March Holidays are about to end. I haven’t been doing what I ought to do for my academics. I know I did say that I didn’t have much homework to do at all but there was some reading to be done. To be honest, brutally honest I’ve yet to even open the book to read even one page. There are still hundreds of pages left and school is about to start. Blah, I feel really bad now, wait don’t I always have this kind of feeling for every Holiday?

Anyways, I’ll try to get some reading done and finish up the rest of the homework should there be any. Still March Holidays have been one hell of a week for me. I mean for the past 4 years, my March holidays are usually filled with NPCC activities whether it is camps or competitions. Usually, I’ll be back in school doing drills, practicing my knots and stuff, sleeping in tents blah blah blah. This year, it is totally different. Instead of camps and drills, I have sports training and some publication group stay over. A rather new experience for myself and I got to say that it is rather tiring.

Activities took away my Monday all the way to today, Friday excluding Tuesday. How awesome is that for an excuse for not completing work. Hockey trainings were physically exhausting due to physical training and the sheer need to run, hit and so on. I kind of get the feeling that I am getting the grips of the game already. Not consistent in hitting the ball or am I strong enough or technically sound to strike the ball at such great velocity but still I guess improvement should be what I ought to look forward to. I experience what it was like to run back and forth for half of a match and I have to say that I almost died. At the end of the half I almost puked, no kidding. Lucky I didn’t have a heavy breakfast or the pitch would be decorated with my vomit.

The publication group stay over was frustrating, very frustrating to be honest. I mean everything was not planned as it is and due to it falling on the day right after hockey training, my temper and attitude wasn’t set right at the very start. I mean yeah so got pissed off at the slightest of things but towards the end it was much better. Learnt about how the group works and the different departments so on and so forth. Also did some preparations for the next issue that is about to be launch before the June Holidays.

It sucks to be sick for the holidays and I am sad to say that I have yet to even recover from it. Currently suffering from cough and flu or even maybe fever who knows. Sick from the start till the end, how awesome is that. Maybe that explains the puking feeling, or maybe I’m just unfit.

Feeling giddy now even after sleeping for hours during the afternoon. Time to go off and sleep or something. Maybe a game first. Maybe a page. Nah, the game options sounds better. I’ll leave you with some practice drawing I did recently. Was thinking of doing a web comic when I get more efficient with the pen and my artistic talent (if there is any). Don’t laugh as usual.

Enjoy the rest of your March holidays for you students and the weekend for the adults.

The games were fantastic as well. Played the gameboy versions pokemon yellow, blue and red. The later few versions didn’t really appeal to me as I sought for newer and other games. The latest few versions received rather fantastic reviews as well scoring from 8 to 10s. Maybe I should try it out again one day, heard that loads of stuff changed since then.

Talking about theme song, I’ve heard several theme songs of pokemon played throughout the series. I’ve heard different types and styles but none beats the very first theme song. Maybe it is just me but hell yeah the first theme song is the greatest ever for me at least. I can still remember the lyrics even after years since I last watched an episode or even hear the song! Anyways came across this A Cappella version of the theme song and I thought I would like to share it with you current and ex pokemon fans. Get yourselves pumped up before playing the new version!

Are you ready to catch’em all?

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It plays like a pacman survival escape game. You are being chased by these people in different levels and all you have to do is to not get caught by them and find the exit. Levels are designed in a way of a puzzle. You basically get routes all over one particular level and enemies within certain parts of the routes. If spotted by the enemy, they will start giving chase and you try your best to twist and turn to lose them. Within each level, there might be some objects (triggers) that you have to obtain before you are able to escape and proceed on to the next level. Level designs are rather interesting and exciting, especially when you don’t know what is coming right ahead of you.

The game has a view range system where you can only view routes where are not blocked by walls. This means that before you reach a “T” junction, you have no idea what lies at the right or left. You only get to see paths that are unblocked by objects. This creates the anxiety and exciting atmosphere. I mean this also meant that you have to strategize the way you plan your path as well. You don’t want to walk into a junction attracting the attention of the 2 guards left and right of you. Sometimes you would want to walk slowly and find paths with less than 2 openings, leaving yourself secure to run away should there be someone in front of you. Nonetheless, a great system implemented which makes the game a whole lot more fun and thrilling. There are also different types of enemies present within the game, each with their own ability. There are the basic guards who only give chase, agents who can chase really quickly, soldiers with range abilities (shooting trap nets) and the hunter whom you want to avoid at all cause.

There are power-ups within the game which are extremely vital in your progress to escape from the enemies. There are power-ups that increase your movement speed, give you unlimited stamina for a certain amount of time and also power-ups that give a wider visibility range. All of these are important for using one of them might change the situation when you get caught between two enemies or so. For example if you meet a dead end and an enemy is fast approaching onto you, use the teleport power-up (if you have it) and teleport to safety. The power-ups are a nifty addition to the game.

There are 3 control schemes that you can choose from. One is by flicking, second a d-pad and thirdly the tilting controls. The d-pad and tilting scheme did not work smoothly enough for me. D-pad felt rigid and clunky, tilting simply doesn’t work when required. Nonetheless, the flicking control scheme works perfectly well (in my opinion). Flicking is done simply by flicking the direction you want to move in that direction. Tap on the screen once to make your character stop moving. That is simply all there is to it. Works much better than the d-pad and tilting controls.

There is the option to run as well. Running is extremely important for survival and escaping. When unintentionally catching the attention of the enemy, running allows you to out pace your chaser. When not running, you are often caught in the situation where the distance between you and the chaser getting shorter and shorter every second. There is just one problem to it though; you cannot run forever in the game. This is due to the stamina bar which limits how much you can run between a stipulated period of time. Depleted stamina bar results in your character not being able to run. You have to rest and wait till the bar refills before you can run again. This again makes the game more realistic and much more fun to play. I mean who wants a game where you can simply outrun every single opponent you see? It’ll be way too boring and easy.

There are a total of 3 game modes that you can choose from; Story, Free and Survival. Story mode is simply the main storyline where you play through all the different levels with the ability to choose from 3 different difficulty levels. Free mode allows you to replay those exciting levels and try for a new completion time record. Survival mode is unlocked once the story mode is completed. In survival mode, you simply have to survive within a level as long as you can and set the highest record time possible. You cannot stay in one corner and not move though since time has to be replenished by collecting orbs. In search of the orbs, make sure you do not run into any of the hunters or guards!

The game graphics are that of the retro pixel styled graphics. I love pixel styled games so I might be biased in saying that the game looks great. But overall I bet it’ll be pleasing enough for the general public. The level environments are well designed and the themes of each levels are brought out strongly with the objects and setting design within the game. The atmosphere for once is dark gloomy and definitely provides the anxiety in escaping within the player. The only problem I have though is sometimes the paths within the game are not well defined. Sometimes you might mistake a path being able to move through but when doing so, getting stopped by an object. I mean with closer inspection you will find out that indeed there is an object blocking the way by how do you do that when you are being chased by a guard. Other than that, environments and atmosphere are well done. Not spectacular but definitely great in terms of matching the aspects and gameplay of the game.

Music and sound effects helps a lot in bringing up the mood and atmosphere as well. Music creates an exhilarating feeling among the players and sound effects give you the needed shock whenever you caught the attention of an enemy. I do hope however for an option to turn the sound off and listen to my own music at times. I mean yeah the music and sound effects are cool but listening over and over again might simply be too much of a bore and eventually turn annoying.

The only suggestion I have for the game to make it one hell of a great one would be that of online multiplayer. Maybe a mode where some players play as the guards and one guy escaping? Or maybe even cooperative levels where two players have to work together in order to escape? Wow, think of the possibilities! Simply mind blowing. Multiplayer online gameplay will take this game to a whole new level when executed right. Just think of all the fun chasing another real life player and so on. Global high score record boards will also be a nice add-on.

Though there are not a whole lot of levels to play from, the replayability is there with the survival and free modes. Replay the fun and it never dies off as you compete with your friend to see who is the fittest of them all. For $0.99, Jailbreak: Voice Onrush is a great game to get for almost everyone and anyone.

Gameplay Video:

Official Site: OmniXtudio

Itunes Appstore Link: Jailbreak: Voice Onrush $0.99

In past years I loved the IT Show. Not because they had great prices or deals, but simply the sake of going somewhere with so many people browsing and shopping for gadgets and technology. I hate the crowd, how ironical and paradoxical to say that. I mean yeah the people is cool but yet I hate squeezing too much, makes me want to puke. This year I went to the IT Show to get myself something, a tablet input. I do have a tablet laptop bought 5 years back but it was way too troublesome to operate on that and my desktop. Therefore I decided to purchase a tablet input for my desktop.

After reading up on the net, I come to know that Wacom has finally introduced a new series of consumer priced tablet inputs. Wacom is famous for their tablet products for professionals and seldom do any of their products come in cheap priced packages. However, a year or 2 back did they introduce the so called normal consumer line of products, the bamboo series. Yeah, so I got myself a Wacom Bamboo Pen at a normal price of $120 (Same price as everywhere else in Singapore I hope.) Purpose of getting a tablet input? Studying, making notes on the computer and mainly because I want to learn how to do some digital art. Ain’t that great in art but I do want to try learn how to draw. I mean I guess it’ll be fun. Who knows I might have talent in it? (Not too sure though, art for me during my lower secondary school years ain’t telling me that I have the hidden talents). Drew something up following a tutorial in around 20 mins or so. Horrible but please don’t laugh. It is my first ever try.

Besides getting the tablet input, my Dad also got himself a new laptop, not breaking his trend of at least 1 new laptop a year. However, this time he does have a reason in getting a new laptop. He accidentally destroyed the screen of his previous one. I mean the whole screen cracked due to heavy object on it or something in his workplace. Don’t know much about the details but the damage done is rather bad. So he had gotten himself an i5 laptop, Asus and rather good specs in my opinion. Price wise, yeah probably reasonable but not say extremely cheap or a must buy. I did hear that there are some good deals in the road shows held by the polytechnic, never mind though what is bought cannot be refunded.

With that said, IT Show 2010 is like any other IT Shows/Fairs, the same products at prices similar to that without the show or even higher. Yes higher and not lower, how ironical. Still, I did see some new stuff in this show for example the 3D stuff by Sony (never really went to see since it was way too crowded) and the Roccat peripherals, extremely cool and awesome looking mices and keyboards. Other than that, everything else is as per normal, crowd is still there, show girls still there so on and so forth.

March Holidays will be busy for me. Not because of homework, in fact I have close to no homework at all, but due to the extra curriculum activities such as the student publication and hockey. Have hockey trainings on three of the days and a 2 day camp yet to decide to attend (compulsory but I do have reasons not to go). Hope it’ll be fun especially the trainings for hockey. Really want to get my skills better within this year. Competition is tough, very tough.

With all that said all I have to do is remind myself to do my reading and finish my reading by the end of the holidays. If not, I’ll be facing loads of trouble in English. Term 1 passed rather quickly, not too busy and the pace seem to be slowly picking up. Hope I’ll be able to cope with the fast paced chaotic style should it turn out to become like that in the weeks to come.

The game consists primarily of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player’s character and simple objects using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (“ASHPD”, also dubbed the “portal gun”), a unit that can create inter-spatial portals between flat planes. The player character is challenged by an AI named “GLaDOS” to complete each puzzle in the “Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center” using the portal gun with the promise of receiving cake when all the puzzles are completed.

[image by Volpin @ flickr]

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Cocoto Magic Circus has a simple storyline behind it. A mysterious and evil clown kidnapped Pixie, the fairy. You guessed it right; it is your mission to aid Cocoto and his friends to save Pixie. Unfortunately, things are not that simple for you will find yourself trapped inside the evil circus. As such, shoot your way through different stages to finally reach the evil clown and save Pixie. The story is told with animated scenes for the beginning and end; a very nice touch to the game.

There are two ways to play the game, online and offline. I’ll talk about the offline part of the game first. Basically you have the options to choose from the main arcade mode or the training mode. Training mode allows you to practice the different mini shooting games that you will be facing in the arcade mode. There is not much need to do so since instructions are extremely straightforward and will be given before each stage starts. Nonetheless, you can specifically play and perhaps challenge your friends in some of the challenges that are of better fun and uniqueness.

With that aside, the arcade mode simply proceeds through stages. You get to choose from 4 different characters to play with and there are 5 main stages with around 7 mini levels within each. There are a variety of mini games but most of the objectives are repeated with just different enemies and environment. Still, the fun still maintains throughout the whole game as you shoot your way through the stages. There are levels where you have to shoot enemies approaching the fairy, shoot cards that matches whatever the computer wants you to shoot, timing shots to shoot enemies when they are near a certain object etc. The freshness of the game is done by adjusting and modifying little bits of the stages. Therefore even when the objectives are similar, you will always find something new for example some enemies walk in a manner that is rather hard to shoot in the later stages etc.

You get to face a boss at the very end of each main stage. The bosses aren’t particularly hard to kill. The simple skill is to spam shooting at him whenever possible. This however results in lower accuracy and thus lesser points in that particular aspect. Nonetheless, you will be able to clear the boss in no time. There are power-ups/downs within the game as well. These come in balloons where you can shoot within the level. Some gives you bonus multiplier to your score and others might alter the game to make it more difficult for example re-orientating the whole level upside down etc. There are 3 difficulty settings you are able to choose from: easy, medium and hard. Basically the harder the difficulty the more you have to shoot within a shorter time frame.

You get points at the end of each level adding to a main total when you finish the game. Not sure what the score is for since there is no highscore board of any sorts for the offline mode I believe. You are given a certain number of lives and can be increased by scoring well n the bonus stages after every main stage. Shooting is done by the simple tapping of your finger at the spot where you want to shoot your dart gun at. Controls are responsive and smooth, making the game a whole lot more enjoyable.

The online mode pits you against other players competing to see who can get the highest score possible after a series of mini-games. You get to play the same few mini-games from the offline mode but instead of simply playing against yourself, you are now competing with another live opponent. For example there is a mini-game that its objective is to shoot as many enemies as you can. You and your opponent is placed in the same field thus if he shoot that same particular enemy you are shooting and he does it in a quicker manner, you will be losing out in that enemy and thus your points. At the very end the person with the highest points wins. The online multiplayer is very fun and competitive, taking the game to a whole new level.

I tried the online multiplayer a few times and all I have to say that it is superb. There isn’t much lag to the point where it makes the game unplayable. Everything seemed to run smoothly and fine. I have one question however is perhaps to have some kind of statistics implemented into the game which would make it a whole lot more complete.

Graphics and sound effects are great as well. The 3D graphics are fantastic for me and pleasing to the eye. The colours used, environments and atmosphere created is simply magnificent. I love how the sound effects are used as well. It gives you the kind of arcade feeling like as if you walked into an arcade hearing all the bleeps and bloops. Everything matches very well to emphasize the overall theme of the game. Kudos to the animated videos added in at the start and the end of the whole game; a very nice touch that is well appreciated.

The major flaw of the game is the repetitiveness. Though it may be fun, the fun doesn’t last if you were to go for a second play-through in the single player mode. There ought to be much more variety in the game modes and though I did say the tweaks were rather good, it is better to have completely different concept/objectives for it keeps the game ultimately fresh throughout. Other than that, there isn’t much more to complain about.

It is currently priced at $0.99 for a limited time. If you love those shooting mini-game styled games, get Cocoto Magic Circus while it is still at that fantastically cheap price. If you’re looking for generic fun, get it as well. For such a price and such a quality game it is extremely hard to resist. Who knows that they might add in add-ons in future which might include much more new levels and types of mini-games?

NOTE: There is some lag present when playing the game with a 1^st generation iPod Touch. The lag comes whenever the screen gets clotted up with a certain number of enemies etc. It is bearable and does not make the game unplayable.

Gameplay Video:

iTunes Appstore Link: Cocoto Magic Circus

Meet John Freeman, a young boy from the town of gm_pallet. Now that he is old enough to get a Garrymon lisence, he will get his first Garrymon as they will both have to journey on to a world full of adventure, mystery and secrets that they will have to unfold, In the world of Garrymon!

Garrymon is made using garry’s mod and it is rather impressive seeing how the whole episode being made using such tools. The content is hilarious as well and it is a bonus for those who love the source engine since garry’s mod is based off that as well.

If you’re still wondering what exactly the video is about, it follows the concept of pokemon, just that now its a whole new world and the cute little creatures are called garrymons.

So yeah, got ta catch them all!

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