Katamari Forever

I've been looking forward to a new Katamari game for ages - my friends first brought Katamari Damacy to my attention when I was living in New York, flat broke and perpetually bored on my (rare) days off. I was working two jobs and exhausted mentally and physically. Enter Katamari Damacy. Possibly the strangest, most bizarre game ever imagined for the PS2. Wacky music, a ridiculous premise, and the bizarre royal cast of characters all come together to make the game something completely unique and unbelievably fun. Each subsequent title in the series offers a different explanation for why the King of all Cosmos has accidentally destroyed the stars and his tiny son, the Prince of all Cosmos, must painstakingly repopulate the universe by rolling up items into clumps called katamari. I spent weeks with the catchy music stuck in my head during my commute. It's the kind of game that is perfect to pop in for a few minutes after a hard day - it's impossible to be grouchy or depressed while humming along with the soundtrack and trying to roll up fleeing cats and dogs and children into wiggling balls of stuff.

I played We Love Katamari a little bit, but never found it as entertaining as the original title. Then, in a cruel twist of fate Beautiful Katamari was released on the Xbox and a fourth title on the PSP, both systems I do not own. I was ecstatic when I heard that Katamari Forever would be released on the PS3, and it really does deliver. Just as goofy and fun as the original, I am enjoying playing through it slowly. A few minutes of katamari rolling daily are a great way to keep a person in a positive mindset! One of my favorite features returns, allowing the player to view full listings of the items they have collected throughout the various levels. There are some fun new aspects to the game as well - filters that alter the appearance of the world, a large cast of royal cousins, and inventive new levels (like the underwater level, very fun!). My one complaint is that the music is not as fun as the original - many of the original songs have been re-recorded but they are just not as good. I'd love to be able to access the classic tracks as well as these newer versions.

Playstation 3 - Home Feature and Updates

I finally took the time to set up my Playstation Home account just to humor myself, and I had a bit of fun popping around to different locations in search of free content. I had a lot more fun than I expected, since it reminded me so heavily of Second Life of which I am not a fan. That being said, there's not a lot of point to the feature. It would be neat if you could actually collect decorations or trophies as you complete different game titles, but there don't seem to be tie-ins. I was also a bit disappointed in the graphics - Mii's on the Wii are adorable, but Sony opted for a more "realistic" representation and it's not very good when compared to other human simuations such as the Sims.

I'll need to spend some more time goofing around with the feature to actually be able to comment intelligently, but it just doesn't seem like there is much there. It's not a practical feature, just something showy and superfluous. The other updated features are very useful. It's now possible to use Netflix without the CD - after a quick install the program appears in the list of video options. It boots up quickly and also has an improved, redesigned interface. Hulu Plus is also available, though I only use the basic service and can't comment on the paid service.

The functions I use the most on my Playstation are the music and video file capabilities. I use a large external drive as the backbone of my home network and for media storage. My PS3 makes it easy to navigate through my video files, but the support for music is not very impressive. I'd still love to see this feature fleshed out to include more (and better) visualizations and more functions. One of my biggest complaints is that music files are referenced by their file names, and not by their modified properties. This makes navigating the files in any mode other than by artist and folder ridiculously messy.

Console Cleanup

Since I am unemployed and my PC is acting up (therefore, sadly, no SC2) I am considering finishing Final Fantasy XIII. It's without a doubt the weakest Final Fantasy title I have ever played, but it's still beautiful and I quit it at the point that the game (finally) opened up and allowed me to play with my full party and explore the world. It's not the sci-fi heavy styling of the game and the futuristic setting that disappoint me. In fact, I think this is one of the aspects that works best - it's fresh and the visuals are very sharp. It's the pacing, characters, storyline and voice actors that are all terrible. And did I mention it's short? Even though the game feels like it drags on forever, the game is disappointingly simple compared to the massive story, cast and world of FFXII. That game made me feel like an adventurer, pulled me into the story and made me care about the characters. It made me laugh, cringe and wince. I cared and that drove me to move forward and to complete the many sidequests and achievements hidden throughout the game. Final Fantasy XIII offers none of this. It's just a dull, uninteresting story without any room for exploration or adventure.

The game has a lot of potential - It opens with a lot of flash and throws you right into serious action as the enigmatic Lightning. The remainder of the principle characters are introduced quickly thereafter, but for hours and hours of gameplay you are stuck in parallel storylines, playing pairs of characters who are often heavily restricted in their available skills, forcing the player to learn each job role without a full party to support them. It's tedious, boring, and frustrating. It's not until you reach Gran Pulse after many hours of gameplay that you finally gain access to your full party and begin adventuring together. What makes the Final Fantasy stories so great is their combination of characters and camaraderie - the group dynamics. Without this, the game is just a bunch of weak characters without any deep motivation or connection. But it is still very pretty.