This one is... I don't think I can say much about the actual story without giving it away beyond what the summary (on the back of the book, although since it's electronic...) already mentions.

I really like the exposition of this one. How it follows his perspective of his life, and some background. How it opens more and more of the world he lives in, not through full explanation, but only as what is taken for granted with him becomes more and more of an issue.

I think I just really like the way this one was written. Not as heavy of a sci-fi as some of his other stuff, but definitely strongly so.

It's been a long time since I've done one of these.

( Read more... )

So I buy a PSP2K series because the buttons on the 3K drives me insane (as if I don't already break them)... and because I have two accounts that I hate to swap (not to mention the lack of space on my card). I finally got a nice discount off of the guy at TnJ for buying it...

And it turns out that the 2Ks have been fucked over in the last several OS updates. The people on the forums suspect that it has something to do with reactivating and deactivating multiple systems multiple times. Whatever it is, it doesn't help.

I'm gonna have to sit on this for a while -- whether I want to keep a system that /may/ not get fully back on its feet or return it. If I keep it, I'll be on UMD only. This... is not a total wash, but certainly not what I wanted to pay for.

I gave my Go to my brother, so it can't yell at me for multiple systems. Will have to stick with the Vita for a while... not what I wanted to do. -_-

(Note: this is the first time we've ever bought a system anytime near launch in its first gen, let alone /at/ launch. The closest was the Wii during the Christmas season. Usually we get a system like 2-5 years after...)

( Cut for those that don't care. )

It's an app you install on your PSP, and have it check to see if your UMD is supported by the digital copy. This is a hit or miss, even if there is a digital copy available. If found, it provides a discount on the digital copy on the PSN store. For the two UMDs I have that actually supported this, the price was 500 yen each. If you had a recent game, I'm not sure what the price would be then.

So it's not actually a fee but you are buying another copy of the game at a greatly reduced price.

For games you don't have yet, it's cheaper to simply buy any game you want already on the PSN store, even if it means you have to order a PSN Japan card, rather than going through the conversion (unless you get the UMD for really cheap). If the game has an English version, you might rather go with that instead of converting. Of course, doing all this requires that you have a PSN Japan account and that it's activated on your PSP (so you can't be using your English account on it).\

If the PSN USA service ends up like this.... well, we'll see.

I ordered the game because it was so stupidly expensive at the store... and stuck it in. My first impression is this -- who cares about the storyline? This game is fun!

The mapping system, the icons, the talking... it's something I wish all games had. I also get impressed by the improved ability to convey different things with the graphics, like crossing their arms and such.

Main character: Playing the boy's side right now. And he's basically Kira Yamato (with what sounds like the same Hoshi Souichirou) at the start of the series. The other main character is a deity. Or what appears to be an "ancestor" (エンテレケイア) from ToV.

I'm not certain how related the games are, but if they are, it's been at least a thousand years since.

Got buried in packages suddenly. Yaaaay. Still lacking sleep.

Listening to the P3P Drama CD now. It's really good... although it's kind of hard when I'm still not used to hearing Aigis's voice, so trying to distinguish Hamuko's voice over Yuko and Rio's...

...And I didn't know Ken had Ogata Megumi as his voice. I guess it's all weird choices for this series. Some end up matching up well, but...

( Read more... )

So there was a game update file several hundred megabytes in size... and it turns out they overhauled the system a bit. So now the game is no longer brutal and is more like Totori -- they allow the turning of quests directly from the container. Did NIS America do this for the English version as well? And does this mean we can get an overhaul of Totori? (ie, the problem of quests requesting only things you don't have on hand, so having a shopping list 12 items long...)

And the game isn't as hard... part of it is that my Japanese is better now... and part of it is that I recognize all the pictures of the items from playing both Rorona and Totori in English, so even if I can't read the item, I know what it is.

I wish there was a way to fastforward fighting, like there's a way to fastforward the alchemy. The game is still painful about time, though -- taking half a month to simply outfit a single team...

...but I want a game that makes stuff and uses my brain that isn't Go. So now it's installing and I'm going to see if I completely regret trying this out. Again.

Waiting for my stuff to arrive anyway. And I'm gonna hold off on the graphics card thing -- I decided to just chop a hole in my tower casing using metal-cutting scissors (did it for class in intermediate) so I can save 80 dollars and have a regular-sized card fit in it.

...Or lack of it, rather. I waited a long time before I decided to do anything about it, since I could only guess at what I was looking at after I opened it up. Waited until I could remember to ask someone what such and such port is.

So then I bought a graphics card that was on sale. For my cute computer. Except my computer is too cute and it doesn't fit. So now I have to find one that is like two-thirds the size of this thing as the computer is only as wide as my hand width. I can already guess that this is gonna be an adventure.

After having to get pliers from my dad to rip the metal covering off of the expansion slot. It looks like scrap now.

Now I also have to find out if mom wants to throw the card in comp1, since that is a large tower. I would have no idea if it would support dual monitors (in this case one tv and one monitor) at that point, but it's one of the things I wanted to test out.

Watched it again since we got it last week or so. Beautiful movie, fun scenes... and completely AU from the tv series, of course. This one has a stronger echo of Zero, which makes the series really depressing, despite more people with names surviving.

The whys and hows being fit into the story make it all the more enjoyable to watch. Sure it has a lot of fan service, but they actually backed it with a reason. Except they made Ai-kun cuter, which was definitely fan service.

They didn't explain what the song was in this version, but I guess that wasn't the focus anyway. I'm not sure if the first movie explained more about the reason they were using songs.

Celebration or not, best wishes to all on this day, on this season, on this year and the next.

Gravity Dreams

Unusual for him, the book takes a long look at the character's personal perspective of everything, This one mostly focuses on nanotechnology, the consequences of long life and honesty, and the belief systems that limit our minds.

The Hammer of Darkness

Another very different one. High technology (ridiculously long life as long as you're rich and powerful) combined with esper powers that aptly call the special immortal residents of a certain planet gods.

This one I recommend to other people as something interesting to read, since it holds more of a mix of everything. It feels more like an exercise on the writer, though, than the reader. For the reader, it feels like something that could be a movie...

Looking them up. I'm not a fan of modern innovations, mostly because the interface goes against my understanding of computers, with Apple anything leading that market. I've seen examples of how they can be immensely useful, such as picture processing of textbooks and such, but besides the high cost, the /interface/...

My primary concerns are coming out to something like this:
- Does it have a USB port? (will find out the hard way what is compatible via USB)
- Can it expand its capacity with a card slot? How does that file transfer capacity work?
- How do you close applications?
- It has to be able to run more than one at a time, or at least minimize one in favor of another.
- I already know the battery life is something of a non-issue (6-9 hours).
- Can the icons be rearranged in a custom manner? (because I know that will become an issue.)
- How well does the web browser work? (This is difficult to get demoed to me at a store.)

I'm assuming that it'll need to run Android and have access to their apps store thing... and I'm assuming that the document maker in the apps store has something that will make txt or some other type of easily-read file. As far as I can tell, no scanning from handwriting to text software exists, but at least it can take pictures of notes and save them as images.

Any ability to connect to Facebook or YouTube is an afterthought (and given). Google Maps would be nice. Basically, entertainment is not important so much as utility and usefulness. The other option we're looking at is a smartphone. We're not too thrilled about that idea, since it likely involves getting the data plan. A tablet is good because it's big enough to be a reminder to not take it into a restricted area...


...If I were to get one, my primary concern would be its ability to read and type in multiple languages. But thankfully, that's not likely and I'll just use the netbook I nabbed.

In other news, my nursery of computers might expand...

And about halfway in part 2... of what looks like 3 or 4 parts. In other words, this is probably going to be a (relatively) fast game. So far? No surprises. Just the expected plot things.... and with me kind of learning how to use the battle system.

Translation makes me glad I can understand the original... because they took kind of a liberal method on it. A few of the translations... I'm not sure. They keep using meta jokes, but I could have sworn "flag" has no equivalent besides "foreshadowing"... (I'll have to ask or look this up.)

The way the psychology of the game works is interesting. It makes the almost-sex scenes actually somewhat relevant.... although it still doesn't answer my question as to why all the Reyvateils are female. I still have yet to decide if the game is fully hetero or is only that way on the surface. (They seem to like implying otherwise...)


I really gotta finish P2 IS... and get new icons.

...I think I spelled that right.

First off, we never found the first two games (on PS2) again. So I don't know anything about the rest of the series... other than there are at least two other games before this one.

My current impressions? If you want weird, this is it. If you want an almost-adult hetero (so far) RPG for the PS3, this looks like it might get close. If you want a game where trying to get a girl to strip for you is incredibly important for battle (and for some reason they're all female), this is it.

The look is interesting in that instead of lines being black, they're white. Things tend to be shiny and blinding. Story seems to go alright so far, with the main character being the usual clueless schmuck. The Cosmospheres are interesting. The battle system is as I would expect of Gust... although clearer instructions would have been nice. Like the music, which is good, since you're stuck with it.

One of those games I wonder who would take offense to...

Not very far, currently. Got my first trophy, and that's it.

Super losing sleep over Atelier Totori. And my other chores don't exactly help -- I'm not even sure why I have to cook if no one eats. Super grouchy because a great combination of many things. Currently addicted to caffeine. Hopefully being rolled into a ball with my blanket will help improve my mental state.

Totori is pretty fast a game. I've clocked about 50 or 60 hours so far and gone through the game twice -- getting ready for the third runthrough now. Trophies aren't as brutal as the previous game, which was equally as brutal. Not gonna platinum it, but at least I'm getting a lot more of them. Lots of things still aren't that clear about the system, but I'm slowly figuring things out over time and I have no idea how.

Current favorite scene: Leaving town with Sterk and Mimi.

Brother is currently bouncing back and forth between Mana Khemia 1 and 2.

Meanwhile, my psp is driving me nuts. The 3000 series was definitely not made for me. I'm thinking if I can find someone trustworthy enough to trade for a 2000 series one... in a nice color. Or something. I keep hitting the buttons... as in whacking them aside. I'm afraid I'm going to break the button pad or something. The screen also bothers me. A lot.

Other than that, I'm actually buried in games right now. I'm not sure if I'm going to handle the three big releases next month (for the first time ever, I'm actually on board with the mainstream). I'm not sure if I care about MW3 or Battlefield 3 so much as Skyrim. If the game is going to be as klepto-happy as Fallout New Vegas is, I'm never going to give it up.

Thanks to Raven, I got to see the first episode. (Talk about fast!)

( 感想というか、軽い妄想？ )

The two games I'm playing the most right now.

Atelier Totori gets a 7.8 from me, due to category (That is, the 7.0 category is not for everyone). Rorona would be a 7.4 or so. Story is great so far, characters are interesting, design is good, and best yet -- the deadline system is not as imposing and stressful as in the previous game. I can actually take my time to do this or that although sometimes I'm strapped down with quests.

A couple of bad things -- I have a hard time figuring out what an item does. Translation is still mediocre. Oh and... don't play this game at night... if you want to go to sleep, that is. I think all games would be like that, but it's hard to find a point that you can save without losing your place in the laundry list. Also, directions are not clear... still. Actually, not much about the game is clear at all -- it takes trial and error. How many pies do the Homs eat? No idea.

How, onto the game that /doesn't/ require brainpower.

Star Wars. Strangely enough, I am not sure if I'm having a harder time with the tasks per story mission than in Harry Potter. There's a lot that's still not clear about the game, or the text likes disappearing before you can read it.... and knowing which character can trigger which door or do what in a HUGE list... thanks.

That being said, violence. That's what you play this game for. I like the large-scale battles they have for a lot of missions -- it lets you play around with more of the vehicles and go on a rampage. Biggest improvement to the LEGO system -- Invincibility while building, aiming, and using the Force. On the other hand, they made money harder to get in this game than in HP, more like all the previous games, really.

Once I'm done with this game, I'm debating whether to play the newest one... since the last three and a half games have been all ones based on movies that I haven't watched. What's one more? >_>;;