Androids Cant Charge

Mactastic! Or not...

2009-01-31T23:46:00.002+01:00

I don't think I could ever get a Mac for personal use. I might work with a company Mac in the future, but I would never get one myself. I think I will compile a list as well as a strip to why. But for now, this blog is taking a break. Too bad no one has commented on this blog, but oh well, thats the way it is right?

Its not very effective.

2009-01-22T21:47:00.003+01:00

Anyone who has played the game has had this happen to them. You have all 8 Gym Badges and have probably beaten the elite 4, so you travel around the world in search of secrets that are now available to you thanks to all your HMs. But while you are going back to old ground, you get attacked by wild Pokemon. Theres a difference of 98 between your Pokemon and the enemy. You use an attack that really isn't effective against that type, but its so much fire power that it kills them in one hit anyways. Then the game has the nerve to say that this instant kill "wasn't very effective".

Conceptual artistry

2009-01-19T19:36:00.002+01:00

I was rooting through some old games and found my Playstation version of Final Fantasy 1 and 2. It had some concept art (not the originals mind you) from both games by the lead artist. They were absolutely beautiful pieces of art. Yet you play the games that they come from and wonder, is it really worth designing like that?

In the pre 8 bit era games were pretty much interactive abstract art that you had to take everything for granted (thats a bullet, thats health, thats an enemy) so I wonder why some people took so much trouble to draw such great concept art when it wasn't going to look anything like that in the end.

Today its totally different. Anything someone draws we can replicate in games, not having to worry about if its possible or having to make compromises.

Wii vs PS3

2009-01-15T22:22:00.003+01:00

I do this from time to time. I don't own a PS3, but I gladly speak of its benefits as a game machine and its array of games. Wii is fine, but I wish it started making some more proper games, not these family stuff that is only mildly interesting.

Guerilla Warfare

2009-01-14T21:11:00.003+01:00

Killzone 2 looks pretty cool. Not that I'm too interested in shooters, but the setting and premise sounds good enough. I also like the idea of Sony having a kin of Halo, but I do hope that the game is made for its own right, not specifically made to compete with Halo.

Starcrafty

2009-01-12T22:09:00.003+01:00

Seriously, this is very greedy of them. But to be fair, it seems to be a growing trend, which might be due to my otherwise favorite type of gaming: episodic gaming.

The idea of making a game in parts is smart in terms of the publishers. You get to charge full price for an unfinished game, and then make sure people will buy the upcoming 'necessary' expansions. However, they are going at it the wrong way.

Episodic gaming that works is something along the lines of Telltale or Penny Arcade: a full game that is cheaper by comparison, shorter, but will have the story continued in the next episode. With this idea of Starcraft, you won't have the same kind of game in that respect. One game you play as Terrans, one as Zergs, and one as Protoss. First of all, this is very bad for new players of the franchise (the original is over 10 years old, of course not everyone remembers it or played it) since you will only get to know the Terrans properly in terms of story and gameplay, and thus feel alienated when playing online as either Zergs or Protoss.

I most probably wont get this game, but I probably will play it with people who have it. Distribution system aside, the gameplay will most surely KICK ASS!

Metal Gear Twist

2009-01-11T22:01:00.002+01:00

After watching the 6 part series "Metal Gear Retrospective" I was amazed at all the plot twists in the series. And I still haven't beaten the original Metal Gear Solid!

What I have played of it though is solid, though frustrating at times.

Professor Lameton

2009-01-08T22:34:00.002+01:00

I really enjoy the premise of this game. You take 130 puzzles that have nothing to do with each other, some great animated visuals and story, combine them, and you get a game that hinders your progress through the story by arbitrary and artificial obstacles.

So why is it so much fun? :O

Kangaroo Court

2009-01-07T21:19:00.003+01:00

I really hate it how everyone picks on Phoenix, even though his track record is completely clean! He has'nt lost a single case (I'm in the middle of the 3rd case of Trials and Tribulations, so don't spoil me if there are spoilers about that) and he always gets it right in the end.

Then again, if the whole world wasn't against you, it wouldn't be as fun when you actually win ^^

Best Equipment

2009-01-06T22:06:00.003+01:00

While I was in Sweden my cousins managed to get their 40 GB PS3 to play old PS1 games though a patch. So now that this possibility of playing old games exists, what do we do with these pieces of technology that were only imaginary in the past? Why, we play old games that have no use of these devices, of course!

Disclaimer: They don't actually have surround sound themselves, and the game they played wasn't Suikoden, but rather Resident Evil 2, but I think the comic worked better with a 2d game.

Androids Cant Charge Episode 1

2008-12-15T17:56:00.003+01:00

Got a hold of OTRSPOD the other day, and man does it rule! The humor is even better this time around, and the whole gameplay as a whole is just more entertaining.

Course, the above strip probably wont happen, since Penny Arcade had existed for almost 10 years before they decided to make a game of it.

Stuper Man

2008-12-10T21:40:00.002+01:00

To be fair, I have only played ONE game featuring Superman, and that was an Arcade game where you flew from left to right and killed enemies. It wasn't too bad, but I expected more things for him to do.

And thats the problem with Superman: He can do anything! How do you make a game where the player can do ANYTHING? No particular weaknesses, the ability to fly and super strength makes him a hard character to challenge.

My suggestion would be to actually have you play as Clark Kent and have you try to keep your secret identity hidden, while trying to perform your supermoves in public, as well as preventing people from getting hurt.

Remaking the past

2008-12-09T21:45:00.002+01:00

Alot of old properties from the times when you had to use alot of imagination when playing games, so actually portraying these games with todays graphics might do more harm than good. Like the examples above, what would look good for such old and simple games?

Trigger vs Cross

2008-12-08T22:23:00.002+01:00

I'm amazed at how this game still has such a huge fanbase. They made ONE game and people are positively obsessed over it :O Don't get me wrong, its a really good game, but I think theres to much obsession... Then again, I like being a minority :D

Chrono Cross just felt so much cooler in terms of presentation, characters, story and environment. Exploring in Chrono Cross is more fun than in Trigger for example. But hey, thats my opinion. The one thing I guess I dislike is how Trigger seems to be placed on a pedestale where no one can criticise it.

But to be fair, I placed Grim Fandango on such a pedestal as well...

Resident Racist

2008-12-07T21:58:00.002+01:00

This is old news, but I thought I'd put my own spin to it. My main point is made in the first panel, residing around the concept of "if its a zombie, kill it!". Race doesn't matter in terms of zombies. And seeing that the game (or at least a portion of it) takes place somewhere in Africa, then I would assume that the majority of the people would be black :P

RPG cliches #5

2008-12-06T22:20:00.001+01:00

I think this would be the last one. I felt a bit restricted to these cliches, and I want to explore other areas of gaming as well. I might make more of these, who knows?

Regarding the content though: Why does the game give me spells like Death, Poison, Sleep or Petrify when they never work on enemies that matter? I feel it to be a huge tease, and the game would have been better of NOT giving me that option to begin with >:(

RPG cliches #4

2008-12-05T20:59:00.002+01:00

Any wounds or damage your characters have been dealt in battle will immediately be healed by lying in a bed for a couple of seconds.

RPG cliches #3

2008-12-04T22:23:00.003+01:00

I didn't post yesterday due to being at a concert. The Residents were playing in Munich yesterday and they rocked! Well, not rocked, but they were really cool with their music. Many people left during the concert though, and I don't blame them. I personally enjoyed it, but the surreal nature of the artists, music and lyrics would put most people off.

On the subject though: I have wondered about those things you sell to store owners. They have no judgment on wares. If I tried to sell animal remains in my local REWE, they would kick me out!

RPG cliches #2

2008-12-02T21:51:00.002+01:00

Seriously, any RPG (save the masterpiece Oblivion) you can walk into any house and loot though everyone's stuff! The biggest example of this to me was in Final Fantasy IX in the beginning, when you control Vivi for the first time. You entered this one house with an old couple, and if you poked around enough you would find an item called "Granny's savings(or something like that)" that you then steal. I felt so bad for doing that :'(

RPG cliches #1

2008-12-01T21:52:00.001+01:00

I've always wondered about that, why you increase your intelligence stats by slaying monsters. Sure, you could maybe learn tactics and such, but I doubt you could pass high school by just doing PE for example.

First of a short series about RPG cliche's.

Wii Fat

2008-11-30T22:07:00.002+01:00

Its been months since I was on that thing. I think I simply wore down the novelty of it. I mean, sure it was fun, but it only lasts so long before I come to the understanding that its exercise disguised as a game! Shame on you Nintendo!

Movie Licensed Games

2008-11-29T20:35:00.002+01:00

This game doesn't exist, but it would be interesting if it did. I'm just wondering where the line is drawn on what movies we can make games of and which ones we cant. Kids movies seem to be 100% destined to have a tie in game, as do most action and superhero movies as well. However, mature and dramatic pieces like Milk don't seem to need that... Is it too lowbrow to make a game, or is it as simple as the source material isn't that good to make a game?

Haven't seen the movie yet, I just looked for the latest non Game tie in movie.

Oh the possibilities

2008-11-28T18:41:00.002+01:00

I don't think I will invest in the new DS coming out next year. While the camera sounds cool, it isn't enough to make me want to play with it. I'm also sure that many people will misuse it.

I wouldn't do what I'm doing in the strip by the way.

FPS vs Adventures

2008-11-27T20:17:00.002+01:00

I hope I'm not making myself appear like some fascistic adventure gamer with these strips. They're simply my preference and I do think I have some valid points about these details about gaming. Naturally, its all open for discussion.

WoW, Maple Story, Grim Fandango

2008-11-26T22:27:00.002+01:00

I played WoW, and thought it was pretty cool, but was peeved at the monthly payments, so I quit after the free trial and tried some Korean ones. They were much worse, but free. After trying all of these MMORPGs I decided to play something that I KNOW is good, which is Grim Fandango :)

WoW, the ogre over your shoulder

2008-11-25T20:30:00.002+01:00

Is Ogre over your shoulder even a real saying? :P

The online RPG World of Warcraft has enslaved over 11 million willing subscribers. There are several other alternatives to this game, but I doubt that any one of them would actually manage to steal away the players of WoW. If I was in the business as a publisher I wouldn't bother investing my money in a new MMORPG, thats what I'm saying :)

No Pants Dance

2008-11-23T21:06:00.003+01:00

I beat The World Ends With You today, and the ending kicked ass. Too bad there are so many unanswered questions, meaning I have to play it again... Oh well, its not like forcing me to play though a bad game :)

Across the Atlantic

2008-11-22T21:04:00.003+01:00

Again, an exaggerated view of it all. The truth of the matter is that adventure games are still released in the USA, but the majority of them are developed in Europe, most notably Germany (hence the German flag). It just struck me as interesting how the adventure game genre is seen as dead, when it doesn't really seem that that idea has gone though the Europeans' skulls. If you go to a German game store and go to the PC section you will notice several new Adventure titles. So perhaps the Adventure genre isn't dead, it just moved.

Sonic the Fastest Hedgehog in the World

2008-11-21T20:52:00.002+01:00

Not much to say here really. Just a low brow joke with a jab at a beloved game character. And I enjoyed drawing it :D

Little Lazy Planet

2008-11-19T20:47:00.002+01:00

I am personally psyched to play this game, but I will have to wait until I find someone with it, seeing as I don't have a PS3. But just like other services that thrive on user generated content, it requires little work from the creators after the release. Thats what I'm trying to poke fun at here, but the thing is, that game wouldn't be half as much fun if we couldn't make our own levels now would it? :P

Fashion Ends With You

2008-11-18T21:32:00.003+01:00

I have not tried this myself, but I figured that it should be possible. I just noticed though that Shiki had such a high BRAV count compared to the male characters, which allowed her to wear all the female clothing. However, one just has to raise the BRAV points by eating certain food, and eventually you will have enough. So would you be able to wear that Bikini thing?

Weed the Town

2008-11-17T19:45:00.003+01:00

After I started playing Animal Crossing Wild World again after several months of Hiatus I spent the entire time weeding the town :P I didn't even finish because it was so much. Makes me wonder if I want to get the Wii game of Animal Crossing, since I don't know if I will be able to spend that much time with the game.

Crock Band

2008-11-16T17:27:00.002+01:00

Back again. I played RockBand this weekend, and it was pretty fun. The drums were definitely a selling point, though it took some getting used to, and I didn't like it that you didn't hear a click when you used the flipper on these Guitars like the Guitar Hero 3 ones.

But the microphone is to be reserved for people who actually knows the song and can actually sing :P Beyond the fact I didn't know half the songs present in the song pack, I could not sing in order to match the pitch. So what do I do? I start making sounds that don't sound at all like the lyrics XD

Monster Pervert DS

2008-11-12T21:34:00.003+01:00

I am personally psyched to get this game, though it will be a while longer since according to Wikipedia there's not International Release Date yet. I really want to experiment with what monsters I will get based on my drawings, sounds and GBA games.

This will be the last post for a while since I'll be busy this weekend. I'll return to do more presumably on Sunday, but definitely on Monday. Cheers!

Episodic gaming, more game for your buck

2008-11-11T21:25:00.004+01:00

I find episodic gaming to be a great idea, and am an avid consumer of the Tell Tale line of games. The system is genius! For $8.95 I get one game, or I can buy 5-6 games for $34.95, which pretty much gives it as much play value as a store bought game for half as much money.

Cant wait until there are more to choose from! One every 6 months doesn't make it episodic Penny Arcade!

DS lacks ability to play 20 year old games?

2008-11-10T21:15:00.002+01:00

This is the first post that was directly inspired by a gaming article I found scouring the web. 2 to be precise, this one and this one. I thank these pages for giving me the information to make todays comic.

I'm just amazed to read that someone doesn't think the DS can play those old Lucas Arts adventures. The only problem I could see would be that the bottom screen might be too small to play properly in terms of text size, but other than that, they're perfect! I would imagine they would put in some extra features too, like a commentary you unlock after you beat it, like in The Shivah!

Oh well, we'll always have SCUMMVM ^^

Driving Under Mushrooms

2008-11-09T16:15:00.002+01:00

Mario Kart is a very enjoyable racing game (still not as good as Crash Team Racing for the Playstation though) that allows you to drive like a maniac. I just wondered if you did even half the stuff in the real world that you do in the game how much trouble you would get into :P

Happy Fathers Day!

2008-11-08T21:22:00.002+01:00

This is the most personal one I have made so far. Me and my dad playing Full Throttle by Lucas Arts was some of my most favorite memories of him and me working on something together. Working on such an abstract thing as a computer game had us thinking hard on how to solve the puzzles. He doesn't really play games otherwise, but he really liked that one, so the fact we shared a common interest was great. Happy Fathers day! Thats what it says on the card by the way, only in Swedish :P

Thats how you kill 2 birds with one stone ^^

Pokemon population explosion

2008-11-07T22:05:00.000+01:00

The Pokemon series is a very nice series, involving some of the most free roaming an customizable RPG elements nigh impossible in other games. However, the games have just gotten ridiculous with the huge increases in Pokemons. When you have almost 500 little critters you have to catch you dont really care if you dont Catch them All. They should try to do something while being more conservative with their Pokemon.

Guitar Hero not on Tour

2008-11-06T21:36:00.000+01:00

Guitar Hero On Tour is a tricky game to play on a system that is meant to be portable. To be able to play games on the go, at times when it can get boring, and you have nothing else but that to do. However, the game Guitar Hero On Tour like any DS game that uses the Microphone often, doesn't really allow you to play it in public. You call attention to yourself, people look at you, and besides annoying them, they will distract you from the game since you will be thinking about what they are thinking about you. With that in mind, Guitar Hero On Tour is a better game to play at home then on the road with your roadies.

Rise, Fall, Resurrection

2008-11-05T20:46:00.001+01:00

First of all a disclaimer. I wasn't alive in the 80s, and didn't get to know about games and such until 1997, so the years portrayed here in the comic represent my view of the games and history of the consumers in retrospective rather than personal experience.

I have always loved adventure games, and what I have read and heard they were universally loved in the 80s. There pretty much were no other games but those. Then Doom comes along and buries the genre in the dust, creating the ever present FPS genre that controls the market.

I am happy however to see how the genre is coming back thanks to the Wii, DS and online distribution. Zack and Wiki is a great step forward for console adventure games, and the Phoenix Wright series on DS has brought back the 2d look, while TellTale Games have sparked new interest with their games. Hopefully there will be an even bigger increase in these games in the near future.

Chris is a Mac, Humpe is a PC

2008-11-04T21:06:00.000+01:00

We had a similar conversation like this when Chris purchased The Sims 2 from the local Apple Store. While to be fair, the original Mac version came out 1 year AFTER the PC version, but there hasn't been a new edition of the Mac Version since 2005, while theres been several editions for the PC, with a new one coming out in 2009. Just being fair, and the joke in the comic is still gold ^^

See for yourself in terms of information about Sims 2.

That looks great!

2008-11-03T17:22:00.001+01:00

Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of those games you prefer to look at than play. To see those crisp graphics move in such a manner that almost arouses the geek within oneself. While it is a very hard game for me (I suck at sneaking) its so cool just to watch everything unfold, and since theres a movie playing every 5 minutes, theres a lot of watching ^^

Nintendo Science Lesson

2008-11-02T19:37:00.000+01:00

Another great game, but with a very large flaw in terms of presentation. Theres a reason an Astronaut wears a space suit when he's in space. This is what Super Mario Galaxy would be like had they kept that in mind.

Does it matter?

2008-11-01T20:32:00.000+01:00

I paid for a 14 day trial of WoW, and I played as a bald gnome mage. At any starting point, regardless of race. I found something particularly interesting. The majority of the beginning quests stars you as an exterminator, needing to kill X amount of Y. The thing is, does it really matter? I mean, regardless of how many I kill and regardless of how much of a problem they pose to the NPCs, there are just as many left. I know its for all the other players to kill, since I'm not the only one playing, but one must wonder how the World of Warcraft works :P

Zack and Wiki make a Porno

2008-10-31T14:35:00.000+01:00

Southpark Studios have been showing commercials for that new movie so often now, pretty much every commercial break they show the trailer. The title was often misinterpreted in my mind, hearing it as one of my favorite games for the Wii, Zack and Wiki. And thus, being the Punny man that I am, I combined the 2 licenses together ^^

Super Smash Bros... Improvements?

2008-10-30T20:47:00.001+01:00

Don't get me wrong, I love SSBB, but its one of those games that doesn't revolutionize, but rather evolve itself. And the thing about evolution, unlike what Pokemon say, is that its a continuing process that doesn't stop. Thus regardless of how great this game is, the next one will be better, and its not perfect either. The points we bring up in the comic are real life ideas and suggestions me and Chris have made. But again, theres always the next one, though if it follows the same pattern the next Smash Bros will come out on the next nintendo system.

Humpe is a punny man

2008-10-29T22:54:00.000+01:00

This here is a very inside joke. In fact, its so far inside that only 1 other person will probably like it, that being Chris. Either way, I have been known to make awful puns (Been known to refer to a guy with a cast on his arm as "unarmed") and thus I can get on people's nerves. When me and Chris got Animal Crossing Wild World he commented on how bad these puns were, as if I had written them. Well, now he knows the truth ;)

Smash Ball Effect

2008-10-28T19:52:00.000+01:00

The Smash Ball Effect is that no matter what is going on, you have to run and try to get the Smash Ball. Ive noticed that while playing with Chris, since we could be in the middle of beating each other sh**less, but once the ball appears, we stop and try to get it. A truce if you will. Don't think there's any other fighter that can distract you from your opponent like that in every match.

Dragon Ball Z Teinkaichi Budokai 2

2008-10-10T16:19:00.000+02:00

This happened to me and Chris when we were playing this on the Wii. I had chosen the character C20, who is indeed an android (or Cyborg, whatever name sounds better), but I forgot those characters cant charge their Ki the conventional way by pressing 'Z'. I pointed out that I couldn't do a rather necessary thing in the game, to which Chris responded with the above.

What made that moment memorable was simply the fact that when he said it he sounded so sure about it, as a matter of fact feel to it. He then understood how ridiculous it sounds that one should know that an Android cant charge, and I ripped on him for a while. However, that little memory has spawned this new blog, and for better for worse, will give an inside look towards games and gaming culture. Oh, its been done? Well... That wont stop us!

~ Humpe