The ongoing crusade

[Blaze163]

Lali ho!

I'm bored so here's some news. If nothing else typing this up keeps my typing skills sharp, my mind occupied, and my clock further towards morning. So...here.

- My ongoing crusade against JJB Sports for them unfairly dismissing me is reaching fever pitch. I've got some of the paperwork through at last. Not the piece I actually need, but it's progress all the same. My new contact in head office is working around the clock to locate the P45's I require to get my big fat tax rebate. They're so eager to avoid any legal action that they're bending over backwards to help me with anything.

- More mild success in the job hunt. While Napoli are still arsing around reorganising the company and I can't start work until that's finished, I figured it was only prudent to have backup plans. So I've applied for dozens of other jobs. Most of them are just crappy low pay joe jobs (let me put it this way: I have an extensive collection of nametags and hairnets

) but if that's what needs to be done, it'll be done. My overall career plans remain unaffected as that's taken care of in my spare time.

- My beloved hacked PS2's laser seems to be about dead. Games seem to stutter really bad on cutscenes. Gameplay seems mostly unaffected thus far but audio occasionally gets unsynched, the game stutters even on opening logos (very noticable in Mystic Heroes) and it's generally not running at full speed any more. Is there anything I can do to fix it? It's a slim model 7000, hacked with FreeMCBoot. I've used mostly blank DVD-R's, but very occasionally I use rewritable disks. Nothing flash, usually just the Tesco Value ones, the rewritable ones are Logik. Sony disks would have been more expensive than actually buying the games...

I really don't want the system to die on me as that means I have a large folder of copied games but no system to play them on. Fail

- Getting the medal on the Area 6 Defence Perimeter on Starfox 64 3D is fucking terrifying. I've been playing Starfox 64 since before it was even launched thanks to a demo unit in my local Gamestation as a kid (The game had been played so much the analogue stick was damaged, you could only go up or left, and I STILL beat the demo level), and it still feels as fresh and exciting as ever. Truly a game that transcends the confines of time and space (cookie if you get the reference

). I dread to think what it'll be like going for that medal again on Expert mode. I barely got it on 3DS mode, I'd lost a wing, Slippy was damn near dead, and I had no bombs left. It's also just come to my attention that the wings actually open up when you collect a power-up. Never noticed that before.

Well, for now in order to kill some time, I'm going to try to rip the ISO of my old PS1 game 'Silent Bomber'. To convert it to an Eboot to play on my PSP. I'm hoping that this game killing glitch (the game ALWAYS freezes at the end of one of the last levels) is just a scratch on the disk which won't affect the ISO, thus when it's played as an Eboot it'll work...right? Only one way to find out, I guess. Toodles for the time being.

Blaze.

'The guy's so old he's the one who sent the queen mother her 100th birthday telegram.' - My little brother referring to my dad.

 

[LINK289]

Truly a game that transcends the confines of time and space

(Hope I did the quote right).

I think I remember them using that line in the new Yu-Gi-Oh movie, but maybe you are getting it from something else.

I also tried to get the medal on Area 6 in Starfox 64 3D but I couldn't mash "B" fast enough to destroy all the ships.

 

[Blaze163]

Truly a game that transcends the confines of time and space

(Hope I did the quote right).

I think I remember them using that line in the new Yu-Gi-Oh movie, but maybe you are getting it from something else.

I also tried to get the medal on Area 6 in Starfox 64 3D but I couldn't mash "B" fast enough to destroy all the ships.

You're close. It IS from a fairly recent animated movie, but it's not from Yu-Gi-Oh. That sort of region though.

I always struggled with Area 6. It's a nightmare on Expert mode on the original N64 version 'cause one tiny little collision and your wings are gone. And they play dirty on Expert mode. They KNOW tyour wings are that fragile, and that without them your weapons are crap and you can barely fly straight. So the enemy has no problems ramming you.

What I want to know is how the hell are you meant to get 400 kills? My best ever score was today and stands at 346.

 

[Nujui]

You know you can play PS2 games off of USB or hdd right? The only problem with that is that animated scenes may studder.

 

[Blaze163]

You know you can play PS2 games off of USB or hdd right? The only problem with that is that animated scenes may studder.

I'm looking into various options, one of which is to invest in a PS2 HDD. Either that or I can switch systems with my brother as they're identical, he'd never notice

I can also pick up another PS2 cheap from a friend of mine who just bought a PS3.

My girlfriend's DS showed up in the post this morning. The mains adapter is missing but I'm assuming it was sent seperately due to its size, I've contacted the seller just to be sure though. Aside from the left hinge being cracked, it's in pretty good condition for its age. No scuff marks on either screen, no chips, no major technical faults. Sure, the top is a little scuffed but since we'll be fitting a custom case and a new hinge to it anyway, that's irrelevant. I'm sorry to say my poor old Cyclo continues to be a problem though. Half the time it won't register the MicroSD card, half the time it flat out won't even acknowledge itself. When it does finally load it'll continue to load until it's removed from the system, but it looks like a replacement may be in order

Might order a pair of SuperCard DSTwo's. One for the missus and her new DS Phat so she can play GBA games too, and the second for me for my 3DS. SCDS2's work on the 3DS when updated regularly, right?

 

[Warrior522]

SCDS2's work on the 3DS when updated regularly, right?

You bet.

 

[Blaze163]

Well, more progress made on various fronts, so here's the news without the necessity of a new blog.

- Had an interview today. Dorothy Perkins of all places...

But whatever, job's a job. Aced all the questions. Piece of piss. Standard stuff. Then I had to do a role-play with an existing staff member acting as a customer looking for a fairly relaxed look for a christmas party. Recommended a subtle dark blue dress with flowery adornments (she was wearing a flower scarf, all the style info I had to go on), matching shoes, a small clutch bag (it's an office party so it makes sense she'd need a place to stash her keys, phone, etc) and a small silver bracelet and a flowery hair clip that looks a little like a cross-breed of the flowers on the dress and christmas tinsel. Overall a simple elegant look so she looks nice but she didn't want to be the life of the party.

She liked the outfit so much she actually bought it, so I'd say I did fairly well.

- Found a few vacancies in my dream position. Entry level games design jobs. I'm not telling you where (otherwise you might apply and steal my thunder

) but no experience needed, just a lot of enthusiasm and years of playing games. They'll teach me all the tools and techniques. Eagerly awaiting news on that front.

- Also found a few other jobs flying around town. I actually ran out of CV's so I'll have to print some more off tonight and get back to it tomorrow.

- Becoming a bloody nightmare tracking down a charge cable for this DS. None of the chargers sold in my local stores work with the old DS, it's all for the Lite and DSi.

- The missus and I are going halfsies on a PS3 in a few weeks. Not only does this mean we have something we can do in my room other than...well, each other, but it totally bypasses my dad's need to be a childish dickweed and him putting the parental locking code on the 'family' PS3. I'm also investing in a new PS2 as it's too dangerous for a technophobe like me to be faffing about replacing the laser in mine. The beauty of my hack being based on my memory card is that I can swap the system out for a new one and it makes no damn difference, I can still play all my games like nothing happened.

- The water's off at the moment so dad can install a new radiator. It's annoying as he never told me he was planning this, so I have nothing to drink for the next few hours. Can't go to the bathroom either 'cause there's no water in the bowl following my dumb older brother flushing it with the water off leaving nothing to refill the bloody thing.

- Waiting patiently for this time next week. Free Zelda game for the win! I'm playing through the original on my 3DS at the moment. Never actually finished either of the NES entries in the series. Gonna finish both. I'm about halfway through the original and I'm up to Death Mountain in the sequel.

Aside from that, nothing much going on. Gonna install the new Harvest Moon game on my trusty Cyclo, update the firmware (unless the new HM game works on 2.2?) and then use the remaining battery power to set up my file. The charger will either show up in the morning or I'll track one down in town when I pass through tomorrow. Will let you know if I get any further news on the job front, hopefully in those games design vacancies. Until further new occurs, toodles

Blaze.

'This was a city so unspeakably violent that innkeepers were frequently beaten to death over their karaoke lineups. One crutial piece of advice offered to anyone visiting the city was that yodelling would not do you any favours under any circumstances. But that was probably true of many cities.' - a short quote from a book I was writing years ago I found on a data disk a few days ago.

 

[ProtoKun7]

If you need to, look for charge cables for GBA SPs. It's the same port, after all, and that might help narrow things down.
(Well, the stores probably still won't have them, but I mean if you're searching on the internet or any second-hand electronics shops)

 

[Nathan Drake]

I have an original DS charge cable from my old Phat, but I think shipping it to the UK would be more spendy than it's worth. Oh yeah, and the whole US power supply vs the rest of the world deal, so you would probably need a voltage converter thingy or whatever the deal with that all is.

 

[ProtoKun7]

Given that we also have a three-pin system while the U.S. has a two-pin system...

 

[Nathan Drake]

I'm sure there are some easy solutions to it all. Unless I'm not understanding, which is always possible.

 

[YayMii]

Given that we also have a three-pin system while the U.S. has a two-pin system...

Actually, North America does have a 3-pin system, however not all appliances have a ground pin (the only things that come to mind that have one is a PC power supply and a laptop charger)
But that doesn't change the fact that we have different plugs and voltages compared to you guys. A few things here are dual-voltage (works with 100-240V), however the DS charger isn't, so you'd need both a plug adapter and a voltage converter for it to work properly.

 

[Blaze163]

Well, once again I'm bored. So here's the news.

- The power cable finally showed up on Friday, so the DS is now almost fully functional. All we need to do now is replace the case and probably the left hinge too. It hold together well enough at present but it will very occasionally pop loose. May as well replace it, a replacement hinge is only a fiver. We can get the Tri-Wing screwdriver for a quid, and a replacement case will cost aout £7 for a basic model. But the lady friend has decided she'd like a custom one if at all possible. She's into all things Japanese, so she's thinking something along the lines of this NES....

Spoiler

Anyone know where I might be able to get hold of said case? Know anyone that does custom works?

- I'm looking at reclaiming my old DS library as well by means of a SuperCard DS Two equipped to my 3DS. I'm a little worried though. Have all those rumours about the system being able to trace such things been completely disproved? Or is there still a risk? If there is, I might just invest in a cheap DS Lite instead.

- Whichever way the above projects go, I find myself in need of at least one new flashcard. See, my poor old Cyclo has seen much better days. Not sure what to replace it with. Doesn't really matter, it'll be for the missus' DS Phat, so any card with decent compatibility will do nicely. Preferably one known to be able to play the English version of Art Academy, as the Japanese one with English text is messed up with the text going all over the damn place. Might just invest in a pair of SCDS2's, one for her DS and another for my 3DS. Any better suggestions?

- Got another interview lined up. This time for a MUCH better position. Full time work for Coventry Building Society. Customer service role, easy enough stuff. Telephone interview on Thursday then on to the personal interview shortly afterwards if I do well enough. Should be simple. And as an added bonus it pays about 4 times what I was on at JJB. More than enough to move out of this craphole I call a house, move in with my lady companion, buy myself a lot of shiny stuff, etc. Good times. My patience is starting to pay off at last.

- I've been looking into healthy eating options to help me lose weight. I'm not really that bad, but I wouldn't mind losing the belly I've acquired through this depressed phase via the medium of cheese based comfort eating. I've been buying the 'Lighter Choice' meals from Tesco. They're pretty tasty, much better for me with less fat, lower calorie counts and WAY less saturated fats. Added bonus, they're pretty much always on offer so it actually works out significantly cheaper to get those than the crap I was eating before. I've also switched over to edam as my cheese of choice, as it's less fatty than most other cheeses. I've checked my scales and I've already lost several pounds just by eating less crap and more of these healthy choices. As an added bonus, as I'm now technically unemployed I'm entitled to a discount card called the 'Passport to Leisure', which allows me to get a massive discount on gym membership and time at the swimming pool for an entire year, even if I get a job. Will help immensely.

- I've given up on my project to install custom characters in Dissidia Duodecim 'cause no matter what I do I just get error messages. The new one says that the file I'm trying to insert is bigger than the original, which would cause ISO instability and as such it refuses to act. So unless anyone can help me insert the GMO files into the game, I give up 'cause it won't work for me

 

[emigre]

Regarding the flashcards, you could always get the more cheaper carts like the AK2, EZ Flash V or a Wood compatible card. I don't think the DSTwo's selling features of GBA and SNES emulation are all that attractive to you as you have a PSP which does those things better. The reason to go for one is the near perfect NDS compatability but the DS is dying down with only a few several key releases left (Devil Survivor 2, Aliens Infestation). For your GF, does she really care for the DSTwo's features or she more casual with her gaming and does not care for having a portable retro machine?

 

[Blaze163]

Regarding the flashcards, you could always get the more cheaper carts like the AK2, EZ Flash V or a Wood compatible card. I don't think the DSTwo's selling features of GBA and SNES emulation are all that attractive to you as you have a PSP which does those things better. The reason to go for one is the near perfect NDS compatability but the DS is dying down with only a few several key releases left (Devil Survivor 2, Aliens Infestation). For your GF, does she really care for the DSTwo's features or she more casual with her gaming and does not care for having a portable retro machine?

She played games as a kid but has missed out for several years. Would be nice if she had a great selection, keep her options open. Hence the GBA support from the SCDS2 seemed the best idea at the time. I myself have been out of the DS scene ever since the 3DS launch night as I'd broken my DS Lite a few days before so I put it towards my 3DS (what CEX doesn't know won't hurt them

) so I've got no idea what the latest features are.

 

[emigre]

Ok than if you want GBA compatibility for her than you might want to also look into getting a Slot 2 card. As it plays GBA games natively and from what I gather that's better than the DSTWo can emulate. I have a Slot 2 card myself (EZ FLash 3in1) which worked wonderfully but y'know, the little fucker dies after a while. For you, I maintain you may as well get one of the cheaper flashcarts I suggested. DS releases aren't exactly flowing and you may as well save some cash considering you have a PSP which is an emulation monster.

 

[Blaze163]

I was veering away from Slot 2 cards because of what happened with my old EZ 3-1 expansion card. Battery died and I broke the damn thing trying to replace it. Besides, I think she'd prefer the simple approach of everything loading from one place.

As for news, right now I'm waiting for something interesting to happen. Mondays are always boring. The job websites don't update properly until Tuesday so I've got nothing to apply for. My PS2's laser's still acting up so I'm avoiding using it right now. Thursday looks promising though. I've got my phone interview for Coventry Building Society at 3, the 3DS update adds a free Zelda game shortly after, then I've got an early Halloween party at a friend's house (oddly it's my first ever girlfriend's party, she kept in contact via Facebook all these years) so Thursday looks pretty good. I'll have a little money as of Wednesday too, so I can get some food, get some new bedsheets (the old ones have seen better days), order a flashcard for my 3DS and pick up a couple of things I've got my eye on elsewhere.

Don't get to see my beloved until Friday though. She's working nights this week so she's not coming over again until sometime Friday afternoon