PixlBit

I wish there was some way to ease the burden of this playthrough.  Games with dynamic events and challenges are incredibly difficult to offer strategies for, as the solution changes with every action that is made.  Even if you know the right shots to make (especially on the gold brick puzzle stages), the enemies will do their best to ruin your trajectory.  It's hard to say this, but all you can rely on with Arkanoid is your reflexes and eye-hand coordination.  There will be times where you have less than a second to react, mostly due to an enemy in proximity to the Vaus and ball, and no amount of strategizing beforehand will be of use.

Good luck on this one; you're definitely going to need it.

Finally!  I can't wait to bust some Aragami with you .

That said, it's so much easier searching for, well, anything by using their website.  At least there we can make use of Google's site search function and find stuff that Sony's search engine ignores.

Whew... I found it!  I went searching through the PlayStation community site and found a discussion about Ad-hoc Party.  At the moment, because Sony has once again rearranged the storefront, the easiest way to download the program is through their website.  Here is the direct link to the program.  If you're using NoScript, you'll have to visit the site first and allow some scripts through and then click on the link a second time.  Once there you can log in to your PSN account, "purchase" the program, and it will show up on your purchase list on your PS3.

As for why Sony hasn't taken better care of their program, well, that's because they considered the PSP a failure in the West.  Adding insult to injury, we didn't even get the enhanced version that had added features and other connection tricks (especially for the PSP-to-PS3 ports that retained their multi-player modes).

I can't find the damn program.  Every time Sony updates the store and reorganizes the tabs, Ad-hoc Party gets lost.  It's just frustrating because the program still works.  I can log in to it right now and people are online and playing.  I just wish there was a better way to search their store.  It was a pain in the  finding it last time and now they've misplaced it again.  Anyway, I'll keep searching for it, both in the PS Store and through message board topics.

Trust me, Ad-hoc Party is there.  Another friend of mine downloaded it last month after an agonizing search, so it's still available.  Its location is a bit out of the ordinary, unfortunately, and it took us a few hours to find it.  When I get back on the PSN I'll take a look for it and tell you exactly where it is.

Anyway, I try to log on around 8pm (although it ends up being around 9pm most of the time).  I'm usually on until 11pm unless I'm playing an online game with my brother, at which point I stay on a while longer.

I completely forgot about this game, too.  It wasn't until I read a review for Ninja Gaiden Shadow (I think last year) that I was reminded of the existence of an unplayed Bionic Commando game.  To make up for this failing I immediately set out to buy it, which I managed to do earlier this year.  And, once I had it my possession I discovered how great it was.  My only regret over the situation is that I doubted it when it was originally released.

To expand on that, when the game first came out it was just kind of there.  It seems strange to say this, but there was some apprehension over console-to-handheld translations (Castlevania Adventure and Fortress of Fear didn't help the situation) back then.  I know I wasn't interested in it despite loving the NES game.  The game came and went with little fanfare or interest and was mostly forgotten.

By the time Elite Forces came out, however, the translation process was much improved and there was considerable interest in the new game.  I bought Elite Forces all those years ago and I loved it.  It's not without its troubles (the characters are too large and there are too many blind swings), but it's more of what you like about the series.  It even features a remix of one of the stage themes from Bionic Commando GB. 

Hmmm... I guess I'm an expert in worthless gaming trivia then.  Perhaps I can throw some more your way by pointing you towards more games with grappling gameplay.  But, before I mention their names, allow me to apologize in advance if you're already well-versed with them (or if they don't fill your requirements).  That said, there are a few more games for the 16-bit platforms that make liberal use of grappling mechanics.  The first one is Super Turrican 2 and the second is Phantom 2040.  In both games the grappling hooks complement the general platforming, although they are put to different use in each game.  While Super Turrican 2 likes to place you over bottomless pits and other hazards as you swing, Phantom 2040 uses it for scaling walls, navigation, and avoiding combat.  They might not be up to the Bionic Commando standard, but they did try to incorporate the secondary mode of travel in a meaningful way.

That's right!  Ad-hoc Party acts as tunneling software by capturing the PSP's wireless signal and transmitting it to other connected systems.  Through that software, PSP owners have been able to play games like Monster Hunter, God Eater, Phantasy Star Portable, Kingdom Hearts, Ace Combat, or anything else that features wireless multi-player.  It doesn't even require that much to set it up.  All you do is run the program, create a game room, and start a wireless session on your PSP.  The PS3's green wireless light kicks on and begins capturing signals.  Honestly, the only tricky part is finding Ad-hoc Party on the PS Store.  When you log in, go all the way to the bottom and select the PSP channel.  From there, look through its downloadable game section and you'll find it (it's a green icon with white lettering).  It would be easier to search for it, but the search function on the storefront is broken and will never list it.  Also, don't forget to download the free God Eater DLC while you're there!

As for communicating, it's not that big of a setback.  The game informs me when you're ready to run a mission, so it's easy for me to just tag along.  Anyway, I'll start popping back on the PSN again at my regular time to see if you're there and available for a test run.

Finally, it would be both awesome and profitable if we knew which games were actually rare or simply out of print (while demand is still high).  Seriously, my local Best Buy had a clearance bin full of Avalon Code; if I knew its online demand was going to skyrocket, I could have bought ten copies and sold them for $60 apiece  (and they would have sold, considering a flawless, sealed copy of the game has an undetermined value).  In regards to Xenoblade, you had people going all over to buy up copies the moment they learned that it was out of print.  I actually wish I had the reserves to do something like that, because it's obvious money is no object to some gamers.

It's not that God Eater has online play, but we can play it online through the PS3's Ad-hoc Party application.  We would need to use keyboards for communication, unfortuantely, because the voice chat is hit-or-miss.  That said, my character's rank wouldn't make the game all that easier for us.  That part of the game is still very much like Monster Hunter (in that your character's strength is solely dependent on your gear and personal skill), so if I get careless I'll be kissing dirt rather quickly.  I can also play a support role and just focus on ranged attacks and healing.  All in all, even if we don't get to play together, at least you can bring in up to three AI partners (which are very smart) to give you a hand.

I know what you mean about grabbing games when a great opportunity is right in front of you.  Even though I'm not interested in buying, say, Mega Man Legends 2 for $100, I'd knock people down if I found it for $15.  Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about how many games you buy; As long as your finding stuff that interests you, especially at the right price, don't leave it behind.  You never know if that $5 purchase now will be unobtainable in a few months (kind of like Avalon Code's jump from $15 to absurd).

I expect the Vita to be discontinued in the Western market in the next twelve months if the software situation doesn't improve.  Outside of independent developers and the projects that Sony is funding, there is nothing happening on the development scene in North America and Europe.  Meanwhile, the Vita is gaining some traction in Japan and increased development (both exclusives and ports).  If the system can at least gain a level of developer commitment like the PSP achieved, then the system might survive abroad.  It would be a niche survival, though, because not every game is suitable for localization.

That said, it truly is a shame that the system has been repeatedly handicapped.  If it's not the price of the unit (which isn't a real problem) and its proprietary storage (which is a problem), it's the continued apathy of the Western development community towards handhelds.  If it's not Sony's ineptitude at supporting its own hardware, it's the developers not bringing console experiences to the unit (seriously, I'm tired of seeing only local multi-player options).  The Vita's a powerful device; If only someone would treat it with respect and show everyone what it's capable of.

It's been a very long time since I last saw that Arkanoid controller.  I had it for a while when the game was new, but that controller just couldn't survive the test of time (and the abuse that game dished out).  As for completing Arkanoid without the continue code, that's entirely dependent on your reflexes (and if you're a Jedi).  The funny thing is that the game is deceptively short.  There's not that many stages to work though, yet the difficulty of some of the later stages is maddening.  The speed at which the ball travels can become quite obscene (especially around the gold bricks), so I'd say you have your work cut out for you.  I guess the only advice I can give you is to carefully plan out your moves on each stage.  Figure out what the best opening shot is and do your best to maintain control over your striking angle.