Last night was Demo Night V. Once again, for the fifth time to be exact, the New York and New Jersey chapters of the IGDA brought together various local talents to show off their latest projects. As the official IGDA NY reporter, I was on-hand to take note of what went down, but since this isn’t the official IGDA NY site, I’ll simply pass along an abridged account….
Demo Night 5
There were five games featured in all. The first was Catz for the DS, by Powerhead Games. Yeah, Catz, the virtual pet simulator that kinda shamelessly rips off Nintendogs, but at least they know it (and it is true that Catz, and all the other “Petz” games predate Nintendogs by quite some years). The presentation was given by Jason Schreiber, the game?s executive producer and CEO of Powerhead, who as expected, gave another entertaining speech. This one was highlighted by his love (and shameless pimping) of photography, which he managed to incorporate into the game; you get to take pictures of your kitten, often with cutsey hats on! The mission statement of the game? “Its all about the kittens”.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the game was how research revealed that cats purring share a common frequency range of 25-150 hertz, which they recreated for the game, and in the end, its apparently like the real thing! Plus it makes the DS vibrate, even without a rumble pack! They also got Nada Surf to do some wacky end theme song called Meow Meow Lullaby Remix which was pretty neat.
Second up was Out of Your Mind, the latest game from Gamelab. Actually, its a Gamelab/Curious Pictures co-production; when the partnership was first announced how many months back, many wondered what would be the result. Well, it?s Out of Your Mind. Basically, Gamelab’s patented super-excellent game design, together with Curious’ always exemplarily animation and presentation skills. As for the game itself, its kinda hard to explain. The set-up is that one uses “mental floss” to rid stuff plaguing the brain. The mechanics is somewhat similar to one of Gamelab’s first games Loop (which is still one of my fave web games to this day), but instead of using the strip to just lasso the enemy, you use it to impale them.
I’ll be totally honest; when I first saw the game running, I nearly shit my pants since it kinda resembled Spready Bear, but it was soon clear that it wasn’t. And thank fucking God. Mind you, I guess part of the paranoia stems from Diner Dash being somewhat similar to Jizzmoppa (and that’s not my saying it but a number of others that have noticed the similarity). Anyway, it looks awesome and lots of fun. Basically, another home run for Gamelab.
Third up was Snapshot Adventure: Secret of Bird Island by Large Animal. The premise is super simple: bird watching and picture taking. You’re presented with a scene with various birds flying about and you have to take pictures of them. Points awarded are based upon how good the pictures are, such as the angle and the composition and even the action. You also get to find out info regarding the birds you encounter, and can even create your own (which can be uploaded to a server, then other folks can download then take pictures of it, and then you can find out how many people have taken snapshots of your creation). And that’s it. Yet it looked hella fun.
Of all the games, it was easily my favorite; Out of Your Mind was ace, don’t get me wrong, but the premise, presentation and core mechanic of Snapshot Adventure is simply top-notch, across the board… the music especially was incredible.
Fourth was Ghost Warrior by Templar Studios, based on some film by 20th Century Fox that just keeps getting pushed back again and again. Templar seems to have a knack for creating decent adver-games based on shitty films (they did the Lords of War game a while back that was decent for what it was). This one is a kinda Diablo clone in which you run around, as a long Native American warrior avenging the death of everyone he knows (when Peter Mack, the President of Templar and the guy playing the game encountered yet another dead person tied to a tree, he mentioned “I don’t know if you can tell, but that’s my mom”), and take down Viking thugs. The highlight of the demo was seeing Mack constantly run away from danger, which you apparently do a lot in the game. As he sez: “By the way, this game is very hard.” Also mentioned was how… and pay special attention members of Select Button…. its a very “lonely” game, since the people you meet are either dead or want you dead.
The final game was a Reno 911 paintball game that even the presenter, Kris Schlacter, admitted wasn’t anything special. The whole point of the presentation though was discuss about the web browser based 3D engine he created for the game that is rather nifty, primarily the rather long and messy developmental process. Unfortunately, his MacBook freaked out and he wasn’t able to project the game for the audience, which severely hindered his talk (and Kris was already super nervous about speaking to begin with). But in the end, Kris, who is like one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met btw, was able to get his points across and got a nice big warm round of applause. Also, for whatever reason, his MacBook after the presentation all of a sudden decided to be agreeable and was able to show the game on the big screen, albeit when everyone was busy drinking beer and “networking”.
Oh, and to answer a question that I was asked about a hundred time earlier this evening, no I am not going to the Game Developers Conference this year. Unfortunately…
The other highlight of yesterday was that Chulip finally fucking arrived. And of course, the kissing RPG that I’ve been wanting literally for years is now sitting right next to me, still in its shrink-wrap, as I type. But I do intend on giving it a spin later this week. I hope….
Out of the Handheld Gaming Ghetto
Plus I found out from Dave (Mauro) that he was able to successfully hack my PSP! The night before I stopped by his place, along with Joe (Salina) and his girlfriend Gloria, as brought along as my PSP for Dave to work his magic, but things didn’t go as planned, forcing him to hold on the thing. Apparently I have the “dreaded” TA-082 motherboard that I’m guessing was the source of the problems. Also, both Love Love 2 and Vib Ribbon were not working properly last I checked… which sucks. But Rival Schools 2 (the precursor to Project Justice) and Slap Happy Rhythm Buster (Japanese fighter fused with DDR) works, as well as emulators. I’m primarily interested in having it run Genesis games so my PSP can become some spiritual successor to the Nomad that I once had (which Dave hadn’t even heard of!).
BTW, regarding Love Love 2… you know, the mine-cart riding, sandwich making, dating simulator… its actual name is apparently Love Love Truck! See, Dave can read Japanese. Anyway, I’m no surprised, since that what the crazy CD-R/warez company from Hong Kong which is where the game originated from was never that great with either English or Japanese. And no… I haven’t had a chance to install a PSone emulator on my Mac, but once I do, a review will be forthcoming.
But yeah, I’m so glad that I now can do cool, hacker-type stuff on my system. That was the whole point behind getting one really, and without that… well, at least by itself it still runs Lumines. And man, am I glad that I actually took the PSP plunge for that game; apparently, the rumor is that the upcoming PS2 release will be missing most of its licensed songs (the name, Lumines Plus, has since been referred to as Lumines Minus at NeoGAF). Aside from Shinin, which is so associated with the game that it would impossible to not have, everything else got cut. What a fucking shame… Meanwhile, Lumines 2, which I was going to ignore) since, hey, the first is good enough, right?) is now on my radar since I recently discovered that my favorite New Order song is on it. I was actually going to wait for the Japanese version, assuming it would have exclusive J-content, but it doesn’t, and is actually missing songs, like Star Guitar. WTF…
Gaming News: Sign O’ The Times
So the past couple of days I’ve been trying to get myself caught up on major gaming news, and I’m still pretty behind, so please correct me if I’m wrong… I get the sense that the Wii is still the hot toy that is to this day impossible to find, as well as the DS. I even heard that Wii might be close to surpassing the Xbox 360 here in the US in terms of user base (still need to see the proof behind that one, but if true…. wow). Meanwhile, I get the sense that Sony has had much better days. Granted, they kinda set themselves up most of the time, but still….
As a result, the Sony faithful seem to be quite sensitive these days. Take Virtua Fighter 5′s poor retail performance in Japan for example. Some people are now blaming it on the PS3, and that’s partly correct; the reason why the game isn’t doing so well is that the system isn’t either. But now some are wondering if the fighting genre as a whole is officially dead, and if so, is Sony to blame? Ummm…. Another sentiment that I’ve heard expressed goes something along the lines of “Japan is going to have to cope with the reality that Nintendo’s console will be the number one platform” like its some terminal illness. And then you have something like this, with a bunch of folks freaking out over Gamestop’s new trade-in promotion because they believe it is “wrong” (I believe one person even called it slander) how the PSP to fetch such a low price. Also not helping Sony’s image is stuff like this review for the PS3 version of flOw which, get this, has slow-down. A Flash game that has slowdown on a $600. Holy shit.
As for other notable “stuff”…
- Hey, so the Tingle RPG is coming out in Europe! Which means a possible US release might not be that far off. And even if it doesn’t come, we now have an English version!
- Konami has a new shmup on the way called Otomedius. Its kinda like Gradius and Parodius… except instead of a ship you get to pilot girls…
Actually, the game doesn’t look half bad. The third page of the thread has some videos that are definiately worth checking out. But yeah, its definfintely NOT your father’s Gradius.
- Sticking with Konami and creepiness and the Gaming Age Forums, here’s a thread that details the two different dating sims the company is coming out with, one in Japan and one here in America. And the difference, while not all the surprising, are still amusing nonetheless. Me thinks that Japan believes we love our Grand Theft Auto’s a bit too much, at least our enjoyment of virtual skanks. Anyway, this is more notable in my mind that the Silent Hill arcade light gun game that was recently announced.
- BTW, there’s this big arcade show going on in Japan, hence the news about the Lolidus game. Aside from showing off their sequel to Mario Kart Arcade (yeah… most folks haven’t heard of it either), Namco also provided possible proof to that notion that the fighting genre might be dead after-all: check out the trailer to Tekken 6. It?s about time I turned in my Tekken fan club membership card.
- Another interesting item from IGN: an interview with Suda 51, the dude behind Killer 7 (which as everyone knows is a game that I am SOOOO in love with). In it, he mentions that he will try his best to make sure his latest game, for the Wii, which seems very Killer 7-like, will be even more violent that Manhunt 2, the recently announced sequel to Rockstar’s most craziest, most demented game ever created (that no one bothered to buy). Remember that game? Its where you could choke a bad guy with a plastic bag. Anyway, I hear the Wii sequel will allow for stabbing motions. Neat! Suda also shrugs off rumors that he’s working with Kojima on some the rumored Snatcher remake/sequel.
- Back onto the subject of Konami, here’s Kojima’s idea for an online multiplayer zombie game if he were to make one. It’s…. rather Kojima-esque.
- I guess I should mention that all last week was FKW, a.k.a. Fucking Konami Week, at Select Button. And I totally missed out on it. Hey, I’ve been busy! Anyway, truth be told, I wasn’t so hot with the idea since its such a Insert Credit thing, and I figured it would have been best to do something a little different… a Fucking Capcom Week for example.
So I shouldn’t have been too surprised with ShaperMC told me earlier this week to check out TGQ later that night for something I would like: issue #8 is finally out and its a total Capcom-lovefest!
Oh, and that TGQ article that I said I was going to do? Guess it’ll have to wait till #9!
- Those who really want to go all out with the Wii’s Virtual Console might be interested in this: now you can play your old NES and SNES controllers on the system.
- An oldie, but a goodie I guess, plus its been a while since I’ve mentioned anything relating to Second Life. Some far-right, French nationalist group being the target of protests in the game via exploding pigs. Neat, but the first obvious question is what in the fuck is such a group doing in Second Life to being with?! According to the article, they had “set up headquarters”. Okay….
- Time for another crazy freeware shmup: this one is called Retron and lives up to the name, both in sound and visuals. Also, its pretty damn tricky to play.
- As everyone knows, I’m always on the look out for video game related cinema (and no, my GSW column is not dead, I’ve just once again been swamped with… stuff…. but I GUARANTEE that a new installment will be online this Thursday/Friday…. hear that Simon, I haven’t been totally slacking!!!), so I simply have to see this: Moral Kombat, a documentary that explores the ill effects that video games might possibly have on youth of America and society as a whole. It definitely appears to go for the jugular with the whole “its a murder simulator” aspect, and even goes far as to say that video games allowed 9/11 to happen (which I have unfortunately have heard before).
I also find it very funny how a movie that seems so hateful towards video games and perhaps technology as a whole, and so scared of what kids are doing with said tech, has to use MySpace as the place for its official web presence.
- And here’s anothe quick YouTube links: a random cutscene from a lousy Transformers game for the PS2 that I have been unlucky enough to play. Many people say that Optimus sounds like Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and I think that’s because it is. Anyway, the game is pure crap, and from the fifteen minutes I played of it, there were all these randomly generated Decepticons coming at you at all sides, and with such shitty controls, all I can do is have Optimus run away, which was hardly becoming of him.
- Finally, apparently Mizuguchi that Rez was coming to the Wii. Anyone else hear of this? It was apparently on an episode of the 1UP Show? Which I confess that I do not keep track of since, till this day, 1UP.com still doesn’t play well with Macs. So… can anyone confirm this, at least being stated?
Game of The Year? Concept of the Century
One more thing…. something that O’Connor unearthed which, quite simply, has blown my mind: some guy is making a game based upon Les Miserables.
First off, just the very idea of a LesMis game is insane, but there’s more… MUCH more. Its actually going to be the first of a series of games, with each subsequent installment using another famous work of literature as source material. Next will be War and Peace, then assorted fairly tales, then Dante’s Inferno, The Time Machine, Journey to the Center of the Earth, the Epic of Gilgamesh, plus various plays by Shakespeare, including Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, with the long-term goal being every play by him. And the best part of all this? They all take place in the same game universe.
For more information, check out this info regarding your game’s character and how he’ll be traversing all those stories for starters. And then just click around and around and around… I’m definitely going to following the progress on this one.
EDIT: Robin actually reminded me that there was once a Les Miserables fighting game that was once mentioned at Insert Credit a long whiles back, that I vaguely remember as well, but I can’t seem to find any info. So if someone could please hook a brotha up, it would be mucho appreciated.
EDIT #2: Just found the info! It was apparently being made by the folks who made Dot Fighter?!?! Just scroll down here for some screen shots.
