Wha'cha been playing?

Nintendo DS - In demand!
It's been a very long time since I used my Nintendo DS. For the most part, there has been a tremendous amount of shovelware on Nintendo's platforms (Wii included) and thus I've lost interest in the good each has to offer. During our recent trip to Manhattan, I made a stop at the Nintendo World store which has since rekindled my interest in the DS. Specifically, I was impressed with Ninja Gaiden (below) as well as The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - a title I own but have not played.

Hot last week:

Ninja Gaiden (DS) - I picked this game up after our trip to the Nintendo World store. I heard great things about it, but I hadn't seen it in action. Overall it's graphics, gameplay and unique control is impressive and a lot of fun - recommended.



Playing Now:

Mystery Dungeon Shiren The Wanderer (DS) - For those not in the know, the Mystery Dungeon series falls under a little known genre (to non-hardcore gamers at least) of roguelike. Rogue (1980) is one of the original computer role-playing games, thus roguelikes are based on the conventions establish in that original game. These conventions include randomly generated dungeons, turn-based gameplay and lots of loot to collect.

Shiren The Wanderer follows these conventions to a tee. In many reviews, this game fares miserably -- mostly, in my opinion, because the reviewers are not familiar with roguelikes and how deceptively deep they can be. At first blush, Shiren appears too hardcore for its own good. No matter how far one progresses in the game, if the character dies, he has to start back at the beginning of the game -- all treasure gone and you're back at level 1.

At first, this is very very disappointing to the player, but the game is built around a sort of "Groundhog Day" mechanic and restarting affords him the ability to learn how to truly play the game. As play continues (and re-continues), the deeper aspects of the game slowly begin to reveal themselves and each time one's approach to the game's dungeons is refined. The experience is engrossing and real-world time melts away during play.

For those who like RPGs, particularly old-school types or even games like Diablo, this game is a must buy -- highly recommended.


R-Types (PSN: PS3 / PSP) - I'm a big fan of old-school shooters, and R-Types became available for download in last Thursday's PSN update. I really appreciate it when Sony releases old PS-One games on the Playstation Network, because they're generally a good value (cheap) and I can play them on both my Playstation 3 and my PSP.

I spent a bit of time playing this game on both handheld and TV and I quickly became frustrated by it. Now, I am a fan of Gradius, which is pretty hard, but R-Type really takes me to task. I will continue to try to become good, but I'm not holding out much hope. Sometimes the mechanics of old games just don't stand the test of time -- not recommended.


Up Next Week:

Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3 / XBOX360) - There's no denying the impact this game is going to have. From all the reviews, previews and trailers, GTA IV has shaped up to be a must-have game. The release date is Tuesday (4/29/08), and I plan on stopping by my local Gamestop and picking it up.

DoTK Blog 2.0

Welcome to my second generation blog. I will continue to do a lot of tuning and tweaking, but I think it's a good time to cut the cord with my Yahoo! 360 presence. 360 has served my needs quite well over the past year or so, but its feature set is not a good match for what I'd like to do with this space.

What should a reader expect from this relaunch??

• More of my award winning humor.
• Thought provoking updates on what I'm up to.
• More of the insight and opinion the world has come to depend on.
• Recycled content from other sources that, when presented here, seems remarkably fresh.

Update your RSS feeds, change your bookmarks. . .GO!

Piracy, The Economy and YOU

Did you ever wonder about the events that led to the horrors depicted in movies like The Road Warriorand Escape From New York?

Given the current mortgage and banking crisis, the relative weakness of the dollar and the skyrocketing price of oil, I've become very sensitive to any activity that undermines U.S. businesses. As America reduces emphasis on manufacturing hard goods and relies more on its Intellectual Property (IP), piracy is becoming less a nuisance and more of a true economic threat to safety of our families.

I think this PSA does a great job in framing the seriousness of piracy as a crime. Take a moment to let the message soak in and please pass it along to others. In 2010, the new terrorism is piracy, and extreme measures will have to implemented to fight this war. If we're not careful, the trenches in which this battle will be fought will be in our living rooms and offices.

Many Many "new" Photos

I'm finally done sending all of our latest photos to Flickr. . .

• DISCOVER the thrill of exploring Central America.
• WITNESS encounters of all kinds in grimy and outlandish Manhattan.
• SENSE the danger of sailing the frigid waters of the Lower North Atlantic.
  
• EXPERIENCE the warmth radiated across several major and minor holidays.

Go go GO!

Photos from Sunny Central America!

Finally! I've started to post our photos from Central America on Flickr. For those not in the know, the family and I traveled far far south in February to get a bit of a reprieve from the bitter New England air. So far, photos from our first few days are available. . .

Was Honduras fun? Check it out!

Happy Spring!!

Oh boy, I suppose I'm not much of a blogger since I haven't posted anything since Christmas. . . Anyway, Spring is in the air and we've been quite busy. I'll be posting my Central America vacation photos some day on Flickr, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time, I wanna sail the seas in my little boat, but between the spring rains and those blasted tides, I've not been able to get out.

Why oh why is the weather not good this weekend??