New Releases 2012: May 27-June 16

WEEK of 5/27
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland (PS3)
Max Payne 3 (PC)
Pure Chess (PS3, PSV)
Resistance: Burning Skies (PSV)
Sega Vintage Collection: Golden Axe (X360)
Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage (X360)

WEEK of 6/3
Inversion (PS3, X360, PC)
Madagascar 3: The Video Game (PS3, X360, PSV, 3DS, WII, DS)
Rayman Origins (3DS)
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (PS3, X360)

WEEK of 6/10
Dirt Showdown (PS3, X360)
Gravity Rush (PSV)
Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, X360)
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PSV)
Pikmin 2 (WII)
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (PC)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PC)

Pick 5: Favorite Podcasts (Revision 3)

The last time I revised this list only The HotSpot remained from the very first list. Now that it’s no longer active and that I’ve listened to a few new shows, here’s my brand new updated Pick 5 of my favorite podcasts.

GIANT BOMBCAST
For the longest time I stayed away from the Giant Bomb website mainly because of the horrible community and their lack of respect for anyone else. Of course, this never affected my feelings on the main crew behind the site. They’ve always been great. With their return to CBS Interactive, I was pleasantly surprised by the podcast. Vinnie’s stories of fatherhood have been especially entertaining as of late. Great stuff all around.

THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
As those of you who follow me on Twitter know, I also like keeping up with politics and news in general. In podcast form I was happy to find The Jimmy Dore Show. It’s a group of comedians talking about the news of the last week and it’s quite hilarious. There’s also fantastic impersonations of current public figures. One of regular guests on the show, Frank Conniff, will make fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 happy. Check this one out! You won’t be disappointed and you’ll stay informed.

NO MORE WHOPPERS
Hosted by Ray Barnholt and Alex Fraioli. The topics mainly revolve around Alex and his life living in Japan. It’s very interesting to hear how different, but also how similar the culture of Japan is versus America. The most recent episode (#13) had an intriguing story of Alex trying to get his Internet hooked up. Oh, yeah, and there’s gaming talk too. An odd title, but a great listen.

MLW’s KONNAN SHOW
I was a huge wrestling fan from October 1998 until about mid-2006. These days I keep up with the shows mainly via WWE or TNA’s websites and listening to Live Audio Wrestling on Sundays. Konnan was starring on WCW’s shows during the time I was big into the sport. I wasn’t ever his biggest fan, but I do enjoy listening to outspoken people who don’t BS and he’s one of them. You’ll get much more out of this podcast if you’re familiar with wrestling in general at the very least.

MINTCAST
This is a Linux podcast which talks about a variety of subjects. The main topic of discussion is focused around the Linux Mint OS, which I currently use. Other topics include the best of free software and where Linux is going overall in the near future.

Of course I’d have to place a mention of my own podcast at the end of such a blog post.

Shameless plug: Hart & Usagi Podcast – Episode 14

Moonraker

Just a little over a month ago I chose not just which Bond films I’d like to see the missions in 007 Legends, but also which ones might be chosen. I guessed Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Moonraker, Licence to Kill, and The World Is Not Enough.

In the “super trailer” for Skyfall it included a second half revealing Moonraker as the first mission for 007 Legends. One for one! It wasn’t ever said it’d be one mission from only one film of each of the actors. However, that’s how I chose them. Despite wanting to see For Your Eyes Only, I’m not surprised Moonraker was it. The ones with more spectacle will likely be in the game.

GameSpot news: James Bond returns October 16

FYI: Don’t forget to check out the latest episode of the Hart & Usagi Podcast.

Hart & Usagi Podcast #14

Episode 14 of the Hart & Usagi podcast is upon you with just about an hour of conversation on gaming news and a few other topics of interest.

TOPICS:
* Street Fighter X Tekken sales fall short of Capcom expectations, ‘cannibalism’ blamed
* Redesigned Wii U tablet shown off by TT Games QA guy
* Diablo III & anti-consumerism + online pass
* American Gladiators (Zap)
* Recent game shopping
* Shoot-’em-up reviews
* Journalism (aka Garme Jurnalizm)

Listen or Download (1 hour)
RSS feed for the show.

The Raiden Project

The cases of visiting a video game store are rare for me these days. However, one in particular that I found in Delaware was called Gameplay Unlimited. The experience was top notch in a few ways most every other place isn’t. The store was clean and well lit. The staff was attentive to customers and I never felt I was ignored or a nuisance. A number of shops I’ve been to felt like a place for the owner’s friends to hang out at. I’m glad to say it wasn’t at this shop.

Another thing that always seems to be the case is that games are priced as if gold was falling out of them. The Raiden Project for the original PlayStation is a good example. It’s a compilation of the arcade shoot-’em-ups Raiden and Raiden II and granted it’s an early PS1 game that didn’t sell well and has since been rare and hard to find. Most places, like eStarland.com, will charge $50 or more for a complete copy. I found it in the wild at Gameplay Unlimited for half the price!

For the other three games I bought, they don’t exactly show up themselves all that much. They are:

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (GEN)
Space Harrier II (GEN)
Gun Smoke (NES)

Click for a larger view.

Oh and by the way, that’s Delaware the city (Ohio) not the state. Thanks for reading!

Red Tempest

With all of the worries of my PC situation I haven’t played much. Because of this Yakuza 2 has been started, but the progress has been slow. Currently I’m at Chapter 4 with 4 hours and 28 minutes of playtime. This places me in a small area of Osaka where I’m finding locker keys galore while in the process of earning ¥300,000 for some information. The game hints at playing Mahjong to earn this money since this is where the informant is. However, I don’t know how and the instructions make to look like it’d be no fun. It’ll take longer, but I’d rather just roam the streets looking for a fight.

I’ve also, as you can tell, haven’t added a new blog post in over a week. While normal for many, it’s not for me. Again this was due to the new PC arriving. It did and I shall now give you a look at it with some specs to follow.

FRONT | BACK | INSIDE

* AMD A6-3670K 2700MHZ APU RETAIL
* CORSAIR 60 GB FORCE SERIES SATA 3 FORCE 60 MLC SSD
* 1TB SATA III 7200 RPM 3.5″ HARD DRIVE
* 8GB DDR3 PC3 PC1333
* NZXT RED TEMPEST 210 MID TOWER CASE
* LG 24X DVDRW
* 12-IN-ONE INTERNAL CARD READER
* 500W POWER SUPPLY ATX
* MSI A75MA-G55 FM1 AMD A75 DDR3 HDMI DDR3 SATA 3 USB 3

Thanks for reading!

Favorite Firefox Add-ons

The following is a list of nine Firefox add-ons I always use. It’s certainly more than I used to install.

* Adblock Plus
For obvious reasons this is one of the most popular add-ons and an absolute must if you don’t want to be driven insane from just trying to browse the Internet. It’s always the first I install.

* Cookie Controller
I like having complete control over the cookies I allow and block. I refuse any and all cookies from websites I never sign into. With a single click this can be done for any site currently visiting. It also gives super quick access to the entire list of cookies from the right-click menu. I previously used CookieSafe for this purpose.

* CookieMan Context
This add-on just simply adds a right-click menu for the entire list of cookies to easily set an expection rule to block or allow. Using it in conjunction with Cookie Controller makes sorting through the list a breeze.

* Copy Pure Text
This one might sound completely pointless since all it does is copy text, but it’s been a must-have for me for years. When copying text into Microsoft Word or a similar word processor with the normal copy command, it keeps all of the formatting and leads to having to make the pasted text match the rest you’ve already typed. Highlight, right-click, and Copy As Text removes the website’s format like font type and size. This way you can paste the text and continue. It will match your format right away.

* Do Not Track Plus
As you’ve probably heard, a number of companies track where you go and what you do on most every website you visit. Google along with Facebook, Twitter, and a number of unknown others lurk in the background tracking and targeting your behavior. This is how they make their money. This is an add-on I just started using yesterday after checking to see if there was a standalone version AVG’s since I wanted it once I return to using Linux Mint. I instead came across this one which is much better.

* Download Statusbar
Another longtime plugin I always use. It’s great to see all files being downloaded without it being in a separate window that gets in the way. It’s convenient and out of the way, but always on screen.

* HootBar
Those of you who follow me on Twitter have likely seen this listed as one of the clients I use. Outside of my main client of either Choqok or Twhirl, I use this add-on to easily send links with my updates right from the Firefox address bar. It was originally called TwitterBar.

* Open With
This is a simple add-on that lets you open a web page in another browser. I’d previously used IEView, but then needed a Linux alternative. I found it with Open With. The big difference was it lets you list multiple browsers instead of just Internet Explorer. Also, as I’ve found out, it’s available for Windows too.

* Weather Watcher Live
I’ve known about Weather Watcher for quite a long time. Before I used it as a part of Firefox, I had it as a standalone client. It still has all of the functions of the client and the weather information can be placed in many different locations on the browser window always in view.

The HotSpot Rides Off Into The Sunset

The last remaining of my original list of five favorite podcasts has officially ended. GameSpot’s The HotSpot has closed up shop with its final episode being from last week. It was a great close to seven year run and I shall miss it.

I know a majority of listeners remember fondly on the first two years of the show which featured the classic GameSpot crew. I do too, but, while a different feel, I still really enjoyed the Hotspot later on with the new cast of reviewers as well. Both were great to listen to in their own right.

Which podcast will now occupy the empty spot on my top five list? It’s difficult to say at the moment, however, early contenders are the ++Good Games Podcast, SideScrollers, and No Pink Spandex.

—

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne has been added as game number 17 to my finished list for 2012.

As far as my thoughts on the game, I’m torn. I like to improved controls and the added secondary fire for grenades. The graphics are also a step up despite being on the same engine as the initial game. Other welcome changes was extra slow-mo while in bullet time for each additional enemy killed.

However, there are a few sections of the game where I didn’t like what I had to do. The first to come to mind is the goal of protecting/covering for Max while playing as Mona. That was less than thrilling. There were also a bit too many times where you’re up high on a slim ledge and could easily fall off. I hope you saved before attempting. The final boss fight against Vlad had its problems of figuring out what to do.

All in all Max Payne 2 is a better playing game, but doesn’t always give you the fun playground the first game had.

—

On the collection front, I recently sold my PlayStation 2 copy of Guitar Hero: Metallica to Usagi704. Today it was replaced by a new import copy of Kamen Rider Climax Heroes Fourze on PSP.

Now Playing: April 2012

Welcome my friends to the April 2012 edition of Now Playing.

During the month I felt the need to up my number of games finished for this year. And that I did so with another four. X-Men (PSN) and Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival (GBA) were revisits.

Also on the Game Boy Advance I finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Easy difficulty. I did start the game on Normal, but it proved more of a challenge than I was expecting. The game has checkpoints, but when I restarted at one I only had a small amount of health left. Restarting that over and over again wasn’t any fun.

Each of the turtles have their own set of levels in four acts each giving a total of 16. After beating them on Easy, Normal was a bit better, but I still got stuck when the obstacles in the way changed. And to think the Konami code gives an additional difficulty level of Very Hard.

On the front of games suggested to play by my GS buddies, I completed Assassin’s Creed II as suggested by Gigastormz. The game was amazing and I gave it a 9.5 as well as obtaining the platinum trophy. Get caught up on my thoughts of ACII here.

The final game I have to play is Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PS2) as suggested by lightwarrior179.

I just recently started it. The save system is very PC-like. This is a good and a bad thing. It’s good because you’ll start exactly where you were standing when last saved. The problem comes up when you forget to save. Max Payne 2 doesn’t ever autosave or have checkpoints. I found this out the hard way. I died quickly where you meet with Mike the Cowboy and since I didn’t save I had to play from the beginning of the game back to that point…twice. Now I’m up to Part II, Chapter 3 and I’m saving any time I think I could easily die. Lesson learned.

The controls are again well done despite being tweaked. Jump was moved to X and R2 is now for grenades and the like. Very smart decisions all around.

That’ll do it for now. Game on!

CISPA Passed House, Worse Than Ever

I was going to post my monthly Now Player article today, but news on CISPA has been springing up quite a bit over the last two days.

If you’re not familiar with CISPA, then please take the time to view this initial video from The Young Turks about it. They also further explained it this last Tuesday.

As reported today by GamePolitics.com, the House of Representatives quickly passed an altered version of CISPA with horrible new amendments which does away with any 4th Amendment rights online altogether. Thanks a lot, Jim Jordan.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Sign this petition at demandprogress.org showing you’re displeased with CISPA and to signal to the Senate to kill CISPA.

2) Also, while you’re there, also sign this petition to urge Obama to veto CISPA if it reaches his desk.

Thanks for standing strong!