I wish there was some way to ease the burden of this playthrough.  Games with dynamic events and challenges are incredibly difficult to offer strategies for, as the solution changes with every action that is made.  Even if you know the right shots to make (especially on the gold brick puzzle stages), the enemies will do their best to ruin your trajectory.  It's hard to say this, but all you can rely on with Arkanoid is your reflexes and eye-hand coordination.  There will be times where you have less than a second to react, mostly due to an enemy in proximity to the Vaus and ball, and no amount of strategizing beforehand will be of use.

Good luck on this one; you're definitely going to need it.

Finally!  I can't wait to bust some Aragami with you .

That said, it's so much easier searching for, well, anything by using their website.  At least there we can make use of Google's site search function and find stuff that Sony's search engine ignores.

Whew... I found it!  I went searching through the PlayStation community site and found a discussion about Ad-hoc Party.  At the moment, because Sony has once again rearranged the storefront, the easiest way to download the program is through their website.  Here is the direct link to the program.  If you're using NoScript, you'll have to visit the site first and allow some scripts through and then click on the link a second time.  Once there you can log in to your PSN account, "purchase" the program, and it will show up on your purchase list on your PS3.

As for why Sony hasn't taken better care of their program, well, that's because they considered the PSP a failure in the West.  Adding insult to injury, we didn't even get the enhanced version that had added features and other connection tricks (especially for the PSP-to-PS3 ports that retained their multi-player modes).

I can't find the damn program.  Every time Sony updates the store and reorganizes the tabs, Ad-hoc Party gets lost.  It's just frustrating because the program still works.  I can log in to it right now and people are online and playing.  I just wish there was a better way to search their store.  It was a pain in the  finding it last time and now they've misplaced it again.  Anyway, I'll keep searching for it, both in the PS Store and through message board topics.

Trust me, Ad-hoc Party is there.  Another friend of mine downloaded it last month after an agonizing search, so it's still available.  Its location is a bit out of the ordinary, unfortunately, and it took us a few hours to find it.  When I get back on the PSN I'll take a look for it and tell you exactly where it is.

Anyway, I try to log on around 8pm (although it ends up being around 9pm most of the time).  I'm usually on until 11pm unless I'm playing an online game with my brother, at which point I stay on a while longer.

I completely forgot about this game, too.  It wasn't until I read a review for Ninja Gaiden Shadow (I think last year) that I was reminded of the existence of an unplayed Bionic Commando game.  To make up for this failing I immediately set out to buy it, which I managed to do earlier this year.  And, once I had it my possession I discovered how great it was.  My only regret over the situation is that I doubted it when it was originally released.

To expand on that, when the game first came out it was just kind of there.  It seems strange to say this, but there was some apprehension over console-to-handheld translations (Castlevania Adventure and Fortress of Fear didn't help the situation) back then.  I know I wasn't interested in it despite loving the NES game.  The game came and went with little fanfare or interest and was mostly forgotten.

By the time Elite Forces came out, however, the translation process was much improved and there was considerable interest in the new game.  I bought Elite Forces all those years ago and I loved it.  It's not without its troubles (the characters are too large and there are too many blind swings), but it's more of what you like about the series.  It even features a remix of one of the stage themes from Bionic Commando GB. 

Hmmm... I guess I'm an expert in worthless gaming trivia then.  Perhaps I can throw some more your way by pointing you towards more games with grappling gameplay.  But, before I mention their names, allow me to apologize in advance if you're already well-versed with them (or if they don't fill your requirements).  That said, there are a few more games for the 16-bit platforms that make liberal use of grappling mechanics.  The first one is Super Turrican 2 and the second is Phantom 2040.  In both games the grappling hooks complement the general platforming, although they are put to different use in each game.  While Super Turrican 2 likes to place you over bottomless pits and other hazards as you swing, Phantom 2040 uses it for scaling walls, navigation, and avoiding combat.  They might not be up to the Bionic Commando standard, but they did try to incorporate the secondary mode of travel in a meaningful way.

That's right!  Ad-hoc Party acts as tunneling software by capturing the PSP's wireless signal and transmitting it to other connected systems.  Through that software, PSP owners have been able to play games like Monster Hunter, God Eater, Phantasy Star Portable, Kingdom Hearts, Ace Combat, or anything else that features wireless multi-player.  It doesn't even require that much to set it up.  All you do is run the program, create a game room, and start a wireless session on your PSP.  The PS3's green wireless light kicks on and begins capturing signals.  Honestly, the only tricky part is finding Ad-hoc Party on the PS Store.  When you log in, go all the way to the bottom and select the PSP channel.  From there, look through its downloadable game section and you'll find it (it's a green icon with white lettering).  It would be easier to search for it, but the search function on the storefront is broken and will never list it.  Also, don't forget to download the free God Eater DLC while you're there!

As for communicating, it's not that big of a setback.  The game informs me when you're ready to run a mission, so it's easy for me to just tag along.  Anyway, I'll start popping back on the PSN again at my regular time to see if you're there and available for a test run.

Finally, it would be both awesome and profitable if we knew which games were actually rare or simply out of print (while demand is still high).  Seriously, my local Best Buy had a clearance bin full of Avalon Code; if I knew its online demand was going to skyrocket, I could have bought ten copies and sold them for $60 apiece  (and they would have sold, considering a flawless, sealed copy of the game has an undetermined value).  In regards to Xenoblade, you had people going all over to buy up copies the moment they learned that it was out of print.  I actually wish I had the reserves to do something like that, because it's obvious money is no object to some gamers.

It's not that God Eater has online play, but we can play it online through the PS3's Ad-hoc Party application.  We would need to use keyboards for communication, unfortuantely, because the voice chat is hit-or-miss.  That said, my character's rank wouldn't make the game all that easier for us.  That part of the game is still very much like Monster Hunter (in that your character's strength is solely dependent on your gear and personal skill), so if I get careless I'll be kissing dirt rather quickly.  I can also play a support role and just focus on ranged attacks and healing.  All in all, even if we don't get to play together, at least you can bring in up to three AI partners (which are very smart) to give you a hand.

I know what you mean about grabbing games when a great opportunity is right in front of you.  Even though I'm not interested in buying, say, Mega Man Legends 2 for $100, I'd knock people down if I found it for $15.  Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about how many games you buy; As long as your finding stuff that interests you, especially at the right price, don't leave it behind.  You never know if that $5 purchase now will be unobtainable in a few months (kind of like Avalon Code's jump from $15 to absurd).

I expect the Vita to be discontinued in the Western market in the next twelve months if the software situation doesn't improve.  Outside of independent developers and the projects that Sony is funding, there is nothing happening on the development scene in North America and Europe.  Meanwhile, the Vita is gaining some traction in Japan and increased development (both exclusives and ports).  If the system can at least gain a level of developer commitment like the PSP achieved, then the system might survive abroad.  It would be a niche survival, though, because not every game is suitable for localization.

That said, it truly is a shame that the system has been repeatedly handicapped.  If it's not the price of the unit (which isn't a real problem) and its proprietary storage (which is a problem), it's the continued apathy of the Western development community towards handhelds.  If it's not Sony's ineptitude at supporting its own hardware, it's the developers not bringing console experiences to the unit (seriously, I'm tired of seeing only local multi-player options).  The Vita's a powerful device; If only someone would treat it with respect and show everyone what it's capable of.

It's been a very long time since I last saw that Arkanoid controller.  I had it for a while when the game was new, but that controller just couldn't survive the test of time (and the abuse that game dished out).  As for completing Arkanoid without the continue code, that's entirely dependent on your reflexes (and if you're a Jedi).  The funny thing is that the game is deceptively short.  There's not that many stages to work though, yet the difficulty of some of the later stages is maddening.  The speed at which the ball travels can become quite obscene (especially around the gold bricks), so I'd say you have your work cut out for you.  I guess the only advice I can give you is to carefully plan out your moves on each stage.  Figure out what the best opening shot is and do your best to maintain control over your striking angle.

Receiving God Eater through PS+ is a ridiculously good deal.  It offers a very different experience than Monster Hunter, thanks in part to its dedicated story mode and less extreme difficulty.  Still, there is plenty of grinding to be had--if you choose to do it.  It's not as painful or as lengthy as it was in Monster Hunter, though (God Eater has far less equipment to forge), so you won't be stuck fighting the same monsters for too long.  Anyway, whenever you start playing it let me know: Perhaps we can work some Ad-hoc Party magic and play through some missions together .

That said, going through a whole month without any progress is a killer (I should know; I have plenty of experience in this department ).  It also doesn't help that you added another bundle to the backlog (which I also did this month).  But, you probably don't need me to tell you that.

Power Blade's soundtrack was definitely the highlight of the experience.  That's to be expected, though, considering it came from the same person who did the soundtrack to the original Castlevania.  As for the gameplay, it was so heavily modified and became too easy as a result.  I mean, the power suit wasn't even in the original game, as were several of the other power-ups and abilities.  Nova is ridiculously overpowered in Power Blade and enemies only pose a threat if you're not paying attention.  The bosses are the same way, too, and they can never go toe-to-toe or trade hits with the player.  Otherwise they would be demolished in an instant if they were to stand still for a second.

Also, I see you noticed those crazy purple faces.  Between the two versions of the game, a great deal of the enemies were changed from the original.  But they kept that weird head on the wall intact.  Somebody must have liked it over at Taito!

Grind-heavy?  That's not exactly the words I want to be reading, especially for a game this short.  Is there anything to do in the game besides combat, like exploration?  Or is it just a constant string of fights from start to finish?  Also, do you have to fight everything, or can you run past them if you don't want to engage them (like if you're sufficiently leveled or they are just worthless fodder)?

I know exactly what you're going through.  When it comes to fighting games, I went through the same exact period.  I haven't recovered from it, either.  With no local access to competition and no desire to put up with online bouts (and sore losers), I don't think I'll ever return to the genre.  It's a shame really, because I had a lengthy history with fighting games.

As for your question, I recently had a huge falling out with turn-based (and realtime) rpgs.  It's one of the few genres that I understand too well, and I no longer enjoy the gameplay it provides.  Actually, now that I think about it, this is my second falling out with the genre.  I have a feeling I'll be parting ways with it for good this time.  As to the fine details why I'm moving away from these games, well, I'm not going to discuss that here.  My reasons will definitely upset somebody, so I'll stick to the old phrase and say nothing at all.

Wanting games and not having the money to buy them was one of my least favorite situations, too.  I do hope everything works out for you, though, and that you don't miss out on anything that will cost you more later on.  While buying games is not a top priority, it's quite disheartening to watch good deals (and sometimes a game's availability altogether) pass you by.

The Rune Factory games took me by surprise.  Although I wasn't a fan of Harvest Moon, there were portions of the game that I knew I would enjoy in within a game of larger scope.  Rune Factory is that game.  The one I played, Tides of Destiny, blended the relaxing and quaint farming/crafting/relationship system from Harvest Moon with an action-rpg.  One day you're building bonds with the townspeople and the next your working through a dungeon or tending your fields.

Anyway, they're worth looking into, especially the PS3 and Wii games (Tides of Destiny is available on both, whereas Frontier is a Wii exclusive).  The DS trilogy was recently republished, too, so you can get the whole set for the price of what one game was going for (Rune Factory 3 was $90 for a good, long time).  If you're interested, Rune Factory 1 and 2 are available for about $25 each at Amazon, Rune Factory 3 is available for $20 at CD Universe (it just came back in stock), and Tides of Destiny and Frontier are $20 apiece at Amazon.

Also, Harvest Moon originally came out on the SNES and was followed a year later by the Game Boy version.  They were late releases, too, coming out in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

And, no, the N64 wasn't difficult to buy for.  There was little more than 160 games to choose from, so it was pretty easy to find what you were looking for.  As for Lost Kingdoms II, you might need to save up for that one.  I mean, it costs so much that you either by that or a modern release !

Hmmm... I know a thing or two about fractured game collections.  For the longest time I was buying games for my brother's systems and vice versa, too.  It was great for the time having access to twice as many games .  But once those games are gone it sucks !

It's a crazy coincidence that you brought up this topic.  About a week ago I did a very lengthy and exhausting sweep through the game libraries of all the systems I own.  The reason for the sweep was to answer a question similar to yours.  I wanted to make sure that I was content with the current state of my game library, so I did one final search to confirm that.  What I discovered was that I was pretty much done buying games and that I only needed to pick up a few more.

Within my shopping list - that is only two games long now - is one Wii game: Rune Factory Frontier.  Once I pick that one up next month I'll be shifting my focus over to next generation hardware, namely the 3DS.  Rune Factory 4 is coming out soon for the system, so it's a good thing that I'm ready to move on.

As for the games you've chosen, it almost seems like cheating that you put the Legacy Collection on there .  How many games are in that again?  Seven, eight ?  At least it will keep you busy, especially if you really dig into each game.  Red Dead Redemption is another long one, too, regardless if you play online or off. 

That's what happens with remakes !  I mean, the character portraits are fine in Silver Star Harmony because they offer the least amount of discrepancy from the originals.  But, the character sprites were completely redrawn for a new audience (to mixed results).  In fact, this is the third time they've been redrawn! 

As for where the old graphics would fit in, they would have been terribly out of place amongst the redrawn backgrounds (which is why the inclusion of the older games would have been nice).  They were also incredibly tiny and would have needed to be resized to fit within the higher resolution.

At this point we can only hope for better options for the inevitable fifth release of Lunar .

I haven't played Final Fantasy V yet (which is shameful, because I've owned the GBA version since it came out), so this will be some simple speculation on my part.  You mention that game is flexible and that it allows you to get through the game with the class combinations you like.  I wonder if the game's difficulty was purposely kept on the low side to accommodate that.  I know FFII was like that, because the developers had no clue how your characters would be developed at any given point.  As for FFV, I suppose if the game were harder everyone would stick with the tried-and-true options, which would render many of the other options useless.

For as much as I love this game, it has its moments that keep me from replaying it too often.  And you pretty much listed all the reasons why.  After a certain point in the game I would simply flee from enemies and take my chances because I was tired of swapping swords.  Then there is that one segment where you have to win the sword duel, but it can only be done if you're high enough in level or use a turbo controller.  Both of those things needlessly slow the game down, which is not good for an action-rpg.

Now, I know some individuals would scoff at what I'm about to say, but the changes that were made to the GBC version evened out the gameplay and made it far more enjoyable.  Any sword can kill any enemy in that version, so you don't have to swap all that much.  Of course, the GBC version has its own problems: It has a completely different and inferior soundtrack and the whole endgame is altered.  It's still a good game, though, but it's up to the individual to decide which version they like the most (or perhaps they'll enjoy both like I do ).

Any RPG that makes use of a realtime battle system, especially one where you have more than one character on your team, requires careful balancing.  If a game doesn't offer absolute control over your AI partners, you're essentially penalized for mistakes that are not yours.  Level 5 should have created a different system for the AI partners to compensate for their lack of brains.  They should have been given a cool down system for their spells instead of MP, as well as an auto-revive that kicks in a few seconds after they've fallen in battle.

Or, they could have made the game fully turn-based and avoided a great deal of trouble.

So, uh, where does Gust fit into that little Ar tonelico 2 equation ?  I mean, without Gust there would be no Ar tonelico (or Atelier series or Mana Khemia).  By the way, are you aware of the game crushing glitch in Ar tonelico 2?  It shows up near the end of the game, during a boss battle, and it requires the deployment of one of two methods to avoid it.  One has you overleveling your characters to demolish the boss, while the other has you exploiting a different glitch (I'm not going to mention it because it could ruin your playthrough) to power through the fight.

My comment about the game's speed is highly subjective.  For the games I'm used to playing, which are mostly action-oriented rpgs, I might be somewhat sensitive to watching battle animations that I wish I could skip.  So, take my opinion with a huge grain of salt.

Also, I agree with you about the original graphics.  Actually, they should have done it one better and included either the PS1 remake or the Sega CD original (or both !).

I'm actually surprised they haven't released a collection of the side games yet.  Granted, a considerable amount of work would need to be done to port the PSP games over.  But, it would make the entire series (up until now) available on one console.  They would probably cut Snake's Revenge, unfortunately, because it was not sanctioned by Kojima.  Then again, maybe he would include it to poke fun at it.

I held off on the purchase of the PSP version of Lunar for a long time, too.  I originally had the premium edition preordered, but I cancelled it shortly after playing the demo.  There was something sluggish about the battle system, and some of its quirks were somewhat annoying.  I more or less walked away from the game until I decided to look at it again.  From what I read, the qualms I had with the game eventually disappear as the party grows stronger, and I ended up buying it last year.  It was incredibly inexpensive, too, which made the decision to buy it easier.