Its that time again, where I unload another monster assortment of video game related info and junk. Why? Because my teaching duties are winding down, I’m looking towards freelance writing once again, hence the need to catch up on stuff that I may have missed over the past few weeks. And I figured that I’d pass along stuff that was found along the way, at least for those who aren’t part of the Gaming Age and Insert Credit set. So I know some of it is “old” but I’m certain there’s at least something new for everybody…
- First off, and as mentioned last time, I unfortunately won’t be at the Game Developers Conference later this month, to witness all the speeches and presentations from the industry’s very finest. But at least I have this clip of Will Wright from last year explaining his God game to end all God games, Spore.
- Here’s something else for the academics out there: an interesting piece that examines the role of music in games.
- So Snoop Dogg is now the commissioner of the Hip-Hop Gaming League. What the hell is the Hip-Hop Gaming League exactly? A venue for actors, rappers, and athletes to face off against each other via games. Awesome. Cuz that’s what people want to watch: celebs playing video games. Hey, it worked for G4TV, right?
- Meanwhile on the other side of the musical spectrum, one of the vets of the synthpop scene, Depeche Mode has just produced a version of their latest song redone in “Simlish”, the made up nonsense language in the Sims.
- Sticking with music, here’s a vid of Toshio Iwai, the creator of Seam and most recently Electroplankton, demonstrating another music producing invention of his.
- Fans of Konami’s Contra Shattered Soldier may or may not already know about this: an alternate ending of the game that guest starts forgotten 16-bit mascot, Sparkster, from Rocket Knight Adventure.
- Here’s another vid via YouTube: its a fan produced recreation of the Sonic 2 ending, but in 3D. Its fairly decent, but I was hoping to see bits and pieces of all the other zones, just like in the original ending.
- And every time there’s an article in a magazine or online about Sonic the Hedgehog, there’s always a rundown of all the other games in which Sonic has made a guest appearance (on a side-note, Gamepro recently ran such a piece for the new next-gen Sonic game, and the writer decided to note Crusader of Centy, an action RPG for the Genesis which was Sonic’s first cameo appearance, as a shameless Zelda rip-off, which is such a huge load of horseshit… to think I’ve defended Gamepro in the past). Well one game which never seems to get mentioned, and which I must admit I’ve never heard of before, is Sonic Eraser.
- Meanwhile, unlike GamePro, Sega-16 is able to give respect where its due with this nice retrospective on the Thunder Force series, which includes info on the lost Thunder Force 6. I happen to have the Broken Thunder and its pretty good stuff.
- Via IGN, and for the Star Wars fans out there who may have missed them: screenshots from the new Star Wars Lego game, featuring the original trilogy!
- Some may already know that more Phoenix Wright is heading out way, and on cell phones. Here’s an interview with Capcom with the details.
Plus for those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s the special promo case as seen at the last Tokyo Game Show.
- Capcom’s also re-releasing the Power Stone games for the PSP. Not a bad idea really, since not nearly enough people got to enjoy the games the first time around. And hopefully, this will lead to other old Dreamcast games to return from the grave, such as Project Justice and Tech Romancer.
- Though on property which Capcom has no problems milking is Mega Man, as everyone already knows. Here’s some scans via JeuxFrance, first for Mega Man ZX, which is looking fucking-phenomenal.
Next is some shots of Man Man Powered Up, featuring Mega Man’s sister Roll as a playable character (wielding a broom).
- Any Digimon fans out there? Well anyone who considers themselves a Digimon-diehard is sure to be excited by these screenshots from the upcoming DS game.
- I guess that its fairly obvious by now that, my favorite system at the moment is the DS. Like many, I simply cannot wait for the New Super Mario Bros (here’s some scans btw). But I’ll also dying to get my hands on Tetris DS. While the use of classic Nintendo characters and motifs may seem a bit shameless, the new game mechanics seem nothing short of genius, and all the Nintendo bells and whistles are nothing more than icing on the cake
- Another game I’ve long been had my eye on is Brain Training, which as described before is something to help sharpen one’s the mental faculties. Seems to be fairly effective, since now hospitals are using it in for old people.
- It was also revealed this past Friday that Atlus, the folks who published Trauma Center, the DS title I’m currently addicted to at the moment, will be publishing Contact in the US (the new adventure title from Grasshopper Manufacture, the folks behind Killer 7, and which many people mistook for Mother 3 when it first appeared).
- Also from Grasshopper is that Samuri Champloo game, which as described before, mixes both fighting and music. Here’s some footage.
- For all the Dead or Alive fans out there, as well as video game pervs in general, here’s a helpful resource that has tons of panties shots of all your favorite DOA ladies.
- Any fans of Disaster Report out there? Here’s the trailer to sequel which will hopefully come out here in America.
- Every game which has its legion of fans, no matter how obscure ends up producing fan art (which Life Meter proves on occasion). And the indie sensation Cave Story is no exception to that. I’m rather fond of this Katamari-esque piece myself…
- Remember The Zombie vs. The Ambulance? Well National Console Support has provided some information on the game. I was going to get the game already, but this one line has officially sealed the deal: “The hordes of zombies are formidable and they’ll try their damndest to rock the ambulance off the road. Grit your teeth (clench them if necessary) and roll the ambulance through zombies and create a storm of what looks like chunky tomato sauce.
- And while I’m at it, I may as well get the next game in the Simple 2000 line, simply called The Pirate, which looks to be a Dynasty Warriors clone… but with pirates!!!
- Time for some posts over at Joystiq. First up, here’s one about Korean MMO players that have been ganging up and killing Chinese players due to poor manners.
- And here’s a real life performance of Parappa the Rapper.
- Onto 4 Color Rebellion, which pointed out this awesome vid featuring two people racing against each other via Super Mario Bros. You wouldn’t believe how intense it is, and the live audience makes it even all the more thrilling, though I could have done without the music.
- And here’s a couple of interesting news posts courtesy of GameSpot, including a recent games conference in which many wondered what the future holds for single player experiences. My favorite comment has to be: “Linear entertainment in single-player is to media what masturbation is to sex… It’ll always be there, but it is not the real experience.”
- GameSpot also highlighted David Jaffe’s appearance at DICE last month in which he equated the video game industry to porn, “… sort of.”
- And finally, its been reported that the Movies have been canned for the consoles. Damn.
- Onto Gaming Age and couple of interesting threads, including this one which reveals some never before seen images of the cancelled Dreamcast shooter Geist Force.
- Then there’s this stunning news of how Hiroki Kikuta, who was responsible for one of the most beloved soundtracks from the Super Nintendo era (Secret of Mana) is now doing music of hentai games. So sad.
- So it would seemed that the now dead Gizmondo had at least one neat trick up its sleeve.
- Time for some pictures, including the boxart from some Japanese DS game which I have no clue about, but which I really dig, since I love the cute as well…
- Here’s a picture of a prototype GameCube controller circa 2000, 2001 from E3 of Tokyo Game Show. Aside from having three hot dog buttons, there’s no digital pad. Interesting…. I believe the actual thing was eventually stolen.
- Another tradeshow pic, this time from the recent Toy Fare here in NYC, for some Doom plushies?
- And a screenshot from the upcoming Namco Musuem Vol. 2 for the PSP. Included is a Xevious port that’s almost too arcade perfect…
- But let’s not forget the little guys, the ones who are also moving and shaking the game space, just as much, sometime even more so than the big guys.
For example, thanks to GameQuest Direct, people are finally getting the chance to play classics that were once unattainable due to low print runs, poor circulation, and asshole collectors on eBay, such as Rez and Guitaroo Man (and trust me when I say that those eBay douchebags fucking loathe GQD with a fiery passion).
Anyway, one game that keeps getting thrown as something which deserves a reprint is Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn (and easily the best RPG I’ve ever played, IMHO). And one person decided to bring the issue up with them directly. And there’s quite a few other interesting tidbits as well.
- Then there’s this feature with my good friend John and his most excellent Nearly Departed.
- Unfortunately its not all good news: Squashy Software, aka Anthony Flack, has been forced to halt development on Platypus.
- Let’s turn to some wacky import titles that have zero chances of making it to our shores. First up, Kaitou Rousseau from Namco, which has been described as a “digital comic” in which the player draws the hero’s face according to the situation. Well here’s some videos of the premise in action.
Actually, I am holding out hope that Kaitou Rousseau does manage to come out here, since Namco did release Katamari Stateside as well, which I certainly did not expect…
- I believe I’ve already mentioned Cooking Mama, the new food preparation simulator for the DS. Well here’s the official homepage.
- Quick question for everyone out there reading this: have any of you played this particular PSP game? I hear its basically Sony’s answer to Animal Crossing. Just curious if its any good or not, and how import friendly it is.
- Since at this point, everyone is pretty sick and tired of hearing about the jackass, and he doesn’t deserve any more attention than he’s already gotten, so I’ll just say that if you want to play a video game starring a jack-assed lawyer who hates video games, know yourself out.
- Hey does anyone remember the old arcade laser disc game Space Pirates? Yeah, I’m glad I don’t either.
- Yet another blast from the past: an old Toys R Us commercial featuring a father a son running around in various Nintendo games. Yeah, I wish game commercials these days were at least half as awesome as these. And I fucking want that Samus suit.
- Time for more “wacky” video game Photoshops, this one from Fark. Its your typical, Something Awful-esque fare, but this one particular I feel is pretty neat…
- A fan of cute web games? Then you’ll either dig War Bears, or my Super Monkey Poop Fight, which may have the greatest title in the history of all video games.
- Leave it up to the fine folks who dwell at the Insert Credit boards to dig this one up: G-Type, a combination of Gradius and R-Type.
- Also learned about this one from IC: a fan made game starring Mortal Kombat’s Sub Zero and Reptile and a light-hearted adventure. Looks very cute!
- And here’s something which, I don’t know why, but I just find so goddamn awesome.
- Remember those insanely creepy renditions of Mega Man and Bomberman? Well here’s the man behind the magic: his name is Handr? and he’s got quite a few more. My favorite has to be his rendition of Dig Dug…
There’s even an interview with the guy at Game Set Watch.
- Game Set Watch also recently popped the lid on the sequel to Guitar Heroes.
… And that’s pretty much it! Is anyone still reading at this point? Anyway, this is going to be my last update, at least for the next few days, at least till around, after, or maybe even during the 24 hour game design competition later this weekend.
