Tekken Dark Resurrection (PSP)

Crikey.

I played Story Mode as Lili, which was easy enough until the final boss, who took about 45 minutes to defeat. He's got attacks that kill two-thirds of your life bar at once. And other attacks that restore his health. I hate him.

But beating him unlocked Tekken Bowl, which is a cool bowling mini-game, that rewards me with money far more quickly than fighting. My best score is 148 and I was having a good time. Unfortunately, it's now time for a recharge. Stupid PSP battery.

Tekken Dark Resurrection (PSP)

Well, I'm now ranked thirteenth out of sixty in first dojo. Losing lots of matches, though.

And I've discovered the very comprehensive training mode. I've been looking through Lili's move list and trying to do the moves. They're mostly reasonable enough, but there are five or six at the bottom of the list that are just stupid.

Ninety-Nine Nights Demo (360)

Also: worst dialogue ever.

Ninety-Nine Nights Demo (360)

Meh.

Shrug.

Whatever.

Tekken Dark Resurrection (PSP)

Been a while since I played a Tekken.

This is slightly overwhelming in terms of sheer amount of stuff.

About sixteen billion characters available and a load of different modes.

After going through basic training - which isn't of much use if you've ever played a fighting game before - I chose a Quick Battle and ended up being a panda. My opponent was a polar bear. I lost. Very quickly.

Then I went to Story Mode and chose the default character, Lili, and went through a few fights until some penguins distracted me by being cute and sliding on their bellies and Jack-5 ripped me apart.

Next up I went into Tekken Dojo mode, which wasn't explained very well, but which seems to be very similar to Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution's big single player mode. I set it on easy and after winning five matches in a row as Lili I'm now a 9th kyu. Which is a rank of some sort.

Anyway, modes and penguins aside, it seems very slick and good fun, though I'm only one step up from button mashing right now.

Galaga (360)

Oddly addictive for a game I don't much like.

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

Well, finally, after playing EVERY DAY for SEVEN MONTHS, I shot down a UFO.

And got given a rare "alien artefact" for my trouble.

I put that in quotes, because the "alien artefact" is a suit of armour which, while cool, doesn't look very alien.

LocoRoco (PSP)

Thought I'd have a go of this between Phoenix Wright cases.

Did a couple of levels which were utterly joyful, but didn't distract me from the fact that I feel like crap this evening, so I turned it off.

Bloody weather. Too hot!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Well, that's case four finished.

Bit of an epic, that was.

Now - case five awaits!

Lumines Mobile (MOB)

I've just got a new K800i and I can't transfer games from my old phone to it.

But Lumines Mobile is ace, so I've bought it again. (Also: Tower Bloxx.)

Seems to be a lot louder on this new mobile, so I've been annoying people in the office with it.

Yeah!

Galaga (360)

Ouch, I'm rubbish.

I also don't enjoy it much.

The leaderboards tempted me into buying this. I probably should have stuck with the demo.

Sexy Poker (MOB)

Well, it's certainly the latter...

Good fun, too. There's only a single opponent at a time and the AI is probably pretty random, but it works. Plus, it's nice to have goals and I guess tiny, single-pixel nipples are as good as anything else.

Not going to change the world, but it's as slick and well-made as all the other Gameloft games.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Hooray for surprise witnesses!

And hooray for the power of the DS Lite's incredible screens meaning I could play this on the bus this morning.

Frogger (360)

Two quick goes trying to get past level three.

I didn't.

Cloning Clyde (360)

Lovely little platform game. Exactly what we should be seeing on Live Arcade. Played the demo, bought the full version, had great fun.

Felt guilty for not playing Phoenix Wright, though.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Well, I got past the bit I was stuck on. Found a way to be able to resume the game from any point, rather than the start of the day, otherwise I'd still be there.

Anyway, did that and then got through the next day of investigation easily enough. (Lake monster, inflatable samurai, strangely intelligent parrot, earthquake, etc.)

Back into court tomorrow.

Deep breath.

Lego Star Wars (XBOX)

Just got a hankering to play this again. So I did.

I still haven't unlocked the secret level. I don't think I'm about to any time soon, either. I'm slowly earning enough to buy the invicibility cheat, which I'm going to need, but it's very slow going.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Gah.

I've played for a couple of hours this evening and I'm right back where I was at the start because I keep fucking up cross examinations.

This game would be a lot better without this annoying life business. It's hard enough to work out what to do without having to spend half an hour hammering the screen with the stylus to get back to where I fucked up.

That's quite enough for this evening. Maybe for ever?

Frogger (360)

Can't get off level three. I can get there without losing a life and I can get very close to completing it, but I've never quite done it.

Tried some online matches but they were awfully jerky and slow. Might be my connection again, but I hope not.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II (360)

Started with the full version today. Did the two tutorials (the first of which has a lot of problems with pausing which aren't in the demo version, so are probably something to do with disc access) and the first mission of the Good campaign. I normally only play skirmishes in RTS games, but I'm going to give the campaigns a go in this one.

Frogger (360)

Got off level two!

I've got loads of people above me on my friends list, though. Bastards, the lot of them.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II Demo (360)

Another stupidly long name from EA. Much as I hate them right now - ask me about The Sims 2 on the DS some time - this was very, very enjoyable. Would have liked to be able to zoom the view out a bit more, but that's about my only complaint with the demo. It actually is an RTS that works with the joypad. Lots of fun and spectacle.

This demo actually persuaded me to return Chromehounds and get the full game of this instead.

Guitar Hero (PS2)

Blimey.

I'm exactly as awful at the game as I expected to be, but I didn't realise I'd find it quite so fun and addictive.

A "quick go" ended up meaning ten or so songs and an awful lot of rocking out.

Frogger (360)

I have made Steve Jackson my bitch.

(Trans: I beat his high score.)

Yeah, it's just Frogger for £3.40, but it's on the 360 where it can be played very easily and it has high score tables and achievements.

And it's Frogger, which is ace.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Finally decided to polish this off. Though that may take a while as I'd just done the first three cases.

Now I'm one day into the fourth case, which took most of the evening to get through.

Not that I mind, it's a great game, it's just I feel pressure because I want to be able to tick it off the list of unfinished games.

ZAngbandTk (PC)

After a bad, bad run of very early deaths Giles XX was doing relatively well - he'd reached level two - until he opened a door and a wildcat pounced, killing him in two hits. This game loves to kill.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (DS)

Well, I can confirm that you do indeed start from where you left up in co-op mode. It works exactly as it does in single player, except you have someone helping you out. It's good fun, too.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (DS)

Co-op's good fun. It is just the single player game, but you can go through with two players. It saves and everything. Well, it says it does, I've only done one session so far, so I can't yet confirm that P'anther and I will be starting from where we left off last night. But I think we will.

There are also three mini games available to play in multiplayer. The Shoot The Monkey one - a touchscreen shooting gallery - is good simple fun, but the other two are annoying and rubbish.

Uno (360)

Two games just to check that my Live connection is okay.

It is.

I lost both games, but I had fun.

Chromehounds (360)

You know, if you're making a game that's designed to be more or less online only, with the single player as not much more than training mode, then it might be a good idea to make sure your servers actually work.

I've not been able to connect to the Chromehound servers yet and it doesn't sound like I'm the only one.

Much as I enjoy being all stompy - and I do - I have a feeling this may be going back.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (DS)

A surprisingly decent 3D beat-em-up based on the most excellent movie.

Rather better and rather trickier than the reviews I've seen would suggest.

Chromehounds (360)

Well, hmm.

The mission design is a bit... rubbish... but driving/piloting the hounds is fun.

And I got just enough parts to design my own hound, which was amazing fun, even if it turned out to be useless. It spat machine gun death in huge amounts - one quick press of the trigger button created an attack lasting several seconds - but it couldn't take any damage and ran out of ammo in no time at all.

However, it was very stompy, so at P'anther's suggestion I called it Rooney.

ZangbandTK (PC)

The Giles clan were Vampire Mindcrafters. The first seven didn't make it past level one, often perishing at the hands of the first enemy they came across.

Then came Giles VIII. He didn't seem to be any stronger or wiser than the rest, but somehow he won a few fights and found himself progressing to level two. That small step seemed to make things easier and he grew in strength and confidence, gaining new powers.

He could send psychic attacks across thin air, wiping out the fragile minds of lesser beasts.

He could stop and sense the enemies around him.

He could open his mouth, bare his fangs and launch himself at the monsters in the dungeon, clamp on to their necks and drink their blood.

He could even teleport himself across thin air. He couldn't choose where to go, but the power saved him on a number of occasions.

That was until he met the novice warriors. He was a level four character on level two of the dungeon. He was being careful, because he knew there were dangers. Entering a room, bruised and bleeding after a fight with a monster, he saw a sleeping priest. He crept up, ready to pounce, ready to feed. Which was when the novice fighters entered from his left. Knowing he couldn't take them on, he teleported himself away. It wasn't far, just behind them in the room they'd obviously just left. He started to run... and slammed straight into a dead end. The two novice warriors approached...

Giles VIII tried teleporting again. He didn't have enough SP left for the task, but he tried anyway. It was a desperate final act and it failed. He fell to the floor, paralysed, his mind damaged beyond repair. One novice warrior got within striking distance and showed no mercy to his fallen foe. The other warrior was now also close enough to attack. Their weapons flashed in the half-light of the tunnel as they came down and cut through the flesh of the vampire's neck.

It was over.

Giles VIII the Vampire Mindcrafter, Level 4
Killed by a Novice warrior on Dungeon Level 2
(User 0, Date 07/06/06, Gold 421, Turn 142830).

(There's not many games that make me write such utter rubbish. Let's see if, say, Chrome Hounds leads me to write such painful prose about painful deaths.)

ZangbandTK (PC)

Bow your heads in memory of Jeremy, the Nibelung Monk.

He did well up to level eight, his bare fists and feet making mincemeat of foes... until he got swarmed by several thousand (ish) cave spiders and succumbed to their bites while trying to run.

I need to learn how recall spells work. I tried a recall scroll, but nothing seemed to happen, except the word "Recall" came and stayed on the screen.

ZangbandTK (PC)

Oh, for pity's sake!

I was doing so well. I'd been sensible, I was up to level seven and back in town, selling stuff and buying new supplies. I was doing really well. Then I decided to try my unidentified scrolls in the relative safety of town. One of blessing... good... one of strength.... good... one of summon monster... eek!

It's name is a LIE. A dirty, filthy LIE. It doesn't summon monster, it summons monsters. Lots and lots of horrible monsters. Well, at least three. More than I could handle, at any rate. My health diminishing rapidly, I read a phase door scroll and found myself halfway across town.

I tried to run, but I wasn't fast enough, and so Nigel the Skeleton Chaos Warrior dies, killed by a Culverin in the town.

LocoRoco (PSP)

Another lunchtime level. I like this routine.

LocoRoco (PSP)

Level 4-1 down.

Lunchtimes are excellent.

Hitman Blood Money (360)

Just abit of playing around in the A Murder Of Crows mission. Haven't really got anywhere, but I'm getting a better mental image of the map in my head.

Chrome Hounds Demo (360)

Tried the sniper mission.

I failed.

The reload time on the sniper gun is incredibly long.

It wasn't really much fun.

Prey Demo (360)

A 3D shooter whose gimmick is that it uses 3D. Okay, so you can walk on walls and ceilings sometimes, when it lets you. A bit of a headfuck. It wasn't absolutely amazing, but it did keep me entertained and interested and I was annoyed when it ended. So, yes, I want to play the full game.

Kept getting an error when I tried to connect to Live games, so no idea what the multiplayer is like.