I play video games to relax — nothing beats kicking your brain into low alpha-wave production and burning a few hours.  Maybe that’s why (until recently) I’ve barely used my Wii.  The whole controller experience has felt like a pain.  Are the batteries empty?  Did the little sensor bar fall behind the TV again?  Is anyone around to watch me make a fool of myself?

Thankfully last night a package arrived containing a copy of Monster Hunter Tri and the above device: the black Classic Controller Pro.  I hastily slapped the game in and set about re-learning the controls.  It took about half as much time as I spent learning the controls with the demo and the Wii Remote.  I couldn’t believe the difference!  The CC Pro controls are much more reliable as the player doesn’t need to rely on any motion gimmicks such as tilting the Wii Remote for different blows — this means less frustration and more accurate game-play.

The controller is pleasantly light, and the necessary Wii Remote-tail wasn’t as annoying as I had anticipated.  Both joysticks are notched like the one in the nunchuk adapter and the rubber caps sticks effortlessly against my clammy nerd-thumbs.  The buttons don’t impress very far, but they are responsive nonetheless.

Going from the Dualshock 3 to the CC Pro is a pleasant experience and I assume most RPG fans are familiar with Sony hardware.  That makes this the champion of Wii controllers for RPG fans.  I don’t know if I am excited to get back into Tri or just thrilled I finally have an effective means of communicating with my Nintendo Wii.  If you plan on purchasing Monster Hunter Tri today, definitely spend the extra for the version bundled with the Classic Controller Pro.

As E3 draws closer, it becomes more apparent to me that my antique Nokia phone will not be sufficient when it comes to getting information to my loyal readers as quickly as possible.  I have started looking into upgrading to an iPhone, which means I need to start thinking about something of great importance: protection.

There are a number of lame-ass iPhone jackets, but I would rather have no iPhone at all then make it wear dumb clothes, am I right?  Anyway, as I mentioned a while back Konami and Hideo Kojima produced a line of air jackets for the iPhone and iTouch in collaboration with Power Support.  I figured it would be a while before I saw these beauties stateside – luckily I was wrong.

The U.S. website for Power Support has started carrying the first series of the MGS air jackets.  There are 13 total available and each one will run you $49.99 which is pretty close to the Japanese retail price of 4500 yen.  Nice to see they aren’t gouging when they totally could.

You can find the iPhone jackets here and the ones for iTouch here.  Below are a few of my favorites with direct links to the iPhone version:

I am totally getting the corrugated one pictured at the top.  If you plan on buying one of the air jackets, make note of the installation instructions at the bottom of each page.  It is likely that the directions included with the packaging will be in Japanese so you may not be able to rely on them.  Sorry about my recent Metal Gear obsession, I think it will subside soon enough.  I will keep keep you guys posted on my iPhone progress, and if anyone has any advice on the matter please let me know!

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Nutgarden5 and I have been planning our Resident Evil 5 day for a few months now.  I even took PTO time off way in advance to just enjoy the day.  We started by waking up hella-early and getting some breakfast at this diner in town frequented by veterans of foreign wars and anyone looking for a deal. For some reason NG5 is always more awake in the morning than myself. It could be the 2 cups of coffee he downed, or the fact that I was up until 2 AM the previous night playing Disgaea 3.  Once my body got used to the fact that it wouldn’t to be going back to bed, I started getting pretty excited for the game.

Just to give you a bit of background, I don’t generally play Resident Evil games, I usually just watch NG5 play.  On the other hand, NG5 enjoys watching me defeat some of the more insane enemies in NIS games.  It’s a very symbiotic relationship.

After breakfast, NG5 had a class at my old alma mater, so I took the opportunity to pay a visit to my adviser, who was also the head of my major’s department.  I had purchased some tea for him at Ito En in New York, and was hoping to give it to him and possibly chat a bit.  Sadly he was out, so I stole a pen and some paper from the history department and left him a note.

After NG5’s class (and a few annoying errands) we began our quest to pick our copy up from GameStop.  We decided against the midnight release just because we both had responsibilities the next morning and it would have just been too difficult.  Fucking responsibilities…

Of course we hit just about every red light, but after much steering-wheel-punching and sailor-like-cursing, we managed to pick up the game. NG5 characteristically reserved the Collector’s Edition, which came with a bunch of crazy shit.  Whether these bonus items are worth the additional $30 is debatable.

Anyway, after a brief installing break and making a few tweets, we were good to go.  The game doesn’t give much time to breathe as you are thrown into the action pretty quickly.  Chris spends only a few minutes in his civilian clothes and is quickly presented with his first weapon.

His companion Sheva accentuates both Chris’s past with Jill Valentine as well as the current situation in Africa.  In addition to her contributions to the story, Sheva also presents  some new game play options which separates the game from its predecessors.

One of these things does NOT come in the collector’s edition

The game’s appearance has its ups and downs.  While overall game-play graphics are fantastic, I find the font hard to read at times.  Also the timeline summary presented during loading screens rarely stay up long enough to finish reading.  This may just be a bit nitpicky, but I wouldn’t mind brushing up on the story.  If this is your first Resident Evil and you were hoping to get an idea of the events of the past games, you may be disappointed by this as well.

The hours quickly melted away and after watching NG5 clear the first 5 chapters, I can say without a doubt that I want the game.  The main story alone is enough to provide incentive, but this doesn’t even take into account the online play, mercenary mode, etc.  I went ahead and ordered the game from Amazon, which will give me some time to wrap up my quest for perfection in Disgaea 3.

That extremely happy looking Dragon Quest slime does more than just stare at you hypnotically while you play your DS.  What, you ask?

Have you ever played a Nintendo DS game and wished you could blast the awesome music (lookin’ at you, TWEWY) for the world to hear?  Have you ever set fire to speakers belonging to you or a loved one because they were just too damn “normal” looking?  Then this guy may be just what you need:

The slime speaker stand attaches comfortably to the underside of a Nintendo DS or DSi, projecting sound while adding the option of using it to rest your weary limbs on.  If you are anything like me, then your video-game-playing-limbs are very weary…

It may look a tad awkward, but isn’t it worth it to be the coolest DS wielder you know?  The slime speaker stand goes on sale in Japan on March 28th.  If my air-tight logic has convinced you that you must own one, they can be pre-ordered from Play-Asia here for $49.90.

Combine him with the slime PS2 controller to be the coolest person ever and blow a hole in the cool-o-sphere.  I cannot be held responsible if Al Gore comes after you demanding reparations.

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Hori’s Chocobox for Nintendo DS Lite

Hori is one of my favorite companies when it comes to making clever gaming accessories.  They created such oddities as a katana for Onimusha 3 that you can swing around like a wild man.

Their newest accessory, the Chocobox, is to celebrate the release of Cid to Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon, in which Cid and a Chocobo team up to solve crimes or something.  The Chocobox is a protective case which also comes with some chocobo-themed accessories. The case itself is bright yellow and features the simplified Chocobo face in the lower right corner.  It snaps onto your Nintendo DS Lite, still allowing access to all ports.

One accessory is a telescoping touchpen which is decorated with Chocobo footprints.  According to the manufacturer, the telescoping feature makes it easier to use and easier to carry.  There is also a cleaner strap which can be attached in the DS’s wrist strap hole:

The only thing stopping me from purchasing this is the fact that a bit of the DS’s hinge shows through the case. I have a pink Nintendo DS, and pink might look a bit strange with the yellow… I think Black would probably look the best.  If you are interested in purchasing one yourself, they are available for pre-order at Play-Asia for $19.90.  The release date is set at October 30th.

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My biggest complaint about most handheld systems is that after a while they take their toll on your wrist. Sony’s (arguably patented) dual shock controller on the other hand causes minimal wrist-fatigue after several hours of play. Since the button layout of the PSP is exactly the same as the dual shock controller, it seems obvious that someone came up with a way to combine the two. Thus the PSP dual shock clip accessory was created.

	The PSP dual shock clip slightly takes away from the system’s portability, but is definitely designed for the serious PSP gamer. You probably won’t wanna bring it around on the go, but for any long term play at home, it’s ideal.
	If you enjoy watching UMD movies, or playing games, with long cut-scenes, it features a kick-stand that pops out of the back. Also every feature of the system is still accessible with the clip attached. This includes all buttons, the UMD slot, and all accessory jacks.

The Dual Shock Clip goes on sale at Play-Asia.com on July 10th for $14.90, you can view it here. Now that I am back in the states there are several games I wanna get copies of, close to the top of the list is the warmly received Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. I think this clip will make the 40+ hours a bit more enjoyable.
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