I should update. I have been pretty depressed lately. I don’t really have a whole lot of time for anything it feels. Busy at work and home. I have been playing Super Metroid. I think I am about half way done. Wall jumps suck.

rondo
Originally uploaded by Shapermc.

It was too cheap to pass up. I know you know what this game is, and its reputation. Well, I was expecting to be let down by the game, but only mildly. I am not, and belive that there is a reason that this game costs so much (due to demand) because it is … possibly, the best Castlevania in the series. I just finished off the Boss Rush level (6 I belive) and am a little upset at that. I have so far rescued 2 girls, what they were doing in Dracula’s Castle … I don’t know. But I found them, and saved them.

So, in conclusion, with out yet finishing the game (it is not too hard, yet not easy either) I would have to say it is in the top 2 of the Castlevania games for me right now.

I really did not even intend to buy this game. I did not have the money… Oh well, got that taken care of. Now my money problems are no more!

…

sort of. I think it may just have been worth it. Only 1 more Castlevania game that I want to buy to finish up my collection.

A “My PSP Kicks Ass” update:

See that? Custom backgrounds! This is probably the coolest thing I have done with a system. I uploaded an entire years worth of images, I titled them The Creatures of Silent Hill 2. Get the program PSPeronalize to make it happen. If anyone wants the image set they are all properly titled and I can Gmail them to you. Alternativly some can be found HERE.

See that blur in the block on the left of the menu? That is because it is a video running with sound in the background.

Both things can be easily found at: http://www.dual-scene.com/

Larger photos HERE.

Also, emulation and changing the background are really easy to do if you do enough research.

222b grabbed a meme from Jonnyram of a fun-looking games meme of Japanese origin, so I thought I’d try it.

1. Total volume of game files on my computer 　
（コンピュータに入ってるゲームファイルの容量）

I would need to take a look, but on my fried PC it was over 30gig (which I hope to get back soon!) and on my new laptop I am guessing (low end) with music and images and videos… close to 15gig. Totaling around 45gig. I am probably off though.

2. Game playing right now
（今進行中のテレビゲーム）

Too many. But as in RIGHT FREAKING NOW! I will list a few in chronological start time.

Super Metroid
Deus Ex
Earthbound Zero (Mother jp NES)

3. The last video game I bought
（最後に買ったテレビゲーム）

hmm… well thanks to Kiken here is the last purchase I made on a “I don’t have the money, but it is too cheap to pass” moment.

Dracula X
Wipe Out
Policenauts
Gradius Deluxe Pack

I should be getting them in the mail soon.

4. Five video games I play a lot, or that mean a lot to me
（よくプレイする、または特別な思い入れのある5つのテレビゲーム）

1) Gradius 2 - I would love to put the whole damn series here, and Gradius Gaiden is my favorite from the series, but for some reason I always gravitate back to Gradius 2. I think it captures the essences of Gradius really well and is good for a quick play through. While not my favorite of the series, it is probably my most played.

2) Silent Hill 2 - This is the highest replayed 3D game for me. It is also one of the best. I plan on going through it again soon, possibly this weekend if I get some other things done. It really made me see games in a different light. I found myself asking “are they really trying to say what I think they are psychologically?” It was good. Even if this game ages horribly, it will probably be something I pull out 10 years from now and replay.

3) Super Mario Bros. 1 - I have never beat SMB 1. I stopped trying honestly. I have never looked at a faq on this game nor do I want to. I lived off of this game and Duck Hunt for almost a year alone. SMB1 got more play than DH by far. I loved running through some of my favorite levels and just looking for stuff or just … running. I was never worried about finishing this game. I did a 360 on SMB3 compared to this, I have never seen all the stages in SMB3. For me it was always about how fast I could finish it. There is still so much for me to explore there. SMB was also the game that made me want to buy a Nintendo after playing it in the arcade.

4) Samurai Showdown 1 - This game made me fall in love with SNK/Neo Geo. To this day I am still a huge fan of SNK, but not so much SS. 1 was this fantastical game that could pull the screen out, and the sound. Metal on metal clinks and clangs, Gen-an’s laugh and the blood. King of Fighters ‘96 and Metal Slug 1 were also major games for the Neo that solidified my love for SNK, but SS1 started it. SS1 also drove me to hunt down and buy/assemble my Neo Geo arcade cabinet. SS1 was the first game I ever gawked at, standing there, staring at people play it, my senses were all assaulted by this game.

5) Ridge Racer Type 4 - Before RR4 I had only played a little of RR1 in the arcade and once on the PS1. The reason I bought RR4… the free t-shirt and a jog-con. I did not even know what a JogCon was or, hell, even what RR was all about really. It was also an import at an import store, yes, a brick and mortar building. It was decently priced for such a large box of game, and it had free stuff. Instant impulse purchase. I fell in love with RR4. I played it for a few months straight and on and off for the next 3 years. JogCon in hand and my chair about 2.5′ from the television screen I was in heaven. RR4 is probably the only game that I have never turned the soundtrack off for after extended periods of time with. I even went to the point of putting headphones on to immerse myself further. RRV was not too great for me, and I don’t even know why, can’t put my finger on it. After playing RRV for about 3 hours I went back to playing RR4. This is why Ridge Racers for the PSP was so hard for me to resist, the RR4 parts. Going into a dark room with my PSP and Ridge Racers, the volume up, is fantastical.

This list was hard, when I started I was unsure of all the games to put. Picking game 5 was really tough. Honorable mention goes out to Pop’n/IIDX. They just barely missed the cutoff. 5 years down the road they would make it probably.

5. Five people to whom I’m passing the baton
（バトンを渡す5名）

bullet_curtain
tequilakitten
rudie
westacular (before you leave)
alpha5099

And anyone else who might want to, of course.

Well, a no swap method of emulation is available now. If you know the usual suspects you can probably find it easily.

All current repots of it point to rock!

As a set up I really don’t like Hitchcock’s films. This was still recommended to me after claiming that Vertigo was boring and that Psycho was dull (the only suspenseful scene being the car sinking). I liked The Birds though, I think due to the bizarre nature of it. I use to also like Alfred Hitchcock Presents little one hour murder mystery type ones. SO! I held out hope I may like this. I have seen about 1/3 of Hitchcock’s library and so far only liked The Birds.

Rear Window:

So the overall best thing about this movie was the audio. This is not to say that I did not like it, just that the soundtrack — or more importantly where it comes from — is amazing. The film overall really showed off Hitchcock’s ability, if I have ever seen it before. There was one point of such heavy suspense that you could feel the weight of it on your shoulders. It is right after Doyle returns from the train station to Jefferies apartment. Probably the best part of the film.

I do have to say that a good part of this was the writing. The writing was really good, [;] a lesser director would not have been able to pull it off with such finesse. After you get over the fact that this is obviously a sound stage set, the back ally of 9th street becomes what you are looking out on to with Jefferies. You start to know all the characters as L.B. does. Masterful really. I was very impressed.

One other thing to note, Grace Kelly was gorgeous in this. I can say this as a real compliment because rarely do I find women of film from early color attractive. Perfect casting for the “perfect girl.” Also the character of Stella (and some of her rear window philosophy) is another excellent character.

Man, ok, I need to go back to just the last 30 min or so of the film. With out you knowing it you are all of a sudden so tied up in everything that is going on your brain is working overtime to keep track and pick up every little thing to put it together, on top of trying to decided on what the outcome of the sleuthing will be. I was glad for the little break of seeing everything that was happening when Lisa and Stella go to the flower bed, just to try to organize my thoughts. This is what I was talking about how it was like a weight on your shoulders. These details slowly get piled on until it is too much. The director knows just when to ease up a little to allow you to catch your breath.

Overall very excellent. This is the first film I have seen that has shown off what Hitchcock can do (for me, not in the time line of his career). This film is so original that if it ever gets re-made I will be disappointed. It needs to remain as it is, frozen through time.

Well I got emulation working on my PSP. NES and GB/C works really well. Like almost perfect (after extended periods make it hiccup every once in a while, but all you have to do is go to the menu and then come back and it works again.) I am playing through Earthbound Zero (Mother [jp]) right now for Toups.

I don’t want to feel like an ego mania, and feel werid about posting this stuff. But I was on the radio last night. It was… ok. The mp3 may end up on line later this week.

So, yea…. holy shit!

The Gamer’s Quarter #2 is now available for download here.

It would also seem on this excellent day that 1.50 PSPs get emulation.

Two awesome things!

Please give me feedback on issue 2 if you have any.

I decided to wade back into that horrid forum to find out that I will probabaly have a depressing Wed. (not including the release of issue 2, which will be great either way).

A non-permalink link

Update #3: PaWsTick from the PsP-Dev Team has now shared a picture (below) of their updated v1.50 PSP homebrew launcher. For those curious, the reason it was not shown in the previous video release was simply because the video was shot using an early version. Since then, the PsP-Dev Team has worked hard to perfect it before their exciting official release on 6/15/2005 (15:00 GMT+1)!

Update #2: PaWsTick from the PsP-Dev Team has now confirmed that their exploit does NOT run on v1.51 firmware either, so $ony did a nice quick job of fixing their 1.50 holes it appears. On the bright side, many in the USA already have a v1.50 PSP… and those who don’t can still run out and grab one without the fear of it being a later firmware version for the time being.

Update: PaWsTick from the PsP-Dev Team has now confirmed that their exploit does NOT run on v1.52 firmware. They haven’t tested it on v1.51 yet, but rest assured we’ll mirror a news update here with the results when they do. I’m glad I didn’t update my firmware though beyond v1.50 just in case.

CybBlade of our Forums (and iRC EFnet #PS2Ownz) confirmed tonight that PsP-Dev now have a working v1.50 exploit for running “homebrew” or unsigned code from it, similar to what NEM did for v1.00 firmware PSP users. A brief video of this in action can be found on their Web site HERE for those interested, and on 6/15/2005 (15:00 GMT+1) they plan to publically disclose the method used in Tutorial format to the world! We at Team PS2NFO congratulate our Spanish affiliates, and look forward to LOTS of nice “homebrew” releases to follow along with even more UMD dumps! Please post all related feedback on this VERY COOL news in THIS on-going Forum thread. Finally, we’d like to make it known that the legitimacy of this news has already been 100% confirmed by myself via high-ranking scene elders… so no, this is NOT another “fake video” nor publicity stunt- it’s REAL!

EDIT: I hope I did not update to 1.51 inadvertantly… I guess I could hardreset everything somehow… I need to figure out how to check this.

EDIT 2: WooHoo! Still version 1.50