Pocket Clothier: An Overview

Converted from the Japanese version we now have an English version available on Google play store. I bought this game just by reading people's feedback on the Japanese version so I didn't know what to expect.  Basically the game is on you managing a clothing store which will be expanded to a department store size. I have to admit this game is easy, you can earn easily and there is not a lot of things to juggle. You have to rely on sales to unlock more different clothes to sell. Other than that, different clothes also bring about different type of customers. There are also plans that help customer discover careers but to get to their goals you will have to pair clothes that will increase the percentage of succeeding.

My advice in earning in this game is that keep selling and don't bother with upgrading the fixtures unless you have plenty of cash to spare. Also set your staff priority well so it improves sales such as skill that attracts more male or female customers. What I did is I arrange all female clothing in one floor and male clothing on another floor alternately, it helps to keep track of the clothes you have. Ultimately this is the easiest Kairosoft game I've played and it's not much of a challenge. I don't really think it was worth my money because there's nothing much to do in the game since everything is simple. But there is one thing I love about this game is that you can move the things that you have installed anywhere you like because some Kairosoft games do not have the move ability.

It's still my first round with the game so when I start a new one I will track what clothes unlock what customers, careers available and also what tenants bring about what customers.

Missing in Action

I've been neglecting my blog for more than 2 months which naturally made me disappointed because in the end I did not follow through my resolutions for the year. After Diablo 3 was released, there is where I spend most of my time. It's a fun game which then turn repetitive, so why did I continue playing a repetitive game if I know that it's not that fun anymore? Well my answer is I wanted to beat the odds. What odds is these? Well it's the many many nerfs implemented by Blizzard themselves. 

These nerfs are not to balance the game but are flaws to ensure that the company will profit from the game continuously. IF you have been playing the game you will not that everything revolves around the Auction House that has been set up by the Blizzard making selling items and gold in the game legal instead of turning to illegal means and farming (not vegetables or fruits) organizations. How the game revolves around auction house is whenever you find difficulty in your progress in the game, there is where you spend in game gold to buy items that will help you. Even real money can be used to buy items because Blizzard earns 1 dollar for every sale made, as for in game gold it's 15% of the sale. 

Why is it hard to progress in the game? It's because the nerfs made items drop rarer and also more random. Besides that, the elites in the game are getting harder and the "powers" or "skills" of these mobs are so random and tough that you'll die many times trying. So you think just die and try again? Well recently dying costs you more gold as they have made the percentage higher. 

How to enjoy a game that places these obstacles that will profit Blizzard? That depends on you mind set and that is why I want to beat the odds because I don't believe that I will have to follow the crowd and do the same thing. Yes I will have to buy gears from the Auction House or either just work harder to farm elites and get drops. But I won't pay real money for items. Trying to beat the game has been eating up my time for other games and also making me read slower. I still read but just couldn't find the time to write a review but I will write it and I need to make use of time that I have to do it. I admit I've been lazy and taking naps when I shouldn't have on my weekends because those are precious times to read and write. 

I told myself many times that I shouldn't waste time like this and it's always effective for a few weeks and then I'm back to the lazy me. It must stop and I promise myself to change because I need to. This weekend I will review one game and a book. Hopefully I have enough time to review two books though. Time is precious and I am not spending it wisely. Anyway I apologize for leaving this blog empty without entries and I will pick up on my book reviews and move back to the Japanese learning entries. Thank you for the support and patience, happy weekend. BTW I watched The Dark Knight Rises and I loved it, do check it out, it's the best one of the trilogy by Christopher Nolan which is the last one.

Diablo 3

I'm just so so excited when I received my copy of the game. Even though it's one day late but after my friend told me he got the package I was jumping up and down a bit =P. I have not played Diablo I but last year I did play Diablo II with my friends so unlike other people I only waited almost a year for this game where else my friends have waited 11 years. I do not know much to actually tell the story here. My knowledge about Diablo is only reading the prequel books that was published and I enjoyed the trilogy. 

I've managed to play till the part where the Open beta weekend allowed which makes my character level 10. So far the story is interesting and I'm expecting more from Blizzard because all the while they are good story tellers in their games. This game is quite simple to play compared to MMORPGs because mostly what you do is fight monsters and complete quests. Anyway anymore writing will be spoilers to people who play so I'll end this short post with some pictures of the Diablo III game box.

1 guest pass for WoW and 2 for Diablo 3

Cafeteria Nipponica part 1

Lately when I'm not reading I'll be gaming away on my mobile phone. I have long abandon my nds lite because it is heavy to carry it around. Since my phone is a smart phone I definitely took advantage of playing games on it. Kairosoft is a Japanese game developer that makes games in the simulation/management category. They have many titles as of now available for Android and iOS phones. The first game that I bought was "Game Dev Story" and I was hooked, playing on my phone non-stop for hours. It was a very fun game and then when I discover more titles I got hooked even more. This new game that has just been released is just as fun and the difficulty is higher. When playing "Cafe Nipon" in short, you will spend time making money but then it always seems it's not enough. Kairosoft likes to make games that will make the players play over and over again which makes the game a bang for your buck. 

I love that this new game is the same, it's not easy to earn and open new stores. It's definitely not easy getting recipes and ingredients to make certain dishes. That is the challenge in the game, unlocking more recipe, ingredients, and also items for use in the restaurant. The urge of wanting everything in the game is what's make you keep on playing even though the high score is after 15 years, you'll start a new game with the things you unlock and carry on with your will to unlock everything in the game. It was hard getting recipes because it takes a lot of time, sometimes you wait for the hunting event, sometimes you just have to use your brains to simply mix ingredients to develop new dishes or you wait that you impress a customer and they might give you a recipe. If this game means it requires too much things to do then it's not the short 10 minute game that you are looking for. I personally loved games like these and Kairosoft has plenty of it.

Below are some of the recipes unlocked in my game and I know there is more because I only own two stores at two different areas. There are more areas which feature different ingredients and customers so the 18 that I have below is just a small amount. I hope the pictures will at least help those who read this article in your game play. Just follow the recipes and develop a dish and you can sell it in your restaurant.

Updated a complete recipe list here : Complete Recipe

NEW: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2012/05/cafeteria-nipponica-short-guide.html

Caught up with Nintendo games

This is my mandatory post for the week, =P. I know I'm suppose to work on my posts that I said to be coming soon but instead I spent my free time playing games on my favourite console, Nintendo DS lite. It has always been a joy playing games that were created for this console. I had my first game boy when I was in high school, it was the big fat yellow one. The game that I played and spent lots of time on was Pokemon Yellow, and also assorted mini games.

And then I got an upgrade to Gameboy Colour, it was so cool because it has colours and I played pokemon Pearl on it. I didn't have much games to play on it because it was costly to buy the game cartridges.

               

Many years I stopped playing the gameboy colour and when I was 21 I asked my father for a DS Lite as my birthday gift. Of course I got it, it was such a beauty to me. I was captivated by how much creativity the games had utilizing the touch screen below. The first game that I bought to play was Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 : March of the Minis and I loved it.

It was a game about solving puzzle, getting the little mechanical Marios to collect coins, items and arriving at the door to march on to the next level. The point of the game is to use your brain, start the minis on a route that reaches your target of destination while collecting items. As a gamer I always try to get the highest score and earn the awards before I move on to the next level.

Lately I wasn't paying attention to what new titles are in store  for Q4 of 2010, so I didn't take note of this game until I was surfing last weekend on reviews for another game. Surprise, surprise another titles was out for this genre. I was excited when I got the game and the new title is "Mario vs Donkey Kong : Mini-land Mayhem".

Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO_h9OJ_B90

The concept is the same but it's still fun because it's a new set of puzzles, new minigames included and also Special stages are unlocked with the amount of Mario coin you have collected from the levels. There are a total of 8 attractions with 8 levels to play, and after those 8 levels there will be a level where you need to defeat Donkey Kong. I'm currently in attraction number 7, there are many levels that needed more of my time to solve it so I decided to look for FAQs and walkthroughs but I couldn't find a good one. Therefore I looked for it on Youtube and there really was video walkthroughs for it. The walkthroughs were nicely done, and all of it scores the highest possible score for each level. This group of people also do walkthroughs for other games and it's a good job. So nice of these people to share and help weak gamers like me.

The walkthrough link: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikey11190, just search for the miniland and it will result those walkthroughs.

After I'm finished with this game, probably 2 more days to go, I'm going to play my favourite game franchise, Kingdom Hearts: Re-coded. I hope it will be good.

Pacman 30th anniversary

It's already been 30 years since Pacman came into the gaming world. A classic game that has been played by different ages. Even though it's a simple game but it's challenging as you eat up the dots and avoid your enemy. As you pass one level, the enemy moves faster and many years down the road there are many more new maps created.

I didn't know about the anniversary until I went to Google.com. There you will see a beautiful banner displayed, what's more surprising you'll find an insert coin button. Once you clicked it, the Pacman theme starts and you see the monster moving about. What Google did was to allow users to play the game after you have clicked the insert coin button. Once you have lost it will redirect you to links related to Pacman's anniversary just like clicking any innovative banners they have.

I'm grateful that Google is doing this much to honor Pacman. It takes effort to do this and Google is certainly showing its uniqueness and that it is not merely a company that wants money but a company that wants to make a change in the IT world.

Cute Game

Playing games at this age brings back the child in you, where you'll do what it takes to win, not in a mean and evil way I mean. When you're stuck at a certain level, you'll just keep trying, yes at some point you'll give up, but you see children don't give up easily compared to adults. That's my own opinion, sometimes I wish I have the type of concentration I have while I play games as I have at other things. When it comes to doing something you like, a person puts in more effort, more passion, more concentration and more love.

There are some games that I play where I lose interest half way, give up and quit. But the following games are just too cute to quit :p.
Available for both Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. I played it on my NDS, it was loads of fun, it has cute character designs, you pick how you want them to look like, what they wear, what furniture they have. In the game, your sim interact with other people in the town, you participate in festival game. Everytime you win a festival, you attract more people to live in your town. You earn simeleons from winning and you can spend it on anything you want. This game is much more fun if you play multiplayer. I played with my sister and she beat me in every minigame :(. Some screenshots below:

This cute game is only available for nintendo exclusively which is a good strategy as they are more nintendo wii and NDS owners, I have read from websites that it's still a hot demand everywhere. Good for nintendo for being so creative and coming out with the next gen of console.