CYBORG HAVEN 2.0

CYBORG HAVEN 2.0
5 YEARS ON THE INTERNET
Showing posts with label Jak X. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jak X. Show all posts

Monday, July 30, 2012

MY JAK X: COMBAT RACING DISC HAS THE MEMORY CARD GLITCH


It happened.  Again.

And I found out I’m not the only one with this problem.  Many other players of Jak X: Combat Racing had this problem as well, preventing some of these guys from ever playing the game or forcing them to buy another copy.  I read the reviews for the game from Amazom.com, and then the Wikipedia page for Jak X to learn more.

I was one of those people who, for some games, HAD to get it soon after it was released in stores.  Jak X was one of these games.  I was excited about it being a nice change from the adventuring that was in the Jak and Daxter trilogy.  I’m not interested in ANY other racing game.  This game was the only racing game I would ever buy, because it had a story and the lovable, familiar characters I’ve come to know sharing the story together.

I played the game into 30% of its completion.  There were no saving problems.  Then, one day, after leaving the Garage part of the menu, the Save icon didn’t go away; it kept on flashing.  I went to the Stage Select screen and it was still flashing.  I played one race, and the entire time the Save icon still flashed non-stop.  I made a mistake of trying to save the game manually while the game was trying to save automatically, and it just froze up the progress.  I didn’t know what else to do; the only way to get out of it was to reset the game.  It corrupted my card, everything that was in there: Chaos Legion, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak 2, Jak 3, my progress for Jak X, Sonic Mega Collection Plus, all of it.  Finished games, gone.

So Tuesday I try Jak X again.  I got through the tutorial all right.  Then I finished one full race, in which I earned a Silver Medal on the first try.  Then after saving, I wanted to check the garage, since I got two new vehicles.  The game auto saved, even though I did not make any changes to the race car whatsoever.  And the Save icon kept flashing.  And kept flashing.  And kept flashing.  I stood up from my seat and paced around the room figuring out what to do.  I haven’t backed up the data from Jak and Daxter R2 and Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier.   I was afraid I was going to lose data again.

Funny what happened though.  I tried to Load my profile to hopefully “counter” the stuck-on-auto-save mode.  I left it like that for over thirty minutes.  Nothing changed, and I had to reset the game or nothing else would happen.  But actually, when I browsed the data in the memory card, the data was still readable.   The first time Jak X corrupted my data, the data files in the memory card showed up as gray cubes and a verbal indication that the data was corrupted.  The PS2 did not recognize the memory card’s data and the icons for each game didn’t show up.

This time, the data icons DID show up:  for Jak and Daxter: TLF, Jak and Daxter, and Jak X.  It was a relief to see that two of the icons showed Daxter and Jak X had its title logo there.  I may have saved my game data from a horrible fate.

I would buy another copy of the game but I want to see if I can do what Wikipedia suggests for this particular “Memory Card Glitch.”  Keep the memory card out and just put it in when you want to save, and then save it manually from the Main Menu screen.  I wouldn’t mind doing that; the auto save feature just doesn’t help for this game exactly like it should, huh?

Meanwhile, if the data for Jak and Daxter: TLF is okay, I should back it up somewhere else and delete it from this memory card so that this glitch won’t happen again.

Here is the link to the Wikipeida page for Jak X: Combat Racing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jak_X:_Combat_Racing

Go to the section that says “Autosave Memory Card Controversy” and read up on it.  If this happened to you, I suggest following the “workaround” advice.  It may be a bother, but at least you don’t have to go buy a new copy of the game, and you can keep your currently non-corrupted memory card.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

What’s So Great About Twisted Metal X????

I know, I can’t just criticize this game without having played any of it.   But I don’t understand what is great about this video game.  Does it have a story?   Is there an actual point to the game other than just riding on cars or motorcycles and committing crimes or killing other drivers?
Let’s look at another combat car game, Jak X: Combat Racing.
In my opinion, even though Jak X was a video game in a combat racing genre, at least Jak X had a story.  Jak and his buddies drink beverages that were poisoned without their knowing until it was too late.  In order to get the antidote for the poison, they had to win race after race, and try to survive all the while.   Winning to get the antidote is a very good motivation for the heroes’ racing.  There is a ticking clock.
What does Twisted Metal X do?  It’s just pure combat and killing and destroying.  There is only a vague idea of what happened to the world, and so the characters (if there even are protagonists here) deal with it by combat driving.  And who likes murderous clowns?  I don’t. 
I’m sorry, I just don’t like video games where the only point to the gameplay is destroying things and extinguishing lives.  Count in committing crimes.  It’s why I have absolutely no interest in playing any of the Grand Theft Auto video games.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Cyborg Haven Update: Jak and Daxter Artist Bob Rafei has a website!!

The following website has been added to my list of favorite websites:


Bob Rafei is the concept artist behind the Jak and Daxter series, one of my favorite video game fanchises for the PlayStation 2.  There is concept art and illustrations included in galleries for:
  • Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
  • Jak II
  • Jak 3
  • Jak X: Combat Racing
  • A couple of Crash Bandicoot titles
  • Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
I couldn't help it and had to look at the character art for Jak and Daxter: TPL and Jak II, and I love those galleries a whole lot!!  I have yet to look at the art for Jak 3 and Jak X.  Bob Rafei's artwork inspires me to want to draw my own artwork of Jak, but I don't know which Jak to start drawing.  I could start with Jak from the first game because he's Bambi-eyed and there are less details to worry about  :3  Plus which ever game he is in, he has a cute nose.  Why did I say that?  Maybe because I like the way Rafei draws his nose/nostrils.  0__O   Anyway, I got to know more of Rafei's art  years ago when I got the Jak 3 official strategy guide book.  The book features a lot of his art and I fell in love with it.  I didn't know he had the website back in 2004.  Now I know about it.  I'm so happy I stumbled upon it today!

So fans of Jak and Daxter series, if you love Bob Rafei's artwork, go check out his gallery website.  A lot of the pieces he did will surprise you, especially the very early concepts of Jak, what is called "Pre-Jak."  Wanna know what I'm talking about?  You'll see on page 2 of the gallery for Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

I'll just say that I am very pleased with the way Jak finally turned out...   :3 

Art by Bob Rafei

This image is from the Jak 3 strategy guide.  I wanted
to include this here to give my readers an idea of what
Bob Rafei's art style is, at least for Jak 3.  To see more of
his artwork, check out http://www.bobrafei.com/home.htm .

Friday, September 4, 2009

The Memory Card I Lost

     It was some time in November 2006, soon before Thanksgiving Day when this happened. I was playing Jak X: Combat Racing, and I was done with about 38% of the game, as it indicated. At some point in between races, I decided to upgrade Jak's ride. I changed color after color, wheels, the engine and something else, I forgot. But I didn't realize that after every time I made a change to the race car, the game automatically saved. I didn't take that into account until I saw that the auto-save indicator was still flashing like it was still trying to save. I played another race, and the auto-save check mark was still on the screen. I didn't like that; somehting was fishy. I stopped playing and tried to see if I can exit to the title screen, but it wouldn't let me. There was no way to get out of it. I made a no-win decision to reset the game, and it happened: the data in the memory card became corrupted.
     I knew it was a bad idea, and I did it anyway.  I lost the data for the finished Chaos Legion, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Mega Collection Plus, Jak II completed, Jak 3 completed, and ultimately Jak X. I kind of cried.
     Boy, did I screw up...
     But it was soon before Thanksgiving Day. After a short while, I thought, Hey, at least the world didn't end and my family is safe.  And besides, this past June I realized the joy of playing Jak 3 all over again.