Gabriel

Thunder Force III, easily.

PSN Store

Under Defeat is $3 this week. Buy it.

I had always hoped Thunder Force VI would end up on the Japanese PSN store, but it was apparently not meant to be.

A few of my personal favorites: Tempest = seriously, if you have a track ball, this is the best game on the 5200. Jr Pac Man Super Pac Man Star Raiders Space Dungeon Centipede Millipede Pac Man Arcade Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (although I think I'm coming around to thinking the 2600 version is as good if not better) Popeye Qix Countermeasure Defender Blaster

The odd plastic yellowing seems suspicious to me too. Everything looks pristine except for the panel where the controllers are? I'm pretty sure I've seen KO controllers like that with Sony and Playstation on them. It's also very convenient that nothing can be demoed on it due to a missing power cable. That's some textbook "untested" ebay stuff there. The device looks very haphazardly put together, matching with the story of it being a prototype. That's why it seems odd that it is marked up with branding and other text like a final model.

If you're looking at the PSP primarily for the intent of playing games and not necessarily for playing games on a portable, then I'd also like to point out the PS TV. You won't be able to play physical PSP releases on it, but many of the PSP games (particularly JRPGs) are available for download at relatively inexpensive prices. And you'd be able to play on a fullscreen with a PS3 controller. It's worth a look if you're only after the games, and not the ability to be on the go.

I don't think Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth1 is PS TV compatible. It doesn't show up in the PS TV shop, and there seems to be a lot of discussion online from several months ago about how it's not compatible. I couldn't find anything to indicate that had changed. Valkyria Chronicles 2 isn't in the PS TV store, but it is possible to download it to a PS3 and then transfer it to the PS TV, and it works fine.

Well, that sucks. I saw Optimus and Bumblebee. Wasn't the red Lamborghini in there? Wheeljack is in a cutscene, so maybe he's another one. Since it's G1, I'd bet on Ironhide being the fifth. That's so sad though, because when I saw Soundwave, Laserbeak, and Ravage I squeeed in glee. I hoped they'd be playable.

I'll be cautiously optimistic, pretty much only because the look of it seems awesome to me right now. If Jetfire/Skyfire, Shockwave, and Soundwave are playable, then that would almost make it a must buy. I doubt Shockwave has any chance of happening though, considering the legal rights for his G1 likeness are all snarled up and he doesn't have any pre-made alt appearances like Jetfire/Skyfire does. I really wanted to like the War for Cybertron games. They were exactly what I thought I wanted for a really long time, but once I played them I just didn't like them. Hopefully, this new one will be more my thing.

I fear Final Fantasy VII will be ruined, turned into some action crap not worth playing. Or worse, turned into the little league coach mechanics of FF13. Then there's the matter of voice actors. Finding good voices for characters so engraved in my mind is a tall order, and I've been watching Advent Children for a decade on top of that. It has a strong chance of Star Blazers: Bolar Wars syndrome.

Yeah, Electric Angel and Miku's P-Style CG module still showing as non-free. I just figured that for whatever reason they weren't part of the Song and Costume clubs. That's it though, other than that one oddball theme.

I mostly agree. I didn't feel anyone was really a character in this film, just automatons checking off items on a franchise checklist. Personally, I didn't like Vision. I thought his character was extraneous and irrelevant. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver similarly felt superfluous. As you said, it was jumbled, and had too many characters for any of them to get any focus. What character moments did exist felt random and strained. It was very much like a big crossover comics event with lots of characters. No character gets any real exposure and all of them act out of character so the event can move forward. You're probably right that this is what the Marvel Cinematic Universe will look like going forward.

I never heard anything good about it back in the NES days. When people mentioned it, they referred to it as one of those games they rented and felt they wasted their money because it was so bad. Then during the PS1 era Metal Gear Solid came along. I remember how big the magazines hyped the thing. I also remember the same exact people who had said the NES game was horrible suddenly remembered some alternate reality where the game was a classic which they loved playing. That was the moment I realized the power of the videogame press on the casual gamer.

I've thought on this quite a bit. Ultimately, I decided not to contribute to this Kickstarter. The first issue I had was with the supported platforms. I do not like gaming on PC. Games I purchase for PC just end up not getting played or even looked at. I'm definitely don't see myself ever purchasing an XBox One. While I can see myself eventually getting a PS4, that time is nowhere in the readily predictable future. Now, being realistic, this project is probably going to go on long enough and late enough that I might have a PS4 and dozens of other games by the time the final project is realized, but, for the NOW, I don't want to pay for the potential of a game that I don't even own the hardware to play. The second issue is something intangible. Something about this feels like Order of Ecclesia. I didn't like that one. I regarded it as probably the worst Castlevania game I've ever played. I don't want to contribute $60, wait two years (very likely more, because no Kickstarter ever meets it's delivery date), and have another Order of Ecclesia experience. $60 isn't that much. In all honesty, two or three or four years from now if this thing is delivered the $60 I spent on it will be utterly negligible. However, there are other things I'd like to do with that $60 right now. One of those things was donating to a different Kickstarter which I have more faith in and have a more firm idea of what will be delivered. There's also Sony. Games get hung up in approvals. Sometimes finished games reach the approval step and end up in permanent limbo. I think this game has a very strong possibility of ending up like that. So that's my rationale. I do have the fear that I'll be missing out, but I'm fine with that possible outcome. Also, considering how successful the Kickstarter is, I have strong doubts that it will be a Kickstarter exclusive, assuming all the other hurdles are cleared.

I found out Fate/Unlimited Codes does work on the PS TV. I had to link my PS TV to my PS3. Then I had to download Fate/Unlimited Codes to my PS3. Then I had to go into the PS TV, connect to my PS3, and copy it.

I stumbled upon the compatibility list last night. Yep, very helpful. As for Konami, yes it sucks that Dracula X won't get patched. Oh well. Another one I would have liked to play on my TV, but also isn't supported, is Fate/Unlimited Codes. I'm not sure if the lack of support for that one is due to it being a license or because of Capcom. Probably both. Luckily, most of the games I care about are supported. Although it would have been nice to have a Japanese account for Macross Ultimate Frontier (assuming it's supported).

No, because FF 13 and its spin offs exist. But yeah, stay away from FF2 as a standalone.

I abandoned my beloved 5200 and all its games back in 1996 or so, thinking I'd never find operating controllers for it again. I dumped my original 2600 and all it's games back in 2002. I thought emulation would take care of my 2600 needs from then on. Yeah, stupid. But to be fair, my original 2600 and games were in bad shape. My other old 80s era gaming devices like my Vic-20, Adam Computer, Commodore 64, and Apple IIc succumbed to the horrible environments I lived in, and I didn't bother keeping any of the games. Because of this, the game which I can definitely say has been in my possession the longest is Star Control for the Sega Genesis. I bought it when I purchased my original Sega Genesis in August of 1992. There may be an exception. At one point I had an Intellivision ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS cartridge. When I gave the Intellivision 2 I had been borrowing back to its original owner, for some reason I remained in possession of the AD&D cart. I had that cart around for years. I THINK I tossed that in a box during my 1996 exodus. If so, it's probably in my Intellivsion collection, but I'm not entirely sure. If so, I've had that particular cartridge since 1985 or 1986.

And after squinting at the screen for a while, I said screw it and bought a Playstation TV. I think it was about a year ago I was all gung ho about portables, saying I was getting my primary gaming entertainment from them. Now my views have changed again, and the idea of sitting hunched over trying to decipher the small screens of portables makes me want to do anything other than play video games. Who knows what next week will bring? So far I'm overjoyed about my PS TV. Something finally dawned on me. I knew it would play PSP games, but I didn't KNOW it would play PSP games. Once I realized that, and it occurred to me that I could play Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection, Unchained Blades, Elminage Original, and Persona on my TV, fullscreen, with a PS3 controller, I was completely in love. (Not to mention that Hyperdevotion Noire and TxK are much better on my TV.) Now I just need to buy a bunch of PSP games over again. First on my list are Jeanne d'Arc and Field Commander. I adored Field Commander, and have wanted to play it again, but the idea of playing it on the small screen again filled me with apathy. I've never been able to dive into Jeanne d'Arc as much as I wanted because of it being a portable title, so now is my chance. One that was on the top of my list, but only works on Vita and not PS TV, is Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles. I suppose there's practically no chance now of it being approved for PS TV. I'd also really like R Type Command. I could have sworn that one was offered as a DL title once upon a time, but it looks like it is disc only except for the demo. As for Vita games, I'm planning on picking up Operation Abyss and Dungeon Travellers 2. Other than that, I'm considering Mind Zero, Muramasa Rebirth, Phantom Breaker Battle Grounds, Hyperdimension Neptunia Action U, and Persona 4 Golden. I'm trying to decide if I want to go for physical or DL versions when the option is available. There's not really the concern of wear and tear like there is on the PS3 or PSP, but there is the convenience factor.

I bought a Vita. There are just too many dungeon crawlers for me to ignore. But the first game I got for it is Hyperdevotion Noire. Now I can also play TxK which I accidentally bought thinking it was a PS3 game. It's pretty cool. I've also put Metal Slug 3 on it, which was a cross buy.

Yeah, it looks to have some good stuff. Too bad every time I try to go through the list and add stuff the store crashes and brings my PS3 down along with it. I'm just about tired of having to look at the "restoring file system" progress bar tonight.

I just noticed today (it popped up on my Amazon recommendations) that there will be a Project X Zone 2 later this year. I guess I better hurry up and get back to finishing the first one. I hope Kos-Mos will be in this one too. She hasn't been announced yet. Some of the other Xenosaga characters wouldn't hurt either.

I'll just add to the chorus. I hated many of the NES arcade ports I played back in the day. Millipede, Defender II, Cyborg Commando, Double Dragon, and Super Dodge Ball all seemed like absolute garbage. Most people seem to like the NES Pac-Man port, but it has always seemed off to me. Gyruss was changed and NESified like others, but it was rather mild compared to the complete redos that Double Dragon and Cyborg Commando got. The NES version added the boss levels and that was the only big change. But all in all Gyruss was one of the cool arcade ports along with Joust, Popeye, and Road Blasters.