Sunday, January 30, 2011

JAPAN: Game-related books







Just some features of the local bookshelf at Junkudo- the Barnes and Noble of Japan. Game-related books.

The usual you'd find anywhere, coding any type of game in Objective C. All of the Game Programming Gem series. have been translated. Lots of modelling books, mostly devoted to MAYA. Only to be seen are about 3 books coding in Flash AS3 *wa wa wa waaaaaah* and the content none too impressive- how to make a Super Mario Clone etc. There was one 3D coding title that came with some Japanese 3D libraries on a CD.

As you can see the trend in Japan is more towards mobile gaming, there's a TON of books related to the IphoneSDK, for example, as well as coding with Android.
Another thing to note is that you can see some biographies of famous game designers over here, as they are given more acclaim in Japan, comparable with famous engineers in Germany.

Some links regarding the Iphone and Android in Japan.

New

Hey,
First of all, if you're interested in my game updates, skip to the bottom of this post.

New Blog Additions
-------------------

So while it might seems pretty obvious from the blogs title, I do in fact live in Japan, although I'm a true blue Brit from Hastings. Living here and being a hardcore gamer is heaven, I sometimes feel as if every other Japanese person is some kind of gaming freak and in reflection of that Japan has some of the coolest gaming paraphernalia you can find on the planet. Gaming centers over here are big business, usually have about 6 floors full of games with expensive high-tech units you could only dream of having in the West. And many shops are devoted to selling quirky gamer stuff that I feel definitely someone living outside Japan might get excited over and have to break the bank to buy on e-bay.
Henceforth, with this in mind I've decided to mix in with this blog some regular concurrent info about the game scene in Japan. My first post is coming real soon, so watch this space.

Game stuff
-----------

It's been awhile since my post, but the good news is that the reason behind this is because I've been extremely productive with work on my latest project, officially titled 'Chronicle' as of last week.
Some of you may have seen the demo of the Asteroids clone in my last post. The game has been revamped and now aspires to being a kind of retro tribute game that features 8 levels, some of which are resemblance to old arcade games, namely -Galaxians, Space Invaders, Gorf, Asteroids and Sinistar- but are fashioned to fit in the game's architecture.
Game features some nice particle effects (I think I've seriously gotten the hang of bitmap blitting these days) and I've even fiddled around with the CS5 3d transformation tools to bump up the sexiness of some of the graphics. You can collect power-ups that morph your ship into other type of ships with differing specialities- none of which I can mention at this point.
Might be just foolishness on my part but I'm a tad protective about some of the unique concepts in this one, hence the lack of an updated demo. Sorry. I will probably post it on FGL soon though, so members with a market level of 1 or over should be able to view it.




Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Empire Total War








Empire Total War - 3DVD

Minimum Requirements :
Operating System: Windows XP 32(service pack 2), Windows Vista 32 OS
Processor: 2.4 GHz Single Core Intel or AMD equivalent processor
System Memory: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista)
Graphics Card: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (shader 2.0 or higher)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Review


Finally, the review I had planned! Unfortunately this took longer to post than I thought, mostly due to the hectic week we had with the floods. But here you go, better late than never! 

After receiving recommendations to get this game (hereafter referred to as Sonic Racing) for its multiplayer mode, Shaun and I finally got it as a Christmas gift from my grandmother (thanks to Amazon wishlists!). Initially I was pretty psyched about it, I’ve always had tons of fun playing the various incarnations of the Mario Kart series, and was happy that I could finally race head-to-head against my husband on our PS3 (the extent of my competitive nature is up for debate, though). While at first glance Sonic Racing is a colorful kart racer full of extras, after just a cursuory playthrough the game, unfortunately, starts to show where it just can’t compare to games like Mario Kart.

As this is my first “official” review, I’m still trying to get the hang of what kind of format I’ll be using, but for now I’ll stick to highlighting some of the positive and negative impressions I had of the game.
+ 60+ missions to complete in single-player mode are fun challenges to occupy your time with if you tire of the usual grand prix
+ Lots of familiar Sega characters, music, and courses inspired by the games
Playable characters (source)
+ Up to 4 player multiplayer with a variety of modes including regular races, king of the hill, capture the flag, and others
+ Many unlockables (albeit pretty easy to unlock, read on for more information)
+ No matter what mode you play, you always gain Sega miles, which can be used to buy unlockable content, which means you can unlock things even in multiplayer mode

Well, seems good so far, right? Now, on to the negatives…

– No map of the course can be viewed while racing, which means you have no idea what’s coming up ahead. Particularly irking if you’ve never played a course before
– Many characters are duplicates–their stats are exactly the same! (i.e Shadow and Ryo, two characters that use motorcycles)
– Long, frequent loading times
In-game screen shot, map notably absent (source Xbox360 version review)
– Reverse button is same as the drift button, which is used to skid during turns and accumulate boost, an essential tactic to winning races. There is also no brake button, meaning that if you need to reverse (believe me, you will. See next point), you’ll have to stop accelerating and use the drift button, making for very clunky and unintuitive controls
– Last, but not least, Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing is glitchy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game with so many glitches. Getting stuck in a corner for no rational reason, missing jumps repeatedly because you fell off the course and keep getting placed back on the track in a bad place, going through walls… You name it, it’s probably happened to Shaun or I in the game. Some of the tracks have so many turns that I’ve never gotten through a single lap without getting stuck. Even the CPU’s have a hard time! I once saw Shaun get stuck in a corner with literally 3 CPU characters crowding him into a corner, and none of them could get out until the game decided to respawn them like it would if they had fallen off the course (this takes forever, too).
Unfortunately, as much as I want to like Sonic Racing, I just can’t get past how unbelievably glitchy it is. Shaun and I own the PS3 version, but a cursory Google search shows that there are problems on other systems as well (whether or not the extent of the glitches is as bad as the PS3 version I cannot say).  The game also doesn’t take long to finish–after about 8 hours we’d unlocked everything and completed 48% of the trophies without going out of our way to do any particular achievements. Though I wish I could say it compared to the Mario Kart games, Sonic Racing sadly falls short. For my multiplayer racing fix on the PS3, however, I am satisfied to have it as an option. It’s sad to see a potentially great game get bogged down by the lack of seemingly obvious necessities (have a brake button, show maps, beta test for glitches).
Final Verdict:  2.7 stars

Kart racing fun in the spirit of Mario Kart, but could have been a lot more fun without frequent glitches plaguing much of the game. Consider renting or buy only if you are desperate for cute multiplayer racing like I was.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment with your opinions or thoughts on how I can improve my reviews

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Amorous Professor Cherry


 
Amorous Professor Cherry - 1DVD

System requirements

Minimum:OS: Windows 95
96 MB RAM
Pentium II 300 MHz
MIDI Soundcard
HIGH COLOR Display Capable

Recommended: Windows 98
128 MB RAM
Pentium III 500 MHz
DirectSound soundcard
TRUE COLOR Display Capable

Friday, January 7, 2011

Front Mission Evolved




Front Mission Evolved - 2DVD
MINIMUM PC REQUIREMENTS
Windows XP/Vista/7
MINIMUM
Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 x2 1.8GHz Processor
1GB RAM
11GB Hard Disk Space
DirectX 9.0c
512MB Nvidia GeForce 7800 Video Card
DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Hello and Welcome!

You've stumbled upon Chic Pixel, a blog for all of my eclectic nerdy interests! Here you will soon find everything from video game reviews to craft ideas and pictures of things I've eaten recently (I like to take pictures of my food, what can I say). Over the next week or so I hope to be getting this site more polished so I can begin making some real posts, including a review of Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing I have in the works, so stay tuned!


For now, have a list!

Currently playing: Ookamiden (DS), Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (PS3), Folklore (PS3)

Currently watching (i.e what I rented from the video store that I need to watch): Terminator 2, V for Vendetta, Sex and the City season 3

Currently reading: 90 Day Geisha by Chelsea Haywood

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Barbie as The Island Princess








Barbie as The Island Princess - 1DVD
MINIMUM PC REQUIREMENTS
Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Pentium III 1GHz Processor
256MB RAM
4GB Hard Disk Space
DirectX 9.0c
32MB DirectX 9.0c Compatible 3D Video Card
DirectX Compatible Sound Card

Assassin's Creed




Assassin's Creed - 2DVD

Intel Core® 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better
Sound: 5.1 sound card
Xbox 360® Controller for Windows
Supported Video Cards at Time of Release:
ATI® RADEON® X1600*/1650*-1950/HD 2000/3000 series
NVIDIA GeForce® 6800*/7/8/9 series
PCI Express only supported

Barbie Fashion Show








Barbie Fashion Show - 1DVD

Publisher: VU Games
Developer: VU Games

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Processor: Pentium 2 @ 400 MHz
Memory: 128 MB
Video Memory: 32 MB
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard & Mouse
CD/DVD Rom Drive