Worst DS Game Ever, So Far

I’m adding the qualifier “so far” because they can always come up with something worse. But even if they tried to come up with worse, they’d be hard-pressed to top this one.

The Clique: Diss and Make Up – Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive, Developer: Gorilla Systems

Learning, after some research, that the game is based on a book series doesn’t make it any better. In fact, it makes it far, far worse. That this kind of filth is published proves that young girls need much more choice and guidance in books to read.

Synopsis of the game: The game allows fans to play as a new student in school attempting to make friends and increase their popularity in an effort to join the ultimate clique, the Pretty Committee. Players take on a variety of challenges and experience tricky situations as they interact with characters from “The Clique” books and new characters created specially for the game. Players can increase their social standing by playing a variety of mini-games to earn money for the latest clothing and accessories. (ds.ign.com)

Another synopsis: players assume the role of the new girl at school, taking on the challenges of climbing the social ladder to join the ultimate clique, the Pretty Committee. The Clique: Diss and Make Up is an empowering game of social maneuvering where the player attempts to survive in one of the most harsh and unforgiving environments on Earth – Octavian Country Day School (OCD). Player will use gossip, fashion and wit to make friends, join cliques, attend classes, and even work after school “jobbies” with a variety of exciting mini-games. Play a variety of exciting mini-games to earn cash or increase your cool. Along the way a variety of challenges and tricky situations make the climb up the social ladder tough including getting invited to one of the hottest parties of the year. (Amazon.com)

I find it amusing that the school’s name is abbreviated OCD.

Playing the game for only about a half an hour, I felt my stomach turning the entire time. No-one will speak to you unless you’re dressed “appropriately,” which means to dress to fit the clique you’re trying to impress that week. In between classes – which are just mini-games based on a school subject – you must chat up girls in the clique, run errands for them, listen to and give gossip you’ve picked up, and try to worm your way into each clique, with the ultimate goal being getting invited to that cliques’ party at the end of the week. Going to the mall each evening to earn money and shop for clothes and accessories seems to be a requirement to get enough variety to make sure members each clique will speak to you. Each piece of an outfit (no matter how hideous it looks when they’re put together) has a certain amount of clique influence, and only when a meter is full on the top screen will girls of that clique speak to you. The ultimate, ultimate goal is to be invited into the “Pretty Committee” clique and get invited to their parties.

It’s a mind-numbing game to say the least, with simplistic mini-games throughout. The scores in class mini-games don’t seem to make any difference to overall game play, while the mini-games at the mall earn you cash to buy clothes & accessories. I suspect things might become unlocked if I chose to progress, but I suspect this is another game of mine that will rot on the shelf.

Bottom line – this game embodies every thing I despised about high school. Except even worse – this is based in a middle-school setting.

Yours In Tech,

Jett

New Tech, How I Loathe Thee

This post is most definitely going to come across as whiny. And well it should, especially since everyone else is, on one platform or another. Google’s new collaboration tool, Google Wave, was launched approximately a week ago. It’s accessed on the web & all the information you dump into it is kept “in the cloud” just like their email, documents, bookmarks, & all the other goodies these eggheads have dreamed up. It’s a fantastic concept, & I’m sure that as it’s explored further, an amazing array of applications for it can be utilized, from academic to business to entertainment to even political.

But the issue remains – how can you explore a collaboration and communication tool when noone you know is able to access it? Another blaring question – once you’ve got company on Google Wave, how do you know if they’ve sent you (or updated) a wave? If you’re not checking Google Wave every 10 minutes (like I did Wednesday) you have no knowledge of Google Wave activity. You don’t know whether your contacts are using the service or not, either. Furthermore, the system is extremely sluggish. “Instant” collaboration is only as fast as the system it runs on. The synching doesn’t always work, and I’ve come across “phantom waves” – the system tells me I have “lots” of Waves when all I see are empty slots where Waves would be if I was awesomely popular & had a ton of active contacts.

All my complaints aside, I have high hopes for Google Wave. It’s a fledgling program, hardly anything is perfect right after initial development & creation. Things need to be tweaked, adjusted, added, & made available to more users. But before the system could even consider more users, the first goal should be speeding things up  & making them more stable. Only then should more users & adjustments be added & changed.

I think I’m content to ride this Wave until it’s more commonly available.

Yours In Tech,

Jett

Let’s Get Physical

I’ll be the first to admit – I’m a bit squishy ’round the middle. Now, don’t give me those old tried-and-true lines like “oh, you’re beautiful the way you are” and “that’s all in your head”. Once a girl decides she’s in need of weightloss, nothing short of full-blown idolatry extolling her beauty 24/7 or amnesia will convince her otherwise.

So, being the tech girl that I am, I turned to video games for my exercise tools. I have three games I use: Let’s Yoga!, Let’s Pilates!, and Personal Trainer: Walking. Their uses are obvious enough from their titles, but I will explain how they are “played” for you. All three begin by introducing the system & creating a user profile. With Walking, you create a character that closely resembles a Mii. With Let’s Yoga, you can modify the avatar’s head, clothes, & mat. Let’s Pilates offers no customization that I’ve found.

Walking comes with a small pedometer that can sync to the game cartridge to record your steps throughout the day. It allows you to play minigames with your step count, like connect-the-dots or keeping your house lit. More than one pedometer can be used with a single cartridge, so you can compare and compete with other Walking users who upload their records to the cartridge, or online to the WFC.

With Yoga & Pilates, you can choose from either a tutorial/challenge mode, and a ‘free play’ option that lets you choos small workout sets that can be done in as little as three minutes, or as long as fifteen to twenty minutes. Routines can be customized and created using the types of moves you’ve unlocked to make them as long and as difficult as you like. Each game tracks your “play” time for each day it’s used. Let’s Yoga also has a section where you can choose yoga moves that can be done in a chair, for a break at your desk or to relax on a long flight. Both Yoga & Pilates help you control your breathing using audible and visual cues, and give you verbal and written instructions on how to perform the moves in the routine.

I enjoy using both Yoga and Pilates games. I will often pick one or two short sets from Yoga, then switch to one or two short sets of Pilates. I find pilates to be more challenging to me, and I’ve only recently begun to use Pilates alongside Yoga.

I used to use Personal Trainer: Walking every day, when I knew my step count was going to be more than a paltry 900-1000 steps. I used to have a job where I walked almost the entire day, and when I was unable to find a job I used to walk the block. Now, as a receptionist, I should be trying to be as physically active as I can while I’m not chained to my desk. However, it’s scorching hot outside this summer, so walking outdoors is not my first choice of exercise. So until temperatures decide to drop again, I’ll stick to my yoga & pilates.

Yours in Tech,

Jett

Tacos & Tech

Ok, so I’m writing this over lunch, Taco Bell, and I’m expecting to have to clean up grease stains from the keyboard later. Which, surprisingly, I don’t care all that much about. Taco Bell is teh nom. I’ve got a steak quesadilla, a crunchy taco, & a huge soda, so I’m set. Okay, let’s talk tech. Ooooh, gettin’ that fuzzy feelin’ deep inside…

So I’ve determined that I am really bad. Really, really bad. I get excited about tech way too much for my own good. Example? ScanLife. I spent about an hour last night, just pouring over all the things that you can do with those little 2D barcodes. It’s quite awesome. So much information, in those tiny little squares. They’re put up for scavenger hunts, website links, car information, download ringtones or videos, coupon codes, contact information, making phone calls, creating emails, sending text messages… The list really can, and does, go on. It has amazing potential for the spread of information. Take, for example, a promotion a certain author(s) did for their audiobook promotion a few years back. Y’know, where he had his deciples tuck information cards into book of the same or similar genre at bookstores & libraries? What if that had been a ScanLife 2D code instead? Instead of looking at the information outright, having to carry the card around, and potentially lose it, all the finder has to do is take a picture!! It’s automatically saved to their phone, and the code could send the phone to the author’s website, or automatically download & play a clip from the book, and they don’t have to carry around paper to lose – all the information’s stored in the ScanLife application’s history to go back to later. I’m keeping my eye out for codes in the wild, I’m really excited to see where they’ll be found and how they’ll be used.

The ScanLife software can be used on your mobile phone, and you can sign up on the ScanLife website to create your own codes. I made one, it’s got my contact information. It’ll create a contact entry in your phone for you. It’d be great to put on business cards, especially ones that charge per line and character. The software is compatible with  Palm phones, and Java-enabled phones, Windows Mobile, Android, Apple, BlackBerry & Symbian phones. All you have to do is take a picture.

Another great thing about the codes is that once they’re created, they can stay out there without worrying about updating the code. All you have to do is update the site, or information the codes carry, and they never have to be redistributed as “updated” codes! I can change my phone number or email address in my contact information on the ScanLife website, but never have to worry about re-creating the codes themselves. The code will automatically retrieve the correct information.

Let’s try an experiment, shall we? Get the ScanLife software, and snap this code.

I look forward to seeing the results!!

Yours In Tech,

Jett

Crossing Animals

It’s a Wild World, and in no other place does it get wilder than in Animal Crossing: Wild World. The second of three Animal Crossing versions, this one is for the Nintendo DS. I’m not going to give too much away in my description of the game, in the hopes that I’ll recruit some friends to trade game codes with!

Wild World was released in December of 2005. Its first rendering was on the Game Cube in 2002, and its latest cousin – City Folk – was just recently introduced to the Wii crowd in November 2008.

The game is rated E for everyone, but (as I’ve told customers when I worked at EB) the player must be able to read. The play mechanics are easy enough – you can either use the directional pad or the stylus to move your character. If you so choose, you hardly ever need to touch any of the buttons, but I find that a little difficult at times. Most of the action happens on the bottom screen, but keep your eye on the sky!

The game starts out just as most other games do – who are you (name), what are you (boy/girl). You’ll also get to choose the name of the town you’re moving away to. When you arrive in the new town, you’re immediately accosted by a raccoon who sets you up with a house – for a price. You are to work for him, which means running his errands and doing his chores. It’s really just an underhanded way to get you used to referring to the town map, finding your way around the controls and display windows, and meeting the other animals who live and work there. You’ll have very little freedom to explore everything until you complete all the tasks Nook asks you to do. Don’t worry, if you’re quick it’ll only take you about 20 minutes.

After he releases you from slavery, you still have a mortgage to pay. No worries there – if you choose, you don’t have to ever pay it down. However, if you want a bigger place, you’ll need to pay him back to expand your house. Each time he’ll give you a new mortgage, but it’s a small price to pay to have two floors, multiple rooms, and a basement, right?

There are plenty of other things to do, and plenty of ways to make money. You can fish, catch bugs, dig up fossils, collect artwork, seashells, farm fruit trees, empty out the lost-and-found… you can even go dumpster diving in the trash bin!

Because the game occurs in real-time, the seasons change, and with each season comes new experiences, visitors, and activities. In the winter you can make snowmen. Make them correctly, and they’ll talk to you! You might even get a surprise afterward! In the fall, collect acorns for the town Mayor. In the spring, a flower festival is held, and fishing and bug-catching contests are held in the spring and summer.

Since the game occurs in real-time, more than just seasons will change. The longer you stay away from the game, the more concerned the creatures will become upon your return. I had one mad at me for being gone three months! The town will become run-down as well – flowers will wither and brown, and weeds will grow everywhere. It’s worse inside your house – while you were away, cockroaches will have taken up residence! They’re easy to get rid of, just run them over. Make sure to move the furniture around and get all those nasty buggers gone!

Animals reside in your town, and it is your duty to make sure they are thriving happily alongside you. How do you take care of them? Talking to them, for starters. Also, writing them letters, giving gifts, visiting their houses, and going along with their games keeps them entertained. From time to time, one may move away, but there always seems to be another who’s just moved in.

The town has its very own museum, and it’s a great way to boast to friends about how much time you spend gaming. Dinosaur fossils, fish, insects, and artwork are collected here, and it is your job to help Blathers (he’s an owl, so you have to forgive his napping throughout the day) fill the museum. He’ll identify fossils you dig up, take new fish and insect specimens, as well as any new pieces of art you’ve acquired. My fossil collection is complete. I’m still working on everything else though. The museum also has an Observatory, where you can draw constellations in the sky with Celeste, or go into Roost and grab a cup of coffee from Brewster and listen to K.K. Slider play his guitar on Saturday nights.

Wild World is WIFI-capable (you’ll need friends’ codes and they’ll need yours), and if you know a friend’s going to be playing at the same time you are, you could go visit them, or have them come visit you. Up to four players can be in a single town, which means you can have three visitors, or be one of three guests. You can play hide & seek, terrorize his neighbors, steal his fruit (there are 6 different kinds, you only start with one!), and plant pitfalls to trap him in a hole in the ground. Or you could be nice, and bring him fruit from your town he may not have, pull up his weeds, and be nice to his neighbors. After all, if you’re nicer to them than he is, they could move away from his town and come live in yours! You could also end up seeing one or two of his constellations in your sky.

There are lots of other random events and fun things to do, like design a town flag, create your own town song (it plays every time the clock strikes the hour), create clothes to sell in the Able Sisters tailoring shop (which also sells clothes, accessories, and cute umbrellas!), and get your hair cut, styled, and dyed in the salon, which comes attached to the largest version of Nook’s shop (the crazy raccoon I talked about earlier). There’s also a town hall, where mail can be sent, mortgage can be paid, and donations to Boondox can be made. Boondox can’t be visited, but from what the duck at the counter says, they’re really bad off and could use your help. You can also find out what the townsfolk think about your town there. She’ll read you comments from other residents, and you can decide what to do, if anything, about it. Random visitors will appear throughout the town from time to time, and may give you gifts or charge you with tasks, but they all have their own reward if you do well.

I’ve had this game since about the time it was released. I’ve played in spurts, and check in at least an hour or two each week to pull weeds, kill cockroaches under my sofa, dig up any fossils I find, and round up all the fruits to sell to Nook. I love Animal Crossing: Wild World, and don’t think I could get rid of it until I was absolutely sure I had the biggest house and the museum was complete. I have three first floor rooms and a second floor room, below the ‘bedroom’ where you ‘go to sleep’ and save the game. I still need a basement.

There’s also a large community of Wild World gamers which I’m on, Animal Crossing Community. Of course, my username there is MistressJett. There’s a pile of forums & information to look through, and you can find players that are using their games & looking for friends online in real-time.

If anyone decides to pick up this game and give it a try, let me know so we can exchange friend codes. It’s a little bit of a cheat, but I can give you the 5 types of the fruit that you don’t start with that you can plant & grow for yourself. They will give you more Bells (their currency) than your native fruit.

I’m off to play with the animals!

Yours in tech,

Jett

DS in Review

So I’d like to start off my review of all things DS by reviewing the handheld system itself.

The system itself consists of a clamshell with a screen on each half. The lower screen is a touch screen. It reacts with either a touch of a finger, a fingernail, or a stylus that comes housed in the back of the lower half. There’s a slot in the bottom of the lower half for Nintendo GameBoy Advance games, and a slot at the top of the lower half for Nintendo DS games. There’s a four-directional pad on the left side and four buttons on the right side of the  bottom screen, and two trigger buttons on either side of the top of the bottom half. There’s also a microphone between the two screens.

There are plugs for headphones and charger, power and volume sliders on the sides. I’m tired of talking about the specs now. It comes in silvery white, black, pink, red (but it was a special edition), black & red, blue & black, and ice blue (which was also a special edition). I have the pink version.

The games vary greatly, and use very unique ways of gameplay. Any thing from using your voice (or breath), touching the screen, using the controls on the DS, and (using an attachment in the GBA slot) shaking the system, or using an extra set of buttons.

The DS system is statistically one of the most evenly distributed between genders. Which means that there are almost an equal number of girls who own the system as boys. That is something that no game system has ever been able to accomplish. It is thanks, mostly, to the variety of games that the system carries. With everything from Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, to Hello Kitty Big City Dreams, there is something for everyone and every age group.

I plan on doing reviews on several games in my library, as well as accessories and the new Nintendo DSi coming out in April.

Until then!

Yours in tech,

Jett

Re-awakening

So, since I am not in Second Life as much as I used to be (read: once a month at most), I’ve decided to broaden this blog’s horizons, and re-release it as an overall tech blog. World of Warcraft, Nintendo DS, Wii, computers, electronics, and anything else tech that tickles my fancy. I still plan to include Second Life in this blog, which is why it still carries my Second Life character name.

Besides, it’s much easier to broaden a blog’s horizons than to delete a blog & start a brand new one!

Yours in Tech,

Jett

Rivendell & More

This past weekend I went back to a sim I had visited for it’s grand opening gala. The sim’s name is Rivendell, and it’s the home of the flagship store Caliber. It’s where I got most of my physician’s equipment.

Anyway – I took my friend Crap along, and he brought his flying car. The sim is like a layer cake – the top layer has the stores, and a ballroom with a “forced prim reflection” is what I believe Crap said. The second layer is Rivendell itself, with a huge – what’s supposed to be – replica of Elrond’s palace in Lord of the Rings.

We explored the sim, which was pretty sparse, probably because it’s still mostly under construction.

 

There was a really tall tower that Crap & I decided was a carpark.

And we found a swan boat. I can’t remember what he called the place the elves went to when they became immortal, but this is the kind of boat they used.

So afterwards I went home and showed Radar and Chugabug my lab in my skyhouse. They promptly took things over.

And Radar decided to take a clothed dip in my hottub.

He better not get mad at me if his clothes shrink.

So that’s it. I’m looking forward to checking back in Rivendell to see if any changes have been  made, hopefully for the better.

Mayfair & Penzance

I told you I’d go back to the Caledon realm again. I usually do what I say I’m going to do. This time, I went to two of the Caledon sims – Mayfair and Penzance.

These are the Mayfair photos. They had some really nice houses there.

They had a few lovely gardens set up.

And several art galleries, and a branch of the Caledon Library.

They also had the Caledon Assassin’s Guild building there. Now I know where to go if I need someone.. Ahem.. Taken care of..

Penzance was great, too. They had a movie set.

The little guy behind me is Klicker-Klack.

They rolled out the red carpet for me when I went to check them out.

There were prop and costume shops, and set pieces you could play with to create little shots like this one.

They were both great places to kick around in, if you like exploring whole sims.

I’ve got a few new places that I’ll be posting photos of soon, and some posts of just random things I do throughout the days in Second Life.

Until next time!

Steampunk, Victorian, Ages Past

I went Sim-hopping again. This time, to the sims of Caledon, a huge area dedicated to the Victorian era, with a steam punk smell, and a dash of 1920s. They’ve got trains.

And a rabbit farm.

And shops for decor and electric cars

I liked this sign, so I snapped a picture.

I got some outfits for the theme…

And I visited their new library…

There’s absolutely no way I visited the entirety of Caledon, but I’m sure I’ll go back. Then I’ll have more pictures to share.
Until then!