On Roms and Emulation

Hello there, ladies and gents. This weekend, I decided to relive a bit of my past, so I found collections of every NES and SNES game in Rom form, as well as the emulators with which to run them. I already had a controller, and after configuring things properly, it's just like when I was a kid, playing 8-bit games that my brother owned.

Now, under normal circumstances, I am a pirate in name only: As in, I prefer pirates to ninja's. Pirating is something I am wholly against, and I'll be writing about that in my next post. Also, for roms and emulators, I have a tendency to feel the same way. However, old-school gaming, IE NES, SNES and the like, I feel falls under a sort of gray area when it comes to pirating.

To be quite honest, if a game comes out, and it's something that I'm going to play, I want to give the developers my money. If they make a quality game, they deserve my cash, and that's a fact, plain and simple. I'm also not going to hide behind the "I can't afford it" route that so many others hide behind. Gaming is not food, shelter, or clothing. Call me elitist if you want, but if you can't afford gaming, then you shouldn't BE gaming. Simple. Gaming is a form of luxury, and since it isn't necessary for.. you know, LIVING, then you shouldn't complain just because you can't afford it.

Now, why are NES and SNES roms MY exception?

1) The developers don't get any money off the games anymore. The exception to THIS is through things like the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, and the Playstation Network, but if it's a game I have on an emulator, and I liked it enough to keep it, then I have no problem plopping down the money to own the game. Again, if they took the time to make something for my enjoyment, then I will give the developers of those games my money.

2) You can't find the games anywhere anymore. Most stores don't sell them, and the ones that do don't carry games that are good. Roms are pretty much the only way to find those games anymore.

My usage of roms always follows those two rules up there. If the developers don't make money off them anymore (which anything from PS1 backwards holds up to this, since the developers stopped production of those games), and if stores stop selling them. That being said, once a game becomes available again through alternative means, IE VC or PSN, then I buy them. Always.

Yesterday was the release of the demo for Force Unleashed 2, I tried it out and it's pretty fun. Still glitchy though (I fell through the floor of one of the area's), but it should be pretty fun. It seems like they sped up The Apprentice a bit, and I'm sure they gave him new moves, although you only get one in the demo. Although I'm not buying it at launch, I'm looking forward to seeing the full game in action when it gets released in a couple of weeks.

See ya'll on Saturday, yo!

Netflix and Bandwidth

Ah Netflix. Allowed me to catch up with Season 4 of Heroes (which was surprisingly fun to watch). The girlfriend and I are currently watching the BBC Sitcom Couplings. Not sure if I will pay for the service, but I can understand it's appeal. However, as I believe I mentioned before, the selection, movie wise, is far from up to date.

One thing to be careful with: Your bandwidth. Especially if you watch an HD series.

I'm playing Final Fantasy XIII again and I just finished chapter X this morning. Can't wait to start Chapter XI as it is where the game begins according to a lot of people. To be honest, I've enjoyed the experience a fair bit of up this point. The cinematics are absolutely stunning. Shame on Squeenix for omitting a Theater Mode once you finish the game.

Have you taken a look at the Move Section in your local stores? I've seen them empty in a few places (well, the Bundles and the Move Controller). The Controller appears to be selling really well.

If you own the Move Controller, grab Tumble off of PSN. It is a lot of fun (well, I do like to play with blocks with my daughter, so that might explain my liking the game).

New PSN+ Freeby this week, I wonder what it will be...

There's Always Something to Watch

Folks, normally I do my post about something to do with gaming, either because all week I play one game or several, or because something happens in the industry that drives a sincere need in me to grab my soapbox and rant for a few minutes.

Today is not the day for that kind of post. Today, I am too busy to post. Too busy having television or the first time in approximately three years. Granted, I don't actually have TV, I have Netflix.

Reader beware: Gushing will ensue in three.... two.... one....

GOD I miss TV. I miss being able to flip channels for an hour while still not watching one, solitary thing. I miss wasting hours on end just channel flipping! And now, thanks to the PS3, I pretty much get that same joy.

Netflix has allowed me that simple pleasure once more. Rather than post, I think I'm going to let my brain rot with movies and TV shows, unlimited, all for 8 bucks a month.... after the 1 month free trial. Huzzah for trials that are FREE!!!!

And in PSTP news, I have set up an account with Gamespot, allowing our posts to be seen all across the universe!!!! Or at least on another site. Until next time folks, Excelzior!

If you read this blog...

Post in the comment section!

Also, Cataclysm is a few weeks away. Getting Rock Band 3 with the keyboard will be a pain, though I hope not. Still on chapter 9 in FF XII.

Back to reading the Bag War Saga, thanks to the Knights of the Dinner Table.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Being Sick Sucks

Bonjourno, Internet. I have sadly been sick all weekend, which left gaming to an absolute null and void. However, lying down with nothing to do gave me the perfect opportunity to re-watch season 4 of House, an absolutely awesome show, especially if you like smart, sarcastic types.

I did play a little bit of Drakengard 2 as part of my Ubisoft Marathon. Made by Square-Enix, Drakengard 2, (a sequel to drak... you don't need me to spell it out for ya) takes place 18 years after the first one. It combines Dynasty Warriors style gameplay, whereby you control one character as hundreds of random, nameless enemies are out to kill you, and aerial combat, where you use a dragon to slaughter wings and cubes, and the occasional biplane.

In the first one, there were many themes that would be deemed as controversial, but it was that type of storyline that attracted me to it in the first place. It dared to tell a story not often told in any form, let alone a video game. Drakengard 2, while still fun, lacks a certain something in the storyline. For example, the main character is a whiny little brat. Still, the game itself is fun.

I also managed to play a little Animal Crossing City Folk. I should be about 2/3 of the way through, and of course that means my debt. There's no way I'm going to finish collecting everything in that game, not for a long while anyways.

Castlevania was released today, much to the dismay of all people who hate 3d adaptations of classic, 2d games. This is Chris Taylor, off to take my daily drugs!!! ... of the not staying sick variety.

A quick entry about Netflix

Do you live in Canada? If you do, try out Netflix.ca. Can't say no to a free month, can you? It is a neat little service. My girlfriend and I are currently catching up on the last season of Heroes. I am not sure if I'll suscribe though.

Regional agreements be damned. It would seem that the Rock Band 3/Keyboard bundle will not be available for the PS3 in North America. This sounds like some fishy money deal... Not sure what I'll end up doing about the game.

List of games before Xmas went from: LBP2 (next year), Castlevania (no classic tunes, no purchase for me), RB3 (humm)...

I guess there is still Force Unleashed 2... Otherwise, I guess this means more time for FFXIII and RDR.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Red Steel

It doesn't take too long to figure out that I'm not the biggest supporter of the Wii, or the motion sensing control gimmick that's been the focal point of gaming in the last couple of years. I pretty much need buttons and a standard controller to be able to have fun with a game.

Such is the case with Red Steel, a launch title for the Wii. The game is broken down into two sections: First Person Shooting, which serves as the main, where you travel down corridors, collecting guns and ammo, and shooting at random Asians... or really, random Asian character models with French-Canadian voice actors portraying a terrible Asian accent.

The second part revolves around your ability to block, parry, and strike with a samurai blade. This is the part that gets lost in translation. It is the typical "Wii doesn't sense proper movements" complaint that most Wii games get. In this particular case, it's not so much that it doesn't get sensed at all, so much as there is a delay between your movement and what happens on the screen. It takes a while to get used to it, and even then, the lack of precision brings this game down.

Sadly, one could still say it's decent as a launch title. The aiming, while not perfect, isn't terrible, and the Wii is tailor made for shooters. If it weren't for the fact that it is in fact a launch title, I wouldn't even be able to give it that much credit though.

Sorry folks, this post would probably be longer, but I'm getting sick, and bed rest is the requisite at this point. Until next time, folks.