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"Big security on this VT4 delivery = oo"
I bought a sealed copy of the PS3 game Virtua Tennis 4 on eBay. It shipped via USPS. Everything seems fine.
Then I get a notification from eBay that my item has been delivered. At 4:28 am. Um.
It has NOT been delivered to me; apparently eBay's system can't distinguish between a "Delivered to final destination" or whatever and "Delivered to agent" message--because the actual tracking update from USPS was actually "Your item has been tendered to the military in SAN DIEGO, CA 92161 on April 23, 2024 at 4:28 am for final delivery."
Which is worrisome in itself. = o I'm not on a military base. And I'm in WA state, not CA. So, this seems odd. I called USPS, they couldn't figure it out quickly, so they've opened an "urgent" Service Request case and expect to get back to me today, they say.
Also went through eBay's chatbot until I convinced it to have an actual human agent call me. The human agent's first proposed solution was to give the seller a week "to send the correct item." I had to stop them there and make it clear that no, the seller shipped the correct item correctly, it's just that USPS has made an unusual tracking update on the item and YOUR system as misread it as meaning the item has been delivered to me, which is incorrect--it is still in transit. So after repeating that a few times they realized they had to do a little paperwork, and supposedly this is being reported to their back end team or whatever to try to straighten this sort of thing out. : P
Anyway, not every day I'm told that the Military is coming to my door. With Virtua Tennis 4.
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Oh man USPS already called me back as I had just finished writing that first bit! My call to USPS about this ended up getting someone at my local post office involved in tracking it down. According to them, it was just "thrown in the wrong bin" and ended up at a military base--in a different state--instead of...going the right way. So they're working on getting it re-routed. They said they'd never seen this "tendered to military" status either! |
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| | | | I didn't spot a tracking update the next day, which worried me slightly, but today--two days after being incorrectly sent to the military base in another state--somewhat to my surprise its tracking number appeared in my daily USPS Informed Delivery email, and a few hours later it was in my mailbox. No dramatic military stamps on it or anything. |
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| | | | Copying from Blu-Ray disc on jailbroken PS3 with Managunz file manager: 11 files, 3.3 GB. |
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| | | | The paper manual in the game case is extremely slim, basically just showing the controls (PS Move 'ppp'). A notice at the front of the paper manual says to download the "full manual," go to http://dl.sega.com/manuals/PS3/VT4/ -- a server that is not currently responding. |
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| | | RPCS3 currently crashes when starting the game's World Tour Mode--this started two years ago: https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/issues/12892
I got the game's last known working version from https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3-binaries-win/releases?q=0.0.17-12640&expanded=true , set it up in a separate folder, and yep it runs WT fine. : )
Two config things for this version 0.0.17-12640:
- Doesn't seem to have a folder that reads disc games automatically by default; had to pick the folder from "File - Add Games"
- Set "Settings - GUI - Check for updates on startup - No"
This older version doesn't let you pick between Bilinear or Nearest Neighbor for scaling; not sure which it's doing. There's no option to choose fullscreen type--I THINK it's doing borderless though?--or to start fullscreen. (Actually, I'm not sure what setting tells current RPCS3 to start fullscreen, but it is now.)
RPCS3 (in both version) lists lots of screen resolutions under "Supported Resolutions," but these don't necessarily seem to match what is shown officially for the games; VT4 is max 1080i, according to the case, and VF5FS is max 720p, for instance, but RPCS3 lists 1080p as supported for VT4; when I try to run VT4 at 1080p (NOT upscaled!), it actually comes out super-chunky. Hm, maybe I'll submit that as a bug. Okay: https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/issues/15517 |
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| | | | Images on the internet of the back of the PAL version case show that it lists support for 720p/1080i/1080p--whereas the US version only shows up to 1080i. |
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| | | | Sega AM3 (later called Hitmaker; they also did Sega Rally, Crazy Taxi, Virtual On) did the arcade and PS3 versions of VT3--Sumo Digital did the other ports of it. But Sumo did all the VT2009 versions--it wasn't an arcade game. BUT AM3 did all the VT4 versions. |
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| | | Playing Exhibition, it feels like there are a lot of cases where you'll have a clear chance to slam the ball and put the point away, but your player just sort of pooches it lightly over the net instead, giving the opponent an easy return. Rallies extend, and it's really hard to score decisive points. There's probably some technique to it--the AI can death cannon it at you seemingly at will from anywhere on the court on the default Normal difficulty!--but not one that's obvious to me; whereas for me, a big part of the appeal of the original VT was in how it made you FEEL like a tennis pro, making incredible shots at the slightest button press! VT4 is very different; it feels more cerebral and like there's probably more strategy and perhaps somewhat arbitrary controller technique to dig into, but I'm not sure that's what I'll be able to enjoy as much.
The new Power Shot on the Circle button does a big dramatic camera angle slow-mo-wind-up shot after you've built up your meter sufficiently, but eh it feels kind of tacked on.
You can turn off that dynamic camera move in the pause menu or game options. But overall the regular "TV" camera view feels different, maybe a little low--somehow it feels harder to judge the depth of the ball, like they've gone ever so slightly wrong with an aspect of the game that you didn't ever even think about in the earlier games because those had it down just perfect. But this VT messed with the camera and added optional over-the-back camera views, "dynamic" side-view serving views, etc, that you can enable, and man, they feel like a way to flirt with motion sickness.
The World Tour training mini games are fun though, so maybe I'll just use this VT as a mini game game--and grind my player's stats really high 'cause I'm just doing these training exercises all the time. ^ _^ |
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| | | | It feels like AM3 deliberately tried to take the core gameplay in a different direction with this one; and at first blush, to this still VT-noob, it feels like they kind of overthought it--like, were they just out to make a fun game, or were they caught up in trying to respond to something they'd done previously? |
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Thinking about the weak volleys in these games--I mean, they were weak in VT3 as well--I'm thinking this was probably an intentional gameplay balance thing because they found fast volleys would just blast right past the opponent way too easily, and they thought it would be better to extend rallies than to try to manage some kind of manic, super-fast volley battle.
...I think I would'a preferred super-fast volley battles. : P
And it's a trip because here, Nadal for instance doesn't REALLY do his half-jump real hard forehand or whatever until you've actually moved him back BEHIND the baseline; anywhere in front of that, no max power ground stroking--and right up on the net, it's basically all pooch hits all the time, except for the very occasional slam--but even less than in 3.
Still, it runs smoothly in RPCS3 (old emu version), unlike 3. Actually, since I'm not currently planning on playing the World Tour mode--it's this linear type of thing and I just don't have the patience--and the emulator hang in VT4 is specifically at the start of World Tour mode, I COULD move this over to my install of current RPCS3...but I don't feel like this older RPCS3 is missing anything vital to VT4 so maybe there wouldn't be much point anyway.
Federer is terrible at rescuing shots in this one, but Nadal is still pretty good at it; still overall there's way less court-spanning belly flopping going on, which is probably for the best. Overall, the player character animation is noticeably improved--no more awkward backward-diagonal jog--and the crowds are actually 3D now instead of 2D cut-outs.
And the music is actually pleasant this time. ^ _^
As in 3, the minigames are a severely mixed bag, with about the same hit rate for me--about three that seem okay-ish. Actually the Flicky-inspired one is probably my favorite so far.
Aiming of serves seems much improved; it was way too stiff in 3.
The new camera options here are pretty bad, and the new Power Shot (circle button) is often pretty useless. = P
World Tour mode autosaves this time. ; )
The two locked players on the character select screen are King and Duke, two slightly overly serious-looking fictional characters with what seem to be high stats. |
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| | | | The old, non-World-Tour-crash RPCS3 I have set up on its own install for VT4 is version 0.0.17-12640-24d7374 Alpha. |
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