Just in the past month, I have bought a brand new Numark Mixer board to mess around with DJ stuff and to use as a controller. I also bought an Akai LPD8 Drum Pad Controller (I've always wanted one). To test them out, I made a few sample videos (check 'em out on Facebook under videos). Just this past week was another Game Jam competition for the Videogame Development Club and I got to do music for them again. This time, I had the honor of taking on 3 teams out of 5 from my usual 2 teams. My sleeping schedule got really messed up because of it, but I feel very happy from the songs I produced. After finishing, I've been feeling kind of empty the past 2 days. All of a sudden, I really want to get back into drawing. Perhaps it has something to do with this week's theme for my videogame blog on "Web Comics" (check it out here: http://superpad.blogspot.com/search?q=web+comics). I remember back in Jr. College, I drew as much as I played piano. Videogames were more of a leisure time thing to do if I could get away with it amongst my school work. But now, I get so serious when I play videogames and have become so critical with what I'm playing because of all the game reviews and design write-ups I do now. I do more writing than music, art, and game playing combined ever since the beginning of the year. I always knew I liked writing, but "this" much? I really hope something good comes out of this, such as being able to write magnificent stories for RPGs or something. I think I'm going to try to focus on Art more from now on so that I don't drop out entirely from that medium. Drawing is far too important in my life to give up on, despite music and writing being my stronger suits now (and that still doesn't amount to that much...still haven't gotten a job in game development yet). I still have that feeling of being lost in the moment and not knowing what I want to do in my present state, mainly because I have so much I WANT to do. I already have a line-up of game projects I want to do, but they require every bit of my past experience and skills to do: Drawing, animating, level design, writing, music, sound, voice acting, and (ugh...) programming (I don't think I'll ever get that deep into it).
In terms of videogames:
I bought Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and really liked it! But like many fighting games, there's a desire to play against friends and human players rather than against computers all the time so I haven't played the game for a few weeks now. I forget what the reason was, but I started to get back into Street Fighter IV again. I still haven't gotten SSFIV yet and question whether I should get it. I'm trying to get back into MMOs, but I'm afraid of playing hours and hours only to give up on it. Vindictus has been pretty good though. It follows a story, it has a distinct start and finish of each chapter, the game requires attention and skill over planning and point-n-click style, and I really don't need to spend that much time on it. I tried out Crime Craft and I have to say that it's really interesting, but also a little dull. For one, the game is silent (no music) and has the player go into the same instance over and over. But the concept of every player having their own agenda to tend to but still being able to help out other players was very intriguing to me. I tried out an old MMORPG called Tales Weaver and liked how the game follows a distinct story with dialogue and characters, but the game is practically empty, the game consists of grinding, and the servers are rather slow. EA released a free FPS called Battlefield Play4Free and it's not that bad. It uses the maps from Battlefield 2 while borrowing aspects that they used in Battlefield Bad Company 2. I've been going a bit lighter on the FPS lately which is a good thing. I think I'm finally making a breakthrough with getting back into RPGs and Action games with Demon's Souls (yup, still playing it with close to 60 hours of gameplay on it). I still play Call of Duty: Black Ops, MAG, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 once in a while, but Demon's Souls has really captivated my attention on tactics, forging special weapons, playing different classes and such. I won my first PvP match last night when a player was summoned as a boss I had to fight for one of the levels. It lasted pretty long, and I almost lost 3-4 times. I think I'll be getting back into FPS a little since I haven't touched the campaign for CoD:Black Ops yet. Aside from those, the next game I have my eye on is Dynasty Warriors 7:
It really looks like Koei improved it. I was disappointed with DW6 despite their efforts in changing the game. It seems that Koei took everything they used and learned from Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, Samurai Warriors 3, and Warriors Orochi Z (I can't believe they're not bringing that over...) and implemented it into DW7 to create a truly wonderful experience that it once was. I'm seeing a lack in custom officer for it, so that makes me a bit sad since I really wanted to play my own character in their new Conquest mode. I started playing Dynasty Warriors 6 again because of the hype I got out of Dynasty Warriors 7. The game is already out, but I'm in no rush to buy any new games right now since I have a ridiculous backlog I want to (at least) partially clear out first (especially on PS2 and Wii). So Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Gameboy 3DS, and other awesome game stuff I'm willing to wait out while I finish some games I have and to catch up on projects that's craving my attention right now. I think this year I'll be going heavy on the music projects, but I really hope I get some game projects completed as well. I am still all for getting back into drawing though.
Onto the review: Complaints that the game has no storyline has been brought up many times when reviewing the game; however, the game does have a concept in where it is taken place and the situation that the characters are under. Though the characters and interactions between them may not be very strong and deep, the plot is simple and straightforward. Consider that this game is nearly 8 years old, so the graphics are obviously outdated with its blocky characters and flat layered environments. It delivers an immense world of fantasy and wonder though in the way they present each area. The music is memorable, though it can be bland after playing it so many times, and possibly annoying to some. The combo system might seem confusing at first, but those that know the timing will know it without even thinking. I've been playing this game for possibly over 5-6 years now and I'm still not exactly tired of it because of how many secrets it has in the game. One of the biggest draws toward playing the game again is finding an interesting equipment to use in battle as there are literally dozens of weapons in the game. I first saw the game on Dreamcast when a friend brought it over and showed me how many weapons there were. A few years later, I got the game as a present for the Gamecube. Now, I am playing Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (which is purely a online game with episodes 1, 2 and 4) on a private server due to Sega's decision to close down the official servers and concentrate on Phantasy Star Universe.
With several million people around the world playing, it's no wonder the game is still around.