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	Frogger Decades Platform: iPhone/iPod Category: Action Games	See Related Videos
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Author: Peter Anargirou

Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment

Features

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OpenFeint Achievements

Frogger Decades for iOS, provided to me by Konami, celebrates Frogger's 30th anniversary. At its core, it features the same idea that Frogger has always had. However, it adds many things, iterating on the classic in a respectful way. I like where they took it.

Graphics and Sound

Frogger Decades is polished fairly well. It features colorful graphics with no glitches that I ever saw. The game also has multiple environments and enemies, all uniquely designed. While it didn't amaze me, it had decent music and sound effects as well. What really struck me as a cool idea was the main "menu." Rather than a simple menu, it's Frogger's room. Trophies on the wall represent achievements and leaderboards, the TV represents the actual game, etc.

Gameplay

The core game mechanic is the same as it always has been. Cross the screen. Don't get hit. However, this is just the basics. Frogger can be controlled using either an on-screen D-pad or touch controls. This is one of those rare games in which the touch controls work better. In fact, I'd say they work really well. Just swipe in the direction in which you want to hop, and Frogger will go for it. The game features a variety of levels such as a forest, city, and more. Dodge cars to get across. Dodge cats to get across. Dodge rats to get across. You get the picture.

In addition to crossing the screen, you'll want to eat flies. As the screen slowly scrolls, you'll need to choose. Do you stop to get that fly, or do you keep moving? It's easy early in the game to get all the flies, but later it gets harder. There are definitely puzzle elements to Frogger Decades as well. Frogger has a few more tricks up his sleeve than regular old hops to solve them, too. He can now do a high jump into the air to reach flies that are high above. This jump takes some time to complete, so it is a trade off. He can also perform long jumps to get across pits. Finally, he can shoot out his tongue. This is useful to collect flies, but more importantly, it allows him to activate switches and to grab boxes to slide them around. This is vital to solving puzzles and navigating mazes. I was actually quite surprised by the depth of the puzzles offered.

Decades features three game modes. The first, Story Mode, contains the meat of the game. It also introduces the story: The game opens with a little cutscene. Frogger's friends leave him a happy birthday note on this door. It shows a map of the area with a line showing him a path from his house to his gift. The bad guy comes and alters the map to take him through treacherous areas. When Frogger finds the note, he's oblivious to the changes and sets off to get his present. Story mode tasks you with progressing through each level sequentially. In Time Attack, you're able to select any level you've already finished in Story Mode. Here you'll want to beat the level as fast as possible. Of course, it tracks your high score for you! Finally, there's Forever Mode. You get one life and try to travel as far as you can. I love this one!

Conclusion

Frogger Decades is an enjoyable reimagining of a gaming classic. It didn't add anything completely amazing, but it did take the classic gameplay and threw in some twists. My biggest complaint is that it didn't include the original game! Currently it's $0.99 on the App Store. If you enjoyed the original, you'll want to give this a try. Just keep in mind it can be quite challenging!

Source: http://www.game-boyz.com/ - Game Boyz | Frogger Decades

PS3 NFL Sunday Ticket is Bullshit

I love the NFL. I love all the hits, the action, the stragety, and the excitement that surrounds my living room every Sunday. It's become something of a tradition in my house, so when I made the decision to get rid of cable in order to cut costs - it was an understandably difficult decision.

Then, my saving grace. Direct TV announces they are going to expand their popular NFL Sunday Ticket service to the entire Playstation 3 network. Not only limited to current Direct TV subscribers, this new venture will allow non-cable (or satellite) customers such as myself the opportunity to enjoy all the exciting, hard hitting action of the NFL right in our living rooms. Such a wondorous day! Of course, I signed up immediately.

On the subscription screen, I was told I would be paying $84.99/month for 4 months. This would total up to $339.96 - so essentially $400. I was also warned that is is a full contract with PSN and Direct TV, and once I agree, I will not be able to cancel the subscription. This is a premium price, but I love me some football, so I signed agreed to the terms.

This is where things start to go downhill. See, I think of myself as a fair guy. I work in the video game industry and a Producer, so I understand how new enterprises can sometimes start off rocky. I was OK with the network problems I experienced Week 1, I know how these things can happen, and to be frank, I actually expected them. When Direct TV announced they were going to refund consumers for that first week, I thought, "Man, this is how a business should be ran. Own up to your mistakes and don't punish the consumers for them."

Fast forward to today - Week 5. I enjoyed the morning games, all smiles as I watched my team carve out a monster victory (Go Vikings!), but was caught off guard when the afternoon games failed to load. I thought it was an issue with my network, sometimes my IP address needs to be renewed, so I restarted the system. When I opened the Sunday Ticket application, I was greeted with a "Subscribe Now" screen. I thought it was strange, so I closed and relaunched the application hoping that the program simply hadn't had time to detect my PSN account info. Booted it up, and again, the same screen.

Confused, I went to my account management and checked my subscription status to NFL Sunday Ticket. It claimed to end on today's date. Further perplexed, I grabbed the phone to call Sony's Customer Service. It was a magical call.

I spoke to a very polite and courteous customer service rep who, apparently, was just as confused by this as I was. She put me on hold no less than 5 times and was finally able to tell me the problem. Sony, in their infinite wisdom, had decided to change the terms of the subscription - without notifying anyone. Instead of paying 4 months at $84.99/month, I would instead pay about $133/month for a 3-month period. It comes out to the same amount in the end. I found this strange, to completely change the payment structure 5-weeks into a contract, but didn't care as long as it came out the same and I could watch my Football.

I was annoyed but willing to deal with this, until I was told the following: "You must re-purchase NFL Sunday Ticket at the current price of $133/month. Once you have done this, we will refund your wallet your initial $84.99 in 7-10 business days. If you do not do this today over the phone, you will lose the option of being reimbursed and will have to pay the full amount of the new contract."

Come again? I lose the option of being reimbursed? So what you're telling me Sony, is that any contract I have with you is completely and utterly bullshit. I agreed to pay a specific amount of money for 4 weeks worth of service. You changed that to 3 weeks, without telling me, and then told me that if I failed to agree to these new terms immediately and shell out more cash, then my previous agreement is now null and void. You tell me this, and actually expect me to smile and hand you my wallet? No, no I think I'll hold on to my hard-earned cash, thank you.

I have a family. I budget out each week and limit my spending to items I have already identified. I can't always afford to spend an extra $100 to $200 on a whim. Even if I could, why would I trust anything Sony is telling me? Changing your payment terms is one thing, but telling me I have to not only re-purchase something I already paid for, then physically call in and request a reimbursement - while simultaneously limiting the amount of time to have to accomplish this to less than 3 hours (they close at 6:30pm PST on Sundays), well, I think that deserves a emphatic FUCK YOU.

So, I no longer have NFL Sunday Ticket. I loved the service, and think it was absolutely worth the price I agreed to pay, but I refuse to be taken advantage of.

This is why, NFL Sunday Ticket on the PS3, is bullshit.

Winter Wedding

Ahhhhh, the sweet smell of nature blooming after a heavy rain. It's one of my favorite smells on earth, and since I live in Southern California, not one I get to enjoy nearly enough. It reminds me of the holidays...at least, what I can recall about the Holidays. Cold winter nights spent outside on a patio or in the car listening to the rain fall with a cigar in my right hand, while my left is occupied with the warm hand of my woman - ahhhh, just great memories. Makes me wish that drive-thru movie theaters had a comeback.

Why is this relevant, you ask? Well, if you shut up and stopped asking questions I'd be able to tell you, but instead, I'm wasting time talking to you about it. Jeez. So impatient.

Anyway, as I was saying, this winter (Dec 16th to be exact) will mark a new chapter in my life. While all the thunder and lighting crashed around LA this weekend, it sparked a realization -this Christmas will be the first Christmas, with my WIFE. Crazy, right? Sure it's obvious, but I honestly never thought about it. Most people I know (who celebrate the pagan holiday) had to wait nearly a year to celebrate X-Mas with their new spouse, I'll be able to do it before my honeymoon period is over. That's pretty cool.

I'll be able to snuggle (ugh - hate that word) up next to my WIFE and listen to the rain fall, and can then promptly request the newly christened Mrs. Church to make me a delicious cup of hot coco, and make sure she doesn't forget a healthy amount of Cinnamon and sugar on top of the slowly melting marshmallows. While she's at it, she should go to the store and get me some of those cookies I like, ya know the ones with the walnuts and chocolate chips, and bake them up for me. I gotta tell ya', those things are delicious. But cookies don't really make a meal, huh? I should probably have her grab some other things for dinner too, since she's already gonna be at the store, maybe some steak and potatoes. Gotta have beer with that too and....and....oh, wait, you're still here aren't you? Crap. I was just saying what all men think...I mean, you should have heard what some of the stuff my friends told me when they got married. Ha Ha Ha! Funny stories! Ha...uh, I mean, ahem.........marriage is awesome, and it's an honor to be in the presence of such beauty. Let's have a round of applause for all the lovely ladies! Yayyy! Go Wives! Eh, that work? No? Oh........well....OMG! LOOK, A NINJA!

**Running away**

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LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

The preceding statements do not reflect the thoughts and actions of Mr. Church ("Writer") and should not be considered an accurate representation of his character. The "Writer" does not accept any responsibility for any riotous behavior resulting from said statements, and cannot be held accountable for loss of limb, sexual activities, genitalia, and in some rare instances, life. The "Writer" also does not condone the actions of Shinobi, with exception to those associated with the television program Naruto, as they are legally awesome.

Harry Potter has it easy

I'm a big fan of Harry Potter. I Love it. The epic battles, the wacky school antics, the unique coming of age story, and of course, the wide range of villainous creatures and wizards that dot the fantastical world they inhabit. Say what you will about the story of the novels and subsequent multi-million dollar film adaptations, but the world and tone that author J.K Rowling has crafted, has definitely earned all of the accolades heaped upon it. One of my favorite of these creations is the dreaded dementor.


You know what they are, right? The cloaked ringwraith inspired specters that act as jailers , and whose sole source of sustenance is the sweet taste of hope and joy. They literally suck it right out of you (not that way, pervert) and leave you a withering sack of fear and destitute. That, in my opinion, is the best thing about them. They don't actually kill you. Sure they can, but it's kinda like being stuck on a desert island with a bunch of chickens. Yeah, you could just kill them all and eat like a king for a few weeks...or you could keep them alive and feed off of the eggs they produce. It's just a matter of what your priorities are. Dementors don't need to kill to feed, but they can sure make you wish you were dead. The same can be said for my current place of employment.


I work for a multi-million dollar video game company, whose titles are shipped and enjoyed around the world. Without mentioning titles, I can almost guarantee you have heard of at least one of our games, if not played a few for yourself - we are that large. The problem is, when you are that large, there are always problems and a lot of red tape to go through to get anything done. I understand that, and really no problem with that specifically; but when you keep throwing process after process in, and the new one directly contradicts the other process previously enacted - things start to get complicated. To make matters worse, they let go of team members, and turn around and expect higher productivity that you had before the layoffs. I'm juggling the jobs of 5 people, ranging from Producer work to administrative (paying bills) and a shitload of things in between. I understand the need of this at a start up, but at a company that makes millions in profit each quarter? Yeah, there is no excuse.

So, every morning I wake up, drink some coffee, eat some breakfast, listen to the morning AM raido and generally enjoy my drive to work. It's relaxing, and most of the time I come in bright eyed ready to tackle the day. I feel even better after weekends. Yet as soon as I walk into the door of the office, and I don't mean that in a general sense, I mean literally as soon as I walk in the door, all of that joy and ambition gets sucked right out of me. Woosh. Like the company itself is draining any joy I have and beaming it directly to the brains of the CEO and President, as they sit on their thrones of gold. A bit like the Riddler did in Batman Forever, though, not quite as gay. [Ed - That's debatable. Depends on who you talk to]

So I now have the theory that my company, is in fact, a big-ass dementor. Think about it...no one I have ever met working here is happy. Not a single person. Sure some VP's or Executives are content, but that mostly due to the paycheck, there's no real enjoyment there. I know a lot of people experience this at their jobs, the boring dull-drooms of the corporate world, but take this into consideration: we make games. That's what we do. Our workweek is spent making and playing video games! Don't misunderstand and think that a lot of work is not involved when it comes to making games - you have to put in a fuck ton of hours, arguments with the team are commonplace, and you're likely to go gray at 25. As strange as this sounds though, that's all...FUN. That's what makes game development so exciting and worth the journey. You pour your heart and pride into a title and when it finally comes out, you can sit back and breathe and enjoy the fruits of your labor, before you jump back in and do it again. It's that sense of reward at the end that keeps you coming back.

You don't get that here. Any feeling of jubilation you might begin to feel at the conclusion of a project is almost immediately snuffed out. We have an ongoing joke whenever someone laughs or smiles, we say they need to stop immediately as they are going against company policy. It's that bad

I've been making video games for over 8 years, and have worked at a number of different places - some well known corporations, some not. I have never, in my entire life, worked at a place so hellbent on making it more difficult to make good product than here. They complain we don't have enough content, we present ideas - they shoot them all down without giving any reasons or other suggestions. We finally get a project approved, and we get flack for spending to much because they force us to use a grossly underdeveloped budget. We can't even set it. The Japan studio refuses to share/communicate with the other studios, the European studio fails to deliver promised content screwing over release schedules, content gets released in the US market without US consent...and the list goes on and on.

I know I'm bitching and moaning, and need a violin accompaniment, but FUCK, dementors are no joke. I need a patronus charm. Like right now.

Save me harry.FUCK

~Konshus

BEST. SONG. EVER

Cee-lo green (the lean mean soul machine) does it once again with an amazing song that hits the right note in sooooo many ways. What person has not wanted to sing a song just like this to at least one person they dated?

I've not been able to get the tune out of my head all day, and neither will you.

~Konshus

The Homo-Sapien proclimation for Nature's Emancipation (by Don King) - see what I did there?

Another day, another dollar, and another timeless rant you can print out and read to your kids before tucking their bratty asses into bed.

Today's topic: Homo-Sapiens.

People...frankly, you guys suck. No, seriously, for the most part, homosapiens are a gigantic waste of space and should never have been allowed to survive past the first ice age, and are blight on this otherwise beautiful planet. Why am I saying this you ask? Well, that's a good question Timmy - and it has two very unique answers.

(1) I am an asshole
(2) People tend to make everything waaaaaaay to complicated

Before traveling down the thorn covered passage that is topic #1, let's start with the more meatier subject - complication. Turn on the news and you'll see multiple reports and updates on the recent oil spill crisis that is taking place - still. Now, answer me this: what is oil? Not literally Bill Nye, I mean what is oil in relation to the planet? If you ask me, it's waste, bile; excess fluid that the planet produces during it's natural cycle. Humans are here to clean it up, helping our planet remain healthy. We are the colon of the planet. I'm so proud.

Now, instead of completely eradicating the viscous fluid, we humans decide "Hey! We can reuse this stuff!" and sell it to each other for a premium price. Then, as each of us buy it for various purposes, we end up burning the stuff sending toxic vapors into our atmosphere, and then panic when our air becomes less and less healthy for us to breathe.

Hmmmm, not simple enough for you, eh? Alright, let me put it this way: Imagine eating a pound of bean burritos with cheese, putting a fishbowl on your head attached to a long tube that connects directly to your asshole. Now, as you fart, the gas goes up the tube into the fishbowl on your head, and you sit there breathing in all the fumes...yum, yum. Sure, you might be able to stand it for a little while, but sooner or later, you're going to vomit, pass out, and die; mostly due to the elevated levels of methane and complete lack of oxygen.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. "Konshus, that's disgusting! Why on earth would anyone do something like that?!?" Good question - so why in the hell are we doing that to our planet? Essentially, we are taking waste, reusing it, and breathing it in. Smart move, homo-sapiens. Brilliant! Complex!

I'm no tree hugging hippie, so let's move on to something I actually care about, shall we? The Miranda rights. I was just discussing this with my father, fiance, and other scholarly gentlemen this weekend over a light lunch of Tommy's hamburgers. They have always been tweaking those pesky rules for humans, but this time, they took it a step further. The new ruling states that, YES, you do still have the right to remain silent, however, you must break the right of silence in order to express that right by saying you wish to envoke your right to remain silent. I can practically see you re-reading that sentence. Once again, homo-sapien logic shines through. Brilliant! Complex!

You see where I'm going with this?

Ya, know...a thought just occurred to me, just flashed in my mind. Tell me if this crossed your mind as well. I...am a homo-sapien. Wow. I am one of those complex creatures who drives a gas guzzling Dodge Charger, watches cop shows and drives an extra 35 miles each day to and from work. All of that, and here I am complaining about my fellow humans for the same things I do myself, nearly every day. How hypocritical. How...complex.

We have now come full circle, and if you're smart, you've realized the importance of reason #1. I am an asshole, and as such, I got you to read my entire nonsensical rant about nothing in particular just so I could achieve my writing quota for the day.

Seriously Konshus, you're a dick.

~Konshus

Wedding Blues

Weddings suck. Seriously, ladies, when you think your man dosen't want to get married because he's afraid of commitment, well, that's probably the case - but making the path to the altar strewn with conflict and endless grief doesn't help much.

See, men are simple: you tell us where to stand, we say "I, Do" and start fantasizing about all the depraved things we will we able to get away with later that night. (Half of it can only be achieved during the honeymoon, so it requires a fair amount of thought.) Women on the other hand, seem to have this convoluted vision of what they want their wedding to be like, and try and have every desire they ever had thrown in. At age 5 it was the pony ride into the ceremony, at age 12 it was her favorite band, and in college it was black pride. The result? You end up riding into a wedding on a pony, raising the black power fist while Jodeci blasts "If you think you're lonely now" over the speakers.

Don't get me wrong, I love my fiance. I want to be stuck with her for the rest of my life and laugh at all her little quirks. Being married is not the problem, it's getting there that is driving me insane. She wants a website, a blog, changes colors because they don't match invitations (!!), wants save the date, invitations and R.S.V.P cards;et cetra, et cetra, et cetra. Maybe I'm being overly reactive, but considering all I'm supposed to do is stand there during all of this - I find it a little difficult to find the desire to pay for all of this, for a single evening. It will be a kick ass evening, believe that shit, but damn...I don't want to go into debt because of it.

*Sigh* To be fair, she's being supportive and trying her best to ensure we don't spend too much money and has been willing to make concessions on a lot of points, as have I. I guess I just have a problem with the whole ceremony itself. In my opinion it sets people up for disappointment.

I see it like this: You have this elaborate wedding and it's wonderful, you're happy and everything is perfect - from there, the perception is that everyday that follows will be just as wonderful. Maybe not as lavish, but nonetheless, just as joyous. I don't think it's a conscious (pardon the pun) thought, but I do believe people buy into that feeling. Unfortunately, things don't work that way. Whatever problems you had the day before the wedding, will still be there the day after. Placing a false vision in your mind of how things will be is what causes so many marriages to fail. NOTHING in your life changes, people. The only difference is you now share a last name (which varies from couple to couple) and you can now file joint taxes. That's it. Everything else is simply emotion, and that love should have been present long before your decision to get married.

if it were up to me, I would propose, she would accept, and we would throw a big-ass BBQ with all of our friends and family to celebrate the occasion. We could file the paperwork with the state a few days before the festivities and call it a day. Total cost would be maybe $500.

But, just like Valentines Day, we have been conditioned to believe that we need a lavish wedding; and that it's the only way we can truly show how much we love one another. Just another ploy to get you to spend more $$ than you should.

Ah well, no use crying about it. It's happening. Guess I better save the date and get buy some saddle pants, it's going to be a long ride.

~Konshus

Konshus is getting married on Dec 16th 2010, in Redlands, Ca.