{"id":4945,"date":"2010-08-28T04:07:11","date_gmt":"2010-08-28T10:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/?p=4945"},"modified":"2010-08-28T04:07:11","modified_gmt":"2010-08-28T10:07:11","slug":"wevenge-of-the-wed-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/28\/wevenge-of-the-wed-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Wevenge of the Wed Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s just a hodgepodge blog this week, folks. Click to read more of my thoughts on Ys Seven, my second red ring, and PAX.<\/p>\n

Ys Seven (PSP)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I enjoyed Ys Seven so much, I had to say a little more about it outside of my review. I was a late bloomer to the Ys series. Mainly because not very many of them made it to the US initially, and the ones that did, they were on consoles I didn\u2019t own (like the TG-16). But when Atlus released the Ys Books 1 and 2 on DS last year, I got totally hooked on the simple action and classic quest adventure gameplay. I\u2019m glad XSEED picked up the latest batch of Ys fun on the PSP. Now I\u2019ll definitely be getting (and reviewing) Ys: The Oath of Felghana, and Ys Books 1 and 2 (even though I already beat it on the DS). I used to look to Atlus as my \u2018go to\u2019 game company for niche titles. But now XSEED has pretty much replaced them thanks to titles like Retro Game Challenge<\/a><\/strong>, Half-Minute Hero<\/a><\/strong>, and their recent deals with Falcom on the Ys games.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for me to pin down what it is about Ys Seven that I really like. It reminds me of a fast-action Secret of Mana, as you have three characters in your party and the computer controls the other two (very well, actually). Even though I got a review download code from XSEED, I bought the Limited Edition version of it anyway. I wanted a UMD copy of the game, and it also comes with a soundtrack, artbook, and cloth map. Since I liked the characters, music, and world of Ys Seven, I was glad I splurged and got the Limited Edition.<\/p>\n

One of the things I like about the world of Ys Seven is it reminds me of another one of my favorite games: Klonoa. You have your five kingdoms based on the four elements, plus a hidden moon kingdom, just like Klonoa. The characters in Ys Seven are also a lot of fun. One neat thing is that a couple of the major characters have physical disabilities, which is a trait you don\u2019t see in too many video games. And they\u2019re not in the game to be politically correct or to force emotions on you; it\u2019s just how they are. One little girl is mute, and another lady is blind. Since I\u2019m blind in one eye myself, I thought that was kind of neat. The blind lady in the game is a playable character, but she uses the magic power of wind to help her see so she can fight just like the others on the team. I think her name is Wishera or something, and she\u2019s my favorite character in Ys Seven. Plus she\u2019s purdy and has neat blue-green braided hair and isn\u2019t some annoying teenage girl. So if I ever have a pop quiz and ask you who my favorite Ys Seven character is, you have no excuse not to know.<\/p>\n

So yeah, Ys Seven is a great PSP game and I highly recommend it. It has a lot of classic gaming sensibilities and plenty of fun to be had. XSEED rocks!<\/p>\n

Wevenge of the Wed Wing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bad news, folks. It happened again. The first time my Xbox 360 got the red ring was a year after I had bought it. It was right about the time that Soul Calibur 4 was going to be released. I was watching a preview video of SC4 and it froze on me. It worked for a short while after before giving up the ghost. But this second time was more sudden. It had worked fine that morning, but when I came back from work that evening, I got the three flashing red lights with no warning whatsoever. Last time I called customer service to get a repair ticket. This time I did everything online, which was MUCH easier.<\/p>\n

While I am pretty upset about it happening a second time, I\u2019m not going to curse out Microsoft or sell all my Xbox games or anything. I\u2019m not going to cut off my nose to spite my face and I have bigger hills to die on. Stupid idioms aside, it\u2019s really just an inconvenient hassle, mostly. Luckily my three year warranty hasn\u2019t expired yet. But you know what I think Microsoft should do? I think they should give free lifetime warranties to anyone who has had the red ring problem. Is that too much to ask? ABSOLUTLEY NOT! I work in customer service during the day (Yes folks, I do have another job besides reviewing games. Game Journalism doesn\u2019t pay the bills, so if that\u2019s what you\u2019re aspiring to be, I suggest finding another line of work). Anyway, at my day job, we bend over backwards if our customers aren\u2019t satisfied with our products, so it really annoys me when I\u2019m the customer and don\u2019t get the same treatment.<\/p>\n

At least my second red ring couldn\u2019t have come at a better time. The only thing I was using my 360 for currently was playing LEGO Harry Potter and watching X-Files on Netflix, and that can wait. I\u2019ve got plenty of other games to play while it\u2019s being repaired, like Ys Seven and the upcoming Metroid: Other M<\/a><\/strong> (YOU HAD BETTER NOT CONK OUT ON ME, TOO, WII). And since there\u2019s a repair center near where I live, hopefully they\u2019ll have it returned to me quickly like last time.<\/p>\n

Anyway, to vent out my frustrations, I thought I\u2019d write a little bit on why I\u2019m very dissatisfied with this generation of video game consoles. Don\u2019t get me wrong, there\u2019s still a lot of amazing things about today\u2019s game systems. It astounds me how we can download and play games online and see what others are playing, which was pretty much unheard of before. So I don\u2019t want to sound like a pessimist. But I have some big problems with the main three consoles.<\/p>\n

Wii<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was the first of the new generation of consoles I got. Of course, the big new thing was motion control, but very few games have utilized it well. Most other motion controlled Wii games are too fiddly and gimmicky. The appeal of motion control left me after about the first year, and honestly, if a game offers Classic Controller support, I\u2019ll opt for that instead. And due to the popularity of the Wii, the other major consoles are getting motion controls, too. Honestly, I could care less about Kinect and Move. I also think it\u2019s safe to say the Wii hasn\u2019t used the Virtual Console to its fullest potential, and they totally dropped the ball with WiiWare. While I haven\u2019t downloaded many of them, the games on Xbox LIVE and PSN are far more interesting. The Wii is just an overblown GameCube, and after all this time, I still think the name \u201cWii\u201d sounds dumb.<\/p>\n

360<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously the problem with the 360 is hardware quality control. EVERYONE I know with a 360 has had a red ring happen to them, and MOST of those it\u2019s happened multiple times. But the other problem I have with the 360 runs rampant in all the consoles: a lack of creativity in games. Where are the Okamis and Psychonauts and Katamari Damacys of this generation? Nowhere. Instead we get countless Halos and Call of Duties.<\/p>\n

PS3<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s a little unfair for me to rag on the PS3 since I\u2019ve only had it for a few months. But that\u2019s part of the problem as the PS3 was way too expensive for the longest time. And really, the only reason why I got a PS3 was to have a Blu-Ray player in the room where we got a new HDTV. I hear the PS3 has a similar red ring problem like the 360, I figure it hasn\u2019t happened to me yet since I haven\u2019t had it as long. And while the free online stuff is nice, it\u2019s still harder to use for me. I guess the main problem I have with the PS3 is lack of interest, which is a shame since during the PSOne and PS2 days, Sony was tops.<\/p>\n

Luckily the new handheld game systems fail to disappoint. There are countless good games on the DS, and even a good handful of halfway decent downloadable DSiWare titles. And while the PSP isn\u2019t as good as the DS, it\u2019s really the only handheld that has been able to truly compete with Nintendo\u2019s portables. It may not have as many good games, but the PSP can do a lot of things the DS can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But yeah, this generation\u2019s consoles pretty much sucks. Where\u2019s my Super Nintendo?<\/p>\n

PAX 10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well enough of that. I just wanted to conclude by letting you all know that this\u2019ll be my last blog for another week and a half or more. I might be able to post another review before I got (probably the last Sam & Max episode), but next weekend is PAX and I\u2019ll be attending it. But don\u2019t worry; I\u2019ll have plenty to say about it when I get back. If you\u2019re going to PAX, too, let me know and maybe we can see each other there! I kind of doubt it, though. I have so many meetings to attend this year, I\u2019ll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off! I have some pretty big name meetings this year, like with Sega and Square Enix. As well as meetings with smaller, personal favorite companies of mine like TellTale Games and Twisted Pixel. Anyway, please pray for me to have a safe and fruitful trip there and back, and if there\u2019s anything you want me to look out for, let me know!<\/p>\n

And finally, I just want to thank you all for reading my reviews and blogs and commenting on them. That really makes me feel happy. Later! –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s just a hodgepodge blog this week, folks. Click to read more of my thoughts on Ys Seven, my second red ring, and PAX. Ys Seven (PSP) I enjoyed Ys Seven so much, I had to say a little more about it outside of my review. I was a late bloomer to the Ys series. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}