A Dreamcast Moment

Because I don't play my Sega Dreamcast that often, the internal clock of the console kept resetting to the default time whenever I turned it on. Last night, I have decided to fix the clock and set it to the correct date and time. When the console loaded up the main screen it finally hit me. I have owned this console for 10+ years. I purchased it sometime in August of 1999 - my first Dreamcast is a Japanese import. The console had been out in Japan for close to a year and it was about to officially launch in North American launch but I still decided to get the import version because of the many Japanese exclusives that I wanted to get my hands on. I was completng my undergraduate studies when the console first appeared in Japan and as a student, I didn't have a lot of cash to buy it back then. I did eventually get the North American Dreamcast later on, twice actually because the first one ended up being stolen during a daytime break-in. The second domestic Dreamcast is still with me to this day but it is now sleeping inside its original box, dreaming about its next date with me - Since the creation of the "converter disc" that allows any Dreamcast to play region-locked games, there is no longer a need to have two Dreamcasts hooked up to my entertainment system.

A classy classic.

I'm just remisniscing here. Yes, looking at the main screen with the correct date and time put things into perspective. I love my Dreamcast and I sure hope that this console is going to be able to survive another decade with me.

Mass Effect 2 Extra Gears: Dr. Pepper What?

BioWare has made two cool new Mass Effect 2 items available for free download today, which can be accessed from the game's main menu. These are probably the last freebies for us before we are given the option to purchase larger, more premium contents for the game. While checking out the details of the new items, I found out that there are also three other additional head gears that can only be unlocked via codes from a promotional partnership between Electronic Arts and Dr. Pepper. Instructions on how to unlock these can be found here. It would probably be a good idea for you to actually go out and buy some Dr. Pepper products afterwards as a way of thanking the sponsor for your stylish new looks. Unless of course, you prefer getting some Renegade points rather than building up your Paragon meter.

The new Cerberus armor is nice but it takes away my Shepard's feminine allure.


Two of the three promotional items. My Shepard will look so kick-butt wearing these!

Kapow! Games on Demand presents BioShock 2

Microsoft's Games on Demand service for the Personal Computer has only been available for a couple of months - as you can tell from its rather dismal amount of available games for download so far - and it features mostly older games that have already past their retail prime, like Resident Evil 5 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. While Dirt 2 was made available using this client on the same date that the retail version came out, the game was already released earlier on the consoles so that move was rather expected on Microsoft's part. What I didn't expect was to see BioShock 2 being made available for digital purchase today via this distribution channel alongside other direct download companies like Steam and Direct2Drive.

Why can't we have the weekly X-Box 360 arcade releases made available here too?

Since the PC's Games on Demand is somewhat of a cousin of the X-Box 360's feature by the same name, I was sure that there was going to be a delay of the game being made available for direct download from Microsoft. Well, actually it makes sense that Microsoft did so because they want to be in a head-to-head competition with the other direct download services but you would think that they would allow the retail copies to take in some sales before focusing on Games on Demand. They are probably going to depend on the X-Box 360 version of the game to make the retail sales because the game is not made available for direct download on the 360 Games on Demand page: this is rather odd considering that there are more money to be made selling the game digitally. It is rather exciting to see this game on Games on Demand because of the following reasons:

1) This may lead to future PC games bearing the "Games for Windows" brand being available exclusively via direct download and the elimination of retail sales of such games - which of course would discourage other forms of retail game sales for the PC thus ushering a new era of digital only content. Oh I so want to be there already! Microsoft needs to be more aggressive in getting more developers to adopt "the brand".

2) The blurring of lines between the X-Box 360 and PC gaming since both are using the LIVE network and have similar sets of functionality - why get a game on the console when the superior version of the same game is available on the PC at a cheaper price and without the hassle of getting it at the store? Microsoft should really focus on transitioning from the 360 to the PC by making the PC more attractive but we know that's not going to happen anytime soon with "Natal" arriving later this year - unless of course the "Natal" camera is compatible with the PC!

There is one thing that ruined the fantasy for me a bit though and that is the price of the download. Games on Demand is selling BioShock 2 at $49.99, which is the same price for the game if you pick it up at retail. Well, as a friend of mind told me this before: I would save some gas money and my precious time if I would just do the direct download version. There's a truth in that and I think to really make this whole direct download thing to be the future of video gaming, it is going to take a lot of people - myself included - to change their perceptions of "discs" and "retail packaging" versus the convenience of accessing games conveniently from one screen. Heck, sometimes I wish that all of my games can be crammed into one place and that all I have to do to access a title is to go down the list and hit "Play" without having to mess around with the physical software. No, I'm not talking about those emulators of course but I sure hope that I will still be alive by the time that games are sold being exclusively via digital distribution. As for BioShock 2 itself, I will be getting the PC version instead of the X-Box 360/PlayStation 3 version. I am still on the fence about the digital download though.

Because Slakery is Bad

I don't think I have ever seen a misspelling in a BioWare game before so when I saw this, I was quite shocked. In Mass Effect 2, whenever a quest is updated, a small pop-up window appears on the lower right hand corner of screen for a brief second and that was when I first saw the troubling apparition. I thought that maybe my eyes were just tired - it is getting close to midnight - so I opened up the game's menu and accessed the Journal to verify whether or not I was just seeing things:

Don't be a slake to the spell-checker.

Random Game of the Day

Bloody Roar 4 (2003)
Developer: Hudson Soft/Eighting Co., Ltd.
Platform: PlayStation 2
Induction Date: 2004

I don't think that it's a good idea to bring Uriko to the aquarium...

This fourth installment in the Bloody Roar series may not be able to win the popularity contest when compared to the Virtua Fighter or the Tekken series but don't even think for a second that there's anything second rate about the gameplay. The most touted feature of the game is the fighters' ability to transform into beasts ranging from members of the cat family all the way to unrecognizable creatures that look like the diseased, mutated version of the characters' human form (see game cover). The game utilizes a health bar and a "Beast Gauge" and you must deplete them both in order to incapacitate your opponent. BR4 uses only one punch button and one kick button but you get to access another attack button when you transform into a beast. The great thing about the game is that though it is combo-driven from the three attack buttons, you can also perform many special attacks and super attacks using directional motion commands. The fighting is fast and furious and the floating combos that you can accomplish here feel even better than those you can find in a Tekken game. Some of the fighting arenas can be a bit small but these only intensify the battles because you are forced to stay at a close proximity to your opponent. This game is dying for a current-gen revival!

LIBRARY STATUS: 4 out of 5