Game Review: Final Fantasy IX

Being the last Final Fantasy title for the Playstation 1, this game pays homage to all the FF series in the last decade. Unlike its most recent predecessor, Final Fantasy VIII, the story is not as complex and gameplay has been trimmed down almost to a non-brainer style, similar to the Chrono series in the SNES. Graphics-wise, the creators have upped the ante in terms of character design, level of detail and AI interactivity. You'll notice how richly defined the towns, castle interiors and alien worlds are as you progress into the game. The game had a medieval feel to it, too, unlike FF8 that had a completely futuristic theme. The game itself is an interlude to the FF series, and familiar elements like potions,weapons and armor special items and the character class system (Thief, Black Mage,White Mage, Knight, Dragon Knight,Monk) are revisited by the playable characters themselves. While this isn't the best game on the Playstation, it's definitely a milestone in the Final Fantasy series.

Read the Final Fantasy review on Gamepost.com

Best games for the PSX (Playstation 1)

As I was trying to kill some idle time at work I came across this nice little list of the top 25 games of all time for the Playstation 1 (PSX). I admit that I have been wanting to get the most out of my PSX emulator and I wanted to at least play something worthwhile. Now that I've found this one I might as well get these into my collection as well.

Top 25 Games of All Time: Complete List

Sweet portability: The Sony PSP

Sony's answer to Nintendo's dominant portable gaming behemoth GBA (Gameboy Advance), the PSP is one slick piece of uber-tech that seems to scream mobility, style and game-addict nirvana. CNET.com's review of the PSP can be read here. While I still haven't held one of these babies just yet, I can tell one piece of gorgeous and sexy tech from the way it looks to the way it runs.

You can bet that this one is definitely on my wishlist this year. Ah, joy!

Game Boy Advance: Also for the big boys!

The Game Boy Advance is the successor to Nintendo's Game Boy Color, with a new and sleek design reminiscent to that of Sega's Game Gear. Playing games on the GBA is similar to playing on a SNES console, only smaller, much more compact but with slightly improved graphics and sound. The controls are a bit limited, like most hand held consoles which have only up to 2-3 buttons, but that doesn't stop the fun.

To play GBA games on my laptop, I got myself a GBA emulator called VisualBoyAdvance, close to the real thing. In short, it's like actually having the GBA on your laptop itself, only that you have more control over the options, the video and audio settings, etc.

GBA games I currently have:

1. Super Robot Wars D (Bandai) - Mecha RPG at its best! Too bad it's in Japanese. But the game play is worth it! Play as your favorite legendary Mech heroes and crush the enemies in pure operatic, anime fashion, complete with overdone cinematic battle sequences!

2. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Square Enix) - Final Fantasy Tactics ported to the Game Boy Advance, with some added elements to the game. The plot has been simplified to make way for richer gameplay and an enhanced game system. You'll have a hard time putting this one down.

3. Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Nintendo) - Nintendo's flagship RPG title hits the Game Boy Advance with another unique storyline and the all too familiar hero, Link.

4. Megaman X 3 (Capcom) - Who could forget the legendary Megaman and his (almost naive) quest for truth and justice? X is actually a clone designed to be an improved version of Megaman himself. This is the 3rd installment in the Megaman X series

5. Tekken Advance (Namco)- Playstation's Tekken 3 trimmed down for the Game Boy Advance. The graphics are quite modest...but still kick ass!

6. Advance Wars 2 (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo) - One of the best-selling titles for the GBA,this is a turn-based strategy game where you play a commanding officer of an army with a simple objective: lay waste to the enemy army either by obliterating his troops or capturing the enemy headquarters.

7. Street Fighter Alpha 3 Advance - a GBA version of the Street Fighter Alpha 3 arcade game (also released for the Playstation). Like Tekken Advance, this was also trimmed down and enhanced for hand-held console gaming.

8. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (Square/Disney Interactive) - a crazy, almost surreal, Final Fantasy-like game with a Disney feel to it, where you get to hack through your enemies with what seems to be key-shaped sword. This RPG was actually first made for the Playstation 2, but a GBA version was also available as well (talk about luck!).

9. Golden Sun 2 (Camelot/Nintendo) - another good RPG worth mentioning. If you've played Final Fantasy then you'll also enjoy this one.

10. Gundam Seed: Destiny Advance (Bandai) - a fighting game version of the popular Gundam Seed anime.2.

11. Breath of Fire - a GBA remake of the SNES game with the same title. This games has the feel of Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda. For the GBA version, some game elements were added and gameplay also enhanced.

Other games: GT Advance 2 Rally Racing, Top Gear GT Championship and Hot Wheels World Race.

This post is also found in my other blog ...at random.

Playstation classics in your laptop

Being the hard-core gamer that I am, I could not but help install a Playstation emulator into my laptop just for beat-em up purposes (translation: stress reliever), especially after a hard day's work. I've actually never owned a Playstation before but have played one during my high school days. The first time I played it was a bit memorable, it was my first time to see colored shapes in place of the usual A and B buttons that I was used to with my old Family Computer console. The Playstation obviously made the Sega Genesis and the SNES seem like relics of gaming eras past.

I put together a short list of PS games that I have in my laptop right now. I'm planning to add more to my collection when I have the time:

1. Tekken 3 (NAMCO) - THE kick-ass beat em up game every avid video gamer should have, as this has become synonymous to the Playstation itself. Back then, this was one of the best 3D fighting titles for the Playstation.

2. Final Fantasy IX and VIII and Final Fantasy Tactics - the landmark game series that put the "cool" in playing RPGs. Final Fantasy has become a genre of its own due to its popularity. With a rich story line and memorable characters to complement its unique and distinct gaming system, the Final Fantasy series has made a place for itself in game history. Still haven't finished this one though.

3. Metal Slug X - a popular run and gun video game where you have to shoot your way through different enemies as you take on different missions (or stages). This game reminds me of Contra, only with a comic twist to it. Really addictive: I managed to beat the game on my first try.

My list is kinda short, but I'm already planning to get these titles soon: Need For Speed, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Final Fantasy VIII. Check out this page next time for updates.

This post is also found in ...at Random.

ECS 536 Notebook

EliteGroup's Award-winning ECS 536 notebook might not strike some as the "in" thing in latest mobile tech, but it sure does have what it takes to compete with the rest of the pack in terms of battery life (up to about 3 hours) and at an amazingly low price ( got mine at a local computer shop for about $ 560).

Like most notebooks in the market today, the AMD Turion 64 - powered ECS 536 sports the same features like built-in wireless capability (WLAN b/g MiniPCI card), industry-standard power-saving features (goes on standby when you close the lid then gracefully restores your session when you run out of batteries), a VGA port for that extra monitor and the ever-present DVD Combo drive. It comes with 256 MB upgradable memory (SODIMM) and 40 GB hard drive that you can upsize as well. Also has 2 speakers, touchpad for with left and right mouse buttons, an integrated 10/100 lan, s-video out at the rear, 4 usb ports and a parallel port.

This lappy will do as a mobile powerhouse in itself without all the upgrades (surfing the net, making reports, etc.). But if you're no average techie ( like me ) you'd go for the uber-speed upgrades (up to 2 GB) and an upsizable hard drive that could go for up to 160 GB, good enough for kick-ass gamers on the go and hardcore power users that are tight on the budget.

Here a few outstanding features that I discovered for myself in using it:

1. Automatic power-source switching - reverts the notebook's power source from the outlet to the battery pack silently, no need to turn off the unit when you need to unplug from the power socket.
2. Session saving and recovery - the ECS 536 gives you time to plug your power cord back in once your battery pack loses juice, and still be able to go back to your last working session. Very useful for sudden power knockouts.
3.The battery pack recharges itself while it's plugged in.

Some performance issues to take note of, though. Playing DVD's wears out the batteries quite fast (to 2 hours), so best stick to watching movies with the power cord plugged in. The wireless switch function needs some getting used to, because it doesn't automatically detect a wireless network unless you press the WLAN switch on the panel (even worse: there's no LED indicator that tells you if the switch is set to on or off). The sound coming from the panel speakers is barely audible at times (especially on battery mode), it's almost like a whisper when you try to listen to it at a distance of about 4 feet. Also, Sempron-based processors are known to heat up very quickly, so you might notice that it becomes a bit uncomfortable on your lap after an hour or so of working. If so, you might consider purchasing a cooling pad to prevent your unit from getting too warm.

Despite the 536 having lesser and fewer features than its branded counterparts, it still comes out good in terms of usability and long battery-life. It does an excellent job in being a notebook offering basic functionality minus the fancy eye candy and hidden bells and whistles. Lightweight and compact, the ECS 536 offers mobile computing at a reasonable price.

Mobile phone development with DeviceAnywhere.com

Need to test your mobile phone application live, and online? Is your target market located in the US? DeviceAnywhere.com provides the kind of service most hand held and cellphone application developers have been looking for: development testing on a "virtual" yet "live" cellphone, without actually being there. Furthermore, the service actually lets you do testing on a variety of cellphones available, and on different network carriers, allowing you to see first-hand how your application would look like before it actually gets deployed.

Catering to an overseas audience
This situation is quite common among local outsourcing firms that need to deal with overseas clients in remote locations such the US, UK and Australia, with the United States being the main market. If you're a developer based in India, the Philippines or elsewhere, then you will find this downloadable, Java-based tool very useful indeed, because it shows you "in real time" how your programs would look like as if they were on the phone itself before they're deployed. The handsets themselves are geographically located in the US, which you could control remotely. This saves you the trouble of actually finding physically-available handsets for you to test on, which could probably cost you a lot (including subscription and the phone itself).

How it works





















Once you've got everything installed and running, you'll see a window similar to the image above. The top left panel shows the Device Collaboration and Interactive Access sections.

Device collaboration shows your phones that are currently being monitored and shared (with other developers)

Interactive access displays the clickable list of phones that you're currently using.

You can choose more than 1 unit from a wide selection of phones available, usually 2 at a time. To use a unit, you must "acquire" it. Right click on the selection at the left panel and choose "Acquire device", locking the device so only you can use it (since you will be sharing access to the phones with other developers' accounts, there are times that a phone will be busy and locked in to another user's session, i.e. when you right click on it, it says "Wait for Device"). Once you have the device under your control, it becomes active and shows up on the right frame. By the way, your credits (no. of hours) are consumed every time a phone is active ("Acquired"), so if you're a bit stingy on your free prepaid hours you could just "Release" the phone until the next time you need it.

Getting started
To get an account, you could apply for the 5-hour trial first if you want to try the service out and see if you like it, or simply purchase one online (10 hours preloaded ) using your credit card.

Another practical option though, is to apply for a separate Sprint Application Developer account which lets you use the service (for free) for 10 hours. If you're looking for the most effective option without the cost, then this is the way to go.

For more info and tutorials on using DeviceAnywhere:

DeviceAnywhere.com
MobileComplete Official Website

Sony Playstation 3

Sony's latest version of the landmark PSX system, the much-publicized and the much-awaited PS3 (Playstation 3) hit stores in mid-November this year, much to the (oft delayed) delight of hardcore (and casual) gamers. The official PS3 website has a lot to say about the latest features like the first Blu-Ray disc drive ever in the market to be integrated into a popular gaming system, along with a new game processing engine (Cell Broadband microprocessor). Sony is apparently marketing on this feature as the PS3's hidden Ace to finish off the competition.

Cell Broadband Microprocessor
Another reason for every gamer at heart to rejoice is the engine's rich and full-detailed and nearly flawless rendering of kick-ass graphics and animation, thanks to the Cell, developed jointly by Sony, IBM and Toshiba. The PS3 is Sony's first production application of the Cell processor. IBM already has the processor in use in their Blade Servers, and Toshiba will be reportedly using it on their HDTV product line. The processor reportedly makes it possible for the PS3 to create accelerated graphics and animation. Because of this, game developers such as Square Enix ("Final Fantasy") came up with the first FF release for the PS3, Final Fantasy XIII. You can view the trailer below.


For more info on the Playstation 3 and Final Fantasy XIII:

Sony Playstation 3 Official website
Wikipedia: Final Fantasy XIII
Read CNET.com's review on the Sony Playstation 3

Serious Eye-candy : HP Pavilion dv6000t

Only on some rare instances that you could actually chance upon a handsome piece of sexy tech that will surely make you drool with envy.

Presenting the HP Pavillion dv6000, the latest in HP's Pavillion laptops. A friend of mine happens to sport one of these, and I got to try it out too. For a laptop that costs around $1,000 and features a chrome-like keyboard exterior and a glossy display, this baby makes the cut.

The dv6000t screams "mobile multimedia on the next level": the built-in DVD burner (and these used to cost a fortune back then!); an entertainment suite which includes fairly decent Altec Lansing speakers right above the keypad; ergodynamic "touch" buttons along the top panel that lets you adjust speaker volume or play the next track; a mean 15" widescreen display sporting a clear,crisp 1280x800 resolution (so clear ,you can make out those wrinkles on Pamela Anderson's butt cheeks!); a gaggle of mic and headphone jacks along the side panel should you need to plug it in to your home entertainment system to crank up the noise and incur the wrath of your neighbors; and finally, having all these, it's overall coolness factor. Lug this baby around the office and be you'll be CEO for a day.

Read the CNET review of this product.

CNET.com : Cellphones Galore

If you're into the latest in cellphone chic, then best hie your carcass onto the nearest specialty cellphone shop and ogle at the freshest releases in mobile trends. Or better yet, why not take a peek at the upcoming models that will soon hit the streets reading this article? CNET.com's Kent German rounds up some handsets that will surely catch your fancy.

Cell phone freak show: handsets with strange designs