All Consuming : awrittensin

A story about "Diet Dr. Pepper"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:21:20 GMT

by Dr. Pepper Bottling Company

I find that after drinking Diet Dr. Pepper for a while, I cannot go back to drinking Diet Coke. It tastes all watered down and bland.

I <3 you, peppery goodness.

Why it's taking me forever to finish consuming "Amrita"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:15:35 GMT

Amrita

by Banana Yoshimoto

I just can’t get through this book, and I’m not sure why. I started reading it in the fall of 2005 and I’m still not done with the damn thing! It’s not that I don’t like the book. I love it! I just can’t get through it. Sooo weird.

Why it's taking me forever to finish consuming "Vespertine"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:11:56 GMT

Vespertine

by Björk

I don’t want to ever stop consuming this. I listen to it at least once a day. I’ve never been a big Bjork fan until I heard this album, and now I’m totally hooked. Love it.

Crappy. (rated 1 star)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:08:54 GMT

Super Mario 64 DS (US)

by Nintendo

Impossible to play on DS.

This game would be god if it wasn't so f'ing buggy. (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:06:53 GMT

Harvest Moon DS (US)

by Natsume

I put so many hours into this game, but ran into a really bad bug that made my game freeze every time I went outside. That really, really sucked.

But this game is SO fun, and there’s tons of things to do. I really wish it wasn’t so buggy. I think that the localizers and developers need to put more effort into the next release.

My favorite game to play at night in bed. (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:04:03 GMT

Pogo Island (DS)

by Electronic Arts

I have a paid account at pogo.com, so of course I had to get this game! It’s really fun and is an easy way to get tokens. I’ve gotten about 50,000 tokens in one week playing this game!

You can transfer your tokens to your pogo.com account using the DS’ wireless capabilities.

I have 2 complaints about this game, though.

1) Not enough games. There are only 5 pogo.com games on this, so it can get boring at times. I want to play other ones! There’s no reason that there couldn’t have been more games on here, unless they’re going to put out more versions to milk people for money. It IS EA, after all.

2) Badges that you earn in the game cannot be transferred to your pogo.com account for all to see. What’s the point, then? Totally lame.

Super fun! Great way to learn 百人一首. (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:00:50 GMT

タッチで楽しむ百人一首：　DS時雨殿 (JP)

by Nintendo

I’ve been wanting to learn the 百人一首 for a while, mainly because I like learning really obscure shit, and this is the perfect game for it! The 百人一首 is a collection of 100 famous poems. Each poem is written on a card, and this card game is played by many Japanese as part of New Years festivities. How the game works is, each poem is broken up into a top part and bottom part. The bottom parts are on cards, and spread out on the floor, kind of like Memory. Everyone sits on the floor by the cards. Someone reads the top parts of the poem aloud, and the players have to beat each other to find match the bottom part first!

So anyway, this game teaches you mnemonic devices in order to learn the poems. It takes the first character or few from both the top and bottom parts of the poem to make a silly phrase that will make it easy to remember. They also have silly pictures to make it even easier! You have an opportunity to memorize each phrase or picture, and then the game will quiz you in groups of 5 poems. If you pass the quizzes, you will then move on to compete against a lady wearing old school Japanese robes and speaking old school Japanese!!

In another mode, you can just compete against 5 different people (all dressed and speaking accordingly old school).

Another cool mode, is that you can have the DS randomly choose poems to read aloud, and if you have a set of 百人一首 cards, you can play along!

Only very advanced learners of Japanese would be able to benefit from this game, in my opinion.

A story about "Battleship/Connect Four/Sorry!/Trouble (US)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:53:44 GMT

Battleship/Connect Four/Sorry!/Trouble (US)

by DSI Games

I ordered this game, but haven’t received it yet.

Any kind of game that I can play quietly at night in bed is a game for me. I hope this game will be fun!

Kind of hurts my eyes. (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:52:46 GMT

Yoshi's Island DS (US)

by Nintendo

I’m not sure what it is about the game, but when Yoshi moves, it makes really weird tracing effects on the screen and hurts my eyes, so I haven’t been able to play this game much.

I don't get it. (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:49:28 GMT

ぐるぐる投げっと (JP)

by Success

I got this game on sale. I tried to play it, but had no f’ing idea wtf I was doing. The Japanese isn’t difficult, I just had a hard time knowing what the hell to do. Maybe I will try to play it again.

Super fun. (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:48:02 GMT

New Super Mario Bros. (US)

by Nintendo

Gotta get all the stars, gotta get all the stars…

I love Mario games, and this one did not disappoint me!

Disappointing. (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:46:51 GMT

Sonic Rush (US)

by Sega

I love Sonic games, but I have to say this title really disappointed me. I felt that the game went entirely too fast for a platform-type game; you had to anticipate what was going to come next so far in advance that I felt some parts of the game were literally impossible.

Booo. At least Tails didn’t steal my air bubbles.

Can't live without it. (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:44:31 GMT

漢字そのまま楽引辞典 (JP)

by Nintendo

Finally, an upgrade to the super disappointing 楽引辞典. This version offers total kanji support! You can look up any kanji you don’t know by drawing it on the screen with the stylus. However, unlike Microsoft IME pad, this dictionary is more strict about your neatness and stroke order. You can’t just scribble a bunch of crap and expect it to give you the right kanji. Also, if your Japanese handwriting is a little sloppy, sometimes it will recognize your characters as something else. That gets a little annoying at times. “That’s hiragana ‘o’ not ‘mu’ you f-ing idiot dictionary!!”

But I totally couldn’t live without it. It’s a necessity for translating because it’s faster and easier than a paper dictionary, and portable so I can translate anywhere I go without having to lug a laptop around.

Probably need to have at least intermediate proficiency of Japanese to navigate this dictionary, as the interface is all in Japanese.

A story about "私のハッピーマナーブック (JP)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:39:37 GMT

私のハッピーマナーブック (JP)

by Taito

I couldn’t resist buying a game called “My Happy Manner Book” featuring a girl with her nose up in the air. That shit is my cup of tea. This is ordered but not here yet, but I can’t wait!

It seems to be a Choose Your Own Adventure type game for snobby chicks. XD

What a weird game. (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:37:49 GMT

Rub Rabbits (US)

by Sega

Why did they translate this game to “The Rub Rabbits” when the Japanese title is “Where Do Babies Come From?” XD

Anyway, this game will cure your boredom for a night or two, but after that it’s kind of boring. And it’s a little weird. Some of the minigames are fun, but some are really hard!

Japanese rhythm game. (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:35:42 GMT

大合奏！バンドブラザーズ (JP)

by Nintendo

A really fun rhythm game, but too hard for me because I suck at rhythm games. :P

Kinda fun but unbelievably buggy. (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:34:44 GMT

Zoo Tycoon (US)

by Sega

I like Tycoon type games, but this game is so buggy it totally takes away from all the fun. My game froze SO MANY TIMES that I just had to give up and stop playing it. :\

A story about "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (US)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:32:33 GMT

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (US)

by Konami

My husband really loved this, but I haven’t played it yet. On the list of games to play!

How can you resist a game called "Egg Monster Hero"?! (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:31:35 GMT

エッグモンスター HERO (JP)

by Square Enix

I got this game on sale, and didn’t really think it would be that cool. However, I got totally addicted to it! I played it for a while and am actually thinking of restarting it so I can finish the whole thing. It’s a cute little RPG with Pokemon type elements to it. Kind of.

You can pick kanji or kana storytelling, so I’d say intermediate Japanese learners could probably work their way through this with a dictionary.

A story about "探偵・癸生川凌介事件譚　仮面幻影殺人事件 (JP)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:29:22 GMT

探偵・癸生川凌介事件譚　仮面幻影殺人事件 (JP)

by Genki

I got this game on sale. It might have been because it was super late at night, but when i tried to play it, I had super kanji overload. I might try another go at it, but this time I might have a dictionary at hand….

A story about "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All (US)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (awrittensin) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:27:33 GMT

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All (US)

by Capcom

This is my husband’s game, and I’m not even sure if I put the right Phoenix Wright game up there.

I briefly played it and was utterly bored. It felt like a multimedia slide show where all you did was just kept pressing “next.”

And what terrible localization!!!

All Consuming : awrittensin

A story about "Diet Dr. Pepper"

Why it's taking me forever to finish consuming "Amrita"

Why it's taking me forever to finish consuming "Vespertine"

Crappy. (rated 1 star)

This game would be god if it wasn't so f'ing buggy. (rated 4 stars)

My favorite game to play at night in bed. (rated 4 stars)

Super fun! Great way to learn 百人一首. (rated 5 stars)

A story about "Battleship/Connect Four/Sorry!/Trouble (US)"

Kind of hurts my eyes. (rated 3 stars)

I don't get it. (rated 3 stars)

Super fun. (rated 4 stars)

Disappointing. (rated 3 stars)

Can't live without it. (rated 5 stars)

A story about "私のハッピーマナーブック (JP)"

What a weird game. (rated 3 stars)

Japanese rhythm game. (rated 3 stars)

Kinda fun but unbelievably buggy. (rated 2 stars)

A story about "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (US)"

How can you resist a game called "Egg Monster Hero"?! (rated 4 stars)

A story about "探偵・癸生川凌介事件譚 仮面幻影殺人事件 (JP)"

A story about "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All (US)"

A story about "探偵・癸生川凌介事件譚　仮面幻影殺人事件 (JP)"