Wii Pro Gamer's Case

As seen here at Amazon.com.

I take my Wii around a bit and looked into the many different case and bag options for hauling the console around. I eventually went with Intec's Wii Pro Gamer Case for several reasons:
• Hard side case
• Inexpensive at $25
• Compartmentalized
• Built specifically for the Wii
• Looks good

Construction - In appearance, the case is a blank, metal suitcase that does not say "wii" anywhere, making it an anonymous container, which can be a pro for keeping would-be thieves second-guessing the contents. Every other case I saw was a soft case or bag emblazoned with "Wii" that, other than the material the enclosure was made of, offered little protection from crushing forces. The Pro Gamer Case is a hard-sided aluminum case. You can stand on it and your Wii is not going to get crushed, nor are any of the more fragile elements, like the thin sensor bar. The inside is lined with some sort of black suede-like materal that won't scratch anything and the partitions themselves are sturdy. I read somewhere a complaint about the hinges; they only open to 90°, much like a musical instrument case, but I find no problems with this. It would take a lot of force to break the hinges.

Compartments - To me, this is the next biggest selling point. No other case has quite the compartmentalization that the Pro Gamer Case has. The slot for the Wii itself includes velcro straps to hold the Wii down but these are barely needed. The console fits SO snugly it can actually be difficult to remove. Inside the lid are two elastic bands made especially for the sensor bar, holding it securely in probably the safest configuration of any setup thus far. The rest of the organization made possible by the case varies due to its one flaw, which is seen as a major flaw by many people: the lack of room for the power block.

In the main area of the box, there's a long, skinny compartment above the one for the Wii. This is the perfect size and shape for the Wii stand. The other, smaller compartments to the side are good for Nunchucks and for the audio/video cable, but none are wide enough to accommodate the cables protruding from the power block. The only way to do it is to put the block in at an angle in the largest of the side compartments and then carefully stuff the cables in around it, a far from ideal situation. However, the Wii does not need its stand to run properly, so if you are willing to leave the stand at home, the power block can be fitted into its slot comfortably, leaving ample room for up to 4 Nunchucks and the audio/video cable.

The lid not only has the slot for the sensor bar, but two more loops the perfect width for Wii game boxes, game manuals, or two Wiimotes side-by-side in each band for a total of 4 Wiimotes. If you place the Wiimotes so that the band runs between the buttons, then there isn't as much chance of the buttons being pushed by the lid partition and thus draining the batteries.

Price - at the time I bought my Pro Gamer Case, the next best choice, the G-Pak, was over $100 in price. The G-Pak is notable for its VERY spacious main compartment, game disc holders in the lid, and the ability to leave the Wii strapped in the case with its cables plugged in so that once you get where you are going, you simply unzip the bottom of the case to reveal the cables and then plug in the Wii without having to unpack it. The one flaw with this (other than initial price) is that, like most other cases and bags, there is no compartmentalizing. Everything gets tossed in, free to move about.

Conclusion - There are a lot of cool options for the Wii (including a cute bowling-ball bag style setup) but for the protection of the Wii and its components, despite the lack of forethought in designing room for the stand and the power block, this is by far the best way to go for the Wii.

Portal [game]

From Wikipedia: Portal* is is a single-player first-person action/puzzle video game developed by Valve that is often boasted by fans as being more popular than the main fare of the Orange Box (Half Life 2). It was released as part of "The Orange Box" for the XBox 360 and Windows but will be released on its own this April 2008. It is a short game consisting of 19 levels, taking anywhere from 3 to 5 hours for first-time players to finish (I took about 6, spending time exploring and experimenting with the portal gun).

*Note: be aware that the Wikipedia article is full of un-noted spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Setting: A sterile, white & grey walled "Enrichment Center" for "Aperture Science Laboratories".

Premise: You are a woman named Chell. You wake up in the Enrichment Center and are prompted by a female robotic voice (GLaDOS) to begin your training process by completing a series of puzzle tests, one per level. Generally, the test is to cross a room, overcoming various barriers, and/or manipulate a few buttons in order to gain access to the exit door. The puzzles are often very simple but require lateral thinking to discover the answer.

Early on, you obtain the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" (portal gun) which, as you guessed, creates portals. Portals come in two colors: blue and orange - the color difference is there only to aid the player in telling the portals apart; they otherwise do the same thing. Go in one, come out the other. Once placed, a portal stays put until the player shoots to move it elsewhere. Only one portal of either color can exist at any given time.

Gameplay
I played this on an XBox, using a traditional XBox controller. Both control sticks are required for movement - one for forward and side-to-side movement and the other to aim the portal gun. It takes some getting used to (and a large screen helps) but with a little patience it becomes second nature. A friend of mine watching had previously played Portal on a PC with a mouse and decided that was the way to go - particularly for aiming.

I am a long-time MYST player and the more mechanical levels of Portal will be right up any MYST fan's alley. But the majority of Portal revolves around using the portals and physics to get across many of the more challenging levels, particularly with the "speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out" mantra. Because you cannot run or jump, you have to harness physics (usually the physics of gravity - i.e. falling) to create speed to accomplish some amazing feats. Because the game is in first-person perspective, these feats become truly stunning and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Also, for those of you who hate dying in games, its pretty hard to die in this game through most of it. Luckily you cannot fall to your death - you can only drown in sludgey water (where applicable), be crushed under heavy objects (again, not a common situation, or take too much sustained energy damage from lazers in two or three levels, but again - avoidable. You pretty much never have an opponent other than the puzzle itself.

Storyline: because this is ultimately a mini game, there is only a basic storyline. What really drives the game forward is the mystery of the facility, GLaDOS' motivations, and the amount of humor in the game. It uses lots of techno jargon in silly ways, is full of things that later become inside-jokes to Portal players - and heck, the supposed reward at the end of the game is cake. What is there not to like about that? :D

Conclusion
I almost wish I had my own XBox just so I can play Portal. Maybe on my next Mac I will break down and install Windows via Parallels *just* so I can play Portal. The creators at Valve intend on creating a full blown Portal game of some kind and I will be on the wagon to get it when it comes out.

I honestly can't find anything bad to say about Portal - even about its short length, simply because they used every level to its fullest (particularly the last two) to where any more would of felt tacked on. The visuals were clean and were never glitchy, the sounds were practical, the story was funny yet mysterious, and the controls were smooth and pretty easy to use. Portal is a very unique game can appeal to a varied audience and is worth at least a rental. Go try!

And for those of you who *have* played, here's two shirts I made:

Picross DS

A review of Nintendo's PicrossDS

Picross DS Wikipedia article
Nonogram - Wikipedia article about nonograms (what Picross is)

About Picross
Picross is a puzzle game that is often described (and not just by me) as a cross between sudoku and minesweeper. Basically you have a grid in which you need to fill in squares in order to make a pixel picture. Easy mode grids are 5x5 and Normal mode grids (so far) are 15x15 and apparently they can go up to 20x25. The grids start out blank (unless you choose to start with a hint). From there you must figure out which squares to fill in by looking at numbers along the top and left sides of the grid. The numbers tell you how many squares are filled in that row and in what groups.

For instance, a row may have the numbers 5 3 3 next to it. That means that there is a group of 5, a group of 3, and another group of three squares colored in - each with at least one blank space in between them (groups cannot be touching, obviously). So you compare the info of the rows with the info of the collumns and based on how much room you have, where those squares should go.

Some of them are easy. In a 15x15 grid, if you have a row that's "5 4 4" then you add those up in your head (13) plus one blank at least between each number for a total of 15. That means that the 5 and the second 4 MUST be touching opposite sides of the grid. Nice.

If you're patient, you can use lots of logic to fill everything in without time penalties (if you guess wrong then you get penalized minutes to your time score). I'm not very patient so I choose to have a hint at the start.

Picross DS fun stuff
Each level is themed so you can kind of guess some of the things you're trying to 'draw'. Like, one level was all African animals, another was fruit, another was sea animals, etc. Being able to guess pixel pictures is handy for when you get stuck and have to guess at a square placement.

Each puzzle starts out as a complete mystery so you have NO idea what you are drawing. Once you've completed a puzzle, though, it gets a little icon in the menu so you know what it is. It also records your best time for each puzzle so you can try to beat your best times on each puzzle.

Each level has its own theme for the squares, which is fun. Easy mode levels were 'apple' themed, so each square was like a red (square) apple and when you clicked on it you whittled it to a core. The African animal level's squares were grass patches so when you filled them in, it mowed away the grass. Apparently there is a bubble-wrap level - I can't wait for that one. Should you dislike a level's theme you can revert to the generic blue-square theme.

There's also a head-to-head time-challenge mode, a daily-picross mode, and you can download puzzles via Wi-Fi. Also, in normal mode, once you've completed a row of puzzles, you unlock the ability to do a quick special level, of which there seem to be two kinds. The first kind involves giant flying pixels that you must tap quickly to 'tag' - needing to tag a certain number of them before time runs out. The second kind involves drawing the shown image (in a grid, of course) before time runs out.

There seem to be 135 single-player puzzles from what I read online (not counting what you can download.

You can turn off the music but keep the sound FX.

You can save your progress on one game at a time - when you turn on your DS it will ask if you want to restore your game so you don't have to go through the menus to go back to it.

Not good stuff
Each cartridge only holds scores and stuff for one person, unlike games like "Brain Age" that have multiple slots for multiple players.

By default, on larger puzzles you have to zoom in (it shows you the larger puzzle in the top screen) so as you fill in squares, the screen floats around to keep you centered. If you aren't careful, this can cause you to tap the wrong square and incurr a penalty. However, I discovered that by using the D-pad you can turn this off. Nice.

Conclusion
If you like games like Sudoku and minesweeper and you like stylus-based games (you can use the D-pad for this game, too) then Picross is a fun game. I find it addictive - and it's $20, so it's one of the lower-priced games (new). Reccomended.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Today I bought Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for my DS. It is way cool.

I've only ever played "Symphony of Night" before so I don't know how Castlevania games are across the board. The graphics on this game are great - detailed, rich, and crisp, even on such small screens. The character movement is just like Alucard in "SoN", or at least very close to it. (Re-reading the above article, this probably due to the fact that they used a lot of sprites from "SoN", which explains a lot.)

Apparently with most Castlevania games you are one of the Belmonts and you only ever have one weapon throughout the entire game for the most part. "SoN" was a bit different because you were a Dracula descendant and you could choose between hundreds of types of weapons you got off dead enemies. You can do that, too, in DoS. Yay! So the equptment works the same.

One thing that is pretty neat is your ability to capture souls. Most, if not all, creatures in the game have souls that they "drop" every once in awhile that you automatically absorb, giving you a new ability. The more of each kind of soul you absorb (say, bat souls) the more powerful that ability becomes. This kind of replaces Alucard's four abilities in "SoN". There are four categories of souls and you can have one of each type of category equipped at a time. Familiars are back, too, but they are a type of soul you can equipt -- same with the various weapons of Castlevania fame (dagger, holy water, cross, axe, diamond...) - those are replaced by soul weapons. I haven't gone very far in the game and already I really like this new soul system - it's highly customizeable for different players. Say, by killing bats you can obtain the bat familiar. By killing Wargs you obtain a kind of warg fang bite thing that does a lot of damage. Using souls uses MP, which is the only thing you ever use MP on - well, that and special weapon attacks. You aren't casting spells like "Soul Steal" all the time like in "SoN".

Another interesting thing is that boss enemies can't just be killed - they have to be sealed. You must take them down to zero HP, which causes a Magic Seal thing to appear on your screen with the pattern of seal you must now 'cast'. You use the stylus on the touch screen to quickly draw the pattern you just saw in order to seal the boss permanently. Failure to draw the symbol correctly means the boss regains some HP and you have to take it back down to zero before you can attempt to seal the enemy again. You learn seals BEFORE hand and have the ability to practice them at any time you like. And they're pretty simple in the beginning so it's not that freaky. In comparison, the non-mandatory spells from "SoN" were WAY more difficult due to the directional pad not always doing what you thought it should of done. ;)

I also really like having the two screens on the DS. While you run about the castle, the map is constantly displayed on the upper screen. VERY handy. And apparently this is the largest castle of any Castlevania game made yet. I am so very excited.

Myst, Riven, Exile in brief

Lately, Kaisa has been playing "Myst III: Exile" on her new iMac. We're both big Myst fans, starting back when Myst was new. I loved that game! We got Riven when it was new, too, only our computer wasnt' fast enough to run it properly so if I hadn't looked it up, I NEVER would of figured out how to open those domes around the islands because the video would freeze the computer. :\ Despite that, Riven is my very favorite of them all (so far) for its detailed luciousness and mysteriousness and plot. I even have an actual Moiety knife which I use as a letter opener. :D

Anyway, so I was chatting to Eric about Myst a bit and he said there was a fifth one out. We didn't even have the fourth! I needed to check the mail today, so Kais and I both went, and then went to Fred Meyers afterward, where they had both Myst IV and V. We just bought IV: Revalations, since it was only $20, and headed home.

Unfortunately, Kaisa has first dibs on it since she's already nearly done replaying Exile. Once she's done, I'm going to replay Exile, too, while she tackles the latest Myst incarnation. I'm muchly excited as Cyan is once again onboard for this game and it got better reviews than Exile (my least favorite of them all).

Besides the strange texture to everything due to the 3-D-ness of Exile, I think the lack of cultures is what makes it feel... empty. The only age that got me excited was the last one because people LIVED there, and you can't even explore it! Grr. I know Myst had no big civilizations, either, but you KNOW people lived there and that it had history. And it was new. The four main ages of Exile are just training grounds for learning how to write an Age. Or write TO one, I should say.

Heroes of Might & Magic 4

My roomate got Heroes of Might and Magic IV (HoMM4) finally. I had been looking forward to it - I've been playing the HoMM series since the first one, and a bunch of friends from college who played the game loved 4 and were just really impressed. I'm not sure what to think. Some things, like the magic and heroes structures, are just so different, you can't compare. Things like graphics and music are a billion times better, of course. But it is SO flippin' hard! There is NO gold - actually, an obvious lack of gold in the game, so it is really hard to buy up creatures and things, and even on the easiest settings, the computer has massive armies that you can't beat. Admittedly, I like to win - though I don't want it to be too easy, this game is way too difficult.

Your hero is a character that can be built up through actual combat on the battlefield, too. While your hero could increase in skills in previous HoMM games, other than casting spells the hero wasn't really a part of battle, keeping battles soley about your army. I think that in this incarnation of HoMM the hero character is really distracting on the battlefield and takes away from the army.

And I don't like the colors for the heroes - there's only red, blue and green that are halfway decent. *shrugs* There are a lot of improvements, like the interface and buying all the creatures at once in your town, but it seems like a different game all together - whereas HoMM 1, 2, & 3 are almost the same game, just bigger and better each generation.

Overall, HoMM4 is a totally different creature than its predecessors and in ways I don't care for.