Gamespeek - Episode 1!

Gamespeek - Episode 1

The contest is over and Pacific Standard Time will now be known as Gamespeek! This change is the first of many to come (new blog, web address, layout, better content, etc) and we'll keep you up to date as things progress. Chris, Lauren and I would like to thank everyone who submitted name ideas and Robbie from Coquitlam, BC, Canada is our winner! He will be receiving a free game of his choice which he will be eligible to review in an upcoming episode.

We liked the idea of Gamespeek because we speak about games and we strive to give you a peek into the future of gaming and the industry with our reviews and commentary. We felt like you couldn't really get a feel for what our show is like with the name Pacific Standard Time. Now that we've narrowed the focus of our show to videogames, we wanted a more specific name. Let us know what you think!

Our debut episode brings our special guest Matt Deveau who is a big sports game guy. He discusses the new Madden and other sports games, we discuss a bunch of news including Nintendo's big upcoming announcement, Sony's Blu-ray shortages, the (terrible looking) new Bomberman game, lack of online play for the Wii, Lauren rants about videogame lifespans and Chris freaks out about how much he loves his new (used) 360.

I meant to review Star Fox Command for the DS but we forgot. So look for it next week!

Enjoy!
-Aaron

PST Podcast - Episode 27

PST Podcast - Episode 27

Our biggest news this week? Adam Sandler generously gives 400 Playstations (NOT ps2s) to Israelis whose homes were destroyed. That just might be more exciting than Europe's biggest game event which just took place, Leipzig. Either way, this episode has news about the possibility of seeing Gamecube games on the Wii, Microsoft's worldly 360 plans, Guitar Hero 2 updates, next-gen console pre-orders, girls and gaming, and oh so much more.


Oh, and DS Lite is coming in pink and black on September 13. Rad. Maybe now Chris might buy one if he can get one in pink.

PST Podcast - Episode 26

PST Podcast - Episode 26

This episode has lotsa lotsa news! We discuss news on the Wii's 27 launch titles, The Legend of Zelda; Twilight Princess, CES (the new E3?), rumored price drops, a new heavy-duty DS stylus, Yoshi's Island 2,Wii controller voice recognition and Rockstar's upcoming title, Bully.

Also, we were all fortunate enough to spend some time with Dead Rising on the Xbox 360 and what can we say? We love it. We give our first impressions of Capcom's zombie slasher in this episode, but we still have a loooooooong way to go with this game.

And please, submit names for our contest!!! (that is, if you want to win a FREE game)

The confirmed Wii launch titles are as follows:

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Blitz: The League
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Elebits
Excite Truck
Far Cry
GT Pro Series
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Madden NFL 07
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Metal Slug Anthology
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Monster 4x4 World Circuit
Need for Speed: Carbon
Open Season
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Wii Sports

PST Podcast - Episode 25

PST Podcast - Episode 25

News about the new consoles and HD-DVD add-on for the 360, we talk about the announced Sony Mylo, Castlevania SOTN on XBL, Rockstar's Bully, a sweet deal on UMDs and some discussion on Dead Rising - but not a review til next time. We also talk more about the upcoming contest...

Contest Details:
Email us an idea (or ideas) for a new name for our podcast. We need all entries by Friday, August 25. Email them to pstpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com. Also, if you want to tell us why you think your name is the best, that would probably win you some extra points.

Winners will be announced in the following podcast (episode 28) and the winner will get a new game of their choice! And as a bonus, we will also give you the opportunity to call in and review the game for an episode of the podcast! Don't worry, the review isn't required, but if you want to have your voice and opinions on the net, let us know! Listen to the end of Episode 25 for further details.

PST Podcast - Episode 24

PST Podcast - Episode 24

Okay, so we are quite late on this one too... Seriously, we are going to be all caught up and dedicated and on-time every week as soon as we get the Macbooks (mine could be here tomorrow!)

So that being said, this is our "demise of E3" episode. It's pretty short and to the point. We talk about the pros and cons and our personal opinions about the decisions of the ESA. Chris also gives us his first impression of Lumines for the PSP (yes we know it was a launch title...)

Episode 25 should be up tomorrow since we already have that one recorded too. Ep. 25 contains the contest details, but I'll write it out here for you all to give you a head start.

Contest Details:
Email us an idea (or ideas) for a new name for our podcast. We need all entries by Friday, August 25. Email them to pstpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com. Also, if you want to tell us why you think your name is the best, that would probably win you some extra points.

Winners will be announced in the following podcast (episode 28) and the winner will get a new game of their choice! And as a bonus, we will also give you the opportunity to call in and review the game for an episode of the podcast! Don't worry, the review isn't required, but if you want to have your voice and opinions on the net, let us know! Listen to the end of Episode 25 for further details.

R.I.P. E3

In case you haven’t heard (or aren’t a geek), a few days ago the ESA, otherwise known as the Entertainment Software Association, announced that E3 is scaling down, or as they are calling it, “becoming more intimate.” It’s surely good news for the developers since it costs upward of $12 million just to get floor space at the convention center, but its bad news for game journalists since it is likely that the elite big names will be the only ones invited (in other words, I can kiss my chances of ever going again goodbye).

1up.com got to speak with three of the boardmembers from Sega, Ubisoft and Midway. According to the article, they’ve been discussing the format change of E3 for several years now because the show had outlived its usefullness. Complaints were made that too much time and money was being spent on the show and that the wrong people were attending.

“We could get time with every fan site on the planet but couldn’t get a half-hour meeting with Walmart. It’s time to do something more professional for the industry,” said Simon Jeffery, President of Sega.

Apparently the event will still take place in LA and will move to July rather than May. The show will comprise of meetings and conferences and have few actual game demos. And this is the part that I think is going to hurt the industry the most. So much buzz is created around gaming during E3 and its all going to be lost next year. And like the article said, would Nintendo have received even a fraction of the amount of the attention it did if it weren’t for events like this? (that I was also lucky enough to be a part of hehe. Lauren and I sprinted right past the Sony booth to get into the 4 hour line to see the Nintendo Wii)

So, we’ll see what happens next summer when E3 ‘07 happens. Maybe it’s going to help the industry by cutting costs (and hopefully the cost of the PS3 please), or maybe it will hurt by loosing the buzz of the mainstream media. I am keeping my fingers crossed that E3 ‘08 is back to the E3 I know and love.

Oh, and in case you were wondering why we were able to attend E3 in the first place, go here (use firefox or IE to view).

PST Podcast Ep. 23

PST Podcast Episode 23

Well, after much procrastination and many apologies, here is our 23rd episode. We cover some news on Trauma Center for the Wii, Sony's finances, PSP's new firmware, the new Resident Evil movie, another Sims expansion with pets and a new Nintendogs version, AND we give a special Clerks II review. Plus Lauren gives us a special game magazine round-up cuz she's a geek like that and we bicker about booth babes.

E3 updates and additional details on the new contest are coming up next episode which should be up this weekend.

PST Podcast - Episode 22

PST Podcast - Episode 22

Another news-filled episode, with reviews on Tomb Raider: Legend for the PSP, Kinetic for the PS2, Super Princess Peach for the DS, and a second opinion on Point Blank, also for the DS. And again, we apologize for all the handheld reviews, but we are all super busy lately and its tough to get time to play consoles!

Finally, here are a few pics from the parade. We'll have some more soon.

Opera's browser for the DS Lite!

How exciting is this? Finally we get some video of the DS web browser in action and it looks great! Check out the way the two screens work together. I hope Myspace doesn't take over my gaming....

PST Podcast - Episode 21

First off...the intro, gotta love it.

Well we have well packed episode on numero 21 and you can check it out below.

PST Podcast Episode 21

We had a special guest this episode, our friend Adam Rudnick. He joins us to talk up the topics we aim to share with you in this exceptional podcast.

Aaron brought us a good amount of news to discuss on this episode leading off with Japan intorducing special FFIII skinned DS Lites. Will we see them? Doubt it. We hope we're wrong, but if we're not you better get your eBay account ready.

Also if you sick of all the crap you get before you get before watching a movie at the theater, lets hope video game trailers will become a subsistute. Check out if the next couple of movies you plan on going to will have the Gears of War trailer.

We learn of the EVO:Phase one dare we say console? We don't say much but, hell we don't know much but it may cost $680 and games will be downloadable...feels like we're dredging up memories of the Phantom...and for that we apologize. We'll keep a look out for new info.

Also on the Podcast:
Latest info on the new Microsoft handheld. Dare we say that also? Coupled with a lively discussion of what might come from it.

New Pokemon DS games Diamond/Pearl info

Chris introduces us to some possibly groundbreaking code shrinks the size of games and could help them evolve from next gen console to next gen console.

Lastly if you don't feel like selling a kidney (or eggs!) to fund your PS3 purchase Lauren announces a list of games that might convince you ride with your PS2 for a bit longer.

Google Maps...the Game???

PST Podcast - Episode 20

Hey Guys and Gals!

This time it was my doing that the podcast isn't out promptly.

Here it is: Episode 20!

Team Tetris rocked the Sedro Woolley Logger Rodeo by nabbing the Best Community/Church Group Award. Shocked? Me too. Don't believe us? We'll post proof today and listen about us representin' video games at the parade more on the podcast.

Also on the episode I give a review of Point Blank DS and we discuss Eye Toy: In The Groove.

Not to mention much ranting and raving about everything under the sun. Well not really, but you know how we do.

Enjoy!

PST Podcast - Episode 19

PST Podcast - Episode 19

Our retro special! Aaron takes on the Genesis, Chris battles the NES and Lauren duels the Super Nintendo. Find out what games we review and rate. We also include a bit of news at the beginning and some of what else we've been playing lately.

And again, sorry we were so late on this one. Aaron's band Dragline was recording in Tacoma, WA so he was out of town and didn't have the chance to upload.

And don't forget - Team Tetris performance on Tuesday in Sedro-Woolley!!! The image you see is of Chris and Aaron in their Protoman and Mega Man costumes. We still have a bit of work to do, but they are turning out great so far.

PST Podcast - Episode 18

PST Podcast - Episode 18 (we accidentally said 19 in the podcast - whoops!)

The summer drought has officially hit. But we still manage to come up with some stuff to discuss. Guily Gear: Dust Strikers review, Nintendo's high hopes for the Wii, downloadable comics and Tekken on the PSP, and even more on Team Tetris. The Loggerodeo parade (and Team Tetris' second appearance) is coming up July 4, so definetely expect some photos or video footage sometime after that.

Nintendo Power has conifrmed the launch titles for the Wii:
-The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
-Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
-Wii Sports
-Red Steel
-Rayman Raving Rabbits
-Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
-Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

No Wario Ware? No Super Mario Galaxy? No Excite Truck? No Elebits? We are a little dissapointed, but we'll be in line for a Wii nonetheless.

We are dusting off all of our old consoles so you can expect some classic gaming features soon.
And we are loving the feedback we're getting!

PST Podcast - Episode 17

PST Podcast - Episode 17

DS Lite hardware review, Mega Man Powered Up, Wii rumors, Bloodrayne movie review and more on Team Tetris. Check it out!!

Here are the links we mention in the podcast for the coupons for a free copy of Brain Training with the purchase of a Nintendo DS.
- Circuit City coupon which expires on June 19.
- Best Buy coupon which expires on June 18.

And unfortunately, the release date for Okami on Gamestop's site is 9/5/06. Booo!!!

PST Podcast - Episode 16

PST Podcast - Episode 16

Our first episode with our third host, Chris Palmer! This one's a little long, so there's your warning. We rant and rave about the PS3 and Blu-Ray, review Big Brain Academy and Lemmings, give some news on the upcoming systems (possible PS3 price drop? no Wii pre-order?), complain about game stores and then we go off on tons of tangents as always.

And please, leave us some comments about format changes of the show. We are in transition right now and would love to take the show in different directions. So let us know what we should do. Thanks!

PST Podcast - Episode 15

PST Podcast - Episode 15

We have Xbox 360s at work! Hear our first impressions of extended time with the system (finally!) and hopefully we'll have some coverage on the system as time goes by. This episode has lots of console news - the price of the Wii, Playstation in Europe and DS Lite's accidental early release.

In other news, Chris Palmer - who's been a guest several times - is going to be joining us each week now! We decided we needed to spice things up a bit because we agree on stuff too much. We thought that a third opinion would work nicely and he agreed. So yeah, expect some changes in the podcast. Hopefully they'll be for the better. As always, comments and feedback is greatly appreciated so fire away!

PST Podcast - Episode 14

PST Podcast - Episode 14

The winners of the E3 swag giveaway have been chosen! Emails have been sent out to everybody who entered and the packages are being assembled. Also in this podcast, our special guest Chris Palmer gives info about an upcoming Team Tetris event on July 4 in Washington state, Lauren talks about Xbox 360 game pricing and we talk more on New Super Mario Brothers and Lauren's gives her first impression of her very first MMORPG, Guild Wars.

Thanks again everyone for entering and keep an eye out for more contests!!!

An apology.

Alright guys, I am sorry for how long it has taken for the podcast to come out.... A whole bunch of really out-of-the-ordinary circumstances (my birthday, going to the ER, the flooding of my house, being drugged on vicodin, seeing x-men 3) have prevented me from having the ability to edit the file. I know you all must be dying to know who won the swag... The winners have been chosen and the swag packs are being prepared so keep checking this page. We'll send everyone an email when the podcast is up, letting you all know if you won or not.

Again, my most sincere apologizes. I will do my best to have the podcast uploaded and ready sometime early Sunday. Thanks for your understanding.

-Aaron

THANKS!

I would like to say thanks to every one who left us a comment. Aaron and I have a fun time putting this podcast together and we hope to have more contests like this in the future, especially if we make plans to go to E3 next year. I hope you guys keep up the comments and if you have a site drop us a line and we'll link it to ours.

PST Podcast - Episode 13

PST Podcast - Episode 13

This is our post-E3 extravaganza! Actually we don't even really talk about E3 too much in this one since our last 3 episodes were dedicated to it... But we do review New Super Mario Brothers, talk about E3 swag that is up for sale on ebay, and give details on our E3 swag give-away!!!

It's easy to win, you just gotta listen to the podcast to find out how. But just know that 3 people will have some exclusive E3 stuff. And it better not end up on ebay!

PST Podcast - Episode 12

PST Podcast - Episode 12

Sadly, today was our last day at E3. We spent a lot of it playing Xbox 360 and honestly, we were both very impressed by their offering. We were able to see the trailer for Gears of War for the 360 and one of the game designers took us through the first level of the game twice - once through an advanced route for the pros and another way for the newbies. It looked really nice and brought a few needed changes to the first-person shooter genre. For more details on the game and what we thought, check out this episode of the podcast.

Looking back on all of it, I never thought I'd be saying that Sony was the most underwhelming of the big three. Everyone at the show was talking about Nintendo and I was personally most excited for what they were offering. Xbox was also showing games like Viva Pinata, Time Shift, 99 Nights, Test Drive: Unlimited, Too Human and Table Tennis.

I haven't really mentioned it yet, but I think my favorite game of the expo might be Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 by Capcom. It was so good that I think its going to make me buy a 360. If you don't know anything about it, it is a zombie game - picture Resident Evil in a mall where you can use anything as a weapon. The graphics and camera angles were awesome, as are the controls. When you are being attacked (eaten) by a zombie the camera zooms in way close until you shake him or her off making it feel very cinematic. The most fun part of the game is picking up random objects and seeing the different ways you can kill zombies. You could use hedge trimmers to remove limbs from the zombies. And because you are in a mall, you can break in to any store and pick up objects. You could even throw cd cases at the zombies to hurt and stun them. Occasionally, your character is surrounded by a lot of zombies (around 100 maybe) and the game still moves smoothly as you plow through them with your weapon of choice.

Enough about that, here's a list of the games we played or watched on our final day.

Xbox 360
Gears of War
Dead Rising
TimeShift
Moto GP '06
Saints Row
99 Nights
Viva Pinata
Test Drive: Unlimited
Too Human
Eragon

Nintendo DS
The Legend of Zelda DS
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2

Playstation 2
Yakuza
Super Dragon Ball Z

Playstation 3
Hundred Swords

PSP
Rush
Mortal Kombat: Unchained
Loco Roco

PC
Guild Wars: Factions

PST Podcast - Episode 11

PST Podcast - Episode 11

Wii waited, Wii saw, Wii conquered...

Today, everyone was all about Nintendo. After running with the masses and standing in line for about 2 hours and 15 minutes we made it inside the Nintendo Wii booth (or should I say area). Though it did lead to more waiting, neither of us would have traded the experiences of getting to play and see the Wii games today.

On this show we cover the sweet sweet start to our day and coverage on the games we we're able to get our hands on (Zelda: Twilight Princess! Red Steel! and more). But also after and exhausting 3 hours we headed back to the DS lite area to play some more titles (Elite Beat Agents!)

Also we didn't get a chance to mention this in the show, but the trailer for Super Smash Bros.: Brawl was also shown and baby did it look sweet. New characters featured so far are: Wario, Pit, Solid Snake and Meta Knight. I cross my fingers for more new unlockable characters (Sonic the Hedgehog anyone?).

Also we ventured over to what we agreed was a poor presentation by Sony this year. Find out more on our podcast for this week here at Pacific Standard Time.

List of Game Wii Played Today:

Nintendo Wii
Red Steel
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Elebits
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Bomberman Land
Excite Truck

Nintendo DS
Children of Mana
Elite Beat Agents
New Super Mario Bros.
Point Blank

Playstation Portable
Socom II

Playstation 2
One Piece: Grand Battle

Xbox 360
Bomberman

Playstation 3
Genji (Working title)

PC
Battleside

P.S. If you did know the Metal Gear Solid Movie was confirmed. We're poking around for the trailer tomorrow.

PST Podcast - Episode 10

PST Podcast - Episode 10

Here it is! Our first of three podcasts coming to you from the Electronics Entertainment Expo! Enjoy.

Due to our hotel's shabby wi-fi, we are going to have to wait til tomorrow morning to upload the podcast. We'll get to the media room around 8 or so, so you can expect it sometime around then. Thanks!

Check out our latest press release.

E3 - Day 1

Okay, so we didn't post on the blog throughout the day like we had hoped... You try pulling yourself away from hundreds of unreleased videogames and loads of free stuff! We are going to record the podcast here in a few minutes, but I just wanted to give a quick update about the show.

It has been absolutely nuts so far!!! The day started off with an interesting speech from ESA President Doug Lowenstein. He spoke about how the gaming industry is changing the economy of the U.S. and how games are affecting everyone whether they know it or not. You can read transripts for his speech here.

Then after the awesome media breakfast and an hour of hanging around (the pre-registered media had 2 hours on the floor before everyone else), we were finally on the floor! All three of the big guys have tons of stuff to show, and we honestly still haven't even scratched the surface. We played the Nintendo DS Lite and I must say, it is as much better as the old DS as everyone says. The screen is the biggest difference - it is much brighter and sharper. It also feels a lot more natural to hold and I like the button layout a lot more too.

The Playstaton 3 is also looking sweet. We were able to play a few PS3 games so far, but I think Sonic the Hedgehog was the most memorable. It was reminiscent of Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast - it was 3D but still had the quick, 2D feel to it. A new character named Silver is introduced who is telekenetic.

Oh yeah, and I played Guitar Hero 2! Unfortunately I wasn't the least bit drunk so I didn't perform as well as normal. We also saw the 45-minute Square Enix presentation. There was a ton of Final Fantasy stuff -for both FFVII and FFXIII (three FFXIII games will be released and called Fabula Nova Crystallis). Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS looked amazing - maybe the nicest looking DS game I've seen yet. It is a completely redone version of FFIII for the Famicom that was never released in the states.

And oh yeah, we saw some celebrities. Gilbert Godfrey was right behind us while were playing games in the Capcom booth. Julie from Real World: New Orleans was walking around with a videocamera in her face (she is a host now for some gaming show?) and Lauren wanted to hit her. We also saw Tony Hawk on a huge half pipe doing some sick stuff (a McTwist!) with a bunch of other skaters and a BMXer doing some rad stuff.

Well, we had better start recording the podcast so we get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we are going to be in line first thing in the morning to get our hands on the Wii (no pun intended). We are also going to be checking out more XBox and PS3 stuff, as well as more from EA, Vivendi Universal, Capcom, Konami, Bandai-Namco, Tecmo and we might even check out the N-Gage booth.

Listen to the podcast, leave us feedback and check back tomorrow!!!

Here is a quick list of the games we played by developer:
Square-Enix
- DragonQuest Heroes: Rocket Slime (Nintendo DS)
- Children of Mana (DS)
- Final Fantasy III (DS)
- Valkyrie Profile (PSP)
- Dot Hack. GU (PS2)

Bandai-Namco
- Naruto, the Ultimate Ninja (Gamecube)
- Eurekei Seven (PS2)
- Zatchbell, Mamodo Battles (PS2)
- Pac Man World Rally (PS2)
- Bounty Hounds (PSP)
- Tekken Dark Resurrection (PSP)
- Point Blank (DS)

Sega
- Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3)
- Phantasy Star Universe (PC)
- Yakuza (PS2)

Natsume
- Harvest Moon (DS)
- Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (GC)

Power of Korea
- WTF (work time fun) (PSP)

Capcom
- Capcom Puzzle World (PSP)
- Monster Hunter Freedom (PSP)
- Dead Rising (XBOX 360)
- Mega Man Z2 (DS)

Konami
- Castlevania - Portrait of Ruin (DS)
- Silent Hill Origins (PSP)
- Dance Dance Revolution Universe (XBOX 360)

Nintendo
- Donkey Kong Swing (DS)
- Big Brain Academy (DS)
- Custom Robo (DS)
- Some Pokemon Game (DS)

Level 5
- Rogue Galaxy (PS2)

Activision
- Tenchu DS (DS)
- Tony Hawk Downhill Jam (DS)

Midway
- Mortal Kombat: Annihalation? (PS2, probably more)

Rockstar
- Table Tennis (XBOX360)

Warner Brothers
- Justice League Heroes (PS2, XBOX)

Let's Get This Show On the Roll...

Besides one of the most painful headaches from my ears being blocked up by the pressure of the plane landing, I am one of the happiest people in the world. I didn't think I would be here the second time around and I believe this E3 is going to better than last year. We'll find out after tomorrow, but right now I feel like Nintendo might steal the show.

I'm excited about everything that might be unveiled for the show this week. From what it sounds like, there will be a great deal of things to be playable. I really hope to see Red Steel playable for the Nintendo Wii. Damn I hope I get a chance to at least hold the new controller. We do have a lot of ground to cover and we are crossing our fingers for some meetings, but the overall experience is going to be an event no one could bribe me out of.

I was about to go into a bit of detail on our plans tomorrow, but it seems that we'll have to get up at 6 and I haven't had stable session of sleep today. Soooooo people, keep a look out for an update in the morning possibly after the media briefing.

We made it to E3!!

Lauren and I are sitting in the media room on a PC right now staring at our shiny new press badges :) So needless to say, we didn't die in a plane crash and we are here safely. Although we are staying at a hotel in a pretty shady part of town... And because we didn't really sleep last night before we left, we slept pretty much every chance we had on the way down here.

Just like last year, we've heard of some big news right before E3. A lot of companies hold press conferences and Sony has announced pricing for the PS3. It will set you back $399 with an included 20 GB hard drive and $499 with a 60 GB drive. Not too shabby - the cheaper of the systems is supposedly going to cost $494 to produce so Sony is going to be loosing quite a bit of money.

One last thing before we get out of here - check out the Wii's confirmed titles for next year! Lauren just about screamed when she saw both Fire Emblem and Trauma Center on the list. We want to get something to eat, and there is tons of news, so stayed tuned for more updates tonight. And we'll try to post some photos too. Have fun not being at E3 ;)

Review - Animal Crossing: Wild World

Animal Crossing: Wild World
Nintendo DS
8.5/10
-by Aaron Apple

Animal Crossing: Wild World for Nintendo DS takes every idea of a traditional videogame and throws them out the window. The game lacks a main objective, has no ending to it and lacks any kind of storyline. The main character of the game doesn’t really grow or change as the game progresses, unless you count the possession of more material goods like a golden shovel, modern bed or a gas pump.

If you missed the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing that was released in July 2002, at this point you might be really confused as to what this game is all about. The story starts with your character (male or female – your choice) riding in a cab to move to a new town. You are dropped off in a town with a randomly generated map (I named mine Tokyo) and a raccoon shop owner named Tom Nook gives you a house – complete with a hefty mortgage – to live in and fill with random stuff that will collect.

In this early stage of the game, the game play feels somewhat linear. Tom Nook gives you small tasks, like delivering goods to different neighbors, in order to pay off part of your first mortgage. After those tasks are completed, you are left completely clueless as to what to do next or why to keep playing the game. Talking and interacting with the neighbors was entertaining, but not enough to hold my attention. Selling fruit to make small dents in my mortgage was also growing old. It wasn’t until a friend of mine picked up the game and we started visiting one another’s towns via wi-fi that I really found the true potential of Animal Crossing and fell in love with the game.

Our lives began to rotate around Animal Crossing. We meet up so we can visit one another’s towns. We buy items in Tom Nook’s store for each other – she is collecting the exotic line of furniture, I am collecting robo furniture. We fill our pockets with our towns’ fruits (oranges grew in my town, peaches in hers) and we drop them off in the other person’s town, since we discovered that Tom Nook will pay five times more for a foreign fruit. We write letters or send presents to people in one another’s towns. We even found that residents of her town would move to mine and vice versa.

The amount of surprises that happened once I started visiting other people’s towns were baffling. I once jokingly wrote a rather nasty letter to someone in a friend’s town and I surely didn’t expect that resident to actually show my friend the letter. I had a bit of explaining to do. A friend found a lost cat in her town who was looking for its mother. Apparently the mother was in my town so she had to bring him over so they could be reunited.

The game is not perfect, but it makes for a great portable experience and is easily one of the best games released on the Nintendo DS so far. It is easy to pick up and play for a short time each day, or one could spend hours if they chose; decorating the house, strengthening relationships with the neighbors, collecting fossils, bugs and fish for the town museum, planting flowers or selling items to Tom Nook to earn that next house expansion. Also, the music is fantastic. The soft and quirky soundtrack complements the mood of the game perfectly.

I would rate the game an 8.5 out of 10 because there are several improvements that could have been made. The fact that your character is limited to carrying only 15 items can get very annoying later in the game when you have a lot of fruit to sell. It makes it so that you have to do a lot of needless running around. Also, the curved world view is a little strange. I would have loved the ability to rotate or change camera angles. The only time you can do this is in your house; otherwise you are stuck with a three-quarters view of your character. A simple zoom-out feature would have saved me a lot of time. Lastly, the game seemed to lag a little bit when controlling with the touch-screen and stylus. I always play with the d-pad and the buttons because the control seems a lot tighter and more precise.

Overall, this game is definitely worth picking up, especially if you know someone else who also plays. The dialogue is humorous and entertaining, the sound and graphics are fitting for the gameplay, and the replay value is nearly infinite.

On Endings and Beginnings...

As I sit back for another round of Kingdom Hearts 2 I let the title screen go on for a while until the opening starts. I leave my egg cheese and sour cream sandwich (my favorite) and find myself mesmerized for the next minute as I watch the opening, which if you haven't played KH2 is the symphonic production of Utada Hikaru's Passion aka Sancutuary. I only sat down to play the game because I felt bad for neglecting it for Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (which currently I've clocked 35 hours and KH2 is at 30). I was just super pumped up about playing the game after watching the opening. That's when I realized how, at least for me, important the openings and closings of video games are.

Many play for gameplay or for a new style of play. And others play for the story. For me I'm not interested in the game if I'm not grabbed by the storyline. I love being involved in the storyline or as I tell my friends in that interactive movie. So I value openings, appreciate cutsenses and covet endings.

And endings are a another story.

I've been burned many times at the ending of a game. When it comes to games that have me invested in the characters and the storyline I better have a damn good ending. I didn't sit tense killing my fingers, screaming at the television so I can get a two to three minute summary of the how all the character's live happily ever after...or a damn to be continued ending.

My idea of a great ending would be a separate disk with a completely animated ending which last about 15+ minutes. However long the makers would like to have it, but the minimum would have to be 15 minutes. And don't give me any crap on how they could possibly fill that. Are you telling me a creative team that puts me through a 40-80 emotional and exhilarating rollercoster ride can't give me and epic ending? Of course they could produce something like that.

I want to find out how the hero finally goes on with his life. I want to know, if it's going to be a be continued, what new evil could be lurking around the corner. It's honestly one of the biggest reasons why I play, I enjoy being involved with the storyline.

And I wonder why I like fanfiction...

PST Podcast - Episode 9

PST Podcast - Episode 9

This is our pre-E3 episode since we will be at E3 on Wednesday! Check it out if you want to know what to expect from our podcast for the next few episodes while we are in LA. We are really stoked about a lot of games that will be debuting at E3. There are sure to be a ton of surprises so stay tuned! We also talk about some news (Seattle named #1 videogame city in the USA!) and about some of our experiences from last year's E3.

We feature songs by The Sounds and Hey Mercedes.

Check it out.

PST Podcast - Episode 8

PST Podcast - Episode 8

Big news this episode! Nintendo renames the Revolution, we review Silent Hill, talk about videogame advertisements and we talk about a few shows we went to last weekend. We've also decided that we will indeed be attending E3 this year!

So stay tuned to this page for exclusive E3 coverage. We will be posting on the blog throughout the conference multiple times a day and a podcast each night. We'll even be doing some giveaways.

This episode features music by Rainer Maria and Utada Hiraku.

PST Podcast - Episode 7

PST Podcast - Episode 7

It's finally here! In addition to us recording it later than usual, I also edited it later than planned - and THEN we discovered that we had filled up our alloted storage space on Podbus... Long story short, we've switch to GoDaddy and hopefully we won't have any more problems like this. Our next episode will be recorded tomorrow (Thursday) and should be available Friday. Next week we will be all caught up and back on track.

This episode features two very special guests - Matt Hatch (Lauren's upstairs neighbor who Aaron went to high school with and is about to get an XBox 360) and David Wray (Lauren's roommate who doesn't play games all that much). We talk about a few news items, Brain Training, our favorite games of all time, the DS Lite upcoming release and some other stuff. We feature music by Mates of State and Moneen.

And by the way, pick up the new Mates of State disc. It is rad.

We are so sorry!!

Due to hosting issues, we have not been able to get the podcast file uploaded for episode 7, even though we have it recorded and edited. We have switched to www.godaddy.com because they are way more awesome. Expect the next episode within 24-48 hours.

Thanks for your patience.

And contrary to what we state in the latest podcast, we just may be attending E3 yet. To be continued...

PST Podcast - Episode 6

PST Podcast - Episode 6 - click here to listen!

This episode is fairly brief since we only had a few days since the last one on Sunday. This time we talk about the Seattle Podcasting Network, money-making tips on Animal Crossing: Wild World, Aaron reviews a few restaurants with crappy service in Bellingham and we shed some light on some cool new technology which you might be hearing more about very soon - Document Command (think checking your snail mail from anywhere in the world in an email-like format).

You may be able to get XBox 360 games at your local Burger King? We also reveal what Lauren did on her birthday, so check it out! Songs by Braid and K Through 6 are featured.

Don't forget, we are now posting new podcasts every Thursday!

AK47 appreciation post

This is a shout-out to our crucial hommie, Aaron Kayser (AK47).

He's been letting us use his bedroom and computer to record the podcast. Without him, none of this would be possible. Hopefully you'll be fortunate enough to hear his voice on air within the next few podcasts.

PST Podcast - Episode 5

PST Podcast - Episode 5 - click to listen!

Our friend Chris Palmer joins us this episode to talk with us about a few things, most notably Kingdom Hearts II. Also discussed: Shadow of the Colossus, Animal Crossing stories, the PSP, Lauren's Nintendo Wi-Fi adapter problems and more. We also feature music by United State of Electronica, The Juliana Theory and Stars.

ALSO: We will now be posting new episodes on late Wednesday night instead of late Sunday. This avoids any potential conflicts with weekend plans.

PST Podcast - Episode 4

PST Podcast - Episode 4 - click to listen!

Please welcome our very special (and first ever) guest to the show - Eric Sanford!













He will be joining us to talk about some exciting upcoming album releases as well as some music news from the hardcore realm. He and Aaron will also talk about this weekend's Thursday / Minus the Bear show in Seattle that they attended.

We have some news from Nintendo regarding their upcoming game download service, as well as a Bob Ross game that is in development! We talk about more upcoming movies adapted from games and give our top ten games we wish could be made into movies. Songs from Lucero, Alkaline Trio, Barricade and Ghostface Killa are featured.

Also, a little self-promotion:

Tokyo Flash

Hey!

So here are the three watches I talked about on the show Monday.

Active Reactor by Radio Active
$100.81


The time is displayed by simply adding the lights. 20 plus 10 plus 2= 32 minutes. The Red Warning light is for the 6 hour mark and the Danger gauge for the other 6 hours.
Time
Water Resistant
Everything Solid Stainless
Mineral Crystal Face
Blinking LED Lights
English and Japanese instructions
One year warranty

Star Performer by Pimp
$167.73

See the link for a detail description.
Time 12 and 24 hour
Day and Date
Year
Light up Function
Limited Production
Water Resistant
One Year Warranty

Mysterious VQ by ODM
$57.60

One of the main features of this watch is the built in motion sensor. So you dont even need to press a button to change modes. A simple twist of your wrist will flick between time & date modes. The display also has an active scrolling matrix.
Time Calendar
Motion sensor
One year warranty
A Scrolling message
English Instructions



Info from tokyoflash.com

PST Podcast - Episode 3

PST Podcast - Episode 3 - click to listen!

We have some big news to talk about this week. The Game Developers Conference (GDC) was held March 20-24 in San Jose, CA and a few announcements were made, although most of the big stuff is being saved for E3 in May. We also discuss a few upcoming games we are excited for and we break down and review Tetris DS.

Also, along with some technology and music news, four different Bellingham bands are featured during this episode, including Racetrack, The Shook Ones, Idiot Pilot and Dragline (The band Aaron happens to play drums in). Lauren introduces a Web site that sells cool Japanese watches for the true geek.

Thanks for listening and please leave us comments, good or bad!

More Demo Disc Reviews

Teen Titans Not yet released
Majesco

Beat bad guy move on to more bad guys. Yes, that's the focus of Cartoon Network's Teen Titans. Suprisingly, with where videogames are now I was taken aback by the quality of the cut scenes. There were jagged edges on everything almost as if some one had cut out each character and pasted them into the scene. The gameplay was very simple you have a few special moves and regular move to beat the bad guys up, the bad thing is it doesn't go much further than that. You have the ability to change between the five character to add a little varitey, but that even goes bland quick. The characters are tiny and though there isn't any music to critique the talking by the various characters get old..quick. The camera also doesn't move as freely as you would expect it to so you feel like you're fighting against the camera, too. Demo Review 5/10

+ fighting as different titans is fun, mulitplayer should widen interest
- I should be fighting the bad guys not with the games mechanics, boring gameplay


Shadow Hearts: From a New World
XSEED Games

Being restricted to the demo version of Shadow Hearts, I came away with mixed feelings about the game. The beginning, like most RPG can be slow to get to the point of the game. Also I began to feel like it was going to rely on talking to every single person in order to get to any information. However, after a while I didn't mind. I was already starting to enjoy the humorus story line, similar the previous Shadow Hearts games, and the unique battle system. I was definately taken aback, in a good way, with the item shop owners. Two gay bikers, both with an extreme interest in Johnny. I laughed until I cried. The battle system uses the Judgment Ring -- a circular turn-based mechanism that gives users control over how many hits they can land on an opponent. This system is all based on timing (press X when the arrow lays over the right zone). In the end I am definately going out to try this game out. Demo Review 7/10

+ Humorus and fun battle system
- Hopfully the game doesn't rely on talking to literally everyone, and the voice acting is lackluster

IGN - 7.8
1up - 7.3
Gamespot - 8.2

PST Podcast Episode 2

PST Podcast - Episode 2

Amidst the chaos of finals week and graduation, we managed to finish up our second episode. We took some feedback into consideration and tried to be more informative, so we hope you enjoy! This episode discusses the huge announcements that Sony made last week, some game reviews, new music technology, details about the new Futureheads album and we play songs by Sufjan Stevens, the New Pornographers and Saves the Day.

Here is the link to Pandora Web site that we discuss in the podcast = http://www.pandora.com

And please, we love feedback so give it to us!!!


P.S. - RIP Japanese Katamari Damacy site. We miss you already.

PS3 details announced, PSP lowers price, XBox Live offers free trial

PS3 details have finally been announced! Just when we were fearing that the Playstation 3 was going to be released in the states sometime after Christmas, it will officially have a worldwide release in early November. They said they will produce about 1 million consoles a month and have a strong lineup of launch titles. 1up.com compiled a nice feature on all of the announced games here.

The final specs for the PS3 include a Blu-ray Disc drive, which enables it to playback BD (blu-ray disk) software at a high bit rate. Blue-ray Discs have a storage capacity of 50 gigabytes and the PS3 will have an internal 60 GB hard drive.

Also, the press release said the PS3 will be compatible with a vast lineup of television sets currently out in the market, from standard-definition TV to full high-definition TV.

Highlights:
- 6 million will be ready by March 2007.
- Sony has confirmed that the PS3 will be backwards compatible with PS1 and PS2 titles.
- Free online service

Also, Sony announced yesterday that the PSP's price will be lowered to a suggested retail price of $199.99. People will be able to purchase the new PSP system at this price, complete with AC adaptor and battery, beginning March 22.

The press release went on to say:

As of this month in North America, there are more than 107 games available for the PSP system and more than 347 feature films, TV programs and videos from major studios combining with downloadable content from the Internet to create an unmatched library of entertainment content. The PSP system has also served as an important driver in retail sales, bringing in more than $1.6 billion as of calendar year 2005, more than both Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS combined.

In my opinion, only about seven of the games are worth playing, and unless you pick up crappy films or find a deal, some of those PSP titles sell for $34.99, like *cough* Stealth *cough*. Also, it might have sold more than the DS, but the DS is kicking butt in the title selection area. Like I said on the past show, I already have an iPod, so this system isn't really screaming "buy me!"...yet. This price drop is great news because I still want one.

In other news, Aaron and I can't really review Xbox because of meager funds, but we'll be working on getting someone in there to review and discuss Xbox games. I do have news: Xbox will play host to 72 hours of free Xbox live gold, courtesy of Verizon, from March 31 through April 2. Check out their site: http://www.xbox.com/livegoldweekend

stay with me just for now