Bargain Games and Stuff

So yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a copy of Valkyrie Profile for the PSP. I don't think I was really expecting to see one yesterday seeing as I live in a small town and it was the first day of its release. However, after thinking it wasn't there upon first inspection, a double take revealed that it was indeed there, just hidden way down at the bottom. I was happy to be sure.

Now, every Wal-Mart has a bargain bin stuffed to the roof with games. Most of them are not worth your while, but I have found a few gems in the past including Harvest Moon games and Prince of Persia. While waiting in line, I was scanning through their GBA bargain bin and lo and behold I came across a copy of Gunstar Super Heroes! At that moment I remembered Chris over at Got-Next talking a lot about it. Not to mention this baby was made by Treasure, I had to pick it up.

I love bargain bins and discount games. I have only played about 5 minutes of Gunstar and am finding it an interesting game. It has been years since I have played anything like this and I am quite enjoying it. I am shocked at how well the game controls, it feels as though it is an extension of my arm. We will see what I think once I play it a bit more.

Gunstar makes the second discount game I have found recently. The other one was actually found at EB Games which, I have noted recently, seems to be ditching off all of their old stock. I am loving every second of this as there seems to be quite a few discount games. The game I picked up was Lunar Dragon Song for the DS, it was only 17 bucks (CDN)! I have yet to try it and have heard really bad things about it, but you never know, I am totally a sucker for the Lunar series. They also had a copy of Drakengard 2 for only 20 bucks. I may consider picking that up later...

Anyway, that about finishes up a rather random post. I will leave you however with two fun facts. First off, I occasionally get asked where I get all of my game images from. I get them from game wallpapers mostly, and I have been trying to collect them all online to share (I have over 1GB of them on my computer). You can click here to see them. I am adding more every day, so hopefully you can find one or two you like. Also, this rules:

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 7.20.2006

Valkyrie Profile Lenneth

Well today is the day. Technically it was yesterday, but let's face it the shipping date is never the date I actually get to see a game in my hands. Yes my friends, today is the day that Valkyrie Profile gets re-released and this time for a portable system. While my love for the PSP has waned somewhat since I first started it up, I think it is still a good system. My number one concern with it is that most games require longer than 5 minute intervals of play. That is neither here nor there though at this moment, because this is where I can play Valkyrie Profile and so here it is I shall play it.

VP is one of those games that got lost in the shuffle. Those who were waiting to see how the game turned out got screwed due to its extremely small release shipment. Only those who jumped right in from the get to, paying no heed whatsoever to caution were able to obtain a copy. And, of course, those who paid exorbitant amounts for it on eBay.

For those who managed to obtain a copy, they were thrust into a world of innovation. Platforming, button mapped battles, a time based quest and a possibility to completely screw up your game until it is impossible to finish. These are some of the unique qualities that Valkyrie Profile has going for it. While some of those qualities are no longer unique in today's modern RPGs, at the time this was some pretty new stuff.

VP is not one of those games you can start playing right off the bat and think you have any chance of surviving, or at least of obtaining a good ending. To truly play VP requires multiple play throughs so that you can plot out the exact progress you want to make throughout the game. There is so much hidden content and very exact ways to do things, not to mention branching storylines that you pretty much have to know what you want to strive for from the beginning. Rarely do I recommend a walkthrough but, if you want the best of the best and you only want to play once, you had better seek out a guide.

In any case, while VP is not for the faint of heart (certainly not for the casual RPG'er), those who get into it will find a fantastic experience topped off by a great plot, tragic characters and truly fun gameplay. I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates a solid RPG.

I am quite interested in seeing how it holds up on the PSP though. I really, really hope that the load time isn't too bad. That could kill it for me. The videos I have seen look amazing and I can't wait to see the FMV movies. Today is the day friends; I hope you all enjoy a fantastic sleeper of a hit.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 7.19.2006

Animal Crossing Wild World Addiction Journal Week 3

Hello and welcome to week 2 of my Animal Crossing Wild World Addiction Journal. It has been a fruitful week (if you will pardon the pun), filled with various activities although nothing too out of the ordinary.

My plans to create a beetle harvesting plantation of Coconut trees has gone off rather well and rather poorly at the same time. Almost every last one of the Coconut trees I planted grew giving me a veritable forest of Coconuts. While I figured this would greatly improve my chances of catching rare beetles, it seems to have had a rather negative effect. Where I used to find close to 10 beetles per harvest (typically a half hour play time), I now only find 3 to 4 max. I am not sure what the reasoning is behind this, but it is rather disapointing none the less.

While my beetle hunting initiative has cooled slightly, my fruit harvesting is starting to take off. Taking the advice of the GameFAQs forums, I have learned that if you send letters and presents to your neighbors, they will sometimes send you non-native fruit. Using this strategy I have acquired apples, oranges, cherries and, just this morning, peaches. I have fully functioning cherry, apple and orange orchards going at about 4 strong a piece with a newly planted 3 each of apples and orange. I have just planted the 2 peach trees. Hopefully they will all take root, but only time will tell.

On the fishing front, things are kind of slow. It was a sunny week in Solaris which does not make for great fishing. I caught 2 giant snake heads and a cat fish while fishing in my pond. I also finally caught an elusive shark (2 actually), but have yet to see a hammerhead shark. I also caught a sweetfish (one of the new July critters) which is good. Today it is raining in Solaris, so I may give some fishing a try later on today if the weather holds.

I have also been meeting some new creatures in the wild world this week. I finally managed to get into Redd's place after learning you can find out his password by talking to your neighbors. He sold me some cool stuff but sadly the only painting he had for sale ended up being a fraud (crook!). I also met Pascal who gave me a Sailor's compass and some bear type of creature (forget his name) who taught me a new expresson (love, awwwww).

My 298,000 bell debt was finally repaid near the middle of the week. With that out of the way, I am now the proud owner of a second floor! While this is great, it comes with some bad news. First off, I am too poor now to furnish the second floor and my new mortgage is a whopping 598,000 bells!!! Yikes, that Tom Nook knows his business, I will be in debt for months to come. Hopefully my orchards will pay off and my beetle harvest will start working.

My goal this week is to catch an elusive scorpion and tarantula. I have yet to see a scorpion and the only tarantula I have seen ran out from behind a tree and jumped me before I even knew it was coming. I am going to try and do a hunt or two to find these two buggers before hunting season is off. See you next week!

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 7.14.2006

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