Buy-Shinra Presents >>> Gamester's Paradise

Lego Harry Potter Review

2010-07-09T14:24:00.000-04:00

A Review of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 (PS3)

by: Lark

So, I'm a total Harry Potter nerd. I've read all the books (multiple times) and seen all the movies. I may or may not have quoted said books and movies several times while playing this game. Harry Potter is such a rich universe, with tons of characters and an interesting story. Even before this game was announced I remarked several times that I wanted to see a Lego version. I greatly enjoyed the Indiana Jones and Star Wars version, so I was super excited when this finally hit store shelves.

The actual gameplay is fluid and easy. You learn a bunch of spells over the course of the game that you can access easily with the press of the triangle button or R1. You gather ingredients for potions that you can use to pull handles (strength potion), turn into another character (polyjuice, of course) and age (aging potion). There's even an invisibility potion. You even learn transfiguration and herbology (handling those pain in the ass mandrakes and their screaming) and get to ride on broomsticks. (Only Harry is any good at it though. Hermione rides one like it's a mechanical bull.) You spend plenty of time just running around Hogwarts Castle and attending lessons and exploring inbetween story levels. Nearly Headless Nick will lead you to where you go need to go next - helpful because the castle is huge and detailed.

One thing that's different in this game is that you only unlock characters by finding their character stud. So even if you get to control a character during story mode, they're still not available until you find their character stud. This makes it hard to unlock large portions of the game until later. There are several special abilities you'll need to get through the game, the biggest one being taking control of a dark wizard. (Snape counts.) Other abilities include using a time turner, sending your pet out to dig or go through tubes, and using a book to unlock cabinets.

Each book has six levels, for a total of 24, plus there's all the lessons and castle exploring, which makes for a pretty involving game - especially if you're looking to collect all the spells/gold bricks/characters and cheats. So this game will keep you busy for awhile. It's not a difficult game, as Lego games never are. If you die, your character just appears again, ready and raring to go.

The cut scenes, which of course have no speaking in the Lego game tradition, are pretty humorous and entertaining. They tend to follow the movies more than the books, and although the humor can be pretty absurd sometimes, it never detracts from story completely. There are so many characters to collect. As I've said, I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd and know pretty much every character. But there were a few that made me think twice about where they came from! If the character was in the first 4 books, they're in this game. There are even totally generic characters that you'll probably never want to use.

Two things are annoying about this game. Friendly fire and glitches. If your playing partner isn't watching where they're aiming, they can easily hit you with a jinx and freeze you/turn your head into a plant/make you bald etc. It's not devastating by any means, but it's annoying to have to be frozen for a couple of seconds because you can't prevent friendly fire.

But worse than that is the glitches. So far we've only been able to get through one playing session without experiencing any freezing or - worse - restarting while loading. The freezing has occurred during loading between scenes or when using the time turner. The restarting happens randomly. The game will suddenly freeze and then restart, returning not even to the game load screen, but the PS3 menu! It's really a ridiculous amount of glitches from a game that's been in development for awhile and from a company that consistently makes quality titles.

Glitches aside, if you enjoy the Lego games or Harry Potter, you will love this game. It's tons of fun and there's lots to do, especially if you've got someone else to play with. This is the perfect game to kick back, relax and play with your significant other. I'd have to give it a 8 out of 10 - the deductions mostly being made for the glitches.

So What is Going On With This Show?!

2010-06-29T20:39:00.000-04:00

Hi, everyone. This post is long overdue.

So, are we ever planning on doing a podcast ever again? Yes. Real life kind of threw things off track for awhile. We all have full-time jobs and other responsibilities that keep us busy and make it hard for us to get together. Even over Skype.

But I think another problem is that this podcast kind of started to turn into something different from what I wanted when I started it. You can get reviews and news about gaming anywhere you go on the internet. Type either of those into Google and 9 billion results come up. I wanted to do something different. Sure, we'd talk about what new games we liked, but I wanted to focus more on gaming and culture, history - making fun of stuff (my real favorite). That kind of stuff.

So I'm trying to retool. Get some kind of new format together. And I want to hear from you. What would you like to see on the show? Please, I'd love to have some input! Leave a comment here, send us an email at podcast @ buy-shinra.com, or even hit me up on twitter.

I think we're gonna shoot for doing a show next month.

Brian's Opinion: Am I the only one who thinks moving is stupid?

2010-06-14T18:17:00.000-04:00

I remember when I first heard about the Nintendo Wii and its motion based gaming...the first thing that came to my mind was EPIC FAIL. Granted, the only thing that was epic fail was my completely narrow minded point of view as the Wii leads this generation in console sales, which in itself is impressive considering it has almost NO TOP SHELF GAMES, but I digress. This isn’t about my dislike of Nintendo's seriously suspect business practices, nor is it about the deluge of junk they allow on their system because of the gimmicky controller. No, this is about how Sony and Microsoft now want a piece of the action.

Since E3 is this week the gaming world loves to show off its muscles to the geeky community and this year continues to be no different. Today was Microsoft's press conference which included only two serious points of interest: One, they are now going to have a 360 Slim with a 250 gig hard drive and built in Wi-Fi (Screw you people who got the Elite or Pro 360 and had to pay 100 bucks extra for the wireless adaptor!) and of course Microsoft's big hullabaloo the “Kinect”, pronounced “connect”, to usher in a new world of motion control in games. Instead of a controller you would use your body to control the action, whether it be driving a race car or running from gunfire in whatever game you are playing. It’s all based on how you move, which seems like a fantastic idea....until you really think about it. The Wii's controls tend to feel gimmicky, unless of course you are playing a game made by Nintendo who seem to understand what they are doing. Microsoft's offering takes this gimmick feeling to a whole new level. Using your whole body as a controller seems really just downright silly to me. I can only imagine the face of a spouse, boy/girlfriend, parent coming into a room and seeing their spouse/ boy/girlfriend/child etc. jumping around the room like they are hopped up on some sort of illegal narcotic. And to top it all off there is a big drop off between gaming skill and real skill. Just because you are good at Call of Duty multiplayer doesn't mean it will translate into your actions with this new type of controller. With a controller it's all hand-eye coordination, but now you’re adding a more physical element. The first time little Johnny turns on Halo 4: Master Chief's Amazing Shootout Adventure on Duck Planet and is blasted to bits by the Quack Army because he couldn't get under cover in-game fast enough - some pretty big frustrations are going to result.

Which brings me to the games...

So far everything I have seen of Natal...I mean “Kinect”, has been mini games and demos and no real meat and potatoes games. In all honesty I don't think I will find one because quite simply they are incredibly hard to execute. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I don't think it's going to be done right by many. Even in the games they have shown it off in it just seems....well...gimmicky. Especially since they still need to have controller support that would use the Kinect over a controller which, so far anyway, seems to give you more control? The concept is interesting but the execution is seriously flawed in my eyes. That's not to say my favorite console maker at this time is any better...

Sony has announced the Sony Move but unlike Kinect there is a controller involved. Now I haven’t seen too much on it and Sony's press conference is still a day or two off, so I don't have as much information. But I already feel the exact same way as I do with Kinect. Unlike the Kinect, Sony Move still retains a controller - though by looking at the controller it makes me think of things best used by adults in the privacy of their own bedrooms - not in video games (Though Strip Dead or Alive with your significant other is encouraged by the author of this opinion piece.) While the demos I have seen of Move are a little less gimmicky, it still remains a gimmick and I fail to see how this is the future of gaming. Instead I see this as nothing more than expanding on a gimmick Nintendo sold to us a few years ago. This doesn't change gaming as we know it. It hampers it if anything, as we now try to justify both of these controller systems and deal with the games which are now going to be shoehorned into using it. What makes this again completely useless is the fact that both 360 games and PS3 games still will need to have standard controllers as to not alienate the people who do not jump on this bandwagon - which in my opinion will be the majority of them. The games that are Kinect and Move exclusive stand a chance to fail big time if these two add ons do not hit it off big.

This whole motion gaming thing to me is limited. It's silly and I don't see the valid gaming application of it. I can understand the idea of wanting to be immersed in a game and I can see why some people think this is a solid idea, but to me it's just something that doesn't work. Will Kinect and Move sell well? My guess is probably not, as the Wii gets away with it because it’s an integral part of the console itself. Sony and Microsoft cannot do that without risking alienating gamers who didn't jump on the Add-on wagon. So you may be thinking: “Well, Nintendo succeeded with a motion controller, why can't the other two?” I again point out that Nintendo has made its living selling gimmicks and for years people have been eating them up. The same cannot be said of Sony or Microsoft. Could I be eating my words in a year or two? Possibly. But right now I am not impressed with either of the motion systems presented by either of these two companies. The market for them is limited and it doesn't make gaming better, unless it finally brings those 12 year old Call of Duty addicts down a peg.

Show Notes ~ Spoiler Alert

2010-05-02T21:27:00.000-04:00

LEVEL TWENTY-ONE - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week we discuss our final thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII and we get some insight on what Paul will play next. OMG!

Sorry this show is going up so late. We had some minor drama with the domain but it's all good now.

Check out our YouTube channel for clips from the awesome concert we saw at Anime Boston by the Video Game Orchestra.

Show Notes ~ Patent Pending

2010-03-27T10:48:00.000-04:00

LEVEL TWENTY - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week! News makes a triumphant return, because Nintendo's fiddling with 3D now like every other media company and their grandma. Not to mention some big, BIG, AWESOME news from Square Enix and some kind of gaming escort service...what will they think of next? We also have mini reviews of BioShock 2 and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth but best of all we share our thoughts on the finally released Final Fantasy XIII.

LINKS!

Lark's Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth Review
DSiXL wha? Buy this instead! It's in 3D!!!
Ubisoft DRM servers hacked? No! I am shocked by this!
Annnnd they try to apologize for it.
Are you lonely enough to pay for this?
Hope for a Final Fantasy VII Remake?! For real?! Am I dreaming again?!

Show Notes ~ Taking a Leap

2010-03-06T11:05:00.000-05:00

LEVEL NINETEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week! We discuss how most PS3's flipped out for one strange, all too long 24-hour period. And Final Fantasy XIII is almost here! Reviews are rolling in, and we share some final thoughts...and fears. That plus NO NEWS! That PS3 thing was weird enough.

PS3's affected by Leap Year Bug

Final Fantasy XIII Reviews:
IGN
Gamespot
1Up.com

Show Notes ~ And Squall Said Whatever.

2010-02-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

LEVEL EIGHTEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week! A dog barks, a phone rings, and we quiz each other on Final Fantasy quotes! That plus 5 jobs you wouldn't wanna have in Rapture, the news and what we're playing (including thoughts on the new Ace Attorney title).

Reminders!

+ Old episodes will be deleted until we get more space. (Hopefully soon.)
+ Follow us on Twitter (link above) for a Final Fantasy daily quote quiz! The prize? Your own personal satisfaction.
+ Wanna play any of the games Adam talked about on the show? Head on over to Zombie-Cow.com

NEWS! It Lives!

UBISOFT'S DRM FOR ASSASSIN'S CREED II IS RIDICULOUSLY CLINGY

SONY'S GONNA CHARGE YOU TO PLAY A USED GAME ONLINE

OLD NINTENDO SYSTEM SELLS FOR $13,105

REDOCTANE SHUT DOWN BY ACTIVISION

$400 XBOX360 BUNDLE FOR FINAL FANTASY XIII CONFIRMED

ROCK OF THE DEAD FOR WII ON THE WAY

90 MINUTE DARKSIDERS DEMO COMING TO XBOX LIVE AND PSN FEB. 25TH

MIDWAY GAMES REMOVED FROM XBOXLIVE

Show Notes ~ Everybody Hates Cait Sith

2010-02-05T20:23:00.001-05:00

LEVEL SEVENTEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Since Brian decided to take the week off, we get to talk about something the rest of us enjoy - Final Fantasy VII! With XIII being released in almost a month, we'll be doing something every show about Final Fantasy leading up to this much anticipated (especially by me) game. In this show it's the good, the bad and the ugly of Final Fantasy VII. We thought long and hard about what big (and little things) that we really loved about the game, and really just wanted to break the controller over. The whole cross dressing bit? Well, it becomes a bit of debate. Just another episode of GP!

...Oh. What? Oh, you're expecting news. Yeah. So was I. Kind of a crappy news week. Really nothing worth linking to. Hopefully there will be some discussion worthy topics in our next show. (February 24th.)

Oh yeah - due to spacing issues, the old episodes are going to disappear as new ones are uploaded. Episode 1 is already history, at least for the immediate future. Sorry!

Show Notes ~ The Return of Gamester's Paradise 2010

2010-01-20T17:49:00.000-05:00

LEVEL SIXTEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Wow! There is a show after all! Well, we're back and this week we're talking news and what we've been playing over our 3 week hiatus. Also, there's a bit of announcement. Also, we're way out of practice.

NEWS! The more you know...

DJ Hero 2 Will Exist!
Game Industry Plays the Blame Game When It Comes to 2009 Sales

If Final Fantasy XIII is Done, We Want it NOW!

ESPN to stream games on XboxLive? Really?

The AMAZING New Final Fantasy XIII Trailer:

News!

2010-01-13T00:30:00.001-05:00

So in lieu of this week's show (sorry, we'll be back next week!), here's a few interesting news stories:

Longer console life cycles
Long story short, looks like the major consoles will have a much longer lifespan this time around, with the 360 not even at the halfway mark. Looks like that whole thing about the PS3 having a 10 year lifespan might have actually been a realistic prediction. Personally, I'm psyched about this, as I've gotten pretty tired of buying a new console every 3 years.

Netflix coming to the Wii?
Sure, it's already available on the other (real) consoles, but coming from someone who doesn't have a PS3 yet and doesn't subscribe to Gold Live, this would be awesome if it comes to pass. Though I'm a bit skeptical of the Wii being able to handle this.
EDIT:
Wii's Netflix sign-up page now available
Well that was quick.

Child's Play raises more than $1.7 million
Wow. Even with this crappy economy, we still managed to top last year's record. Simply amazing.

And finally, easily the most ridiculous story I've read in awhile:
Ron Jeremy says games are far worse for kids than porn
Wow. I don't think anything needs to be said about this one.

New Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep trailer

2009-12-29T00:15:00.000-05:00

Holy crap, I had to post this right away:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/28/finally-a-7-minute-kingdom-hearts-birth-by-sleep-trailer-in-ja/
So many awesome moments in this trailer...Sora, Riku, and Kairi as little kids? The original human counterparts of Organization XIII? The CGI looks phenomenal, even on the PSP, and I'm certainly not going to complain that they're recycling Hikari (Simple and Clean). I finally have hope that Square-Enix can finally pull off a decent portable Kingdom Hearts.

Show Notes ~ Game Of the Year

2009-12-23T10:50:00.000-05:00

LEVEL FIFTEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Okay, so apparently this holiday season I'm full of lies. There is no singing in this show. Truth be told, Paul was having some internet issues, and we didn't want to risk the show not getting recorded because we opted for the silly song. So the silly song lyrics can be found below. Anyway, in this show we all discuss our games of the year. And I totally zone out at least twice. Hey, I'm leaving for California in a few days. Cut me some slack. (Follow us on Twitter, and see what I'm up to during my 2 week trip!)

This is our last show for 2009 - we'll be back in 2010 with more insanity and less talk of Modern Warfare 2! (I promise.)

NEWS...Kind of...Even Though we didn't really have news this week:

Okay, so here is the song. It exists! THE 12 GAMING DAYS OF CHRISTMAS!

Enjoy!

L: On the first day of Christmas my true love game to me, a stupid PSP GO.

P: What the hell?!

B: On the second day of Christmas my true love game to me, 2 Wii Points cards

A: I’m downloadin’ Zelda!

L: And a stupid PSP Go.

P: Boo.

L: On the third day of Christmas my true love game to me, 3 UMD movies

P: I thought they stopped making these!

B: 2 Wii points cards.

L: And a stupid PSP GO.

P: I don’t believe this.

B: On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 4 Yoshi plushies.

A: They’re cute AND soft!

L: 3 UMD movies

P: Norbit?! Come ON!

B: 2 Wii points cards.

L: And a stupid PSP go.

P: *annoyed sigh*

L: On the fifth day of Christmas my true love game to me 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES!

P: They were cheap for a reason!

B: 4 Yoshi plushies

L: 3 UMD movies

P: I wanted the Yoshi’s!

B: 2 Wii points cards

L: And a stupid PSP go.

P: This is crap.

B: On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 6 imported figures.

A: Ooh, Sephiroth!

L: 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES!

P: Ugh, Red Steel!

B: 4 Yoshi Plushies

L: 3 UMD movies

B: 2 Wii points cards

L: And a stupid PSP go

P: I’d rather get socks!

L: On the 7^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 7 strategy guides

P: I don’t even own these games!

B: 6 imported figures

L: FIVE BARGIN BIN GAMES!

P: My pet Bigfoot?!

B: 4 Yoshi plushies

A: So cuddly!

L: 3 UMD movies

B: 2 Wii points cards

A: So many choices…

L: And a stupid PSP go.

P: Is this a joke!?

B: On the 8^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 8 gamestop gift cards

A: Score!

L: 7 strategy guides

P: Yeah, because BloodRayne is still relevant!

B: 6 imported figures

A: All my favorites!

L: 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES!

P: I don’t wanna race as M&Ms!

B: 4 Yoshi Plushies

L: 3 UMD movies

B: 2 Wii points cards

L: And a stupid PSP go

P: I’m depressed.

L: On the 9^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 9 exercise titles.

P: They think I’m fat?!

B: 8 gamestop gift cards

L: 7 strategy guides

B: 6 imported figures

L: 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES!

P: Fat and into pretend ice staking!

B: 4 Yoshi Plushies

L: 3 UMD movies

P: Fat and into Norbit!

B: 2 Wii points cards

L: And a stupid PSP go

P: Seriously?!

B: On the 10^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 10 Rock Band songs

A: Ooh, the Bangles

L: 9 exercise titles

B: 8 game stop gift cards

L: 7 strategy guides

P: For Final Fantasy IX?! Where could you even find this?!

B: 6 imported figures

L: 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES

P: This is for Coclecovision!

B: 4 Yoshi Plushies

L: 3 UMD movies

B: 2 Wii points cards

A: So many choices…

L: And a stupid PSP go.

P: I can’t even connect to the network!

L: On the 11^th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 11 old NGages

P: What the ****?!

B: 10 Rock Band songs

L: 9 exercise titles

P: Fat and WORTHLESS!

B: 8 game stop gift cards

L: 7 strategy guides

B: 6 imported figures

L: 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES

P: Colecovision, and BROKEN!

B: 4 Yoshi Plushies

L: 3 UMD movies

B: 2 Wii points cards

L: And a stupid PSP go.

P: Worst. Christmas. Ever.

B: On the 12^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 12 games I wanted.

A: Wow! Best Christmas ever!

L: 11 Old Ngages

P: They’re covered in dust!

B: 10 Rock Band songs

A: Walk Like an Egyptian!

L: 9 exercise titles

P: I’m a big fat fattie fat fat!

B: 8 game stop gift cards

A: These’ll last for months!

L: 7 strategy guides

P: Whoop dee do – this one’s missing the last 50 pages!

B: 6 imported figures

A: I have the perfect shelf.

L: 5 BARGIN BIN GAMES

P: This box is empty!

B: 4 Yoshi Plushies

A: I love you, Yoshis.

L: 3 UMD movies

P: Because god knows Gigli belongs in my possession!

B: 2 Wii points cards

A: So MANY choices!

L: And a stupid PSP go.

P: You know, what the hell, man?! I got you awesome gifts! And you get me 11 old NGages?!

A: Hey, it’s the thought that counts. Besides, they’re antiques!

P: I want all my gifts back – especially those Yoshi.s!

A: You’ll never get my Yoshi’s!

(A massive fight ensues. Merry Christmas!)

-Fin-

DJ Hero Review

2009-12-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

Well as Lark promised, here's my DJ Hero review. To be honest, I initally had zero interest in this game, having long ago grown tired of both rhythm games in general (and Activision's shameless milking of them). But I have to admit, I completely fell in love with this game. First off, it's not all that similar to Guitar Hero; while it has a few things in common, they really took the time to make the gameplay very unique. Basically, you've got the green, red, and blue buttons that you either tap or hold down while you scratch the record platter. Along with this, you'll be moving the cross-fader knob back and forth as the track on the screen moves between the left, center, and right positions. So for anyone who had a hard time mastering the kick-pedal when playing drums on Rock Band, you'll probably have a bit of a hard time doing both actions at the same time. On top of the basics, there's several things you'll need to do if you want to score 5 stars: you can rewind the song to play the same part again with a double modifier, hit the euphoria (essentially star power) button when the meter's full, you can use the effects dial to modify the sound during certain parts, and hit the middle red button when you're prompted to add different samples (basically sound effects) to the song. Oh, and you'll be turning the effects dial while you're hitting the button during these passages to change the sample and get more points. Needless to say, there's a lot to keep track of, so you better learn to multi-task. Not to mention that hard and expert modes add directional scratching (so you can't just scratch the platter any random way you like), and cross-fade spikes that force you to quickly move the knob back and forth. Fortunately though, since a lot of this is optional, the game is really only as complicated as you want it to be.

Things I Loved:

Turntable peripheral: I have to say, overall I'm impressed with the peripheral. It's fairly sturdy and well-made, though I should mention the cross-fader, since I've heard many complaints about it (and not just from people on this podcast). Honestly, I think it's fine the way it is. When I first tried it out, I definitely agreed that the notch in the middle should have been more pronounced so it would catch the movements back to the center better, but once you start playing on the higher difficulties you'll be doing very quick movements from left to right and back, so you really don't want it catching in the middle. Also, the more you play, the more you get used to finding the default middle position without the notch (and the game is actually pretty lenient with finding the middle zone; you don't have to be right on the notch for it to register). Though I have heard that the Wii version's turntable doesn't have this problem (and the platter isn't as loose), so that could be an option if you find it to be an issue. One minor complaint I have with the peripheral is that on the higher difficulties you'll be pressing the buttons in rapid succession, but the buttons on the turntable can be a bit hard to register these quick presses sometimes.
The music: The tracklist in this game is massive; 93 songs (almost all mash-ups), though only about 60 songs or so were used, so a few songs do repeat themselves often. Amazingly, the majority of these songs are excellent. Even music I usually despise (I'm looking at you post-No Doubt Gwen Stefani) is excellent when mashed up with the right song. While a lot of the songs are hip-hop, there's actually a great supply of rock songs (Foo Fighters, The Killers, etc.) and other genres. There's also a ton of excellent Daft Punk mixes, all created by Daft Punk themselves.

Things I Hated:

No practice mode: In a completely new and original music rhythm game, this omission is just baffling. The original Guitar Hero had it; why doesn't this game? At the very least, I would have liked a mode to practice directional scratching and cross-fade spikes, since these are pretty difficult to master.
Rewind glitch: Basically if you try to rewind too soon after you've hit a button, for some reason the game registers you as missing the button (even though you hit it) and resets your multiplier. Pretty annoying, and while the obvious fix is to only rewind in an empty section, this becomes almost impossible during the harder mixes.
Guitar song layout: The game also has about 10 songs that can be played with one person on the turntable and another on guitar. So when playing with 2 people, naturally the game cuts the screen in half, with the DJ on the left and guitarist on the right. When playing by yourself, the game still cuts the screen in half. Why? For someone that doesn't own a 50" TV, this is pretty annoying and just baffling.
Product placement: Ugh. I'm completely fine with advertising in games when the placement makes sense, but there's absolutely no excuse for giant banners advertising GoDaddy, Bing, or Sprite at a club. Luckily it's only in a couple of venues, so you can just avoid them after you open new ones.
Grandmaster Flash's "songs": These are a total joke. Sorry, but I don't care if you were the first person to turn a turntable into an instrument. And do you know how I know that useless bit of trivia? Because he actually says crap like that during one of his mixes. Yeah, I'd much rather hear your stupid prattling than the lyrics to Lapdance. Another of his songs simply consists of him rapping "boom boom tap" for 4 minutes. I wish I was making that up.
Flavor Flav: Hey, speaking of stupid rappers I hate! It's bad enough that 2 of the sample sets (the optional sound effects) in the game are Flavor Flav saying dumb crap like "Yeah boy!" and "Get it on!", but did the developers have to make his samples the DEFAULT? Ugh, and considering the game remembers every single other preference of yours (avatar, deck, etc.) except this one, you can imagine how many times I hit start, only to back out when I remember I have to change the stupid samples. Shut up Flavor Flav, or I'll cram Grandmaster Flash's enormous head down your throat. And they say hip-hop doesn't inspire violence...

Well that pretty much wraps up my thoughts. These are really just minor complaints I'm harping on here. Basically, Activision created a fresh rhythm game that's a blast to play, with an excellent selection of songs, with just a few really bizarre design decisions (I'm sure they'll iron these out by the 9th sequel or so). Sorry for the long-winded review, but I guess that's what happens when I miss the show. And contrary to popular opinion, I pay my bills (but c'mon, DJ Hero AND Assassin's Creed Master Assassin's Edition? The choice is pretty clear).

Posted by Adam

Show Notes ~ Two Turtle Doves

2009-12-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

LEVEL FOURTEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

What? You were expecting some kind of holiday show? Uh... I don't know what you're talking about...what is this holiday show you speak of? I totally never said anything about a holiday show a week ago... Seriously, though, stuff happened, people disappeared, but we managed a show anyway! I promise you an entertaining half hour at the very least. And next week - singing. Yes.

NEWS

Oh, All I Want For Christmas is a Gold PS3
Green Day Rock Band On the Horizon
Batman Going Back to the Insane Aslyum
2009 A Crappy Year to be Selling Games
But Apparently the 360 Manages It's Best Month Ever
Spike Video Game Award Winners

Show Notes ~ Somewhere In My Holiday Memory

2009-12-10T17:56:00.000-05:00

LEVEL THIRTEEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

What's in store for you this week? We destroy some games coming out next year, review Assassin's Creed 2 and share our holiday memories. Nintendo is mentioned. Several...many times. And there's news and all that crap. Plus singing! Everybody likes singing!

NEWS AND LINKS:

No Alien vs. Predator Down Under.

Kids like games? Wow! This is shocking news!

Gallon of milk: $3. Six pack of beer: some other sum of money. A card that rewards you with video games? Oh boy.

CNET's Top 30 Most Anticipated Games of 2010... Where is Miles Edgeworth on this list? I demand an explanation!

Phantasy Star Zero review

2009-12-09T22:42:00.001-05:00

So for my first time posting I figured I'd do a write-up of my Phantasy Star Zero review. For anyone who hasn't wasted countless hours in Phantasy Star Online (or suffered through the disappointing Phantasy Star Universe), it's essentially a Diablo-esque dungeon crawler.You can plan on traipsing through the same small selection of dungeons (though with randomly-generated rooms to keep it somewhat fresh), fighting monsters for new weapons and gear, and finally facing off against a boss at the end. Lather, rinse, repeat. Exciting, no? And yet it's actually kind of addictive.

Things I Loved:

Return to form: The game essentially tosses out every change they made to the series with Phantasy Star Universe. Basically, it's PSO in portable form. There are some minor changes, like a pretty useful dodge roll move, and new weapons like gunblades (unoriginal, sure, but come on, the starter weapon in every game is a lightsaber).
Graphics: While I rarely care about this, especially in a handheld game, these are easily the best 3D graphics I've seen pulled off on the DS (aside from Kingdom Hearts, but this game has the distinct advantage of being, you know, fun). There is a bit of slowdown whenever monsters spawn in a room, but it becomes much less noticeable the more you play.

Things I Hated:

Teammate A.I.: Holy crap Sega, it's 2009, there's really no excuse for this nowadays. Your teammates in this game are just slightly dumber than a bag of rocks. "Hey, there's an explosive, let's shoot it!"..."You got caught in a trap? Well I'll just hang out here til you get free. Help you? You don't need my help. Oh crap, now I'm in a trap! Help!"..."Am I standing on spikes? Wow, I think these are spikes." Ugh. Not to mention the fact that they can't manage to follow you without constantly getting stuck on corners. This honestly has to be the worst A.I. I've ever seen in a game.
Lack of customization options: In PSO you had a pretty decent variety of costumes and different ways to personalize your look (eyes, hair, body type, etc.) In PSU you had a huge variety of costumes (one of the few things that game got right). This game takes a step backward from PSO in that area. You basically have one costume per character type (you're only able to change the colors) and barely any options with your body type.

All of the above: I'm on the fence with the story. On the one hand, it's easily the most cliched RPG story ever. Stop me if you've heard this one before: amnesiac hero, hero who sacrifices himself for friends, said hero miraculously surviving, bad guy who's being used by real bad guy, said bad guy joining you after this revelation. Still, it somehow manages to be fairly entertaining, and most of the characters are actually pretty interesting.

Basically, if you liked PSO and by some chance haven't already bought this (seriously?), pick it up. It pretty much makes up for every misstep Sega made with PSU. If you haven't tried the series yet, and are into Diablo style dungeon crawlers, give it a try. It does get pretty repetitive after awhile, but it's still a load of fun, especially with friends over local play or wi-fi.

Adam

The Secret of the Mustache

2009-12-07T21:42:00.001-05:00

Interesting info about Mario! ...Or should I say Mr. Video? Or Jumpman? I don't even know who you are anymore!

Show Notes ~ Tis The Season For...Something.

2009-12-03T19:13:00.000-05:00

LEVEL TWELVE - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week - a review of the new Phantasy Star. Plus our idea of what games you should buy this holiday season. Also, our first "live" show - a review of Super Mario Bros. Wii, will be going up with this show. Paul curses, we actually get a certain someone on the podcast, and there are Yoshis. So many Yoshis...

News:

Show Notes ~ 10 Games We're Thankful For

2009-11-25T15:22:00.001-05:00

LEVEL ELEVEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week: A Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 review. And, much more interestingly, we all discuss our top ten games of all time - the games we're most thankful for. You know, 'cause it's Thanksgiving and stuff. Mmmm...stuffing...

NEWS:

And this is that Donkey Kong 64 boss I was talking about. Creepy AND hard. Is there a worse boss combination? I think not.

Show Notes ~ A Tale of Three Segments

2009-11-19T17:38:00.000-05:00

LEVEL TEN - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week: Tons of news, mostly focusing on Final Fantasy XIII (we have a release date!!!) and the video game industry in the economy. I apologize for calling Playfish "stupid" about 50 times. I have nothing against that company. Really. I have bigger fish to fry. No pun intended. PLUS! We talk sports games, game music and guilty pleasure games. Also, the guys get a pop quiz! Oh, and don't buy My Pet Bigfoot. All that in this week's episode!

Do you have something to say to us? Please, send us an email!

NEWS:

Need some gifts for the holidays? Plan to shop through Amazon.com? Please use the link below and help support the podcast!! Thanks - we really appreciate it!

Show Notes ~ Video Game: The Movie

2009-11-12T17:52:00.000-05:00

LEVEL NINE - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

This week: A Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time review! Plus video games movies and movies based on games! Oh, and a list of 10 video game movies we SO do not wanna see. And some more ridiculous board game movie commercials. Because those never get old.

NEWS:

THIS JUST IN! Play the demo of Capcom's New Miles Edgeworth game!! I just played it, and it's awesome. Coming out Feb. 16th, 2010.

No New Show This Week...

2009-11-04T18:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry, Gamester's, but with conflicting schedules and waaaay too much on my plate this week, we've decided to take a break. But fear not! We'll be back next week wtih a jam packed awesome show!

Here are some quick news stories of interest:

Action Figure Theater #2 - Vampires: A Creature to Fear, Not Want To Sleep With

2009-10-31T09:40:00.000-04:00

Uh, Alucard doesn't enjoy the portrayal of vampires in popular culture, and prepared this presentation.

HOURS LATER...

Show Notes ~ AKA Distraction Theater

2009-10-29T18:24:00.001-04:00

LEVEL EIGHT - LISTEN NOW!!!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Can you talk for an hour just on the PS3? We proved you can. Plus you can go off on about 50 tangents! Because distraction is...uh...what was I talking about?

NEWS:

And here's one of the new PS3 ads. Love this one.

Bower's Minions Video

2009-10-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

This video is absolutely hilarious. Because it makes total sense.

New Final Fantasy XII Trailer

2009-10-24T08:17:00.000-04:00

Here's the newest trailer for Final Fantasy XII. I watched it last night after downloading it on my PS3, and....wow. Just wow. It looks amazing. I wanna play it now! WTF does 'Spring 2010' mean?! That's too vague for me! Give me a date, Squarenix! Just give me a date!

Anyway, here's the amazingness:

(The main chick so reminds me of Ashe from XII. And the guy with the hat reminds me of Kingdom Hearts Seifer. But Final Fantasy characters usually look like the weird offspring of other Final Fantasy characters... I feel a show topic coming on...)

Show Notes ~ The Haunting of the Podcast

2009-10-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

LEVEL SEVEN - LISTEN NOW!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! MWA HAA HAA HAA!

This week the show was haunted! Seriously. It felt that way. Sorry for all the choppy editing this week. The internet seriously hated us. (Mostly Paul.)

This week on the show: Uncharted 2 Review! Plus scary games, moments and characters. Plus news and bloopers from our most haunted show ever! Okay, only haunted show ever. ...Allegedly haunted. ...I'm gonna stop saying haunted.

Check out The Video Game Music Archive - it's pretty awesome.

NEWS

Scary Games!!!

Band Heeeeero

2009-10-19T10:10:00.000-04:00

So. Band Hero. The "family friendly" Guitar Hero. Whatever that means. Because there are so many bad lyrics in Guitar Hero.

Anyway, here's the song list:

3 Doors Down - "When I'm Gone" (good song.)

The Airborne Toxic Event - "Gasoline"

The All American Rejects - "Dirty Little Secret"

Alphabeat - "Fascination"

Aly and AJ - "Like Whoa"

Angels & Airwaves - "The Adventure"

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals - "Steal My Kisses" (Eh.)

Big Country - "In a Big Country"

The Bravery - "Believe"

Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting" ('Cause everybody was.)

Cheap Trick - "I Want You To Want Me (live)" (great song.)

Cold War Kids - "Hang Me Up To Dry"

Corinne Bailey Rae - "Put Your Records On"

Counting Crows - "Angels of the Silences"

Culture Club - "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" (make me cry?)

Dashboard Confessional - "Hands Down"

David Bowie - "Let's Dance"

Devo - "Whip It" (whip it real good!)

Don McLean - "American Pie" (This is a great song, but very long.)

Duffy - "Warwick Avenue"

Duran Duran - "Rio" (And she dances on the sand...)

Evanescence - "Bring Me To Life" (Great song.)

Everclear - "Santa Monica (Watch The World Die)"

Fall Out Boy - "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" (Omg, I love this song.)

Filter - "Take A Picture"

Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer"

The Go-Go's - "Our Lips Are Sealed" (Gotta love it.)

Hilary Duff - "So Yesterday"

Hinder - "Lips Of An Angel"

Jackson 5 - "ABC" (Easy as 1,2, 3)

Janet Jackson - "Black Cat"

Jesse McCartney - "Beautiful Soul"

Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation" (This is also on Rock Band.)

Joss Stone - "You Had Me"

Katrina and The Waves - "Walking On Sunshine" (Cheesy, but I like it.)

The Kooks - "Naive"

KT Tunstall - "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" (Great song.)

The Last Goodnight - "Pictures Of You"

Lily Allen - "Take What You Take"

Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved" (Love this one too.)

Marvin Gaye - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Classic.)

Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "The Impression That I Get" (Another good one.)

Nelly Furtado - "Turn Off The Light" (This song is annoying.)

N.E.R.D. - "Rockstar" (What? They didn't want to use Lapdance?)

No Doubt - "Just A Girl" (Great.)

No Doubt - "Don't Speak" (Also great.)

OK Go - "A Million Ways"

Papa Roach - "Lifeline"

Parachute - "Back Again"

Pat Benatar - "Love Is A Battlefield" (Another classic.)

Poison - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"

Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue - "Kids"

The Rolling Stones - "Honky Tonk Women"

Roy Orbison - "Oh Pretty Woman" (Totally classic. Love it.)

Santigold - "L.E.S. Artistes"

Snow Patrol - "Take Back the City"

Spice Girls - "Wannabe" (You gotta get with my friends!)

Styx - "Mr. Roboto" (Domo arigato.)

Taylor Swift - "Love Story" (Beyonce's music is better.)

Taylor Swift - "Picture To Burn" (Better of all time.)

Taylor Swift - "You Belong With Me" (Of all time!)

Tonic - "If You Could Only See" (Maybe you would understand.)

The Turtles - "Happy Together" (I can't see me lovin' nobody but you...)

Village People - "YMCA" (...Seriously?)

Yellowcard - "Ocean Avenue" (Eh.)

Show Notes ~ Love, Hate and Video Games

2009-10-17T09:09:00.000-04:00

LEVEL SIX - LISTEN NOW!

FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK! OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! THIS IS WHAT SCREAMING LOOKS LIKE!

NEWS:

Lark's Final Fantasy IV Review

Do the Mario!

Hated It!

Notice the creepy guy in the basement. Yeah...

CNET's Best and Worst Game Preorder Trends

2009-10-12T17:27:00.000-04:00

CNET's Web Crawler blog covered the best and worst game preorder trends - from free games and discounts to free crap like a special gun or character.

All I have to say is: I could not agree more.

Show Notes ~ Too Sexy For Our Controller

2009-10-08T22:04:00.000-04:00

LEVEL FIVE - LISTEN NOW!!!!

Find us on Facebook!! And Twitter!

NEWS:

Looking for lists of hot video game characters? Look no further:

MSN's Top 5 Sexiest
UGO's 50 Hottest Video Game Girls
Gossip Gamers 50 Hottest Video Game Girls
Girl Gamer's 10 Hottest Video Game Guys

This Week In Rock Band

2009-10-07T18:04:00.000-04:00

Here are the songs being released for Rock Band this week:

The Raconteurs: Many Shades of Black, Salute Your Solution, Steady, As She Goes
Electric Six: Dance Epidemic, Gay Bar, I Don't Like You
Alanis Morisette: Head Over Feet, Ironic
The Flobots: Handlebars

I like Alanis - and I love those songs, but in Rock Band? You can't really rock out to them. Eh, what does it matter? I'll be buying them anyway.

In other Rock Band news, we'll be seeing songs from Queen soon! On October 20th the following Queen songs will be coming our way:

Another One Bites the Dust
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
One Vision
Fat Bottomed Girls
I Want It All
I Want To Break Free
Killer Queen
Somebody to Love
Tie Your Mother Down
Under Pressure

Yeah, I'll be downloading most of those. Also, seems that U2 is reconsidering having their music in a video game, but don't hold your breath. Seems that if they do go for the idea, they're gonna want their own game, a la Beatles: Rock Band.

Show Notes ~ GP Phones It In

2009-10-02T18:32:00.000-04:00

LEVEL FOUR - LISTEN NOW!!!!

Find us on Facebook!!

I'm not making excuses, but we were all pretty tired and kind of phoned in this week's episode - hence the title. Sorry, but we did muster up enough energy to bash the PSP Go at every given opportunity. Here's a CNet article discussing the price of iPhone games vs. PSP Go games.

And here are some reviews of it:

Engadget
CNet

Wired

NEWS:

Our Blog Post with Links to Final Fantasy XIII battle videos.

1) Do you have a suggestion for a list or the Mage's Hat? Email us @ podcast @ buy-shinra . com.

2) Like the show? Please leave us a review on iTunes? ...Don't like the show? Then you've never heard of us.

"Those reasons about my hair are bull****."

RPG + Puzzle = I think I've seen this before...

2009-09-30T17:59:00.001-04:00

Show will be a day late this week, if anyone's paying attention.

So I was looking at Penny Arcade's newest comic, and I was linked to this video:

It's an RPG meets puzzle game called Gyromancer. The whole thing is in Japanese, but apparently it's going to be for Xbox360 arcade and PC. Also, you can apparently kill Cait Sith in it or something? I don't know, I saw his name there, so I'm hoping that's the case. And I know I can't be alone.

But the whole RPG + puzzle = awesome concept is not new. Has anyone heard of a little something called Puzzle Quest? It was out not too long ago for like every system under the sun. And sure, the interfaces were a little clunky and the graphics weren't exactly stunning, but it was a fun game. It deserves more attention.

Gameplay Videos of Final Fantasy XIII from the Tokyo Game Show

2009-09-27T21:55:00.000-04:00

Here are two videos that show some of the game play in the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII - apparently the game judges you, because there's some kind of ranking feature involving stars.

"Eh, I give this battle two stars. It was boring, and kind of predictable. I don't even think the bad guy wanted it at all. And the hero was totally phoning in all the sword work."

Anyway, take a look. It's hard to tell what's going on, because the action moves so fast, but at least it's some kind of an idea.

IGN's video

Gamespot's Video

Show Notes ~ The Super Mega Special Edition!!!

2009-09-24T20:28:00.000-04:00

Level 3 - Listen Now!!

Check us out on Facebook!

This week we cover Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the Mage's hat makes another appearance, Adam's got a review of Shadow Complex for the 360, Top 5 reasons why Link doesn't talk, and we discuss midnight releases and special editions.

The News:

Rumor - Dreamcast games coming to PSN?

1) Three of us will be at the New York Anime Festival this Saturday. If you spot a Cloud, Tifa and Reno walking around together, it's probably us. Please say hi!

2) Do you have a suggestion for a list or the Mage's Hat? Email us @ podcast @ buy-shinra . com.

3) Like the show? Please leave us a review on iTunes? ...Don't like the show? Then you've never heard of us.

Show Notes - Final Fantasy Freaks!

2009-09-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

Level 2 - Listen Now!!

Check Us Out On Facebook!

The News:

Lark's Thoughts on Final Fantasy Dissidia.

Learn More About The Newest Upcoming Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy XIII

What's With the Whole Buy-Shinra Commercial?

Well, my website is Buy-Shinra.com...so, yeah. We'll have some fake commercials in our podcast - not all of them will revolve around Shinra, but for our first commercial, it had to be all about Rufus! And Rufus pretty much owns the world in Final Fantasy VII. So he must have lots of products. And he likes to cut corners wherever he can. So they're probably not very good.

Action Figure Theater #1 - Dracula Has 2 Faces

2009-09-15T20:10:00.001-04:00

The content featured here in Action Figure Theater will be based on the rambles at my website, Final Fantasy Freaks, where no game or character is sacred.

Alucard: Dad, what happened to you?

Dracula: Plastic surgery, Alucard! Everybody's doing it!

Alucard: Is that where you've been the past 2 weeks? Recovering from surgery? I thought the Belmonts had buried you in their yard! ...I was finally thinking about digging you out.

Dracula: Frankenstein recommended a great clinic! And I finally feel like my old self again!

Alucard: I have to admit, you're finally classic scary again. Instead of crypt keeper scary.

Dracula: I can't wait to go back and get my chest fixed!

Alucard: Let's not get crazy here.

Alucard: What money did you use to pay for this?

Dracula: I found it lying around the castle!

Alucard: ...That explains all the broken lamps.

Dracula: I even got hair grafted on! It came from a pony!

Alucard: Well you do look good, dad. And now that I know your dismembered body isn't buried anywhere, I guess I can go put the shovel away.

LATER...

Alucard: Dad, how many times have I told you not to put your shoes in the freezer? Dad?!

Dracula: Alucard, what size boobs do you think daddy should get?

We've Hit the Big Time! ...Kind of.

2009-09-14T17:40:00.000-04:00

Our first episode is up on iTunes!! Check it out!

And if you enjoyed it, please leave feedback!!

Show Notes - Party At Professor Batman's Place - 9/9/09

2009-09-11T20:21:00.002-04:00

Our First Show! Listen Now!

The News:

This Is What It Looks Like To Play Mario Party With Two Characters:

Faces changed to protect the innocent.

Lark's Professor Layton Review

Nintendo 64 + Cracked = Awesome

2009-09-04T15:20:00.001-04:00

This article from Cracked.com is a must read.

And from my personal favorite N64 game...oh, 1990's. We loved you so.

Lark

Just a Test

2009-08-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

First post. Need to test things out.

Here's a video about video games and legos:

8 Bit Trip @ Yahoo! Video

Lark