On a whim I purchased the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and must say, it’s pretty good. I never wanted to get it because I hate the art direction they went with it however, I wanted to play a game that took the Nintendo DS Lite’s capabilities, in terms of controls, to their full extent. Most games I have use either the stylus or the microphone and in a lot of cases only used them to a limited capacity. Not so with the Phantom Hourglass. You use the stylus exclusively in controlling your hero and solve some puzzles using the microphone, which is something that’s surprisingly enjoyable and makes up for the horrible graphics.
Good:
- Wonderful control scheme
- Able to jot notes on most maps
- Puzzles are fun to solve, especially ones involving boss battles
- The character animations are surprisingly fluid in contrast to the graphic textures
- Nothing’s more amusing than being ripped to shreds by enraged chickens
- It’s Legend of Zelda
Bad:
- I HATE the graphics (some people may like it, but it’s a direction I’m disappointed in seeing)
- While I love the control scheme, it’s a bit awkward to get the hero to tumble
I have left all reason behind and surrendered to the siren call. Do not fear for me as I have not fallen into a fatal trap, but sunk willingly into the embrace of my fate. I wear the adornments of the Chosen, not shackles of bondage for the enslaved. I fear not the crux of my journey for it is the blissful resolution that I seek.
This temptation is not sin, nor folly. It is all that I am and all that I desire. Pity me if you will, but I am not ashamed to choosing this path. You may think I am superfluous, yet I am content and see you as empty. I am whole.
I am complete.
Welcome to my techno-lust.
Square Enix is doing a great job in sucking money from me. The latest siphon? Final Fantasy IV remake for the Nintendo DS. While not the first remake of this classic, it seems to be running up for the best. Complete overhaul in both graphics and gameplay tell the story of redemption of a fallen knight in a new light.
Have you pre-ordered your copy? On the fence? Check out the official site and watch the trailers. 
Years ago, I had watched a Japanese Anime series called Bubblegum Crisis. Of course, being Sci-fi and a cartoon there were many fantastical gadgetry and neat technology. One such combo, that pertains to this entry, was a laptop one of the protagonists used. It was sleek looking and had a cool OS, but the nifty part? It was used as an alarm to wake the protagonist up. Now, there are many programs out there that could be similar, however how many of them could wake a computer from sleep and activate the alarm? That’s right, the laptop was in sleep mode and the alarm triggered and woke the laptop and blared its incessant buzzing. Ever since, I always kept an eye out for an application like that. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything for Windows, however my search ended when I got a Macbook Pro.
The first application I encountered was Aurora. It did the job fairly well but settled into the dust for a time. Recently I stumbled upon Awaken and I must say that its sleeker and sexier (not to mention cheaper than the current release of Aurora). While both hook into iTunes so you can play your music, use the Apple remote to snooze or turn off an alarm and both have a sleep setting to play your tunes and stop, putting the system into Sleep mode, after a defined amount of time, Awaken’s presentation is very well done and just looks better. Call me superficial but it’s one of the big reasons why I have a Macbook Pro and an iPhone. They look hot and work pretty darn good. One thing going for Aurora at the moment is its support of EyeTV, which Awaken doesn’t. I don’t use EyeTV so it’s not a problem for me, however for those that do, you might want to keep that in mind. Perhaps the cost of Aurora is worth it then?
I’ve been using Awaken for a week and half now and have been very satisfied. The full screen mode doesn’t emit too much light to be bothersome when using it at night during Sleep mode, but the text is large enough for me to see from my bed to check the time, either at night or when the alarm is blaring in the morning. Oh, and the developer is on Twitter so be sure to check out what he has to say about the new version of Awaken.
How does a century old assassins guild with members that have mastered gun use to the point where they can impart curve in a bullet’s trajectory, like the massé shots in billiards, sound to you? What if they added the ability to increase their heartrate to incredible levels and pump an excess amount of adrenaline in their bodies to react faster than normal men and women? Sounds pretty interesting?
Well, that’s what Wanted is made up of and while it’s no Summer Blockbuster, it’s a decent action flick worth watching in the theaters for a matinee price.
The story revolves around a young man named Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) going through life apathetically. He has a deadend job, mean boss, cheating girlfriend, and an all around crappy life. Until he encounters Fox (Angelina Jolie) in a convenience store and his life turns upside down. He learns about his father, who left him and his mother when he was just born, and learns the lineage of weavers turned assassins that have gone through the ages killing people according to fate, maintaining balance in the world.
The film is based upon a comic miniseries by Mark Millar, which I’ve never read so can’t comment on how faithful the movie is to the written piece. However, the action scenes were great and there were some segments that caused chuckles in the theater. There was one scene that didn’t make sense after watching the entire movie, but still looked cool at the time. All the actors, ranging from Morgan Freeman to James McAvoy did a pretty good job. One actor I was pleasantly surprised to see was Konstantin Khabensky who is the main protagonist in Nightwatch and Daywatch (film adaptations to the wonderful books by Sergey Lukyanenko).
All in all, Wanted is worth watching in the theater to see those bullets curve and home in on their targets, but I’d say catch it at a discount.
