minna ni naisho dayo

Micro-Sized

Out with the old, in with the new, as they say:

I was very faithful to my GBA SP, having played with it extensively from its release back on Feb. 14, 2003 up to as recently as last night (I played the platinum one, FYI -- I only break out the LE Famicom one for photo ops like this). But now that I've got a Micro, it's time to lay the SP to rest for good. Thanks for the memories, old friend!

No time for any impressions, other than to say that this thing is unbelievably small and sexy. If it weren't for the iPod nano's announcement yesterday, I might've crowned the Micro sexiest handheld gadget ever. It's THAT nice. The black carry pouch it comes with is pretty stylin', too.

Any of you guys planning to buy one? If so, which color?

Perhaps "Love" Wasn't Quite Strong Enough

Well, I couldn't resist. I tried to take Dawn of Sorrow out of my DS after I completed it last week, but somehow it just wouldn't budge. What else was there for me to do but keep on playing? So I did. I completed the main bonus mode, which was a lot of fun, and then I went back to my main game to wrap up loose ends. As of this morning, I've completed the entire map and collected every soul, and I think I can finally put this unbelievably addictive game to rest:

I've got to get something else in my DS ASAP before I start having visions of hunting down nine of each soul, or bringing my character to level 99, or playing through Hard Mode or something. Somebody help me!

Castlevania Love

You're supposed to sing that to the tune of Dre and 2Pac's "California Love," FYI.

So, the other day I finished Konami's latest Castlevania gem, Dawn of Sorrow (aka Sougetsu no Jyuujika) for the DS. I never get tired of 2D Castlevania games, and Dawn of Sorrow was no different. I was completely hooked for the better part of a week before finally clearing the main game and getting the best (or perhaps I should say "real") ending. In the end, my stats were as follows:

Level: 52
Play Time: 14 hours, 09 minutes, 30 seconds
Map Completion: 99.6%
Soul Collection: 86.0%

Not bad, considering I didn't FAQ at all (though I did exchange a few hints with Andrew Vestal, who was also playing through). Now I'm working my way through the main bonus mode, though I'm starting to get a little tired. If I don't complete it soon, I may give up and move back to Pokemon Emerald, which I'd been playing religiously after dumping Riviera. But overall, I'd say it was a very worthwhile 14 hours, and I'm already looking forward to the next version. Hopefully with that one they'll cut the silly touch screen stuff (it was pointless, really), and bring Yamane back to do all the music.

In other news, I'm looking forward to diving into Tales of Legendia, and I'm very excited about the next two weeks, when a horde of industry friends will be trekking into town for the Tokyo Game Show and an endless amount of sake-drinking and karaoke-singing. Good times are sure to be had by all...