Late Play is a new editorial for games we have played later then the rest of the world- or just wanted to talk about them way after the games release. In this titles case, it has been reviewed in the past by me. But today we are taking another look at it.

The World Ends With You captures one thing in my mind every time I think about the title, it isn’t its unique game play, its engrossing story no- the thing which I think about when I hear its name. Is the soundtrack.

The soundtrack is full of Japanese Pop. Which suits the game just so well. What more, is for a video game soundtrack is enjoyable outside of the game as well. With many of the songs been done by real singers.

As for the game, when I played it for the first time- the “emo” presentation of the main character I thought embodied the game quite well. In real life if you meant someone like that you would slap them, but in this game, the audio and visual cues at the start wrap it up so nicely you fit yourself into the characters. It’s a really polished game, and one of the best on the Nintendo DS system.

Crashing into the game itself, some players might find the game style a little rough. Overall however the game play is quite unique for the platform. The game allows two different characters on both screens. No doubt this could be done on the 3DS if a sequel ever happens, but just replacing the main character to the top screen, and the side character to the bottom.

The game is based around a Japanese city, and been a Japanese game has many over egzaduated Japanese designs within the title. But overall it doesn’t feel to empowering- and seems to fit in a nice neat bundle.

In the video game world, a death means a five second wait until you can go back into the game. The fact that any pentanty in play time, would distract gamers from the game, and in return make them aggravated. There is no way that game time can be edited in a good way to make the players death noticeable to other players. Especially in multilplayer matches.

It seems one of the major advancements in horror in games, is the effect that death causes the in game persona of the gamer to be effected some how. Especially in resent games such as Minecraft, with the removal off all the players equipment and blocks- been something which the games seek to avoid while playing. With the removal of all their goods, to be a dangerous prospect, rather then the simple fact of been greeted with a 5 second continue screen.

Gaming needs to make players feel like they will loose something when dying in the game. Maybe they will loose a few heart pieces if they die in Zelda- make them do a quest or something to restore them. Or how about a curse which drastically reduces the damage you do on a monster when brought back in a MMORPG.

Simple ideas like that, will make the wave of gaming coming soon more interesting. However the requirement is, it shouldn’t be required. If a player wants to sniff the flowers all day long- they should. If they want to have the hardest experience ever, then they should also be allowed to do that.

…I say “lol”.

MCV had an interview with the publishing house for their 25th anniversary. Which basically the conversation went down the the simple fact that at the end of a generation, no one wants to make any games- and they are quite sparked out. When a new console comes out, they get that spark back and make some awesome creative games.

Well at first I thought it was a quite mundane and horrible way to look at it. But then I thought deeper, and saw there is a little bit of logic to their madness.

You see at the end of a generation is usually when projects slow down, and those which don’t end up been ported over to the next generation for some fast cash. When a new console comes out, people are excited, especially in resent years when we have seen with each generation- especially from people like Nintendo, more crazy ideas for gaming. Such as motion, touch controls, and 3D.

These new types of control and immersion, lead to new ideas on how games and relate to them. They make people think again, and the change over to them, is quite good for the industry. In that if allows people to have a fresh new perspective.

However to say this change is needed for new ideas, is a bit backwards, a cop out if you will. A quick way to say “we can’t see how to change the world we normally see anymore”, but “hey there are some new consoles coming out- which force us to change it”.

In resent times, the idea of a one console future in the video game world has been up for discussion again by many fans. However in the past I have said that it would be a great idea, with many pros. However today I’m discussing the cons to give a different look on the idea.

The idea of a one console future is that over times the blur of the industry with their consoles, especially the “HD Giants” will alter the industry to look for money saving measures in development, ending with a push for less consoles from the more major publishers and in the end, a rippling effect which creates a new one console so the industry can pool their resources.

However this theory is blatantly over desired by fans just because they want to pay less- by buying less consoles, without factually looking at what would happen in a one console future.

To put it bluntly, we already had a one console. It was called the PC. The personal computer was the center of all video game entertainment in the home. Spun off the PC came PC styled consoles which ended up becoming only gaming only, spinning off to the consoles of old, and then in later years- returning to the PC styled consoles of old. In effect, we have come full cycle.

But because we went full cycle, we didn’t go back to PC. If anything the industry has ignored it more, while fans linger for a return. A new tier has been created, a video game console which does the same things as a PC almost, a tier which will eventually spin off again- becoming gaming only like before- only possibly in many years time, a new style of computer.

We are in a horrible loop, there will never be a one console future, because we will just loop right back around. Also for the simple facts it will be horrible for competition- unless the industry can do a format style more in lined with the media format wars. And even then, it doesn’t mean it will be better for the customer. So for now, more consoles to better it seems.

A new video “series”, I guess you can call it has appeared on Trinest.com. Enjoy some brand new videos I made and posted on Youtube, about a video game called Minecraft. What more, it’s more about what I’ve made on a private server so far. Something for all Minecraft fans young and old to enjoy.

Included in the videos are some video commentary from me. I’ll explain the various things which have been built as you watch me walk around the world.

First up is one about a bridge. A huge bridge. Originally I built this bridge after I built the tower next to it, and I thought “what could I have near here”. I decided I was going to build some tunnels first. That idea however only turned into a small hub section on the map, as well as a “service tunnel”.

The bridge was always going to built above the tunnels, and is the main focus of the video. You will see me just walking through the bridge discussing the various things on and next to the bridge.

Moving on is a video about a maze I built. The maze isn’t that big, nor complicated. But it does the job. I think I might make it bigger in the future, and in the video I’ll discuss my plans if I ever did do that.

However for the most part, you will the traveling through the maze, as I discuss the trials and tribunes to build the maze. As putting down leaves isn’t as simple as it may sound.

The next video is about a swimming pool I built. Well the pool itself is half finished. I feel as if finishing it will take more time then I want to spend on it, so for now its about ⅓ done. However you can watch and enjoy what has been built.

These things I’ve shown so far are part of a region called “Glass City”. In this region I have built a few smaller buildings, which this next video shows.

While we are in “Glass City”, we will talk about the Element Tower I have built. This is the second tower, and complements the other one which is built on the other side of the bridge.

The next video moves on and discusses the original tower I built.

After that we move onto the stadium which has been built in the server. It was a group effort to construct and the first video which covers something not fully built by me.

We then move onto the Casino which was built next to the stadium.

To finish off the videos we look at the ones which have been created by my friend on the server.

Nintendos new system has come out in Australia at last. With the 3DS on shelves, the question is- what do I think of it?

I got the device on launch day, it was within a bundle which came with Rabbids. As well I picked up Street Fighter which also came then. The console was unpacked, and I went straight in to see what can this device do for me.

To make it clear, I have never seen anything in 3D before. Movies? No. Nintendo 3DS? Defiantly not. I was coming into this with no prior experiences on what to expect 3D to look like.

So because of that, I was somewhat disappointed with the 3D. I also found the 3D to be quite strenuous on my eyes at first, however did get used to it. With the games when I started playing I had the bar halfway, only to get used to the 3D and be able to push it up to full blast. Now my brother had a go of the 3DS yesterday, he hasn’t bought one yet and is eagerly waiting for Ocarina of Time. So I informed him I had one as he ranted that I shouldn’t have large amounts of money because I would buy a 3DS- only to go “I already have one”. Ruining home and bringing the device back for him to get some hands on. He looked at the device and one of his choice quotes was “This is the blue one?”, he then turned it on and found the 3D quite intense, headache producing and within the few minutes he fiddled with the device, he stopped playing because it was giving him a headache. He found that he couldn’t play with 3D at all, and for the most part had it turned off. He had a go of Rabbids, and found the 3D distracting. Turning it off and playing with the AR cards, he ended up giving up on that because of the awkwardness involved in playing them.

While my first time with the device was more forgiving, I do see where he was coming from. My experiences with the 3D where varied at the start. With headaches been possible when I did have the 3D on full blast originally, only to dumb it down and move it up to the top spot ever so slowly through my game progress to be used to the effect. As I had no prior 3D experience, my comments where “this is 3D?” as well as “this is weird”. After introducing 3D to the equitation I never had a since that this is what everyone should do- agreeing essentially with my brother that it is a fad. However I was able to be much more forth coming with 3D and be able to accept it- with surprisingly little effects on my eyes after using the 3DS for a good amount of hours. My eyes felt more like I had a coffee, more focused.

Moving on from how I found 3D, one of the major features for the 3DS is the AR games. I didn’t play them until after I logged a considerable amount of hours in Rabbids. Face Riders, I played and was like annoyed for the fact I was playing it in an area which most people would play a game- a couch. So I was annoyed in that most of the action ended up twisting me around so often. The AR games which use the cards, I decided to give more of a chance. Playing them quite often the other day to finish all the default games. I ended up cheating and shook the 3DS a few times to get a few points to buy some of the next levels in the games. I found them interesting, but a major issue was the 3DS camera didn’t find the AR card unless it was midday- if I was playing closer to night, it would have issues distinguishing the AR cards from the other fuzzy stuff the camera detects. So I decided to up the anti, and used my phone, which not only gave out a bigger space for the AR card. I also produces light- so its easier to detect. After that I was able to enjoy the games regardless of the time of day or lighting conditions.

Moving on, I had two games for the system- Rabbids and Street Fighter. I’ve played Rabbids games in the past, and I am quite fond of the series. However this was my first Street Fighter title ever. I normally stay away from the genre as well unless its something like Smash Bros, or offers a good range of options such as online and anything else the device could do. In which case Street Fighter was my show off title- with Rabbids been my game. I enjoyed Rabbids a lot more. Rabbids been a side scroller this time around, giving me a vibe of “Rabbids Go Home”. A title which I found to be the pinnacle of the series and thought it was going to finally drive the brand out of mini game mash up games and into more funky adventure style games. I was disappointed that Travel in Time was a party game. However the 3DS Rabbids title, is better known as “Rabbids: Travel in Time 3D” in a few regions (It’s just Rabbids 3D here). Which means, I can finally play Travel in Time in the style which I wanted. A quirky, exciting adventure/sidescroller.

Rabbids is weird just like how the past games are. It does give the Rabbids charm, however at the same time- it is still a basic sidescroller, which just so happens to work nicely. The Rabbids you see have a clothes fetish which they steal other Rabbids clothes when they attack them. They also have a rubber duck fetish, and the level is full of Ducks and Coins (I think they are most likely floatation devices rather then coins, but anyway). Some how the charm is still there I guess. There is 4 time periods you can explore, with each one having a good amount of levels about 10 – 14ish really. There are some levels which are bonus rounds and more fun the then usual platforming level. For example the one which collects all the stuff they can- those types of levels have the best music in the game, and make the Romanian music in Go Home- have a run for its money.

Overall I feel the 3DS will probably grow as a whole to try and make the 3D seem less as a gimmick, same as AR type games. There is however a good range of titles coming within the next year, such as Zelda, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Star Fox- the usual Nintendo contenders which will make the system amazing if you like 3D or not.