Blrg

Recently, a friend of mine told me about a game named Okami, which I've gotten a copy of and so far has been a fairly interesting and very beautifully made game. While I've been able to find a few glitches (mostly related to invisible walls), it's been a fairly solid experience and I've been trying not to play it too much - I've limited myself to only an hour or two per day so that I don't finish it too fast. I also appear not to be the only one who thinks there are similarities to Zelda in this game - I think my sister may enjoy playing this game as well, so perhaps next time she's around I'll introduce her to it :)
I've found the music score to be so beautiful that I've written and highlighted the OST on my wishlist (Which, by the way, has lost most of it's items due to the database loss previously described.). I've already found a download for the whole OST and gotten it, but I'd much rather actually have those five CDs... as well as the game itself. Normally, I'd also back this up with And hey, I'd be supporting the company!, but it turns out that Clover Studio, the creator of Okami, will be dissolved by it's parent company, CAPCOM.
I've got a digit up at 'em.

Speaking of music, though, I've been finishing some uploads at Jamendo, and the music is pretty sweet. I'd recommend having a listen to Simon Slator and/or Saelynh, depending on your music tastes, or perhaps just browing by tags. It's too bad there aren't people as interested as I am in choruses*. Hard to find, that.

Continue reading "Play time and work time get confused!"

Pretty hefty winds out there today. I think it managed to open the screen door for the cat a few times now.
In fact, I'm not sure if the cat's outside or not, at the moment...

My brother and I have been playing Starcraft on and off recently. Yeah, it's a nine year old game, and people still play it - they (Starcraft players) account for over a third of the people on Battle.net, still. Only about 3% of those don't have BroodWar (the expansion set), which is interesting: By now, most people have noticed that the Starcraft Battlechest / Set goes for about 20-30$ - even here. Oddly enough, my brother only recently got the expansion set from Futureshop, along with a copy for me (so that I would have a legal copy - I somehow have two keys spare to use, but no actual copy of SC)...
...and somehow managed to buy the French version.
(By the way, when I checked Battle.net just now, there were 48517 games in progress. Of those, 20189 were reported to be Starcraft: Broodwar games (43%)! Only 598 (1%) of them were regular Starcraft games, however. Mind you, neither comes as a total surprise: More SC games are required for more players fairly often, considering two things: People often play private games with their friends, not allowing in the general public; Also, people often don't wait for their games, as the average age is fairly low, and the average attention span is lower.)

Anyhow...
It seems I've not spoken of Wombat here yet (at least not of his currenct condition); He had a lump growing on the side (behind) of his jaw. He was diagnosed with a curable form of cancer, and is undergoing treatment. It's pretty bad for him; He can't go to work, and his work only pays him for the days he works. He can't do much and has a reduced attention span, not to mention being fatigued all the time. And his hair is gone. It's really taking a toll on him...

Some of you may have played, and may remember, the old Lemmings games made by Psygnosis.
I found a version which will play on (fast) computers, through a web browser (IE, Moz, FF compatible):
DHTML Lemmings!
NOTE: Make sure you read the known issues, it might answer a few questions, such as why it runs so slowly, or why sounds and music are disabled outside IE (by default, not permanently). It's ironic that the original version of Lemmings could run on a really slow computer, and this browser emulation of it requires a fast one...
WARNING: Proxomitron users should add the site to the bypass list, or enable bypass mode, while visiting this site; Otherwise, odd problems may occur, such as media player showing up and crashing...

EDIT: Gameplay notes:

• Climbers, floaters and exploders cannot be selected when falling, unlike the original.
• Move your mouse to select a lemming. Again unlike the original, you will not automatically select a lemming when they pass under your pointer.
• Animations will cease if there are too many lemmings onscreen. This is normal. Similarly, fast-forward mode may not work as expected when there are many lemmings present.
• Climbers and floaters will still appear (and be named as) as walkers even when skilled. It seems to me that the original wouldn't call them floaters, but perhaps I'm too used to Lemmings 2.
• You can unselect the current skill and be left with pointer that does nothing when you click. Don't panic, it isn't a bug - you can still select skills normally.

Not bad... not bad at all. It was worth getting, I'd say (though I don't know if I could've gotten it any other way than through eBay). It's an RPG - a real one, where the entire game completely revolves around the plot, and there are no battles to worry about.
Instead, time is what you need to worry about - almost constantly. You see, the game revolves around time - you go back and forth through time, trying to solve problems. Well, one big problem, really; Namely, the fact that you have this knack for... well, being murdered. Someone's after you, and you have to find out who and why - but you can only go to specific time frames.
The story is affected by the choices you make: the things you say, the things you do, and so forth. And while the story does get a little complicated - like most time travel stories tend to be - it's actually fairly easy to follow.
I think they leave a few ends untied, but... I guess that's the price I pay for getting the "D" ending. There's five endings apparently (A through E, naturally), but it seems you only get to know this after finishing the game at least once. What's nice about this game, though, is that you keep using the same savegame (Well, if you want to, anyway.), even after the game's over: If you load a completed game, it starts over, letting you play the game over again, and try to get a different ending... ...plus, all the cutscenes can be skipped. You can even skip the introduction.
We'll see if I can get another ending...

Ugh.

Parappa M-I-Xes flour into a bowl, LIVE.

Geh?

Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones acted out?

...just, what? x_x;