Tony

Viva Pinata – First Impressions

January 10, 2007 by Tony 7 Comments

I’ve now spent a few hours with Viva Pinata and I like what I see so far.

Visually, it’s very pleasing and really entertains the two little mashers. My daughter loves naming the pinatas, which is a lot of fun (but I must admit that I was hesitant to name two pinatas of the same type with my daughter’s name and my name. Seeing “[Daddy’s name] and [daughter’s name] are romancing” was disturbing. If you’ve played the game, you’ll know what I’m talking about.) The sound and music are also pleasing. I’m getting a serious “Zelda” vibe from the music. That’s not a bad thing.

I love the variety of the new pinatas and watching the bigger pinatas feast on the smaller ones is comical. I think my garden is getting cramped, because my pinatas are getting testy. Fights break out among the same pinata type all the time. Getting them to “Romance” and do other things isn’t always straightforward, but the in-game “encyclopedia” answers just about question you have, and once you get the hang of it, it’s not a big problem.

This is definitely a “kids game” (plural, not possesive) as in, “I can play it with the kids.” That is a very good thing. It’s slow enough that they can follow it but deep enough that it keeps my interest. It also get a thumbs up from Mrs. buttonMasher. I’m looking forward to lots of fun in my pinata garden.

Buckeye Blogging, BCS Championship Game

January 8, 2007 by Tony 7 Comments

Blogging has been and will be light around these parts the next couple days, as tonight is the BCS National Championship game between my Ohio State Buckeyes and the Florida Gators. I’ll be blogging the highlights of the game at my OSU site, Men of the Scarlet and Gray (there’s an Open Thread at the site, all about the game, if you’re interested).

I’m super excited about the game, so gaming will be minimal until the euphoria (or heaven forbid, depression) after the game has worn off. Once I come down from the high of victory, we’ll resume the video game blogging as normal. I’ve got plans to revisit some of the DS games I’ve neglected (Contact, EBA, NSMB) along with my Christmas haul. I’ll also have site and Carnival updates. And a TV update, as well.

Speaking of TV, I can’t tell you how excited I am about seeing the Championship Game in HD. Fox seems to be doing a great job of sports in HD so I’m assuming this will be no different. It’s hard to watch programming now that isn’t in HD. That may sound like HD-snobbery (which it is) but I can’t believe the difference it makes. I think my buddy explained it best when he compared it to how our parents must have felt when they went from black and white to color TVs in their day. It’s that dramatic.

Update
Yeah, we lost. Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, I’m over it.

I’m ready to get back to gaming.

Looking back

January 4, 2007 by Tony 5 Comments

Even though we’ve been in 2007 a few days now, I figured it be a good time for some reflection. I took a look back at my archives from the last year and realized I didn’t play a ton of games this past year. I was quite surprised. I spent a good chunk of the beginning of the year playing EVE Online, which started out slow, was fun for a while, then just sort of petered out. The summer was pretty dead, and things really didn’t pick up until the fall, when I finally joined the next generation with my Xbox 360. Even with the lack of variety, I still wanted to have my “Best of 2006” list, so here it is.

I really wish I had more time to play a wider variety of games, but I don’t have that luxury, so I really try make sure the ones I actually play are good ones. It’s hard to avoid all the duds, but I did a pretty good job this year. I’ll look at the two systems that I actually played this year.

Xbox 360
Dead Rising was definitely my favorite Xbox 360 this year. The story wasn’t great, the save system was severely broken, and the fighting system was simple, but Dead Rising was a blast to play. Give me a inventory full of two-by-fours and let me whack zombies until I can’t buttonmash any more and I’m happy. Simple, mindless fun is what Dead Rising was for me. I’m still playing it, trying to get some more achievements. Dead Rising is my pick for the Best Xbox 360 game for 2006.

Runner-ups would have to be Viva Pinata and Burnout Revenge. I’ve only played Viva for a few hours so far, but I can already say that it’s going to be a great game and will probably suck up a lot of my time. The kids love it, which is always a plus. The kids also love “the crash game,” so Burnout got a lot of play time this year. Both are great games.

Biggest 360 disappointment was Just Cause. That game was such a colossal turd, I couldn’t last more than an hour playing it. Avoid it at all costs.

Nintendo DS
DS was definitely my console of choice during 2006. I played a ton of DS. It was tough to pick the best game, but I have to go with Elite Beat Agents. I discovered the greatness that is Ouendan this year, so Elite Beat Agents was definitely the next step. It doesn’t have the quirkiness of the Japanese game, but with stories I can actually follow and music I actually know, EBA is a great DS game. Besides, any game that has music from Jamiroquai is okay in my book.

Runner-up would have to be Brain Age. Even though playing Brain Age was a great game (and a lot of fun), it was the Sudoku puzzles that really keep me coming back. I hadn’t played a single Sudoku game before I played it on the DS and I don’t think I could ever do them on paper now. The DS is the perfect system for the Sudoku puzzle.

Biggest disappointment would have to be Metroid Prime Hunters. It pains me to say this, because I’m a huge Metroid fan, but MPH just wasn’t that great of a game. I never got used to the control scheme, the online games were never enjoyable and it failed to hold my interest. Hopefully Metroid Prime 3 will return Metroid to it’s glory.

If I had to pick the game I had the most fun with last year, it would easily be Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, by far. Sure, it didn’t come out in 2006, but I couldn’t put it down. The music, the rythms, the quirky stories, everything about it was pure enjoyment. Ouendan will be getting a lot more play in my DS. Overall, 2006 was a pretty good year for gaming. Surprisingly, I didn’t play any new PC games. I’ve never been a huge PC gamer but I normally pick up a PC game or two each year, so this year wasn’t a great one for my PC.

I had a pretty good year here at buttonmashing.com, but there’s always room for improvement. Visitors were down near the end of the year, but I think a lot of people are “visiting” via RSS feed readers, which is perfectly fine with me. As far as what I want to do with the site this year, I’m looking to continue to provide good content while improving my writing. I’m always trying to balance what I provide with the site. I can’t compete with the bigger blogs to get all the news stories that come out each day, so I have to pick and choose what to blog about. That usually ends up being Xbox and Nintendo related items, which may limit my audience to a degree, but I still enjoy working on the site and hope you, the reader, are enjoying it, too.

So, how was your 2006? What games stood out for you? Which ones stunk? What about the site? What would you like to see here at buttonmashing? Comments, questions and criticisms are all appreciated.

No January Carnival

January 3, 2007 by Tony Leave a Comment

I know this is no way to start off the new year, but with my busy holiday schedule, I never lined up a January host. So the Carnival will be taking a break this month. If you’ve previously volunteered to host a carnival, I’ll be contacting with you shortly. If you’re interested in hosting a carnival, drop me a line. You can use the Contact page to do so.

Keep an eye on the Carnival HQ page for updated information.

Dashboard Themes

January 2, 2007 by Tony 4 Comments

If you’ve got an Xbox 360 and you’d like to pick a new “Dashboard Theme” for your Xbox Live Dashboard but you’re not sure how it would look, check out Dashboard Themes, a new site from Matt Brett and Andrew McTeer. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the Xbox Live Dashboard is the “hub” of the 360’s online service. It’s where you access your friends list, your gamer profile, Xbox Live Arcade games and pretty much everything else you do on the Xbox Live service. It’s also customizable. You can purchase “Themes” for your dashboard to personalize them. Unfortunately, there’s no way of actually previewing themes to see how they look, before you buy them. You’re making a purchase before you ever see what it would look like. Not exactly the best set up.

With Dashboard Themes, you can preview all the current themes available for purchase. You can browse and rate them with an easy interface. It’s very cool to see some 360 fans make something this useful. Make sure you check it out!

You don’t know me!

January 1, 2007 by Tony 17 Comments

I love blog-memes, even though they’re almost universally hated. I’ve been tagged by Michael with one, asking for “Five Things” you probably don’t know about me. This was actually harder than it would seem. I’m a pretty reserved guy and don’t really talk much about myself. Anyway, on with the self-deprecation:

1. I cried during Schindler’s List. I can count the number of times I’ve cried in the past 15 years on one hand. I’m not a very emotional guy, especially about something like a movie, but Schindler’s List struck me to the core. I was 18 at the time and it really moved me.

2. I still collect baseball (and football and basketball) cards. I used to collect cards as a kid and I never really stopped. I have thousands of them. I’m not as dedicated as I used to be, but any time I’m at the grocery store and there’s a box of cards in the rack of my aisle, I’ll grab a couple packs and throw them in the cart.

3. I’m a huge Erasure fan. I like all sorts of music, but there’s something about synthesized Euro-pop that does it for me. My wife calls it “girlie music.” So be it. “Chains of Love” is secretly one of my favorite songs.

4. I once ate 28 cups of yogurt in less than an hour. When I was living in Spain, we had contest we called “the Yogurt Challenge.” You had to eat 24 cups of yogurt in 45 minutes without, uhm, visiting the bathroom, for another 15. I did all 24 of my yogurts, plus 4 that my buddy couldn’t finish. I held it down, too. I couldn’t eat yogurt for months, but I had the Yogurt Challenge record. Kobayashi has nothing on me!

5. I’m afraid of needles. Yep, I’m the big tough guy who is afraid of an itty-bitty prick. I hate getting shots and hate having my blood drawn even more. Thing is, I have to watch it go in. I can’t help myself. I can’t look away. I have to see it happen even though I’m dreading it the whole time. I can’t take it.

So that’s a little about me. That was actually a lot of fun. And now the best part, I get to tag a few people. I’m tagging the Monkey, Nat, Josh and Brinstar. You know, if you guys don’t hate blog memes and stuff.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2007 by Tony 2 Comments

I’m back and I’m ready to take on 2007 with renewed gusto. I hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend and that everyone’s New Year’s Day is going good.

I had a pretty good, albeit hectic, Christmas Holiday. It was nice to see the extended family. We had family from out-of-town, so the little buttonMashers got to see their cousin and aunts and uncles. We spent most of the week with them, at Mrs. buttonMasher’s parent’s house. The brother-in-law is a gamer and we spent most of the week playing Fight Night 3 (a great game with easy Achievement Points, BTW). It was painful playing it on a 21″ TV, but it beats no gaming at all. We also saw some movies. The new Bond movie was excellent and the new Rocky movie was suprisingly good.

Santa was good to me, bringing everything I asked for (except for the sound system, still looking for that). I haven’t had a chance to play any of my new games yet, as I’ve been busy with other things.

Like I mentioned earlier, my new TV arrived just as we were getting ready to head out of town for the holidays. We came home on Saturday, picked up a nice TV stand and set up my new Samsung TV. (I’ll be posting some pictures later). I picked up some HDTV rabbit ears, since my cable package is the basic, non-digital package. For some reason, however, I’m picking up a few of the broadcast HD signals over the cable. It’s weird. Anyway, my current cable provider, Time Warner, doesn’t offer all the broadcast channels in high-def. The two channels they don’t offer are the ones I actually want so I’m switching companies to WOW! Cable. I’m getting their Digital Package, with all their HD offerings. It comes on Wednesday, I can’t wait. Even though I’m only getting a few channels in HD right now, I can already see 2007 is going to be a High Definition year for me. I’m currently watching a Bowl game (WVU vs. GT) instead of the other games, because it’s coming in HD and the others aren’t. I can’t believe how good it looks on this TV.

And the 360? Wow. That’s all I can say right now. WOW! I played some Dead Rising and Burnout Revenge so far in HD and it took me a few minutes to pick my jaw up off the floor. It’s that good.

So I hope everyone’s having a good holiday season. I’m back in the saddle with lots of plans for blogging this year. I appreciate everyone who’s been reading and commenting. I hope 2007 is another great year for everyone. I’m going to play some games in HD.

Kicked in the junk

December 22, 2006 by Tony 5 Comments

Not like this:

Like this:

How is getting a new TV like getting kicked in the junk? When it shows up mere hours before you’re getting ready to head home for the holidays. And you were planning on being gone for eight days.

Crap! Looks like I’ll be cutting our visit a few hours short next Saturday so I can get home in time to pick up my new TV stand. I’m thinking about picking this one up.

More pictures to follow. Like most everyone else, I’ll be pretty busy with the holidays, but I’m hoping to find some time to get a little blogging in. Nevertheless, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays.

Christmas wishes (for me)

December 20, 2006 by Tony 4 Comments

It’s that time of year again — my yearly plea to the Jolly Ol’ Elf. My Holiday Wish List. I actually don’t want a lot this year, just a few more games to play on my 360 and DS. There are a bunch of DS games I wouldn’t mind playing, I just don’t think I have time to get to more than a couple. So here’s what I’m hoping I find under the tree next week:

Viva Pinata – This game has always intrigued me. The premise sounds like fun and it would definitely give me something to satisfy the obsessive-compulsive part of my brain. I am a huge fan of Animal Crossing, and while I know that this isn’t exactly Animal Crossing, it has some similarities. The biggest similarity being that it’s a game I could play with the kids around. I’m usually waiting for them to head to bed before I can fire up Dead Rising, so it’d be nice to play something that they’d like and I’d enjoy. The bright colors and beautiful scenery would definitely hold their attention.

Tiger Woods 2007 – It’s been a long time since I’ve played more than a few minutes of a golf game and I was quite impressed with the TW2007 demo, so I’m ready to give this the full game treatment. Since I won’t be getting a Wii anytime soon, Tiger Woods should fill the hole in my gaming library that was set aside for Wii Sports.

Elite Beat Agents – If you’ve been reading this site over the past couple of months, it will come as no surprise that I love Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, the Japanese rythm game on the DS. I have spent a ton of time tapping little targets to such awesome songs as Guts Da Ze!! and Kokoro Odoru and have enjoyed every minute of it. The thought of playing an “American” version of it, complete with stories I can actually follow, makes me very excited.

A nice Surround Sound System – Now that I’ve got a big TV on the way, I need a sound system to compliment it. I’d love to get my hands on my dad’s old Bose system, but that may not happen. So I’d be happy with any decent surround sound system. Any suggestions?

So that’s my spartan list. Not very huge, but hey, I’m easy to please. What’s on your wish list?

Ouendan translations

December 19, 2006 by Tony 1 Comment

I’m letting a friend borrow my copy of Ouendan for a couple days to give it a try, see if it’s what he’s looking for. Since everything is in Japanese, I figured I’d try to explain to him what the different menu options were. Sure, I don’t know a lick of Japanese, but I have figured out what each option does, so I thought it’d be easy to explain the basics.

Then I found the site Cracked Rabbit Gaming. In addition to their ongoing translation project for Ouendan, they also have a mini-fansite that includes a translation for the menus. I wish I would have found this a couple months ago!

They’ve overlayed the English translations over actual screenshots of the game, so you can figure out what the heck is going on. This makes things a lot easier. My Resident Evil 4 translations are the most visited page on buttonmashing.com, so I know there are people out there looking for this kind of thing. I’m glad I found Cracked Rabbit. Makes things a lot easier.

Go here for the Ouendan menu translation.

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