Since the last entry…

*I played more “MGS4,” which you can read about elsewhere on this blog. And I finally finished “The World Ends With You.”

That Square-Enix DS role-playing game is currently my second-favorite game of the year, trailing “Patapon.” For anyone reading this who has also finished, here are some closing thoughts. And for those who haven’t, consider the rest of this diary entry a spoiler.

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Since the last entry, I…

**Installed and started playing “Metal Gear Solid 4” but I’m embargoed from writing about it until the first minute of Thursday. I’ve mentioned to a couple of people that I’ve begun playing the game — telling them no details about it, of course — and a couple of people have made cracks about the game being full of long cut-scenes. I don’t think people are saying this because of reports about the cut-scene length in “MGS4″ but because of the Hideo Kojima series’ reputation.

I can understand people not wanting every game they play to be full of long cut-scenes but I’ve never understood the blanket dismissal of long cut-scenes. What’s so bad about one series making long cut-scenes part of its aesthetic?

**Played more “The World Ends With You.” Great game. But will it ever end?

Next: Lots of stuff. And more secret Snake.

Since the last entry,

*I gave PS2 role-playing game Level 5’s “Rogue Galaxy” a second chance but am close to bailing again. If a game is technically proficient but laden with gameplay and story clichés, do I bother to play on just because the whole thing is soundly made?

I feel like holding a game to a stiffer standard: if your gameplay and story don’t surprise me in any way in the first hour, there’s a problem with the game. Yes, some games take long to reveal their best qualities. I didn’t warm to “Knights of the Old Republic” for its first nine hours. But games as disparate as “Suikoden V” and “BioShock“ were each able to freshen tired genres in fewer than 15 minutes. So I don’t think I’m asking for too much. It’s just that Level 5 is such an impressive development studio in so many ways…

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Since the last entry,

*I dined with Kotaku’s Leigh Alexander, who had a copy of “The World Ends With You” in her DS. At last! Someone I could use the game’s wireless data-sharing Mingle mode with. But…but… she hadn’t played enough of the game to unlock Mingle mode. Why in the world would even this most passive of multiplayer modes — a mode that simply allows players to log each other’s IDs, earn experience points as a reward for making a connection, and trading items — be something that has to be unlocked?

Next: I will spend some of the weekend with “Ninja Gaiden II,” but how much bloody chopping can a man take? We’ll see.

Since the last entry..

*I was a deadbeat and didn’t write a diary entry yesterday.

Then I played more “The World Ends With You,” which Yahtzee was underwhelmed with.

He’s unimpressed with the story (fair), the divide between narrative and gameplay (fair) and the game’s strongly encouraged option for the player to watch and manipulate the action on two screens at once.

Yahtzee says he couldn’t handle that system, but I keep telling people something a little different: I couldn’t handle it at first either, but liked that a game was asking me to do something I thought I was physically incapable of. And it trained me to do it well enough that I’ve upped the difficulty to its highest setting.

Games are, among other things, great training tools for teaching a person a new way to use their hands and eyes. I feel like “TWEWY” has helped me evolve. Could I have looked at two things at once before? Well, maybe…

If only more games could teach us new behaviors seldom previously asked of the human mind and body. That’s be a good thing, no?

Next: There is a strong possibility that I will play new games between this and the next entry, though I will likely have seen the “Lost” finale and have had a strong reaction. I’m sure the finale all hinges on this year’s “Lost” video game. It must.

Since the last entry I…

*Played a couple of hours of a review copy of the PSP game “Secret Agent Clank,” and so far don’t agree with Shane Bettenhausen’s take on the 1UpYours podcast. But I’m embargoed and can’t say more.

*Played a bunch of EA games including “Dead Space” at an event in San Francisco last night. But I’m embargoed and can’t say more.

*Played a few hours of “The World Ends With You” on the flight from New York to San Francisco. But I’ve already written about the game plenty.

Next: I can describe my experiences with two EA games later (one today and one no sooner than Saturday). And I’ll be playing many upcoming Xbox 360 games at a Microsoft event, before I write my next diary entry.

Since the last entry, I…

*Finished “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Very good last mission that I finished on my first try (thank goodness). I’ll have more to say about my end-of-game thoughts in another post. But I am wondering why no mission took me to Liberty City’s version of the Empire State Building. Bummer. Still, the game was quite good: the best-made “GTA,” in my opinion, but only my second favorite. I’m still a “San Andreas” man.

*Worked out to “Wii Fit” and wondered if a program like this can really do much for a fit guy like me. Still, I’m a big fan of Wii games adding channels to the system. It lets me access parts of the games without having the disc in the system. It’s a splendid way to keep a shelf of software relevant.

*Thought I finished “The World Ends With You” only to discover that the game is structured a little like “Odin Sphere,” if you know what I mean. I’m into the second play-through and not finding one of the new main characters that fun.

*Finally inserted “Wii Play” into my machine and played the first game: target shooting. I hear that the tank mode is the best, so I will play more.

*Used the Wii Balance Board to play “We Ski,” but there’s an embargo on impressions until later this week. I do need to say that skiing indoors, on the Board, with remote and nunchuk in hands, is something I would think I’m too old for. Then again, a few years ago I would have said the same about standing in front of the TV playing a plastic toy guitar. The last couple of years of video games have made children of many of us.

Next: I am flying to San Francisco for a week of gaming showcases. My travel games are: “TWEWY,” “R-Type Command,” and “Secret Agent Clank.” “Crisis Core” is not in the stack. I don’t think I’m going back to that one.

Since the last entry I..

*Found “that special someone.” The New Jersey part dragged for me. Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan were more my speed. And I say this despite being born in Jersey.

*Played more “The World Ends With You” and “Wii Fit” (the latter of which was immortalized in video).

Next: I will finish “GTA IV.”

Since the last entry, I…

*Set my DS on mingle after playing “The World Ends With You” for a bit. I heard from Tycho at Penny Arcade that I could catch some good stuff that way.

And now for the first live diary update ever, I will check my DS to see if it grabbed any signals. Drumroll please….

…

…

Wha?? I caught something!

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Since the last entry, I…

*Played more of “The World Ends With You” which I am finally — long promised! — going to compare to the game I didn’t play since the last entry,”Grand Theft Auto IV.”

Now I’m not going to say the “TWEWY” is better than “GTA IV,” but there is something that the Square-Enix DS role-playing game game does really well that I hope Rockstar takes notes on. That thing is how the DS game integrates location and, more specifically, the mood of a location, into gameplay.

You know how some painters paint Paris in such a way that you could say that their painting has the feel of that French city?

Ever notice how different regional forms of hip-hop reverberate with the rhythm of the place from where they emanate?

When I play “TWEWY” I feel like my play experience is — how do I put this? — fueled by the energy of a specific place. That place is Shibuya, a Times-Square-on-steroids region of Tokyo I’ve only spent a week of my life in. I only spent a week there so I can only appreciate it as a tourist.

Maybe I don’t really know Shibuya, not the way I think I know New York. But I think I picked up enough of the vibe: it’s crowded, glitzy, full of fashion-conscious hipsters and many business people seemingly lost in thought; it’s bright and noisy but like all big cities full of people who seem lonely and alienated, ambling through life without connections.

All of that has been translated into gameplay.

“TWEWY” feels like I’m playing the Shibuya mood moreso than “GTA IV” feels like it’s playing the mood of a city based on New York.

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Since the last entry, I…

*Knocked off six more missions in “GTA IV.” (Boat chases beget anger.)

*Got to day four in “The World Ends With You.” (I’ve never enjoyed shopping in a game — until now.)

*Ran out of time to write the comparison between those two games that readers of this diary encouraged me to present. Tomorrow, dear readers. Tomorrow.

Next: I just said what’s next. Don’t make me repeat myself.

Since the last entry, I…

*Played Steven Spielberg’s “Boom Blox,” on my home Wii. But I can’t talk about what I liked and didn’t like until the embargo’s up… tonight?

*Experienced a nearly unhealthy amount of Liberty City, wolfing down a about a quarter of “Grand Theft Auto IV.” I’m now at 49% completion, 69 missions passed. I’m making a favorite missions list. I’ll pen it in the diary when I’m done with the game, hidden under some sort of spoiler warning.

What I can say is that I am done with the Classics hip-hop station. I never want to hear it again, as much as I love its songs. I can’t get enough of The Journey and have just discovered Radio Broker, which is surprisingly good (as is the techno station when you’re trying to escape the cops; but not when you’re just roaming around).

*Played a few more wonderfully involved minutes of “The World Ends With You.” If I start comparing how “TWEWY” takes advantage of the character and culture of its setting vs. how “GTA IV” does, I’ll probably get yelled at by people who don’t like it when I even joke about possible “GTA IV” shortcomings. So I’ll keep quiet. For now.

Next: I got “R-Type Command” in the mail, which is exciting. But who am I kidding? I know what I’m playing next: the continuing obsessions.