Dancing Madly

Wartech: Senko no Ronde is easily the most impressive game I've played in a long while. Imagine you were playing a shooter. Y'know, Gradius or R-Type or The Guardian Legend or some shit, and dodging bullets and stuff...but instead of fighting an army of tiny ships you were fighting one-on-one with another player.

Holy shit.

Senko no Ronde has been compared to Psychic Force and Virtual On, in that they all feature one on one combat focusing on ranged weapons (and therefore dodging) rather than traditional close-range combat. But here is the difference: Senko no Ronde is in the style of a "bullet hell" shooter, where bullets are all-fucking-over-the-place. It is intense.

So here is the set-up: You've got eight characters, which seems small, right? But each character has two "catridges" that change their stats and their bullet patterns. It is remarkably similar to the Slash and Bust styles that the older Samurai Shodown games (...ok, so just III and IV, really) used to use. Each character has their main attack, a sub-weapon, and a dodge. On top of that there is a shield button and various barrage techniques, which require super meter and could be considered the "special moves" of the game. Note that when in-close, long-range attacks become melee. There is also an overdrive system, which upon activation burns off a player's health for stronger attacks.

And it gets crazier: At the beginning of a match, each player has two "B.O.S.S." stocks. Yeah, they turn you into a motherfucking boss with crazy bullet patterns to match. Even cooler is that the opponent can actually destroy your B.O.S.S. shell to put you back into normal mode prematurely.

When you are brought down to zero health you enter "vanish mode" where your hitbox becomes visible and you can only be hit once more before death. Even more importanly, though, if you use a B.O.S.S. stock you'll enter FINAL BOSS mode, where you are stronger than normal and have accsess to a final attack. However, if you are destroyed in Final Boss mode it is round over.

Even low-level matches basically turn into an exercise in when to use boss mode. If you try to wait until you are in vanish mode, the other player could just go into boss mode right before you hit the vanish state and finish you off easily. Shit is ridic.

So here is the thing, then: I'm pretty sure I did a terrible job of explaining this game, and I suck pretty badly at playing it. But it is such an awesome idea I have to keep at it, and if I ever get any of you in a room with a 360 I'm shoving my copy in so you can at least play it once.

Secret, Lost Review

Hallo,

Here's the second review. Unfortunately it did not get published due to a previously unwritten rule about the recency of the subject. Oh well, I think it turned out decently.

Every so often, a video game comes along that alters perceptions of what the industry can offer. Though flawed and not extremely accessible, the ambitious 2005 Shadow of the Colossus is one of these games. Released exclusively for the Playstation 2, it provides a welcome reprieve from the bombastic action-fests and endless sequels that have saturated the market.

Directed by Fumito Ueda of Ico fame, Shadow of the Colossus is the tragic tale of a teenaged boy named Wander who attempts to bring his love back from the dead. As the game opens, Wander and his horse Agro travel to a forbidden land where he beseeches an ancient deity to revive her. The spirit agrees, on the condition that Wander first slays 16 giants scattered throughout the countryside.

Before killing these colossi, Wander must find them by scouring the vast, open world. Much of the story is implied by the setting; it is felt rather than being told explicitly through overwrought cut scenes. Players are given unrestricted access to the entire map from the start, allowing the more adventurous to freely explore the terrain and discover its untold secrets.

Travel is aided by Agro, who can be summoned at will and makes getting around a far less painful affair than it would be on foot. Some players will be frustrated that the horse has its own AI and consequently does not respond directly to every input. In addition to preventing accidental cliff-dives, this makes Agro seem much more life-like and builds a stronger emotional bond with the player.

Without direction, finding these giants would entail unbearably dull, fruitless rides across the landscape. Fortunately the developers gave Wander’s sword the property of reflecting sunlight towards the next target, giving some indication of its location but not being too obvious about it.

Upon discovering one of the colossi, gamers must figure out a way to somehow take down the towering creatures using a relatively limited move set: Wander can jump, climb, shoot a bow and arrow, or stab with his sword. Success requires clever utilization of these abilities, as well as a sharp eye for taking advantage of the environments.

Essentially, each colossus is a gigantic, animated puzzle. Deciphering the best way to kill them can be frustrating, especially given the wildly inconsistent and sometimes misleading hints. However, the representation of scale is simply incredible and gives a real sense of David vs. Goliath helplessness. Finally toppling one of the behemoths is a powerful experience, simultaneously rewarding, exhilarating and deeply sad.

The game’s presentation deserves special mention, as it contributes to the tone and character so greatly. Graphically, the game is jaw dropping, creating an enormous, seamless, detailed world to the player. A muted and washed-out color scheme emphasizes the desolation of the ancient land perfectly, while helping to accentuate the importance of the colossus battles.

All of the numerous animations, from Agro stopping short to the giants shrugging off Wander, are fluid and believable. Motion-blur is employed to amazing effect, yielding moments where it is difficult to believe the game is not running on next-generation hardware.

Unfortunately, being on the PS2 does present some technical issues. The frame rate often suffers, even when there is almost no activity onscreen. This, combined with a schizophrenic, action-obscuring camera, makes it is quite easy to become disoriented.

As impressive as the wide open spaces are, Sony’s old workhorse has a lot of issues handling the large distances; it is not uncommon to watch an object’s textures being rendered while approaching it or to have map features suddenly pop into view. Considering the high quality art-direction, one cannot help but wonder how good it would have looked if it had been developed for the PS3.

Luckily, the console has no problems conveying Kō Ōtani’s soundtrack. The fully-orchestrated score does an amazing job expressing a sense of discovery and the tone of the ensuing encounters. Alternately haunting and rousing, it builds tension quite well during the early parts of the battle, then switches to more triumphant pieces when victory is near. Though it may sound like hyperbole, the music alone is worth the price of admission.

As early as the opening cinematic, it becomes clear that Shadow of the Colossus is something special. The subdued, elegiac story-telling, gorgeous aesthetics and deceptively deep mechanics combine to create an experience like no other. Though by no means perfect, it is difficult not to recommend, especially given the $20 price tag. Not everyone will appreciate what SotC offers, but any gamers looking for something a bit different owe it to themselves to check it out.

I know it is a relatively frequent topic of focus for me, but I think this pretty concisely sums up my feelings about the game. Thoughts?

Thy next foe is....
Snaaaake!

In Soviet Russia

Ohayo,

And it isn't even morning. I'm such a rebel.

So, you might have noticed a relative dearth of activity around your beloved TNG for the past month and a half and think to yourself, "Why do these gaming gods hate us so to starve us of their witty and insightful entries?" Basically, internet, it is because you suck and we've all moved onto bigger and better things.

Just kidding!

I have been conscripted to write reviews for a very local newspaper and since they don't steal my copyright away from me, our loyal readership gets to reap the benefits. Here goes.

Since the end of the 16-bit era and the decline of the American arcade, quality 2D games have been increasingly hard to come by outside of handheld consoles. Two-dimensional scrolling shooters, beat’em-ups and fighters have all but disappeared from current generation hardware, much to the dismay of old-school gamers. Luckily, Archangel Studios’ recently released PS2 effort, The Red Star, proves not everyone has forgotten about that glorious age.

The Red Star is best described as a Devil May Cry-influenced Gauntlet, crossed with a shooter like Castle Shikigami or Ikaruga. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the game pits players against hordes of varied enemies, each type requiring different combinations of melee and ranged attacks to overcome. The camera adopts a slightly angled overhead perspective on the action, pulling back further to give a more perpendicular view during boss encounters. These fights generally take the form of shooters, forcing players to bob and weave through an arena awash with enemy projectiles while simultaneously returning fire. At the end of each level, performance is graded and the game awards experience points which are used to purchase armor or weapon upgrades. This allows for a fair amount of customization and lends the title some replay value; unless the highest rank is achieved every time, it is impossible to obtain all the power-ups offered to each character.

Speaking of which, The Red Star features three playable characters, each controlling uniquely enough to enable gamers to find one that suits their style, while also offering incentive to play through multiple times. Additionally, it has a robust two player co-operative mode throughout the entire campaign, which enhances the experience greatly. Unfortunately, a co-op game can only be selected from the outset, rather than allowing players to jump in at any point. While this is somewhat understandable given the upgrade system, the title benefits so much from having two people that it becomes an inexcusable oversight. Archangel should have included standard, usable characters of various levels so as to ensure that neither partner becomes deadweight.

Unfortunately, this is not the game’s only flaw. A story is unnecessary in an arcade-style, action-heavy title such as this, yet the burden of the license dictates that it must present one. This having been said, the plot is entirely forgettable and seems to otherwise exist only to mask loading times. The text interludes can be skipped, but the pauses between stages still break up the action too much. Levels themselves are overly long and numerous, without enough variety to remain engaging. These types of games are meant to be short, sweet, and hard, offering incentive to master the tight gameplay and steep difficulty through well-crafted encounters and excellent pacing. Unfortunately, The Red Star lacks these qualities, as well as the overall polish of an arcade classic or a game by Treasure.

Visually, the game is nothing special. The graphics serve their purpose without being distracting, and enemies are mostly easily identified on sight. The framerate holds up well with only a slight slowdown during the most intense battles, a necessity when the smallest movements mean the difference between surviving and having to restart a level. The game’s sound design is similarly utilitarian, with serviceable sound effects and music that barely registers most of the time. Despite these complaints however, the presentation does not really hold it back.

The Red Star unfortunately does not herald a second coming of 2D or the rebirth of the hardcore. It is however a loving, if flawed, homage to old action games and, at $20, definitely worth a look from beat’em-up and shooter fans.

How was that? Comments, as always, are appreciated. Sorry for the strange formatting, blogspot isn't cooperating.

Don't Tase Me,
John Kerry

What we've all been waiting for...

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/wi-fi/wi-fi01.html
Nuff Said

Ahahahaha oh shi-

And here I was getting worried when, in three revisions, GG only introduced two new characters. Looks like Ishiwatari has got a lot of fucked-up left in him.

Are you ready to Brawl?

Well, August is coming to an end, and I happened to notice that we had a severe lack of blogs around here. To any of our readers, do not fear, we are not dead. Well, I can only talk for three of us, and I hope that the other three aren't dead. Anyway, I hope that there will be more blogs in the coming months than there were this month.

So now a post! Has everyone been keeping up with Super Smash Brothers Brawl? I sure have! I am very excited for this game. There's an amazing line-up of characters, some very interesting items, an amazing lineup of music composers and their music. Everyone should be very excited for this game, and should buy it when it comes out on Dec. 3rd.

It's Showtime!

MCMXC - MCMXCIX

What up, home slices,

Today, a list! Who doesn't love lists? We should beat them up.

10 Most Important/Influential Games Of The 1990's, In Roughly Chronological Order

Street Fighter II
DOOM
Donkey Kong Country
Super Mario 64
Final Fantasy VII
Starcraft/Broodwar
Pokemon Red/Blue
Metal Gear Solid
Half-Life
Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Right, so let me know what you think. Have I forgotten anything that belongs? Put something on that doesn't deserve such accolades? Lists are meant to be argued over, so get cracking. Worth mentioning that the last 5 games all came out in 1998.

Inflaming people everywhere,
Hideo Kojima

True Love '07

If Marvel, Activision, and SNK all teamed up on this it could be excellent. And note that they aren't being jerks with all the talk of "Bitches." The Internet Hate Machine we all know and love has redubbed Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane "Bitches Love Spider-Man."

Of course, this will never ever be completed.
http://sanguine.freehostia.com/bloev/contact.html

Coming Attractions

And now a word from our sponsor,

E3 has come and gone with nary a word from your intrepid, nude gaming enthusiasts on the subject. The show, a mere shadow of its former self, now represents more of a month-long publicity window for publishers. Many of the biggest announcements came before or after the two day "expo," perhaps proving once and for all that E3 is dead. *Moment of Silence* And I never even got to go.

A few things of note in the past few weeks:

Super Mario Galaxy looks great, just the kind of innovative, imaginative title the genre so sorely needs.

Disappointed by the lack of major Brawl announcements, but isn't TGS coming up soon? Holding out hope for news there.

WiiFit is a great idea, but E3 was not the right venue to showcase it. Most of the people who know and care about the show are the type looking for the next Twilight Princess. Thankfully, Nintendo doesn't seem to care about their opinion much anymore.

15 minute Metal Gear Solid 4 demo? Amazing. I hate to say it, but I might have to get a PS3 to play that game. The amount of abilities and features added, on top of Snake's already impressive movelist, is truly stunning. MGS continues to improve with each iteration and I'm almost sad that this will be the last one (lulz).

Extended RE5 trailer was great. Looks like 4, only more intense, which is saying something. Knowing Capcom, we'll be sick of neo-Resident Evil in a year or two, but for now the future is bright.

I don't hate Halo. This is not to say I hated it before, but I think I'm beginning to understand the love a bit. Most of my criticisms stand, but I'm enjoying the PC demo of the first. I'm fairly excited for 3, especially since today's 4 player online co-op was announced. Co-op is tons of fun, especially in FPSes. Hopefully there won't be much lag and the game will remain balanced, as far as difficulty goes.

All the usual suspects continue to impress: Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Crysis, Bioshock and Devil May Cry 4 will undoubtedly deserve my hard-earned money once I have a way to play them.

Sony had a remarkably strong press conference; I had underestimated how much they are willing to sacrifice to stay competetive. I'm not sure how much these renewed efforts will actually help their market share, but it is nice to them trying.

Need more Soloscholar,
Daniel Radcliffe

Go for Broke

insertcredit reports that Playing to Win is now free to read online. Playing to Win is a book by David Sirlin, based of an article he wrote. The gist is: Scrubs and cheapness don't exist: People make shit up like that because they lose. Play to win, use what the game gives you, and be awesome.
Get ready for some goddamn Guilty Gear XX Accent Core.

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw

The pain knows no bounds

For the past week and a half, I have been visiting a camp called EGD, or emagination game design. The premise of this course is to create a game so that you have experience when you possible get into the industry. And for the past week, we have been creating an FPS, using a program called FPS creator. Sounds fun, right? I wish it were.

To start off, FPSC sucks. You can only make the AI do one thing from their pre-programmed scripts, which range from run, to shoot, to run away, to strafe, and to cower. And forget about having many enemies in a room. You have one, and it's good. You have 2, and it's okay. 3, and it's a stretch. 4 is pushing it, and you can definately forget about 5. And the bigger the room, the worse off the lag is. Most rooms have to have the ceiling so that you can look up and hit the ceiling with a melee weapon. If you stand on a table, your head is brushing the ceiling. If you have it outside, it had better be damn small with few enemies. FPSC can't seem to render anything else with the sky that well.

Then there's the producer of our team. He doesn't know what he's doing. His ideas don't make sense. For example, we wanted to put in a flashlight. So I asked when do we put it in from the beginning of the game. But since you play as a prisoner aboard a space station who just escapes, why would you have a flashlight in your cell? But he kept insisting that the flashlight is available right from when you start. And today, I found out that one of the reasons that he doesn't like me is because he thinks that I'm unoriginal. Blegh, there's just so much that is pissing me off about this I can't say it all.

Anyway, long story short, I am never creating an FPS.

IT IS DECIDED

I'M GETTING A 360 WHEN THIS COMES OUT UNLESS IT IS FUCKING HORRIBLE

EDIT: LARGER SCAN ADDED. SPECULATION BEGINS. DUSTLOOP REPORTS THAT THE ARTICLE SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT "MELEE ACTION" AND "REAL TIME." SIN, THE CHARACTER REVEALED LAST YEAR IN A PUZZLING 360 DOWNLOAD, IS THE GUY WHO LOOKS LIKE KY ON THE BOTTOM THERE. RIGHT NOW, I'M GUESSING WE'LL BE FIGHTING THE FRIGGIN' HOLY WAR A LA DYNASTY WARRIORS. LOOK AT THOSE MAPS ON THE RIGHT.

Capcom's back in the game, bay-bee

No one played Devil Kings, but apparently the original game was cool. I guess. Well, enough that Capcom is making this friggin' 2D weapons-based fighter of it. YYYEEEESSSSSSSSS.

Tame By Comparison

....

So, the Emasculated Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us. What surprises does the show hold? New IPs? Price Cuts? Giant enemy crabs? We can only hope. The next few days will probably be rife with exciting gaming news, so stay tuned to TNG for all the most important updates.

A couple other items of note: PS3 gets a price cut and a new SKU. I have a feeling this is too little too late to improve Sony's market share much. Jack Tretton said he expects sales to at least double, but this seems more than a little optimistic. Until some big, GTA-sized exclusive hits, neither HD console is going to take off as the PS2 did. If you are at all interested in a PS3 though, and don't have Sony's previous console, this is your chance to secure a emotion-engine enabled console for best backwards compatibility.

Second, Microsoft extended their 360 warranty to three years to cover the dreaded "Red Ring of Death" at a reported cost of $1 billion+. They are even compensating people who have already experienced hardware failures. While this is very generous and great PR, the fact is that consoles should not be failing in the first place, especially at such a high rate. Would it really be that expensive to alter the architecture and fix it? Still, this is better than I would have expected out of Microsoft.

Lastly, who thinks Killzone will look nothing like the 2005 trailer? A screenshot has already been leaked, and it looks like crap, but really won't be able to tell until we see it in motion. Sorry fanboys and girls.

Real-time Weapon Switching,
Kaz Hirai

Maybe A Dingo Ate Your Baby

Aloha,

Another day, another game from Kojima Productions. Except that it wasn't called that back then. I digress.

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner is the sequel to a little game called Zone of the Sons of Liberty Demo. Don't worry about playing the first, this is where the action is.

ZOE, like so much that comes from Japan, is about giant robots fighting in space. You control a powerful orbital frame by the name of Jehuty and stylishly wreak havoc with whatever is placed in front of you. That is really all there is to it.

Seriously, the plot sucks, being basically nothing more than a weak link between missions. The characters are two dimensional at best and the setting is so insubstantial it hurts. The voice actors read their lines as though they have no idea what they are supposed to be responding to; there is little actual conversation and a lot of "two people in separate recording booths". The laughable writing and dialogue don't do much to help matters. In fact, just about everything not related to the actual gameplay is so bad, I have to believe it is intentionally terrible to evoke most giant mecha anime.

Fortunately, the gameplay is good enough to make up for all this. While the experience is short (just over seven hours to completion for me), there is enough mission variety and interesting scenarios to keep it engaging. While a few levels fall flat, particularly the mine/infiltration part, overall that Kojima polish shines through. Boss battles are mostly unique and rewarding, though figuring them out can be frustrating and the grab/block/be attacked mechanic is overused. Many stages push the PS2 impressively, from the epic battleship armada to the Aumaan charge with literally hundreds of enemies, to create outstanding and memorable gaming moments.

Throughout the adventure you are awarded various extra weapons to compliment your arsenal. Unfortunately, most of these sat unused in my inventory. The grab, which Jehuty starts with, is overpowered, allowing players to destroy two enemies at once, while being invincible and without using sub energy.

Control takes a bit to get used to, but ends up working fairly well. Still, more customization, particularly aim inversion, would have helped. My biggest complaint about the controls comes from Jehuty being almost too easy to control; there is no sense of gravity or environment because you can float effortlessly almost anywhere. When you run into a cliff there is no sudden jerk accompanied by the scraping of metal on rock, only a sense that you aren't moving anymore thanks to an invisible and substance-less wall. If everything was given more weight, particularly in combat which sometimes feels like beating up a pillow, the whole game would be much more satisfying.

The game utilizes subtle cell-shading to create some nice looking visuals. While most of the art direction is somewhat bland, it is still fun to watch thanks to eye-catching effects. Environments are partially destructible, which adds a nice sense of chaos and power to the fights. However, the feeling of scale is disappointing; only occasionally does the game get across the idea of piloting GIANT robots. The soundtrack is almost too good; such an uninvolving story does not deserve music of this caliber. It pumps you up, but then you realize you aren't really fighting for anything and whole thing falls apart.

ZOE2 includes a good amount of extra content, including tons of battle scenarios, (much like the VR missions in MGS2: Substance), a robust "New Game+" option and a relatively enjoyable versus mode.

Hmmm, I've been awfully negative, haven't I? Despite all my criticisms, I did really enjoy the game and can't wait to see what they will do with the sequel. Worth a look if you are looking for a PS2 action game and can find a copy.

Beyond the Bounds,
Nohman

Some Days You Feed On A Treefrog

Long time no see,

Gentlemen, behold! I have created....this thing! In honor of the approaching trailer for Hideo Kojima's latest entry into the venerable Metal Gear Solid series, I thought I would review the masterpiece that is MGS3: Snake Eater. Despite some deep design flaws, it is the best game in franchise, the greatest stealth game I have ever played and probably my favorite PS2 title ever.

Snake Eater takes place prior to the MSX Metal Gear games. Rather than taking control of beloved franchise badass Solid Snake, players are thrust into the role of Jack, aka Naked Snake aka the man who will become Big Boss, progenitor of Les Enfantes Terribles. The adventure unfolds in an unnamed South-Asian jungle, against a backdrop of Cold War tensions and internal Soviet power struggles. While I am admittedly a sucker for 60's spy thrillers, I feel that the setting is one of the game's greatest strengths, lending it a distinct personality and introducing a welcome chance from the industrial settings the series was known for.

Due to the fact that much of the game takes place outdoors in forests, caves, rivers and mountains, a camouflage system is introduced. Brilliant in concept, this allows players to hide just about anywhere with varying levels of success. A percentage in the upper right hand corner of the screen tells how much Snake is hidden from enemy patrols and it varies depending on player movement and position. Lying prone and still in a patch of grass with the appropriate camo makes you virtually invisible, unless a guard accidentally steps on you. Conversely, running around is a sure way to get you shot. However, the system is far from perfect. The game allows you to pause and switch clothing and face paint instantly at any point, thus removing any planning from the equation. It also serves to break up the action and remove a degree of tension from the experience. Lastly, the each option has a number next to it that indicates its precise effect on the camo index in relation to their position, meaning players never have to choose for themselves what the best choice is; it is always obvious. While this does ensure that players don't have to continually pause and try different options to see what gives the greatest stealth boost, I feel as though realtime camouflage would solve this by forcing them to learn, plan and adapt.

The problem of pausing extends to the health, stamina and first aid systems as well. Snake Eater changes things up a bit by having Snake take far less damage, and have his health very slowly regenerate with time. It also introduces a stamina bar that slowly depletes depending on the players actions; running, climbing and other strenuous activities drain it faster, which then affect his ability to perform them, as well as slows his health recovery. You can regain stamina by hunting and eating some of the flora and most of the fauna found in the environments. Lastly, Snake can sustain a number of injuries, ranging from burns to lacerations to broken bones, which require medical attention, lest he gradually lose health and stamina. Very cool ideas all, but flawed in their execution. Rather than having to find a relatively safe hiding spot to tend to your wounds ASAP, then work as quickly as you can before you are discovered, everything is performed in the safety of a paused menu. Adding to this, the treatment can be performed in any order; players can bandage a cut and then stitch it up, which makes no sense.
Making the surgery a little more involved would go a long way towards making it more satisfying. Eating suffers the same problem: running low on stamina is never a problem because you can always just pause, eat something and then resume.

Inventory management is unfortunately plagued by issues as well. For some reason, players are given two separate areas to store items; one that gives access directly by pressing L2 or R2, and the other that exists in hammerspace. The more weight stored in the former, the faster stamina depletes, but the things carried in the other seem to have no effect whatsoever. Compounding this issue it the fact that it is possible to transfer items between the two inventories at anytime. Why even bother with that system if that is the way it works? Additionally, stored food and medical supplies don't seem to be placed in either and in fact occupy their own dimensions. Personally, I feel like a Resident Evil 4 style backpack would be a much better design choice. This would force players to choose their camo, food, supplies weapons, equipment etc more strategically, rather than just carrying around a mine sweeper on the off chance it'll be useful. The game's theme is survival and it would make sense that Snake would carry only what is absolutely vital (at the discretion of the player) and leave behind unnecessary, seldom used items.

All of these design decisions make more sense when you take into consideration an important idea that got cut. Kojima said before its release that, while there would be no major character twist, there would be something to replace that this time around. Apparently, it was going to be necessary to beat the game without dying. While saving was possible, saves would be erased upon restart. With this in mind, giving the player these ponderous advantages makes more sense. However, there seems as though there was not enough time to change the game after that feature had been dropped.

Anyway, what happened to the praise from the first paragraph? I've been criticizing the game to high outer heaven. Well, you see, all of these issues would have sunk a lesser game. What amazes me is how Snake Eater still managed to be so enjoyable despite all my complaints.

The game is gorgeous. The environments are incredibly lush and detailed and really bring the jungle to life. Character models are superb and their animation is just as varied and detailed as one would expect from Kojima Productions. The realtime cutscenes are well directed and stylish, without resorting to The Twin Snakes' over-the-top acrobatics. Though the framerate only runs at 30 fps, compared to 60 in Sons of Liberty, the trade off in terms of map size, activity onscreen and visual polish more than makes up for it.

The soundtrack, as usual, is great. Harry Gregson-Williams and Norhiko Hibino managed to retain the spirit of the earlier games, while expanding on it and really capturing the essence of the setting and gameplay. The effects are satisfying and the ambient sounds perfectly convey the environments. The voice acting, again as normal, is top-notch with David Hayter reprising the role that made him famous and a slew of newcomers that really sell the story. The theme song also deserves mention, as it is a totally great James Bond parody, sung with gusto by Cynthia Harrell, of Symphony of the Night "I am the Wind" fame.

Being a Metal Gear Solid game, the story plays a huge role. Unlike in 2, the plot is relatively
straightforward, without nearly as much in the way of conspiracy theories or plot twists, at least
until the very end. It does a great job explaining the origins of the saga and even sheds some light on the mysterious Patriots. While some of the cinematics are lengthy, they never quite cross into the realm of Sons of Liberty, and are always interesting; there are even points in the middle of the cutscenes at which the player can hold R1 and look around in a first-person view. The game never takes itself too seriously, which isn't new to the series, but is done in a different manner than its predecessor. Radio conversations exemplify this well, including conversations about old movies, Snake's eating habits and cardboard boxes. Humorous references to previous games abound, providing tons of entertainment for fans of the series. Despite what some detractors would have you believe the dialogue is never that bad, and in many cases it is really good. My only complaint about the story is that it drags a bit early in the early parts of the Virtuous Mission, especially when The Boss is going on about the place of a soldier.

The game design, besides the aforementioned flaws, is great. It allows players to tackle any situation as they want to; brute force is more of an option here than in previous games, as the inclusion of a shotgun makes it easier to fight your way out of an alert and get to one of the game's numerous hiding places. Boss encounters are creative and memorable, particularly an epic sniper battle with The End. Every map offers its own unique challenges and obstacles, and the game is long enough to feel satisfying but never dull. It also helps that the game gets better as it progresses; there is an amazing action set piece towards the end that completely blew me away. Being a Kojima game, there are tons of small touches to appreciate, from food spoiling to killing a boss by waiting till he dies of old age, to hidden story bits if you meet certain conditions. Contol is tight; I especially like the inclusion of the new close-quarter combat system which makes Snake feel much less helpless at close range.

The game was re-released as MGS3: Subsistence with a slew of new content, including the unfortunately now defunct Metal Gear Online. This is the one to buy, as it gives the option of changing the traditionally overhead camera to a fully controllable one, which was one of the biggest complaints about the original Snake Eater.

All in all, it feels like a true sequel to the original Metal Gear Solid, even moreso than 2. Highly recommended if you are at all interested in Metal Gear.

Time Paradox,
Eva

It is about friggin' time

http://www.aksysgl.com/gg_062207.html

There is bad news, though. I expect all of you to buy this game with money. Do it.

Edit: Oh, this is going to rock SO HARD.

I Just Wanna Dance

Touching is good,

Time for another edition of random video game news! Exciting!

I was just on CNN.com and in the most prominent advertising space there was taken up by Brain Age. Beyond being the first time I have seen any game software advertised on a non-geek site, it really shows that Nintendo is serious about reaching out to older audiences with their Touch Generations line. Some people complain about the proliferation of "Non-Games" of late, fearing for some reason that their preferred "Hardcore" titles will lose favor with publishers. This is just silly. A larger audience for the industry will not only help profits, paving the way for those big-budget extravaganzas we all know and love, but also gaming's image. When your grandmother is playing Excite Truck, it is difficult to argue that it is only for nerds and social outcasts.

Second, it has been revealed that the Metal Gear Solid main theme bears striking similarities to a 1974 piece by a classical Russian composer. See for yourself.

I'm not really sure what to make of this. Was this intentional plagiarism by TAPPY? Unintentional? An unhappy coincidence? Does it matter? How did it go so long without being noticed? A hoax? International copyright law is a sticky issue. I'm stumped. Thoughts?

Lastly, but most importantly, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core has been announced for a Fall 2007 US release. Hell yeah, Order-Sol, here I come.

I've got a jar of dirt,
Jack Sparrow

I Wanna Rawk!

So yesterday I had the chance to try out Guitar Hero II. And I have to say, it was pretty damn good. It's one of those games that when you play it, you can't help but get into it. It's kinda like Wii Sports. You can play it by just sitting down and pressing the buttons, but you want to play like you're a rockstar. You even get rewarded for leaning backwards with the guitar. It controls fairly easily, but I didn't play above normal. Basically, there are 5 buttons on the fret board, green, red, blue, yellow, and orange. As lights come up on the screen, you press the buttons and click the white strum thing. Make sure you click the white strum thing or else just pressing the buttons won't do anything. Sometimes, you will have to hold the buttons. When that happens, you have the option of strumming this rod object to get more points. It's a lot more in depth then you might think, and a lot of fun as well. If you have the chance, give it a shot.

Just remember, you are not Iron man.

They call me hadouken 'cause I'm down-right fierce.

C P S 3
Emulator
Roms (Minus Warzard)
Warzard

For those who aren't as into the arcade scene as I am (and I'm not that far in, by the way), the CPS3 was released in 1996 and only ever had six games made for it: Three versions of Street Fighter III, two Jojo's Bizzare Adventure games, and Warzard (also known as Red Earth). All are worth playing. This system was apparently so complicated, fragile, and had such good protection (tampering with the security cartridge included with each game causes it to erase the decryption key needed to run the game) that up until very recently people thought that it might never be emulated. Then Andreas Naive figured it out, and a few days later the emulator rapidshared here was released. Friggin' insanity. NOW LET'S GET CRACKIN' ON NAOMI, BOYS!
Also: Even if you don't like 2D fighters, fire up Street Fighter III (any version) to see some of the best animation ever. Super-nuts.

When the Man Comes Around

So Manhunt 2 has been given an AO rating by the ESRB. Is it that much more brutal than the original (which...no one seemed to care about)? I don't know.
But I do know that it is awesome. I hope Rockstar doesn't censor a freakin' thing. I'm not really interested in playing it, but I am interested in content.
Remember how hard everyone freaked out about Hot Coffee? That was offensive to me. The reaction, not the content itself. You can beat a cop to death with a dildo in that game, but consensual sex is what freaks everyone out?
I'm not being entirely clear here, but basically: Everyone freaks out about nudity/sexuality in games (not all the time, obviously: Did anyone ever talk about GoW's boobs negatively?), yet violence seems to be taken as a given. That's messed up. Also, I hope Manhunt 2 is released as an AO game. Why the hell not?

Beyond Hammertime And Hammerspace

Hola,

Anyone who has played video games is familiar with the concept of Hammerspace, that nether world in which useful items are stored. Think to the end of a level in Goldeneye, when Bond would put the gun behind his back and it would disappear. Where did it go? To Hammerspace, my friend.

Video game inventories are strange things. Where does Gordon Freeman carry all of those guns? What happened to Leon Kennedy's brief case? Why do the items Snake is carrying in his backpack not affect his stamina? Moreover, how important are visual representations of items and inventories?

Take Final Fantasy XII. Your characters can hold a seemingly unlimited amount of items, weapons, armor, accessories and loot (but just 99 of any given thing?). Yet only weapons and shields are shown in-game. I think it says something about Japanese character design that the various protectives you acquire get no graphics. Can't have the player mucking up their appearances, can we? Though I suppose this helps keep them visually distinct. Anyway, compare this to an American RPG like Oblivion or World of Warcraft where all weapons and armor are present and accounted for on screen.

So, is a realistic inventory system truly desirable? Does utilizing "Hammerspace" make a game less enjoyable? Some people seem to think so. Personally, I appreciate the effort when it is made, but in the vast majority of cases it does not affect the gameplay and is therefore unimportant.

However, as games aim more and more for realism, I think it will become increasingly important. Take the upcoming horror game Alan Wake (keep in mind I know very little about it). Seems as though having life-like carrying capacity would only help the tone and atmosphere. Pulling a flashlight out of thin-air might do something to shatter the illusion of the world and remove the ability of the game to scare.

Halo popularized limiting the number of weapons a you could hold in a First Person Shooter. However, until Halo 3, there was no way to tell what your multiplayer opponents were carrying in reserve. By including a visual of of their backup armament, players gain more information that will help them make strategic decisions.

In conclusion, I have no idea what I'm talking about and want to stop working on this post, as it has consumed me for the past few days. Hopefully, I have at least provided some incoherent food for thought. Comments are welcome.

See You Space Cowboy,
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV

Its A Manhunt, Baby

Get off the road,

While it is nigh impossible to separate video games and violence, Manhunt 2 is in a league all its own. I am not exactly squeamish, but that game, the people who make it and the people who will play it sicken me. Blood and gore don't usually bother me, but something about Rockstar's latest killing spree doesn't sit right.

I can't quite put my finger on what precisely is so disturbing. Maybe that the take downs are called Executions, which implies some sort of twisted justice. Despite whatever the developers have convinced themselves of, people aren't playing Manhunt for the story or themes. It is nothing more than the interactive equivalent of a snuff film and the only reason it gets attention is the shock value.

The extreme violence doesn't make sense in context. It is supposed to be a stealth game, right? Ripping out someone's spine is about the last thing a fugitive would do if they wanted to avoid calling attention to themselves.

Maybe it is the fact that is a sequel. Rockstar already had their little sadistic experiment; it was mildly interesting at the time and I wrote it off as a small "arty" game merely designed to see what they could get away with after the success of Grand Theft Auto III. With 2, it is apparent that they are not going to let a sleeping dog lie and further hurt the public perception of the medium. Once certain public crusaders get their hands on it, it will only become more difficult to prove we aren't sick, twisted social outcasts. Thanks a lot guys.

Which brings me to the Wii version. Strangling someone in game by using the cord that connects Wiimote and Nunchuck? I don't even know how that would work, but I really don't care to find out. While it does not reach the level of the phantom "Murder Simulator" Jack Thompson would have us believe exists, there is a difference between a button input and actually going through the motions. While the point of the system is to create more immersing, interactive experiences, some lines should not be crossed. Time will tell if this is one of them.

What separates this from a game like Mortal Kombat? They feature similarly violent acts, but Manhunt is much more disturbing. MK doesn't take itself seriously and most of the violence is there to humiliate your friends, not senselessly take out NPCs.

So, yeah. What do you think? Am I growing prudish in my old age or is this game nothing more than childish provocation on the part of Rockstar?

Now you're a man,
Trey Parker

This Party's Getting Crazy!!

Wanna know the name?

Devil May Cry. Perhaps one of the hardest games out there, two novels and two mangas. Now an anime is released as well. While the official release date is the fourteenth of this month, the first episode was released on Sunday. Now, as far as I know, no one has gotten around to subbing it yet, but I could get the gist of it. Dante still seems to have the same cocky, asskicking attitude as in the games, and he also has some strange fetish with Strawberry Sundays. While so far the only characters from the game have been Dante, that doesn't mean that the new cast is unwelcome. One of the new characters is a little girl around the age of 10 or 11 who acts slightly like Dante's adoptive younger sister. From what I saw, the show definetely has good potential to be a good show. The fight scenes are short yet jam-packed full of gunslinging. Not as much sword action, but it is still the first episode. If you liked the games, you will probably enjoy the show.

She Said, Don't Make Others Suffer For Your Personal Hatred

I do not like it Sam I am,

Why? Why do they do this? Crappy licensed games are inevitable as long as dumb fans continue to buy them, but that doesn't take the sting off.



Yet another travesty of a game based on one of my favorite TV series. When are people going to learn that Evangelion doesn't lend itself to an interactive medium? It isn't Gundam or Robotech; the giant robots aren't the point. Even if they were, the battle sequences are too short to sustain a game; it would be next to impossible to capture the intensity or diversity present in the anime. Blech. At least I can take solace in the hope that profits from this will go towards Rebuild's budget.

It's about the characters dammit,
Hideaki Anno

Kiryaki are a GUILTY pleasure

I bought a Pink DS Lite a few months ago.
But last summer I bought two DS games in a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale: Trauma Center: Under the Knife and Kirby: Canvas Curse (the third was Psychonauts for PS2, if you are wondering). Dkaufman has already covered CC, but CC was the bonus purchase in that b2g1 sale anyway.
I purchased Trauma Center because I was terribly interested in it, and it was a test run for the DS itself. You see, I didn't know if I'd like stylus control at all.
So, on dkaufman's brother's DS, I tested it out.

For those who don't know, Trauma Center is a surgery game done in an arcade style. You use the stylus to perform various medical functions such as suturing, injecting, and cutting open patients. While it sounds like delicate work, the action is fast and fun. Surgeries usually have a time limit between 3-5 minutes, though some go as high as 10. Every action has a performance associated with it, and at the end of the surgery the score is tallied and a rank is presented. This is actually the first game where I've given a hoot about scores, and as of this writing I have S-Ranked most of the missions.
Like many arcade-style games played for score (SHMUPs, I'm looking at you), Trauma Center can be incredibly difficult and/or frustrating. But hey, if you are reading this you are probably prepared to jump over that hurdle with extending robot-legs. All that, AND that story doesn't entirely suck. It isn't super-great or anything, but it probably shinku-hadoukens the crap out of the last 10 seasons of ER.

Rollin'

Hiiiii!,

When Nintendo first debuted its revolutionary handheld gaming platform in late 2004, a lot of people, myself included, were skeptical. The lineup was unimpressive at best and nothing truly showcased the possibilities of the touchscreen to create memorable titles. Then, as hope was fading for the fledging console, a savior appeared in the form of a small pink ball.

Kirby: Canvas Curse is one of those unconventional platformers, like Bionic Commando, with no jump button. The game is controlled entirely with the stylus; by drawing lines onscreen players create tracks and platforms to guide the puffball through the various stages. Angling them up and down makes jumps and allows our hero to pick up momentum, respectively. The lines can also be used as protection from laser fire or other projectiles. Tapping Kirby gives a burst of speed and doing likewise to enemies stuns them, allowing for the absorption of their powers. This inventive game design provided a truly fresh and innovative experience that was simultaneously incredibly intuitive and deep.


Visually, the game is no slouch with colorful, candy-coated environments you would expect from a Kirby game. While the graphics do not exactly push the system very hard, they are nicely rendered and fun to look at. The game's music mostly consists of catchy remixes from older games in the series, but this is in no way a bad thing as most of them are very good. The level design, while not spectacular, is sufficiently varied and accommodates different play styles. With three hidden coins in each stage and some added minigames the game has a decent amount of replay value, especially for a portable title. The second screen keeps the action uncluttered by providing a map and other pertinent information, but after such creative utilization of the touch screen I kind of hoped for a more inventive use.

Around the time of Canvas Curse's release was when the DS truly began to take off. While the system's success can be linked to many causes, I see this Kirby title as a turning point for Nintendo. By fully embracing touch screen input, HAL Laboratories proved the console's potential to put inventive twists on old formulas, as well as paved the way for other developers to take greater advantage of the stylus control.

I can't believe I ate the whole thing,
Kirby

Disappointing Sequels part 1

I have fury!!!

I want to take the moment to talk about great games with disappointing sequels. The first one that I wish to talk about is Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, the sequel to Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is a great Mario RPG that was developed by AlphaDream corporation and released for the GBA. It featured funny story, great characters, and in intuitive battle system. I put a good 30 hours into that game just to beat it, and many many more afterwards. So, naturally, when they announced the sequel, Partners in Time for the DS, I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait, especially since it would include Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in the fray.

However, It proved to not live up to the standards set by its predecessor. While the game itself wasn't bad, there were just to many things that made it disappointing. One of the things that irked me the most was the world. The world is divided up into Peach's Castle in the present and about 6 areas in the past. As I'm playing the game, I'm expecting it to be big. Every place you go in the past, you go in the present. But no. You use time portals scattered throughout Peaches castle in the present to go back in time to Baby Mario and Luigi's time. You go through those areas, and you go through until you get a shard of the cobalt star. Then you go back to the present to another time portal that has just popped up. Huge unimprovement from large world of Superstar Saga.

The game also had many small problems to contend with. There are virtually no sidequests, save for a couple of minigames that are not worth it. The replacement for the Bros. actions, the Bros Items, involve from 2 of the brothers to all of them. However, the only use for them is in boss battles. And at that time, you use one item until that becomes obsolete. It just didn't work. And after I finished the game, I just did not want to really keep playing. With Superstar Saga, I'm still playing and leveling up.

This is not to say that the game was bad. It was good while it lasted, and the appearance of Fawful, the greatest Villain ever was a welcome surprise. It was just another case of a disappointing sequel.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159987

I've been waiting seven years.
In that same period of time Capcom has published:
8 Battle network games (1-6, Battle Chip Challenge, and Transmission, though counting separate versions it bumps up to 13)
1 Star Force game (3 if you split them into the different versions)
4 Zero games
1 ZX game
2 compilations (Original and X Collection)
2 PSP remakes (Powered Up and Maverick Hunter X)
1 RPG
4 X-series games (5, 6, 7, and 8)
2 Xtreeeeeeeeme games
...did I miss anything?
That's 25 (32 if you count different versions)
In summation: Give me Legends 3. I friggin' deserve it.

...I may have to write about Legends soon.

The Horror, The Horror!

Boo,

What makes a game scary? Is it the cheap thrill of a dog through a window as in Resident Evil? The cerebral terror of Silent Hill? The mind tricks and Lovecraftian madness of Eternal Darkness? No I say! While these certainly all play a role, I believe the fundamental characteristic of a horror game is a feeling of helplessness brought on through limited or bad control.

Did you know that the original Devil May Cry started life as Resident Evil 4? As development progressed, the game strayed too much from its roots and ultimately became a new IP, yet many horror elements remain: a dark tone and atmosphere, gothic setting and demonic enemies to name a few. Despite these aspects, no one in their right mind would call it a horror game; the player is simply too powerful. Sure, it is still "scarily" hard, but when you die it is because of your slow reflexes, rather than a failure to plan your moves around your avatar's limitations.

Think back to fixed perspective games like Alone in the Dark or Resident Evil, where characters controlled like a clock: up was always forward and down was always back, regardless of camera angles. Even simple tasks like running away became nerve-wracking experiences because of this unintuitive layout.

Resident Evil 4 redefined the franchise and set a new benchmark for horror games, but even it limited movement. While turning the enemy and ammo count way up, making it more like a third-person shooter, it still prevented players from strafing or even moving while shooting. To have it otherwise would overpower the player and rob the experience of tension.

Sure, stiff, imprecise control is not the only way developers create feelings helplessness. Severely limiting resources like ammo or saves certainly play an important role. However, I believe that making seemingly simple actions more difficult is one of the most effective and widely utilized methods of scaring players.

You're small time,
Saddler

Machina

Konichiwa,

How do you feel when a sequel to a beloved game is announced, but you know that many of the people who worked on the original have nothing to do with the coming iteration? Look at NiGHTS. Yuji Naka isn't even with Sega anymore; can it really recapture the magic of the Saturn release?

The reason I bring this up is Eidos' recently unveiled third Deus Ex. Loyal readers will recall that I am a huge fan of the first game. The lackluster DX: Invisible War was disappointing (especially because my video card was not supported and it would not run on my laptop) but if anything it gives me hope for the future. Project Snowbound, a FPS released a few years back was originally going to be a Deus Ex title until IW failed commercially; the fact that Eidos is willing to resurrect the franchise indicates to me that they have learned from their mistakes and will take the time to make it great. Hopefully. While the publisher could be looking for a quick buck by capitalizing on the franchise, the financial under-performance of the second game makes me think that would not be the wisest business decision.

Despite these positive signs, the excitement is still mixed with trepidation. Warren Spector, the director of the first game, formed his own development group after Ion Storm's dissolution. While one man cannot a make game of this caliber (unless they are Pixel) and complexity, I truly believe it was his effort and vision that brought all the disparate elements together into a cohesive, compelling whole. Will this new Montreal based team be able to create a worthy successor? Time will tell, I suppose. However, I am almost certain my computer will be unable to run the new game when it is released. Oh well.

Bravery is not a function of firepower,
JC Denton

Future?

This was a great article I came by about the future of the next-gen consoles.
Just thought I'd pass it along.

Link

Not good enough to write a clever closer,
Solger 100th Post FTW

Nothing To Do With Nietzsche

Howdy,

Today I want to talk a little bit about Beyond Good and Evil. The game, not the book. Developed by Rayman creator Michel Ancel, BG&E was a fairly high profile, multi-platform title from Ubisoft that performed very poorly commercially, despite critical acclaim. The game is for all intents and purposes a Zelda clone, yet it manages to rise above the heap in a couple of areas.

First, a disclaimer: I never beat the game, for reasons I will later address, so some of my criticisms may have been addressed as the story progressed.

The game's greatest strength seems to lie in its personality. It has a relatively unique art style, implemented through well conceived graphics, to create some truly beautiful moments. The nice water effects deserve particular attention, as the overworld is traversed by boat a la The Wind Waker (don't worry, it is much faster). The first dungeon, completely bathed in an eerie blue light, also stands out. It is a shame then that so much of the later game takes place in generic, grimy industrial settings.

Conspiracy and oppressive government rule are the main story focuses, which is a welcome break from the "impending calamity from dark forces" plots that plague the genre. Unfortunately, at the point I reached these themes had been handled in a somewhat broad and safe manner. If it was aimed at children this would have been fine, but the game does carry a T rating. After Metal Gear Solid and Deus Ex, I was hoping for a few more risks.

Characters are brought to life through competent, if unspectacular, voice acting. Many talk with various accents, the Jamaican mechanics to the Southern sidekick, which is either charming or horribly offensive depending on your point of view.

The game excelled at creating memorable battle sequences, whether it was chasing a giant serpent in a speedboat or saving kidnapped orphans from aliens. Slow motion was used particularly effectively to accentuate the fights. However, there are not as many of these as there could have been, and none last quite long enough to be truly satisfying. As is the norm for the genre, combat is quite easy.

Jade, the main character, is initially a photographer and as such there is a photography system in place. Snapping pictures of wildlife for money is remarkably fun and rewarding, but I wish the world was more open to exploration, which would allow for more photo opportunities and sidequests.

The biggest issue the game runs into are the later dungeons. After the first, the developer drops the Zelda-esque design and opts for a tedious stealth approach that completely negates all the combat skills the player has acquired up to that point. The enemy AI is frustratingly limited, losing interest in the player after only a few moments of alert. Levels are laid out with some spacious gutter near every gaurd encounter; hiding in these basically ensures safety as they will not pursue you and quickly lose interest. This negates all tension and reduces every bit of "stealth" to "wait, shoot, hit, run, repeat". While the design is somewhat consistent with the story, it is so tedious as to actually ruin the game.

Beyond Good and Evil had a lot of potential and while it has many fine qualities I ultimately cannot recommend playing more than the first four hours. It is a shame it performed so poorly commercially though, I would have loved to see if Ubisoft could have fixed these problems in the two planned sequels. Instead, it has been relegated to being a rough gem of the bargain bin.

Der Wille zur Macht,
Jade

Even in a Zelda dungeon F.O.E.!

My brother and I used to rent The Legend of Zelda whenever we could find it in a rental store. Why? Because we only owned Zelda II. We played it regularly before the Genesis, of course. Anyway, my point here is that I was playing Smash last night with some pals, and for some reason my friend wanted to play exclusively on Hyrule Castle (even though it was 1 on 1). While passing through, my mother remarked on how familiar the music was. When my father came home, he said the same thing.
Its probably been fifteen years since they've heard that music.

Also: This is the first time I've played Smash with NO items. It is a very different game. I'm more interested now...

Last thing: Zelda II's mixture of nightmarish difficultly, excellent combat, and ZELDA is super-good. Nintendo really needs to get back on that specific horse.

Assorted Stuff

This is Jimmy,

So, continuing the trend of not-really-E3 stuff, Ubidays!



This is one of the reasons I will purchase a 360 or PS3. Assassin's Creed could be one of the defining games of the next generation, something that just was not possible on older technology. It looks like it could be really great.



Who is that hobo causing a ruckus? Why its none other than Sam Fisher! So, while the game bears little resemblance to any of the previous Splinter Cell titles, it will be interesting to see what Ubisoft is doing with such a radical departure.

Lastly, and completely unrelated, I may have secured a 27-inch TV for the apartment, which would be awesome. Stay tuned for more details.

I alone have the fifth freedom,
Jade Raymond

Little Things

The internet is already freaking out about how the second smashbros.com update reveals "no new information." One of those screenshots has a normal Master Sword, the other has an awesome Master Sword.
Here's the thing: Perhaps the coolest addition to the Zelda series in The Wind Waker was the friggin' awesome glowing Master Sword. For the large part, this was left out of Twilight Princess (except for one dungeon, kind of,but it still wasn't as awesome). These screenshots mean something, my friends.

Haha, At Last

Bitter Rivals,

So, the Super Smash Brothers Brawl site relaunched and while it didn't have any new info on characters, Sakurai did let out a few interesting tidbits. Chief among these was the announcement of the composers working on the soundtrack. In an (as far as I know) unprecedented move in the video game industry, no fewer than 37 musicians will be contributing songs to the game. Included in the list was Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger, Yuzo Koshiro of Streets of Rage and Sonic, Kenji Yamamoto of the Metroid series, Motoi Sakuraba of Golden Sun, and the unstoppable Koji Kondo. What does this list mean for the rest of the game? Only time will tell. What Sakurai will do with Brawl is still up in the air but after this I am more excited than I have been since I heard Snake was going to be in it.

Listen to Sakuraba's take on Menu 1, found near the bottom of the page. As embarrassed as I am to admit it, it actually brought a tear of happiness to my eye. Now if only Michiruru Yamane was included....

Show me your moves,
Crazy Hand

Another Starcraft II Post

Something has been bugging me about Starcraft II, and since it hasn't stopped bugging me, I'll bring it up now: The Protoss Mothership.

The demo is all good fun up to the point when the Mothership arrives. The protoss are kicking butt with new weapons that are in their racial character. The sounds are there, the environment is there. Units are designed to counter one another.

Then the Mothership shows up, and it's a hero unit. It doesn't level (as far as we know), so Starcraft two is not "unbuyable" as rmcdougall put it. It does, however, have a unit cap of 1 imposed upon it that is completely divorced from the rest of the game's unit cap/balancing system. It doesn't just cost a lot of minerals and psi and time to build, it has a hard-coded limit of 1. This is the only thing in the demo that didn't look like Starcraft.

Some have told me that the unit is ripped directly from C&C 3, but that isn't what bothers me. I do not forbid designers from borrowing good elements from other games. What does bother me is that buildable hero units in multiplayer are not a Starcraft thing. I've played strategy games based on heroes and enjoyed them; the feeling of an awesomely powerful leader of your army going into battle has merit. What it does not have is any connection to the feeling I have when I'm playing Starcraft. Starcraft games don't depend on special units to make individual battles important. The player is put within a hair of defeat from the beginning, and in the right situation, any marine or mutalisk can turn out to be your hero, saving you in a clutch situation.

At this point, I would like to officially implore Blizzard to abandon the hero unit as an element of Starcraft II. Please, Blizzard, either eliminate the limit of 1 Mothership at a time or get rid of the unit entirely. The game can be balanced without this unstarcraftism.

OH, YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND

The internet is a strange place. I have been known to frequent a message board full of assholes. Yet they seem to be unified in Pokemon.
People who would tear a well-meaning poster unaware of the social norms of the board to SHREDS will suddenly turn to each other in kindness and offer rare Kanto and Johto starters while asking for nothing in return.
What is it about Pokemon that could turn such cold hearted bastards into kind and caring trainers?

Slight update: I asked them for their thoughts on Froslass, and one response was "on my list of ghosts i want to fuck"
I felt I should share.

A Far Cry

So,

After pumping many hours into long adventures over the past months (Twilight Princess, Final Fantasy XII, Okami) I decided I wanted a good FPS as a change of pace. Any ideas? I was thinking Far Cry until I played the demo.

I'm not sure how much of my experience was due to the fact that my computer is woefully underpowered, but I was disappointed. The framerate was horrible anytime I encountered an enemy, despite running on the lowest settings. Speaking of which, there was no water. None. My boat was floating on nothing. There is no excuse for this, especially when Half-Life 2, released the same year, runs far better. Granted, Far Cry renders massive outside environments, but it was still disappointing.

The enemy AI is wildly inconsistent, sometimes hitting me repeatedly through a crack in a wall and other times running in circles. Some are completely oblivious and others are inhumanely perceptive. They also yell extraordinarily stupid things, while all sounding like Trey Parker's impression of a frat boy.

The physics are questionable; getting out of my boat sent me careening through the air, only to land on the opposite side of the outpost I was attempting to storm.

What really got me was the complete lack of impact. Enemies did not seem to react in the slightest to getting hit until they were dead; it seemed as though nothing was coming out of my gun. The amount of damage they would absorb seemed to vary widely as well.

I really wanted to like Far Cry, and should reserve judgment until I can play it on a competent rig, but I found it wanting. I like the concept of a very open FPS and I love the setting; hopefully Crysis will improve on its predecessor significantly.

Out of ammo!,
Crytek

The X Is For EXTREME

You must penetrate the core precisely,

Nostalgia surrounds Megaman X for me, so take the following with a grain of salt.

The Blue Bomber has starred in upwards of 60 games, but X is one of the best. A true sequel, it developed and extended the gameplay while staying true to its roots. Players are offered eight stages to be completed in any order, each containing a boss whose power you win upon their defeat. However, the addition of the dash and the wall jump allowed for far greater mobility and fast-paced gameplay that really opened up the levels. Capcom took advantage of this, rewarding exploration with health increases and armor enhancements. The graphics have lots of nice effects and animation which still hold up today. The soundtrack is a classic of the series.

A lot of effort and love is evident in X, which is unfortunately lacking in its sequels as Capcom attempted to cash in. Enemies have multiple damage animations if you use the weapon they are weak against. Boss powers are useful outside of the reploid fights. Stages are varied and unique, even changing depending on the order they are completed. The developer even threw in Ryu's fireball as bonus for fans.

Some people complain about the harder, less Astro-Boy inspired look but I don't really mind it; it leaves room for more Star Wars references. The other chief gripe is that the game is too easy and doesn't require the precision platforming of the older games. While this has some merit, no one says games must be difficult to be good. To me, X is time-honored favorite that I can play anytime and still know every trick and secret. Sure I blow through it in 40 minutes, but it is time well spent, reminding me of how far Capcom's mascot has fallen.

Perhaps only the X-Buster on his arm knows for sure,
Keiji Inafune

Blizzard Announcement Has Come!

All over my face, and I like it.

Starcraft II was announced about twelve hours ago. Since then, I've slept and had a chance to see some of the footage from the WWI. The game looks sweet, and sounds sweet, and has sweet units with sweet abilities. There's a Terran unit with jump jets for getting over cliffs and a Protoss unit with long legs for walking over cliffs. But there were plenty of ground units that still honored cliffs, so I'm not worried that they will become meaningless.

Zerglings are even scarier 3D, but the footage I saw didn't have much zerg at all. The demonstration was played as Protoss primarily against Terran, with no mention of a possible new race. I later read that Blizzard has said there will be no fourth race (oh well). The game looks modern AND looks like Starcraft. GG.

On Halo, WoW

Blizzard's World of Warcraft and Bungie's Halo are both tremendously popular games. However, despite their (extreme) commercial success, both have met with some resistance from the more traditional gaming community.

However, I see this as hypocritical. Halo has broadened the consumer base for video games, and should be appluaded for that. Further, the game is fun, playable, and has contributed to the future of gaming design. While we praise Nintendo's Wii for bringing new gamers, how can we simultaneously bemoan the growth created by Halo (and its sequel(s)). Just because Halo brought the annoying high school jocks to gaming, and not your best bud down at the comic shop and not your little 8-year-old cousin and not her middle-aged mother, doesn't mean it's a bad game. Can we just back up from the "it's not as good as its sales numbers suggest" track and admit that it's pretty damn good?

Pros: Innovative grenade combat, easy-to-use multiplayer, accessible controls and gameplay, fun.

Cons: You're forced to interact with the type of people whom your hatred of got you into gaming in the first place. [epic sentence maneuver]

WoW has a similar problem. Players love it, the press loves it, and record numbers of Earthians love it. However, traditional gamers look down on it. They say the game is addictive, perhaps purposefully, and turns normal people into the undead (whether or not they chose that in-game race). I say it's a damn good game that has defined the way every other future MMO will be designed.

Pros: Depth of content, near perfect group combat, variety of play styles, accessibility.

Cons: Too accessible, purposefully labryinth-like depth of content with Vegas-like incentives to keep playing.

I think if you distance yourself from the emotional reaction these two games elicit, it is difficult to argue that they are not very well-designed games, and should be lauded as such.

Or maybe I've just played a lot of both, and I'm just talking emotionally.

Folklore

Okay. So we don't have a budget here at TheNakedGamer, and the mailman keeps stealing all the review copies developers keep sending us. So we don't really get to play all that many brand new games, simply because that would be impractical.

What we do get to do is read about them, and what I'm reading about Game Republic's Folklore is pretty awesome. Apparently, you're some sort of evil Kirby, sucking powers from your defeated foes, except way more awesome than I've made that sound. (Or, more accurately, one of two different power-sucking-heroes, since the game is said to have two playable characters, in the Dante/Virgil tradition (Yes, these guys made DMC)).



This news is coming with Sony's recent Gamer's Day, which I hear has been pretty much the success E3 was always supposed to be. My take on the situation is this: E3 had the potential to be a productive marketing force, but its taste for the show portion of tradeshow overwhelmed its potential for profit. Sony's recent effort gave us more games and less glitz, possibly in response to the God of War 2 European Fiasco, possibly because they didn't need the glitz to get attention because they didn't have to compete with Nintendo, Microsoft, etc. for this week's limelight.

I'm looking forward to more of these smaller events. Not only can they deliver more content when they aren't concerned with trying to top the showmanship of their neighbor's booth, but it also means my calendar isn't quite so E3-centric.

Blizzard Announcement is Coming!!

Tomorrow's the big day: we're going to get an announcement! An announcement that Blizzard will start work on a new product! Aren't we lucky!

I should start this same sort of tradition: announcing that I will announce that I will start work on something.

1up.com has some interesting polls about what gamers want from this new announcement. Apparently, gamers are really really stupid. 23% of respondents want level-gaining heroes in Starcraft 2? WHAT? That's pretty much the one thing they could do to make Starcraft 2 unbuyable. (Of course, I lie: nothing would make Starcraft 2 unbuyable).

23% of respondents in another poll question said that they'd like to see a spinoff of Starcraft that takes a new direction: real-time-strategy. Imagine that! More people want to see an RTS version of Starcraft than an RPG, an FPS, an MMO, or anything else of that sort. Fascinating.

So it's called Medusa, and there are questions of what that means. Kerrigan makes a Medusa-like reference in Starcraft, and Diablo has Medusa references. The Lost Vikings may have Medusa references in the parts of the game that are too difficult to ever get to.

So, let's just say I'm on the edge of my seat, and can't wait to hear what's up in South Korea. World of Lost Vikings, ftw.

Oh, internet!

So many posts on message boards I frequent were requesting a dump of Etrian Odyssey that I felt I should speak out. Etrian Odyssey is the kind of niche game that NEEDS the support of those interested in it if it ever hopes to make a profit or impact. And I let them know that, that if they enjoy it is their duty to BUY it and support it.
I got called a fag.

I hope that says more about people who frequent certain message boards than it does about gamers in general. I mean, obviously the majority of gamers aren't pirates. I'd bet most people wouldn't know how to even begin going about pirating, which is a good thing.
But what does it mean when arguably the most dedicated group of people in gaming refuse to provide monetary support to projects that, arguably, need it most?


I suppose I'm not much better. I wait til a game gets as cheap as possible before I buy it, usually, so it isn't like that really contributes to the sales numbers.

Beta Blues

I need a weapon,

As you may have guessed, I am not the biggest fan of Halo. While a good, well-made game, I believe it gets far too much love from the gaming community. The hype behind the Xbox's flagship franchise is unbelievable, matched only by the voraciousness with which the fans consume it. Plenty of worthy games get tragically ignored due to Microsoft's marketing machine.

The series does deserve some credit. For making grenades accessible and important in combat Bungie will forever have my gratitude. While it did not originate vehicles in shooters, it did popularize them. Halo also greatly furthered the cause of bringing FPSes to consoles, a worthy goal started by Goldeneye.

However, this does not excuse its many faults. The story and setting are generic B-movie sci-fi fluff that fails in every attempt to be taken seriously. The characters are boring and even unlikable, especially Master Chief (generic space marine...IN SPACE!) The single-player level design is terribly repetitive and monotonous, which only serves to artificially extend play time. I would go on, but I did not start this post to complain.

This is an admission that I am actually looking forward to Halo 3. I am sure a lot of my issues will not be addressed in this last installment, but I would like to give it a shot. From the beta impressions, it seems like the weapons have become more powerful/enemies die more easily, which was one of my gripes with the other games. The control scheme seems to have been revamped to allow easier gun/grenade switching and reloading. Little icons appear whenever you do something cool (post-death grenade kill, melee kill, multiple foe kill, sticking, laser kill etc) which will hopefully be recorded for a more robust ranking/stat tracking system.

So yeah. I'm not won over yet, but I have a feeling there is some Halo in my future.

He never gets me anything,
Cortana