Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PC.

So I picked this up at Sg. Wang for RM24.90 (that's about...just USD7 at time of post). Not a bad deal....considering it's original. Is this a really good bargain?

The compilation covers pretty much every Sonic game in the Sega Genesis (not including any of the add-ons such as the Sega CD or the 32X). There's also a few Game Gear games in there as well. At first glance, it's a nice buy, and since I'm a Sonic fan, it would be nice to own the collection legit.

Playing the game so far though, it's like playing a game straight out of the Genesis. No graphical enhancements, no sound enhancements. It's the exact same game a decade ago. However, I did notice slowdown with some (actually, most) of the games....and I found out why - apparently the PC version port uses the PAL 50hz version of the games instead of the NTSC version - and this means the game plays slower (and no, there is no way to "fix" it). And having played the games before...the slowdown is quite noticable. I haven't played the game long enough to say if it sucks or not but although it hasn't really messed up my timing in terms of jumps or dash somewhat, it does kill the tempo of the game slightly since the game's all about speed.

The game also comes with a bunch of extras (movies related to Sonic Heroes, comics, manuals etc), which is nice, but really, only for novelty reasons....and to be frank...the movies are the whole reason why the default install is 3.2gb. (Installing just the games, letting the movies run from disc is just 470MB...that's like nearly just 1/8th of the install!)]

So far, this looks like a decent buy, but that's it. The slowdown gets quite annoying...especially when you've played the faster NTSC versions. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty lucky that I seriously didn't pay more than RM25 for this. Nice compilation, but seriously, could be better.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou review

Language: Japanese
Run time: Combined - 3 hr 15 min (2 DVD)
Video format: NTSC
Screen format: 4:3, 16:9
Release date: 27 July 2007
DVD Region: 2
(pics of my DVD coming soon)

On the 18th of March this year (that's roughly.....4 months ago?), a concert featuring the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) voice actors was staged. The Haruhi anime was a big smash hit last year, and it was no surprise that eventually something like this happened. Simply put, it is THE event for all anime fans (especially for the Suzumiya fans) to go to.

Unfortunately for non Japanese (like me), getting to Japan is no easy job. And most likely, you've missed out on this event. But no fret, as Lantis has released this on DVD. Woot. But there's a slight catch - this is an R2 DVD which means you need an R2 DVD player (or a region free one, whichever works for you).

The first DVD introduces all the seiyuus (well at least the main ones) from the anime (and I think the author of the light novel). Following that was talk with all the seiyuus. (Note to self: Shiraishi's Wa Wa Wasuremono is STILL the win - this is before he sung the longer ver on Lucky Star mind you).

Wa Wa Wa Wasuremono....Whoaaaaaaaa!! XD

Towards the end of the DVD, the SOS-dan seiyuus did a skit made of absolute win. Even if you don't understand Japanese, the skit is still hilarious.

Sugita Tomokazu (Kyon) with the Othello board XD

L-R: Sugita Tomokazu, Ono Daisuke, Chihara Minori, Yuko Goto, Hirano Aya, during the hilarious skit.

Obviously, DVD 1 won't mean much if you don't understand a shred of Japanese. No there are no subs you can stop dreaming now :D

The second DVD is where the fun begins. It's the concert where the seiyuus sings some songs from the anime or their character CD. It was a wonderful performance from all the seiyuus who performed. Quite a lot of the songs are from the character CDs so you are more likely to have heard them for the first time unless you've been buying them.

Some shots from DVD2:

Yuko Goto starts the concert with Koi no Mikuru Densetsu.
Chihara Minori's performance during "SELECT?" The fans are going wild. Damn I wish I was there. =_=
Matsuoka Yuki (Tsuruya-san)'s performance. My fav song of the lot :p
Hirano Aya and her live band performing "Lost My Music".
Chihara Minori, Hirano Aya and Yuko Goto during the Hare Hare Yukai performance. The most lively song of them all.

The DVD ends with a backstage visit of the seiyuu's at the end of the concert. And the fans absolutely loved the concert judging by the reactions.

Is this a worthy buy? Yes. If you are a Haruhi fan it is a crime if you don't have this in your collection. If you like anime music in general this DVD is great too. Nevertheless this DVD rocks!! Woohoo!

You can buy the DVD from Play-Asia or YesAsia. Thanks for reading and good night :)

Pinky Street Kira Kira Music Hour review

Cute ain't it? The title screen I mean :p

No, I didn't pick this up. My good friend picked it up over the weekend when on holiday in Japan so I figured I'd review it. Even if it isn't technically mine >_> but I put quite a few hours into this (Sorry Ouendan 2 :( )

Pinky Street Kira Kira Music Hour, is as is name says, a music game. However, it's no Ouendan with no real life people singing in this, rather you are playing to the instrumentals. Not that it's a bad thing of course.

Once the game started I entered a name (has input for Japanese and English letters, but I did not test how many characters), the blood type (huh?), the type of music I like to hear (there's a selection, and surprisingly "Anime" and "Para-Para" were among them), and finally your horoscope (the words are in Japanese, but the symbol is obvious enough). I'd have reason to believe that this game was targeted more towards the female audience when.....

You are apparently given a "house" of your own in Kira2 Music Hour.

.....the character model looks so much more female. And by the way, I had NO opportunity to select gender.

From what I understand, the game is free roam, somewhat like Ouendan 2, with several locations with different types of music.

Your world map. Small is it not?

So far I've played several of the world locations and the one I liked was the classical music area (the real name escapes me at the moment). In every area you will be able to go into shops to purchase things. Of course, the main attraction of every area is the "music room".

Stages are laid out in a way that you will most of the time end up taking on a CPU.

"You" chatting with the person you are going up against.

The game is slightly more text heavy unlike Ouendan, so you might (or might not) miss out on a few things. Still, it isn't too difficult to play. Gameplay however, you will have to place your DS sideways ala Brain Age.....

The game allows you time to tilt the DS apparently. Btw, the Hori Play Stand proved useful here.

Let the battle begin!

The gameplay is pretty simple. Your objective is to simply outperform the other CPU (who will randomly screw up). As shown in the picture, there are 3 panels. When lit up, they are:

Top being yellow
Middle being green
Bottom being blue.

As the music plays, the upper part of the touch screen (when flipped of course - I'm referring to the black "box" with the green music note) will show the three colours. You are supposed to tap the correct colour panel when the music note (which bounces) synchs with the panel on the box (ala Ouendan's timer circles). The timing is rather strict, and it will be the difference between getting Rainbow (spot on), Kira2 (close) or Good (off but still hit). As long as your lifebar (blue) overpower your opponent's (green), you win! But be careful. A string of mistakes will sink your bar to the wrong end pretty quickly (my full bar sunk completely to the other end after missing two beats in a row. TWO!!!!), especially painful if you are at the end of a song.

On Normal mode, you may also have to slide on the panels if needed. If the panel lits up AND also has a >>>>>> or a <<<<<<<, you will need to slide on the panel according to the direction as well (tapping won't count). You will also sometimes have to slide down on all three panels.

Overall, I say this game is pretty nice. It's no Ouendan, but it's still a pretty solid DS game. The gameplay is a bit too simple, but nevertheless it's still pretty addictive. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to play somemore before I return this :(

You can pick up the game from Play-Asia here.

Alone - Movie review

Movie poster for this flick. Scared yet? :p

Language: Thai (w/English subtitles - Blurry Chinese and Malay subtitles also included -_-)
Rating : 18-PL
Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes.
GSC website: Here
Sypnosis: (taken from GSC.com.my)

Looking roughly at Pim’s life, she is just another ordinary woman. She moved from Thailand and started a new life in Korea with her caring and loving husband. But one night, a phone call from Thailand changes her life forever. Pim learns that her mother is gravely ill with an unknown disease, and she and her husband Lee rush back to Thailand.

The moment she arrives in Thailand, the flashbacks begin-painful memories, long buried, along with a strange familiar feeling. These things only grow stronger, as she reaches the house where she grew up. She is inundated with a nostalgia that is sweet, but with an undercurrent of terror, a realization that someone is “there,” right beside her, always. And that someone had always been there.

The secret of Pim and her family has slowly been revealed: she was once a Siamese twin! Ten years ago, Pim and her conjoined twin sister underwent as operation to separate them. But her sister died during the attempt. And now, Pim suddenly feels her presence once more, relentlessly.

Will she regain the normal life she once had – her own and hers alone?

My thoughts
(Apparently, this is based off a true story, the twins with the same name Pim and Ploy did get seperated in 1994)

Since this movie is directed by the duo that also directed Shutter (a good Thai horror flick as well, must watch for horror fans), I had some expectations on this movie. After watching it, I can safely say that it is a good watch.

The scare tactics (hey, thats why you came to watch the movie right?) are more of the same old stuff, but even so you'll still feel shocked when you actually WATCH it. (eg. beach scene). I personally found some of the same scare tactics in Shutter reused in this flick (coming from the same directors, this is expected), yet the scare factor is still there. Kudos to the directors for being able to keep the horror feel in each scene. (Lift scene anyone? Woot.)

Marsha Wathanapanitch did a splendid job as the lead in this flick. Her acting definitely was superb, and definitely doesn't look fake. (It got me scared too >_<). One of my fav scenes involving her was (minor spoilers ahead):

Doctor: (takes out art that looks like a butterfly)Tell me what do you see?
Pim (Marsha): Batman
Doctor: ......
Pim : If I said butterfly, you will say I am normal, but if I said anything else, you will say I am insane.

As for the plot....well, I'll be frank. Simply just reading the sypnosis will NOT work....as a matter of fact, the turn of events that will be revealed towards the end are rather shocking. It kinda reminds me of Phoenix Wright in a way...(a VERY horrific way). Even the ending was actually action packed - And that I did not expect.

Overall, the movie was worth a watch. If you are one that are pretty much immune to scare tactics this probably won't change a thing, but nevertheless, the plot was superb, something I don't expect in a horror flick.

Rating by me: 4/5

Deal or No Deal?

Does anyone watch that show? It's on NTV7 (Malaysia) on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm, in Mandarin. I think in the US NBC shows it (in English obviously). Basically the premise of the game is this. After being the one selected from the contestants, the contestant has to pick a case (from about 20 over cases) for the contestant to keep (for the duration of the show obviously). Then, the contestant has to choose from the remainder of the cases to open, revealing the sum of cash to be "deleted" off the score-board. The main aim here on this portion of the game is to have the lower sums removed from the board (e.g RM0.10 [yes THAT low is in the game too]. And here's why:

After a number of cases are removed, the "Banker" will call, offering a sum of money to the contestant to purchase the briefcase he/she earlier chose (the very first one), in which either the contestant can either choose to "Deal" or "No Deal". The amount the banker offers will be based on the contestant's performance - Do well by getting rid of the lower amounts and the amount offered will be high, do bad by getting rid of the higher ones and the offer will be lower. Regardless, if Deal, the case will be sold to the banker for that sum of money, if no Deal, the contestant has to open more cases to delete more values.

And then the banker calls again, with a higher/lower value to offer for the case (dependant on performance) and the option to Deal or no Deal comes up again. If "No Deal", the contestant has to open more cases. The banker calls more often towards the end of the game where there are only few cases left to open (usually by then it's pretty clear whether the Deal or No Deal option is better).

Once the contestants chooses "Deal", the contestant has to answer a further question - failing in which the contestants will take home only 20% of the amount offered by the bank (though I don't think this is in the US version of Deal or No Deal...). And at the end of the game, the value of the very first case chosen by the contestant will be revealed (to show if it was a "good deal" or a "bad deal" - It'll really suck if the contestant sold off the briefcase containing RM100,000 for a lower amount the banker offered LOL).

Anyway the game is based on luck as you don't know what cases hold which amount (and they are not preset obviously), by all means you could have Lady Luck with you and open up all the low amounts forcing the bank to offer you absurd amounts of cash for whatever value it is inside the case or in most cases, have luck turn against you and you are stuck with lower values (and in turn, lower banker offer). It's still fun to watch as a TV show.

If you want to play this online, NBC (US) has a flash version of it on their site here. Of course this is just for fun and you won't get real money from it.

What I don't understand is what drove the idiots named Golden Star Software (whatever company this is) to release a DS game based on this game show when you can play the flash version for free. And to top it all off, there's no reason to buy it anyway - There is nothing to do but open cases and reject / accept the banker's offer. Fun to watch as a viewer, fun to play as a REAL LIFE contestant where you win real money.

But in a game where I probably will get a "CONGRATULATIONS YOU WIN US$(insert amount here)" at the end of the game and then get booted back to the title screen? At least Who Wants to be a Millionaire has a point to be released on the PC/PS because it tests your knowledge. But this? LOL. I pity the idiots who buy it.

In which I review some food at last.

Location: Berjaya Times Square 10th Floor Food Court (there's a name for it, but blah I don't remember it)
What is this?: Penne Arrabiata <--- (this spelling is wrong I think, someone correct it pls) How much $$$: RM7.90 (not inclusive of tax)

Since i was at the outing, I figured that I'd have dinner there as well. So I ordered this from the Italian store over at the Food Court (it's very near to the IMAX entrance, can't miss it). RM7.90 is rather steep for a food court pricing, but that's a good price for good food like that (FYI, RM7.90 is nothing compared to the other stuff they have on the menu which cost double-ish more)

How does it takes like? You obviously do not (and cannot) compare it to true Italian joints, but nevertheless it manages to replicate the taste a little. The spicy tomato sauce really tastes good and gives it the Italian taste right there. I don't have any complaints about this pasta, it's just that good! (Again, price is a non-issue here).

I would certainly recommend this to anyone who needs a good place to have lunch, especially if you are right in the middle of Bukit Bintang. :)

The LYN NDS Gathering - A mini review.

Before I begin, here's a log from the LYN forums outing thread.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time : 1030hrs - 2000hrs;
Date : Saturday, 23th June 2007;
Battleground : Food Court, 10th Floor, outside IMAX Cinema, Berjaya Time Square;
Status: SUCCESSFUL!

Attendance
01) Mudmaniac
02) Mudmaniac's friend
03) Phoenix_Cypher_K1
04) Corez
05) Pr1me_Minister
06) Yuki Ijuin


Games played:
Mario Kart DS
- Round 1 (Mudmaniac, Corez, Yuki Ijuin - DL play)
- Round 2 (Mudmaniac, Corez, Yuki Ijuin, Mudmaniac's friend, Phoenix_Cypher_K1 - DL play)
- Round 3 (all - DL play)
- Round 4 (Pr1me_Minister, Corez, Yuki Ijuin, Phoenix_Cypher_K1)

Tetris DS
- Round 1 - (Corez, Mudmaniac, Mudmaniac's Friend, Phoenix_Cypher_K1)
- Round 2 - (Corez, Mudmaniac) <--- this was interesting tongue.gif
- Round 3 - (all)

Elite Beat Agents
- Round 1 - Corez/Phoenix_Cypher_K1 vs Yuki Ijuin (DL play 2 vs 1 tongue.gif)
- Round 2 - Corez/Phoenix_Cypher_K1 vs Yuki Ijuin/Pr1me_Minister (DL play 2 vs 2)

Ouendan 2
- Corez/Phoenix_Cypher_K1 vs Yuki Ijuin/Pr1me_Minister (DL play 2 vs 2)

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (trade)
Phoenix_Cypher_K1, Pr1me_Minister (thank you for the Togekiss and Articuno tongue.gif hope you enjoy the Latis)
---------------end report------------------------------------------------

Well, I went there at around 11.40am (was busy uploading vids to Youtube coz the GameFAQs forumers were asking for some Ouendan 2 EBA mode vids - hence the lateness - and said vids are also uploaded to my subsite, check the sidebar). When I reached, I could not find them, till I saw them over at the seats outside IMAX. Mudmaniac and friend, Yuki and Corez were already there. Pr1me Minister arrived last, and there were no more arrivals after that.

The games were fun. Pr1me and I definitely enjoyed switching leads on top of the MKDS leaderboard at least a dozen times while Corez did enjoy his moment of fun on top for 2 rounds. Tetris, no contest, again, Corez won most of the matches. I pulled a win tho :p. Then EBA and Ouendan 2 gaming sessions, were pretty limited (download play), but it was still fun (I'm not used to playing Normal mode tho)

The meeting effectively ended at 5, but Yuki, Corez, Pr1me and me stayed back for dinner (Yuki having the worst Yong Tau Foo ever), and had single player fun (Yuki finished Nanostray !_!, Corez playing The Anthem on EBA till...his battery packs ran out, and Pr1me actually playing Ouendan 2 despite having a busted touch screen, I played Ouendan 1 in the meantime, while pulling off another (crap) 9999999 on SSAY Insane-Hidden on Ouendan 2 when I did get to play it.

At 8pm, Corez and Yuki went off, while me and Pr1me went off to Starbucks, as he wanted to surf on his Ninty DS browser (while I took the advantage to eat cake + Mocca Frap :p), before we both took the train home.

As for the outing, as per report it was a success. However, Times Square is starting to be a cursed place for outings for low turnouts. I'm beginning to think about NOT suggesting Times Square in future.

Elite Beat Agents Review

Elite Beat Agents. The US counterpart to Ouendan. How does it fare?

EBA plays like Ouendan. If you've played Ouendan you will feel right at home. You tap along to the beat, slide to the phrase markers and spin (ala touch screen destroyer style) the spinners, usually towards the end of the song.

What sets EBA and Ouendan apart are the characters. Instead of the male cheerleaders you see in Ouendan, you now have MIB-ish agents dancing to the beat. One thing I noticed that unlike Ouendan (BOTH 1 and 2), this one seems to have original dance moves for each song. Yes, you get to see the agents do the YMCA during the song. A rather nice effect. One notable absentee from this game is the combo flames, but I think they were removed due to the theme of the game.

The song selection was made in line for all ages. Classic songs such as September from Earth, Wind and Fire to Jumpin' Jack Flash from the Rolling Stones to recent songs such as La La, Survivor and Sk8tr Boi are present in this game. Is the song selection justified? Yes to some, no to some. Some have great beats to tap to while others are horrendous just playing to it. It's immensely difficult to keep the beat to for certain songs because the song itself sounds weird.

Feature wise, it is a step up of Ouendan 1 with the introduction of replay saves where you can save one replay per song. It is also compatible with the Rumble Pak (although I personally don't find much use for it). You can also skip the intros at the start of the song (but not the end; a feature later implemented in Ouendan 2).]]

Is it a recommended buy? Definitely. It will and has appealed to many, and even if you do not like the song itself, the gameplay will blow you away. I myself didn't like many songs because they were a chore to play to begin with but I grew to like them soon enough.

You can purchase Elite Beat Agents from Play-Asia here.

Shin Lucky Star Moe Drill Tabitachi Review

Lately if you've been up to the news, the DS has been used for learning purposes in Japan. Great isn't it? Shin Lucky Star Moe Drill Tabitachi is just that, a learning game. Is it good?

For those not in the know, Lucky Star is a rather popular anime now in Japan. Hit up your favourite Japanese anime torrent index to find out. (No I will not provide links, but I'm sure Uncle Google glady will). The game in my opinion doesn't really live up to the hype generated from the anime. As a matter of fact I don't think this game really relates to the anime judging from the different voiceovers in game compared to the anime. (Perhaps to the drama CD - Lucky Star had two different seiyuus for each character)

The game itself is pretty easy to jump into actually. There are three main sections in the game. The first one is a fairly basic Mathematics battle between you and the CPU where the premise is rather simple: If you get it correct, you deplete the enemy life bar and vice versa. Getting it wrong will hurt yourself. (Although I am fairly sure the CPU NEVER gets it wrong). You are actually given roughly 2-3 seconds to answer before the CPU answers. But here's something I did not like. It's pretty easy to answer questions like 8 x 9 or 32 - 14. But what if you are hit with a question like.... 234 / 9? Yes, for some odd reason, questions like this show up and while it is challenging, I don't quite like the sudden spike in question "difficulty" when you are blazing through most of the easy questions.

The second section is based on kanji. I can only fairly assume it has something to do with basic Japanese knowledge, though due to my lack of Kanji knowledge, I cannot verify on this. Perhaps someone would like to fill me in on this?

The third section is a simple Japanese-English test. The format of battle is the same as the Mathematics, except this time, it's more of a "fill in the blanks" thing. Basically, the screen will show you the Japanese sentence, as well as part of the English translated sentence. The main purpose is for you to translate the red parts of the Japanese sentence to English. Most of the answers are fairly hilarious (Konata would probably be the one be designing these tests IMO LOL)

Story mode is fairly straightforward and revolves around all three of these "tests". I highly doubt there is much of a story involved if at all. As far as multiplayer is concerned, you can choose to go on local wireless or Nintendo WiFi Connection for a head-to-head battle for the three above tests. Not too fun, but...it is nice to be able to challenge someone far away with things like this I suppose.

Is it import friendly? Not that much. This game is clearly designed with the Japanese in mind, and as a result, if you are planning to import, you will need a sufficient amount of Japanese knowledge to get through (this is important if you intend to play the Japanese kanji test...).

You can get Shin Lucky Star Moe Drill Tabitachi from Play-Asia here.

Ouendan 2 review.

Ouendan 2 is the sequel to the rhythm game Ouendan, released in 2005. It didn't fare so well locally in Japan, but it was a major hit overseas, most import sites having it at #1 at one point. Is Ouendan 2 just as good as the original? I say it's a supreme improvement.

Just like Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents, the main premise of the game has not changed. You tap the beats on screen according to the rhythm. Sometimes there will be slide (also known as phrase markers) which you need to slide to, and there is also the infamous Touch Screen Killer (spinners) which you usually have to spin away. It's a really well done style of play, using the touch screen to its maximum potential.

The songs? These are great Japanese songs from Yaida Hitomi's Go My Way to hyde's Countdown to even Monkey Magic from Orange Range. The songs are very much likeable and enjoyable to beat to. While they are mostly covers they do sound very much alike, very much compared to the original songs (well except one). The scenarios while mostly absurd and really impossible, but it's sort of stuck as a "trend" for Ouendan/EBA.

The difficulty is quite well balanced. Newer players will have no problems jumping in with the Easy and Normal modes, and the veterans of the series will find challenges in the upper dificulties. As for the features, Inis has taken all the good from Elite Beat Agents and made it better. Now replays are not limited to one per song, rather now you have the freedom of saving more than one replay of the same song if you wish. Furthermore now it displays the top 3 scores of the song you have attained.

One complaint of the players of the first Ouendan was the inability to skip intros (a problem in the final song of that game) and it was introduced in Elite Beat Agents and retained again for Ouendan 2. Now they have taken it another step and allows you to skip the endings of every song provided the player has seen it once. It is a very useful feature as it can cut down waiting time.

Is this worth a buy? Definitely. If you're into rhythm games and have a Nintendo DS, Ouendan 2 will keep you entertained for a very long time with massive replay value. Even if you are new to the series, it is very easy to get hooked into playing the game. It is easy to adapt to.

Final score: 9/10

You can purchase Ouendan 2 from Play-Asia. Click here!

(EDIT: I asked my source from Japan to verify, she said most if not all were covers. Thanks Chi-san)

Pokemon Pearl review

Pokemon. It has been around for more than ten years now. From the days of the old 151, it's now expanded very far to the present count of 493. How does the latest entry into Pokemon fare?

An initial view will tell you nothing has changed from the previous RPG Pokemon games. If you have played the previous ones, you will feel right at home. What are the additions to the latest addition? Well, they have changed the battle system, where attacks are based on what kind of attack it is, Physical or Special.

Graphics wise, it's definitely a step up from the GBA, but the graphics aren't all that amazing to be honest. Sound however, is great. Some of the tunes feel very Final Fantasy-ish while some feel very much original. A massive step up from the previous games.

Besides that they have added Wi-Fi connectivity. Previously in other Pokemon games, trading and battling between friends has always been limited to link cable (FireRed, Leaf Green and Emerald GBA games introduced the (defunct) wireless capability but it is not linkable with the DS' wireless connection).Now with the DS and Nintendo's WiFi Connection system, this is no longer a problem. Pokemon trades can be done across the globe. The GTS system allows for trading without friend codes while if you are trading among friends, the friend codes trading is still a viable option.

What I did not like about this game however, is that the game plays slower. While the previous installments were very fast, in this one, it does seem plays at a slower pace. I'm not sure whether is it because of the intense loading or its just plain lag but it is annoying. Also the storyline does get tedious and boring. I won't reveal too much, but if you've played Ruby and Sapphire, I think you pretty much get how the story will pan out.

My verdict? If you liked Pokemon, this certainly is a great entry and well worth adding to your Pokemon collection. However, if you haven't played Pokemon, you will have no reason to venture into the Pokemon world.

Final score: 7.5/10

Click here to buy Pokemon Pearl from Play-Asia! (US version)

The Nintendo WiFi USB Connector - a review

The first review of my gaming blog. For those living under the rock for the past two years, the Nintendo WiFi USB connector turns your computer into a wireless access point to allow your DS (and your Wii) to connect to Nintendo WFC. It's a USB connector so you must have a USB port for it work. (well obviously, but this is in case if anybody does not have free USB ports, well you need one so free one space). You will also need a Windows XP PC. [Note that for Windows Vista users, it is not officially supported at the moment. See here. They ARE looking into it, but no indication of when the drivers for Vista will be out]

Installation is simple. Just insert the CD included with the USB connector, and just follow the step by step instructions. Note that you should NEVER plug in the USB connector before the setup prompts you to do so, this is because Windows may install drivers for it (which will NOT work). Once installation is done correctly, you can use the USB connector. But first, you will need to register your DS with the registration tool. Simply go into WiFi settings for any game with the Nintendo WiFi connection logo in it, and select "Connect to Nintendo WiFi USB connector". Once you do, your DS name should show up on the DS registration tool, simply allow or deny the DS. The DS will also go through a testing phase to see if connection is successful. If it is, it will work for you.

So far, I have not faced any online issues with it. Disconnections are rare (though yes they do happen), but otherwise it is smooth. (This is dependant on your broadband connection as well, if your broadband is having a bad day, so will your connection to WFC). However, the main problem I've heard so far is that it does not support Zone Alarm firewalls. You need to UNINSTALL it completely (disabling it doesn't work). Windows Firewall (included with XP SP2) works well with it, but because Zone Alarm is a commonly used firewall, I feel a need to include this.

Furthermore, the heat issues, while stated in the manual is completely normal, however it can become too hot to handle. After about an hour online, the WiFi connector's heat is very hot, and while it does not seem to be a problem so far, I feel that this problem could be easily remedied.

Please note that this WiFi USB connector OBVIOUSLY only works on the Nintendo DS or the Wii. It does not support the PSP or whatever WiFi gadget you are using.

Overall, despite the heat issues (and the odd firewall problem), this is a great piece of hardware for use with your DS. And trust me, WFC is getting bigger now and steadily increasing. Don't miss out.