I’ve been toying around with Raptr for some time now, but it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I really took notice. Their new desktop client, combined with their new gamercards and their use of Sony’s new PS3 API brings Raptr from a neat curiosity to a seriously useful application.

Their desktop application scanned my system and compiled a list of all games I had installed. Now, when I launch Thief: Deadly Shadows, Raptr automatically reports that I’m playing the game. No further action required on my behalf. While it grabbed all my Steam games and even all the crappy OS games like Freecell and Minesweeper, it did miss certain games. It couldn’t find Hexxagon and Pacman, both of which are swf files sitting on my C drive, and it missed my copy of Prototype, which was an import version. It also overlooked Fairway Solitaire. I sent a message to Raptr, asking for the ability to manually add games, but from the sound of it they don’t plan to have that functionality any time soon. Personally, while I can see it being a problem if somebody wanted to add obscure older titles like “Dark Earth” or “Tass Times in Tonetown” that might not be in their database, I can’t see why they wouldn’t let somebody manually add any old executable that might be on their machine and associate it with a known game in their database.

What I do love is the ability to add games that aren’t in any way online. While this won’t let the client automatically track the game in the way that XBox or PC games are tracked any time you play them, it lets me tell Raptr that I’m playing Scribblenuats and Final Fantasy XII, and for how long. This is one of my favorite things about Raptr.

Raptr also has the ability to handle multiple-client instant messenging in the same way that Trillian and Digsby do. After Digsby’s Processing-Theft scandal, (http://lifehacker.com/5336382/digsby-joins-the-dark-side-uses-your-pc-to-make-money) I may decide to use Raptr for IM at home. Raptr also has automation for downloading game patches, updating Twitter and/or Facebook with your gaming status, and coordinating for online play.

Raptr still doesn’t report accurately when you start playing Playstation 3 games, but I suspect that this may have more than anything to do with the information (or lack thereof) provided by Sony’s PS3 API. At least Raptr is able to track PS3 Trophies.

As you can see by looking in the left sidebar here, I’ve written my own gamercard software, but I have to update it manually. Now, for the first time, I’m considering replacing that with a customized version of Raptr’s gamercard. As long as I give Raptr.com credit, I can’t imagine that the guys over at Raptr would mind much.

Aside from the sometimes-maddening movement controls, I’ve been enjoying Scribblenauts quite a bit, and I haven’t even finished World 3 yet. But as I was finishing up the second world, I began to realize that despite the game’s unlimited possiblities, I was getting a bit bored. I found myself re-using all the same objects from level to level: rope, shovels, bombs, glue, and of course the jetpack.

A new inspiration came with a tweet made by Wil Wheaton. Scribblenauts as a social experience? Fantastic. Where to start? I don’t want to spoil anything for those who may not want anything spoiled. That in mind, minor spoilers follow.

A couple of the cool things I’ve done in Scribblenauts.

• When I needed to knock down milk bottles, I dropped a Satellite onto them, presumably out of orbit. (The rhino I tried to use killed the attendant and I lost)
• Handcuffed a chupacabra to a starite and gave it a goat to chase. How else do you move a starite?

Something else I’d like to ask of anyone else who’s played the game: has anyone figured out any way to press a button or pull a lever without actually being there? I’ve tried everything from creating a clone of myself to push it to gluing a punching bag to the button and putting a boxer in front of it, and nothing works. I even tried using a perpetual motion machine to push a button, but it just created a black hole and swallowed me up.

That said, I’d like to share my experience on the game’s “Heist!” level. Needless to say, spoilers follow.

“Heist” challenges you to steal the starite. There’s a security guard with a club nearby, and a camera pointed at the starite. When the camera sees anyone, a steel door drops down in front of the starite. There’s a way around, but it’s guarded by a second security guard who has a gun.

The first thing I tried to do is get rid of the club guard. I dropped a ghost next to him. But the guard was brave – rather than running, he began to club the ghost. The ghost fought back and killed the guard, which caused me to lose – you can’t kill the guards.

Next, I tried to make a Tazer, but it wouldn’t work. Tazer is actually a brand name. So I made a tranquilizer gun. That worked. It put the guard to sleep, but only for about five seconds, which wasn’t nearly enough time for me to begin to think about addressing the camera.

Creating a pit worked. The guard with the club fell into the pit, and I was left to deal with the camera. First I tried an EMP. It blew up when I activated it, and did nothing to the camera. Placing a mirror in front of the camera didn’t work at all either. And when I tried an invisibility cloak, it turned me invisible, which was great. But the cloak itself remained visible, and the camera saw it and shut the steel door. That’s when I started thinking about taking the back way around, past the guard with the gun.

So how to distract that guard? There wasn’t room up there for a pit. First, I tried to put his girlfriend there. He shot her. The bastard. The coldhearted bastard. He was really serious about his job. I finally managed to tranq him with the tranquilizer gun and run past before he got up. Then I blew up the pile of crap behind him with a bomb and got to the starite.

I’d be glad to hear how anyone else got through the heist level.

This is some of the juiciest info on Borderlands I’ve seen. If you’re looking forward to Borderlands half as much as I am, you’ve got to check these videos out.

Red Remover is a puzzle game that challenges you to remove all the red from the board while making sure to not remove the green. It starts simple and gets more complex quickly. A very nice Friday distraction.

Play Red Remover

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

Were you to ask me what my favorite Playstation 3 game is, it wouldn’t be Resident Evil 4. It wouldn’t be Uncharted. I’m not even sure it would be Pixeljunk Monsters. It would be Dead Space. I’ve written more in depth about how Dead Space has taken up the mantle of survival horror once held by Resident Evil, but beyond that, the game is just an excellent third-person shooter. The gravity mechanics, the pivoting plasma cutter, and the pure atmosphere afforded by the soundless vacuum environments make Dead Space the best shooter I’ve played in a long time. Certainly the best console shooter I’ve played since Resident Evil 4.

After playing Street Fighter 4 for a couple months and seeing a lot of the cutscenes and victory lines, I’ve come to a realization. It’s a comedy. Not the funniest one around, but there’s a fair amount of ridiculous in the game. Just look at Dan. If you’ve played him at all, you can see that he serves a dual purpose. Firstly, he’s a handicapped character for those people who are really good with Ken/Ryu/Akuma/Sagat/Sakura. Secondly, he is comic relief. The way he yells when he throws an EX-fireball, the way he poses after winning, and the insane air taunts and supertaunts he’s got are all stupid silly. In his cutscenes, it becomes clear that Dan is an impoverished mooch who runs a martial arts studio that he claims to be the best, yet he can’t generally win battles against anyone. His throw animation is the icing on the cake: Dan tries to throw his opponent over his shoulder, but stumbles and fails, then tries again and executes the throw. It all happens in about two seconds, but it’s one of the funniest parts of Street Fighter 4. Dan’s intro and ending movies are also funny – at the end, he’s running in terror from a wall of flames, and when Sakura and Ryu save him, he pretends that he saved them.

Then there are the storylines for the various characters in the game. Some are straightforward. Ken, Ryu, Guile, Chun Li, and Rose are after Shadaloo. M.Bison, Vega, Balrog, and Sagat are working for Shadaloo. Abel’s trying to find out who he is, and Sakura’s looking for Ryu. After that, it gets a little weird. Dhalsim is trying to get water for his village. Okay, not too weird. E.Honda wants to show the world how powerful Sumo is. A bit odder, but not bizarre. Zangief also has something to prove about professional wrestling, primarily to prove himself to a group of kids. At the end, he comes back with Seth’s head as a trophy to show the kids. Just a bit sick.

Then we’ve got Blanka, who left for the tournament out of concern that he was embarrassing his mama. At the end, she finds him in Hong Kong and tells him to come home to Brazil. Not exactly clear how that problem has been solved. And El Fuerte decides to travel the world collecting recipes. He’ll also fight in the tournament, fight the strongest fighters, and figure out what they eat – at the end, there’s a great scene where he disgusts E.Honda and Zangief with his cooking.

Here are some more instances of humor in the game’s various victory lines:

• Ken to Dhalsim: No matter how many times I see it, your limbs really freak me out, man!
• Dhalsim to Rufus: I am no alien!
• Zangief to Akuma: Once you get used to that face, you´re kinda cute. Like a pug. Or like me!
• Rufus to Honda: I hear that you sumo dudes eat nothing but sushi and stew and tofu and stuff like 24 hours a day, man. There´s this sushi place near my house, but there´s all these rumors goin´ around that they serve spoiled fish! One bite, an´ you´ll be on the toilet all day!
• Sakura to Dhalsim: I bet those arms come in handy when you run out of toilet paper in the washroom!
• Rufus to Vega: So, I finally found you, Ken Masters! How does it feel to lose to me, Masters? Are you filled with regret? Rage? How about rue? I bet you´re filled to the brim with rue, ain´t ya? What? You´re not Ken Masters? C´mon, man! It´ll take more than a mask to fool me!

…and my absolute favorite

• Blanka to Gen: You´re old, but you put up a fight. I hate you!

Lastly, I should mention my favorite cutscene in the game, where Rufus and Dhalsim meet up.

Rufus: What the-? Wha- wha- wha- wha-? Are you floating? How you doin’ that? What? ESP? Plasma? Magnets?
Dhalsim: This… is Yoga.
Rufus: What, are you an alien or somethin’? Because I’m not sure if you know this but there are all sorts of aliens, Martians for instance...

Playing fighting games with a controller is a painful experience. In fact it’s so awful I’m surprised there aren’t support groups for us poor souls who have been afflicted with this condition for so many years. However, there is hope for us. I recently found salvation in the form of the MadCatz Tournament Edition FightStick. Brothers and sisters, I’ve come here to sing its praises.

Ok, on a more serious note, this joystick rocks. It really has been a painful six months trying to play Street Fighter IV with the standard PS3 controller. I’m not as cool or lucky as Greg with his fancy SlikStick so I’ve been trudging along getting my ass kicked and slopping up a few wins the hard way. Somehow, a deal on the TE FightStick fell in my lap and I jumped at the opportunity. While I’m still getting my ass kicked online, I definitely feel that this finally what it should feel like to play Street Fighter IV.

As I’ve written before, I grew up in the arcades and learned how to play pretty much every genre of game with a joystick. I’ve never gotten completely comfortable tossing hadoukens or dragon punching with a joystick but I’ve been making due since the days of the SNES. I was really just getting by with copious amounts of cursing and blaming the computer for being “cheap”. Now that I can finally pull off the moves properly with this joystick I feel like I can tell you more about this fabulous piece of hardware.

The first thing to know about these joysticks is MadCatz really went all out and built a seriously high quality piece of hardware. The TE stick is built with authentic Sanwa parts (yeah I didn’t know squat about them either but apparently all good arcade cabinets are built with this stuff) and they have such a great feel.  The buttons are snappy and have that great arcade tap, while the joystick is tight, responsive and equally clicky to the touch. Everything feels like you’d expect from an arcade stick and doing all of the usual SF moves is super easy again. Even unboxing this thing is fun, they packaged it in a very reusable window box with magnetic panels that open to reveal the FightStick resting within. Super cool.

My biggest concern before the TE arrived was “Is this thing going to feel like a half ounce slab of plastic that’ll slide off my sweaty lap in the middle of competition?” I was pleasantly surprised by the weight, this thing is easily ten pounds and is big enough to straddle your legs with no slippage. It has some rubber nubs on the bottom if you actually need to place it on a table or something but I’ve only found it comfortable to use from my lap.  There’s even enough room to rest your forearms on the top surface so you don’t blow your wrists out trying to snap off Ultra Combos.

So far I’ve used the joystick with SFIV, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and ol’ Marvel Super Heroes and it’s performed perfectly. I haven’t had a chance to try it with a 3D fighter but I’m hoping to pick up Soul Calibur IV someday to give this a shot. I’m not sure it’ll be any better than a controller with this type of game, but I paid a pretty decent chunk of cash for this thing and I’m gonna try it with every type of game short of Scrabble. And maybe even that too.

As much as I’d like to convince myself that this is the perfect solution to all my fighting game woes, unfortunately I do have a few (very small) issues with the joystick. The first is that it’s wired. Yes, I’ve been spoiled by this gaming generation’s love of wireless controllers and having to spool out a USB cable and plug it in ends up costing me about 27 seconds of inconvenience. Thankfully the cable is thirteen feet long so I can still sit on the couch across the room and play my games. Next is the inclusion of a turbo button. I’m sure this still serves some purpose here in the 21st century, but I haven’t used turbo on a controller since Contra on the NES. I tried it in a few matches but I think it only expedited my ass in getting kicked. Who knows, maybe Contra will hit PSN and I can fire up this feature once again. My last complaint is that the TE isn’t a full size cabinet. For the price, I feel like I could have purchased about half of a cabinet and stuck it in my basement. Of course this isn’t really a valid complaint but I figured I needed three items for this to feel complete.

Unfortunately the final chapter in my TE FightStick saga will have end at another time, when I take on the awesome task of customizing my joystick. The wizards at MadCatz, in their eternal wisdom, left the door open to modify all of the guts and some of the appearance of this joystick and I intend to take advantage of this with new buttons, joystick ball and custom artwork. My hope is to post another update or two covering my work in progress and the final results. In the meantime I recommend checking out this thread on the Shoryuken forums to see the magic other folks have been working with their FightSticks.

So to wrap up, if you have the cash and want to play fighting games the way they should be played, do yourself and your left thumb a favor and buy this joystick. You won’t find anything better and you might even win a match or two!

Aside from the fact that the two final bosses in the game were ridiculously difficult, I thought No More Heroes was a great game. The sequel looks to serve up some more of the same rated-R juvenile violence. And the best thing: 2d minigames!

Dragon Flame 2 is simple but fun. Chase a bunch of creeps around your lair and burn them. Whee!

Play Dragon Flame 2

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

…or as we Americans know it better, Indigo Prophecy. They renamed the U.S. version for some reason when they removed the naughty bits. I’ve played through the somewhat more indecent Euro version, and the only differences are a sex minigame which is easily missed if you play a specific conversation wrong, and a sex cutscene near the game’s end, which is easily tame enough to show in a typical rated-R movie. Funny how things like that are fine in movies but taboo in video games.

Fahrenheit moves the whole adventure game genre out of the box by including quicktime events, timed sequences, stealth gameplay, and minigames. They also do a really good job of building suspense using split-screen multicamera. As much as the endgame plot stunk, I really love this game.