Interludicrous

So I finally got around to upgrading my handheld gaming collection.  I was an early adopter of the Nintendo DS system, and loved the innovative touch screen.  I was hesitant to get the DS Lite because it didn’t have any new features, just a slimmer design.  I had a feeling that Nintendo would release a third DS, and my patience paid off.  The new DSi is a bit slimmer than the DS Lite, sacrificing the GBA card slot.  The two cameras are pretty decent too.  I celebrated its inauguration into my collection with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which is an impressive game for the DS.  It’s a top-down GTA game set in GTA IV’s Liberty city.  

The DSi also marks the launch of DSiWare, which allows users to download games from Nintendo over a wi-fi internet connection, for points.  I was given a free 1000 points with the purchase and registration of my DSi system.  Any games from the Art Style series are good buys.  I also bought Paper Airplane Chase, a minigame from WarioWare that even has a versus mode.  The Wii-like channel system has been ported over to the DS for easy shortcut management.  Now a press of the power button allows you to exit your game and return to the DSi menu.  Holding down the power button for an extended amount of time shuts the system down.  There is also a free downloadable internet browser, but since memory is limited, it is best used for websites designed for mobile devices.

Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 is my first venture into the Resident Evil series, and so far I’ve been statisfied with the game.  The visuals are very crisp and when combined with the various explosion effects and filters, it almost looks like a cinematic.  The controls took some getting used to since I’m familiar with traditional shooters’ controller configurations.  The mechanics of standing in one spot to aim and fire allows you to be more precise with every shot, and heightens the tension.  Given that the zombies are  a good distance away, you have plenty of time to take some shots and move to a safer position.  If they get too close for comfort, you can hack away with your machete to make them stumble, which gives you the opportunity to throw a punch.  You can play with a partner on the same console or online.  When playing alone, your AI partner might follow your punch with a kick combo. I haven’t experienced any major failures due to the AI partner not doing her part, as some players have reported.  As long as you stock her inventory with useful items and ammo, she performs well.  Every zombie battle has been satisifying.  I’m halfway through the game at this point, and it has surprised and impressed me many times.  There are plenty of extras to unlock such as character skins, modes, and visual filters.

Rating out of 10

• GRAPHICS: 9.5
• SOUND: 8.5
• GAMEPLAY: 9.0
• REPLAY VALUE: 8.0
• OVERALL: 8.75

I tested Sony’s active style headphones during my run today.  They worked surprisingly well for their flimsy appearance.  It felt like I was wearing normal earbuds, but with added support so I didn’t really feel their weight.  The sound quality during running didn’t waver.  Although I did notice that the earbuds only amplified the poor quality of some of my music tracks.  Time for me to find some better files.  They’re pretty minimalistic in style and the silver isn’t too flashy.  For $36.69 from Amazon.com (instead of Sony Style’s $49.99), this is a good buy if you want earbud-style headphones that will actually stay on your head.

Rating out of 10

• FUNCTIONALITY: 9.0
• COMFORT: 8.0
• APPEARANCE: 9.0
• VALUE/PRICE: 7.0
• OVERALL: 8.25

So as I bid farewell to my Alienware m5550 laptop, I’ve acquired Gateway’s P-7805u FX laptop for a great price, $1,149. It’s a great desktop replacement, weighing in at 9.1lbs with a 17″ 1440×900 screen.  I put it to the test with Dawn of War II and it performed extremely well with medium to high settings.  Keep in mind that it comes with 64-bit Vista so older games may not be compatible with it.  I tried installing Battlefield 2, a good four year old game, but the installation process couldn’t quite finish and the game couldn’t load a map.  More specs below…

• Processor: Intel Core2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz)
• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) with SP1
• Memory: 4GB DDR3
• Hard Drive: 320GB 7200RPM SATA
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with 1GB of GDDR3