Smash TV Arcade Stick

Our friend Lucas was recently married and for a gift James had a great idea. I had just come off my Street Fighter IV inspired arcade stick building kick, and Lucas was a big fan of Smash TV. So James said "build Lucas a dual-stick controller for Smash TV on MAME." James would pay for the parts and I would build it. So it was born.

I used a GP-Wiz40 USB controller from GroovyGameGear.com. This makes it a generic HID input that works on any PC or Mac. The sticks are Happ 8-way Competitions. The construction is MDF with a particle board top panel (I wanted to keep it authentic as possible). The control panel overlay is a reproduction of the arcade original from MameMarquees.com. And of course it has red T-molding, just like the arcade. A final touch was a lighted coin slot-style button for adding credits. It's a bit large but... "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

More pics, including during construction, here.

Mini Ninjas

I got Mini Ninjas for 360 for Christmas. I then put down every game I had been playing (L4D2, MW2, Tekken 6) and played this straight to the end. It's such a great game. As my wife says "they must have taken time to study 'cute' in order to make this game." There is nothing ground breaking about the game play, except maybe that it's fun, which is sadly not a common theme in video games these days. It plays and feels a lot like Zelda or Okami. You play a band of ninjas pursuing an evil warlord to shut down his world domination plan, as always. There are items you collect along the way, and plenty of samurai to beat the tar out of. It has stealth kills, super attacks, special moves, magic spells, ninja equipment, herbalism, fishing, etc, as you might expect. Except they are all cute versions of said features.

It's tough to explain why the game is so fun without actually playing it. The atmosphere is definitely a big part of the charm. The audio, the stage design, character animation, everything adds to the charm. I plan on playing it again to find all of the collectibles. I played the game on "hard" the first time through because I suspected it would be an easier game (aren't all games nowadays?) and it actually challenged me a bit. I really had to whip out some spells and use my abilities to take out the warlord's armies. It was far from actually being hard, but more than I expected. I felt it was a good balance.

So I looked up the developers to see what else they had done. It's IO Interactive, and they had done the Hitman series and Kane & Lynch. How disappointing! Such garbage games when there is obviously a lot of talent in the studio.

Turtle Beach Earforce X31

I've owned two Earforce X1's in the past (the first one the cord went bad, either from the cats or from me stepping on it) and I really think it is a great headset for the 360. It only had two problems, 1) the cord, 2) I tend to yell into it because I can't hear myself talk. #2 is particularly troublesome because it defeats the purpose of wearing headphones, which is to be quiet.

So for Christmas, I was given a Turtle Beach Earforce X31. I had tried the previous generation, the X3, but it was terrible. The voice chat had a constant high pitch whine to it and the wireless was IR so it was all static and very sensitive to line of sight from the transmitter. Turn your head and gone. This X31 is RF, so no line of sight needed. The talk-back chat is great, no more yelling into the mic. It still has some of the high pitched whine with the chat, but that's livable given all the advantages it provides. One last thing is this thing chews through batteries. It takes two AAAs. If the batteries are brand new, they last 6 hours or so, which isn't too bad. But you can imagine how many batteries this thing will drain over the years. I tried my rechargables, but they last 10 minutes, not even enough time for a single round of MW2. Bah!

Overall, they are nice and a huge improvement over the IR versions. I recommend them.

Rock Band 2

When I went to Pax 2010 with Admiral Nelson, we stopped at the local GameWorks and had a blast playing Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania. I was sold on the idea of a drum game, and I have since bought Rock Band 2. The price came down when The Beatles: Rock Band was released, so I got the package deal for $99 (drums, guitar, game). I absolutely love playing the drums on this thing.

Guitar in RB2 is not as fun as Guitar Hero, but still a good time. I say not as fun because the Medium difficulty is too easy (I actually struggle to stay awake while playing) but then Hard difficulty is a huge leap and just too difficult. In Guitar Hero, Medium had hammer-ons and pull-offs and other things to keep it interesting. RB2 doesn't really start to do anything interesting until Hard, but then it is all too much. It adds hammer-on/off, the 5th button, and way more complexity. Too much complexity for one step up in difficulty.

In any case, the game was well worth the cash, especially since my wife will actually play with me. She is saving her earnings to buy the ruby rings.

Fatal Frame 3

I like me a good scare. Unfortunately, there are few ways to get one. Horror movies are 99% garbage. I hear there's a good author by the name of Stephen King who wrote a few good books. But I tried to read one ("The Shining") and he put me to sleep for five chapters before I gave up. A lot of "horror" video games are terrible in the horror department. Resident Evil hasn't been scary since the first game. Silent Hill, same. Most others are scary in the "monster jumps out of the closet" type scare. You might as well buy a jack-in-the-box for less money. But Fatal Frame... is different.

This is the third Fatal Frame game. I got it off eBay for a whopping $50 new, for a PS2 game! I guess it was a limited run. I've played most of the first game and recently completed the second game. So it was only natural that I now play the third one. And man was it well worth the money.

The gameplay hasn't changed at all. You are still a diminutive Japanese female stuck in a creepy old Japanese mansion full of vengeful ghosts. You are defenseless for a short period of time before you find a Camera Obscura, an antique camera that can damage ghosts when you take their picture. Of course, you do more damage to them the closer they are, and you get a special "shutter chance" when they are actually attacking you. So you are encouraged, if not required, to allow the ghosts to stalk you while you charge the camera and grab a snapshot at the last possible moment before their icy hands grab your throat. And believe it or not, that is not what makes the game scary.


What makes the game scary is the atmosphere. This mansion is creepy. It creeks. It has unseen children singing lullabies. It has ghostly women hiding in corners crying to themselves. It has ghosts who talk as if still alive, replaying the horror of their last moments. It has hooded priests who walk with their Buddhist staffs, which rattle like a chain as they strike the ground. There are little girls, shrine maidens, who are trying to stake you to the ground with a mallet. You know when those are near because you hear this wood-on-stone tapping sound of their mallet as they approach. Run bitch. Run.

The ghost list goes on. But you get the point. They are surprisingly varied in style and execution. And every single one of them is a character in an unfolding past drama. A drama which has spilled over into your own life. This game also links the first two games to this story, including characters from those games. Let me tell you: when you walk through a door and things start to look familiar, until finally you realize you just entered the "rope hallway" from the first game, that is fucking creepy. That is not someplace you want to be. In fact, that is one characteristic of this game that I haven't felt since the original Alone in the Dark. In both Alone in the Dark and this game, there were places that I did not want to be in. When I had to pass through those areas, I ran like hell until I came out the other side.

So in conclusion, I give Fatal Frame 3 a 5 out of 5. I also think it is the best of the series. Most reviews seem to think that 2 was the scariest, and thus the best, but I think 3 actually has it beat. There were some unforgettable moments in FF2; like dropping your camera in the caves and having to run from a pursuing ghost because you are defenseless; or when the little girl turns out the lights on you in the middle of a hallway battle. But FF3 just had more atmosphere, beginning to end. I wouldn't play the game after dark, alone in the living room. When the wife went to bed, I turn it off and play something else. That's how good the game was.

Tenchu Z

I am a geek, through and through. I like zombies, wizards, vampires, Star Trek, and ninjas. You put any one of those things in a game or movie, and you have my attention. So it should come as no surprise that Tenchu was one of my favorite Playstation games. I also liked many, though not all, of the sequels. Tenchu Z is a two year old Xbox 360 game. I played the demo when it came out, and was not impressed, so I took a pass. But I have since heard that some people absolutely loved the game. So I just picked up a copy on eBay for $14 shipped. For $14, you don't have much as far as expectations go. If the game sucks, then so be it, I'll eBay it back for $12. Well, I didn't put it up on eBay, I played it beginning to end, and then some.


Tenchu Z takes a different character approach than previous games. All other games you play Rikimaru, Ayame, or a couple other minor ninjas. In Z, you create your own ninja and take orders from Rikimaru. As you play, you unlock new clothing, accessories, saya, items, skills, and abilities. It was quite rewarding to be honest. I had a lot of fun picking out badass outfits for my ninja everytime I got a new batch of clothing. Little things make me happy.

Gameplay hasn't come very far since Wrath of Heaven. Stealth Kills are still the focus, combat is still weak, items are still completely unneccessary (though fun to use), and the AI is still completely dumb. After the first few levels, I played the entire game on "hard", and the only difference was the guys gained a little bit of vertical field of view, meaning they could actually see you if you were on the roof in the moonlight directly in front of them. The AI is so terrible, they give up chasing you after 5 seconds, usually kicking the dirt in frustration before running back to their predetermined walking route. Some new elements were introduced, like the ability to cling to ceilings, run along walls, stealth kill through shoji, etc. The difficulty didn't really require you to make use of any of these new abilities, but they were fun to play around with anyhow.

The level designs left much to be desired. The maps are reused several times each, with minor differences such as a few daylight missions, different start/end points, and different enemy load out. This isn't so bad since the levels are large enough that changing goals and enemy locations actually is enough to make the stage feel almost new. You can tell they wanted to show off the beauty of feudal Japan with their level design, but just didn't have the resources to do it. Either lack of ability or lack of funds means the levels are all a bit lackluster. I think a little bit more time and artistic talent could have really made the levels pop, and let feudal Japan shine. I also think more environmental changes could really put some variety into the game. Snow could cause crunching footfalls and leave footprints to be found. Rain could make dark nights darker but leave loud puddles to splash through, and muddy footprints at building entries. Stylish, fast moving storm clouds could cause dynamic shadows, blocking moon or sun, so that one second you are hidden in shadow but the next you are exposed as the clouds reveal the moon. The possibilites are endless! It would be a lot of fun to design a ninja game...

Finally, the actual missions themselves could use some variance. You get points for every kill, regardless of where you are (unless they are non-combatants; but if they have a sword they are fair game). Missions that take place in your own backyard still reward you for killing random guards, despite the fact that they are your own countrymen. I think changing mission parameters would make sense but also create interest. Imagine if you were given a mission to assassinate a spy, but since he is in your own territory you are forbidden from killing anyone else. Or even in foreign territory "retrieve the secret documents" type missions, you might want to require total secrecy, so again, no kills. Mix it up!

So you might be thinking that this game really sucks. Well, it's no AAA title, and it certainly has it's flaws. But in the end, the game is a lot of fun. If you like the idea of sneaking around and cutting people down with sprays of blood, then you won't go wrong here. I had a blast and played the game for hours on end. I'll probably go back and grab a few more achievements and play with some more items that I never got to use. If you liked any of the previous Tenchu games, then this one is certainly worth the $14 you will pay for it.

Two More Arcade Sticks

So I did two more arcade sticks that I just finished last weekend. I made one for Darklord as a wedding gift, and while I was at it, I offered to make one for Admiral if he paid me for the parts. It was a lot of work doing two at once, but they really came out great. I didn't want to part with them once I had them finished. They are way nicer than mine. They're small, a more reasonable size, and I modified the design after playing mine for a while. I moved the joystick about 1" further from the edge because my hand kept rubbing the plexi. Also, the headset plug I used for these is much nicer. I also love the 45 degree chamfer I used on Darklord's. I think his is my favorite.

See more pics here.

Arcade Stick Building Info

Admiral Nelson asked me to send him all my info I have collected during the course of my arcade stick production. So here it is.

Links for design ideas:
http://www.joystickvault.com/index.php
http://byrdo.org/arcade_joysticks.htm
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=115479&page=4

Shoryken's Essential Joystick FAQ
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=132452

Button Layout templates:
http://www.joystickvault.com/showgallery.php?cat=506

Frame Construction Example (my frame design was very similar):
http://omgbbq.com/tfight360.htm

Joystick Mounting Options:
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/mounting_layering.html

Xbox Modifications at Xbox Scene (tons of controller info, including PCB maps for all editions):
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=471958

If you remove the analog pots for the analog sticks, you need to replace them with resistors:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=581799&st=30&p=4153934&#entry4153934

The analog triggers (RT/LT) require a small circuit to make them behave as digital buttons. This is the diagram, except I found I also needed a small resistor between the base and the button:
http://www.joystickvault.com/showphoto.php?photo=415&cat=507

I ordered all of my arcade parts from Lizardick.com. I recommend them. They have a great selection.

General Tips:

1. Use stranded wire, not solid. Stranded is more flexible and will put less stress on your solder points.
2. There are two styles of wireless controller, Matrix and CG. The Matrix style needs two wires per button, but the CG is common ground, so there is much less soldering required. See this post to determine which is which without having to rip the controller apart. I just went around town to all the Gamestops looking at the used controllers until I found the right style.
3. Radioshack has everything you need electronincally; resistors, PNP transistors, mini-PCBs, etc.
4. If your soldering iron didn't come with a holder, buy one. It is well worth the $8. It will keep you from accidentally melting shit, including your hand.
5. Soldering flux is a good idea, especially when soldering to the PCBs. It helps clean the contact to make sure the solder sticks well.
6. Tin the wire ends (melt the solder into it) before soldering to the board. Makes it easier so you don't need three hands.
7. Cutting plexi: Sandwich the plexi between two sheets of scrap wood or MDF and cut through the whole thing. Plexi is notorious for cracking and chipping. But it only cracks and chips when it flexes too much, so if you keep it steady between some scrap wood (and use lots of clamps), then it will cut beautifully. I used a jig saw and hole saw with no problems. Also, do NOT use spades to drill holes in plexi. A lot of idiots try to use spades because they are cheap and hole saws are expensive. The hole saws are worth the extra money.
8. Be very careful when desoldering the PCBs. You can rip out the rings and break the contact. Don't force it, just be patient and make sure you remove all of the solder and it will come right out.
9. Clean the contact pads on the controller PCB with a wire brush rotatary bit. The CG boards are more difficult to solder the digital directions, but you can do it. Just wire brush it to clean off the top coating, use flux, solder it, and then use hot glue on top of it to help secure it

Star Trek: Legacy

Yesterday I finished Star Trek: Legacy on the Xbox 360 (also available on PC). The game is a bit old now (2006) and you can find it used for $15 at GameStop. It took a beating in the reviews when it came out. They ranged from 5/10 to 8/10. Remember, with game reviews anything below an 8/10 is considered shit. The scale pretty much starts at 8. However, I think a lot of people were too harsh. I thoroughly enjoyed the game. I enjoyed it so much that when I brought RE5 home on release day, I actually put in Legacy first and played a stage before I finally opened RE5. Maybe my enjoyment had something to do with how I am literally entrenched in Star Trek right now, watching an episode almost every night. Or maybe also because I played the game on Admiral (hard) difficulty, so it was more challenging than some reviewers had played. But I liked it so much I plan on playing it again and trying for some extra achievements.

The game is technically a Real Time Strategy (RTS). You control up to four federation ships in campaign mode. You start with only one, the Enterprise NX-01. You quickly rescue a second ship and take control of it. The combat is fairly straight forward. You have phasers and photon torpedoes. Phasers works better on shields and photons work better on hulls. You can redirect power to engines, weapons, or shields. You start in the Enterprise era so none of your own ships have shields yet, though your enemies do. There is a tactical map where you can issue orders more easily. The combat is essentially dog fighting. The missions vary from rescue, search and destroy, defense, recon, all kinds of things. No two missions felt the same. The game reminded me a bit of X-Wing, the old PC game. I loved X-Wing. While Legacy is far less complicated than X-Wing, it also means that Legacy is far easier to pick up and play. Legacy is not a number crunching strategy game. It is by no means a "casual" game, but it is certainly accessible. The strategy is small tactical deployment. You have four ships, a limited resource. Losing one can cost you in future missions. So you try to keep them together, but once in a while you want to send one of your faster ships off alone to achieve an objective while the main fleet defends another. You earn command points with which you can buy new ships. And those command points are restrictive enough that you don't want to lose a single ship if you can help it. I had a TOS era Constitution class ship right until the final stage, which means it was vastly outgunned and under shielded. But it was still very helpful as one more gun and one more target to distract enemy fire. If I had let it be destroyed in a previous mission then I would have been at a big disadvantage.

The game was a great fan service, IMO. They had every captain from every series with the real voices of the actors. Archer, Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, they're all there. Every version of every ship is there: NX-01, NCC-1701, NCC-1701-A, NCC-1701-D, NCC-1701-E, NCC-74656 (Voyager), NX-74205 (Defiant), and even DS9 makes an appearance. As far as I can tell, it has a complete roster of every Federation ship ever seen on screen. The same is probably true of the Klingon, Romulan, and Borg fleets.

Finally, I'd like to address some of the "problems" of the game, which I think have been greatly exaggerated in other reviews.

1. Pizza Box map - The maps are 3D but limited in the Z-axis, resulting in a pizza box shape. Honestly, I see this as a pro, not a con. It keeps the tactical map and the world at large much easier to manage and navigate. A large Z-axis would have just really complicated the UI and had you flying around trying to find things that are a million miles above or below you.
2. Flaky Controls - The controls do flake out once in a while. Your camera will suddenly jump 180 degrees, or one of your other ships would suddenly forget the command you gave it. While it would have been nice for these to have been fixed, it by no means ruins the game. The camera jump is harmless, and the lost commands are not very often and you are always monitoring all of your ships (or at least you should be) so you will notice rather quickly that Janeway has suddenly decided to go AWOL and is flying out into space.
3. Ship AI does not repair - You are always in direct control of one of your four ships, and the other three will be on AI unless you jump to it. I've read more than one reviewer complain that the AI ships will not conduct repairs no matter how damaged they are. These guys obviously didn't play the game very much. If they did, they would realize that if the AI did enact repairs on its own, it would be suicide. Enacting repairs on any part of the ship redirects a large amount of the ship's power. This means your engines, phasers, and most importantly, your shields will suffer. My guess is these systems lose at least 50% power. This means shields and phaser banks pretty much do not regenerate at all, and your ship is flying at half it's regular impulse speed. That ship is a sitting duck while conducting repairs. If the AI started repairs at the wrong time it would go down in seconds. Repair management is left to the user, and for good reason.

This is not a AAA title, and it seems some reviewers only want to see and play AAA. Well, in my mind, the game has to be first and foremost fun to play. And that automatically makes Star Trek: Legacy better than most of the so called "AAA" titles out there. I loved the game. I think any Star Trek fan with a 360 or PC should play it.

Star Trek: Online

Cryptic is a small game studio (est 2000) with tons of MMORPG experience with City of Heroes and City of Villians. I haven't been paying much attention to the Star Trek game they are now developing until this contest was just announced. Given a picture of a planet, they want a 500 word story about it. It struck my interest, and I might just write up an entry.

But it also got me looking at the trailer and some of the studio's concept art for other works in progress. I'm impressed by what I see. They are obviously a very talented and imaginitive set of people. I think now starts the nervous anticipation, where I now have high hopes for Star Trek Online, but also high doubts as to the quality of the final product. We'll just have to wait and see.