robotriot

I think it’s time for a new list of (mostly upcoming) games that are worth a closer look. Since I was able to get most of the games in my previous list, I’ve added a whole bunch of new games I’m interested in. Maybe there’s something in for you, as well. This time it’s complete with gameplay videos, yay!

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I re-activated my Mobygames account a couple of weeks ago and decided to add a list of my favourite games to my profile page there. It’s hard choosing only a couple of them, but here’s a list and my reasons why I included them, in no particular order. Maybe you’ll discover something new or have some good memories of some of the games.

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I’m checking NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander website daily to get updates on the mission and new photos to look at. I find it really fascinating and quite a technological feat to shoot a complicated machine into space, have it travel millions of kilometers over periods of months or years and then land it on another planet. And it still works after everything it went through (well, sort of, there are already some minor problems.) Anyway, I was getting some of the latest photos from the site. The stereoscopic camera on Phoenix only shoots black and white photos, but there is an array of red, green and blue LEDs near the camera. This allows to shoot the scene three times, with different lighting and thus later on compose a colour picture. I tried this myself today with one of the pictures, but it’s of course only a very rough approximation, and nowhere a scientific process. It’s especially difficult since the photos aren’t labeled, so you don’t know with what colour light they were illuminated. I tried some reasoning, since the primary colour on Mars is red, the brightest photo of the series should be the red channel from my naive understanding and so on. The result is what you can see above.

This got me thinking about my favourite space pictures, so here’s a little rundown of some of them, in no particular order. Click on the images to view high-resolution versions.

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So I was able to play a couple of rounds of Boom Blox yesterday. First results: my arms hurt. Well, I guess I’m just not used to physical activity, the same thing happened to me the first days after playing Wii Sports back when I got the console. Boom Blox has several modes of play, one of them involves throwing baseballs and bowling balls at the towers of blocks in front of you. I may exaggerate the motion a little too much, but I kept getting weak in one arm, then changed to the other until that one hurt, changing back again and so forth. With the result of a hangover in both arms. I guess I should work out some more.

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I actually don’t read that many blogs on a regular basis. In fact, there are only three that I find myself returning to more than once a week:

• Your Webcomic is Bad and You Should Feel Bad – The name says it all. Four authors rip apart some of the worst webcomics out there. It’s not always funny. Their use of language might be debatable. Still, I find myself drawn to it every once in a while, to see what kind of abomination they managed to drag out of the ghetto of webcomics. I still would like to start a webcomic myself actually, I just don’t feel up to it, mainly concerning writing a story.
• Paleo-Future – I’m a sci-fi nut. So naturally I have to adore this blog. It’s showcasing pieces of past visions of the future, both in written and visual form. Most of the time, it’s ridiculous. But every once in a while, there are relatively accurate predictions among the entries. Also, it’s a nice source of inspiration, thanks to the weird retro art posted from time to time.
• Bernd Leitenberger(‘)s Blog – (German) While I may not agree with all of his standpoints, he does post interesting articles from time to time, mainly concerning space flight. If you can ignore the sloppy writing style, the articles on space probes and rockets on his website make for a really good read (for the technical minded) since he’s going into hardware details you will rarely find elsewhere on the web. Not that I understand all of it anyway, heh.

Here’s a list of games I’m planning to get this year, in no particular order.

• Smash Bros Brawl (Wii) – I’ve never really played a SB game. (Insert rant about the as of yet unpublished European release date here)
• Mario Kart Wii (err, Wii) – I’ve never really played a MK game. (ducks)
• No More Heroes (Wii) – The reviews I read were not very favourable. I really liked Killer 7 (although I never even got to the 2nd disc) though, so I feel like supporting the developers.
• Odin Sphere (PS2) – I’m not entirely sure what kind of game it is anyway. It’s just another case where I want to buy a game just to support the developers, see above. This time because it’s all 2D.
• flOw (PS3) -I was highly addicted to the Flash version. It seriously is one of the main reasons for me to get a PS3 someday, along with that other downloadable game. You know, the shmup with the guitar sounds? Can’t remember the title.
• Spore (PC) – I’m not sure if it’s going to be a fun game. I hear people talk about it being overhyped. This may very well be. I still want to have it.
• Lost Odyssey (X360) – RPGs are everything but my favourite genre, but I doubt I can resist a game requiring four DVDs for very long, that’s massive.
• GTA IV (X360) – You know, I’m not such a big fan of all the crime and violence portrayed in the GTA games. But what I really liked about the previous installments was the free-roam aspect. I’d just like to have a game where I can cruise around the town and country, possibly obeying traffic laws. Yes, I am a very boring person. However, I’m not alone on this, as evidenced in a recent Kotaku article I can’t find anymore right now.
• Raiden IV (X360) – Well, shmups are my favourite genre. I hope this is going to be released in Europe, because I doubt I’ll be buying an Asian Xbox just for one game.
• 1942: Joint Strike (X360) – It’s a shmup. Also, I really liked the original 1942, despite being a very repetitive arcade game. There was a time when I was having a highscore battle with a friend of mine and we were pushing each other to achieve a new score each time. It’s a very manly honour thing. I still should have the screenshot with my highscore around somewhere on the net, can’t find it right now though. It was only somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 though.

I’m pretty sure there are more games I’d like to get, I might add them later.