Given what I wrote in initial mini-review of the game, you might be surprised to hear that I think Dead Rising is great. I’ve spent a LOT of time playing it in the past week or so. My character is now maxed out at level 50, and I finally got the “good” ending after having start over a couple of times due to time limits and the save system. While what I said in the previous post is still true, I’d like to add some further explanation. (More after the jump.) (more…)
I got Dead Rising about a week ago, and I’ve been playing whenever I have some free time. While it is a great game, I find it incredibly hard. The game play itself isn’t really that bad. It’s challenging sometimes, but once you get used to the mechanics involved in killing zombies and escorting survivors, you can do most areas without too many problems. But the game’s save system and the way its missions are set up make the game really frustrating at times. (More after the jump.) (more…)
Threadless Back to School Sale ($10 T-Shirts)
Threadless.com sells funny, cute, occasionally disturbing, and otherwise unique T-shirts, the designs for which have been submitted by their users. Until Monday the 21st they are running a back-to-school sale, which makes most shirts $10 (down from $15). You can also use the coupon code “stay classy” (with no quotes) to get $3 off of your order.
Sears Video Game Clearance
Sears (the actual stores, not the online store) is having a very underpublicized clearance of their much of their video game back stock. Selection varies wildly from store to store, and if your store is anything like mine, they’ll have the games locked up in glass cases without any price tags. So the best thing to do is to check out this thread on Cheap Ass Gamer for a list of the games that people found on clearance, and then see if your store has them. You should ask an employee for a price check, since most things will not be priced correctly (if at all).
Here’s what I have picked up:
Sonic Heroes (PS2) – $4.97 (tagged correctly)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (PS2) – $4.97 (tagged correctly)
Kirby AirRide (Gamecube) – $4.97 (marked $9.97)
Pikmin 2 (Gamecube)- $9.97 (tagged correctly)
Feel the Magic (DS) for $9.98
Xbox live 12 month subscription with headset and Crimson Skies for $9.98
Death Junior (PSP) for $9.98
Metroid Prime Pinball (DS) – $17.97 (tagged correctly)
Astroboy (GBA) – $9.97 (no price tag)
Donkey Konga (with bongos) – $24.97 (no price tag)
Knights of the Old Republic 2 (Xbox)- $9.97 (marked $49.99)
Some of these things are games that I might not ordinarily buy, but for these prices, I thought they were worth a try.
Yes, this is a brand of chocolate called “Asse.” OK, it’s supposely pronounced “Ass-ay” but who are we kidding, right?
Anyone spending any time at all in Japan will come across the phenomenon known as “Engrish” — English that has been mangled in some way by a non-native speaker (sometimes very non-native). This will sometimes take the form of signs, menus, or product instructions that are actually trying to communicate something to non-Japanese people, but in many cases it is actually intended only for a Japanese audience. Things like product names, slogans, and what is called “decorative English” (English whose only purpose is to look nice on a t-shirt, bag or lunch box) are not trying to convey anything to English speakers, and the fact that they often use funny-sounding or grammatically incorrect English is not really that important to most Japanese people. (More after the jump.)
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Xbox 360 games are unusual in that they do not necessarily have region coding. It is up to the publisher to decide whether or not to include the region coding in their games. This means that for some games, it is possible to buy the cheaper Asian versions and still use them on your Xbox 360 no matter what region it is (US, Japan, etc). Since the Asian versions of these games are identical to the versions sold in the US (all in English, etc) and they usually cost about $40 instead of $50-$60 like the US versions, this can be a good deal for people living in the US. It’s also good for people who have an Xbox 360 from a different region than the country they are living in (I have a Japanese Xbox but live in the US, for example, so buying Asian versions is the only way to get some games for me). A list of these region-free games follows. (More after the jump.)
