In this post:
1. all the game related links you might have missed from the past couple of weeks
Well that didn’t last very long. About 30 minutes to be exact, before I found myself becoming nauseous and having to power down ODST. Though I didn’t bother to fiddle with the camera options beforehand, so perhaps it’s something that can be avoided in the future. I guess that’s how I’m able to endure Halo 3 proper… it’s been a while since I last messed with it’s options.
Anyhow, here we are, Sunday night. And everyone’s getting in their last bit of internet related surfing/catching up/screwing off before the week begins anew. If you looking to see what’s been going on in the world of games at large from the past week or so, you’re in luck! And on with the show…
- I suppose the biggest headline has been Courtney Love’s war against Activision, over the use of her dead husband’s vestige in Guitar Hero 5. It’s something I’ve been keeping up with via the forums, though I forget the very last update, in which Jon Bon Jovi stated that he was offered a chance to appear in the game, but turned it down.
This one is tricky, I don’t know who to support since both Activision and Love get on my nerves equally. And I forget where I said it before, so I’ll simply repeat myself: as cheesy as it sounds, the handling of Cobain in the game was the final straw for me, so in addition to permanently scrapping any plans to pick up part 5, I actually traded in part 4 as a result. Besides, I was hardly touching the damn thing (six months later and I haven’t even come close to unlocking that one Dream Theater track, which was my only real reason for picking the damn thing up in the first place, due to how boring and ugly the entire experience is). Though I still want to pick up a GH3 Les Paul for the PS3; aside from really digging the design, I’ll need a guitar controller for Fret Nice, whenever that might be.
- Oh, as for DJ Hero, anything I have to say has already been stated by Phil Fish.
And speaking of the guy, the dude has been working on Fez for what seems like ages now. Actually, it’s only been two years, and here’s how the game has been evolving over that time.
- Here’s something that could have been a major deal, but ending up not being so, and the world is better of for it: a tiny bit of racism was recently discovered in Scribblenauts. Basically, if one writes the world ‘sambo”, a watermelon appears. Or at least that’s what it looks like… but actually isn’t.
As bizarre as the excuse might be, one has to believe that the creators of the game are not the kinds of folks who would intentionally do such a thing. Again, it hasn’t caused as much of a sh*tstorm as one might expect. Maybe because…
… But yeah, perhaps due to all the unneeded nonsense that surrounded RE5, people for once are not allowing themselves to get worked up over nothing again? Crazy! Though back to Kanye, I like this one better…
… Yes, the joke has more than run it’s course by now, but I just don’t care!
- And back to actual news: the Xbox 360 has always had an uphill battle in Japan, but now it seems as if its days are finally numbered. It’s a combination of the tremendous success that the PS3 slim has had since its introduction, along with the growing number of 360 “exclusives” popping up elsewhere, primarily on the PS3 as noted in the previous link, with plenty of extra bells and whistles to boot (with Tales of Vesperia being the de facto poster child). Regarding that last point, most embarrassing of all is the revelation that such a practice is practically necessary, to offset the massive amount of time and money it costs to develop for Sony’s platform, so making a version of a game first on the much cheaper and easier to program for Microsoft platform means that MS is indeed funding PS3 game development. And that totally sucks.
It sucks that Sony still has a strangle hold of game development in Japan, and how MS is getting so royally screwed in the process. Though some theorize that them being an American based company does not help matters, which adds a certain element of “it’s Americans we’re screwing, all the better!” Or so certain people would like to believe.
- Though that’s not to say that the PS3 version of anything will automatically be superior, far from it. Take Bayonetta for example; while the 360 version is being developed by Platinum Games proper, the PS3 version is being handled by some other nameless group, and it shows, via all sorts of performance issues when it comes to graphics. One has to wonder if these problems would exist in Platinum’s hands, or if they themselves would have the same issues, hence why it was passed off to someone else to deal with.
- Meanwhile, the PS3 is most definitely getting the much better version of Ninja Gaiden 2 (which was also a 360 exclusive, once upon a time), thanks to it’s breast juggling action. What is it with Japanese PS3 ads with the close ups of creepy, sweaty dudes with the orgasm face? Is this why the system’s doing so much better all of a sudden? Yeesh.
BTW, just downloaded the Japanese demo of the game, and the boob jiggling is indeed insanely retarded, which doesn’t even work that well! I also recall the game looking better on the 360. So… yeah.
- At least no one can dispute the system’s movie playing abilities… so good in fact that they’re being used to project movies in some theaters in Japan!
… BTW, I know some people wonder why I turn towards the complex for much of Japanese gaming news, since it’s so “creepy”. But seriously, when compared with the major news blogs we have here (cough*cough*Kotaku*cough), they seem to be the only ones asking the real questions. Case in point, here’s a rather curious position from the BBC, regarding some supposed “the yellow light of death” epidemic that the PS3 suffers from, which Kotaku passed along without question, and here we have the inside scoop, which I’d like to believe most anyone else would have also followed up on. Seriously, yellow ring of death? How does that not immediately bring up a gigantic red flag? Okay, that’s enough bitching about the sad state of mainstream game journalism for today…
- Unfortunately, the most interesting games (or at least the ones I want the most) are primarily for the Japanese 360 and will perhaps remain that way if costs for developing for the PS3 are indeed as high as everyone claims it to be (which I highly doubt that small studios can afford to deal with, such as Cave for example, hence why none of their stuff has appeared on Sony’s end). Like the recently announced Strike Witches title, which looks to be a shump no less!
- At least there’s a slim chance that some of the more indie stuff, aka doujin shmups, might be coming to a console near us thanks to Rockin’ Android, as noted in a recent interview.
- Guess what might be the next big platform for doujin titles might be? The iPhone! Or iPod Touch. Case in point, Memories Off just came out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a major hit, considering how visual novels seem tailor made for the platform. Though whether any of them will make it over here remains to be seen.
Yet I’m also one of those who believe the assertion that the iPhone/iPod Touch is right up there with the DS and PSP to be completely ridiculous.
- Going back to shumps, it’s so crazy awesome that so many shumps are all of a sudden popping up on the DSi. First there’s Aa Mujou Setsuna/Oh Heartless Moment from Arika (who honestly should have handled DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label Extra for the 360, and not 5pb, who did the worst job possible). Siliconera BTW has a pretty nifty and detailed oriented write-up.
Then you have G.G. Zone and G.G. Wonderland, which came out just a few days ago (all of these are only for Japan, of course). Tiny Cartridge BTW has a nice lengthy video and a few impressions.
- And don’t forget the Thexder re-make for the PSP, which is coming along just fine it would seem.
- Siliconera has also been totally on top of any new bit of info regarding Persona 3 Portable that’s trickled out. At long last, the name of Dudelisabeth has been revealed, and it’s…. Theodore? Okay. It was also the first place to pass along the latest video, which shows all the new stuff in action, including the new means of navigating the overworld and walking with others, the new all out attack artwork, plus numerous elements borrowed from Persona 4, including other characters taking a hit for you in battle and even the P4 styled rank up!
- Thus far, only one new character for the upcoming American version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (which is also getting re-released in Japan as well) has been revealed, that being Tekkaman Blade. Though Joe Salina unearthed this up for me: a possible list of the other new faces, thanks to some detective work.
Mega Man Zero? That’s cool! But Frank West from Dead Rising? Ummm…. Though as Jon notes, there’s plenty of potential there, provided be brings along with him his massive arsenal of combat gear/junk acquired from the mall. I’m just sad that there’s no Speed Racer characters on the Tatsunoko side, which I figured to be a lock. I wonder if its rights are also in limbo?
- Nintendo recently unveiled it’s late 2009/early 2010, which Offworld has complied in the form of a handy little list. I’ve been wondering what the hell happened to the WiiWare version of Cave Story, which was supposed to come out this past summer… “Q3″ it is, at least for now. Along with Bit.Trip Void plus You, Me, and the Cubes (that Kenji Eno title I went ga-ga over a while back), gonna be doing a lot of downloading this holiday season!
On the DSiWare side of things, there’s a port of DigiDrive, which is music to Brandon’s ears, but not to Eric’s. I myself loved the original upon its release, enough to convince Stephen Totilo to pick up a copy, who ended up loving as well! Meanwhile, Eric’s clearly looking forward to the return of Shantae, whereas I’m just happy to finally get it over with. Nothing has been more annoying than hearing whiny Shantae fanboys lament the GBA sequel they never got for the past five or so years. Sorry, but the original is still the most overrated Game Boy Color game of all time, plus I just feel WayForward’s stuff is a tad bit on the overrated side.
Though we totally see eye to eye when it comes to Little Red Riding Hood?s Zombie BBQ. And am also looking forward to Zombie Panic in Wonderland!
Back to previous link, Tiny Cartridge also mentions something called Sparkle Snapshots, which isn’t on the Offworld list and might finally give my DSi’s camera a decent workout (at least until that augmented reality game finally comes out). Though it’s their list of stuff that was absent that’s the more noteworthy. Not happy about having to wait till next year for Sin and Punishment 2, but I’m especially miffed for the lack of any info regarding WarioWare D.I.Y. I should have honestly picked up the import version like I wanted to originally.
- Though one DS title that I haven’t been holding out for, due to being realistic, is the recently released girlfriend simulator Love Plus.
Everyone keeps talking about how complex it is, like when it comes initiating the swapping of virtual spit, but according to those who have played it, the effort is well worthwhile in the end.
Though it’s yet another fine example of s-s-s-s-soul cancer, according to Mike (or at least I would assume that’s the reaction it would elicit, based upon all the other wacky jappy nonsense that he gives me sh*t for liking), and once again, stuff like this is why I hardly have a leg to stand on when attempting to mount a counter argument. At the very least the commercial’s fairly cute.
- I’m really glad that Tiny Cartridge does the job of scouring NeoGAF for interesting stuff since I don’t have the time these days, like the box art for Final Fantasy Gaiden, yet another DS title I’m excited for…
… The primary reason why I stick to collecting import DS games is because, not only are the artwork adorning the boxes generally awesome, but they’re smaller when compared to your average console game case, as well as cheaper!
- Sorry to basically re-post all of Tiny Cartridge’s content from the past week, but hey, it’s simply the best place for the best info: at long last there’s a GBA emulator for the DSi. Problem is, it’s for the iPlayer, and everyone seems to be either forgetting or completely ignoring the fact it doesn’t play DS roms, and is therefore not the ultimate DS flashcart that everyone is fighting over. I’m just holding out for a version for the AceKard 2i.
- Thankfully I have a Game Boy Micro, with flash cart, to play the newly translated (and leaked) Flashback Legends!
- Meanwhile, in the realm of chiptunes, this Mega Man tribute album sounds promising, if only because both Hally and the man that goes my Naruto (who has nothing to do with the crappy manga/animu) are involved. But truth be told, I’m far more interested in the chiptunes Beatles tribute album.
- Semi-related: yet another sexy (I think at least) Mega Man remix from Hyadain, this one about Heat Man.
- If you’re reading this the same night I’m publishing this post, you still have some time to grab 8Bitone, the chiptunes synth app for the iPhone, for just a dollar!
- Sticking with the iPhone, it’s getting a port of Let’s Tap? My prediction here is that it’ll sell about 20,000 times more copies than it did on the Wii. Hey, whatever keeps that insanely catchy Let’s Tap theme out there is golden in my book!
- And guess what’s coming down the pipeline for Q Entertainment? You guessed it, an iPhone game! One that’s a love tester?
Oh, so I recently discovered that their Qubed is nothing more than a collection of their XBL titles, on a disc. Sort of a bummer, but whatever gets Rez HD our there is all right in the end.
- As stated many times before, Sankaku Complex is your go-to spot for Japanese news, Tiny Cartridge is your go-to spot for anything related to handheld gaming, and Offworld is your go-to spot for… Super Mario hacks!
- I forget if it was Hilary or Joe Simko who expounded on the comedic joys of an angry guy, overturning a table full of stuff, the other night. Well, finally there’s a video game for that!
- Yakuza 3 might be coming out in America after-all? Whoa!
- 1UP also has a preview for the upcoming No More Heroes 2, with the most interesting thing being how support for MotionPlus was axed (so the grand total of Wii games that I’m looking forward to that would also support the attachment is now a big fat zero), with support for the Classic Controller in it’s place. And Siliconera has also noted, that lays the foundation for a possible port to the 360 and PS3. Interesting…
- To kick off the video-laden portion of this entry, here’s the Pokemon combat rap.
- Okay, here’s another one: apparently in Dream Club, that creepy hostess game for the 360 in Japan that’s hottest thing going for the system at the moment, one of the girls is a robot? Huh?
- Remember the Halo animu? Here’s a taste of one of the many tales the final product will be bringing forth. And as is often the case in an instance like this, please refer to the comments section for insight and comedy gold.
- Via Adam, over at Attract Mode, if I had to chose just one: rappers raping about Street Fighting >>>>>>>>>> hipsters rocking out over Pac Man (though the pixel animation here is very nice).
- And Half Life 2 with all the sounds replaced by one guy’s voice VS. Left 4 Dead mixed with Teletubbies? Tough call.
- Not exactly sure what’s going on here, but apparently, a company that makes virtual sex toys for residents of Second Life is suing the company that runs the whole show because they’ve been turning a bling eye to people bootlegging their products… again, virtually. I think?
- As for junk made for the real wold, if you’re a woman who loves both Pikachu and being environmentally sounds, perhaps you might be interested in this Pokemon menstrual pad…
- Also via Kreemzeek comes this rather ingenious Pac Man rubix cube…
- Semi-related: remember that ultra hawt looking Famicom business card case from a while ago? Well, they’re back in production, plus there’s a Pac man variant as well!
- In case anyone was wondering, Tiny Cartridge, GameSetWatch, and Offworld aren’t the only game blogs I hit every single day. There’s plenty of other great places, like Original Sound Version of course! And like so many diehard fans of Konami’s Kukeiha Club, I’m dying to get my hands on this DVD.
And here’s a funny little story: they recently interviewed Spencer Nielsen, which was something I was going to do, for Gamasutra! Which also ended up there, funny enough. Long story short, I recently discovered that a friend of mine was a business colleague of his, which led me to ask if he could set anything up! And it was! Unfortunately, I got busy with stuff and got beaten to the punch… something I totally didn’t expect and almost still can’t believe, given that this is Spencer Nielsen we’re talking about. Though more than anything else, I have a true knack for timing. Anyway, the interviewer here asks some of the same questions that I would have gone for… yet other areas are sadly not addressed. Thus far at least; haven’t heard the entire thing just yet. But thus far, it’s pretty neat.
- Get this: there was supposed to be a written history of Mega Man? Well, the book was just cancelled. At least the visual history of sorts, Mega Man Complete Works is still coming out, and hopefully it’ll be the Japanese version untouched. Plus there’s still a written history of Street Fighter in the works, which admittedly has more angles to cover.
- Guess what gaming blog that I foolishly don’t visit nearly enough? Kevin Grifford’s current home digs, especially since I was so gay for his first, Video-Fenky. Well here’s the post that finally got my lazy ass it add it in my RSS reader: a fantastic look at various hidden messages left in games. Like this one…
Mmm, that?s a nostalgic song playing. Those were good times. Meanwhile, who the hell are these people with this project? I?m so glad it?s over. You think it?s nothing but good memories? Hell no! Let?s use this space to give out some thanks.
First off, Kaoru Ogura, who ran off with some guy in the middle of the project. Yes, you, you bastard. Don?t show up at the office without showering after having sex 6 times the previous night. Next, Tatsuya Ōhashi. Yes, you, you bastard. Don?t give me your flippant shit ? coming in late on the day we ship the ROM like nothing?s amiss. You can give me all the porn you want; I?m not forgetting that one. All that fucking weight you put on. No wonder you paid out 18,000 yen and still got nothing but a kiss out of it. Kenji Takano, Namco debugger. You are a part-timer; don?t dick around with the project planner. And finally, Kiyoharu Gotō, the biggest thorn to my side in this project. Yes, you, you bastard. Once I get a time machine, I?m sending you back to the Edo period. Go do your riddles over there.
Ahh, that?s a load off… wait, no it?s not. Kiyoharu Gotō ? yes, you, you bastard. Aaaagh, just disappear already.
- And one brand spanking new blog (relatively speaking… it’s been operation for a little while, but the redesign is just two weeks old) that everyone should know about is Mecha Damanshii from Ollie Barder! Which is all about mecha games, naturally. Thanks to him, I’m SO ordering Gundam Senki 0081, as soon as the latest shipment from Play-Asia arrives (unless someone has a spare $5 off coupon that they’re not using).
- Here’s a blog that is supposed to be a game itself. After going though it for a solid ten minutes, I still have no idea what’s going on, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s a staggering work of genius.
- I love hitting Danny Choo’s various web portals, cuz the guy always has interesting pics to accompany whatever the hell he’s up to. My fave are the shots of his food (again, the one thing I miss about Japan the most is easily the food). Here’s a shot from a visit to McDonald’s, where one can download assorted demos to their DS…
… Wasn’t there a plan to do the same here in America?
- Grabbed this from Nullsleep’s Twitter feed, no doubt something he’s working on for class…
- Time to end this entry with another stop by GSW! First here we have the world of chiptunes converging with the world of high art. I just want to know why Philly has all of a sudden become the place for galleries showcasing game related work? First the Autumn Society, now this. Come on New York, what’s the deal here? Central Booking excluded, of course.
- Speaking of things that’s suitable to be hung on a wall, in a gallery, your living room, or anywhere else…
- I’m SO glad that I’m not the only one who appreciates Streets of Fury!
- Back to Spencer Neilsen for a sec, here’s a nice little interview with Howard Drossin, the man behind the music of Sonic & Knuckles (yet not Sonic 3 apparently). It does address the Michael Jackson connection, though more questions are raised than being answered unfortunately.
- Here’s a neat concept: the idea of avatars, similar to what we have in XBL and on the Wii, being used outside, as business cards.
- Time for yet another installment of Tokyo Beat! This one is all about the crazy expensive stuff one finds in Akihabara. I still remember the look some guy gave me in reaction to me spouting “Holy sh*t!” involuntarily when I saw the $200 price tag for Geppy-X.
- Remember the teeny-tiny Neo Geo cabinet? Well here’s one for Pac Man… in the bathroom. And has anyone else noticed the abundance of Pac Man for just one post? I have!
- Space Invaders mixed with old Life Magazine pictures equals this…
- Lastly, here’s my review of the recent box office flop Gamer! And as I noted, it had serious potential… but alas is just another crappy vision of what a filmmaker thinks video game players are all about.
