Did You Know? – American History In Bite Sized Doses

This is to be the beginning of a new series of posts here on The Watchman where I, the Watchman, refresh a bit on my American History. To help me with that, I’ve got a big fat paperback copy of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History Of The United States. As I go along, any tidbits that I find especially interesting will find a permanent place on the blog. Each post will be no longer than a few sentences meant to excite the reader’s interest.

So without further adieu, let’s begin:
Did you know?

In the 1630s, the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Anne Hutchinson, a fierce and outspoken opponent of the church, who insisted that the common-man was able enough to self-interpret the bible, was put on trial for heresy. She was exiled and subsequently killed after reaching the Long Island Shores by vengeful Native Americans who mistook her for an enemy.

Satan or God? Who is the bigger asshole?

There’s been something on my mind lately and what better way to express it than to bring it the blog? It is satire for the most part, but if you’re of the easily offended persuasion then you’d be best going elsewhere.

God or Yahweh… whatever you’re disposed to calling him, is someone whom most everyone brought up under the Judeo Christian religion, has been taught to admire. He is benevolent. Pure in every way. The ultimate superhero. The devil, or Satan is the opposite of that. He is malevolent. God’s arch nemesis and the ultimate villain. That’s the general belief anyway.

I for one find it difficult to understand why we’re expected to believe that a being who led millions of innocents to be slaughtered, condemned to death those who opposed, ostracized whole groups and dwarfed Hitler’s feeble attempt at human destruction when he killed all the living of the world, sparing only a select few, is the epitome of good nature. To compare, what is Satan’s death toll? It doesn’t even come close to coming close to god’s.

 

Why then, is God the murderer worshiped, while the devil, who is a saint by comparison, viewed as the lowest of the low?

The answer? Religious logic. It is the human brain high on religion.

Am I the only one who despises Nintendo’s awful stylus gimmick? (RANT)

Am I the only one who despises Nintendo’s awful stylus gimmick? (RANT)

What the fuck?

Really?

Being a longtime Legend of Zelda fan, I decided to finally take the plunge and see what all the DS Craze was about. I bought a red DS Lite and a few games to go with it. One of those games was the latest handheld Zelda title at the time, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Let’s just skip the prologue and get straight to the point now. What the fuck was Nintendo thinking? I’m all for change so long as that change brings a new and better experience, but that isn’t what Nintendo’s plastic pen stick thingie does. If anything, it was the primary culprit in a crime I thought could never again be committed; That crime? Making a game that bore The Legend of Zelda in its title so incredibly awful that I balked in disgust.

So… what exactly is it that has me so riled up?

Spirit Tracks’ controls:

Rather than using the tried and true formula (dpad, analog and face buttons) to maneuver Link, swing his sword, open treasure chests etc, Nintendo instead opted to use a pen, or what they prefer to call a stylus. Now, its been several months since I sold my DS Lite, so my memory may be a bit foggy when describing exactly how the stylus was used. You hold the system with your left hand, and with your right hand holding the stylus, you quickly slash the screen in a straight motion to swipe your sword, in a circular motion to perform Link’s classic spinning attack, and double tap the screen quickly to perform a roll. To move Link you simply slide the stick across the screen. Link will follow your penprints. WOW huh? yeah… that even had me for a little while but believe you me, the novelty wears off quickly.

This new-ish method of control that Nintendo still, even today (see Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS) insists on shoving down people’s throats is in no way an improvement upon the prior formula. In many ways its a step backwards because precision is lost, and not only that, but the system becomes a chore to simply hold because the method of control is so awkward.

Here is a list of grievances I had with this game’s controls:

1.) Walking/Running in Spirit Tracks was not as precise as with a dpad/analog stick

2.) Swiping, again, was not as precise as it would have been with real gaming controls. There were plenty of instances where, using the stylus, I intended to swipe in one direction, only to have Link grow a mind of his own and attack some invisible enemy in the opposite direction.

3.) Rolling was disastrous. I cannot count the number of times I accidently rolled when I meant to simply swipe, or vice versa. Sometimes I even rolled toward enemies instead of away from them.

The one thing I can take from that experience is that I never, I repeat, I never, with an emphasis on never, had such constant issues in previous games in the Zelda line. Therefore, my only reasonable conclusion here is that gimmicky stylus based controls are in no way a viable alternative to actual press-able buttons.

Yet another example of why stylus usage just isn’t practical is the Kid Icarus: Uprising situation. Get this: This game will feature controls similar to those found in Metroid Prime: Hunters. That means that aside from the slidepad for character movement, everything else will be done using the stylus and the touchscreen. Despite the discomfort that such a control setup caused many players who voiced their complaints on MPH’s boards, Nintendo will again give players no alternative. To make up for the crappy controls, they’ve thrown in a free stand with Kid Icarus: Uprising… you know, so that you can set the 3DS on it and play the game without discomfort… LOL… Wouldn’t it have been simpler to just map all the game’s mechanics to the slidepad, directional pad and the face buttons? Its like Nintendo deliberately took the long and bumpy road, instead of the easily accessible and smoother short cut.

Now, I know from reading all that you may get the impression that I ‘hate’ Nintendo’s stylus. Well, I don’t. In fact I think its pretty darn cool, that is… when used right. The problem is that the only games that can use a stylus correctly are the ones designed entirely around a simple concept; Scribblenauts immediately comes to mind and who can forget Ace Attorney or Trauma Center? But for larger, more expansive games like those found in The Legend of Zelda line, the stylus becomes an impediment of enjoyment.

RANT OVER…

Review: Ys Seven for PSP – 2010

 

 

Prior to Ys (pronounced ‘ease’, or is it ‘ess’? I don’t know. I just call it Wise) Seven, I, like most North American gamers had never heard of Ys, despite it being one of the most popular game franchises, with a loyal fanbase that has sustained its legacy for several decades.

The Ys franchise’s main hero is Adol Christin; a red haired swordsman who traverses the lands and seas in search of adventure. The series typically consists of real time action oriented gameplay, and it falls under the action rpg spectrum. It’s more Zeldaesque than it is Final Fantasy. I guess you can consider it a mix of the two. There are no random encounters or boring turn based fights here. Though you will sometimes find yourself grinding, almost tirelessly, to attain higher levels. Earlier games in the franchise featured a truly awkward combat system that required the player to bump into enemies, rather than punching or sword swiping

Ys Seven was my first foray into Nihon Falcom’s fantasy world of kings, princesses, giant monsters and destined heroes. This game, in particular, was an entirely new entry designed specifically to run on the PSP’s hardware. It’s also the newest game in the series, story-wise, while the Oath In Felghana, which was released later is a remake of an earlier Ys game. Since its release in 2010, Ys Seven has been the object of many PSP owner’s adoration. Does Ys Seven rise up and live up to the hype?

Ys Seven begins with Adol, and his longtime pal, Dogi aboard a sea faring ship. Together they gaze at a distant Island. Little do they do know what significance this Island will hold for them in their coming adventure. Eventually, Adol and Dogi arrive in Altago City and it isn’t long before trouble begins to brew. Citizens of Altago begin to fall ill to a mysterious illness termed Iskan Fever. It’s up to Adol and his pals to unravel this new threat and save the world.

Gameplay:

Proceeding the game’s long-winded prologue, we’re finally able to set out on our quest . Initially, you start out with a 2 member party, but as the game progresses, the party grows exponentially. Combat is rather simplistic. In battles, you will usually have 3 characters on sight. The one you control, and two allies. Your allies will follow your every step. When you attack, they will attack as well. Ys Seven also discourages maining a single character. So if you expect to get through some enemies speedily, you’ll have to switch between characters of differing strengths. There are 3 character types. Adol is strong and his sword is great for close-range fights but won’t be of much use against more durable enemies. Dogi is big and extremely powerful but he’s slow and his punches won’t be very useful against smaller foes. Aisha is fast and her bow is great for attacking while staying out of the enemy’s range, but she isn’t very strong. As you and your team traverse Altago’s Plains and the various dungeons in Ys Seven, you’ll come across a variety of enemies. Some small, some big and some extremely large. To get past them, you will have to make use of your weapons. You attack using the X button and dash with []. The O button allows you to switch between your 2 or 3 on-screen characters, while the triangle button lets you access your inventory of health regenerative items + other important belongings.. If you hold the R button while pressing one of the face buttons, you will pull off a Skill. You can collect many of these skills or so I’ve heard, but I’ve only attained a few for each of my characters. You can only pull off special maneuvers when your Extra gauge is full. The extra gauge is the big yellow one at the bottom right of the screen. Use it sparingly because it takes quite a while to refill. The gameplay is fun, no doubt about it. There really isn’t anything for me to complain about in this category.

Ys Seven’s boss fights are truly a test of endurance. Now that may be a good or bad thing depending on your gaming preferences, but in my opinion they were either extremely fun, or extremely tedious, as was the case against the Wind Dragon. The Earth Dragon, on the other hand, was a blast. Some can take upwards of 20 minutes to complete, but how long a boss takes to defeat will depend on how strong you characters are. Players who do not level their characters enough will have a hard time, but those who level them too much might complain that the bosses are too easy. Most of these pattern-based bosses aren’t too difficult. With quick fingers, all attacks can be avoided with a well timed press of the dash button (except of course a certain arena wide blast during the first stage of the fight against Rul-Ende; that freaking bastard). The final boss, which is a series of 4 boss fights may prove to be a little heavy handed, and unless you’ve spent enough time training your characters, you will have one hell of a time getting through it. In fact, you might not get through it at all unless you go back and spend some time training your characters and upgrading their weapons and armor.

Presentation:

The game’s story is presented through lazy text-only cut-scenes typical of the RPG genre. The only time you actually hear your characters speak is when you switch between them mid-battle. Thankfully, the story was engaging enough to keep me entertained, and even perplexed at times. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, and that isn’t something I can say of too many games. The final twist near the end of Ys Seven that revealed the true instigator of all that had happened to Altago caught me off guard, so kudos to Falcom.

Ys Seven’s graphics aren’t eye catching but I suppose they aren’t horrible. The character models themselves look great, but could use a bit more detail. However, the landscapes are very bland. It just seems like not much effort went into them. It makes me anxious to see a Ys game developed for the Playstation 3 or even the PS Vita, which is a new Sony handheld capable of producing graphics of similar quality. Just take a look at the PS Vita: Gravity Rush screenshots in my previous blog. Such a beaut. It’s disappointing to see such a fantastic story with great gameplay be bogged down by such boring graphics.

Ys Seven’s soundtrack is simply awesome. Then again, fans often rave about the series’ music, so I guess I can attest to that now. The song Crossing Rage will play at the end of the first half of the game during a boss battle, and if you’re like me, it’ll get your blood boiling. You won’t want the fight to stop.

Pros:

Gameplay is fun
Story is great
Bosses can be challenging

Cons:

Graphics are pretty dull
Bosses can be extremely long

In Conclusion: I wasn’t a Ys fan before, but I definitely am now. Ys Seven is one of those games that just sucks you in. It isn’t a perfect game, and grinding for higher levels can get pretty tiresome, but the overall experience was pleasurable. Now its on to Ys: The Oath in Felghana. There is even a new Ys game in development for the Playstation Vita. Not much is known about it now, but be sure to keep an eye out for it.

Final Score – 4: Great but with a few short comings.

Gravity Rush: The PS Vita’s silent ‘killer app’?

Though the name Gravity Rush has been circulating PS Vita related gaming forums for some time now, it was only recently that I was introduced to this beautifully artsy game. “Only recently” because the game’s title made it seem as though it would be a lame mini-game focused on using all of the Vita’s new features to somehow control gravity, or something.

But boy was I wrong. I mean… I wasn’t just wrong. I was flat out, embarrassingly in error. Gravity Rush is anything but a lame mini-game.

For the curious bunch, here is the PS Vita: Gravity Rush trailer.

The character designs alone deserve praise, and the game’s visuals at times made me feel as though I was watching a top quality anime flick. That black cat at the beginning of the video is freaky, isn’t it? From the little bit of gameplay we see in the trailer, it looks as if it will be a platforming action title, and a damn good one at that. The game’s protagonist is Kat, whom with the help of a mysterious black cat, is able to control gravity. The game’s story will be presented in comic book style cutscenes, ala MGS Peace Walker. Not much is known about it yet though.

Here are some Gravity Rush screenshots:

There’s debate over when exactly Gravity Rush will be released, but most seem to be in agreement that it will be unleashed on the masses on February 22, 2012, the same day that the Playstation Vita sees its release. Though no official word has been given.

The final word: The Playstation Vita’s launch is just around the corner, and with it, so is the release of Gravity Rush. It’s shameful though, because it seems Gravity Rush isn’t receiving the attention it deserves. For months even I kicked it to the curb because of its title. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, while no slouch itself, seems to be hogging all spotlight. Rush’s fantastic looking gameplay, futuristic cities, beautiful artwork and unique qualities make it a no brainer for those looking for a new experience to take on the go.

Mark your calenders: February 22, 2012. The PS Vita will come stateside in 2 month’s time. The wait is too excruciating.

and for good measure, here are a few more mesmerizing Gravity Rush screenies:

All images were from http://www.siliconera.com

Metal Gear 1 & 2: Solid Snake for MSX – Mini Reviews

 

It’s about damn time that I got around to playing Solid Snake’s original adventures, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX system. I don’t actually have an MSX, obviously. By now those things are harder to find than God, and a working one with legitimate Metal Gear 1 and 2 Cartridges would likely cost a fortune. No, I didn’t bother tracking them down, but what I did do is download fMSX for the PSP. The fMSX is a software emulator designed to play MSX computer games. I downloaded MG 1 and 2 despite the fact that I actually do own both of them due to having the Persistence disc of the MGS 3 Subsistence edition. Let’s just say that playing those type of games on a big TV screen just isn’t my thing. I prefer them on a portable system. Actually, I’d prefer all my games on handheld devices, but that’s another topic for another day.

Let’s get down to it.

Metal Gear 1:

The Story

The year is 1995 and the United States received information that a Metal Gear was being produced within Outer Heaven. In response, the High Tech Special Forces Unit: Fox Hound, led by Big Boss, sent agent Gray Fox. Some time after he successfully penetrated the fortress’ outer walls, contact with Gray Fox ceased. His final transmission was, “Metal Gear”. Big Boss then sent in rookie agent, Solid Snake. His mission was to rescue Gray Fox and find out whether or not the enemy had a Metal Gear, and destroy it if they did.

Gameplay:

Compared to other games in the series, Metal Gear 1 is pretty simple. Solid Snake doesn’t have any neat tricks here. All he has are his guns, and a punch that comes in handy. Of course, there are also a nice array of gadgets, but he isn’t able to crawl, or make noise to attract enemies.

The bosses in Metal Gear are straightforward. None too challenging, although I do remember having a bit of a rough time against the Bulldozer. This giant machine is just coming towards you, and you have to throw bombs at it in rapid succession. I think ten was the number of hits it required to fall, but I was having a hard time getting them all in before it crushed me. Eventually though, it I destroyed it. The rest of the bosses, including Big Boss, were also extremely easy. It’s also nice to see that many of the bosses in recent MGS games have been around since the beginning. There’s a Tank, a Hind, and a nut case with a flamethrower. The fight against Metal Gear was pretty lame to be honest. It isn’t even activated. Your only threat comes from two cameras with death beams that kill anyone in the room. What you have to do, while avoiding the camera’s line of sight (which is incredibly easy) is plant (or throw? I forget) a crap load of bombs by Metal Gear’s legs. And they have to be planted in the correct order or else it won’t work.

I can’t say I enjoyed Metal Gear 1 all that much, though I did like it. The sneaking was pretty difficult this time around, but that was only because sometimes when you exit one screen and enter another, you’ll end up right in front of an enemy guard. It’d be almost impossible to beat the game without a guide. It was that damn confusing to me. I hardly ever knew where I was supposed to go, so I always kept a Gamefaqs tutorial handy.

Metal Gear 2 – Solid Snake:

The Story:

Well, here’s the gist from what I can recall. It was 1999 and the Cold War was over. The nuclear powers of the world had agreed to disable their nuclear weapons. Oil was at an all time low and on the verge of completely disappearing. That’s when Dr. Kio Marv developed Oilix, an algae capable of creating oil. Dr. Marv was kidnapped not long after publicizing his creation. Zanzibar Land, a country for soldiers, was soon implicated in his disappearance. Their plan was to use Oilix to become the world’s top Oil supplier, and then acquire WMDs and become the only Nuclear power. Solid Snake is then called in to fix the problem, just as he had done 4 years earlier during the Outer Heaven uprising. That’s when your mission starts.

Gameplay:

Actually, it was today, November 24 of 2011, Thanksgiving day, that I finally completed this game. It was here where many of Snakes’ trademark abilities first came to light. In Metal Gear 2, Solid Snake can punch walls to make noise and attract enemies and either lure them near his location for an easy kill, or to divert their attention elsewhere to create an opening and proceed unseen. Snake can crawl, and there is even a rather creative section in this game where you must crawl in a room full of sleeping enemy guards, to avoid walking on the noise amplifying tiles (?). It sort of reminded me of the section in MGS2‘s Tanker Chapter, where Snake had to crawl carefully to avoid being seen by the crowd of Marines. I was actually surprised at how much Metal Gear Solid 1 took from Metal Gear 2. If you’ve played MGS1, you will definitely recognize these sections:

1: Meeting a female operative in the ladies’ room.
2: A long, and I do mean long, section where you have to run up a flight of stairs while enemy troops chase you. I think this is even longer than MGS1‘s stair sequence.
3: Having to ‘cool’ and ‘heat’an object vital to the mission, so that it changes shape.
4: A fight against several armed goons in an elevator.

Some of the boss battles were challenging and fun. The first that comes to mind is The Running Man. The running man’s primary ability is his running speed, hence the name. The fight takes place in several screens as the room is quickly filling up with toxic gas. Because the Running Man is so fast, you will never be able to catch up to him. So what you have to do is equip your mines and place them in the areas that you know he will run through. But you have to be quick or else the gas will eat away your health bar until you’re dead. My personal favorite boss battle in Metal Gear 2 is the fist fight against Gray Fox. This was the most challenging moment in the game. You’re confined to a very small room full of mines. Throughout the fight, Fox will run around like a bat shit crazy idiot and try to punch you. You’ll have to run around quite a bit while being careful not to step on the mines. That’s easier said than done. Eventually, Gray Fox fell.

I’d say few of the bosses in this game were very memorable, though they may have been exciting back in 1990 when the game first released. The Hind D was disappointing, as was the fight against the supposedly super high tech mega nuke launching killer mech called Metal Gear D. I admit, I died perhaps 2 times and it was tougher than MG 1‘s Metal Gear model, but it became too easy once I figured out a sound strategy. Big Boss… oh how disappointing were thee. Wow. The supposed greatest soldier of the 20th century, The Boss’ most beloved apprentice, the man who destroyed the Cobras, killed Colonel Volgin, destroyed the Shagohod, killed The Boss, refused the DCI’s handshake and took down Peace Walker was killed by a lighter and a little fire. Fuck… You’d have to be an awfully inept gamer to lose against Big Boss in this game. He’s that easy to beat.

Yeah, I know the game is old and I should cut it some slack, but I just can’t picture Big Boss going out like that. It was just such a simple and appallingly easy fight. The Big Boss I know from Snake Eater and Peace Walker deserves better than that

If there is one thing to hate about Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series, it’s the constant back tracking, and it is at it’s worst in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. I know you folks who played MGS 1 probably can’t believe anything is worse than having to backtrack through Metal Gear Rex’s lair several times, or having to go all the way back to the Tank hangar for the PSG1, but MG 2 beats it by a long shot. Having to go back and forth from the Tower Building to the Zanzibar Building was so frequent, that sometimes I just felt like quitting the game altogether. But alas, I stuck it through to the end and the fight against Gray Fox made it all worthwhile.

Full Metal Alchemist: A Novel

I do not own Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood or any related properties. Full Metal Alchemist: A Novel is strictly my adaption of Hiromu Arakawa’s famed manga into novel form.

This is my attempt at a Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood novelization. At some point, I want to write my own novel, and reading other people’s novelizations of video games inspired me to at least try my own. I think writing a story that I am already very familiar with will be very helpful in building my own writing style for future endeavors.

Constructive criticism is welcomed. Flaming is not. So please be civil. If you do not like it, that’s fine, but do not resort to childish insults. They in no way help anyone improve upon their faults.

At the moment, I’ve only published the Prologue, but I’ve already begun work on Chapter 1.

******

Prologue

“Alphonse!” Yelled the panic stricken boy. Blood stained his young face and his blonde hair.

Panting as he looked around the darkened room, he cried once again, “Al, where are you!” But his call went unanswered.

Grief engulfed his widened eyes as he realized the severity of that which he had wrought upon himself and his younger brother. He gritted his teeth. Tears flowed from his distressed eyes, down his cheek and onto the ground beneath, barely within the borders of an ominous hand drawn circle housing mysterious symbols. The boy could no longer resist the pain that cursed through his body. He had tried to deter it long enough to find his brother, but now it excruciatingly consumed his very being. Clenching his fists as tightly as his little strength would allow, he desperately clamped down on his own forearm with his teeth and endured the crippling anguish. His screams were muffled by his own mouth. It took every bit of power he could muster to turn himself over and diagnose the cause. He quickly discovered to his dismay that his left leg, from the knee down had been taken away.

“Damn”, he said in a quiet, broken raspy voice.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen”, he said, tears still streaming from his exhausted eyes.

He turned over once again, faced down, the weight of his body bearing down on the one knee he had left. The boy was ladened with guilt for his little brother, because he knew what had happened to Alphonse, and to his own leg.

He raised his fist and then brought it crashing down with the little remaining strength he had.

“Dammit!” he bellowed, but no one heard his cry.

 

The Best Metal Gear Solid Novels & Fan Fiction

Okay, yeah yeah… I know fan-fics get a bad rap, but they’re not all clusters of shit. A lot of those aspiring authors exhibit exceptional talent. When that talent gets combined with a passion for video games, the result can be either a marvelous novelization of a classic game, or an original story set in a game series’ universe. Today I bring to you 3 novelizations, and one original story, all set in the world of Hideo Kojima’s legendary game series, Metal Gear Solid.

All the stories I chose had one thing in common; and that’s overwhelmingly positive reviews. I’ve yet to read any myself because I’m in the middle of my second read-through of Carl Sagan’s Contact, but I for one am taking the word of the dozens and dozens of reviewers who vouched for these stories’ awesomeness.

Let’s begin:

1.) The Joy of Battle: Historical Espionage Action by CobraShipper:

The Joy of Battle sets it’s attention primarily on MGS3‘s The Joy, better known as The Boss, and her Cobra Unit’s activities during World War 2. As of now, this is generally considered the best Metal Gear Solid fan fiction on the web.

Read The Joy of Battle: Historical Espionage Action Here

2.) Metal Gear Solid 1: The First Encounter by Rookie’s Eyes:

Don’t be fooled by the name. This is actually a novelization of the original MSX Metal Gear 1, not the Playstation continuation, Metal Gear Solid. Solid Snake is at the forefront of The First Encounter, and at the behest of his Commanding Officer; Big Boss, he must infiltrate the heavily guarded and seemingly impenetrable fortress, Outer Heaven.

So I finally got around to reading this book, and by God the reviewers were right. I was a little skeptical going in, but that doubt was quickly washed away within the first few paragraphs. Now that I’m perhaps just a few chapters away from it’s finale, I genuinely believe that Rookie’s Eyes did Kojima proud. But of course, there is room for improvement. Odd sentence structures and misspellings were plentiful but not so repetitive that it stifled my enjoyment. I also feel that the author didn’t immerse the reader as well as he could have. All that aside, Rookie’s Eyes did a tremendous job. His portrayal of The Machinegun Kid was just awesome, albeit cheesy in some parts, but it made for an entertaining read nonetheless.
Read Metal Gear Solid 1: The First Encounter Here

 

3.) Metal Gear Solid 2: Resurrection by Rookie’s Eyes:

Rookie’s Eyes (an obvious reference to the scene in MGS 1 where Snake first meets Meryl – Yay, I got the reference) is back with another novelization. This time it’s Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

Read Metal Gear Solid 2: Resurrection

You know, I think Metal Gear 1 and 2: Solid Snake are perfect candidates for novelization (especially MG 1) because there’s little to no story to be had, unlike the jarring MGS1 or the convoluted mess that was MGS2. So thumbs up to Rookie’s Eyes for putting some life into Metal Gear 1′s nonexistent story.

4.) Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons of Liberty by Dark Side Luke:

As the name should have led you to believe, this is a novelization of the second game in the Metal Gear Solid mythos, Sons of Liberty. However, it only includes The Tanker Chapter. You know, the one where you play as Snake. Not Raiden. Dark Side Luke’s adaptation was generally well-received by fans, and we all know how mean touchy MGS fundamentalists are when anyone messes with their beloved Snake. So since they like it, you should probably give it a go as well.

Read Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons of Liberty Here

I hope you enjoy these books as much as Solid Snake enjoys Meryl’s butt…

Seacrest Out

Review: Coby MP 620 – The Cheapest MP3 Player on the market today @ $20.00

I am a gigantic PSP fan. I use my PSP for everything and that includes watching videos, reading ebooks/comic books and listening to music. For a few years now, my PSP has been my go to mp3 player and I haven’t really bothered with any of the dedicated music players. So why did I decide to make the jump now? Well, as much as I love my PSP, I have to admit that it is a little too bulky. For a while that wasn’t a problem, but now I require something a little more compact and easy to take around.

I wasn’t willing to pay too much, so I settled for the cheapest thing I could find; The Coby MP620 MP3 Player with features including video & music playback, an ebook reader, picture viewer, FM radio, 2,4 or 8gb of memory depending on which model you purchase and more. It also comes packaged with a pair of earbuds and a USB cable used to charge the battery or transfer files to and from the player. The Coby MP620 does not come with a clip, so you will have to carry it around in your pockets.

Let’s begin the review.

In the Main Menu:

Once the player is fully charged and you’ve loaded some content onto it, turn it on and behold the Coby MP620‘s main menu. Remember, it’s a cheap alternative MP3 player, so don’t expect anything too stylish. In this menu, you will be presented with various modes.

1.) Music
2.) Photo
3.) Video
4.) Radio
5.) Extras
(Text, Explorer)
6.) Set Up
(Display, Time, Language, Sys Tools)

Play Your Music:

Push Enter when the Music label is highlighted and then go to browser to look through the songs you want to play. Once you’ve selected the song you want to play, press Enter. The sound quality is superb. For something that only costs $20.00, I was surprised to find that the audio quality was on par with my PSP’s. I noticed no difference at all. Just make sure to buy your own pair of headphones. The Earbuds that come packaged with the CobyMP620 are no good. Well… I guess they’re okay but I never really understood how people can get earbuds to stay in their ears. When I use them, they always fall out.

Navigation:

Navigating the Coby MP620‘s menus can be a bit tricky at first. It gets easier the more you do it but I just cannot call it intuitive. Sometimes when you’re scrolling through a long list of songs, the player will lag a bit. There is no Search function, so if you’re planning on putting a lot of songs on it, it’d probably be best to make separate folders for each genre of music to make finding your songs a little easier. If you’re searching through other files while a song you’re playing ends, you will automatically be taken back to the directory in which said song ended. Then you will have to sift through all your music files again to get back to what you were doing. The Player automatically categorizes your music into Albums, Genres and Artists. You also have the option of viewing all of your songs on one list. These features, at least in my view, are completely useless if you have more than a hundred songs, let alone enough to fill 4 gigs of space. As I said earlier, the easiest way to navigate around the Coby MP620 is to create separate folders for each genre, and then search through them using the Browser.
Can’t Make Playlists?

One big complaint about the MP620 that I’ve read over and over is that it’s unable to make Playlists. That isn’t entirely true. It’s actually sort of easy to make one… but I still haven’t figured out how to make a 2nd playlist. To make a playlist, simply go to one of the songs you want on your playlist and push the right button under the = symbol. It will then ask whether you want to Add it to the List. Then just press Enter and repeat that process for each song you want on your Playlist.

To get back to the main menu while playing a song, just press the Menu button twice. Note* Music will not play while you are in the main menu.

Other Modes

Photo: Photo quality is abhorrent. Really, that’s all that needs to be said about it. I definitely would not buy this Player for it’s photo display abilities.

Video: I haven’t tried out the Coby MP620‘s video player, but if the Photo feature is anything to go by, it probably isn’t anything special. I don’t think I’ll even bother. Besides, it only accepts an obscure video format called MTV, so you will have to convert all of your video files using the Coby Media Manager. It was bad enough that the PSP only accepted a special kind of MP4 file type. Is it really that difficult to create a player that accepts multiple, popular video formats? I’m starting to think that I should just go ahead and buy a Gemei A330 for my mobile video needs. It’s a cheap game device that was created for homebrew and to play classic games through emulators, but at least it supports various video formats.

FM Radio: The radio is probably the 2nd reason I wanted this player. Unfortunately, it isn’t great. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. I do like it, but the reception really sucks. That isn’t the player’s fault though. Where I live, radios generally don’t get good reception, so I guess the radio’s quality will depend on where you stay.

Extras:

1.) Text – Text Mode is the 3rd reason I wanted this player, but I think I’m going to have to stick with my PSP for Ebook reading. The Coby’s screen is far too small to enjoy reading a book. Sometimes a single sentence will take up the entire screen. Not good. But I suppose it would suffice if I had no other alternative.

2.) Explorer – This mode just lets you navigate through all the files on the Player. It’s pretty useless if you ask me.

Overall: I like the Coby MP620 and I knew what to expect when I bought it. I wasn’t expecting a feature rich player on equal footing with Apple’s products. That isn’t what it is. I wanted a device that allowed me to play a fuckload of songs, with good quality, and for a cheap price. The Coby MP620 succeeds in that, and although it’s other features don’t wow me, I appreciate the effort. The radio player is nice, and the photo and video viewers are okay if you have no other options yet.

I recommend this product if you’re looking for an extremely cheap mp3 player

Naruto Shippuden: Rock Lee vs Naruto – Live Action fan film by Thousand Pounds Action Co (Video Included)

 

Whoever said a proper live action adaptation of an anime could never be properly made? The Thousand Pounds Action crew has proved that theory wrong.

The following video was made by TPAC, the same crew that brought us the Femme Fatale Street Fighter 4 combos video, but this time they’ve invaded the world of Naruto.  Once again, they showed Hollywood how it’s done and created a kick ass video that no fan of Naruto should miss.

The video starts off with the ever determined Rock Lee challenging Naruto, who had just saved the Leaf Village from the 7 Paths of Pain, to an all out, but friendly brawl. Love it or hate it, even Rock Lee’s over enthusiasm is present in this 12 minute film. Do yourself a favor and check this out. You won’t be disappointed.