequel to Mobile Light Force. MLF is a port of the Japanese Psikyo-developed shooter Gunbird, which saw it's sequel released by Capcom in North America a few years ago on the Dreamcast. MLF2 is the first Shikigami no Shiro, developed by Alfa System, released in conjunction with it's supposed prequel for the original Playstation. Is that clear?

Naming confusion aside, this is what Shikigami no Shiro is about: cute, doe-eyed Japanese girls in witching outfits, and androgynous, mysterious Japanese boys with magical powers floating through the atmosphere dodging thousands upon thousands of pastel bullets.

Although this is good news, it can't help make me a little sad for the ever-shrinking release list from Working Designs and it's abandonment of the Spaz! imprint which saw WD publish games like RayCrisis and Thunder Force V for the original Playstation. Working Designs' unofficial spokesperson Vic Ireland has discussed the difficulty his publisher faces when undergoing the Sony approval process, due to the 2D, gameplay over graphics nature of the company's titles. And, although Shikigami no Shiro II is not a 2D title, the quick and dirty localization that XS Games has been guilty of in the past makes me pine for a better financial position at Working Designs. Maybe it's time to start looking at other platforms, Vic.

How goes the Great Game Finish Fest?

Not bad! Thanks for asking! I finally got around to finishing Manhunt this past weekend and got back into Metroid Prime. I think I'll be updating the list to include Super Mario Sunshine, and possibly giving up hope of ever playing Xenogears.

Another game I'll never play is Gran Turismo 4, but apparently you can get a modified GT4: Prologue demo now at the Toyota site. You better hurry and get yours before the rest of the Slashdot readers suck the inventory dry.

And speaking of dry inventories, I always miss out on the good stuff in the Scrap Heap Scramble over at National Console Support. I really wanted this Vib Ribbon t-shirt! I'm going to snap up the rest of those Sega Gals gashapon before its too late.