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.