Update #1: The Gout Sucks! I really needn’t say more.
UG&G
The Glory Of Ys
Rochard
Celceta
OK, this was a long update but had a lot to cover. My cubes finally hit the U.S. so I hope to have them by the middle of next week. That’ll be cool as I gave my student my Windmill Cube. :) I’m curious how similar the Fisher Cube is to that one. Let’s get this gout totally cleared up (OMFG So Bad!) and life will be pretty good!
Ys Origin launches today via Steam and it is the long-awaited official English localization. This is the last major Ys game to be released here in the States and it’s $20. It looks like…Ys and is likely nothing much more. However, it’s awesome to see support continue for the series, and with four titles on the PSP, another coming on the Vita and now this, it’s like an Ys genesis here in the U.S.! In the very least, the music is legendary. Brings me back to 1990. Man, I’m old.
Oh vacation, how I loathe thee. I should love vacation but every time it is just full of suckage. BUT, rather than complain, let’s see what’s good.
First off, GameFly shipped me Portal 2. I played through a bunch last autumn but had to send it back to get something new (can’t recall what), and now it’s time to get back into it. I’ll say, this is a frustrating game. Like all puzzle games, if you’re stuck, it’s downright shit. However, when you do complete a level, it’s a very rewarding feeling.
Still playing Magic Piano (by Smule). It’s fun and somewhat relaxing. I need that during weeks like these.
Got two new Yankees shirts. \m/
Also got Beowulf finally. This translation is by Seamus Heaney and I nabbed the illustrated edition. It’s actually a cool edition and I look forward to finally reading it. Also on the to-read list, Catching Fire (Hunger Games book 2), Sigurd & Gudrun, Tolkien’s poem and Game Of Thrones. Let’s face it though, that last one is gonna take forever.
Oh, playing Ys: Oath In Felghana on the Vita. Sure, it’s a PSP game, but the ability to pause and run other apps is kinda cool. The game is fun but the difficulty ramps up ridiculously on boss battles. Meh.
Ahh, forgot to mention that I solved the megaminx and the windmill cube the other day each without algorithms. It’s a good step, makes me feel good about myself and only through this do I really count it as ‘solved’. I started a tutorial on the windmill cube. Editing takes 10x longer than the filming.
OK, that should be it. Need a vacation from the vacation!!!
I’ve got my sexy PSVita and have been enjoying it for quick, short games. My busy schedule lately hasn’t allowed for much dedicated time, but it is serving its purpose. That’s what I love about handhelds and the Vita has a lot of positives. The web browser, its multitasking capabilities allows me to pause and run other programs and I love that I can read messages from friends on either my PS3 or my Vita. However, it’s clear Sony launched this thing without it running at its full ability. There are some very basic things that will be added; I’m just not too patient about it. The fact is, these things should be there already. The hardware is fantastic. Like it’s PS3 brother, who launched without a very good store integration, no in-game XMB, etc. I’m excited about what is certainly to come. Let’s see…
1) PS1 Classics Compatibility
I don’t really know what happened here. I’m guessing it’s the software emulation. I figured that wouldn’t be a real big deal seeing as how it’s such old hardware and this *is* Sony. However, I have a few games on my PS3 hard drive that I’d love to play on-the-go. Symphony Of The Night is one of my favorite games ever. I’m hoping for full support before long.
Want More
2) PSP Compatibility
I know backwards compatibility is never an easy thing and I’m happy the Vita plays a ton of PSP games. There are a bunch not on the list though, and I’m really looking forward to playing Ys Chronicles on my Vita. How they’re going to roll out these updates, I’m unsure. Hopefully with each firmware update we’ll get more games added to the list and to the store.
Waiting...
3) Better Compatibility
Yeah, I realize…Three of the same category. However, this is what I’m looking for my Vita to do. When connecting to my PS3 to download videos I downloaded from the PSN, most don’t work. Wait…why? They are brand-new videos from the PSN! Nope. My videos? Nope. No WMV? I hate the codec, but playing videos on my gorgeous PSVita screen should be a breeze. Why it’s not is beyond me. Well, I can play videos I’ve downloaded. I just have to go through remote play. No…that’s not how it should be.
3) Better PSVita / PS3 Integration
Fighting piracy is no doubt one of Sony’s biggest goals and so I imagine the reason for this interface is just that. However, the Content Manager is a weak interface that is not smooth whatsoever. Copying files is not easy, the manager opens up the video and music programs individually (so why have the content manager?) and it’s all so very cumbersome. While waiting for wireless Vita/PS3 compatibility probably won’t happen (but should), I can’t stand the interface. Having to catalog everything on my PC so to use the same mediocre program is really annoying.
4) The Interface
Now, I quite like that we’ve moved away from the XMB. I loved that interface. I have a Sony Bravia, a PS3 and a PSP. It served its purpose but now with all touch-screen interfaces, I’m glad to be beyond that. While the new PSVita interface functions well, it’s awfully ugly. Will Sony ever change this a la the 360’s dashboard updates? I certainly hope so. There’s plenty that can be done to improve this. I can’t group games together, icons like the party icon look bad even for Nintendo Wii visuals and it’s not customizable at all. We know that Sony is fighting the smart phone market as well as the handheld. Getting the best of both worlds is not going to be easy but I’d love to have more abilities when it comes to tweaking the visuals.
Ug...Ly
5) More Apps
Again, this is a handheld gaming device, but it’s got Facebook and it should add more like YouTube support, etc. Walking that line between a smart phone and a handheld means it cannot be inundated with crap. However, I hope they support this like they do with the PS3 and add something. Specifically, I’d love to be able to detect media servers and to stream audio/video to the Vita. In fact, this is one of my biggest gripes/desires for the system.
Ys Celceta: Sea Of Trees!!!
Ys: The Ultimate Utopia
OK, many many years ago I started working on (yet!) another website covering the Ys series of games. It’s something I did in my spare time, much like my previous 100 sites. Sadly though, I never really had time to complete it. There it sat on my hard drive, year after year, with only incremental updates when I felt inspiration. The main reason for holding off on the launch was that I never covered Ys and Ys II, which are the main reasons I know of the series.
However, seeing as how I did put so much effort into what was completed, I feel it’s time to launch the essentially-already-dead project. It might give me some motivation to finish off some sections actually.
Feel free to browse the little I actually did complete by visiting Ys: The Ultimate Utopia in its glorious, incomplete state.