Korg DS-10 (DS)

I borrowed a cable off someone in the office, used Windows Sound Recorder to record the output from the DS, then copied the resulting WAV file to my Mac and converted it to MP3 in iTunes. Lots of fun, that was. Why on earth doesn't my iMac have a line-in socket? For pity's sake, Apple. Sigh.

Anyway, I made a song called Jason and you can listen to it by clicking THIS LINK.

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

There's a new resident in Venture! His name is Lobo and he's a wolf. Difficult to tell before guys have unpacked, but he seems cool. He's on the dudes' side of the river, along with Frobert and Big Top, so I hope he fits in. Whenever ladies move in on that side of the river they never stay long.

Korg DS-10 (DS)

Made my first "song" last night that I liked enough to keep. It's called Ransom and it's slow, with a lot of weird effects and suchlike. If I can find a cable and recording software to get music off the DS I may put it up for your pleasure.

Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)

Finished Subspace Emissary mode last night. I don't think I've unlocked all the characters doing that, though. I'm sure Wind Waker Link was meant to be the game, but maybe that was a filthy rumour. I also played some 1v1 brawls against the computer and designed my first stage. Turns out, having tunnels in Smash Bros game is a bad idea, so I've changed it a bit.

Korg DS-10 (DS)

Back in about 1990, a friend of mine bought a second hand Roland SH-101 synth for £45. I was very jealous, despite the fact that I have no musical talent and wouldn't have had a clue what to do with it.

Now, I'm never going to get an SH-101 (have you seen the prices these days?) but I do now have the Korg DS-10. Okay, so you tap away with the stylus instead of physically moving knobs and switches. And the sound quality isn't as good. But, you know what? It's £30 imported from Japan and it makes me feel good. It's very limited in sequencing terms and seems to be designed as a live tool, but what you've got works very well and there's lots of stuff to play around with. I don't know the terms, I don't know what I'm doing, I can only seem to make a horrible repeating racket, but it makes me happy.

It's a toy, but it's had a lot of thought put into it. It gives me a lovely feeling of being musical and creative even when I'm just making horrible noise. And, most of all, unlike homebrew music apps, it's official. It's an official Korg synth. This makes a world of difference to me, though I'm not sure why.

(It's also all in English. Well, if you can call baffling acronyms and abbreviations English.)

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

So many weeds. So many that the town actually featured a huge corpse flower, which I didn't know you get in Crossing and my wife had heard about but considered a myth.

My wife popped over from her new town of Arkham and we managed to pick them all. Saw all my old chums. Went over to Arkham to meet new people and see a couple of animals from my town of Venture who had moved in there.

Alfonso was very fussy about what he considered to be a rare fish, but at least I got a Kitchen Tile floor out of it.

It was nice to be back after so long, especially with my wife. Before we lived in the same country we used to play Animal Crossing over wifi all the time. We'd sit on the phone talking why pottering about in each other's towns. Definitely helped us feel closer, so I have a strong emotional attachment to the game.

I'm not sure how long I'll be playing it again for, but it is good to come back for visit. And it would be very nice to pay off my final loan some time, too.

PixelJunk Eden Demo (PS3)

Well, that's a surprise. Didn't know what this was, but it appears to be a mix of LocoRoco, Wik and Flow. Or something. Some frustration when you get really high only to miss a jump and fall all the way back down to the bottom of the level, but otherwise it's completely lovely once you get used to the controls.

I am most definitely interested in the full version now.

Super Stardust HD (PS3)

Had to download a 255MB update before it would let me play it. I think it was just to add in trophy support - the PS3 equivalent of Achievements. Being rubbish at the game I didn't actually manage to earn any. Well, it was part being rubbish and part the fact that I haven't spent cash on the upgrade packs that add some extra game modes. Still, it's a great shooter regardless of all that extra stuff.

Too Human Demo (360)

Seems to be okay, but it's hard to tell given the sheer amount of incredibly tedious cut scenes you have to sit through. I like killing robot monsters, I like getting new equipment, I like getting new skills. I don't like having to sit around doing nothing and I don't like that it's so dark that it's almost impossible to play on a sunny day.

Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)

So, I picked this up in Tesco because it was on special offer.

Got home to find they'd left the security tag in it. Took about twenty minutes to get the box open and the disc out. They're very well designed, those tags. Started up the Wii, only to find the hand cursor wouldn't appear. After some fiddling I found the problem - my lovely cat had bitten through the cable. Oh yay. Got a couple of night lights set up in front of the TV and managed to get enough of a signal from them to start the game. Then it was just a question of turning on my Wavebird controller which is, thankfully, fully supported once you're into the game. Pity you can't control the Wii menu with one.

Played a lot on Friday night, then - once more using the night light trick - on Saturday. I must have played it a lot, because I unlocked something for playing for over ten hours at some point on Saturday afternoon.

Verdict? Well, it's certainly addictive. Hours disappear like minutes when you play. There's tons of great stuff to unlock - characters, trophies, stickers, music. etc. There's an awful lot to it. A huge one player game mode that I'm still only half-way through. Lots of events and mini games. A "Classic" mode I've not even looked at yet. The normal multiplayer game, that is great fun to play in single player against AI. And a slowdown-ridden buy playable online mode. Then there's the extra bits - arrange your trophies, use coins to get new trophies and stickers in a shooting mini-game, a stage builder and probably more I'm forgetting.

It's a massive package and for the price you can get it for now, it's a complete bargain.

World of Warcraft (PC/Mac)

Played this for the first time in ages at lunchtime. Didn't do much, really. Had a quest to slaughter some peasants, so went off and duly killed them. Died twice, once because I got surrounded, once because I haven't played for so long I'd forgotten where I put "Sprint". No real problems, though. Didn't find any good loot, didn't do anything very interesting, but I had fun.

Echochrome Demo (PS3)

It don't get it. My head doesn't work the way the game wants it to. I can only see the level as a 3D space and can't squash it down. I can hide things okay, that makes sense, but I can't see how to line up falls and jumps. I just don't don't see how to do it at all.

I'm wondering if it would eventually click, or if I've just plain got the wrong brain.

Elefunk Demo (PS3)

Had to log in to the US store to find this, as Europe gets the game but no demo. Which is strange. Took me ages to find it, too. I hate the Playstation Store.

Anyway, first impressions are that it's like the godly Armadillo Run, but a rubbish. I couldn't work out how to do the first level in the time I had to play. I'll try it again, but it's not looking like a buy right now.

1942: Joint Strike Demo (360)

I quite liked this. It feels zippy enough, but the demo level is a bit empty. A definite 400 point buy, but 800 feels a bit steep to me.

Doom (360)

Just a quick play while some demos downloaded. There's still nothing to beat the Doom shotgun for sheer kill satisfaction.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

I'm about thirty hours in now and it's all I seem to be playing.

Strange how things change, eh?

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

Wife and I are having Final Fantasy Tactics weekend. We're quite the addicts right now.

Sega Rally (PSP)

Lunchtime bonus game!

This really is very good, you know. The feedback is exceptional, given the lack of rumble. You know when you've slowed down too much, when you've let the back end go too far, when you're using the wrong tyres for the road surface, etc.

It's hard as nails, too.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

This lunchtime I had to stop some antlions getting to a tree. It was very easy indeed, especially as they all ran around at the other end of the level and didn't even try to move towards the tree.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

Didn't play much last night, as I was too busy watching beard-stroking documentaries on Channel 4 and quiz shows that make me feel stupid on BBC2, but I did defeat a boss. First time. Okay, so I deliberately broke the law to do it, but I did it.

I also nearly, nearly have a ninja now.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

I've played this an awful lot today for a game I've given up on in disgust...

First auctions. First failed normal mission. Clan Lando got several new titles. First multi-person dispatch quest. And stuff.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

My wife persuaded me to give this another go. I'm still slightly wary of it and think that the game would be much improved by the removal of the laws system, but I've been cautiously enjoying it again. I did the clan trial I'd been stuck on before without any hint of trouble today, too.

Maybe I'll play until I get myself an Assassin, at least...

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

Decided to give this a go last night, as I'm in SRPG mode. I'd forgotten how nice it looked and how nice the interface is. I would have played this today, too, if something hadn't got in the way.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

Lunchtime.

10 spent battling. 5 minutes spent watching cut scenes. 20 minutes spent looking through menus wondering which abilities to learn and whether or not to change jobs. (Reynfred's now a knight. I can't be bothered to keep him a squire long enough to learn Focus right now.) I want an archer, but the shop won't sell me a bow.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

So, I wanted some Final Fantasy Tactics, but I'm still deeply annoyed with the DS version. Where to turn? Why, to my unplayed copy of the PSP version of course! (With free art card! Woo!)

I spent a long time reading/watching the first set of tutorials, until I thought my brain might explode. Then I sat through some cutscenes that, if they didn't use the word "verily", sounded like they should have.

A quick fight where I only got to control my character while allies and enemies alike whirled around me, then it was on to the meat of the game.

First up, you can rotate and tilt the screen in this version. Hoorah! Unfortunately, that seems to mean the levels have been designed around it, making it very hard to see exactly what you're doing when your, for example, moving behind a building. It's not so much a case of being able to move the camera as having to move the camera every five seconds.

There's also the fact that enemies and allies look the same. This can be a problem in the DS version, but you normally fight monsters so there's none of that confusion. All the battles I've done so far have been human vs. human.

I'm also have a huge problem keeping track of which of my units is which. They share about three different portraits and have names I've not yet been able to memorise, so it's getting confusing. Once they stop being squires and chemists hopefully it'll be easier to tell them apart.

Complaints aside, though, I think I like it. With everyone in the party being human, they can all do the same jobs as each other, so there's no racial limit to the job customisation, as there is the DS version. If I persevere I think I may fall in love, assuming the difficulty level isn't too silly.

And best of all - no laws to worry about. Hooray!

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

Oh, I've just had it with this game.

I was doing a "No Ranged Attacks" clan trial for about the fourth time, because it's against monsters that charm you and then use ranged attacks, which counts as you breaking the law.

But not this time.

This time, though, I failed because - get this - my normal attack randomly knocked back my target. How does that count? HOW. DOES. THAT. COUNT?

Anyway, this is the single stupidest, most unfair game in the history of gaming and I've had it.

Kill it. Kill it with fire.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

WAIT!

I AM OFFICIALLY AN IDIOT!

I read the law description again, in the Clan Info, for the law about not using MP.

It was a law against not using MP. So all abilities that didn't use MP were banned. Hence using Moogle Lance, which doesn't use MP, broke the law.

So the games not broken, my eyes and brain are.

D'oh.

Forget I said anything.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

No, okay, this laws stuff is really, really annoying me now. Last three fights.

A clan trial, not allowed to target enemies two or more spaces away. Target an enemy diagonally next to me. Law broken.

A clan trial, not allowed to perform actions that use MP. I use Moogle Lance, which, er, doesn't use any MP and am told I've broken the law. What? Huh?

A straight fight, not allowed to do more than fifty points damage in a single hit. I use a normal attack, get some amazing critical hit that does twice normal damage and - oh no! - I've broken the law.

I'm sorry. It's just broken. Especially the second one.

I don't mind the laws being there and making you change your tactics, but when they're unclear, down to luck or just plain broken it's really, really rubbish.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

A few more hours last night and I decide I like this. I understand the job system well enough now to deal with the interface and I'm just living with the fact that sometimes I'll break the law through no fault of my own.

A couple of notable things happened last night.

The first was that I got a new party member, a thief. I'm not going to change her job, despite the fact that she's mastered all her current thief abilities, because I want to find one more thief ability for her and then turn her into a ninja. I would give her some other abilities while I waited for a piece of equipment with a thief ability on it to appear, but it's warning me that if she changes jobs from thief she won't be able to go back until she has the correct prerequisites to do so. Not knowing what those are, I think it's easier just to keep her as a thief for now.

The other thing was that I did my first clan trial, which gives me an extra choice of bonus at the start of a battle and gives my clan a new title. I had to defeat an enemy, which turned out to be easy. My fencer got the first action of the game and ran up to the enemy and stared it down until it ran away. Fair enough. Clan Lando now have the title of Scouts, which is nice.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

I'm not sure I like this. I did play it for about three hours last night, which would suggest that I do like it, but it annoyed it me a fair bit.

I don't think I like the jobs and abilities system. Rather someone having a class, you learn skills from bits of equipment, but only if you've currently got the correct job set. So everyone changes jobs every couple of fights. My main character was a soldier, but is now an archer. My black mage became a white mage, then a beastmaster. My thief was an animist, but is now a moogle knight. That's confusing enough on its own, trying to remember during a fight who's meant to be doing what. But it's made more confusing by the menus. It's far too easy to end up forgetting to put abilities and equipment back after a job change - and it's a pain when you do remember. Especially when you have to fiddle about in the Unit Info menu, then pop off to the shop for a bit, then go back and fiddle some more. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out I was spending more time on micromanagement than on fighting. I long for a step-by-step series of screens that would lead me through the process more easily.

Also, the law system is completely unfair. It's one thing not to be able to perform certain actions - but when your characters are taken over by the enemy then you still get penalised if they use the forbidden actions. So my archer last night was charmed by some horrible monster and attacked a friendly unit, using his bow. Which was forbidden. Law broken. Gah!

So, yeah, I don't like those bits. But there's still something compulsive about it. I need even more time with it to decide on a final verdict.

World of Warcraft (PC/Mac)

Today I killed some farmers and got a few measly silver coins for my troubles.

I need new daggers. I've had my current ones for many levels now and I'm sure I should be doing more damage.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)

Played for about an hour and a half. The actual fighting seems incredibly simple and easy so far, but everything outside the fights seems incredibly complicated and bewildering. I have no idea how jobs and abilities work as yet. I think that your job dictates which abilities you can learn, along with your current equipment, but I'm not sure. And there seem to P,R and A abilities, or something. My main character has an ability I can put in an A slot, which lets him use a shield, but he seems to be able to use a shield anyway without it being there. Maybe because of his current job, I'm not sure.

Anyway, I'll play it a bit more and if I don't get a handle on it all within another couple of hours I think I'll go back to Disgaea, which was the original plan anyway.

Call of Duty 4 (360)

That bit with the Ferris Wheel, that's a bit hard.

Phew.

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PSP)

Mainly time trials round Ice Scape in the OutRun-class Enzo. I just can't get it right.

Call of Duty 4 (360)

Just the single player campaign today. A great variety of gameplay styles (well, a great variety within the limited scope of a modern war-themed first person shooter) and some amazing set pieces. Great stuff.

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (PSP)

I was planning on playing this all evening yesterday, but OutRun got in the way. I did manage to do one story level before bed, though. It's been a very long time since I last played and I need to spend some time going through my team, to see who I've got.

I so, so wish you could remove story characters from your team. I've got ones I'm never going to use hogging spaces in my list and it's very annoying indeed.

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PSP)

Two years on and it's still a stupid name for a game. However, it's also still a great game. I put it on for a quick go before playing the main evening feast, Disgaea, and ended up playing for most of the evening. Still can't do the SP 15-stage continuous route, but that's just because I'm rubbish. I tried that a few times, tried to impress Clarissa and failed, did some Time Trials, etc. There's just so much game here.

Call of Duty 4 (360)

More online play. Saw a couple of friends online for a little bit, but I mainly played randoms. (And made good use of the Mute button.) It was great fun, even though I was a bit rubbish, and I got up to level six. I only need eleven more kills with my AK47 to unlock a red dot laser sight, which I guess might be nice.

Call of Duty 4 (360)

Last night was the weekly BETEO vs UGVM match, which this week was Call of Duty 4. I had a couple of goes at Free-For-All with strangers before the match and got slaughtered horribly. And then got slaughtered horribly when we started playing Team Deathmatch. I was on the UGVM side to make up numbers and it seems that the BETEO players are much, much better. After they killed us a few times we just decided to completely mix the teams up, which worked a lot better and made for some very close games.

I was awful, though. Just kept dying over and over again. Except for one map that was just lots of corridors and small rooms. I had a shotgun in that one and managed to kill eight people. Pretty cool.

Great fun, but I really need some practice.

World of Warcraft (PC/Mac)

You know you've set a buyout price too low for your auction when someone grabs it before your six feet away from the auction house. Bother. I guess that staff I just sold for eighteen gold could have gone for a lot more if I'd priced it correctly. It's all guesswork, though.

Anyway, I'm happy, because after two days of looking for Jailer Eston I finally found and killed him. Hoorah.