Cyborg Haven Update

     I have moved Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier from "Video Games I am Looking Forward To," to the list "Video Games I Have Yet to Finish".
     I also added Noctis from Final Fantasy Versus XIII to my list "My Top 9 Favorite Video Game Characters."  (It's Top 9 instead of Top 8 now.)
     In addition I also added a calander gadget for Cyborg Haven.  I placed it just above my About Me section.  If anyone wants to see how long ago my posts were from or the date that I played a game I blogged about, you can check by clicking on the month (or to know which month, click on the year and then the month to see exactly how long ago an [event] happened.)

    And now it's off to NiGHTS Community!   ;D

Edit Dec. 4th:  I added Jak as #7 to my list of Top 10 Favorite Video Game Characters.  I had to.

A funny drawing

Hello,
     I just thought I'd post this and share it with readers.  I used the  Microsoft Paint program to draw it about a few days ago.  Must've been in a silly mood. *.^

     I love the expressions on the little dots as they see Pac-Man's hungry open mouth.  Especially the first one; he goes like  :O  .   Because he's first on the menu!

Jak 3, November 27

From 8:50pm to 12:05am I played Jak 3.  It was a pretty long session playing the game, but two of the missions were absolutely difficult and I forgot how to complete them.  I do have the strategy guide for the game but I wanted to see what I can do by myself.  Besides, the strategy guide is best in this case for where to collect the Precursor Orbs and unlock my favorite Secrets.
     These are the missions I completed this time:

• Destroy War Factory Defense (not too bad)
• Explore War Factory (got lost and frustrated often)
• Beat Cyber-Errol Boss (not as difficult as the first time...)
• Rescue Seem at Temple (Yay, Light Jak!)
• Defend Spargus from Attack (AAAARRGGHHH!!)

     Jak died again and again in the mission "Explore War Factory."  The first half of the mission, I had trouble with the red robots.  Then later, the vehicle that Jak uses in the factory kept falling into the gaps of the floor to his doom.  I wouldn't see these gaps until I realized Jak got trapped in them and couldn't move forward.  That's quite a long fall; I could see the trees and buildings of Haven City down there!
     Next was the Cyber-Errol boss.  Jak died many times here too, but it didn't take too long for me to figure out how to efficiently win the battle.  I ultimately used the Vulcan Fury to fight the red robots, and then when it came to the dark creatures, I decided to try the Peace Maker gun on those bastards, and it worked!  Saved my a$$.  I started to rememeber, Yeah, I did it that way the last time I played this.
     The mission "Defend Spargus from Attack" was by far the most difficult mission in this play session.  I had to use the R1 button to fire at the large Dark creatures that were attacking Spargus from the ocean, and then within the city itself.  It was basically a button-mashing mission.  My right index finger got tired, so then I had to switch to my right middle finger and just keep firing at those ugly things (those ugly things are called the "Dark Maker Walkers"--the strategy guide says so ;] ).  I had to fire at their head and all four or six of their legs...and then two more dark monsters come up, and they are constantly firing missles straight towards Jak's turret gun.  Shooting at those missles were top priority before even shooting at the creatures.  Otherwise the turret gun gets damaged from the missles.  By the time I completed this mission, my right index and middle fingers were tired from all that button-mashing with the R1.
     The first time I played that mission, I had to stop and save it for later.  It was so frustrating, and still was even for this last time.  I knew what to expect though, and I didn't let myself give up.
     Finally just after midnight I unlocked Scene Player Act 2 and then watched the scenes from that act as well as some of my very favorites from Act 1, overall for about 25 minutes.  Then it was 12:30am.  @.@  So then I played this game for roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes, plus the last 25 for the scene player.  Jeez...godd----t, it was those two frustrating missions that made me play this game for that long, and I really wanted to get them out of the way.  But as the file loading screen indicated, I am now 85% done with the game.

^,,,,,^ 

My experience and thoughts on Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

Thursday night after 8:30pm, I tried out Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier for the first time.  I gotta say, it's not bad at all.  In fact, I had so much fun with the game!  The flying introductory mission was fun and not too difficult for me to play through, and I loved the music for that part.  I like the music in the game in general.  I'd describe it as "adventure music" not quite a la the Superman theme.  I believe it is about time that the latest game for Jak and Daxter is another platformer. 
     I am also glad that it is also available for the PS2, something more people have access to than the PS3.  In fact I had to change the aspect ratio to the 16x9 size because at the 4x3 the subtitles were too small and narrow.  Since it started out as something like a narrow wide-screen (being essentially for the PSP), stretching the aspect ratio to the other, larger size helped a lot so that the scenes and the gameplay filled up my entire TV screen.  Neat!
     Some things I do actually miss from the Jak and Daxter trilogy that are not in this game are:

• the Rolling Super Long Jump
• Jak putting away his weapon when it's not in use
• The usual characters Sig, Torn, Samos and Ashelin
• Light Jak and Dark Jak
• the Jet Board (is it gonna come back?  I hope so...)

    I miss that Jak can put away his weapon, because now he's holding it all the time and it makes him look intimidating to the other people walking in the city of Aeropa.  It's annoying to me that he always looks ready to shoot.  Why can't Jak just relax already, huh?  What I do appreciate about this game even without Naughty Dog as it's developer is:

• the nostalgic sound effect that I hear when I find a Precursor Orb (it's just like the one from the first Jak and Daxter game!)
• nature-like places to explore
• new characters
• the new flying gameplay
• Daxter's, um...vulnerability to Dark Eco
• Jak may look a little different (minus his goatee) and sound a little different, but it's not strange to me.  He's Jak and that's all that matters.  : D

     This new game made me care a little more about Daxter.  He is a big-mouth, a liar and obnoxious, as he always was in the past four games, although I loved the comic relief.  However, Daxter has feelings too.  SPOILERS...Probably?)  There is a scene when I realized how vulnerable Daxter can be because of his emotions.  When Daxter got separated from Jak, he was lonely and scared.  Of course.   It made me think inside, "Awww...poor Daxter."   It wasn't his greedy, silly side showing.  It was his fear, not only separation anxiety but also the fear of the unknown.  I'm wondering, does Daxter like being Dark Daxter, and does he want to do it again?  Was he even conscious during the time?  Could he hurt Jak?  It was the first time it happened, so the further I play through the game, I'll probably find out.
     Once I had three Precursor Orbs, I had to go ahead and get the Secret "Jak's goatee."  I think he looks strange without it, because he always had one in Jak II, Jak 3 and Jak X.  I'll let him have his goatee on again  for now.   :)   
     I unfortunately didn't have my recorder with me when I played, so my exclamations are forgotten.  But I remember that I left off right before the mission "Return to Duke Skyheed" and that I'm moments away from the destination.  So far Jak has only one mod for his Gunstaff.  Sigh, I can see why those other Jak and Daxter fans weren't too crazy about this game.  But I like it anyway.  ^,^

My Gaming Variety

You're probably wondering why I take too long to finish games like Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, or Sonic Unleashed.
     I don't stick to only one game to play.  I like to switch between several, because I like variety that way.  I like to have a choice; when I feel "Cloudy" then I get back to Crisis Core or the orignal FFVII, or I might be in a Sonic mood after reading the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic books, and then I'll play Sonic Unleashed (or in a "Classic Sonic" mood and play his old-school SEGA Genesis titles).  NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is still in the SEGA universe and, it's a fun and addictive game that I can play for 2:30 hours at a time.  And I love the NiGHTSy music; I dance to the music from the Bellbridge chase mission ("Dreams Dreams") whenever I get the chance.  I'm always giddy and cheerful after playing NiGHTS.
     I go to the Jak and Daxter series whenever I feel like getting to a platforming game.  Plus there's some jumping and punching and shooting and comedy (a la Daxter mind you) and best of all, Jak.  Oh, of course, there is also Jak X, a combat racing game in the Jak and Daxter world.  If I feel like racing, then that is the best racing game I have in my collection.  Come to think of it, it's the only racing game in my collection.  o.0
     [Sigh]  I'll start Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier next time.  I's be NiGHTS crazy for a long while now.  *,*  

NiGHTS crazy!!

Hi everyone!
     First some news...I joined NiGHTS Community at NiD.com!!! For weeks I was wondering when I should join, because for a long while now (uh, actually since June) I wanted to officially be part of a large group of NiGHTS fans.  When I went around YouTube that time, I watched fan-made videos, most of them slide-shows and a few fan-made flash animated pieces.  I discovered that, wow, I'm not the only NiGHTS fan in the whole world.  No matter how many times I tell my sister how great NiGHTS is, she doesn't care.  Well, I shouldve joined the NiGHTS Community a long time ago.  It's just that I didn't know about NiGHTS into Dreams.com until mid-summer.The fan base is growing ^.^ 
     I'm still trying to set up my avatar and profile pages.

Now for my personal gaming news:
     On November 22, I returned to playing NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams.  I wanted to improve my scoring for the Delight City Nightopia, the second mission called "Neon City Battle."  I only earned as good as a "C" in that mission.  I love the music in Neon City Battle :)  A lot of the music in this game makes me wanna dance, and then I feel so giddy!  Ack, I know I can do better than a C in that mission; I just need to use trial and error to not...get...lost.  The level is a maze.  Phew.
     After that, I wanted to improve the score for the Chase Mission in Delight City.  But I forgot that it starts out with Reala talking to NiGHTS, and then they battle!!  Yay, lots of Reala!  It's always so interesting when Reala talks to NiGHTS, cuz that means he's going to make NiGHTS mad,  Nyaw (well, Reala doesn't have a gender either, but he sounds male to me.  NiGHTS on the other hand...;] ).
     Then I went to My Dream.  It was noisy.  I have 30+ Nightopians in there, and at any given time, 50% of them are f*****g singing.  It's those darn musical boxes.  There's several of them, so many of these little guys are bound to bump into one of them, activate the music, and start singing. It's only cute when one or two are singing at a time.  But 10 or more...ergh!!
     Finally, I tried my hand at the final battle, on Helen's side of the story. I had to so the chase mission for Bellbridge first, and THEN its the fight.  I learned that Wizeman has three large circles behind him, and that means three hits.  During the battle, NiGHTS must be a Dolphin in the water, a rocket in outer space, and a Dragon in the area with the fake Wizemans.  I actually(and finally) made it using the Dragon in outer space and the Rocket in the fake Wizeman part.  With 2 SECONDS TO SPARE!!  I remember saying when I had 20 seconds left, that "I don't think I'm gonna make it."  But part of me didn't want to give up just yet, I knew what I had to do.  Those 130 seconds go by fast.

I GOT MY Jak and Daxter GAME!!!!

I would have posted this earlier, but I wanted it to be separate from the "Dreams" label of Cyborg Haven.

     But yes.  Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier DID arrive in the mail today!!  It was a little after 4:30pm.
     I was in my sister's bedroom while she worked on one of her YouTube projects, and I heard a sound outside that I was certain was a UPS truck.  Then I spotted it from the window in the bedroom.  I thought to myself, "Would that be for me??"  and then "Nah, it might be too soon."  But then I saw a shadow move down the side of the front lawn (there was still some sunlight on the ground for a little while) and so I thought "Maybe it is for me, but maybe it might've been a bird flying...?"
    Then I heard the doorbell ring. IIIIII knoooow whaaaaaat it iiiiiiiiiiiis!!
    I went to the front door and opened it, and sure enough, it was a package for me from GameStop.  I felt around it and realized it contained both the game and the strategy guide inside.  YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!  
    So did my dream fortell that I'd be getting the game today?  Or is it that my unconscious mind has ESP?  I am always fascinated about how this stuff works.
     I already peeked at the strategy guide.  It looks fun and simple to use.  It has controls for the PS2 and the PSP in the same guide.  I was very giddy for the next two hours after finding the package at my front door.  I'm certainly looking forward to playing this game.  I know I'll like it, cuz it's Jak and Daxter.  I am planning to play the game very soon after I finish my second run on Jak 3.  Or, if I can't wait that long... *,^

     I should really return to playing Jak X too.  I lost the data to that game when I accidentally corrupted the memory card that had it.  And I love that cool rock music...and Jak's nose. <3 

Dreams and fortune telling...?

Once again, I had nice video game-related dreams.
Both NiGHTS...and Jak.
     The first one is the one with NiGHTS.  In fact, Reala was there too!  It was a NiGHTS calendar!!!!  And I need a new calendar!   Well, anyway...Reala looked a lot like the way he's been drawn in much of the fan-art I've seen in DA and NiD.com.  Long black hair, sky-blue skin...kinda like the Dark Magician of Black Chaos from the first Yu-Gi-Oh! series, eh?  I think Reala was in most of the calendar's months.  And of course, the all-adorable NiGHTS made it to my dreams, and I squeal <3 <3 <3 <3

     The second dream was that I received Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier in the mail.  Wow that was quick!  And when did I order it?  The tenth?  Lemme tell you what happened in this dream.  I started playing it, and I don't remember seeing Daxter (maybe my unconscious mind doesn't care much about that orange fuzzball, except that he is 98% of the comic relief in the Jak and Daxter games).  However, there was one level where Jak had to jump up and climb parts of a mountain.  In fact, the gameplay was much like the original Jak and Daxter, and he didn't have any guns with him.  And get this:  the music that was playing in that area was the classic Super Mario Brothers' "underground pipe" level.  Ya know, the one with the blue bricks?  That was weird.  What did that have to do with Jak and Daxter? (starts to sing the song):

Duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh...duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh...
Duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh...duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh...
Doodoodoodoot doot doot doot doot doot do do do do do do do do do

     Do dreams tell the future?  I believe so.  I mean, not all the time.  But I knew that the new Jak and Daxter game was coming soon in the mail, so just the fact that I dreamed about it means it's on my mind.  I wondered, is the game and strategy guide going to arrive today?  Tomorrow?  Friday?  Next week...?

Revisited Jak II on November 14th

Okay, I am still in my Jak and Daxter nostalgia attack.  I brought myself to return to another game that I lost the data to on my corrupted memory card:  the now-classic, PS2 Greatest Hit Jak II.
     Hey, you know what else are PS2 Greatest Hits?  Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy; Jak 3; Jak X; Final Fantasy XII (uh, yeah!).  Yeah, even Jak X is a Greatest Hit, baby (ya hear that, Jak X haters?)!
     I don't know when was the last time I played Jak II.  Years ago; maybe in 2004?  Wow.
     I've also had one of my current PS2 controllers since I started playing on the console in 2002, so it is probably...seven years old, at least?  Huh.  That kinda might explain why it went haywire on the third mission, the first mission that Torn gives Jak (something about stealing or taking down the Baron Praxis banner).  In the middle of the mission, the game paused on its own.  And then it unpaused.  The game resumed, but I couldn't have Jak move forward or left or right, any direction.  He was stuck.  WTF?!  Sure, he could move forward by punching, but I could not even turn him around!  Hey, what gives?!  The controller's left analog stick went crazy on me.  I went to the menu and then Sound Options, and it turned everything down to 0%:  the SFX, the speech volume, and the music volume.  Godd----t!!
      I thought I might even have to switch the controller in port 1 to port 2 so that the second controller will have to be used form now on...and that reminds me it is about time (and it might be a good idea now) to buy a new PS2 controller in case this seven-year-old one breaks down for good.  Sigh. >:(
     But I didn't want to do that just yet.  After taking the game out and turning the unit off, I tried pushing in the controller's plug in a little more into the port.  Wow, it actually went in a little more!  Could it be that the controller just needed to be pushed back in?  I mean, I might have been pulling at the controller's cord when I tensed up and didn't realize it (maybe when I'm close to losing in a versus battle during Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4).  I had a sigh of relief there.  After adjusting the plug to the controller port, I turned on the unit, put the game back in and everything worked just fine.  I was able to finish the mission.
     So then, Jak brought back the banner, and Torn accepts Jak and Daxter and says "Yeah. I guess you guys are in."  Then voila! he disappeared.  The night stars were disappering as well.  I noticed that so then I said, "What? Torn? Where is he?  It's the morning now!  Make me my breakfast!!"  Lol!
     I completed 11% of the game in that one session, compared to the maybe three or four missions I completed the first time I played this game (because back in 2003 playing a half-hour of Jak II was too much for me to take, I was just so excited).  The last mission Jak did for this session was the training course for the Scatter Gun, and next time he's gonna protect Sig while he does his Wastelander stuff.

Whew!  ^,^

Crisis Core November 13

     I finally got back to Crisis Core: FFVII last Friday a little after 9:30pm.  I used my recorder, but I didn't want to record while I was playing.  I put the portable unit in sleep mode because, y'know, battery power.  Plus, if I was recording the audio during gameplay, I'd forget to stop recording and I'd run out of room on the mini-casette.  I can be sooooo into this game ;) ...
    Where do I begin?  The last time I played this game was on October 17th--and that was just a session for Zack to level up.  I also realized that Zack's next mission might be that fateful one in Niebelheim (did I spell that right? Oh, it's Nibelheim... ^.^;;), which of course is Cloud's hometown.  So when I did get back to the game Friday night, I warmed up (refreshed my memory for the controls) with a side mission, one that involved finding remnants of Genesis on this boat.  The final enemies for this mission were two degrading Genesis, uh, guys.  I got a chance to use my newly fused materia the Dark Blizzara, which not only poisoned one of the Genesis bosses, it stuned him as well.  Plus, I (I mean, Zack) got a Lucky Star from Cissnei and the rest of the batttle went smoothly afterwards. 
     (SPOILERS!! Probably...)  So then, Zack talked to Kunsel to let him know he's ready to go on the mission with [gasp!] Sephiroth.  And then, JOY!!!!!  Zack met Cloud again!!  Oh, how wonderful this reunion is!  They will be on the mission together, those buddies  :)    Anyway, in Nibelheim, Zack met this boy who knows about the seven wonders of Nibelheim and tells Zack to look for the red drinking water.  "Is it blood?" the boy asks.  It turned out that there was a red materia in the water, which actually is the Phoenix summon materia.  Sweet!  Then I allowed Zack to talk to Sephiroth (who told him to get plenty of rest...awww, he cares [for now]!)  Cloud was standing right by Zack so I made Zack talk to him.  Squeeaaalll!  Then I explored the town for a short while.
      Unfortunately I will have to skip a lot that happened in the game and say right away that I stopped playing at 10:30pm (an approximate hour and a half).  I meant to do some more exploring when I had Zack talk to Sephiroth when he was looking out the window at the "familiar landscape."  But then ten minutes of cinematics played, which was very nice...but I felt like I didn't do enough exploring in Nibelheim yet.  I did a soft reset and loaded an earlier file, and I ended up at the first save point in Shinra Manor.
     So, I don't mind having to see those scenes again (there is so much revelation within those ten minutes).  I recognize much of it because I played the original Final Fantasy VII.  But of course, Crisis Core: FFVII is the true, complete story of how things happened before the events of the original game.  There is plenty to recall and reflect upon at this point, so I will have to save my feelings about them for another post.  Stay tuned.

Ordered Jak and Daxter:The Lost Frontier!! Also, an opinion about the PS3

I couldn't help it.  :)
     I was hoping I would be able to buy the game at a store, so that other people, maybe other gamers, would see that I am a Jak and Daxter fan.  Ha ha...?  Well, a couple of days ago I found an offer I could not resist:  the PS2 Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier for $22.99 at GameStop.com ! I even decided to order the Official Strategy Guide for the game as well! 
     As I might have said before, I'd rather play this game for the Playstation 2 because a) I want to see it on a bigger screen, and b) I don't feel like limiting myself on how long I play it because of any remaining battery power my PSP would have.  I have plenty of games for my portable unit at this time, and I'm not going to forget about buying Dissidia: Final Fantasy and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep either.
     If you check the link to GameStop above, the page says it is an online price only, and that the price drop will save customers $7.  Also, there are a few reviews already for this PS2 version of the game.  Is that a good thing?  Unfortunately, the reviews are not all that positive, even from the Jak and Dax fans.  But you know what, that's not gonna stop me from wanting to play this game.  I personally am a loyal Jak and Daxter fan.  In terms of platformers, it's been a good while since a Jak and Daxter video game was released in that genre.  I mean, Jak X wasn 't so bad to me; in fact, it may be the only racing game that I do enjoy because not only is it Jak and Daxter.  There is actually a STORY to that racing game, unlike many of the other games where the only purpose is to drive/race and admire how oh-so beautiful (and "ohh lookie how real-like") those race cars are.
     Which brings me to another point.  I recently visited http://www.us.playstation.com/ and I had to check out this post on the Playstation Blog about the newest Jak and Daxter game (check it out!).  I noticed that a lot of comments made about that post state that there should be a Jak and Daxter game for the Playstation 3.  Um, I understand their disappointment, but...
     Hey look, I just made an awesome discovery!  It's called the Playstation 2!  There are hundreds of thousands of video game titles to play for it, and it can also play DVDs and music CDs.  And the best of it all is, you can even play [your] old PSone titles on the PS2, like Final Fantasy VII or Chrono Trigger if you have them!  Oh man, I wish I had that Playstation 2...
     Oh wait, I do :) 
     My point about whether or not there should be a PS3 Jak and Daxter game is this.  Many of these gamers who have a PS3 must be so spoiled by now with the great graphics of Metal Gear Solid 4 or Resistance or WWE titles.  Or Halo 3.  Just know that those of you who think 100% perfect graphics and 100% perfect gameplay are the only things that make a video game desirable, then you my friends are missing out on some great PS2/PSone treasures.  Don't throw out your PS2 consoles just yet, or not at all.  I know I won't.

Cyborg Haven Update

The following list has been added to the Cyborg Haven page:  Games I'd Play if I Had a PS3.

The following list of items have been added to this new list:

• Bayonetta (next year ;])
• Devil May Cry 4
• Final Fantasy Versus XIII (next year?)
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Heavenly Sword
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
• SONIC the Hedgehog

     Just a little more about what I like... ^,^ 

Sonic Rivals 2 on November 8th

     At 11:07pm Sunday I started playing Sonic Rivals 2 and wanted to get through that annoying level that made me mad at Knuckles.   I started at where I left off in  the Shadow/Metal Sonic story: Sunset Forest Boss 2.  The game asked me after confirming the advance to this level whether I wanted to play as Shadow or Metal Sonic.  "I said I'd be playing as Shadow, so it's going to be Shadow, right?  Why are you asking me again?!"  Lol.
     I started that boss stage, and like last time, I was having problems because of Knuckles.  That, and even Shadow has his own problems to worry about.  I exclaimed "Ah, argh, aaargh!!  Stupid Shadow!  Not knowing when to move!"   >:(
     I gotta tell ya, many of the comments I listened to myself say from my mini-cassette audio recorder are things I rather not post on this blog.  I didn't realize how many times I said the words  "Godd----t" and "f*** you!" whenever Knuckles sabotages Shadow's chance of winning.   It's funny, though, because I even say Ow!  even though "I'm not the one getting hurt, it's Shadow." 
     "Godd----t!  Knuckles has 3 hits!  I have 0."
     Eventually I found out that if I push the O button instead of the X button like I always have, Shadow can attack the bomb to make it drop onto Eggman's machine.  It was more efficient to use the O button because the bomb can't see right away that Shadow is in the air and would hit it.  Hey, it worked sometimes with hitting Knuckles back after he hit Shadow without my permission, I  mean...without warning.  To shorten the story, I cleared that boss stage.  Yayyy, Shadow wins!!
     Of course there is the possiblilty of being mad at another character.  This time, it's Sonic the Hedgehog.  Why?  Because...^.^;; for the second act of the next Stage Neon Palace, he's not nice to Shadow.  I cleared act 1, but in act 2, it turns out to be a Shadow versus Sonic Knock-Out match.  The thing is, Neon Palace is a casino-themed location.  "There always has to be some sort of Casino-like level in these Sonic games."  So, like I feared, Sonic and Shadow have to be mean to each other again.  I lost several times on this level and said, "Not nice, Sonic, not nice." 
     At one point I decided to just have Shadow wait for Sonic to come up to him so that when he is on screen, I can attack him, steal his rings, and  beat the crap outta him.  But for a few minutes, Sonic didn't return on-screen.  He was doing something off-screen and said the occasional "Yeah, sweet!...Yeah, sweet! Alright!"  So I wonder, what the hell is Sonic doing off-screen??  "Check it out!  Yes!"  Again, what is it that Sonic is doing that Shadow can see, but I can't??

 @,@

     Well, it just so happens that the game throws random stuff that the characters can say once they get a power-up of some kind.  Sometimes the voices overlap or come one after another.  It makes them sound like something else is happening.  My brain is weird.

Jak 3 on November 5th

I usually update Cyborg Haven on Mondays but I seem to be a day late.     
     I played Jak 3 the past Thursday night, and I only ended up completing one mission, which was "Beat the Pillar Ring Challanges."  The next mission I have to complete is called "Find Hellcat Fighter."  But it was nighttime (in my world, not necessarily Jak 3's world) so I just wanted to play it light and focus on collecting more Metal-Head skull gems and, especially, the all-important Precursor Orbs.  I'm back on the water side of Haven City, where it is easier to find the Metal-Heads that still have the skull-gems.   There is also a good number of Precursor Orbs that are in this side of Haven City, up on those towers.  (If anyone requests it, I can give a tip on how to get to those Precursor Orbs). 

My Notable comments while playing:

• "I'm gonna show the Precursor Statue that I am worthy of punching his nose by beating this Pillar Ring Challenge."
• After I finished all the ring challenges: "I did it!  I'm worthy of punching his nose!   Yaayyyyyy!  Trial and error, baby,...trial, and error!"  (Remembered that the way I said this was reminiscent of the way Daxter said his line in Jak 3, "Fish in the barrel, Jak!  Fish  in the barrel."  And then Jak raises his eyebrows twice in that adoralbe way...at Torn??)

   

Cyborg Haven Update #3

The following item has been added to my list of games I played:

     Sega Super-Stars Tennis (PS2, only NiGHTS and Sonic)

It was interesting seeing NiGHTS playing tennis either alongside Sonic or against Sonic, but I only rented the game just to experience it.  I love the music for the MonkeyBall-themed tennis court and the Samba de Amigo tennis court.  I found myself mechanically pusing the X button and listening to the music rather than paying attention to the game.  Oh well, I still had some fun with it.

My Nostalgia for Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

NOSTALGIA!!!!!
     I am still celebrating the release of the Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier video game for the Playstation 2.  I've decided to buy both the video game and the strategy guide, because the strategy guide has a lot of goodies in it (like character bios and the list of the game's secrets) besides tip for helping me play my best.
     But I couldn't help it.  It's been almost a decade since the first game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was released--and it's been seven years ago (early summer 2002) since I first played that game.  I completed it in about three months (and then September 20, 2002 I bought Kingdom Hearts ^.^ ).  I'd like to play it again for a third run (yes, third), but I'm still finishing up Jak 3 for my second time playing it.  So I decided to see if the beginning of the first Jak and Daxter game was available on You Tube.  I found a bunch, but one in particular includes a couple of extra-nostalgic things:  the Playstation 2 logo, and the Naughty Dog logo (with Daxter dancing and Jak pushing the Naughty Dog logo into the screen.  Squeeeeeaallllll!!!!!)  Jak was a baby there!  Now he's a man with two girls chasing after him (Keira and Ashlin).  For those who want to see the video (in case you sold your old copy of Jak and Daxter, don't feel like digging your collection for it, or are just curious about it and wanna see it anyway :) ) then here's the link for this blast of nostalgia from this 2001 video game:

     Jak and Daxter: #01 Starting Movies 

Man, I love Jak's expression when he first sees that Daxter is turned into an ottsel.  His eyes were so wide, like "WTF did you just do to yourself?! (Oh wait...I did that ^.^ ;;)".   I still appreciate the music of this great game, especially from Sentinel Beach and, um... I really want to play that game again.  I'm starting to forget the names of the areas.  By the way, there are other videos that include some gameplay of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.  They should show up on Related Videos on the You Tube page of this video.

^,^

Dreamed about NiGHTS again ^.^

I love it when I dream about NiGHTS!

     It was yesterday in the afternoon when I took a short nap on a vinyl chair (not the best place for me to snooze, but I was tired enough to).  In my dreams somehow, I think I was playing a NiGHTS video game, but it was different.  I didn't see Elliot or Claris from NiD, or Helen or Will from NiGHTS: JoD.  But somehow in the middle of it, NiGHTS turned into a baby (Chibi-form, if you will) and was wearing a pacifier.  Odd.  @.@   But I thought NiGHTS was sooo adorable  as a baby.  I think Reala was in the dream too.  I forgot what he did though, or what happened.

      Next, some dreamer was having nightmare problems because of Reala's [possible] intervention into his unconscious??  The dream turned into a comic book sort of style (boy I reeaalllly wish I didn't miss out on those NiGHTS into Dreams comic books by Archie Comics, espcecially the first 3 issues, and unfortunately they're out of print.  It was 12 years ago I believe).  Police were trying to find answers, and the dreamer was scared.  Maybe I should write this as a fan-fiction.

      Hahahaha...NiGHTS into Dreams...and then I dream about NiGHTS, or NiGHTS related stuff.

     I really should join a NiGHTS  fanclub or something.  I know there is a forum in NiGHTS into Dreams.com that I can go to, but I have to register first before I can participate.  I should at least read some of the posts before I begin to sign up and submit something of my own.  I have attepmted to draw NiGHTS  and even Reala before, but I don't know when I'll submit them if I even do any drawings, anyway.  I'm not an artist in terms of drawing or sketching.  Sigh... :(  But I want to show other NiGHTS fans that I'm a fan too!  And a Reala fan as well.  Why can't I just take that first step and join the forums?!!!  I even have my very own fan-made NightMaren that I want to develop  a story for and draw, and share with other fans.  Sigh, rant rant rant...I'm just ranting.

     In N:JoD, I am just inches away from finishing the game, but I've only collected 11 DreamDrops.  Or was it 10?  Ergh.

     NiGHTS!!!!  ^,^

                  

I enjoyed playing Jak 3...finally got past that annoying mission

     On Thursday October 29th, 11:35pm, I returned to playing Jak 3 once again.  This time, I had some luck on my side.  My right thumb got a nice long vacation from the X button, and the first mission for the night, "Take Out Marauder Stronghold," was a little less frustrating since I knew what I had to do.  I had to be careful and not let Jak get his Dune Hopper buggy caught next to a rock or a difficult hill, otherwise it slows him down and the Marauders get away.  And then there are other Marauders in dune buggies trying to prevent Jak from chasing the ones in the actual mission, and I go "Aarrghhhhh!  F*** youuu!"
   Well, after much trial and error, I realized that the sooner I got rid of the sought-after Marauder, the easier it will be to catch the next one.  There were four of them, and of course the last one is always the hardest.  *^*
     Here is a list of the other missions I completed that night:

• Defend HQ from Attack
• Find Switch in Sewers
• Find Cypher in Eco Grid (a mini game reminiscent of Pac-Man)
• Destroy Metal-pedes in Nest (Jak is accompanied by Sid here)
• Chase Down Metal-head Base  (with terret gun; Sid drives, Jak shoots, and, LOL, Sid tells Jak to "get in, sit down, and shut up."

     I left off at the point right before th emission of "Beat Pillar Ring Challenge," stopping right after returning to Haven City.  It is nice to have Jak on his feet again rather than having me push the X button non-stop to drive the Dune Buggies.  According to the Load File screen, I am 75% done with the game at 14 hours and 45 minutes.  That's pretty darn quick, compared to the near 40 hours it took me the first time I played Jak 3.
     I should return to Jak 2 also, if I don't get Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier by then.  Playing Jak 3 helps me deal with that wait... *,^