I don’t buy games very often. For games I actually enjoy playing, I have no problem buying them. As I see it, there are two flaws with purchasing games.

First off, I own a PC and (almost) every console available. If I buy your game for PC, why should I have to buy it again for Xbox 360, Wii and PSP? It’s the same damn game! Proposed solution: how about a universal medium that works on all systems, all consoles? Why does this not exist yet? Give me a DVD (all current consoles and PCs can read DVDs), or a series of DVDs compiled for each architecture so it works on all consoles. I don’t mind paying a little extra, but double/triple/quadruple? Forget it!

The reason this comes to mind is the predicament I currently face. I love playing Call of Duty 4 with friends on Xbox Live, of which there are about 5. I also love playing it with friends on PC via Xfire, of which there are about (a mutually exclusive) 4. Now I understand I’m not going to win on a “everyone should play it on this architecture” argument, but for people like me who are split between them, why should I have to purchase a copy for playing both?

Another instance of the same issue occurs with me and Puzzle Quest. I love this game on PSP, and I recently noticed it was available on Xbox Live. I’d like to play it on Xbox Live, but to purchase it again is ludicrous. Why should I be penalized by being forced to repurchase everything I play just because I own multiple consoles?

The second issue revolves around physical ownership of media. In my 18+ years of game playing, I’ve purchased many games. Most were lost, broken or stolen, I have very few games in my possession that I’ve had for more than 5 or so years. The only solution to each of the aforementioned circumstances is to plop down the hefty fee and re-purchase the game.

The issue here is that games today are still (primarily) pieces of physical property, while they really do not have to be. In a day where the average game player is on a 2+mbit connection*, we should be able to download whatever we play. THE example of a platform that sells only digital copies of games is Steam, they are typically slightly cheaper than physical copies, and best yet you never need to have the physical disk. If you reformat, you load up Steam and it tells you which games you own, and automatically begins downloading them.

I think Steam as a whole is not perfectly executed, but I really like the idea of Steam. I don’t want to go searching for something I purchased X years ago just to come up empty. If I purchased it, let me have it whenever I want, however I want. The benefits are endless.

* 95% of statistics are made up

Teh Blarg (this weblog) was designed to track all things technical I’ve done, with something personal sprinkled in every once in awhile. In general it’s filled with broad, summarized portions of my activities. I thought that this random day, I would summarize what I’ve done so far, and have a game plan for what I hope to accomplish by this time next year.

I used computers as a child, but I don’t remember them having a very large impact on me. Some of my favorite games when I was growing up include
NES: Contra, BattleToads, Tecmo Bowl, Tecmo Superbowl, Dragon Warrior
SNES: NBA Jam, Chrono Trigger
Arcade: Golden Axe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Metal Slug
PC: Wolfenstein 3D, Bomb, Scorched Earth
By no means are these true “classic” games (they’re not old enough), but they do inspire me to return to the classic genre of games from time to time.

In middle school I purchased a Nintendo 64, and played it heavily. I enjoyed games such as Wayne Gretzgy’s Hockey, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye 007, and Bomberman 64. Looking back, I don’t think Nintendo 64 had many games that influenced me too heavily. I can’t even remember what happened to my 64.

During high school I worked as a “Computer Assistant”, which enabled me to tinker with computers on the hardware level, ridding my mentality that if something is opened it’s “destroyed”. During high school I built and customized PCs for friends and family. At this time my neighbor friend Troy had a mod-chipped Playstation, and I remember thinking that was a really BAD idea. Late in high school, my friend Eric let me borrow his old Playstation. As my first console hack, I used the swap trick to play my first burned game. I only vaguely remember it, but it involved using a paperclip to trick the system into thinking the top was closed, then starting with a regular CD, then popping in the burned CD at just the right time. The games I loved on the PSX were Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy 7.

After high school, my friend Eric gave me his Dreamcast. Little did he know that the Dreamcast was the easiest hackable console to date. There was seemingly no protection on the Dreamcast, it played nearly every backup flawlessly. This would have to be the first instance where I attained games not so I could play them, but just so I could have a LOT of games. I remember having friends when I was young who just had everything; they had the best and fastest computers that could play the latest games, or they had the newest consoles with all of the cool games that went with it. I recall being envious of them. I knew that the games weren’t worth what they cost to me–especially considering how little time I would put into them–but still I remember wishing that I were in that situation. Right after high school I was given the opportunity with that Dreamcast. I went through well over 2 100 pack spindles of CDs of games. I tested all of the games I burnt, but I played only 2 or 3, and only for a moderate amount of time. The only game I recall enjoying on the Dreamcast would have to be Soul Calibur.

Into college, of course, I had less time for games, or so the colleges would like you to believe. The truth is that I had more time for games than I would ever imagine. I took 14-18 credits, worked 20 hours as a call center employee (”Hi, what’s your computer problem? Have you rebooted? Ok, do that and call me back.”), and I still had the most free time to date in my life. I lived with my now parent-in-laws, in what they made to be a dorm-esque environment. I recall multiple instances where Pat (now father-in-law) would bring out the 5 player classic Bomberman on his NEC Turbografx. Every weekend a bunch of guys would gather and play PC games on the computer LAN we had setup at their house, or 4 player Xbox games (and the occasional outside activity). Memorable games from this period include:
Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat
Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Counter-Strike
Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne
Test Drive: Eve of Destruction
Unreal Tournament 2003

At some point I convinced Pat to let me get a modchip for his Xbox. Perhaps I used the Dreamcast as an example of what the Xbox could become as far as game selection, perhaps he didn’t entirely know what it would involve. I remember paying $50 from an online site for the chip, then driving up to Seattle (about 3 hours North of my house in Vancouver) to a friend’s house (shoutout to Hindra/Brunt if you’re out there somewhere) who I met and had been speaking with online. He opened the Xbox, soldered the chip onto the motherboard, installed the 120GB hard drive, then closed it up. He then proceeded to install the custom software onto the Xbox. It was completed and working within two hours and looked amazing. I’m still amazed he did this for me (FOR FREE!), and because he did, I will never charge for doing a modchip install or flashing for a friend. Since then, I filled, erased and refilled the Xbox hard drive with games about 3 times. Any why not? Except for time, there is absolutely nothing wasted when a game is transferred to the Xbox hard drive.

My senior year in college was by far the most active as far as modifying and tinkering goes. Looking back, I’m not entirely sure what got into me.

First, I bought a used PS2, along with a Fliptop for playing backups. After a couple screw-ups and fixes, that console is still sitting in my house with the case off, and it’s rarely used, except of course for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2. This console was quickly turning into another Dreamcast for me in that I was burning games I KNEW I’d never play.

Shortly after completing the PS2, I decided to make my MAME cabinet, with illusions of grandeur. I conceived it as a machine that would play EVERY classic game ever conceived, with only the exception of those requiring special or proprietary controls. The MAME cabinet was by far the largest undertaking I’ve ever done. It’s still not completed, and if it stays as it is I don’t think I’d mind that one bit.

Somewhere in the middle of creating the MAME cabinet, I decided that I wanted to go mobile. I purchased a Gameboy Advance, with a flash cart. I remember that the GBA cart would only hold 2-3 games max, which simply wouldn’t do. Moreover, it was the first generation GBA, not the SP or the Micro; I went CHEAP. Not really being satisfied at the result, I resold both of those and purchased a Nintendo DS with a flash cart (M3 Perfect CF, with 1GB CF card). I got heavy use out of this mobile console, and used it almost exclusively for over 6 months.

Then came graduation and a job. After that, not only was there more expendable time, but there was more expendable income. I started out with a Gamecube, purchased from a friend who joined the military (shoutout Lenny/Katsuo). Herein I did my first solder-job. It involved opening the cube, and connecting a board to the bottom of the DVD drive. It was a great experience, and it made me kinda wish that I did the soldering on the Xbox and Mame cabinet. I also gave it a full-size-DVD case so it could play backups. There were a couple fun Gamecube games, but in general this console was passed up for me.

A few months later, I bought an Xbox 360 premium, and flashed it. After noticing how easy it was, I told all my friends they should get one too. I have since flashed 7 Xbox 360s.

Shortly after getting a 360, my friend (shoutout John/Talux) gave me his old semi-working Sega Saturn, with no games and no controllers and no power cord. I bought a game and a controller, and used the power cord from my old Playstation to test it. It indeed works. I haven’t yet proceeded, it’s still being debated.

Late 2006, the notion that you could play Playstation games on the PSP was introduced. Of course I had to have one. I found one cheap on Craig’s List, and purchased a 1GB card to ensure it would work. After getting some good use of it, I purchased a 4GB card, so I could fit as many games as possible on there.

In general now it sort of feels like I’ve reverted back to the Dreamcast days, where I attain for just the sake of having, rather than for playing. I was proud of my ability to resist the urge to mod the Sega Saturn. I’m mostly certain that I’d never play any Sega Saturn game at this point, so to mod it would only be for the ABILITY to play games.

So that’s what I’ve done so far. Within one year I’d like to have the following objectives completed:

• Have a wii, modded.
• Finish what I start, namely the functionality of the MAME cabinet.
• Try Xbox Live, and Xbox Live arcade.
• Only attain the games I’ll play.

I’d link all of the achievements in this post back to the original posts where the action occurred, but that would take way too much time. It’s all there, search freely or browse the category if you’re interested in getting more information.

Being excited about getting a Gamecube, I completely forgot about my 128 MB Nyko Memory Card that I bought for the PS2 (and later turned out to be for the Gamecube). I bought the Gamecube with a 4MB memory card, which filled up after about 5 game saves on there. It’s a good thing I have this 128MB card with 32x the storage

And to think, I was going to get a refund instead of keeping it

I installed the XenoGC mod chip that I received for my birthday. It was my first solder job, so it took about an hour.

I only had one clear bic pen, so using that to remove the case worked only until the pen was stripped, so the first two screws. Pat had a 5/32 socket that almost fit, so we grinded the handle down a little until we could slide it in. That worked good for removing screws.

I took some pictures, but lots of them ended up blurry.

I tested it on about 12 games, and they all worked first time with full size DVDs. Amazing!

So the modchip came for my Gamecube, and I couldn’t figure out how to get off the screws to remove the case. Modchip vendors sell a “screw bit” or “secure bit” to remove it, because it is a proprietary shape and size.

Apparently the only other way is to use a bic pen, and do the following:

To do the pen method, start with a CLEAR BIC PEN. I’ve, tried the blue and white pens, and their plastic isn’t hard enough. So take the pen by the plastic barrel, using it as your handle and heat the narrow end up with a heat gun, torch, or gas flame until it becomes very soft. It may catch fire, and if so let it burn a bit before blowing it out. Make sure you keep the pen pointed directly up as you do not want the melted plastic to sway to the left of right; this would make the pen not fit into the screw hole. Next, push the soft warm plastic onto the security screw, pushing hard enough so the plastic forms around the shape of the screw head. Hold for a few seconds. Now, remove the plastic pen barrel, and cool it down using very cold water, ice chunks and/or if available snow. Now you have a “homemade” BIC GameCube screwdriver! All that is left now is to use it to remove the 4 screws. I had to remake the screwdriver three times, as it will wear out very quickly. I talked to others and they had to do the same thing.

Thanks, maxconsole.

Takeitapart.net’s video says that the screws require a “standard 5/32 socket screwdriver”, but my “non-standard” socket screwdriver was too wide I guess.

So I’m going to give the clear BIC pen method a shot tonight.

Edit: Found another guide.