Christmas Gifts for the Hardcore Gamer in Your Life

It is almost Christmas, that magical time of the year when we buy too much shit for the people we love to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the wonders of Capitalism. It can be hard shopping for geeks, we are very picky about gifts and most of us have the cynical attitude of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons when it comes to expressing our true wants and desires for Christmas ("Just give me a gift card, I know you haven't heard of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona or Battlestar Galactica...sigh.") Fear not, I am a geek, and I will help you make some great selections for that gaming guy or gal in your life.

Gaming Consoles

When I was kid the only people who could afford a Neo Geo console were the rich or the very rich. I really wanted arcade quality games at home but I had to settle for the Average Joe's choice, the SNES. However, SNK is giving us grown ups another chance to relive the dreams of our childhood, and it is slightly more affordable this time around. For $199, you can now buy the Neo Geo X, a portable Neo Geo that docks into a console shaped charger with a TV output. The system includes an original style Neo Geo arcade stick and the console is pre-loaded with 20 games. While you can get these games for much cheaper in other formats, this is a great collectible for SNK fans or people that love old arcade games without the budget for a vintage AES Neo Geo.

Another portable console to consider is the Nintendo 3DS XL. It is basically a bigger 3DS with a bigger screen, but that is good enough for an upgrade in my book. Also, if you were a Nintendo ambassador (aka 3DS early adopter) your free stuff transfers to the new system. The 3DS is a great system (even with it's region lock nonsense) and the library of games is getting better every week, so there is no reason not to invest in one of these. It is certainly doing better than the Vita (sorry Sony, but I am starting to regret my purchase.)

Games

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is a fighting game packed with value and top quality production values. There are over 56 characters to choose from, a variety of play modes, customizable costumes, ending movies galore, and customizable music. This is the ultimate Tekken game with a great tag system and a fun online ranking hierarchy. A fighting game fan simply cannot go wrong with this one.

 Final Fantasy Theatrhythm for the 3DS exploits fans love for the classic music of the famed RPG series, but that is a good thing. If you know someone that is a Final Fantasy fanboy or fangirl, then they will pee their pants with joy over this game's playlist as they enjoy tapping to the beat of awesome songs like "One Winged Angel" and " Battle with the Four Fiends." This rhythm game has over 70 tracks, tons of unlockables, and a shitload of DLC songs if they somehow get bored with the existing track list.

Persona 4 Golden is an upgraded version of 2008's classic PS2 RPG for the PS Vita. This console quality RPG is amazingly deep and loaded with new content like social links with Adachi and a new chick from the Velvet Room, cool changeable costumes for dungeons, and a new town to explore with a freakin' scooter. RPG fans with a Vita cannot miss this game, especially since it is one of the few Vita games worth owning at the moment.

Assassin's Creed 3 combines American history, crazy science fiction, and beautiful graphics into one stunning package. The game concludes the story of Connor, so it maybe hard to understand the overall narrative if you haven't played the Assassin Creed series, but this game can be played without prior knowledge of the AC lore ( though I do recommend at least a primer on Youtube about the origins of the Templars and the Assassins.) If you have a graphics whore on your list, this game should whet their appetite.

Other Cool Stuff

Duke Togo from Fewture Models

Dark Knight Rises on Blu Ray

Hardcore Gaming 101 presents Sega Arcade Clasics Vol. 1

Sexy Limited Edition PS3s

The Playstation 3 has seen a few hardware revisions, from the old PS2 playing fat model to the latest slim and light model that only plays digital PS2 games (ugh.) The latest slim PS3 leaves a bit to be desired in the design department, but that doesn't mean some companies aren't trying to make a few pimped out PS3s for people with money to burn. Feast your eyes upon magical Japanese limited editions you will never own...

 

Yakuza 4 PS3: the most awesome looking console this generation

Hokuto no Ken PS3: the manliest of all consoles

 These limited edition Playstation 3's are too rich for my blood, but somehow I was lucky enough to find the Final Fantasy Dissidia PSP used for $90.00...

So sexy, yet my UMD is broken. Oh well...

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Persona 4 the Golden

Bad Box Art of the Week: Urban Chaos (PAL)

That wasted guy in the background isn't giving a single shit about chaos.

I Still Play PSP

I have been playing PSP games a lot these days. The cold Winter weather forces me to stay inside with a warm blanket, so I've been catching up on niche releases such as Ragnarok Tactics and Elminage in between work, social calls, and naps. Sadly, I have been underwhelmed by these two digital releases so far. The beautiful artwork in both games convinced me I must play them, but I should have researched the titles a bit more before my purchase.

Elminage is an oldschool dungeon crawler. While I don't have any real objections to that, I wish UFO Interactive (the publisher) would have spent more time with the translation. It is half ass beyond belief. Races of characters are mixed up, some explanations for quests make no sense, and the digital instruction manual is almost worthless. The game is fun, but it needs more polish. I also bought the game for play on Vita, however beware: YOU CANNOT IMPORT FACES INTO THIS VERSION. The game reads face data from the PSP picture folder, but due to Sony's memory card lockout, you cannot access this directory on your Vita. I wish I would have known this before I bought it since this customization feature was important to me. Also, I am curious why a later Elminage game was not localized since apparently everything was vastly improved in the sequels.

Ragnarok Tactics is a cool looking strategy RPG spawned as offshoot to the popular MMORPG. The game has nice art and music, but overall there is a strong sense of blandness in the battle system and narrative as all of the characters tend to talk way too long. I prefer a more concise story with an emphasis on tactical strategy. I need a new Ogre Tactics, but in the mean time I will be playing Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time not this $24.99 dud. (On the bright side, the Western UMD release has a really pretty cover.)

Things are not all grim. Since my PSP has custom firmware, I can play some cool stuff that was not localized. One Japanese series that I have been to curious to try is the Idolmaster series. The games look interesting, and have a huge following overseas. Luckily, a translation group has made an English patch for Idolmaster SP.

 

Idolmaster SP is a "raising sim" where the player manages a young pop star's journey toward super stardom. The story mode is where I have spent most of my time, and it feels fairly robust with three potential characters to choose from. The game is pretty fun if you like Visual Novels or music games, because it feels like a mix of both. My only gripe thus far is that the requirements for ranking up seem too demanding sometimes, as managing her schedule and finding time to audition are quite difficult. Overall, I think this is an interesting game that should appeal to anyone that likes J-pop or unusual games. I think this game could have found an audience in the US if marketed properly, but Japanese game developers don't like to do that these days...

PSP releases in the US are coming to an end as only a rumored Generation of Chaos game and possibly Black Rock Shooter remain on the TBA calendar for 2014. 

I think the PSP will be remembered as a nice alternative to the Nintendo DS with a very niche library of games that was ultimately overlooked by most gamers. Japan still has plenty of PSP games waiting for release, but I am sure they will not be localized as the Vita is gaining ground in the West while the PSP is regulated to forgotten hardware status. I wish the PSP was more successful yet many gems were left in Japan much to the chagrin of Western gamers. Here are ten games that should have been localized:

1. Yakuza Portable

2. Final Fantasy Type 0

3. 7th Dragon 2020

4. Valkyrie Chronicles 3

5. Bleach Heat the Soul series

6. Initial D

7. Steins ; Gate

8. Gachitora

9. Akiba's Trip

10. Hatsune Miku series

Come on fan translators, get to work on Final Fantasy Type 0 at least. Square Enix is far too busy releasing shit no one asked for to actually localize a great game and make tons of money.

Awesome Cover Art: Elminage series

Old Game Commerical: Super Mario Kart 64

Now this is a badass advertisement! I would love to see a cel-shaded Mario Kart in the style of this old commercial. This makes me nostalgic for the N64 and 90s anime. What happened to all the good kart racing games?

Awesome Japanese Xbox Cover Art Gallery

I think we can officially say, the original Xbox didn't exactly set Japan on fire with it's software sales. Even Xbox 360 games have low sales numbers in Japan, aside from the occasional Cave shooter.However, this doesn't mean some publishers didn't try to interest potential buyers with cool box art. Here are some fine examples of great foreign Xbox cover art:

Subscribe to My Youtube Channel! Go, Do It Now!

I made a Youtube channel to talk about gaming and my collection. So here is your chance to see me say crazy shit in front of a camera about your favorite games. Check out my channel at this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/LeeGameFreak/videos?view=0

I really want subscribers. So if you have a kind soul or if you like what I am doing, please subscribe to my channel. I plan to make to make videos regularly. I am buying games again (the whole getting married thing didn't pan out.) Since I am returning to my hobby, you can expect the blog to be updated more often as well. As usual, thanks for reading and the picture above is from Ed Wood. I love that freakin' movie.

Game Shopping in South Korea

South Korea is a cool place to live. It is where the new Gangnam Style song craze originated from, and the Korean movie industry is really becoming a powerful force internationally. Gaming is also really popular in South Korea, but mostly in PC-bangs (PC rooms) where people play games like Starcraft 2 and League of Legends by the hour. Console gaming is not a very popular past time with adults, so it is often dismissed as a childish hobby. Due to this reason, finding console games to buy for home use can be a real pain for foreigners.

A few of the bigger department stores have a small game selection such as the Lotte Mart and Home Plus chains throughout Korea. You will find a mix of slightly new games there, but don't expect any obscure classics or rare special editions. You will only see "hit" titles like Bio Hazard 5 and maybe Tekken 6, or a few console accessories like controllers and assorted cables...so that's about it for the department store selection. Also, Lotte Mart hides the game area in the "Toys R Us" portion of the store, so you may feel slightly embarrassed to shop there as a grown up.

 One of the best places to shop for electronics in Korea is the Yongsan Electronics Market located in the center of Seoul. The area is filled with tons of electronics, but do not expect much of a bargain in the I'Park mall (it is inside the Yongsan train station) as prices are usually fixed by the vendors. However, you can try to get deals in other areas as some of the outside vendors do speak English, and they will act more kindly in some cases if you speak basic Korean while smiling during the price negotiation process ( try this phrase "kaka juseo".) I got 9,000KW off of DJ Max Technika Tune this way.

If you walk outside of the Yongsan train station, you will see an underpass to your left. If you walk under this area and through a tunnel filled with silver panels that show various technology advancements (from the first computer to the Gameboy), you will eventually arrive on the other side, where a huge PS Vita sign should greet you about half a kilometer away. Underneath this sign is the real Asian video game market experience. Tons of vendors stock Asian, Japanese, and English games from all console eras. You can find cool stuff here like Neo Geo carts, Wonderswan games, and import titles for the latest gaming systems. I highly recommend this place, and some vendors speak English. Also, some vendors will take your old games in trade for new games.

Another great place to find games is the Kukje electronics store. It is a tower of electronics specialty shops located outside of the Nambu Bus Terminal train station in southern Seoul near Gangnam. The game stores are located on the 9th floor. This area is filled with anime merchandise, figurines, and import games. You can find some really rare stuff here ( I got the special edition of Under Defeat for PS3 from one vendor) and the stores will negotiate on some prices. This place is super hardcore, and frequented by dedicated otaku, it seems like a mini-Akihibara in Korea! You need to see the figurine selection alone, it is amazing.

 Military personnel have a few more options. The PX store carries a nice selection of games and it is tax free. You can buy American games here, so no need to worry about region coding bullshit. Also, some bases have Gamestop, so you can trade and buy used games just like the States. You won't find Asian games on base, but you can find a good selection of everything else. If you are not a soldier or family member of a soldier, you cannot shop on base, the PX is a perk reserved for men and women who serve in the Armed Forces. One other perk of being a soldier is the Class 6, you can find alcohol cheap there...trust me, I have been a soldier in Korea and a civilian, you will never find Jack Daniels cheaper than the Class 6 store (Koreans pay like 90,000 KW for one bottle!)

If you are a regular foreigner, and desperate for English games, try Play-Asia.com, they deliver to Korea. One other website to try is G-Market, it is the only Amazon style Korean website in English and they deliver everything including games. That about wraps up my game shopping advice so hopefully this helps someone looking for games in South Korea. If you know of any other awesome game stores in South Korea, please leave it in the comments sections.

 

Thanks for reading. Here is a nice KARA wallpaper for your PS Vita to celebrate the release of the Korean game, DJ Max Technika Tune.

Awesome Box Art of the Month: Kirby's Dream Collection