Deathsmiles IIX!

My abandonment of the X-Box 360 LIVE Gold service almost cost me to miss out on something truly special... Since I do not have that service anymore, I hardly ever check the LIVE game store but when I turned on the console today, an image flashed quickly on the dashboard that looked suspiciously familiar. I then went to the Games on Demand section and found that Cave has released Deathsmiles IIX there! I almost had a heart attack. I immediately - as in immediately - purchased the $29.99 side scrolling "gothic" shooter with "lolitas" fighting a Japanese twist on Santa Claus and right now, I am just waiting for the download to finish! I am so happy to see that Cave is releasing another one of their awesome 2D shooters on the X-Box 360 and going just the digital route seems to be a good idea - not to mention the fact that this release is way cheaper than actually getting the Japanese retail copy if one had an import 360. The game is certainly even cheaper than the original that was domestically released last year. Deathsmiles IIX also offers online co-op but I am not sure if this is enough to convince me to reactivate my LIVE Gold subscription. What a great way to end the weekend!

No way! I must be dreaming... But it's true! The sequel to Deathsmiles is here!

The Adorable Piggy

I have made myself a new friend: a small plastic piggy bank! Not only is he cute, he is also going to participate in a little experiment for me: I am going to stuff him up full of change from any denominations and see if a rotund piggy full of coins can afford me a game to add to my Game Library. This may take a while because I do not believe in carrying cash with me but it will be interesting to eventually see what kind of game(s) the piggy is going to be able to afford me. Money can be a bit tight these days so this is just a small bit of effort from me to save some cash on the side for gaming purposes. I should probably give him a name. "The Game Pig" maybe?

This little piggy stayed in the Game Room.

A Rift in the Rift

When I started playing the trial period of the massively multiplayer online role playing game Rift for the Personal Computer last week, my initial impression of the game was so positive that I almost thought of actually investing in the game. Direct2Drive had a one day special for the game where the price was cut in half if I remember correctly but that occurred way too early into the trial period that I decided to just wait it out and play more of the game. With the installation of Windows 7 that occurred on Tuesday of this week, I haven't even reinstalled the game into my computer and being so active on Justin.tv lately streaming League of Legends gameplay took me away from going back into the game. I regret wasting the free time that has been granted to me like this and I pretty much have only one day left of the game so at this point, it would be a waste of time to download it again. The good news here is that it is apparent that I do not need to invest in a MMO right now because I probably will not commit to it since I did not even bother getting the game reinstalled immediately after I switched my operating system. The bad news however is that I still feel a bit of longing for some MMO gameplay so I should find some means to satisfy that. Maybe Guild Wars again but I tried so hard to get things going with that game and every time it just wouldn't go anywhere. Perhaps I should head back to those so-called "free to play" MMOs again...

Even Steam has the game on sale right now but I'm afraid it's all too late...

Free Old Games? Thanks a Lot Sony!

Well, it looks like one of my suggestions to make the return to the PlayStation Network a welcoming experience will indeed be implemented by Sony... but not to the degree that would make a great impact upon the situation. Sony will be offering two PlayStation 3 games and two PlayStation Portable games that PSN users can download once the service is completely up and running and the list of these games are sad... These games are old and what is worse is that the selections are extremely limited. I have listed the games below and I have marked (*) the games that I already own:

-----PS3-----

Dead Nation

Infamous*

LittleBigPlanet*

Super Stardust HD*

WipEout HD + Fury*

-----PSP-----

LittleBigPlanet

ModNation Racers

Pursuit Force*

Killzone Liberation*

So it looks like I am at the losing end of this half-hearted deal. LittleBigPlanet? Really, Sony? Why not the sequel? And why would I want to download LittleBigPlanet and ModNation Racers for the PSP when I already have the PS3 versions of those? In addition to these disappointing offerings and that self-serving PlayStation Plus scheme, there will also be other small things that we will be receiving. You can read up on the details of Sony's "Customer Appreciation Program" by clicking here. Utter failure.

-1 Armor

I had to go get my blood drawn today and no matter how many times I have done this before, the unsettling feeling leading up to the, uh, penetration was as prevailent as ever. The needles they use these days are smaller then they used to be but the sensation of something sharp breaking through your skin and then sliding into your body - before the quick wiggling to make sure the instrument is lodged correctly inside your vein - makes me weak at the knees. I would always try to look away but again, I ended up staring at the long tube connecting the needle to the vial to see the flow of blood moving away from my body in this twisted, sickening twirl. Unfortunately, the misery doesn't stop when the procedure is over: the pain on and around the area where you are stabbed can persist for days and I really, really hate that... as if the needle went to places where it shouldn't have been poking around in and that the body had to work extra hard to heal the damages done. And of course, this does have an impact on my gaming too because all that nasty feeling from my arm would translate into slower reaction time of my fingers. Can someone please kiss my boo-boo to make me feel better?

Yes, I normally leave that on all day long.