6 posts tagged “psp”
Playing Xenogears in Japanese is pretty strange. I’ve known and loved the game for 10 years now, but never knew it in its original form. Part of the charm of the original game was its sometimes inspired, sometimes abysmal localization. It was fun to discover that the celebrated line “Master, sir, did you just see my MAD SKILLZ!?” came from the innocuous “Master, master! Didja see my technique!!”
I'm getting into parts of Xenogears that I don't remember at all. Everything past beating Redrum and winning the gear battling tournament in D Block seems new to me. I didn't even remember the existence of Sigmund, for instance. The game is really moving along, though. It being on PSP, I can play a bit here and there whenever I have a few minutes, so I'm already 25 hours in, on the 24th of 61 chapters.
Oh, hi PSP! I just wanted to check on my PSN account info real quick. AN UPDATE IS REQUIRED BEFORE YOU CAN ACCESS THE PSN NETWORK. SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS. The documentation? Really? I could have sworn there was just some easy downloadable update thingy I could hit. Hmm, let’s look around for it. Search search search… Where is that update thing? I’ll check that message again to see if it said anything useful. AN UPDATE IS REQUIRED BEFORE YOU CAN ACCESS THE PSN NETWORK. SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS. Ugh, can’t you just say “Press Circle to update now” or something? Why do I have to look around for it myself? Ohh, here it is, Network Update. Okay, let’s do that. INSERT A MEMORY STICK™ WITH 52MB AVAILABLE BEFORE UPDATING. Whoa, I don’t have a Memory Stick™ inserted? Let’s check the slot… Oh! I see! I do have one inserted, but you just didn’t bother to check for me. Is it really hard for you, being a computer, to check whether you have access to storage media? DOWNLOADING SYSTEM UPDATE Okay, good, now install it please! BATTERY IS LOW. CHARGE THE BATTERY AND TRY AGAIN. Uh… How about I just plug you into the wall? Surely that’s good enough for you to update the system? I promise I won’t unplug you! Plug… BATTERY IS LOW. CHARGE THE BATTERY AND TRY AGAIN. Really? But you’re plugged in! That’s even better than a battery! Urgh, okay… Charge charge charge… Okay, now your battery is full! I guess if you insist on using the battery, I’ll unplug you from the wall and bring you to the couch so you can update there. RESTARTING… RESTARTING… … YOU MUST PLUG IN THE AC ADAPTER BEFORE UPDATING. …Really!? Fine. Back to the wall. INSTALLING… INSTALLING… INSTALLATION COMPLETE. YOU MAY NOW DELETE THE UPDATE FROM THE MEMORY STICK. Uh, thanks, I will… But why didn’t you delete it?
My intarbuddy Scott sent me a heads-up about the new Sakura Taisen that Hiroi Ouji recently announced for the DS. My ST mailing list was already abuzz about it, but his message got me to put into writing some things I’ve been thinking about lately. Here’s my response to him:
I have already done my wiggly dance about this one, but thanks for the heads-up! It has gotten me thinking about portable games versus home games, and how much more likely I am to play a DS game than a PS2 game these days.
Portable game pros:
- Much easier to work into a busy schedule (this is the big one)
- Games tend to be lighter on excess technological flash and heavier on content
- Hand-drawn 2D art ftw
- Cheaper
- Easier to evangelize because there is ~1 relevant portable system right now
Home game pros:
- More cinematic
- Feasible to make an event out of it and go through game with a friend
- Voice-acting & music
- Higher fidelity graphics, which is good when the game has hand-drawn 2D art
Come to think of it, if the next-generation DS retains its charm but adds tech specs comparable to the PSP, many of the home game’s advantages would go away. Give me VGA, CD-quality sound, and a way to hook it up to the TV, and I may never need to buy a home system again.
Okay, now I’m worrying about how ST, a game that’s all about voices, music, and high-quality art, will get away with being on the DS, a system that doesn’t really excel at any of those things…
