Click here for my InvisibleSHIELD (PSP Slim) Review

After a long period of idling I finally applied the InvisibleSHIELD which I bought 2 months ago on my NDS. The trauma I faced from the PSP Slim version was the reason for the long delay. I couldn’t bring myself to face another round of hectic stress.

Surprisingly, applying the shield on NDS wasn’t stressful at all thanks to its shape. Most of the pieces are huge, thus making them easy to put on and less chance to mess things up.

Similarly like the PSP version, the shield covers almost all the areas of the NDS. The only parts that are not covered are the battery led (the entire section) as well as the L R buttons. I remember reading from somewhere that shield does covers them but alas, they are nowhere to be found. Probably the guy took the left over film, cut out two rectangle shapes and slap them in. I might do that after I find something to clean my buttons. They are kinda dirty …

My apologies for not taking photos of the shield before application. It slipped off my mind completely.

Overview of the NDS with InvisibleSHIELD

Earphone Jack

Bottom View of the NDS

In general, the shield includes top, bottom areas, GBA panel and all the sides (mic, power tab, volume control). Due to the DS’s rounded nature, the corners are not entirely covered. Apart from the outer areas, there are also shield films for the inner parts as well. There are 4 pieces; 2 for the speaker areas, one for the D-pad and one for the YXAB buttons.

I can’t exactly remember if they include shields for the screens, but I wouldn’t recommend using them. It makes your screen look fuzzy, which I find annoying (I applied onto my PSP and immediately removed it the next day). You are better off using screen protectors from Hori.

Here’s a couple more shots of the NDS

Overall the NDS version of InvisibleSHIELD has fulfilled my primary objectives; to protect the upper and bottom areas from scratches. It’s similar to having a crystal casing on the DS albeit lighter. Comparing this (shield) with the crystal casing + rubber pad combo I had, the weight difference is frightening.

I give this product a 8 out of 10.

You can purchase InvisibleSHIELD online through their website at USD $19.90. If you want a cheaper alternative, check out Protection Filter DS Lite from Hori.

This is probably my first time reviewing a game that I have completely finished. Usually I would only go through about 40% of the game before jumping onto my review. Not that I prefer it that way but the lack of time prevents me from finishing a game within a short period of time, unless of course the game’s length is short itself.

Taking that into consideration, I can honestly say Crisis Core is very lengthy game. The main storyline itself would take about 10 hours to complete. Throw in the side missions and the total hours would easily exceed the value of 60. This is to date the longest game I have ever played on the PSP, taking over my personal record which Jeanne D’Arc previously held.

Heading back to the roots, Crisis Core depicts the storyline of Zack Fair, a SOLDIER working for Shinra Corp who dreams to be a hero one day. Actually I would say the main point of this game is to see how Sephiroth went from honest-to-goodness hero to the famous villain whom we all love and hate. Zack is more like a ‘point-of-view’ that sees all the changes that are happening from within Shinra itself. A first class view no doubt.

As a direct reflection of Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core starts off with Zack infiltrating on top of a train, similarly like his future yellow spiky haired successor. After a short intro CG cutscene that is nothing less than awesome, you will be thrown right into a battle. From here onwards I finally understood the gameplay mechanics behind Crisis Core. Pretty much to say I was confused upon going through some of the gameplay videos before this.

From my personal point of view, Crisis Core’s style falls between Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, more on the later than the former. You have the freedom to move, attack, dodge, defend, use items or cast magic at any time yet only one command can issued at a time. It felt a bit sluggish at first but after that it’s all good.

As much as similar elements are implanted inside Crisis Core, Square-Enix threw in something totally new and that is called the DMW (Digital Mind Wave). The DMW is a “slot machine”-a-like that keeps spinning during battle. Once you hit a jackpot (e.g. 3 Sephiroths), you will perform a limit break base on who you have gotten. Apart from that, DMW can also trigger summons, from Bahamut Fury that looks like Freedom Gundam to “Zantetsuken” Odin to “Needle Killing” Cactuar. The summon animations will definitely leave a wow impression.

I find it hard to love yet hate DMW at the same time. Early in the game, it’s easy to get a ‘hit’ on the DMW but as you progress further, the chances become less and less. Honestly speaking I’m not sure if its just my luck or it is indeed harder to ‘hit’ as your level gets higher. However judging by how my girlfriend played the game, I would say it’s just my freaking luck. Regardless, any DMW hit is always welcome.

The storyline in Crisis Core is like what I would expect from a Final Fantasy game, albeit a bit short. As I have mentioned, it will probably take an average player about 10 hours or so to reach the end. The side missions are something which most people would avoid at first until a new game+. Frankly speaking, the missions are a loop of one another. You are thrown into a map, locate the main monster or enemy you are suppose to find, kill it and mission accomplish. The lack of mission variety is what made most people gave up mid way but that is the only way to collect rare materias or equipments and to fight the hidden boss Minerva.

Hidden Boss Minerva

Graphics, sound and music are top notch. Zack’s animation is fluid with plenty of detail and the music remixed from Final Fantasy 7 will definitely keep your adrenaline up.

All in all, Crisis Core is a great game and a must have for any PSP owners. The lack of space in the UMD is probably the reason for the recycled missions, but Square-Enix could have altered the objectives a bit to make them more interesting. Running through the same thing for 100+ times isn’t exactly what I call … fun.

- Yet to own the game? Get your copy of Crisis Core from Play-Asia -

I haven’t been playing Gundam games for a long time until recently. The last one I touched was Gundam Battle Assault 2 on the original PlayStation, so I guess that’s about 10 years back? Well anyway the latest one I played was Gundam Vs Gundam on the arcades. Gameplay wise it’s pretty much the same as the previous series (the ones released on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable).

You are probably thinking “Wait … didn’t you just mention the last Gundam game you played was 10 years ago?”. After my 1st session on Gundam vs Gundam, I went and have a try out with Rengou vs ZAFT Portable on the PSP and found out that they are very much identical. The only differences are the Gundams available and some other minor stuff.

* Note : I have only played Gundam vs Gundam and Rengou vs ZAFT, so my post is mainly referring to those two. It might be different for the older versions.

For those who are unfamiliar with the series, Mobile Suit Gundam is a 3rd person game where you have the control of a single Gundam. The aim is to destroy as many Gundams or mobile suits as possible to reduce their cost bar meter until its completely depleted. Each unit has different cost values depending on their level; the stronger it is, the higher the cost. It also means that if the higher cost unit get destroyed, the cost bar will decrease more … a lot more.

Gundam vs Gundam is more like a dream match where you have a huge selection of mobile suits (over 30) from various universe, ranging from the original RX-78 to Nu to Freedom. It’s a nostalgic feeling to see those old Gundams , complete with their whacky-drawn pilots and voice actings.

Controls are broken into 4 simple buttons; one button for weapon fire, one button to use close combat weapons, one button to jump / thrust and finally the last one to toggle between targets. Combination between 2 / 3 buttons or holding the fire button can sometimes invoke a new attack depending on the unit. Like for an example, charging the fire button will make Freedom perform his famous ‘Auto-aim-bot’ attack, although it’s not as fantastic as the anime of course.

In addition to the basic controls, there are also Support Units and G-Crossover. By pressing the 3 buttons (Fire, Weapon, Booster), the support units will appear for a brief period to assist the player. Like for Aegis Gundam, triggering the support unit will make Buster Gundam appear with his cannon blast attack.

G-Crossover activated!

G-Crossover (a.k.a Super Weapon) is something which will make your adrenaline rush up, regardless of who triggers it. Once activated, you will see area marks on the map, indicating the places where the super weapon will hit. The first thing that goes into your mind is “Get the f*ck out of there!”. Why? Because it hits every damn thing in it’s path, friend or foe. I always find myself cursing “sh*t!” when the opposite team activates it.

Super Smash Gundam?

Having played the game for about 5 to 6 times, I find that Gundam vs Gundam is pretty good. Although I expected much recycling from the previous installments, the graphics and sound still holds up well. The gameplay is easy to pick up and having a friend to join the battle will definitely bump up the fun factor. The only complain I have is that the Gundams feels sluggish, which can be a real pain why you are trying to avoid gazillion beams and rockets firing at you. It would have been awesome if the action was more like Zone of Enders.

[images from ITmedia]

What’s Command & Conquer without Kane? Within the Tiberium universe, Kane is Command & Conquer. Having a Tiberium war without Kane is like Red Alert without Tanya, Einstein and the Chronosphere! Oh wait… There probably won’t be Einstein and any Chronosphere in Red Alert 3…

But whatever, Kane is the only C&C icon to be somehow related to every of the series installation (except Generals, but personally, I don’t see Generals as a C&C game) from the very first Red Alert, where Kane was influencing (and eventually assassinating) Stalin from the shadows up to Tiberian Dawn, Tiberian Sun and Firestorm.

And there can only be one Kane… Joseph Kucan.

While Joe Kucan has always been excellent in portraying the prophet of doom, his performance was somewhat… lacking in Tiberium Wars. He probably wasn’t satisfied with it either, and started threatening to send in his legions of Black Hand to storm EA’s HQ unless they do something about it. The result – Kane’s Wrath.

That’s 100% Kane goodness there.

And Kane is good. And he’s pissed.

“Who took my crackerjack box!”

Very pissed.

You can really tell that Joe Kucan is having the time of his life getting into the character. An absolute mad man and evil genius wrapped in one immortal package, Kane is finally letting his emotions fly, which is oh so fun to watch over and over again. In the first mission where Kane finally reappeared from within the tubes seen in CABAL’s core at the end of Firestorm, Kane found that all that was left was himself, and you, LEGION.

As he explained what happened to Slavik (FINALLY!) Kane went into a fit of rage, spit flying out and all. He actually looked scary, especially with half his face looking like a cyborg. Which brings me to my next question, what’s with that cyborg mask anyway. That’s rather significant, since Kane is usually calm and collected. A few missions later, Kane revealed his perfectly undamaged face. My only speculation is that the mask serves to heal whatever wounds that are left after Kane emerged from the tubes. At least, thats what his logs seems to suggest.

“See, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my gorgeous face.”

Kane’s Wrath can be considered the true sequel for Tiberian Sun: Firestorm as it ties up the loose ends before the third tiberium war even began. Not only that, Kane’s Wrath also wraps up unanswered questions from Tiberium Wars, such as who really attacked Temple Prime in Killian’s guise which ultimately shows her as a traitor to the brotherhood.

But enough of all that and let’s get back to what really matters here. Yes, Kane still lives! And will continue to live for as long as Tiberium remains on Earth, and on Ichor for that matter. The messiah took whatever that CABAL has left behind and finally obtained the truth within the Tacitus. Unfortunately, that truth has yet to be fully revealed with Kane’s Wrath cliffhanger ending. Disappointing, yes, but at the same exciting as it can only mean that we’ll be seeing more of Kane and the Tiberium Universe.

Apparently, Kane had already foreseen CABAL going berserk and prepared a backup. A top secret project that no one knew, which turns out to be LEGION. You, LEGION, is Kane’s newest toy, an AI which would have even Cabal pale in comparison. The only irony here is that LEGION’s core system seems to be that of CABAL, and CABAL still lives on. Now one has to wonder if Kane is still hiding something. He always appears to know more than he is letting on. Much, much more.

“You’ll never get rid of me, nyeh nyeh!”

Perhaps, Kane will once again return with yet another expansion?

Invisible Shield Box

If you recall, me and Neko ordered invisible Shield products for our PSP’s and NDS’s a couple of weeks ago. The items arrived about a week later which was a surprise as I requested for free shipping (which takes about two weeks or so). Sweet! After picking up the items from the pos office, I rushed back home to try them out.

Contents inside the box

Inside the box you will find a few things; an Install Squeegee, a soft rubber that you can use to squeeze out excess moisture / bubbles, a bottle of SHIELDspray and of course the invisibleSHIELD. I was kinda disappointed that a cleaning cloth wasn’t included. Luckily I still keep the old cleaning cloth that came with my screen protectors.

Application
Before I go on any further, let me clarify to you that this is my second time applying the invisibleSHIELD on the PSP slim. The first time was quite a disaster; full of bubbles, improper alignment and I somehow manage to tear a part of the shield. Feeling very frustrated, I took off the shield and stole requested for Neko’s set for second application. I have ordered another set from their website to replace Neko’s share.

Second time application was a lot better. My biggest mistake was to conserve the limited application water earlier, which was the cause of the shield to be too sticky and harder to manage. The trick is to go wild, making the shield as moist as possible and place it on the PSP (yes, water … on your PSP … scary no?). If you run out of solution, it can be easily replace with some soapy solution mix with water.

The back part was pretty straight foward and it took me about 30 to 40 mins to complete the entire back side. After making sure all sides are properly fit, I went onwards to the dreaded front part. It took me THREE freaking hours to put that thing on … read THREE freaking hours! I did went through some huge bad luck but still … THREE hours!

I hereby conclude that the problem lies within two reasons;

1. I have butterfingers … which of course isn’t good when applying ‘accuracy-highly-needed-you-dimwit‘ things and ..
2. Some area of the shield is just too thin, making it hard to control and if they stick onto the other areas of the shield, you are in for a hell of a time.

Problem number 2 occurred quite a number of times and each time I took about 20 to 30 minutes to untangle them. The worst case scenario was when I accidentally stick the front shield onto another shield piece. Took me an hour+ coupled with a hell lot of patience to split them up. I was ready to chuck the whole thing out of the window … seriously.

After The ‘War’
Thankfully, I somehow managed to set the front shield properly, even though the alignment is a bit off. By the time I was done, it was already 2am and my fatigue level is way beyond the safe zone. I left the PSP on the table and went to bed. It was recommended that you do not power up for a duration of 12 to 24 hours. This is to allow the solution to dry and avoid “shocking” results on the PSP (water meets electronics, you do the science).

End Result
I applied the shield last Friday evening and the end result looks pretty good. Most of the small bubbles were fixed by themselves except for a few spots on the front shield. It might not be perfect but heck, it gets the job done.

Notice the extra transparent layer?

The invisible Shield has a none slip surface which gives you a more firmer grip and it’s nice to hold as well. It doesn’t add any extra weight and best of all, I was able to slip the PSP back onto the Capdase Hard Casing without any problem at all. Therefore if you own any external casing, chances of you being unable to reuse them after applying this shield is minimal. I’m sure Logitech’s will fit just fine since Capdase is a tight fit.

A bit off alignment near the screen

Conclusion
Overall I feel that this is a great product and a must have for PSP owners who plays them ‘naked’. The last thing you would want on your brand new PSP is a scratch and invisible Shield will take that worrying load off your mind.

Of course this product isn’t off without it’s flaws. As I have mentioned, I was disappointed that a cleaning cloth wasn’t included. Sometimes you might get hold on a cloth that is too rough thus scratching the PSP. The solution given was minimal and Neko’s set came with only half a bottle. Wished they could be more generous with their SHIELDspray solution.

The back part looks good, no bubbles

My biggest complain is the front shield for the PSP Slim which is extremely hard to apply especially on your first time. If I were to suggest, I would prefer the front and screen shield to be together as one piece. A larger complete piece is definitely easier to handle compared to a large piece that has long thin lines. Or at least make the lines thicker.

Very off alignment …

In summary
Pros

• lightweight, no added bulkiness, none slipped surface
• scratch-proof
• clear surface

Cons

• hard to apply, especially for first timers
• lack of cleaning cloth
• SHIELDspray quantity is minimal

I will be applying this product on my Nintendo DSL soon. 

It has been done. Check out the review here.