I nearly moved over. But i decided not to, For me Blogger offers all i need, and although i feel soon im going to be over run with google ads, this place for now feels like home, plus its really really easy to use.
I hope all whom read and perhaps enjoy this blog soon decide to do their own, as its nice to get comments and have people follow this blog, infact it means alot.
Hope everyone is well,
Retrojc
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Prima Stratergy Guides
Why are these worth more than the actual games? Me being a tiny bit OCD I can see the attraction of having the strategy guide for your games.. but the pricing is just getting ridiculous.
I sold the Resident evil nemesis walkthrough for £12 the other day on ebay... Reason being i know the game so well, the walkthrough just seemed pointless. But saying that, i do miss having it, weirdly. I have a lot of books, as collecting is a passion of mine, mainly I collect comics, fishing books, books on aquarium/keeping fish and old informative books. On top of my wardrobe sits the biggest of these books, books of value and of a large size, the books that don't fit on any of my shelves and are too liked to be put in storage. In the middle of this collection between a Haynes manual for a Vauxhall Chevette, and and Angling Time annual from 1977 sits a 10 Prima strategy guides, all easily distinguished from the rest of the shelf with their black and red spine, the black spine has a opposing yellow printed on it in bold capitals stating the title of the game, the red part of the spine has a well written and blunt selling line printed over it. Really well done, and you can see Prima did all they could to catch the buyers eye and sell the guide, not to mention how it catches my eye when looking up.
Looking up, the attraction is solidified, CAPCOM VS SNK, DINO CRISIS, GRAN TURISMO 2, GRAND THEFT AUTO 2, GOLDENEYE, LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER, MEDIEVIL, POKEMON SNAP, TOMB RAIDER 1 AND 2. They just look so good, and to own them weirdly feels good. I like being able if stuck to be able to consult a book, not google. I also can actually see the attraction of owning them, as for the future they're probably beneficial. One day i intend to hand down the collection i've amassed, and with it the strategy guides, that are not only nice to look at, but very well written, in turn i hope these books will help the descendant to not only play the games but enjoy them. I hope to amass a good 50-100 stratery guides, but for now, i'll just buy them when the opportunity arises, sticking strictly to Prima strategy guides.
Pokemon count: 57
I sold the Resident evil nemesis walkthrough for £12 the other day on ebay... Reason being i know the game so well, the walkthrough just seemed pointless. But saying that, i do miss having it, weirdly. I have a lot of books, as collecting is a passion of mine, mainly I collect comics, fishing books, books on aquarium/keeping fish and old informative books. On top of my wardrobe sits the biggest of these books, books of value and of a large size, the books that don't fit on any of my shelves and are too liked to be put in storage. In the middle of this collection between a Haynes manual for a Vauxhall Chevette, and and Angling Time annual from 1977 sits a 10 Prima strategy guides, all easily distinguished from the rest of the shelf with their black and red spine, the black spine has a opposing yellow printed on it in bold capitals stating the title of the game, the red part of the spine has a well written and blunt selling line printed over it. Really well done, and you can see Prima did all they could to catch the buyers eye and sell the guide, not to mention how it catches my eye when looking up.
Looking up, the attraction is solidified, CAPCOM VS SNK, DINO CRISIS, GRAN TURISMO 2, GRAND THEFT AUTO 2, GOLDENEYE, LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER, MEDIEVIL, POKEMON SNAP, TOMB RAIDER 1 AND 2. They just look so good, and to own them weirdly feels good. I like being able if stuck to be able to consult a book, not google. I also can actually see the attraction of owning them, as for the future they're probably beneficial. One day i intend to hand down the collection i've amassed, and with it the strategy guides, that are not only nice to look at, but very well written, in turn i hope these books will help the descendant to not only play the games but enjoy them. I hope to amass a good 50-100 stratery guides, but for now, i'll just buy them when the opportunity arises, sticking strictly to Prima strategy guides.
Pokemon count: 57
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Playstation one fishing games.
Surprisingly, within pal land only a hand full of fishing games were released. Me being a keen fisherman, i have them all and they weren't exactly easy to track down, fisherman's bait 3 eluded me for quite sometime but im going to quickly give you the low down on the good games and tell you the ones to avoid. I will also try and add some picture to this soon.
So you know...all of the Playstation one fishing games include a feature where they cut to the action of the fish you've hooked, and all allow you to turn that feature on and off, which is nice, and something you can't do in real life. All of the games revolve around lure fishing (casting out a lure, then reeling it in), except Reel fishing 1 and 2. All games give you the option to change your line/hook size and bait and also when you've hooked a fish all of the games use a scale of green to red, to indicate when your in danger of your line snapping/loosing the fish, quite simple really.
From the off i will state that its wise to avoid Action bass, Big bass fishing and Championship bass; there low price tag should hint that they're not that good games. The reason is quite simple though, in terms of a fishing simulator, these games have nothing on Reel fishing 1 and 2.
To keep it short, if you're looking for a fishing simulator on the ps1, then Reel fishing 1 and 2 are your best bet. The games offer so much in terms of game play, and extra in game add ons, one that i especially like: a fish tank to see all the selected fish you have caught and chosen to keep. When it comes down to it Reel fishing 2 is my preferred of the two games, mainly because its an updated version of Reel fishing 1 and is abit cheaper. I also love that the game includes European native fish, i.e the carp, trout and pike. Whereas most fishing games stick to the highly commercial U.S.A bass fishing and occasionally include trout and salmon, I think this is due to when these games are converted over from NTSC to Pal.
Saltwater sports fishing: This game is really hard to play, but easy to understand. I like the whole look of fishing of the back of a boat and only thing you can see is the sea and your fishing rod (including hands holding it)... kind of makes it feel like its you fishing. But in all honesty, for me this game was similar to Fisherman's bait but with sea fish, and a lot of sketchy graphics, probably best to avoid.
Fisherman's Bait: Now i love this series of games, i have thoroughly enjoyed playing all 3 of them, and each one has additional surprises within the game that surpass the one before it and its made by Konami, so already you expect good things. It is at heart an arcade conversion, although i never played the original arcade game so can't comment on similarities, however the games do really revolve around the arcade mode. These games also allow you to play co-op or versus, co-op itself is quite a rarity on playstation one, so i must admit i was impressed when i found out about the feature. These are also the only fishing games that have a 2 player mode within the game, but the co-op and versus modes both utilise the televsion screen. Player one stands on the left, player 2 stands on the right, sharing a screen is actually a nice touch and solidifies the arcade feel, but when it gets to 3, its a split screen, and i think thats why overall i prefer number 2. The thing is with fisherman's bait games, they're not just about fishing, they're challenging and fun and the whole game is in a league of its won when enjoyed with another person.
If you're not botehred about graphics and just wanting to play a game and have a bit of fun then go straight for Fisherman's bait 2 (big ol bass) like all 3 of the games, there's a selection of mystery fish that you have to catch, multiple different modes, and a bit of humor within the game. For me the time trial is best, trying to catch as many fish you can within the time, and specimen fish adding to your time. There is also a nice little secret within the arcade mode where you can hook miscellaneous items, so far i've hooked a 'rusty can' and an 'old boot'... adding a good 100 seconds or so to your clock. Also price is on your side, it'll cost you a 6th of the price of Fisherman's bait 3.
Back to reality, although some of these fishing games are great, i would in all honesty rather go fishing than play a fishing game. The whole point of fishing is to get away form everything... not be stuck in your room pretending to be fishing. This probably hints at why not many games of this genre were released. But then again that doesn't make sense when saying the exact thing for games like golf... and fishing is one of the worlds most popular sports. I suppose you just can't beat the real thing.
Oh... and Resident Evil reviews will start soon :)
So you know...all of the Playstation one fishing games include a feature where they cut to the action of the fish you've hooked, and all allow you to turn that feature on and off, which is nice, and something you can't do in real life. All of the games revolve around lure fishing (casting out a lure, then reeling it in), except Reel fishing 1 and 2. All games give you the option to change your line/hook size and bait and also when you've hooked a fish all of the games use a scale of green to red, to indicate when your in danger of your line snapping/loosing the fish, quite simple really.
PAL Playstation one fishing game releases including prices you have to expect to pay:
- £2 Action bass
- £2 Big bass fishing
- £2 Championship Bass
- £2 Fisherman's bait
- £5 Fisherman's Bait 'big ol bass'
- £20-£30 Fisherman's bait 3
- £5-£20 Reel fishing 1
- £5-£15 Reel fishing 2
- £2 Saltwater sports fishing
From the off i will state that its wise to avoid Action bass, Big bass fishing and Championship bass; there low price tag should hint that they're not that good games. The reason is quite simple though, in terms of a fishing simulator, these games have nothing on Reel fishing 1 and 2.
To keep it short, if you're looking for a fishing simulator on the ps1, then Reel fishing 1 and 2 are your best bet. The games offer so much in terms of game play, and extra in game add ons, one that i especially like: a fish tank to see all the selected fish you have caught and chosen to keep. When it comes down to it Reel fishing 2 is my preferred of the two games, mainly because its an updated version of Reel fishing 1 and is abit cheaper. I also love that the game includes European native fish, i.e the carp, trout and pike. Whereas most fishing games stick to the highly commercial U.S.A bass fishing and occasionally include trout and salmon, I think this is due to when these games are converted over from NTSC to Pal.
Saltwater sports fishing: This game is really hard to play, but easy to understand. I like the whole look of fishing of the back of a boat and only thing you can see is the sea and your fishing rod (including hands holding it)... kind of makes it feel like its you fishing. But in all honesty, for me this game was similar to Fisherman's bait but with sea fish, and a lot of sketchy graphics, probably best to avoid.
Fisherman's Bait: Now i love this series of games, i have thoroughly enjoyed playing all 3 of them, and each one has additional surprises within the game that surpass the one before it and its made by Konami, so already you expect good things. It is at heart an arcade conversion, although i never played the original arcade game so can't comment on similarities, however the games do really revolve around the arcade mode. These games also allow you to play co-op or versus, co-op itself is quite a rarity on playstation one, so i must admit i was impressed when i found out about the feature. These are also the only fishing games that have a 2 player mode within the game, but the co-op and versus modes both utilise the televsion screen. Player one stands on the left, player 2 stands on the right, sharing a screen is actually a nice touch and solidifies the arcade feel, but when it gets to 3, its a split screen, and i think thats why overall i prefer number 2. The thing is with fisherman's bait games, they're not just about fishing, they're challenging and fun and the whole game is in a league of its won when enjoyed with another person.
If you're not botehred about graphics and just wanting to play a game and have a bit of fun then go straight for Fisherman's bait 2 (big ol bass) like all 3 of the games, there's a selection of mystery fish that you have to catch, multiple different modes, and a bit of humor within the game. For me the time trial is best, trying to catch as many fish you can within the time, and specimen fish adding to your time. There is also a nice little secret within the arcade mode where you can hook miscellaneous items, so far i've hooked a 'rusty can' and an 'old boot'... adding a good 100 seconds or so to your clock. Also price is on your side, it'll cost you a 6th of the price of Fisherman's bait 3.
Back to reality, although some of these fishing games are great, i would in all honesty rather go fishing than play a fishing game. The whole point of fishing is to get away form everything... not be stuck in your room pretending to be fishing. This probably hints at why not many games of this genre were released. But then again that doesn't make sense when saying the exact thing for games like golf... and fishing is one of the worlds most popular sports. I suppose you just can't beat the real thing.
Oh... and Resident Evil reviews will start soon :)
Monday, 6 July 2009
Update
Not much has happened recently. I decided to let go of alot of my ps1 box sets, mainly because i don't like the room they take up, and displaying them in my eyes would be horrible.
Over this month i plan to review a few games: Resident Evil 1, 2, 3 and survivor. These will be done weekly, and i am now in the process of completing Resident Evil 1, still an amazing game.
I am also well into Pokemon red, its a superb little game, and really is justified in my opinion as one of the best games of all time.
I will only do a recently bought post once a month now, mainly due to the fact im not buying as much as i once was mainly due to me saving up for university and for a car.
Expect the Resident Evil 1 review this friday.
Over this month i plan to review a few games: Resident Evil 1, 2, 3 and survivor. These will be done weekly, and i am now in the process of completing Resident Evil 1, still an amazing game.
I am also well into Pokemon red, its a superb little game, and really is justified in my opinion as one of the best games of all time.
I will only do a recently bought post once a month now, mainly due to the fact im not buying as much as i once was mainly due to me saving up for university and for a car.
Expect the Resident Evil 1 review this friday.
Friday, 3 July 2009
Monday, 29 June 2009
Its been 2 weeks
So yeah, i've been awfully busy over the last 14 days, mainly with college work, so the games hunt was slightly put on hold. But i have been a little lucky of recent, and picked up the following:
Actua ice hockey, ps1, 50pence
Hardcore 4x4 , ps1, £1
Namco museum 5, ps1, £1 + £2 postage
Need for speed: road challenge, ps1, £1 + £2 postage
RISK, ps1, £1 + £2 postage
Capcom generations, ps1, £1 +£3 postage!!
Alone in the dark, ps1, £1
Grand theft auto london, ps1, £1
Resident evil, ps1, £5
Forumal one, ps1, £1
Evo's space adventure, ps1, £1
Virtual pool, ps1, £1
F-15 strike eagle, c64, £1
I also managed to pick up a boxed official sony playstation one controller. I have slowed down on the games hunt though, just because of the decline of money in my pocket.
I have no got a Xbox 360 again, and Halo 3. That has saved me alot of money, and taken my mind of games in general, which has to be done sometimes.
Im going to be moving soon to wordpress, as i have plans for a new bigger and better blog. So keep ckecing back. I recon within the next 2 weeks, i should be up and running over there.
Actua ice hockey, ps1, 50pence
Hardcore 4x4 , ps1, £1
Namco museum 5, ps1, £1 + £2 postage
Need for speed: road challenge, ps1, £1 + £2 postage
RISK, ps1, £1 + £2 postage
Capcom generations, ps1, £1 +£3 postage!!
Alone in the dark, ps1, £1
Grand theft auto london, ps1, £1
Resident evil, ps1, £5
Forumal one, ps1, £1
Evo's space adventure, ps1, £1
Virtual pool, ps1, £1
F-15 strike eagle, c64, £1
I also managed to pick up a boxed official sony playstation one controller. I have slowed down on the games hunt though, just because of the decline of money in my pocket.
I have no got a Xbox 360 again, and Halo 3. That has saved me alot of money, and taken my mind of games in general, which has to be done sometimes.
Im going to be moving soon to wordpress, as i have plans for a new bigger and better blog. So keep ckecing back. I recon within the next 2 weeks, i should be up and running over there.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
My top 10 video games, of all time.
So I decided to do a top 10. Now to me, a top 10 is an incredibly hard task, and if you ask me tomorrow for my top 10, it will probably be different depending on the weather.
I should probably also say, about me, as a gamer, my first console, i believe was a commodore 64, but tbh, i don't remember it, at all, so i would say my first memories fo gaming start with the Sega Megadrive, and continue with the: Playstation 1; Nintendo 64; Dreamcast, Playstation 2, xbox, xbox 360. So what im trying to say is, you won't be seeing any games prior 1996 in my top 10! Sorry!
From now, until the end of time these 10, will always be highly rated, and hold the greatest gaming memories for me.
Number 10: Future Cop L.A.P.D
To me, this is possibly one of the most under rated playstation games ever released. The memories I have of this game are incredible. I used to spend hours as a kid with friends playing co-op against the pc, and then against my friend on precinct assault. Co-operative play on the playstation wasn't really heard of at all, and it was new to me, which made this game so much more memorable. If you haven't played this, then I highly recommend, whether it’s to play by yourself, or with a friend, this game has so much to offer, and is surprisingly testing.
Number 9: Tekken 3
Well, lets be honest, a Namco's Tekken did have to make the top 10. I can still remember when young spending hours trying to unlock all characters, and learning the combo to use yoshimitsu's sword. It was an amazing game, and still is an amazing game. It brought multiple new modes to the Tekken franchise, making it more than justa fighting game, it made it a fun and forever a replayable game.Number 8: Tomb Raider 2
I don't know when it happened, but I think for most there was a moment, when they played a tomb raider game, and fell in love with it. For me, I fell in love with number 2. I'll always remember the day when out fo the blue my father got me this game on the launch day I must add, and it literally blew me away. The hidden secrets, dinosaurs on the first level (if you know where to look) and a grenade launcher all there and waiting for the brave gamer. For me, number 2 is the best in the series, and is definitely worth the few quid you can pick it up for.
Number 7: SoulCalibur 4
Not much to say about this, I love it, my girlfriend loves it, plus I’m not that bad at it either. Great arenas to fight on, great achievements, great game. I love the characters, the downloadable star wars character is an actual gem. I can and have spent all night on ranked soulcalibur online fights. Its well worth a try, and for me, is the best in the series of SoulCalibur, and the best fighting game released ever.
Number 6: Goldeneye
Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64, for me, like so many others, this was the game to have if you had a n64. In fact until my number one came along, I would say this was my favorite and the best first person shooter of all time. Its still timeless, difficulty settings can be changed to make it harder for you, and the multiplayer mode was the bench mark that every fps had to meet after it. Let be honest, no other fps multiplayer mode could even rival this legendary game until Timesplitters was released...many years later.
Number 5: Resident evil 2
Resident Evil games are iconic. For me number 2 is the best. I can remember as a 10 year old having to participate in a 10 minute read every morning at school. I read the Resident Evil 2 strategy guide. I loved this game, as back then so much fo it appealed to me. Crocodiles, guns, zombies, monsters, and best of all your going to be the hero, Score. Like a few other games at the time, Capcom had cottoned onto the fact we gamers love the unlockables and being able to boast about our scores, so they made sure that both of these were key parts of resi 2. Grading based on your time of completion and health packs used gave even the most experienced gamer a hard time, and the esxtra mercenaries mission in my opinion were a real treat. I must also mention resi 4 and 5, as both of these games nearly made it here, but for me resi 2, was the turning point in my gaming life. I must also add, i enjoyed Resident evil 2 most on the Dreamcast and Nintendo 64!Number 4: Pokemon red/blue/yellow
I played it before school, I played it at school, I played it all night, I played it in bed, I wanted to be the very best. To me, these games are the best games ever made for gameboy, and very worthy of fourth place. These games captivated me, and took my mind off to another world, where I lived and died pokemon. The great thing about pokemon, even for people who dont like pokemon is simple; during this game you've got 2 main missions, win the pokemon league, and collect all the little pokemon, great right? To me i think it is great, and its no easy task either. You also have little side missions in the game that you must do to get onto the next part of the map. For a little red/blue/yellow cartridge this game destroyed the gameboy's programming boundaries and took away a good week of my life.
Number 3: Grand theft auto: Vice city
Now i'll always remember when this came out, all the hype, all the press, and for once the hype was true. This game blew me away. I must have spent every spare moment playing this game... Unfortunately I had an operation just before the release fo this game that made me bed striken for a good month... a bad thing right? I mean for once all I had to do was play vide games and lay around, this game became the best thing in my life. I don't think I could ever get bored of this game, I used to play it on the xbox, and on the xbox it had a really great touch, the ability to listen to your saved music on the gta radio... brilliant. Lets be honest your speeding down the road with the army after you, wouldnt you much rather do it having a sing along with R,E,M's greatest hits? haha. Seriously though, this game has so much to do, its got a great story line, and its another one of those games that you can work towards and feel accomplished when buying something or getting to a certain point. Seriously, good game.Number 2: Final fantasy 7
Final fantasy 7, I must admit it was close between 7 and 8, but I chose 7. Why you may ask? Well it is simple, this game was the first one I played, like so many other games in this list, when I first played it, it left an unforgettable impression. I may as well tell the story... It was just after Christmas, and I had a whole £20, so me being a kid, I wanted a new game, in fact writing this I remember the joy I had in the toy shop, and the smell of new games. Now me being greedy I saw this game, Final fantasy 7, platinum, £20... and it has 4 discs! I was like yes! So I bought it, took it home, put it in the playstation and though wtf! then I loved it. The fmv, the battle system, the story, it was all so new to the ps1, and a game experience i'll never forget. I remember playing it for a whole weekend at the age of 9, not having a memory card meant the console was never turned off, I completed the whole game in a week as a 9 year old kid, and well i will never forget it. That’s why its one of my favorite games of all time.
Number 1: Halo 3
Now, I know a modern game gets my number 1 spot? The reason is simple. This game has 3 great points to it: Online play, Online play, Online play. The hours I have spent on Halo 3, continuously going for those silly achievements and forever trying to fill the medal chest on bungie.net is actually insane. This game had me gripped, and I still love it. There really is so much about this game I love, the tactics whilst playing online. The winning of games against or with friends, the whole online experience, the whole game is truly incredible, gaining exp to level up, and going up in rank, it’s a great feeling. The story mode isn't too bad either, and in fact it’s a bloody challenge if doing it on legendary difficulty. Halo 3 isn't just a game; it’s a way of life. Its game you can pick up and play, but to be able to truly play, Halo 3 needs to be your job. For many Halo 3 is a way of life, and like those sad 500,000 people who religiously play it, I happen to agree.I hope you've enjoyed my top 10. Please keep checking back, i'm not going to be postinga new blog now untill the 25th, so expect a big update on my finds and for all who care:
Pokemon count: 017
Badge count: 3
Time count: 3:18 hours
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