There are some typical annoying 3D platforming problems, namely landing jumps. Thankfully, it’s not enough to ruin the game because instant-death-style situations are rare, and the game is pleasurable enough to make replaying parts not such a burden.

Psychonauts has overly complex controls that could probably be greatly simplified. This is a bit of a tangent, but part of my problem is being used the GameCube controller. It has an asymmetric design that I think is really smart. I know a lot of people don’t like the controller, but I personally believe it is among the best ever made (albeit flawed), particularly for being able to imply function through its form. The controller I use for my PC is a very similar to the PlayStation Dual-Shock. It’s highly symmetrical, homogeneous, and completely black, which makes it harder for me to remember which buttons do what. I also miss the patented Nintendo octagon-shaped joystick guide rings (USPTO:5,984,785). I’ll admit it: I’m sloppy without training wheels.

The third place Psychonauts lets me down, and this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, is the PC configuration menu. This is a console game at heart, and most of the menus are perfectly fine. But there is an extra menu for setting things like graphics detail and audio effects, settings that normally wouldn’t appear in a console game. This menu it’s not controller aware and is inconvenient to use. Some more thought should have gone into that.

I also found a lot of technical problems would pop up whenever I would alter the PC configuration controls without restarting the game or my computer — ugly texture errors or missing audio. That’s very annoying when you change something, don’t like it, change it back, and then have no idea why your settings no longer are working, even after restarting the game. All it takes is a reboot, but who would guess that would be required. Once it’s dialed in, you don’t have to fool with that menu again, and everything is fine.

I haven’t played any of the previous Fallout games, but I am definitely excited about Fallout 3. I’ll be adding that to my game library sometime this year, I am sure. I’ve always heard a lot of good stuff about the previous games, but never got a chance to play them. Maybe I can check ‘em out before the threequel hits stores.

As for the Game Cube, I’m still on the fence. I’ve already beaten Super Mario Sunshine, but I astill have a hankerin’ for more, and at $30 for just the console, it seems like almost too good a deal to pass up. And that’s even ignoring the fact that the games are almost all $10 or less. Decisions, decisions.

But yeah, I will be working on my compo entry. I’d like to get a game in this time.

You can’t go wrong with a GameCube, it’s my favorite console right next to the Dreamcast. The much maligned Mario Sunshine is far better than people let on, it’s one of my favorites. Just thinking about it makes me want pop it in right now. Pikmin is in my replay stack at the moment, along with *sigh* Eternal Darkness. I always get stuck in Eternal Darkness, I’ve never gotten more than 10-20% into it before stopping. I’d sorely like to get Pikmin 2 and a few other titles I’ve missed, maybe I’ll treat myself next paycheck.

At the moment I’m replaying Wonderboy in Monsterland for Genesis. I do that about once a year. I love that game. I might also hit up Popful Mail before putting the console away.

On the PC, I’d like to finish up CS: Condition Zero, and then play the recently ported Decay mod for Half-Life. It’s very exciting to get the chance to play a “lost” Gearbox mod for my favorite FPS. If you don’t know the story, check the link below.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/09/28/half-life-the-lost-chapter/