Legend of Grimrock - So Old School

You want to ride on this bus? Are you BADASS enough?

So, a while back I mentioned that I would not be buying any new games in 2012.  This was a lie.  Well, at the time it was true, but in retrospect my desire to buy new games was greater than my resolve to finish the pile of unplayed games in my collection.  I should have seen this coming, but I have a mental disorder that causes me to buy games I don't need. I've been trying to be good about it though, and so far have only been buying games using proceeds from old games that I sold on half.com (where you really ought to be selling games, by the way) and my amazon rewards from my credit card.  My latest acquisition was Legend of Grimrock, which I paid $12 for and has been worth every penny so far.

Legend of Grimrock  is a modern take on old school dungeon crawlers in the vein of Ultima Underworld, Dungeon Master, and Eye of the Beholder.  If you've played and enjoyed any of those games, you should run off to the Grimrock site or Steam and just pickup your copy now. You won't regret it.  If don't know what any of those games are, they're basically first person grid-based RPGs where you navigate a dungeon one tile at a time, explore, avoid traps, solve puzzles, and fight monsters all in real time.  Your 4-man (or woman, insectoid, minotaur, or lizard-man) party is represented by little portraits in the lower right hand corner.  You never see them, but you'll become deeply attached to them as you scavenge equipment from the dungeon and level them up in one of three classes: fighter, mage, and rogue.



I'm only on the 2nd floor of the dungeon right now, but this game has really brought to the forefront a bunch of thoughts that have been swirling around in the back of my head.

1)  You don't need to re-invent the wheel, you just gotta make a good one.  Originality is nice, but taking an existing concept and refining the hell out of it can be just as good.

2) The PC is going to change how we value games.  As time goes on, the $60 console game is looking less and less appealing.  Some of these less expensive PC games might not have all the bells and whistles of your average console title, but they play just as well or even better depending on what genre of game you favor.

3)  The success of western RPGs (Fallout 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect, etc.)  is wrecking the genre a bit.  What do all of those games have in common? They're all too EASY.  It's nice when a game like Grimrock comes around and beats the stuffing out of you a little.

Anyway, that's all.  It's hot tonight and the laptop is starting to melt my nether regions. 

I Just Blu Myself - Replacing My PS3 Slim BluRay Drive

Cocktail, semolina cake,tools: Check!

About a year ago I decided to purchase a blu-ray copy of Ghost in the Shell, my DVD copy having got lost somewhere or lent out and never returned.  I wound up buying Ghost in the Shell 2.0, which seemed to me a sad indication that the true sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence was being disowned by Manga entertainment or whoever puts those films out.  I was sad to see that they had chosen to make some alterations to the original film in this reissue, including but not limited to re-voicing the Puppet Master (scandalous!), but the disc contained the theatrical version of the movie so it was basically a two for one. The disc arrived, and upon placing it into my PS3 I discovered that it would not read.  Instead, I got a series of clicks and a sound like the disc drive wanted to throw up the disc before finally just quitting any and all attempts to read the movie. My PS3 still read games fine, so I just figured it was some random issue with this one disc, you know, as opposed to a problem that would require me to bust open my PS3.

Fast forward to a few months ago.  I had rented the terrible Captain America from the Redbox at Wegmans only to find that it too would not read in my PS3. Perhaps this issue was one that affected all blu-ray movies and not just Ghost in the Shell 2.0?  After putting the disc in many times, turning the PS3 on and off, and much cursing, the disc finally spun up properly and I was able to fall asleep during Captain America.  I had resigned myself to just not watching anymore blu-rays until I bought Final Fantasy XIII after listening to some lively discussion about the series on Giant Bombcast and decided that I needed to see what that game was all about. When that game didn't load, displaying the same routine that those blu-ray movies had, I realized I had a serious (not really) problem.  

Best $22 I ever spent!

A few days of research suggested that I had one of two problems: either my blu-ray laser was dirty, or it was failing and needed to be replaced.  I decided to crack open my ps3 to try and clean the laser first.  This was simple enough after ordering the required tools on Amazon.  Cleaning the laser did not solve my issue, though it did reveal the true nature of my problem.  My blu-ray laser was failing and would no longer read dual layered blu-rays, which it turns out includes most movies and some games, Final Fantasy XIII included.  I ordered a replacement blu-ray laser from some factory in Hong Kong the next day.  

Blu-ray drive removed.

Replacing the laser was a bit more harrowing than just cleaning the defective one had been. There were so many screws.... so many screws.  Also, removing the main board and spindle motor from the drive took a little more bending and forcefulness than I was comfortable with. When that final screw finally comes out of the mount that keeps the laser attached to the little drive that moves it back and forth, and everything just falls apart, one begins to wonder whether or not they've made a huge mistake by voiding the warranty, as well as the option of post warranty service by Sony, of a mostly functional PS3 to implement a fix that'll allow them to play a game they weren't even terribly excited to play in the first place.  

The guts of the blu-ray drive.

In the end, after some finagling, I did manage to get the new laser installed and I was able to boot up Final Fantasy XIII.  Even more surprising was the fact that it turns out that I did really want to play Final Fantasy XIII, but that I just didn't know it until after I spent a little time with the game. That's a story for next time, though. Lastly, it's my understanding that all PS3 slims use the same dual laser setup for the blu-ray drive, so if you run up against a similar problem I highly recommend purchasing a replacement laser (part# KES-450A), a torx t-8 sercurity driver, and a reasonably small phillips head screwdriver set.  You can save yourself a couple of hundred dollars not having to replace your out of warranty PS3. 

No New Games 2012 - Also, Shadows of the Damned

It's 2012 now, and though there are many amazing games on the way (Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite, a Firaxis developed XCOM game), I think it's time to put my foot down and stop buying so many goddamned games.  Though black friday itself was a complete disappointment for me this year, the weeks leading up to Christmas were absolutely ripe with amazing deal from Best Buy, GameFly and Steam.  Amazon, not so much this year.  What I wound up with was this:

One of the most sadly overlooked games of 2011.

Shadows of the Damned (PS3 - $14 from GameFly)
Dirt 3 (PS3 - $15 Best Buy)
Portal 2 (PS3 - $15 Game Fly)
Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii - $8 Best Buy)
Bullet Storm (PS3 - $8 Best Buy)
Witcher: Enhanced Edition (PC - $5 or so, Steam)
Civilization V: GOTY (PC - $16 or so, Steam)
Rock of Ages (PC - $2.50, Steam)
Bastion (PC - $5, Steam)

whew, I think that's it.  It should be noted that used titles from GameFly come in amazing condition with all of the relevant packaging, manuals and online codes (really surprising). Somewhere in all this amazing shopping, I willfully forgot about all the other games I haven't finished and now that I'm looking at the pile it has made me a little sad.  Those titles include but are not limited to:

Dark Souls (PS3)
Little Big Planet 2 (PS3)
Resonance of Fate (PS3)
3D Dot Heroes (PS3)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3)
Okami (Wii)
Mad World (Wii)
Metroid: Other M (Wii)
VVVVV (PC)
Braid (PC)
Torchlight (PC)
Final Fintasy IV Complete (PSP)
Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
Zettai Hero Project (PSP)

They know who their audience is. ME!

So really, I've got my work cut out for me this year.  I'm starting with Shadows of the Damned. It's a shame that game didn't sell more, because really it is amazing.  The action is alright, but the setting and story are absolutely top notch and I've laughed out loud more than once. The writing is incredibly smart and self-aware, serving the dual purpose of diffusing any outrage one might feel towards the stereotypical portrayal of both the hispanic protagonist Garcia "Fucking" Hotspur and his scantily clad damsel in distress, as well as being a breath of fresh fucking air after what seems like an eternity spent wallowing in a generation of games defined by how gritty its modern military shooters could be.  It's nice to see a game so thoughtfully define its own original mythology and then just run with it like it's just plain common sense that strawberries are demonic treats made from ground-up tongues.  Do yourself a favor and pick this game up, you can get it cheap these days.

The Pile - My Backlog

It's that time of year again...

I've got a few short weeks to get through this before new releases start getting lumped on top. I discuss my priorities in that regard here.

In other news, Scars of Mirrodin block drafting is about as good as it gets. Didn't win that one, but played well considering my deck was kind of a trainwreck.