My Galaxy Note 2 - Now Also a PSP And a Playstation 1 Console

PSP Games
 
That's the PSP Puzzle Bubble (Bust A Move) game on my Galaxy Note 2 there. Yup, you can play some of the PSP games on your Android device with the PPSSPP app, which is a PSP emulator.

Notice I mentioned you can play some PSP games with the app as opposed to 'all'. That's how it is with emulators, actually. But as you can see on PPSSPP's games compatibility list, quite a number of PSP games are supported. I myself tried running Silent Hill Origins and Obscure: The Aftermath but they couldn't work past their menu screens. Bummer. There could probably be some settings I need to adjust to get them to work properly, I'll have to experiment and see.

For games that work straight without me having to fiddle with anything (like Metal Slug, for example), they work and play just fine and since the screen of the Galaxy Note 2 is bigger than the PSP's, it's a more pleasurable gaming experience for the eyes, even though the hardware buttons of the PSP make it a little easier to control your game character as opposed to on-screen soft buttons, at least for me. Guess I'll need some practice.

Playstation 1 Games

I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to play my favourite Playstation 1 games on my Note 2 thanks to the FPse app. You can spot the on-screen soft controls (you can adjust their opacity) representing the Playstation's controller buttons in the photo there on the left and you have the option to place each of them in several different places around the screen as you see fit.

Oh, and the ability to enable your device's vibration feedback from within the app's settings to emulate the dual-shock Playstation 1 controller is certainly a nice vibrating touch and you can adjust and select the intensity of the vibration feedback. Every Silent Hill fan knows enough to keep the vibration feedback at maximum intensity for optimal kick when blasting shotgun shells right into the faces of the resident mutated monstrosities trying to eat you alive.

I can't seem to be able to find an official updated games compatibility list for FPse though. For example, some of the sites I came across list Silent Hill as being unplayable but the game is working just fine on my Note 2, minus some dialogue sound mash-ups during in-game cut scenes, which is no biggie for me since the cut scenes have subtitles in them.

You can still hear the conversations clearly, it's just that conversation bits from other cut scenes get interjected here and there. Since you play the game much more than watching in-game cut scenes, this shouldn't bother anyone that much and it doesn't detract me away from the gameplay even though the sound mash-ups sound weird.. Well, Silent Hill is meant to be a deliciously weird serving. Shrugs.

Many many moons ago before the turn of the century, I had to be confined at home to be able to play my favourite PSX games on the Playstation 1 console hooked up to the TV. Now? I can take the games and go anywhere outside, including creepy places to play games like Silent Hill on my Note 2.. You know, getting into the mood and all that - And what a joy it is to be able to do so.

I once played some Silent Hill at the playground in Jalan Bahar past midnight all by myself in the dark there (just a few days before the town council decided to leave the lights there on past 00:00a.m. They probably heard the diabolical moans and monstrous groans coming from my Silent Hill game and figured the playground was haunted) and boy, talk about creeped-out kicks. Freakishly awesome.

When you talk about Playstation 1, you talk about Metal Gear Solid. In my opinion, Metal Gear is the tip-top game for the Playstation 1. Every review praised it for its movie-like presentation and story line but for me, the main factor that got me hooked to this game was the conversations.

Lots of games come with bland, corny or even laughable (in a bad and cliche B movie kind of way) conversations and if I could, I would award Metal Gear's scriptwriter the highest gaming award. The conversations in Metal Gear Solid are so good, witty and even educational it makes the conversations of a horde of other games, like yes, even Resident Evil, sound retarded.

When Barry Burton met up with Jill Valentine in the hallway:
Barry: "Jill! I found something!"
Jill: "W-what is it?"
Barry: "It's a weapon.. It's reeeaally powerful!"
So I thought Barry found me a nuclear warhead but turns out, it was just some grenade rounds. Oh please. But ha, still part of the good old gaming times none the less.

Metal Gear Solid and good ol' Solid Snake.. What a thrill it is to be able to play this masterpiece all over again. My Note is now like a time machine that brings me back to the good old retro gaming times. I've tested FPse on my Note 8 tablet too and expected, everything functions just like on my Note 2 - the Galaxy Note 8 is basically a bigger version of the Galaxy Note 2 anyway.

To get FPse to run Playstation 1 games, just google and hunt down the bios file for the Playstation 1 and then within the app's settings, point it to the bios file. You then grab your Playstation 1 game discs you own, convert them to Eboot files and place them in your phone (I place mine in my external micro SD card). To launch them, just select the Eboot file from within FPse. That's the gist of it.

Oh, and you can save your game progress absolutely anywhere in-game with the Quick Save function (you can designate your own Quick Save folder); You are no longer restricted to checkpoints and fixed designated save points, which are limitations of the Playstation 1 console. Cool, huh?

(Update from 2015: I have switched to using ePSXe for playing my Playstation 1 games, which is working better for me on my Note 4)

For PPSSPP, you don't need to hunt down the bios file for the PSP, you just need the ROMs of the PSP games. Just for the record, there are other emulators for other gaming consoles too, like Super Nintendo 64 and Gameboy Advance, for example.

So yeah, happy retro gaming. Enjoy the ride as you yank the past into the present on the screen of your Android device.

October Babies In The Family: Celebration At Cafebiz

My actual birthday is still 22 days away but my family held a hotel buffet celebration today at Cafebiz in Traders Hotel. Why? Because there are 2 other members in the family who are October babies too - my 2nd sister and my bro-in-law, so we had to find some sort of a mid-point between our birthdays and celebrate them all in one go. I'm Scorpio and my bro-in-law and 2nd sister are Librans but no, I certainly didn't feel outnumbered the least bit.

After my Lioness and me hopped out of the cab which brought us to the hotel, the thought still lingering in my mind as we were walking  through the main entrance of Traders Hotel was.. Well, let's just say that if you have to direct a GPS-toting cabby to your destination Every.Freaking.Step of the way, including exactly where to turn using only your humble street directory app for reference which seemed a lot more functional and accurate than his GPS system; all these while you have to write and send out several important emails, you might as well just take over the wheels, considering I couldn't manage to send out all of my emails before we reached the hotel because of the situation.

Yeah, I was pissed but the cabby apologised nicely and offered us a discount, so I was cool with that, reigned myself in and told him nicely back that it was ok.

Next thing I knew, I was drafting and sending out the remaining emails in the hotel lobby as we waited for my family to arrive. Still, I wasn't completely done when they arrived and the emailing spilled into a further 8 minutes or so into the buffet. Good thing my Lioness was there to entertain the kids or they would be constantly asking me what game I was playing while shoving their cute little heads between me and my smartphone's screen to check out what I was doing.

We've actually been to Cafebiz for lunch buffet before during a weekend too just like today but this time, it was a lot more crowded and perhaps that was the reason why I was feeling kinda hot at the place. Too many live meat walking about brings up the atmosphere's temperature, which is something I've always hated. The only times when I can enjoy a crowd is when I'm at a Rock concert or when I'm in a club. Other than that, I'm allergic to throngs of people.

But when I started chatting and playing with the kids as we ate after I was done with my emails, I was caught up in our little world and everything else irritating got zoomed out and pushed away out of our world and out of my radar. I snapped back into the irritations of the surrounding whenever I went to get more food or water though, but it was back to our little world when I came back to our table.

So how's the buffet food here? The food was okay but they didn't give my taste buds orgasms or anything like that. That's not to say that the food is bad, no it's not, it's still okay to eat here but just don't expect yourself to experience culinary nirvana as a result.

As for spread selection, I didn't find it to be that wide. If you are particular about having more variety, I've found The Carousel over at the Royal Plaza on Scotts to be much broader. If I'm not mistaken, it's more costly to eat over there but hey, you do get a wider selection there.

Secretly though, I'm hoping my family will decide to try out other forms of lunching and dining other than hotel buffets all the time, considering the fact that I've reached the point where I've already trained my body to eat less so that I won't grow fat, besides trying out something different for a change. Even my Lioness commented that I've eaten a lot less than usual this time round.

Ha, to think that my elder sister used to drag me along to buffets when I had a faster metabolism because I could eat a horse in an entire setting, so she always felt that bringing me along justified the buffet costs. That is no longer the case, sis, I wanna watch my waistline, stay slim and continue to feel good about myself. Sorry :)

Right after we were done with the buffet, out came the birthday cake which my Lioness and me brought over ourselves and what a kawaii cake! It was the most adorable cake I've ever received and we all have my Lioness to thank for it since she was the one who selected and ordered it. The kids were all over it and the adults couldn't help smiling at the sight of it. I think I heard about 10 utterances of the word 'cute' in 5 seconds and I was feeling kinda painful when we cut it.

And it was delicious :) Thank you, Babe.

So yeah, I'm crashing towards another +1 to my age and I've been finding myself lately constantly telling myself to do and complete the things and personal projects I'm doing and never waste time. The older you get, the more you should value and cherish the time you have. I guess you take a sip out of the fountain of youth everytime you compress Time and squeeze as many goals and aspirations as you can into it and achieve them.

For me personally, the best question to always ask myself is: Why am I doing this?

Thing is though, I sometimes feel that I'm actually slowly killing myself by rushing myself too much, especially during the times when I deprive myself of some of my sleeping hours in order to do more, ha. Sometimes, my friends complain to me about my seemingly random disappearing acts when they tried asking me out but I would seem to have disappeared into thin air and then suddenly replying their messages or calls much later when I was done with whatever I was doing.

Other times, I would blame myself and get eaten up by guilt when I think I didn't make optimal use of my time and have just wasted away the hours. It can be a horrible feeling that makes you feel that you've let yourself and God down, since Time is a gift to mankind in my book and I believe, in God's book too.

But I guess I have to strike a balance somehow because I'm only human and in-between pushing myself, I have to pause and just chill to smell the roses too.. and cherish these moments in time as well, just like today when I spent time with my loved ones just to chill out and enjoy one another's company. Time is precious but so are your family, buddies and your own rest intervals.

So cherish and make optimal use of your time but remember to chill, reward yourself and enjoy in-betwen too. Live.


-De Lion Speaks

Puzzles That Trigger Anatomy Conflict

My eyes are telling me that if I apply the technique above to a whole block of chocolate everytime I bite off a squared chunk off it, I will never have to go hungry or need to buy anymore chocolate ever again.. But my brain is telling my eyes: "Go home, you are drunk."

Excuse me while I go reconcile and make peace between my eyes and brain out of this mind-fuck. They both hurt.

However:

-De Lion Speaks