From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc


Oh look it's too hot again.

Play:
--=--

Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy (PS5) - This is pleasant
if a little derivative. Fia as a luckless, unqualified scholarship
student at the hoity magical academy would be an NPC in any other
narrative, so making her the put-upon protagonist is a good way to root
the comedy. I wish I had more to say except that I've been occupied with gardening and parenting so I can't really make the time to sit down and
enjoy the stupid game properly. I'm worried that the combat might be a
bit unintuitive for me, given that you have to pay attention to an
action meter in one corner and also which way your character is facing
at any given moment, and that's not very entertaining on first
impression.

Want:
--=--

Gradius Origins (PS5) - It is ordered. I own fewer Gradius games than I thought, just a few of the Gameboy ports, the NES cart and the PSP
collection. This will legitimately be the first time that I've ever experienced any of the arcade versions as they were intended, albeit
with rewind and other sanctioned cheat features available. That I'll
never remember to use in any meaningful way.

Bin:
-==-

Nothing gaming-related.

-KKC, who's unduly nervous about his child starting school again.
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From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Oh look it's too hot again.

It's the totally incomprehensible unexpectedness that gets me.

Play:

Tetris Attack (SNES) - a bit of Time Trial mode, where on my first go
I got (by my standards at least) a weirdly high score straight out of
the 90s. But I was reassuringly rubbish after that. :-)

Want:

Nothing.

Gradius Origins (PS5) - It is ordered.

And given the name, presumably comes first in the ordering. This is
one of those game names that I always have to mentally translate for predictable reasons (like Contra/Gryzor, Rush'n Attack/Green Beret,
and Shenmue/Pro Forklift Simulator), with the thought process going
something like "Oh, that's Nemesis. Like in 2000AD with Torquemada and
that. No wait, the shooty thing with a pickups-for-movement horizontal
weapon select at the bottom, like it's Awkward Space Multiplan."

Generally I think games journalism (of which this post is obviously a
prime example) is sorely lacking in spreadsheet metaphors. And I
really can't see why, it's as-easy-as 1-2-3 to excel at.

Bin:

Summer heatwave number 42^H.

-Rus.
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From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

In article <NepmQ.3$ctp5.0@usenetxs.com>,
Russell Marks <zgedneil@spam^H^H^H^Hgmail.com> wrote:

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Oh look it's too hot again.

It's the totally incomprehensible unexpectedness that gets me.

Weather is weird all over. Points north of me in the States are
experiencing exactly this level of shock at their hot weather, whereas I
keep bracing for excessive heat that never quite comes. Meant I could
squeeze another year out of my decade-old battered HVAC system in my
house though.

Want:

Gradius Origins (PS5) - It is ordered.

And given the name, presumably comes first in the ordering. This is
one of those game names that I always have to mentally translate for >predictable reasons (like Contra/Gryzor, Rush'n Attack/Green Beret,
and Shenmue/Pro Forklift Simulator), with the thought process going
something like "Oh, that's Nemesis. Like in 2000AD with Torquemada and
that. No wait, the shooty thing with a pickups-for-movement horizontal
weapon select at the bottom, like it's Awkward Space Multiplan."

What's stupid is that not all versions of these games had weapon select.
This particular collection includes all of the arcade variants from all regions, some of which clumsily substituted a straight single-item
power-up mechanism on top of the otherwise unchanged gameplay without
also adjusting the frequency and number of items made available. So no,
not *all* of them have a weapon select at the bottom. For
incomprehensible and unexpected reasons.

-KKC, who needs a nap.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Russell Marks <zgedneil@spam^H^H^H^Hgmail.com> wrote:

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

[...]

Gradius Origins (PS5) - It is ordered.

And given the name, presumably comes first in the ordering. This is
one of those game names that I always have to mentally translate for >>predictable reasons (like Contra/Gryzor, Rush'n Attack/Green Beret,
and Shenmue/Pro Forklift Simulator), with the thought process going >>something like "Oh, that's Nemesis. Like in 2000AD with Torquemada and >>that. No wait, the shooty thing with a pickups-for-movement horizontal >>weapon select at the bottom, like it's Awkward Space Multiplan."

What's stupid is that not all versions of these games had weapon select. This particular collection includes all of the arcade variants from all regions, some of which clumsily substituted a straight single-item
power-up mechanism on top of the otherwise unchanged gameplay without
also adjusting the frequency and number of items made available. So no,
not *all* of them have a weapon select at the bottom. For
incomprehensible and unexpected reasons.

Wow. I guess it really is Awkward. :-) I should bear that in mind for
any future attempts at names/brain/comic/shooter/weapons/spreadsheet
humour. I'm pretty sure Bob Monkhouse had an entire joke book devoted
to that specific combination, so the precedent is clear enough.

-Rus.
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