Video Games: 2013 Challenge.

This is a first draft for the video game challenge I am giving myself in 2013. I'm less then a week away from finishing this years (gain 20K of Achievements on Xbox Live) and last years was also a success (capture every Pokemon on Soul Silver). 

If I hit the ground running I could get this done easily. 

Note: I've replaced Final Fantasy XI with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance just because FFXI is a MMORPG. I was heavily addicted to Runescape in 'the day' and have since built up a phobia of the genre. Not really, I've just been told that I won't have enough time to finish it. I've listed it as a maybe though as I do have the complete collections for both PC and Xbox along with a code for a free month that doesn't expire until mid next year. I'm going to play it over the summer though I'm not going to aim to finish it. FFTA also holds a special place in my heart as I've played it before back in 2008 after something dumb happened in my life and a lot of elements in the story echo my own life. Its also a great example of a perfect game and one of the few games I'd give a 10/10.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is also included in there because there is just so much hype about FF VII that I felt the prequel needed to be included. 

Final Fantasy Challenge 2012

Name:	Original Release: (Jap/Pal)	Obtained/Played before:	Weapon of Choice:
Final Fantasy I	JP - 1987 PAL - 2003	Finished GBA release.	Gameboy SP - Originally played the game on the Nintendo DS Phat
Final Fantasy II	JP - 1988 PAL - 2003	I have the original GBA release, not played. -Going try to hunt a copy down for PSP.	PSP - Bigger Screen lol.
Final Fantasy III	JP - 1990 PAL - 2007	Finished Nintendo DS release.	Nintendo 3DS
Final Fantasy IV	JP - 1991 PAL - 2002	I've finished the original GBA release and have the DS remake as well. I still have both but as my 2nd favourite entry into the series I'm going to pick up the collector's edition for PSP off ebay.	PSP - The PSP version comes with FFIV: The After Years which is a short sequel to the main game and ties up missing plot.
Final Fantasy V	JP - 1994 PAL - 2002	I have the original GBA release, not played.	Nintendo Ds Lite
Final Fantasy VI	JP - 1994 PAL - 2002	I have the original GBA release, not played.	Nintendo Ds Lite
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core	JP - 2006 PAL - 2006	Gave it to a ex gf. Woops. Must buy new copy.	PSP
Final Fantasy VII	JP - 1997 PAL - 1997	-Owns Silver label GC for the Ps1. -Have on PSN Not played.	PS Vita
Final Fantasy VIII	JP - 1999 PAL - 1998	Don't have.	PS Vita - Will obtain from PSN
Final Fantasy IX	JP - 2000 PAL - 2001	Don't have.	PS Vita - Will obtain from PSN
Final Fantasy X	JP - 2001 PAL - 2002	Have the original Ps2 release. Not played.	PS Vita or Ps2 Final Fantasy X HD is rumoured to come out 2013, so this is pending.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance	JP - 2003 PAL - 2003	Have 2 copies on the GBA, cause of reasons.	Nintendo Ds Lite
Final Fantasy XII	JP - 2006 PAL - 2007	Have the original Ps2 release. Not played.	Ps2
Final Fantasy XIII	JP - 2009 PAL - 2010	Have the Collector's Edition for Ps3. Standard for 360.	Xbox 360.

Maybe.

Final Fantasy XI	JP - 2002 PAL - 2004	Own both the Xbox 360 and PC collections. Have not played.	PC & Xbox 360 FF XI is a multi-server, multiplatform game.
Final Fantasy XIII - 2	JP - 2011 PAL - 2012	Collectors on X-Box.	Xbox 360
FF XIII - 3	JP - 2013? PAL - 2013?	'I'M GONNA BUY THAT SHIT DAY ONE' - Melancholy.	In b4 Square Enix delays it for another year.

Video Games: My 360 Backlog

A video game backlog is something most avid video game players have. Its essentially just a pile of video games they have in there collection which they have not had the time in their lives yet to play or finish yet. Over the three years I've had my Xbox (I brought after my original laptop had trouble running video games like GTA: San Andreas) for 3 years almost and this is my current backlog of video games I've built up in that time.

Here is a list of mine for the Xbox 360:
-Sonic Adventure
-Space Channel 5 Part 1
-Space Channel 5 Part 2
-TRIALS HD
-Limbo
-Splosion Man
-Scott Pilgrim Vs the World
-Ninety-Nine-Nights
-Soul Calibur V
-Gears of War
-Aliens Vs Predator
-Perfect Dark Zero
-007:Quantum of Solace (Would like to finish the before Skyfall)
-Mass Effect
-Phantasy Star Universe
-Infinite Discovery
-Alan Wake
-Borderlands
-Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor that Cloned Me
-Saints Row
-Saints Row 2
-Final Fantasy XIII
-Star Ocean: The Last Hope
-Afro Samurai
-Blades X
-Viva Pinata
-Lego Indiana Jones
-Halo Wars
-The Orange Box (Half Life 2, Portal)
-Assassins Creed II
-The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
-Rage
-FIFA 10
-Resident Evil 5
-Dead Rising
-Battle Fantasia
- BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
-Grand Theft Auto IV
-Grand Theft Auto IV: Stories from Liberty City
-LA Noire
-Red Dead Redemption

That's just ONE console. :P

Exploring Windows 8: Windows 8 released today!

So Windows 8 is out today. But as some (all two of my main readers) will know, I've been mucking around with Windows 8 Pro on my Craptop for the last month thanks to my University's Free Software agreement with Microsoft. Until now MS hasn't been able to give me a clear reading on what performance rating Windows 8 OS has with my Craptops hardware. Keep in mind the Craptop is a Del Inspiron 1525 that was released back in 2008 and discontinued a year later, I found on the side of the road now with upgraded RAM (2gb) and HD (142gb).

Not bad, not bad at all.  

Restoring this laptop has been a great hands-on project for me and has taught me a lot about computer hardware and operating systems in general. I've ran Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Gentoo (only cause of /g/) and it now runs Windows 8 Pro 32 Bit. Until a few weeks ago for example I didn't even know what a Express Card was until I popped out the Express Card port on the Craptop.  $15 and 15 minutes later on Ebay the Express Card port is now 3 more USB ports (bringing the total to seven) thanks to a
Laptop 54mm Express Card ExpressCard to 3 Port USB 3.0 Adapter.

Not that installing a Express Card Adapter is hard (it was just plug in, install drivers, reboot and go) but now I have two devices with USB 3.0 which I can use to justify my 2 USB 3.0 external hard drives and my one 8G 3.0 Usb thumb drive. 

Note: The USB ports with the fans in them are the original USB 2.0 ports that came with the laptop. The USB drive and the mouse that are plugged in on the right bottom are the new USB 3.0 ports.

It was so hot yesterday I went and plugged 4 usb powered fans into the Craptop. It was able to keep this up for 20 minutes before I needed to add external power. :P

Exploring Windows 8: RIP The Nintendo WiiU

Calling it now.

Before the Wii U is even released.

The Wii U will be nothing more than a party console with the same franchise games that its always had (Legend of Zelda series, Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart/Party) and will never crack the hardcore gamer market.

Why Jerry-Chan? Why do you break my heart so saying these nasty things about the Wii U? Why do you hate Mario so?

I had a chance to play a few Wii U games at the EB Games Expo in Sydney last weekend. (Yo dawg, I heard you liked EB Games, so we gave you a EB Games Expo, with a EB Games store inside of it, so you can buy yo games while at a convention about video games). The WiiU is going to be released later on this year and is going to retail for min $350 Au. The console itself is rather impressive and the idea of a touchscreen tablet controller isn't exactly original but Nintendo are the first to be tapping into its technology. The main idea about the Nintendo Wii U is its a console with a tablet attached to it as an extra controller.

The idea of adding a screen to a controller is nothing new. Not only was the Dreamcast the first console with online access but it also had a mini, digimon digivice sized screen as a optional add-on for some of its controllers. And the screen was interactive with some of the Dreamcasts games (I think in Sonic Adventures or some crap you could store power ups there. Whatever, nobody cares about that now, only Video Game trivia enthusiasts.)

Well over a decade has passed though between both consoles. In that time Nintendo has come to own Sega itself which is rather funny. Anyway I'm waffling on from my main point. So Nintendo's latest cash cow console that prints money has touch screen controller. What if I told you, there was already a current gen console with a touchscreen controller and the potential for so much more? 

At E3 this year, Microsoft announced SmartGlass for the Xbox 360. SmartGlass is an app on the 360 that allows for media streaming between the Xbox and Smart devices (Tablets, Smartphones including both iOS and Android). Maybe it was because Microsoft announced SmartGlass after the Halo 1 Remix, but it went largely unnoticed. I actually found out about it myself when I was mucking around with Windows 8. My point here is that Nintendo is about to release a console with a tablet attached as its main hook. Microsoft have already got one out there, it just doesn't have any decent video game support (in terms of controlling a video game using the tablet or interacting with it). That could easily change though, especially when Windows 8 actually comes out and Microsoft focuses more on the Xbox 720. Nintendo gave us the Wii, with the person being the controller and Sony/Microsoft caught up and gave us the Playstation Move/Xbox Kinect.

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft released a similar dedicated touchscreen controller for the Xbox 720 with Windows 8 on it. And that device would have so much potential in itself. You could use it as an everyday tablet while at work or study and then take it home and play some video games on it with your 8th gen console. Add on a few Xbox Live games with achievement support and Microsoft could mass market sell tablets with Windows 8 OS, designed for Xbox 720 connectivity. It could easily cut into the portable games market which Nintendo has held such a massive monopoly on for years with a portable tablet that played bitching games. And I'm talking more than just Angry Birds. Think big. Like playing Battlefield and having the tablet act as the rear view mirror for your jeep that your driving through dust torn Iraq. Or playing the next sandbox game (Elders Scrolls, GTA, Saints Row etc) and never having to squint at the shitty on screen map when you can just look at your tablet next to you and see where you are. Just the ideas for this kind of stuff are endless and while Nintendo gets to explore them for now, its not long until Microsoft comes to crash the party in my opinion.

The main argument against SmartGlass would be that Nintendo by bundling the Wii U with a touch screen tablet controller has already taken the pain out of choosing a dedicated tablet for the consumer. I'd argue against this point though as its justifiable to say that if the consumer can afford the 8th gen console in the first place, they probably already have their own high end smart device that's already compatible with SmartGlass. Microsoft could later release a dedicated tablet as well for SmartGlass and to support those games. It worked for Kinect, it should work here.

Until Microsoft announces the Xbox 720, I'm going to hold off even considering a Wii U (especially after Nintendo screwed everyone that brought a 3DS on launch with the $100 price slash. If I really wanted crappy old NES/SNES games I would have emulated them on my pc thanks. Should have just given everyone $100 Nintendo store credit or something).

There is nothing wrong with a party console (a lot of my friends own both the Wii and either the Ps3/360), just my main point of this blog is while Nintendo is been innovative now, its not long until Microsoft sweeps in.

Anyway this is all just food for though. Here are some screen caps from SmartGlass from my Windows 8 craptop. So far you can only use SmartGlass to launch games, stream media and control the Xbox dashboard but like a Magikarp it has the potential for so much more.

Will it work with Windows 8: Starcraft?

I still don't know how to Zerg Rush

A few weeks ago I tried to use a old firewall with my consumer copy of Windows 8 with not much success. The entire episode and I seem to be the only one using Windows 8 heavily at the moment in my part of the world has inspired me to add a new part to my blog called 'Will it work with Windows 8?' in which I test programs to see if they...wait for it...work with Windows 8. I have some really old obsolete programs that you have probably never heard of lined up. All part of making sure my blog stays boring.

Starcraft is a game that brings back a lot of memories for any 90's gamer. Originally built for Windows 98, Starcraft was released well over a decade ago and since then has sold 11 Million copies. Sadly I was never able to get my copy working with Windows 7 (google search 'Windows 7 Starcraft', I wasn't the only one and a lot of other people had a problem with the compatibility betwen Windows 7 and such a old video game) . I gave up on the concept of getting it to work with Win 7 because I could just play the game on my Nintendo 64 and none of my friends really play it anyway.

I'm happy to say that Starcraft does work with Windows 8, including all of its smooth sound(imo, Starcraft has one of the best soundtracks of all time). Why I'm really excited about this though is the idea of having Starcraft on a Windows 8 tablet. All good RTS games need a mouse and keyboard to control, though it would be interesting seeing how the game could handle over a touch screen.

Verdict: Yes, Starcraft does work with Windows 8