Homefront....

I just started playing Homefront.... yeah I have heard it sucks but I liked the premise and having never watched a review and only seeing a few posts put it down, will my opinion be different going in with basically no prejudice against the game at all. I can say this much the game is pretty hard, I am certainly no FPS master, but I have beaten Wolfenstein, and Wolfenstein The New Order in the last year so I can make it threw , however Homefronts beginning is certainly harder than most games I have played. The only game that killed me faster was perhaps Killzone 2..... OHH A REVIEW ON THAT GARBAGE IS COMING! I haven't played very far in the game but so far I like the mechanics and the way the game handles and feels. It looks fine for a PS3 game of that time period, its no Last of Us as far as getting the most out of the PS3's power, but it does the job well enough. BUT like I was saying I have just started the game. So what are your opinions? What am I in for? What should I look for as far as Easter Eggs. I WILL NOT look up any walk through or videos. I promise to do this , if you , the few and fun fans I have, will post with your own opinions and tips top Homefront. And do you think the whole mess this game started was deserved?

SOME GREAT FINDS

Looking for a boxed COMPLETE copy of Secret of Mana, tired of seeing buy it nows in the 2, 3, even 4 hundred dollars..... If your seriously interested in buying a few complete in box RPG's contact me via Facebook..... Serious Collectors only.... pictures will be provided when a serious buyer is being dealt with.

DOOM..... or dooomed

Raise your hand if you played the new DOOM game yet...... yeeeeah me neither. Mainly because I don't have a PS4, and also because I have lost faith in DOOM. The format is old, stale, and after that total shit fest of a game they CALLED doom a fewyears back , and I have the BFG Edition, so if that's the best then good god for those with the regular edition. The game felt like a PS2 generic shooter, with stupid jump scaresthat don't make you jump, and use of lighting that was supposed to be scary and mood inducing, but serves only to frustrate and make things hard to see in a frustrating not tension building way. No The first DOOM reboot was SHIT in my book, and I have not read or watched a single review on the game, just bought it used thinking, wow doom, my childhood has come full circle. You see DOOM back in 95, 96 was the most amazing thing we had ever seen. And almost every computer able to run it in our grade school had a copy hidden on it. Only those of us who knew how to bring up the dos prompt and knew the proper location could play, so we kept it a well guarded secret. Back then you where allowed to go to the classrooms a hour or two before morning class even started, and since I was one of the first ones there everyday because of my rides timing for work, I would rush to one of the rooms, and get on there before anyone else could and the shareware first level would be started immediately. IDDQD.... followed by IDKFA, and if I was feeling bored IDNOCLIPPING (very fun on Duke Nukem) and the mayhem would start and go for the next hour or two.

That shareware version followed us into High School and was hidden on every computer there too along with Quake, and even Blood on some "cool" teachers computers. Hell I remember having death matches on the Quake shareware game using Mplayer before it became Gamespy with our Youth Services Center Manager, and several other students all in one game over a 56k (modem if you where lucky). But no matter what if you were bored that first chapter of DOOM was like an old mattress, worn just for you, like a glove it fit and demons, beware, because the BFG was coming for you!.

Doom 3 BFG Edition, was not my doom...... it just didn't feel like doom, it felt more like a Half Life crossed with Dead Space..... both good by themselves but together.....not so much. So what of this new game? I would love to hear your feedback. Is it good? Is it a system seller like they are hoping it was and like the Last of Us was for PS3 too me. IS IT DOOM AGAIN..... or just a generic shooter , with service once you get past " THIS IS THE NEW DOOM IT MUST BE AWESOME BECAUSE ITS DOOOOOM! phase of your relationship with the game? To me the way they did the last two Wolfensteins ESPECIALLY NEW ORDER is how you reboot a series while staying true to the source and not just being a blatant cash in. Is the new doom as good as New Order???? Give me your feedback and your memories of playing the old DOOM games either at home , a friends, at school, or even on your console at home , with your mother wondering why you have a red cartridge sticking out of your SNES. Thanks for reading and please keep reading and share me with all your friends who would be interested, I plan on promoting a few good Emulation sites soon because i am a fan f the whole concept. Until next time this is your no shit writer....Michael.... I'm outta here!

GOT OUT BEFORE THE BUBBLE BURSTS AND YOU SHOULD TOO!

Ok this may sound bad... But I took a few of my most rare things to the great Page 3 Game Zone..... the only place I know that gives a good price for trade ins. So good.... For what would fit in a box maybe two foot by two foot, I got about 900 dollars worth of trade in. NOT TO MENTION trading A sealed Ultima SNES game for a PS3 strait up... Page 3 is the ULTIMATE place for gamers and geeks (used lovingly) of any kind. Weather your a D&D player, a MTG player, hell they have a room set up with games for you to TRY AND SEE IF YOU LIKE! The workers are all nice, and not that I AM SO COOL AND NO MORE THAN YOU ABOUT EVERYTHING attitude that you get at places like Monkey Punch... No Page 3 is the real deal . I am going to do a much longer piece on them both on here and on my main blog www.theconcreteyear.blogspot.com.... I am going to expose the difference in how to run a good honest business that has been there since the mid 90's (Page 3) and a rip off joint that only makes it because of the way they under pay, over charge, and basically rip people off at places like Monkey Punch.

Translated Snes Games a Few Peaks

Title of TRANSLATED FILE :

(J) [T+Eng.5b_SStrans] A very surprising title. It's a strategy RPG with very bright, if not anime, very Japanese inspired graphics. The game is very easy to pick up on and the characters make it fun even if those boring opening missions which we all know we had to grind threw in the old days when they thought people where too stupid for RPG's. Just imagine if it was a full English conversion, there would have been an extra half hour explain to us the difference between fight and defend. At least with a translation it does move along at a good pace, and the story picks up quickly. The only real fault I saw that got on my nerves was the overly large cartoonish looking script used top introduce chapters or menus. You start off with a few standard characters but much like Fire Emblem each unit is its own individual, Rim, the Knight with good stats and OK damage dealing ability. Average in everything else. Momo, the Minotaur, the heavy hitter with higher than average hit points but still able to be taken down when ganged up on. Ernie..... a rather comical looking "Golem" that just looks kinda like a pillar with stubby legs. It only deals, and takes 1 damage the majority of the time but from time to time he will unleash a powerful attack killing his enemy in one hit. Dan the Rabbit is the archer, missile combat unit of the group. Watch his HP's but good at a decent range. Tam is the female obligatory White Mage. She is really really useful and must be kept alive at all cost I would certainly recommend this to anyone with an EverDrive or who emulates since these games haven't been released in English as far as I know, its the only way to play them. Emuparadise, I think Coolroms still pack TGFX 16 ROMS. Both sites are great and have good quality files .

Playing PS1 Classics on the PS3..... The Good, the Bad, and the SURPRISINGLY SLOOOOOW

     Everyone knows my love for retro games. I am particularly fond of the systems I grew up on as a child and played into and shortly after my high school years. Namely the NES, Genesis, Playstation 1 and PS2. Of course I played Mr. Woodgrain himself the Atari, and many of my friends in Elementary School had the SNES , which made for great sleepovers as we would bring our respective systems and games and play the gems we didn't get too on an everyday basis. I also had a Gameboy (won during the launch contest  where Nintendo partnered with Pepsi to give them out to lucky cola drinkers under the lids of 2 liter bottles (a great memory of winning I will have to write in a later post) and I even had a Game Gear, the beauty of having divorced parents at Christmas :)....... I still collect for these systems and have some of my original consoles from those many years ago. The cartridges all work amazingly well for their age, with many still holding their saves even though the battery backup should have died long long ago.
     Now I admit as a kid, I was always into more the action genre, fighting games, platformers, anything with bright colors and cool graphics. But as I got older and received my first CD based system the Sony Playstation, I started to take the games more seriously and become more engrossed in their stories. This most certainly had to do with my age as the PSOne came out when I was a teenager, and I worked at a comic book/hobby shop, where wonderful stories of all kinds where at my fingertips to read, or with a simple bag of dice in my head to act out . What I am getting at is story became really important and although I had tried several RPGs before, as I've said before FF7 turned me into a lifelong fan of the genre. Here's where I start to get into my problem, solution, then problem with the solution....
     While I still collect cd/dvd/br based games, that dread two words that put fear in any gamer have started to creep into my collection....... thats right.... DISK ROT! A perfectly fine copy of Chrono Cross sits on my shelf, besides some scratches on the case it is in remarkable condition. However when it starts your in for a roll of the dice as it may freeze before game play starts, it may freeze less than a minute in, it may wait till you engage in the first battle, but most of the time not very much longer before it simply freezes. I have gotten lucky twice and played between 45 minutes to about an hour before it froze, but it finally did as soon as I got my hopes up that I may have beaten the CURSE!
     The disk media is dying, and honestly I can not figure out how to save it, as other collectors have spoken themselves that there is no real rhyme or reason to it, climate can effect it but even then if a disk decides to start breaking down it will, and once it does we have lost that ability to play these games on their original hardware. I think if you can prove you have a real copy of such a game that Sony should provide you with a free backup copy to play on your PS3 or PS4 at your leisure, but this presents my next problem.
     Having finally bought a used PS3 after the 4 came out, I have been really surprised by how much I enjoy it, and was able to pick up on the games much quicker and less frustrated than I had expected. I started slowly buying games I had heard where good, with deep stories and easy to pick up ,hard to master game mechanics. A collector always looking for a deal, it wasn't long before I had games like Last of Us for 10 bucks, the Mass Effect Trilogy for 15, and some quality titles from all different genres in my collection. They where great, hell are great, it doesn't mean I am gonna rush out and buy a PS4 (why should I, I have years of PS3 games to catch up on) but I still wanted to play those games from the past, and not have to go threw the hassle of HOPING they would play, and the let down when they didn't.
     So when I started really downloading a lot from the PSstore after a HD upgrade gave me the extra space, I was surprise dto find many many of my favorite titles really cheap. Even cheaper after I joined PS Plus which for a gamer on a budget is quite a great bargain.
    SO I jumped in head first and purchased two games I had played but never had gotten to finish over the years, and one game I wanted to play simply because I had part two  as a physical copy for the PS2. Those games are Chrono Trigger PSOne version, Final Fantasy 9 (probably the MOST CRIMINALLY OVERLOOKED entry into the FF series) and Grandia 1 , which was a must since part 2 is begging me to play it, but my OCD forces me to play part 1 first. 
     I ADMIT, I have never owned Chrono Trigger before..... I was a Genesis kid what can I say, and I never even played the many remakes except for short sessions at friends or families houses. But whats the use in playing an RPG at a friends house, your only going to get started when you have to quit, and the odds of your saved game being there next time you visit are slim to none. So  YES    I emulated it instead of paying the war ransom prices it fetches online now days. I played both the SNES version and the PS version on emulators and besides the slightly fuzzy cutscenes that were par for the course in the 90's,  found both versions ran well, and played spot on (and that is saying something for the PS version since my computer is slightly older and some games run a little slow on PSX, the emulator I use)
     Needless to say I xpected these games to run with hardly any load times, andwith the picture as clear as possible considering the resolution each game ran in and the differences in tv's and resolutions between then and now. I admit, the picture was fine, actually better than anormal PS2 hooked up to my tv for the most part, but what really baffled me where the loading times. Grandia seamed close to the original PS loading times, faster onsome parts but the area changes seamed about the same amount of time, FF9 seamed slightly slower all the way around with load times but the most anoying being the load times for battles and just HOW EXTREMELY FUUUUUUCKING SLOOOOOW the battles could be. I loved FF9.  And I thought maybe my nostalgia is getting the best of me and it was this slow before but I just never noticed. Thats when I took a old, dusty, beat up PS ONe frome my shelf and saw for myself......... low and behold I was right, it was slower on certain parts.
     But the one game that really really just aggravated the shit out of me has been Chrono....... DON'T GET ME WRONG! I love the story, the sprites, the combat, the everything ! Its a classic as we all know, NOT WORTH THE FIRST BORN CHILD YOU WOULD HAVE TO SELL FOR A BOXED COPY! but certainly one of the best RPG's ever made nomatter which era . But a PS version, of a SNES game..... you would think it would run spot on, with no real loading at all, it should basically be the SNES version with cutscenes, no loading times, no awkward stopping and stuttering of the sprites or animation, no 5 or 10 seconds of the enemies mid movement frozen with dumb stares before they finally finish their last few frames of animation and a battle begins. How is this possible? At first I chalked it up to emulation, but then I thought.... "wel I emulate this game, on a much less powerful machine than a PS3, and it plays much faster" thats when I become STUMPED!...... I'm sure there is some extremely technically feasible reason for it, but like all tech problems, with a little ingenuity and outside the box thinking, they can be fixed in no time.
     With such a beloved RPG, and one that without a doubt PSN has sold thousands of copies of to people eager to play a copy they feel they OWN even if its just 0's and 1's...... you would think Sony would put a little more effort forward and show their customers they are not just there to shovel whatever port is most convenient out the door and we customers can take it or leave it. And lets face it.....most of us have to take it, its that or emulation, our HOBBY HAS BEEN USURPED! It has grown from a thing of passion , to a thing of greed, where resellers prowl their flee markets snatching every good game from unsuspecting people, and jacking up the prices far higher than the rarity of the game calls for. So guys like me only pick up a game here or there, whenever we find that diamond in the rough for a decent price. So we are forced to download, and play these games that look so familiar, that sound so familiar, that almost take us to a time that seams sooooo familiar, but make us shake our head in pain........ because they aren't what we remember.

Is The PS2 Retro?

 And look at why that generation needs collectors

and bootleggers to survive as playable media.

 

 

 

 

     I think beyond FF& many of my favorite gaming memories came from the PS2. I KNOW sounds strange right, I mean what about the Super Nintendo? The N64? Or even the Game Cube and original X Box?  

    Well when I was young, like every 80's kid I started with a yard sale Atari, playing games like the horrific Pac Man port, the classic Asteroids, River Raid, Pit Fall, and to any to count. The simple graphic, joystick and ONE button, it could still hold my young attention long enough for my single mother to get a break. 

     Then in 1987 I believe, I had what I still remember as the best Christmas ever. I got the Nintendo Power Set, the box was huge to my young mind. It came with the gimmicky Power Pad, a grey Zapper (this was before Nintendo got their sushi in a wad and started producing bright orange guns) the system and hook ups of course, and most importantly, the multicart featuring Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, and Wold Class Track Meet. I officially became a NES junky. My humble colection grew, slowly of course as we were never rich. I never could afford a power glove which in retrospect was probably a good thing. But games like Pro Wrestling with its cheating GREEN Amazonian wrestler, C Pro Am, Kung Fu, Mike Tysons Punch out, the list goes on, and on. Of course trips to the local video store where heaven. After staring and looking at the blurbs on the back for 30 or 40 minutes mom would be honking, threatening to leave me, so I would quickly grab a game. Most of the time it being the first game I even looked at.

     But within a few years a system called the Genesis, and especially its second pack in game Sonic the Hedgehog where changing the landscape. I remember calling almost daily to my fathers house and reminding them "I WANT A SEGA GENESIS! PLEEEEEASE!" 

     After months of begging the big game came and of course there it was. My coool, black, 16 bit power house. Blast processing was now in my hands ;)

     As I said before we where NOT a rich family and having one system engendered a lot of bias in the 16 bit era. Although now I must admit I enjoy playing SNES games more than I do the Genesis . Especialy do to the SNES having a decent library of JRPG's while the Genesis has barely a handful. I held onto my Genesis threw the 32x,, never buying one even when they where almost giving them away at toy stores. I rented but never owned a a Sega Cd and besides a few gems such as Snatcher, and some VERY expensive shooters, I found the system very unimpressive and the graphics uglier than Mitch McConnell.  

     When the Saturn, and Playstation where finally released, I jumped ship. Tomb Raider looked amazing for the time, and looking at Saturn's launch titles, and games at the Video Store I could see the Playstation was certainly the better of the two systems. Little did I know that thsi wascaused by Sega developing a machine which took rocket scientists to program properly for. In Japan however they recieved many add ons which helped the Saturn greatly in both its graphics and general use as an entertainment machine and not just a gaming machine. 

     The Dreamcast was just that a dream. Although I had lost a lot of faith in Sega as a brand after lack luster hardware and horrible marketing and game support, the Dreamcast was ahead of its time. The graphics where amazing for its day and many still hold up when played right now. Everyone knows about the controlsers and the little hand held which popped into it acting as a memory card. Some peole hate the controllers some love them, I'm in between, it works and thats what matters. My EX had one, and I played it every chance I could. 

     The dreamcast had two major flaws, one for the company, and one for the consumer. The PS2 was fast approaching and it was announced it would have a DVD player built in. NOT GOOD NEWS FOR THE DREAMCAST! And let us remember the context of the Dreamcasts release. At teh time, many home computers did not ome with a cd burner, and external cd burners could be expensive. So Sega chose to not add a protection against playing burnt games made from cd images found online or saved using special equipment. 

     The result, the PS2 hit like an atom bomb. Selling millions of units, and between the lack of game sales, and the PS2 taking over the market. Sega finally threw in the towel and started doing what they do best. Producing kick ass games again. 

     The console generation of the PS2, Gamecube, and the OG X Box, was a gamers dream. The PS2 was the only system I purchased opening weekend and for my first game I chose an adventure/town building game called Dark Cloud. It blew my mind. The graphics where amazing, smooth, and a glimpse at what was to come withe the following generations. 

     I didn't get a Game Cube or and original X Box til much later after their replacements had been on the market at least a year. I find playing that strategy let me buy systems cheap, games even cheaper, and most importantly I knew the games to buy and the absolute shit in the shape of round disks to avoid. Since that generations systems where visually appealing, and he game play stellar, many of them hold up very well and are extremely fun even today. 

      However lately I have been seeing a disturbing phenomenon taking hold in some games known as "Disk Rot" games that look fine, either few superficial scratches or no scratches at all, and the games began not to play. First it was a PS1 game...... Crono Cross :( Then it was the Thrown of Bhall Expansion disk for my Baldurs Gate 2 PC game. Perfectly good disks, which would either not play entirely,  or start, but glitch out shortly into the game. These games are only a few years older than most PS2 era  games and soon the plastic in them will start to break down as well.

What This Means To Collectors

 

     We all want to play our games on the original system. But what happens when you own the game, but can't play it. This is where things get complicated. As far as collecting goes a person is going to have to test any disk based game he buys that is ten years or older just to be  safe. Beyond that a collect doesn't have much of a choice.

     Even then some day, these games will become unplayable. But legally we all have the right to make a back up copy of any media, games, music, movies, anything you own. The problem then is how would one play this back up? Sure if you have a computer with enough power you could run an emulator. They even make adapters so that one can use the original controllers to play the games on their computer. Personally I enjoy emulation , and advocate it whenever I can. 

     Of course you could always mod your PS2, not an easy proposition but one that would ensureyou could make a copy of any of your games and play them on their original system. Personally, I am not tech savvy enough to mod a Hot Wheels Car, and depending on the model moding could be damn near impossible.  

     Instead the game companies have given us a third choice, on which of course makes them money. Buy the game again! This time not as a disk, but as data saved on any of the systems in the post PS2 generation. You already own the game. Why pay again? Shouldn't you be able to send proof that you own this game, andyou wish to have your LEGALLY FINE back up copy? 

    Its just a pipe dream, money is the name of the game, and it doesn't matter if your favorite childhood game sudely goes to hell, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, would all love to see emulation stamped out. But beyond people just pirating games, many of us download games we either have or had, or even games which where never released here and had to be translated by loyal fans such as  Mother 3, A dedicated group of fans from the Mother/Earth Bound series have worked extremely hard to do a translation that is MASTERFUL. Please click the link and download the patch for the rom, the site DOES NOT host the rom and you will have to find it on another site such as www.coolroms.com (This link will take you directly to the Mother 3 download page)

     There are plenty of ways to play older games, but until the bigger companies realize that backwards compatibility, customer appreciation in the form of GIVING players games they already own, but have been the victim of time not mistreatment. Sure it would take some system for them to see and be assured that the games are truly unplayable and I have no clue how that could work.

     And what of the value , and the fun of collecting for everyone who buys these games expecting to some day give their collection to their own kids or grand kids. Its a fun time to collect these games I admit. They are cheap, there are tons of awesome games, and while many wouldn't consider that era as retro or nostalgic, they must have forgotten that the PS2 itself is pushing 15 years old, andhas had two consoles and two hand helds from Sony to come out since its release. 

     YES, THE PS2 IS RETRO!...... My only hope is someone finds a way to build a machine something like the Retron 5, only with the ability to play burnt PS1, PS2, X Box, and even those cute lil Gamecube games. It may be years away as patent laws hold such things back for so many years, but eventually they will come. Sure a lot of people will just download every game they can, but others, like me, we want the games that made us happy years ago, games we had and never beat, or games we beat but never mastered. NO INDUSTRY can stop piracy......... its just part of our modern day tech life.

     But this goes beyond piracy, this is about being able to play a game you OWN. 

     I know this tirade never really had a conclusion....... but thats because the future isn't written yet. Its obvious the gaming industry is on the cutting edge of graphics, but they are as dul as a butter knife when it comes to the way people ACTUALLY play, collect, and feel about their games.  If they won't listen.......... the fans wil always find a way. If you don't trust me PLEASE check that site dedicated to Mother 2............. its a JRPG , the 3rd in the series , in which only number 2 was released in North America and then as Earth Bound. A flop on release, but now considered one of the greatest RPGs on the SNES. The third, released in Japan as Mother 3 on the Gameboy Advance was never translated for the North American audience by Nintendo even though a large campaign was raised to convince them it was wanted by the fans. After Nintendo basically told them to buzz off. The group decided if they won't do it , we will. They posted an OPEN LETTER to Nintendo stating at any time, if Nintendosaid they wouldrelease Mother 3 In America they would stop. Nintendo never did, and after a couple years of hard work, the patch was done. One of the greatest RPG's on the Gameboy Advance was only available here because WE...... AS GAMERS UNITED and did it. 

     If we wanted i guarantee we could build a machine that could play these games the companies have seamed to call  obsolete except as data to make you pay for online. FUCK THAT..... If I pay my money, I want a physical copy! And I want to play that physical copy twenty years from now if I still have working hardware. 

     In conclusion, YES I do consider the early 00 generation of games as retro, they are no longer supported by their companies, and they harken back to a time when gaming was just starting to get to that level where they could make things look almost real, and graphics that would astound.  Some games are starting to get rare quickly, and unlike the older games which have been polluted by shows making idiots thing their copy of Super Mario is worth big bucks, PS1 and PS2 era games can be found at yard sales, and flea markets at great prices and in large quantities. 

     If you want to grow a large collection of great games quickly go dig out your Slim Model PS2, pop the top and play some Dragon Quest 8.  :) 

 

 

 

Everyone have a wonderful day, hope you enjoyed my lil rant, and i Hope it made you both think, and inform you on some of the ins and outs, and options we could develope if we stuck together as a group.  I enjoy comments, and trolls, spread the word and help me make this page even bigger. If your a write and would like to write for Just Another, please send me a message on fb, Michael_wallen2002@yahoo.com, look me up and well talk about starting a new article. 

Till next time, stay groovy :)