Game review: Magic Farm

On one hand, I had a lot of fun playing Magic Farm. On the other hand, looking back on it, I didn't do a whole lot while I was playing it. Basically, your parents are missing. In order to travel to various towns looking for them, you need to raise some funds. To raise the money to travel, you plant three different types of plants, raise them, harvest their flowers and sell bouquets. While this sounds like a lot of fun, and it is fairly enjoyable, it gets very tedious. It's difficult to raise enough money to move onto the next level because you need to keep spending your money on water and upgrades. In most games, upgrades will help you make money more quickly. That doesn't seem to happen here. It took me the entire 60 minute demo just to get to the second level. I should have been able to get a lot farther than that.

I'm sad that it takes so long to get through one level on the game because it was fun. I liked being able to grow plants and figure out which plants make the best bouquets. However, the game could use some improvements. Maybe make the water or the upgrades less expensive. It's annoying to have all of my money go to keeping the plants alive instead of going to find my parents. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed for the inevitable sequel.

Music review: L'arc~en~Ciel - Blurry Eyes

Artist: L`arc~en~Ciel Members: Hyde (vocals), Tetsu (bass), Ken (guitar), Sakura (drums) Album: Tierra Release date: 7/14/94 Video link: On YouTube

English translation: Carried on a wind from far away, no matter how many times I try to say these words, they never reach you. Once again, my eyes stare somewhere out the window.

This foreboding hasn't changed, I still feel it. Those days are getting blurry...

Seeing through blank eyes like a caged bird, the light of the afternoon sun is just like the light that shines on you from outside.

This foreboding hasn't changed, I still feel it. Those days are becoming blurry...

I feel the changing season will see my promise broken. Even if I reach out with my hands, my heart will stay distant.

(Why do you stare at the sky with your blurry eyes?)

I feel the changing season will see my promise broken. Even if I reach out with my hands, my heart will stay distant.

In the changing season, the one precious to me looked back toward me with those eyes, sighing softly.

(Your blurry eyes) ...your blurry eyes (Your blurry eyes) ...My heart (Your blurry eyes) ...will stay (Your blurry eyes) ...distant. About the song: The best part of this song is the music video. It has a very 80s Madonna feeling to it. Hyde is wearing a long flowing white dress with a leather jacket and gloves. Halfway through the video, they go to an amusement park where a carousel is the main attraction. It would be an awesome video...if it had been filmed in 1985 instead of 1994.

The song itself is a decent pop song. It's got a catchy guitar line and it's fun to sing along with Hyde. While it may not be the "cool" song at the party, it's definitely the "fun" one.

Jdorama review: Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe

Title: Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in EuropeBroadcast date: 1/4/08 - 1/5/08 Genre: Romantic Comedy Number of episodes: 2 Cast: Ueno Juri, Tamaki Hiroshi, Becky, Wentz Eiji Plot: Nodame and Chiaki have moved to Paris to continue their musical schooling. Chiaki competes in a conducting competition while Nodame tries to figure out what she wants to do with her talent. What is good: Watching both Nodame and Chiaki evolve into a true couple What is bad: The secondary characters aren't nearly as interesting as the ones from the series. Letter rating: A- Overall: This was a very good ending to the live action series. It has a definite ending that doesn't leave any questions beyond "where will their lives go now?" I thought that both Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi did fabulous jobs as Nodame and Chiaki. While I am now addicted to the show and would love to see more, the specials did give us a definite ending that I am happy with. I can definitely see myself watching the entire series over and over again.

Game review: Animal Agents

As either Anna or Justin, it is your job to find lost animals. Animal Agents is a pretty typical hidden object game. The game play is pretty basic and I've found that my six-year old daughter has no problems playing it by herself. My only problem with the game lies in the locations. There seems to only be a handful of locations that you search them over and over. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can be a little tedious. However, it is good for younger players who need to look at a location a couple of times in order to really see what is there. This is why I think it's a good family game but not really a good adult game.

Game review: The History Channel Lost Worlds

By now, it should be pretty obvious that I'm a sucker for a good hidden object game. Bonus points if I can play the game with my daughter! I downloaded the trial version of The History Channel Lost Worlds because it touted itself as a hidden object game. While there is a hidden object game involved, it is only one small part of each level. The game mostly revolves around jigsaw puzzles and trivia questions. It was nice learning a bit about ancient cultures but it was definitely not the game that was promised. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it didn't claim to be a hidden object game.

Music review: Barenaked Ladies - Adrift

Artist: Barenaked Ladies Members: Steven Page (vocals), Ed Robertson (guitar/vocals), Tyler Stewart (drums), Jim Creegan (bass), Kevin Hearn (keyboards) Album: Barenaked Ladies Are Me Release date: 9/12/06 Video link: Via YouTube

Lyrics: Ever since we said our good-byes The onion rings, the phone makes me cry Something isn't right Like the Deep Blue without the Great White

In the morning open your eyes The waterfalls, the fire flies You're an abacus And my heart was counting on us

Your heart's got a heavy load There's still a long way to go Keep your eyes on the road

Crescent moon sings me to sleep The birches bark, the willows weep But I lie awake; I'm adrift without a snowflake

Your heart's got a heavy load There's still a long way to go Keep your eyes on the road About the song: While Steve has the stronger voice, I think it was a perfect choice to have Ed sing lead on this. His voice is a bit softer which gives this sad ballad so much emotion. It's a wonderful song though I'm not sure I agree with their choice to lead the album with it. It sets the entire album off with a melancholy feeling instead of something a bit happier. But it still a good song on its own.

Game review: Haunted Hotel

Haunted Hotel is basically a hidden object game. However, between each hidden object level, there are a variety of mini-games you need to play before you can move onto the next level. The mini-games range from catching energy balls to a match three game to moving pieces of rope so they don't overlap and more. I had fun playing the hidden object parts of the game. In each location, there are three bonus items you can find that will give you additional time. These bonus items are not named, like the rest of the objects. You have to match the shadow with the item. As for the regular list of items, they are just difficult enough to make the game fun but not so difficult that you get aggravated.

The mini-games, however, are another story altogether. Personally, I'm not very good at the rope game. I never have been. So it annoyed me that I had to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out and there isn't any way for me to skip it. Most of the other mini-games aren't particularly difficult, they are just annoying. Especially if you downloaded the game aiming for a hidden object game.

As a whole, Haunted Hotel wasn't bad. It would just be nice if we could skip past the mini-games and move to the hidden object games. I understand why they were put there but they are completely unnecessary.

JDorama review: Nodame Cantabile

Title: Nodame Cantabile Broadcast date: 10/16/06 - 12/25/06 Genre: Romantic Comedy Number of episodes: 11 Cast: Ueno Juri, Tamaki Hiroshi, Eita, Koide Keisuke, Takenaka Naoto Plot: Noda Megumi, despite her extremely unusual behavior, is a piano prodigy. However, she wants to become a kindergarten teacher. Chiaki Shinichi is a musical perfectionist and Nodame's (Noda's nickname) next door neighbor. Nodame falls madly in love with Chiaki but can he ever accept someone as strange as this girl? What is good: Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi both shine in their respective roles as Nodame and Chiaki What is bad: There wasn't anything particularly bad about the show. Letter rating: A Overall: From the first episode, I was hooked on this series. Besides having a good mix of comedic and romantic moments, there was some really good classical music. My favorite moment was when the S-Oke performed "Rhapsody in Blue." This is the first time that I have seen Ueno Juri (Nodame) and Tamaki Hiroshi (Chiaki) perform and, I must admit, I was impressed by their acting abilities. There are quite a few sight gags that require a lot from the actor. Both of them pulled it off very well. I'm looking forward to watching the specials as soon as I can.

Music review: Arashi - A*RA*SHI

Artist: Arashi Members: Ninomiya Kazunari (Nino), Ohno Satoshi (Leader), Matsumoto Jun (MatsuJun), Aiba Masaki, Sakurai Sho Album: Arashi No.1 Ichigou Release date: 11/24/01 Video link: Performed on the One Tour (Surprise additional video! A music video directed by Hideaki Takizawa of Tackey and Tsubasa)

English translation: Pop it yeah! Honesty good! The heaviness from that boo! That's all right! Yet we will shape the world yes we are super boy! We are cool Even if something unpleasant happened, we show it off We'll do what we can, can't we? It's all right to have a dream, right?

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream

Today again, they are saying in TV They are saying how miserable the world has become. I am always looking for looking for a gigantic love and ambition Everyday! Everybody! The world hasn't end yet Why don't we start from here? Let's get on! Let's get on yea!

Step by step instead of bursting, go for it naked Day by day I want stimulation rather than boredom Let's open our huge wings up

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream

Catching the harsh storm with your both hands Be brave, let's fly Aim the heaven and unbeatable cloud Fly away

Step by step instead of bursting, go for it naked Day by day I want stimulation rather than boredom Let's open our huge wings up

You are my soul! Soul! You make me strong Tears are tommorrow's energy Aim the future, let's go for it. Storm storm oh yea!

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream

Today again, they are saying in TV They are saying how miserable the world has become. I am always looking for looking for a gigantic love and ambition Everyday! Everybody! The world hasn't end yet Why don't we start from here? Let's get on! Let's get on yea!

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream About the song: As should be fairly obvious, this was the first single released by Arashi. The word 'arashi' means storm, which is why it sounds a bit weird in the translation. I think the lyrics intended to reference the band and not a weather pattern.

This was the perfect song to use for the debut. It not only highlights Ohno's amazing voice but it also has some really good raps for Sho and the boys can show off a bit of their dancing skills too. It's easy to see why it's still one of their most popular songs.

Game review: Coffee Rush

Coffee Rush is a weird sort of mash up between a time management game and a match-three game. Your customers come up to the counter and request a specific drink. In order to make the drink, you need to collect a certain amount of each ingredient. The ingredients are collected by matching three like items in a row. Once all of the ingredients for a drink are collected, you click on the drink to serve it to the customer. I found this game to be extremely annoying. Mostly because there are certain ingredients that are impossible to collect, which results in ticked off customers. If there were more opportunities to match three of an item, it wouldn't be so difficult. For example, the sugar ingredient pops up all the time so you can have tons of sugar. However, the whipped cream item doesn't pop up very often so if your customer wants something with whipped cream, they will have to wait a long time for three of that item to come together.

This is definitely an interesting concept for a game. I wouldn't mind seeing more of these sorts of mash ups between different types of genre. However, the developers need to make the games fair. If you're going to force us into creating recipes with specific amounts of specific ingredients, give us the tools to make it happen. Don't let the player flap in the wind, hoping that what they need pops up now before the customer storms off.