I haven’t posted anything in a bit…feeling a bit uninspired to do a lot of stuff, sadly. However, it’s been a while since my last cube order (OK, just 2 months) and I opted to pick up a 3x4x5 cuboid. It’s a different puzzle but looks like it should be pretty cool. I’m excited about it and will now be checking the mailbox daily for a rather impressive addition to the puzzle collection. I’m psyched!!! The shape-shifting element is one of the biggest draws. Can’t wait!!!
Archive for the Best / Worst Category
New Cube Order Placed! 3x4x5 Cuboid!
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Cubing on April 17, 2013 by slatemanVampire Resurrection DLC: You’re Kidding…Right?
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games with tags Darkstalkers, vampire on March 22, 2013 by slateman
I’ve supported Capcom since day 1. When the jokes about Super Street Fighter Zero Alpha Turbo II X kept coming, I would correct everyone about the Zero series, the differences between incremental updates, etc. And when Super Street Fighter IV came out for a mere $40, I bought that shit quick. Even the on-disc DLC from SFxT was fine by me (I didn’t buy it). And while I will not be buying the new Vampire Resurrection DLC, its entire existence is just a joke. For a mere $1 you can buy one of two cabinets or $2 for game rooms. That’s $6 of useless crap. Again, you can’t complain…just don’t buy it. But the fact that this even exists is pathetic. Whatever.
New Average-Of-5 Record: 36.32!
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on March 21, 2013 by slateman
33.39, huh? That’s a pretty good time. What would’ve been an incredible record just a few months ago is merely a ‘pretty good time’ now. Well, I have a few minutes to spare, why not another run or two? 38, 37, 34, 37 seconds…WOW. That was five runs in a row of not only under 40, but well under 40! My average-of-five record stood at 39.31. It’s now three seconds better! Wow!
Pretty psyched. That was fun.
New Cubing Record: 3×3 – 31.50!
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on March 19, 2013 by slateman
The scramble left me with a very fortuitous cross and so I had the bottom layer done in less than 10 seconds. The rest of the run was good enough to break my record but I have to admit that in my head, I was hoping for a sub-30. It didn’t happen, but a quarter of a second faster than my fastest ever is still reason to be psyched. I had done a run on my stickerless Zhanchi but returned to the good ol’ black cube for the victory. I love the stickerless, but maybe it needs some tensioning. Who cares! New Record!!!
New Cubing Record: 4×4 – 2:40.67
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on March 19, 2013 by slateman
I still time myself doing 3×3 solves here and there but I’ve mostly abandoned speed cubing other cubes. After breaking both my 2×2 and 3×3 records recently, in the same day, I took a peek at the larger cubes. Until I get a new 6×6 I’m not even going to try and my 5×5 attempts were far from my record (I solved in 6:11, record is just over 5:00). The 4×4 sat there, the spectacular ShengShou cube, and so I tried it. Centers were solved quickly, maybe 30 seconds. It’s that middle edge matching that kills me! Well, ultimately I finished the cube in 2:40.67, less than a second faster than my prior record. While that’s not really a huge deal, breaking my 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4 personal bests all within the same month is pretty cool.
Mini-Review: Darkstalkers: Resurrection – Missing Something
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, Reviews with tags Darkstalkers, vampire on March 19, 2013 by slateman
I spent an awful lot of time a few months back working on an exhaustive Vampire Savior FAQ and I now will have to update it with Darkstalkers/Vampire Resurrection information. After a little while of testing things out, I have to say…it’s OK. My main concern was the port of Darkstalkers 3 – a game that never truly existed. Sadly, they didn’t take the ‘best of’ idea and include Vampire Savior 2 and Vampire Hunter 2 tweaks. This game appears to play just like the arcade version of VS without the Dark Force changes or the additional three characters. Why this is eludes me. The gameplay is spot-on, of course and all the usual perks are included. You gain points for completing challenges. You use this currency for the Vault – artwork and movies. Fortunately there is some new artwork included here not present in every other version. Unfortunately there is no sound test; this is a pity considering how the soundtracks to these two games may very well be the best Capcom has ever produced. The Japanese game was released in disc format and the first copies came with a bonus soundtrack CD. Sure I already have the soundtrack for VS but it’s just that good! AND, the game definitely features at least one new track – again, a sound test would have rocked.
And then I start doing tutorials/challenges. Now, can someone tell me why back in 1997 Arika was able to do the trial thing right and why now, 16 years later, we’re left with this? First off, there are only five for each character for each game. That still is a lot of challenges, I suppose. Street Fighter EX+A had…was it 15? 20? 25? And, since I’m not a fantastic player, I can’t perform half of them. Morrigan has the same trial for both VH and VS (screw this American naming convention). The same trial? Well, I can’t manage to chain a c.Short->c.Fierce->Darkness Illusion…so that means there are 2 of Morrigan’s 10 challenges. Great.
Now, the entire presentation is amazing. The HD makeover looks phenomenal (the game still looks like it always did) and when you switch from VH to VS, you remain in the last menu. I.e. if you’re about to start a ranked match and you change games, the menu places you in the ranked match area again. Small things like that are great. There’s also an info box giving you details about all the fighters. Developers, if you’re going to do this, please have at least 100 different quotes. I played for 10 minutes and felt like it was repeating already.
Online play was superb, zero problems and GGPO has treated me well with all recent fighters. I suck, so it’s no fun at all getting trounced by Gallon (Talbain) constantly. But, that’s my problem.
There’s a spot for the Playstation Store – so I don’t know what they’re planning on trying to sell us. $15 for this package is indeed good, but I’d be pissed if they asked me to shell out more for anything. Unless it’s the soundtrack – it’s just that good. Then again, I now have this game for the PS1, PS2, PS3, SS, PSP and arcade ROMS – just missing the DC game. I’m not paying anything more for Vampire/Darkstalkers until part four comes out. :)
Mini-Review: Tomb Raider – Oh Yes!
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, Reviews with tags Tomb Raider on March 17, 2013 by slateman
It isn’t 1996 any longer. While there have been many Tomb Raider games since then, none have lived up to the standard set by the first two games. And with Uncharted coming to take the torch, how precisely can a reboot live up with the legacy of both UC and TR? By doing precisely what they’ve done in this game.
And Uncharted IS important because it took a formula and perfected it. Its second entry is probably my favorite game of this generation. Its third iteration, however, didn’t live up to the standard set by the first two games. Sound familiar? (Plus, we’ve talked about this…twice!) As Lara Croft scrambled to safety in the 2013 reboot, I was a character who was real. No more one-liners after murdering two dozen swarming enemies. It’s not that Nathan Drake is unlikeable; it’s quite the opposite. It’s just that by the third time, it was all expected. We knew we’d be dangling by one arm at least six times. Every action sequence felt familiar the intensity was thereby reduced. When Lara first killed a person, it was a big deal. The intense moments in Tomb Raider were intense! The entire journey was a remarkable one; even if it felt like UC a few times (which itself felt like TR a few times).
Lara was a mess. She was hurt. Her pain felt real. The visuals in the game were positively incredible, the sound outstanding. The gameplay was impeccable and FUN. The weapons were powerful. Their customizable evolution was perfectly executed. I felt a draw to the history, the lore. The locales were lush and vast. I listened to the audio logs. The collectibles fit within the world created. I went back to collect GPS caches, using my new-found abilities to unlock new paths. More than once during my adventure I stated, “This represents everything I love about videogames!”
This review is pretty simple. The game absolutely rules and is one of my favorites in a long time. In retrospect, I’m stuck trying to find a weakness. Perhaps more diverse enemies would be nice. I guess the biggest problem is how to deal with a sequel but who cares about that now? Tomb Raider has somehow returned to form, copying and trumping a game that copied and trumped it in the first place. This is just about perfect; it cannot be praised highly enough.
Tomb Raider: First Thoughts
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, Uncharted with tags Tomb Raider on March 8, 2013 by slateman
I got Tomb Raider from my favorite service, GameFly yesterday and have managed to squeak out maybe 45 minutes of gameplay. First impressions? Awesome! Crystal Dynamics couldn’t really go the Uncharted route…and seeing how UC ripped off TR in the first place, what could the developer do? Well, what they’ve done is revamp Lara Croft entirely and craft a spectacular new style of game. I’m super psyched to play through the rest of this, foregoing even God Of War to do so. That’s saying a lot. The snapshot above looks like it’s straight out of UC actually. However, I most certainly am not complaining. Now, if I only didn’t have to take that photo w/ my phone. Perhaps if there were a Share button on my gaming controller……. :D
New Cubing Record: 2×2 – 9.66!!!
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on March 5, 2013 by slatemanWait…what? TWO records on the same day? I haven’t done the 2×2 for speed since…September of 2011! So, since I had such a great 3×3 run (still psyched about that!) I grabbed my old white LanLan (which isn’t nearly as good as the QJ I have at home) and the first run I did came out at 9.66 seconds! WOW. Seriously…two records on the same day! I think this 9.66-second run is certainly a breakable record. Maybe I’ll try a few more runs!
New Cubing Record: 3×3 – 31.75!!!
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on March 5, 2013 by slatemanMy stickerless Zhanchi is still my favorite cube ever, but today I decided to bring to work both my Zhanchis. I could never really figure out why I prefer the stickerless. Why does it turn so much better? Would my times be crap on the standard, black, stickered cube? I pumped out three crazy fast runs: 35.96, 37.73 and then…
Wow! Now…I’ve gotten to the point where .23 seconds is a vast improvement; this is unlike the old days where I could break a record by 3, 5, 10 seconds! Less than a quarter of a second is still a new personal best! However, what I’m really impressed by is the ability to get repeated low-30s. This is my second sub-32 and, with some additional luck, maybe the sub-30 is possible! That would be pretty sweet. Today is a good day!!!