Catherine Puzzle Lover's Paradise Or Hell

 First of all, let me say that while I know a lot of you love Atlus games as much as I do, Catherine is not a typical video game. In fact, it is a sliding block puzzle game with a great story woven in. If you're not big on puzzle games, Catherine may not be the video game for you. However, if you genuinely enjoy challenging puzzles and are a puzzle game addict like myself, Catherine definitely gives you your money's worth.

 Catherine is much more than a puzzle game however. The story is definitely what brings everything together. It addresses adult situations, things that people go through or suffer such as, fear of commitment, infidelity, and about how some people are childish and won't take responsibility for their actions. It's a unique title and simply an adult video game because it involves adult situations and the issues we have as we get older.
 The story centers around Vincent Brooks who has a girlfriend by the name of Katherine. They're both in their early thirties and Katherine's biological clock is ticking which she hints at to him by telling him her mother has asked where the relationship is going. Vincent isn't sure he's ready for that level of commitment yet and says as much to his buddies he hangs out with at the local bar.
 One night while hanging out at the bar mulling over a sliding block nightmare he had the night before, he runs into a beautiful blonde bombshell by the name of Catherine. Apparently after blacking out, he wakes up after another nightmare to find that she has spent the night. Of course, Vincent freaks out completely. Now, Vincent has to make a choice between lust and love, have good times with Catherine or finally make a commitment to Katherine.
 Vincent's nightmares continue and even worse, people actually seem to be dying in them.Healthy men in their twenties and thirties are found dead in their beds and there seems to be no reason for it. A rumor goes around that it is a woman cursing all these men for being unfaithful. Is the rumor true? Vincent has to find out, climbing for his life one nightmare at a time.

Vincent Brooks In His Nightmare

 Vincent's nightmares are the heart and soul of the puzzle sections. Every night, he wakes up surrounded by sheep, with horns growing out of his head and a voice taunting him to come up. There are items along the way that help you with the puzzles, but many obstacles as well involving sheep that are trying to climb also as the world crumbles behind them. You have a reason to climb, survival and the inner demons Vincent is struggling with. If you don't climb, you die. One example of this is, there's a giant monster version of Vincent's girlfriend Katherine, trying to grab him and smash the heck out of him. If Vincent's not quick enough to climb all those blocks to the top, he will surely die. 

 Every night, there's a different puzzle with each nightmare and depending on how quickly you get to the top and how many points you get, you can win gold, silver, or bronze trophies. The complexity of the puzzles is very interesting and the story is well written and captures your attention perfectly. It sounds silly, but you actually feel a sense of accomplishment when you have figured out a rather difficult puzzle. 

Solve The Puzzle Or Die Trying

 This brings up the next point. Some of the puzzles in Catherine will make you want to punch every living thing in your path. The difficulty level is excruciatingly high on a variety of them. There's no shame in playing a game on the Easy level. I know I will try a game on Easy first, to get a feel for the controls, to see how well the game plays, and to have a chance to genuinely enjoy the story that is being told. Then I will play again working on all the achievements and trophies, and improving my game scores. This is what I did with Catherine and some of those puzzles made me want to punch whoever designed it right in the face. A challenge is all well and good and definitely in a puzzle game, but when the game is on the Easy setting and it's still making you weep bitter tears of defeat, that is a big problem.  Don't believe me? Apparently the difficulty level was such a destroyer of worlds, that the Japanese gamers complained about it. Frankly, that said quite a lot to me about how high Atlus raised the bar on these puzzles. The complaints were so many, that Atlus promised to put a patch in that would make the game much less difficult  on Easy. I do understand their reasoning that they wanted the game to be challenging, so that players could reap huge rewards when they solved a puzzle, but the Easy setting in a game should be just that, easy and not throw people into the deep end with a sink or swim attitude. That's what the Hard and Nightmare settings are for. 

 However, there is hope! There is a secret trick to get to a Very Easy mode. It's a secret that Atlus put in to make the game a cake walk for players. When you access the main menu of the game, highlight Golden Playhouse and hold the back or select button for a few seconds. The screen will flash with a prompt telling you Very Easy mode has been activated. From there, the puzzles are much easier, and you can actually enjoy the story without those resentful feelings and frustration. It is a nice touch, and I give kudos to Atlus for caring enough about fans of their games to put it in there, because they do want people to enjoy the game. 

 Overalll, the game is great. The story is well thought out and acted out well with a great voice cast. There are also interesting characters that Vincent meets in the bar and can talk to, even help them with their issues. There is also a fun mini game in Catherine, called Rapunzel that is a sliding block puzzle game also that gives you pretty good rewards when you beat all the levels, along with opportunities to unlock music from various Atlus games and the Catherine game to play on the jukebox in the bar. 

 I have always loved the artwork in Atlus video games and Catherine is no exception. Right down to the animated short cut scenes, everything is colorful, seamless, and you really appreciate how everything ties together. The music, the voice cast, and the game play all mesh into a fantastic video game. Catherine is definitely a game worth having in any gaming enthusiast's collection and absolutely worth playing more than once. 

Too Little Too Late GameStop

 Ever since the incident with the STORE manager of the GameStop near us we have refused to buy anything from them ever again. Basically, the manager talked down to my husband as if he was an idiot about them being out of stock when we were considering buying a PS3 and as my husband started to ask a different question, said manager interrupted him quite rudely with, "And no we DO NOT hold them for anyone." He proved not only was he a complete and utter tool, but also that he had no business doing anything remotely customer service related. He also needed a lesson in Manners 101. We left and bought the PS3 elsewhere for a much cheaper price than theirs.
 Now, GameStop has confirmed my belief that we are absolutely right to never purchase anything from them again with the latest fiasco involving the Deus Ex: Human Revolution coupons that offer a code to play the game for free online using the gaming service OnLive. GameStop was removing the coupons. That's right, they were opening the games and REMOVING the coupons and selling them as "brand new" to us the customers. Why did they do this? Because of an email from the field operations manager of GameStop telling their employees to remove the coupons and discard them with the reasoning that Square Enix had put their competitor's coupon in the game and that as a retailer, they do not wish to promote their competitor's  business.
 Here's where I get a bit angry at corporate businesses like GameStop. While I understand that they were unhappy with Square Enix for putting a competitor's coupon into the game's packaging without their knowledge, opening a multi media package to take out its contents and then trying to pull one over on their customers by selling it as "new" is not only THEFT and FRAUD, it's also morally wrong. It makes them foolish and greedy. They screwed over a bunch of their customers because they don't want to lose money.
 The other side of that coin is it's called a class action lawsuit that is just burning to happen. While Square Enix has given a diplomatic response stating that they respect the rights of GameStop to have final say over the contents of their product, I'm sure they're just biding their time. Square Enix is the publisher of this game and as the publisher they have every right to put whatever coupon, promotional item, or gift they want to in their packaging and not have to worry about their product being tampered with and not getting to the consumers in the original condition it was packaged in. Frankly, because of the conceited and reckless decision of the GameStop corporate big wigs, Square Enix is within their rights to sue the holy hell out of them. See, GameStop has to fulfill their obligation too, one that doesn't involve tampering with the merchandise that is sent to them from the various video game publishers. Now that they have done this incredibly irresponsible thing, how many publishers do you think are going to work with them? They have essentially hung themselves with this action. It also proves a point that corporations like GameStop need to have a leash put on them so they do not do things like this that are akin to a two year old having a screaming tantrum, throwing their toys all over the place.
 GameStop can't afford to have this kind of bad publicity with businesses like Amazon, Valve, and Steam around. Why should we the consumers, purchase anything from a corporation that obviously cares NOTHING about its customers and only sees us as  piggy banks? The three companies that I mentioned offer video games, every video game that I know I personally have ever wanted  to play and I don't need to waste my time or money with a pathetic toothless dinosaur like GameStop.
 GameStop has since then offered an apology which you can read here on the Gamasutra website: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/36818/GameStop_Offers_Apology_Gifts_For_Human_Revolution_OnLive_Voucher_Removal.php
 I am amused that they think anyone in their right minds would give them more money after this. It was only AFTER they made world news with this nonsense that they offered an apology. Oh yes, they're sorry alright. They're sorry they got caught. This apology is too little too late GameStop and their days are numbered. All they have shown us is that they're nothing but soulless money sucking vampires who are willing to screw over others just to get ahead and that includes their customers. That is why GameStop deserves all the loss of business. Actions have consequences and GameStop's antics are no exception.

Brief Hiatus

 I know it's been a bit since my last entry and for that I apologize. I am on a bit of a hiatus while I'm getting real life things sorted out, mainly recovering from a very long summer and getting back into the swing of back to school and the holiday rush. Don't worry, there will be more posts soon. I have quite a lot to say about various books, films, and video games. =)

Capcom's Faux Pas Tango

 I'm still floored by this stunt Capcom pulled.  I just read this article here: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/07/21/capcom-blames-mega-man-legends-3-cancellation-on-lacking-fan-involvement.aspx
 Wow, talk about a major faux pas. Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the purpose of having a successful video game franchise was to NOT abuse, offend, and basically pass the buck onto your fan base. How does Capcom expect to make money if they alienate the people buying their games? So essentially not only did they want the fans to MAKE the Mega Man Legends 3 game for them, but they want to lay all the blame at their feet and not accept any responsibility at all. Also, claiming they were actually complaining about a marketing tool issue with Capcom, no one's buying that pathetic lie.
 There was so much that could have been done on Capcom's end, to get a read on how well the game would have done, simple things like releasing a prototype to the eshop and seeing how well it did, actually doing THEIR job developing it so it was up to snuff with Capcom's quality levels, and actually be proactive promoting the game. Blaming the fans not only shows that they have utter disdain for the people who give them money, but a lack of responsibility and decency as human beings on their end.
There are fans.  Heck, I'm one of them. It really irritates me that Capcom thinks they can be money grubbing weasels and then turn around and blame their fans for dropping a game, instead of themselves. Bottom line, they could have released the prototype version and given the game a chance, could have given the fans a chance to decide and give feedback on it. Instead they made a rash decision, and rubbed salt in the wound by blaming the fans. Of course that was going to bite them in the ass! So now, Capcom has a lot of angry fans and people saying they're boycotting Capcom because of this. Congratulations, Capcom. You just shot yourself in the foot with this ridiculous nonsense. I hope losing all that money is worth it, because that's what happens when you anger the people that buy your merchandise. Well done.

Hollywood This Has To Stop

 Look, I get it. It costs less money to just remake a film that was pretty good or great and anything that saves a film studio money must be a good thing. Not all remakes are bad. Look at True Grit. That was well done not only because of the directors, but also because of the great cast. However, there is a surge of so many remakes going on right now it's ridiculous. It makes me wonder along with many other individuals if you are truly that hard pressed for original ideas.
 Case in point, Teen Wolf. Are you kidding? Before anyone brings up the reasoning that it's MTV and they ruin everything (yes, we already know they ruin everything, look at Jersey Shore) it shouldn't have been dubbed a remake at all. Not only was it dark, they completely got the story wrong. Remember how the movie went? He wasn't bitten, he inherited it from his father. It wasn't dark and scary. It was campy and fun. So in all fairness that horrid television show MTV put on the air can not be properly dubbed a remake. It's more like what happens when bad writers happen to good ideas, also why MTV needs to dig a hole for itself and die already.
 The other things though that are being remade, I'm appalled at. I already suffered through The Green Hornet, what makes you idiots think I'm going to suffer through other terrible remakes? Oh sure, the Fright Night remake has David Tennant, but even after watching the preview trailers, I'm not convinced that the former Doctor Who actor can save it from mediocrity. You want to remake Carrie? Why? It already got one terrible remake, why waste time and money on a second one? Total Recall doesn't need to be remade either. What could you guys possibly do that would make it better than the original? Robocop, Metropolis, and Romancing The Stone remakes, where does it END?
 Finally, we come to the talks about a remake that put me over the edge. It is the last and final straw for me. I read an article with the headline Spike Lee In Talks To Direct Remake Of Oldboy. That's it. I'm convinced Hollywood, that you have lost your damn minds. First of all, HOW DARE YOU. Have you learned nothing from the flops that happened when you did remakes of Asian horror films and Asian films? I'm looking at you Pulse and Shall We Dance. Oldboy is by and far one of my favorite Asian cinema films. It's a brilliant film. The fact that you would insult it in this fashion is despicable and then you pick Spike Lee as your director? That's not even the right choice for directors. Overall, the whole concept is dreadful. That is absolutely a movie that NEVER needs to be remade. You don't remake brilliant works of art! We don't need an English language version of this film and we sure as hell don't need Spike Lee directing it. Bottom line this is not what you do to great films to save money. Get your own damn ideas and quit wasting everyone's time.
 This madness has to stop. You also have to quit doing that 3D gimmick. We all know it's a crutch so you can make more money on your already overpriced tickets. Think I'm kidding? One title. Piranha 3-D.

Life After Hacking With Sony And Hackers Who Do It For The "Lulz"

So I'm sure we've all enjoyed the lovely fiasco that was the extreme attack by hackers on Sony's PSN network back in April. I know that my husband Ron and I thoroughly enjoyed all that worrying about whether or not personal information had been stolen. Note the sarcasm. It is quite troubling when you hear about things like this and considering the severity of the security breaches with things like up to 70 million people with their personal data stolen, then it's downright mind boggling. So for the rest of us the hackers pretty much screwed over with their "sticking it to the man" antics, we had to worry about whether or not our credit card information was stolen, if there would be phishing scams in our email, or if someone with a chainsaw and a hockey mask would show up at our house in the middle of the night. That's always a good time for anyone. 

Factor in that Sony was hacked again and again and they have a business nightmare on their hands. Once they were back up and running, there were some nice perks for the inconvenience, such as two free downloadable games and 30 days of Playstation Plus Premium for free, and 100 virtual items from a Playstation Home shop. A couple of the games they offered for download were a nice gesture, Infamous and Little Big Planet 2. So it seems they were trying to make amends for the month long wait for their customers as they tried to put out the fires. 

 Of course Sony had to face the music at E3 this week, and they apologized for the PSN hackings and then they moved on to announce new PS3 titles and show off their next generation handheld, the Playstation Vita. My take on it, was we'll see if they can keep up because the other day, I read of another hacking on the PSN network, but this one was Sony Europe. According to an article I read on the Sophos website, this made the THIRTEENTH attack on Sony. Thirteen attacks is not only ridiculous, that's just sad. It also makes me personally wonder if Sony can keep up and fix the problem, because it is a problem, a BIG one. 

 Bear in mind, this is just my opinion as a gamer after all, but I have lost a lot of faith with Sony because it's been one misstep after another with them. They're not the giants they once were. It's as if they've gotten too big for their britches as it were and instead of making money, they seem to be losing so much money.  At this rate, they need a damn lifeboat. 

The embarrassment only gets worse as LulzSecurity has been bragging and claiming the hackings of Sony. Yes, it's the same guys that hacked PBS, the National Health Service, an FBI affiliate in Atlanta, and Nintendo. The FBI one, I can understand a bit because of the Orwellian type laws the government is trying to put forth about internet freedom. What is strange  to me is, they claimed they like Nintendo and they told the National Health Service they meant them no harm, just that they wanted to help them fix their tech issues. 

 Please pardon me as I say, WHAT THE FUCK?! Truly, WHAT THE FUCK?! If someone you didn't know  came up to you and punched you square in the face, but then said, "Oh, I don't mean you any harm, I actually like you. I just wanted to help you with your self defense." would you believe them or would you be incredibly angry that this person you don't even know hit you? Remember, be honest. I thought so. 

 Considering that up to 70 million people had to go through basically what is an incredible amount of stress worrying about identity theft because of these hackers "doing it for the lulz" (Yes, you read that right, they did in fact say that....) how can anyone believe they didn't mean any harm? The fact of the matter is, plain and simple they broke the law when they stole personal information that DID NOT belong to them. It doesn't matter that they did it for fun, because they hate Sony, because they're "trying to help", or because they're trying to prove to themselves that they can. Plain and simple for me, it really pisses me off when someone thinks they are entitled to steal my personal information just to prove they can. It doesn't just make me mad at the corporation, it also makes me quite angry at the lowlife that seems to have nothing better to do other than live in their parents basement with forty-seven cats and steal from innocent people. 

 Yes, it's cruel of me to say it, but until you've sat there watching your husband check and check and check again to make sure no fraudulent charges have been made because of cyber attacks on a network, then I don't even want to hear about the poor hackers are trying to prove a point. The poor hackers were criminals the very second they not only stole personal information, but then published it not only on their website, but in several emails to the very companies they hacked. It makes them no better than the mighty corporations and government they claim to be fighting. Personally, I think all the 70 million plus people who had to deal with this nonsense should be allowed to punch every single one of them in the face and get to publish their personal information everywhere. It's only fair. 

 That being said, of course it's up to us to be vigilant, to be responsible for changing our passwords often, and for making sure our personal information is secure, because although hackers like LulzSecurity are claimed to be a grey hat organization, they're not. There is no grey area when innocent people get hurt for the sake of their version of "fun". They are in fact, extremely arrogant and ignorant in thinking that their actions do not have consequences and incredibly foolish if they think that the rest of us are going to consider them heroes. I know I don't. I find them to be quite childish. There are more important things in this world and this life than doing something like this to others just because you can. 

 As for Sony, I truly hope they can step up and come back from all of this. They need to remember that without their customers, there is no Sony and they could treat them a lot better, especially in the customer service department.  They also need to fix the problems with their security breaches and fix them well so this doesn't keep happening or even better, never happens again. I don't know if they'll be able to carry the weight, but I hope they at least try. 

A Lord Of Time And A Game Of Thrones

 Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big Doctor Who fan. I grew up watching the old BBC episodes on PBS with my grandmother and loved every minute of it. Of course I had a couple of favorite Doctors. I really liked John Pertwee and adored Tom Baker. With the new Doctor Who episodes I love the writing and the actors they chose to play The Doctor are great. I was hesitant at first about Matt Smith because he was so young, but I gave him a shot. He did not disappoint me. I found myself liking him a great deal and he clearly loves his role. The new season of Doctor Who has started with a bang (no pun intended) with scary monsters known as The Silence. You forget about them as soon as you're not looking at them, which brings up the question how do you fight a big scary monster that you can't even see? The Doctor and his gang figure it out eventually, and it's a hell of a ride to get there. Of course there are even more questions that are pertinent to the main story of this season, but the writers aren't going to tell us just yet. We have to keep watching to find out. Personally, I would really like to know who River Song actually is to the Doctor and I'm hoping they'll give us that this season rather than all the teasing hints from the previous seasons. I'm definitely enjoying trying to find out.
 Then there's Game Of Thrones. I love the books and it's been insanely frustrating to wait for the next book A Dance With Dragons, but apparently it's being released (FINALLY!!) in July. So while I wait for July to get here, HBO has created the show to tide all of us Game Of Thrones fans over. My initial reaction was I loved it. It seems that everything has been done to keep the show as true as possible to the books, right down to the sly intrigue and carefully picking the cast to portray the various characters. For me, this is especially true with Sean Bean as Eddard (Ned) Stark and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark. Those characters are brought to life vividly by their fantastic acting. This is true of the rest of the cast as well and it's quite clear that they were well chosen. It's amazing seeing the various places in the Seven Kingdoms Of Westeros spring from the books onto television. The writing and the acting are brilliant. I found myself remembering why favorite characters were my favorites.  I'm genuinely enjoying it immensely.
 So my weekends are filled with Doctor Who and Game Of Thrones, which I enjoy watching. If you love great story, adventure, and great acting, you'll enjoy them too.