Too sleepy to italicize.

This week's SaturPLAY will relatively shorter than normal.  Basically, I didn't play much of anything, despite playing a bunch of a lot of things.  I played and deleted files of The Sims 3: Pets and Fallout: New Vegas.  And today, I started files of both Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 in order to have them there when my copy of Lightning Returns arrives.  And I am still working on Pokémon Black 2.  I have gotten to the third Gym and saved the game right before I take on Burgh.  I did face him once before, but I lost so I reset the game.  I went back on my promise to train only Water-types.  I have been training my Pidove to combat the Bug-types that Burgh carries.  I also have an Eevee in my party that I fully intend to evolve into a Vaporeon when I get a Water Stone.

And finally, I have made some progress in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories.  I have completed  the Destiny Islands floor and now I am at the next fight against Riku.  I was having trouble, so I stopped playing to take a break from it.  Which is why I have been playing other games lately.

Well, that's all for this week's SaturPLAY.  Until next time, I hope no Game Over screens cross you gaze.

Michael, aka me3lingual.

A big key, but unlocks nothing! - SaturPLAY #3

Welcome to this week's SaturPLAY post!  I hope your gaming this week went well.  My start off okay, but I hit a wall a few days ago.  Or rather, a gate.  I am stuck in the same place I was the last time I played Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories.  I can't defeat Vexen as he guards the gate to the mansion in Twilight Town.  I have looked up strategies online, and asked friends who have played the game.  Nothing is working.  It sucks, because I really thought I was doing well. It is probably a good thing that I am playing the version on Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX.  I sometimes toss controllers when I get frustrated, and so it's a good thing the PS3 controller is wireless.

I became too frustrated with that game, so I started a game of Fallout: New Vegas yesterday.  I am already at Level 5.  Everything is going okay so far.  I reached Primm today and cleared out the Bison Steve hotel.  Now, I am back at Goodsprings at the Doc's house.  I had three crippled limbs when I got there.  It took what seemed like hours to get back there.  I really need to learn how to not pick up every weapon ever, just because I may use it.  I would get places faster if I would just use the weapons I have and not worry so much about keeping them maintained.  It won't break just because it is fired once.

I am still making movies in Pokémon Black 2.  I only have one choice at the moment, and that's the third installment of the Red Fog series.  I still really like filming the movies, but I am ready to move on.  I want to catch more Pokémon, especially Water-types.

When my DS needed recharged one night, and I was still not sleepy, I went and got my PSP out and started a file of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.  I am playing as Ventus as the moment.  I like his story so far.  It is really different from Terra's from what I can tell.

I was hoping to have Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories finished, but that didn't happen.  I will work on it for next time. And with that, we've come to the end of this week's SaturPLAY.  I hope you enjoyed it, and that no Game Over Screens cross you path!

Michael, aka me3lingual

"Feel the Heat!" - SaturPLAY #2

Welcome back to SaturPLAY!  In this edition, I will talk about the games I played this past week, as well as what I am playing right now.  And of course by right now, I mean today; because I am typing this post right now.  Anyway let's begin.

I finished Grand Theft Auto III on Friday.  It was only the second time I have ever finished the game.  For it's time, it is a nice game.  I certainly don't like how Donald Love just up and disappears suddenly, with the game not even finishing the storyline properly on that regard.  But, I guess it does fit the main character's personality.  Since he never seemed to care who he worked for, as long as they paid him.

My favorite vehicle in the game was the Yakuza Stinger.  My favorite character is probably Joey Leone.  And I have always liked the talk radio stations in all of the Grand Theft Auto games, and Chatterbox is no different.

After finishing Grand Theft Auto III, the next game I played was one I knew I could get through quickly.  And that was The King of Fighters XI.  I don't really like fighting games, because they are more about memorizing abilities and button pressing.  Fighting games are a genre I prefer to watch being played rather than playing them myself.  

I played using two teams of characters.  First, I used Real Bout Fatal Fury Team, which consisted of Terry Bogard, Kim Kaphwan, and Duck King.  I lost after the fourth match.  I then played using Agent Team, which was Vanessa, Blue Mary, and Ramon.  I like Ramon, because he is faster than other characters I usually play as.  I could do without Vanessa.  She's too slow.  And Blue Mary was alright as a character.  But really, the only reason I like using her is because of the dog that appears when she prepares for the fights.  I don't normally use those characters I mentioned.  I usually play using Athena Asamiya, Sie Kensou, and Momoko.  So using these other characters was a nice change.

Anyway, it was really easy for me to get through the story.  I am not sure if I will go and play more to get all of the characters.  I don't even know how to do that.  But I am satisfied with completing the story once and earning the top score in Arcade Mode.

After that, I spent some time playing the demos and watching the videos on the Xbox Demo Disc 13.  I found this disc while I was in my mother's closet one day looking for something else.  I don't even remember what it was, but it was something that my mother was looking for and she asked me to find it.  While I was looking for it, I found this disc and a couple others.  I asked her about it, and she said that she forgot she had them and let me keep them for the Xbox.

Anyway, the only game I liked playing on this Demo Disc was the Toe Jam and Earl game.  Everything else was not interesting for me.

And all that brings me to what I am playing now.  I am still working on Pokémon Black 2.  I have two badges now.  I decided to work on making a great Water-Type team, rather than solely training Oshawott, now a Dewott.  Which means I finally caught that Psyduck I was wanting.

However, I haven't been doing much traveling and training lately.  I have been at PokéStar Studios filming all of those movies.  It's fun.  And challenging.  It isn't my favorite side quest in the series.  That honor goes to Pokémon Contests.  But filming the movies is still enjoyable.

And the console game I am playing is Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories.  I have both the PS2 and PS3 versions of the game (which is why I chose to put the 1.5 HD ReMIX picture on here), and decided that I would play the PS3 version so I could get the trophies.

Currently, I have finished the first three floors; having played Traverse Town, Wonderland, and Olympus Coliseum.  I have never finished this game before.  The farthest I have gotten was Twilight Town, in front of the gate to the old mansion.  I am hoping I will be able to finish the game this time around.  I sure hope so, considering I am playing on the Easy setting.  It would be really embarrassing if I am unable to complete it while I am playing Easy Mode.  Oh well, even if everything is easier, it still has posed a challenge sometimes.  I won't be getting the trophy for finishing without using a Continue.  I died once during the fight against Hades.  I wasn't healed before the fight, and lost after two big hits from him.

And that's the end of this week's SaturPLAY.  If you have any thoughts on what I have played this week, or if you have any suggestions as to what I should play next, feel free to leave a comment.  Make sure you come back on Tuesday for the next edition of 3³ Gaming NEWSday.  Until then, I hope you see no Game Over screens!

Michael, aka me3lingual

Psy, I, I! - SaturPLAY #1

I am going to first try and explain the sort of schedule I hopefully will have in 3³ Gaming.  Every Tuesday, I hope to have some gaming news stories.  Now, whether this will just be reprints of the articles I write for EnixOrigin, I don't know.  As much as I wouldn't mind that, because I love Square Enix games; it doesn't really serve the other genres of games well.  If I were to get news on the basic genres (RPG, shooter, sports, etc.), then I would be pleased.  I will be calling it 3³ Gaming NEWSday.  Lame, I know; but NEWSday rhymes with Tuesday, so it works.

On Thursdays, I want to post reviews of games I play.  Now, most of the games I play are at least five years old.  I figure that if I review older games, it may inspire other gamers to dust off their copies of these games, and also introduce older titles to newer gamers.

And on Saturdays, I will update readers on what I am playing.  Saturday entries will be called SaturPLAY.  Basically, what I am playing at the moment, what I have played in the last week, and what I am planning on playing.  Pretty simple concept, I think.  Anyway, it's Saturday here; so let's have the first SaturPLAY!

The first game I played this year was Spyro the Dragon.  It is a classic game that I have practically mastered in my years of owning the game.  Although, the first time I finished it, I didn't own it.  My brother's friend brought his copy of it one night that he stayed over.  He said I could play it, and I had it complete by the time my brother and his friend woke up the next morning.  I like platform games.  Most of them are easy for me to finish.  Anyway, since that first time finishing the game, I have played it maybe 20-30 times.  When I played it on January 1, 2013, I had the whole game finished within a few hours.

After that was finished, I brought out Atari Anthology.  It is a collection of 85 classic games from the Atari age of gaming.  I chose to play Double Dunk, a basketball-esque game.  In it, you play as a team of 2.  The characters are Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside.  I don't really understand the mechanics of the game, because basketball itself doesn't interest me.  I enjoy the statistical information of sports more than the actual sports themselves.  Anyway, it was all luck that I won.  I played three games total, and stopped playing when I finally won once.  The first game I lost with a score 2 to the other team's 10.  Then in the second game, I lost 3-11.  Finally, I won the third game 10-9.  Again, it was all luck, because I had never played that particular Atari game before in my life.  It was okay as a game.  However, it is painful to play games like that, because everything is all so...old.  But, games had to start somewhere.  I am sure if I had grown up playing Atari games, I would probably still love them to this day.  But I was raised on the Nintendo Entertainment System, so I will probably never know the appeal of Atari games.

It only took me fifteen minutes to play and win a game in Double Dunk, so I decided to play another classic game that I could finish quickly.  That game was Rugrats: Search for Reptar.  It was one of the first PlayStation game I had ever owned.  That, Crash Bandicoot, Disc 2 of Metal Gear Solid, and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces were the first games I ever owned on PlayStation.  Anyway, I managed to find all of the puzzle pieces for Tommy's puzzle within one hour.  I played the training level to get a boost in Reptar Bars, then completed the mini-games within the main game for some added Reptar Bars.  Sadly, the disc has had some major wear-and-tear over the years, and some of the levels are unplayable.  One of my favorites is Chuckie's Glasses, and I can't play it now because the disc is so scratched up.  So now I have to play only the levels that I know will work for me.

Normally, I leave Ice Cream Mountain for when I have someone playing with me, but I did the single player version when I played the main game this time around.  Other levels I played were Grandpa's Teeth, the Mr. Friend level, Mirror Land, the level in the Toy Store, the level in the Supermarket, and the one where Tommy has to get the light out of the refrigerator.  Each level I played reminded me of the episodes of the show that I would watch when I was younger.

And just today, I finished playing Katamari Damacy.  I wanted to play something fun and would keep me from being bored as I spent the day wrapped in a blanket because it was so cold outside.  I had to go to the store this morning, and I was really cold when I got back home (I ride a bike everywhere though, so I'm used to it).  This game was perfect for that, because I could just roll up my cares and worries and not think about the cold weather.

I was really skeptical when I first bought this game.  I saw it on the shelf at the store a few years ago, and I didn't know what to think.  The clerk working in the video games section was fangirling about it, saying that it was such a good game and highly addictive to play.  I can see why, because it is such a great game.  You can't help but be smiling as you roll up animals, people and buildings onto your katamari.  And the constellation levels are especially fun because they have a theme associated with them, rather than the regular levels in which you can just roll up any object.

And now I have two games I am currently playing.  I try to have a handheld game and a console game in my lineup.  The console game this week is Grand Theft Auto III.

I have only ever finished this game one time before today.  It is probably one of the hardest Grand Theft Auto games I have ever played, and it isn't really that hard to complete.  Right now, I have completed "Pump-Action Pimp".  I am only 4 missions into the game.  I am hoping to get all of the Hidden Packages this time around.  Right now I haven't found any of them.  But just so you know, I am not above using the Internet to help me in situations when I need help with a video game.  That is how I found forums and whatnot.

The handheld game I am playing is Pokémon Black 2.  I have owned the game for several months, but I never played it because I had been working on Pokémon White (and still haven't finished).  Right now in Black 2, I am at Floccesy Ranch.  I have caught six Pokémon so far in the game, but I have only spent time making Oshawott stronger.  I want to try and play through the game using only Oshawott, but I still want to try and do the whole PokéDex thing and catch them all.  I normally train a specific type of Pokémon when I play any of the games in the franchise.  This time I want to train water types, especially after seeing that Psyduck is in this game.  I haven't caught one yet, but I hope to catch one.  But the only training I will do with Pokémon other than Oshawott will occur once I have an Exp. Share, if there is one in this game.  But you know, I just caught an Azurill, and I have never had an Azurill in any of the games I have played before.  I think I want to play with it and make it stronger.  I still want that Psyduck as well.  I'd bring all of the water types from the different generations together and be a better Water trainer than even Misty.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this first edition of SaturPLAY.  I know I am going to enjoy writing it each week.  Make sure you come back on Tuesday for the first edition of 3³ Gaming NEWSday, where I will come up with some gaming news for you to sink your teeth into.  And expect a review on Spyro the Dragon this upcoming Thursday.  I hope that by then I have a catchy (and cheesy) title for Thursday entries.  So, I guess that's all from me for now.  Again, thanks for stopping over here and reading this.

I hope that you see no Game Over screens while we are apart!

Michael, me3lingual