Thu - February 8, 2007
Radiohead digs Cave Story
Still the best game in terms of (quality / number of
creators) and storytelling in my humble opinion , Cave Story
(Doukutsu Monogatari) was previously mentioned on
Radiohead
Guitarist Jonny Greenwood's blog: http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/
Quote:
Go Pixel, go!
Quote:
...five years in the making, and a work of art
Go Pixel, go!
Fri - September 22, 2006
Killing in the name of
What a weird title.
Anyway, I recently stumbled across my love for making games and picked it up on the way back. Facilitated by two specimen of the rare not everyone's but definitely mine breed, namely Sega's Yakuza and Capcom's Dead Rising. Both pieces show enormous attention to character, rock-solid handling and a serious but nevertheless required level of violence, as they are both adult material, and rightfully so.
Yakuza captures the spirit of honor and deceit in the circles of a (presumably fictional) japanese mafia, but delivers it with typical Yu Suzuki attention to environment and naive play. Shen Mue without forklifts, but more bare knuckles. Fools might confuse it with the GTA line of free-roam action titles, but the only trait these share are a map of town and babbling bystanders.
Dead Rising, on the contrary, runs along the lines of free-from game play in a refreshing way, without the need for (but featuring) vehicles, tons of interaction and lots of optional objectives to complete. However, these are merely tools in telling a satire about survival of the fittest, the illusion of happiness through shopping (everybody loves the hardware store, but even chain saws won't save your trapped tourists if you're too far away...) and the ever neutral stance of journalism in a time of crisis. Why safe them when you can take their picture instead?
So, video games are not boring yet. Phew!
Anyway, I recently stumbled across my love for making games and picked it up on the way back. Facilitated by two specimen of the rare not everyone's but definitely mine breed, namely Sega's Yakuza and Capcom's Dead Rising. Both pieces show enormous attention to character, rock-solid handling and a serious but nevertheless required level of violence, as they are both adult material, and rightfully so.
Yakuza captures the spirit of honor and deceit in the circles of a (presumably fictional) japanese mafia, but delivers it with typical Yu Suzuki attention to environment and naive play. Shen Mue without forklifts, but more bare knuckles. Fools might confuse it with the GTA line of free-roam action titles, but the only trait these share are a map of town and babbling bystanders.
Dead Rising, on the contrary, runs along the lines of free-from game play in a refreshing way, without the need for (but featuring) vehicles, tons of interaction and lots of optional objectives to complete. However, these are merely tools in telling a satire about survival of the fittest, the illusion of happiness through shopping (everybody loves the hardware store, but even chain saws won't save your trapped tourists if you're too far away...) and the ever neutral stance of journalism in a time of crisis. Why safe them when you can take their picture instead?
So, video games are not boring yet. Phew!
Fri - August 4, 2006
The state we're in
Ok, this is not supposed to sound cynical, or
socio-critical or any other way ending in -al. But come on, no matter whether
you're a video game feminist, a premature gore fanboy or a theoretical game
critic with no development experience: this picture has to touch you
somehow:
I love it! b(^-^)d
Thanks to Wataru over at Costume GET for the link.
I love it! b(^-^)d
Thanks to Wataru over at Costume GET for the link.
Tue - July 4, 2006
One order of Final Fantasy XII, with extra Zelda coming right up. You want flying fries with that?
Ever wondered if your Credit card will expire before a
certain title arrives? Well, we all heard and grieved about the delayed shipping
date of Final Fantasy XII, but Zelda.... check that out!
:)
Order #1556792 Ordered On: Sunday, July 10 2005
. 1 of: Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess @ $62.95ea.
Order #1556792 Ordered On: Sunday, July 10 2005
. 1 of: Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess @ $62.95ea.
$62.95
Product
Number: 90061377 Product Type: Nintendo
GameCube Arrival Date: Wednesday, January 1
2025
Order #1654645 Ordered On: Monday, April 3 2006
. 1 of: Final Fantasy XII @ $62.95ea.
Order #1654645 Ordered On: Monday, April 3 2006
. 1 of: Final Fantasy XII @ $62.95ea.
$62.95
Product
Number: 90060571 Product Type: Sony PlayStation
2 Arrival Date: Tuesday, October 31
2006
Wed - June 28, 2006
The Cave Story Remix Project
In case you did play cave story , you most likely loved the music.
Well, so did others, and they decided to pay tribute by creating two discs of
remixes:
http://kwix.shackspace.com/cavestory/index.html
The original creator, Pixel, had this to say about the project:
"06/06/26
I got word that there was a Doukutsu Monogatari 'remix project' recently completed, so I went right away to have a listen. It was fantastic.
Are these people even human?"
Thanks to the pixel diary translation offered by Shih Tzu
http://kwix.shackspace.com/cavestory/index.html
The original creator, Pixel, had this to say about the project:
"06/06/26
I got word that there was a Doukutsu Monogatari 'remix project' recently completed, so I went right away to have a listen. It was fantastic.
Are these people even human?"
Thanks to the pixel diary translation offered by Shih Tzu
Sat - May 27, 2006
Doukutsu Monogatari PSP - A cave-in story?
It seems that Variant Games have obtained the rights to
publish one of the last
years biggest , in terms of quality and attention to detail,
independent games on the PSP.
Now it must be understood that the game was done by one guy, Pixel, and translated by dedicated members of the ever growing fan base.
To dismiss the game as a simple jump-and-run game would be like calling System Shock a First Person Shooter, and is done so by most people who didn't progress past the second door. Poor them.
Anyhow, the upcoming port leaves a few questions unanswered:
- did the creator of the artwork featured in the game also give his blessings?
- are they going to use the fan base-translation? if those, this will probably have consequences.
- will it strengthen the mystery surrounding the one person powerhouse that is the creator, Pixel ?
Now it must be understood that the game was done by one guy, Pixel, and translated by dedicated members of the ever growing fan base.
To dismiss the game as a simple jump-and-run game would be like calling System Shock a First Person Shooter, and is done so by most people who didn't progress past the second door. Poor them.
Anyhow, the upcoming port leaves a few questions unanswered:
- did the creator of the artwork featured in the game also give his blessings?
- are they going to use the fan base-translation? if those, this will probably have consequences.
- will it strengthen the mystery surrounding the one person powerhouse that is the creator, Pixel ?
Fri - May 12, 2006
Take2 closes Rockstar Vienna in a surprise combo attack!
Well, those who read this blog on a regular basis will
know by now: Rockstar Vienna, as we came to love it, no longer
exists.
The studio was closed on May 11th after no storm signs whatsoever. The crew had been working on two major Rockstar IPs, one of them close to completion. It remains to be seen what T2's reasons for the rather unorthodox timing where, but one thing it clear: the 97 employees that where kept from entering the site will most likely not finish any of the two games in Vienna.
We're all curious about the next steps regarding the products.
We're also enjoying the summer sun, so at least this part of the timing came as a welcome treat :)
Let's just see how fast one can compile a resumé with a perfect weather like that...
(shameless self-pimping coming up)
Oh, in case you need a game/level designer with 8 years of industry experience: beetoe@mac.com
The studio was closed on May 11th after no storm signs whatsoever. The crew had been working on two major Rockstar IPs, one of them close to completion. It remains to be seen what T2's reasons for the rather unorthodox timing where, but one thing it clear: the 97 employees that where kept from entering the site will most likely not finish any of the two games in Vienna.
We're all curious about the next steps regarding the products.
We're also enjoying the summer sun, so at least this part of the timing came as a welcome treat :)
Let's just see how fast one can compile a resumé with a perfect weather like that...
(shameless self-pimping coming up)
Oh, in case you need a game/level designer with 8 years of industry experience: beetoe@mac.com
Sun - March 12, 2006
Chi powered samurais from europe
What is it with western (read: european and north
american) developers trying to make Role Playing Games that take place in asia?
Or, to be more precise, how much arrogance does it take to assume you can craft
an immersive tale in a culture you barely have set foot into, let alone grown up
in?
Once again, brave Columbusses (Columbi?) have ventured forth, this time hailing from the island of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The goal of their perilous journey: Key of Heaven on the PSP.
While it is of course utterly unfair and unjustified to comment on something that is not finished, more-so without having played it, it still remains dubious if a game that bundles Samurais, Chi Power and a hero named 'Shinbu' (which probably means Real Sausage in japanese) will succeed in giving the impression of an medieval tale set in asia. A made-up asia, in this case.
I wonder why we don't take our own rich cultural heritage of knights, magi and crafted toledo steel and create an RPG based on our own myths. There are plenty.
Now let me get back to listening to my Last Ninja remix...
Once again, brave Columbusses (Columbi?) have ventured forth, this time hailing from the island of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The goal of their perilous journey: Key of Heaven on the PSP.
While it is of course utterly unfair and unjustified to comment on something that is not finished, more-so without having played it, it still remains dubious if a game that bundles Samurais, Chi Power and a hero named 'Shinbu' (which probably means Real Sausage in japanese) will succeed in giving the impression of an medieval tale set in asia. A made-up asia, in this case.
I wonder why we don't take our own rich cultural heritage of knights, magi and crafted toledo steel and create an RPG based on our own myths. There are plenty.
Now let me get back to listening to my Last Ninja remix...
Wed - November 23, 2005
Let's all hype the xbox 360!
Well,
we Austrians will have to wait until December 2nd to get our hands on the
thing.
Fri - November 4, 2005
Autumn gaming
So as autumn hits us full-speed, I decided to stay a
little in-doors by having my wisdom teeth removed, thus rendering me incapable
of moving and eating. The upside, it seemed in the beginning, was that during
the following days of feasting on pain killers and sleeping on 3M
coldhot
packs I would get plenty of time to catch up on recent titles that begged to be
played.
Boy was I wrong. So we started off playing Battalion Wars:
A great art direction, similar to those found in Advance Wars and the Metal slug series, beautiful environments and responsive characters. But visuals are not everything, you say. Indeed, I reply, as I show off how easy the whole running/jumping/target locking and unit swapping is controlled. Everything seems to work, we enjoy ourselves immensely and would eventually head off into the setting sun, were it not for the nagging sensation of never quite knowing what is actually happening...
I am quite sure that, no matter what game we talk about, the single thing that makes people want to stay an play is the principle of action-reaction: Jump and slash: enemy split in halve. Break, steer & gas: Car performs drift. Hold & release: charged attack creates insane explosion. Flank evil pseudo-arabian fundamentalist from two sides of the building: you MG guy takes 'em out without a scratch.
In Battalion Wars however, I get the feeling that everything is going according to plan as long as I am controlling stuff. The moment you turn your back on the infantry, they seem to fall into this mixed mode of suicidal indifference. Same goes for any other unit. Which is probably a conscious design element (and theoretically a good one) where it not for the fact that shit happens simultaneously, but you can only control one entity at the same time. Still, a great game. check it our if you like war games that don't look & feel like real war.
So after this brief but stressful intermezzo, we welcome the arrival of a game that has been greatly anticipated by the game developing community, and probably completely ignored by the buying crowd: Shadow of the Colossus. The sequel to the critically acclaimed (read: commercially unsuccessful) Ico is set in a very similar style of presentation. Very sparse music, gorgeous lighting and mood, spot-on animations and impeccable technical off-stream solutions. It is also accompanied by insane amounts of moving from point A to B and searching. There is literally nothing more to do than either enjoy the landscape or fall asleep.
Until you come across the Colossi. Those huge beasts, that make up halve the experience are everything you always wanted in a fantastic action game: towering, intimidating beasts, they need to be taken down step-by-step, usually requiring you to get on top of them while they move. The platforming on a moving level can not be described in words, it is something everybody should experience themselves. It mainly works, too.
What does not work, however, is the lack of guidance and patterns to be recognized and employed in resolving the challenges. Players will most likely spend the second half of the search for the colossi circling them in a stupefied way, waiting for seldom in game-hints to appear. It is nearly impossible to guess the tasks needed to bring the colossi down.
Moreover, the game failing to provide you with simple motoric help, that isn't part of solving le grand puzzle in the first place will instill a primordial anger in even the most laid-back gamers, wanting to throw the controller against the wall .
So we relax from being lulled into this weird mix of boredom-rage, and head back to our old trusty gaming companion, the PC. That's right folks, the renaisscance is at hand! Maybe. Two nice examples that PC gaming is still not dead are F.E.A.R. (an old-school but well executed FPS) and Ragdoll Kung Fu :this game is strange. First of all, it can't really be compared to any other game I know. You control a ragdoll, using your mouse to drag it's limbs (and head) across the screen. If you move your cursor in circles, you build up chi which is the driving force behind all your moves, be it mile-high jumps or Bruce Lee - inspired chopping attacks. Given that it can be bough online for a mere 15$, I'd urge everybody with a suitable machine (it doesn't come on Macs) to check it out. Beware: great concept, bad for left-handed players with right-handed mouse. Which concludes the experience for me.
So what, apart from finding seemingly great experiences that turn frustrating soon, is there left to play? Luckily there are glimpses of hope, even though the come from the past. More on those in the next entry.
Boy was I wrong. So we started off playing Battalion Wars:
A great art direction, similar to those found in Advance Wars and the Metal slug series, beautiful environments and responsive characters. But visuals are not everything, you say. Indeed, I reply, as I show off how easy the whole running/jumping/target locking and unit swapping is controlled. Everything seems to work, we enjoy ourselves immensely and would eventually head off into the setting sun, were it not for the nagging sensation of never quite knowing what is actually happening...
I am quite sure that, no matter what game we talk about, the single thing that makes people want to stay an play is the principle of action-reaction: Jump and slash: enemy split in halve. Break, steer & gas: Car performs drift. Hold & release: charged attack creates insane explosion. Flank evil pseudo-arabian fundamentalist from two sides of the building: you MG guy takes 'em out without a scratch.
In Battalion Wars however, I get the feeling that everything is going according to plan as long as I am controlling stuff. The moment you turn your back on the infantry, they seem to fall into this mixed mode of suicidal indifference. Same goes for any other unit. Which is probably a conscious design element (and theoretically a good one) where it not for the fact that shit happens simultaneously, but you can only control one entity at the same time. Still, a great game. check it our if you like war games that don't look & feel like real war.
So after this brief but stressful intermezzo, we welcome the arrival of a game that has been greatly anticipated by the game developing community, and probably completely ignored by the buying crowd: Shadow of the Colossus. The sequel to the critically acclaimed (read: commercially unsuccessful) Ico is set in a very similar style of presentation. Very sparse music, gorgeous lighting and mood, spot-on animations and impeccable technical off-stream solutions. It is also accompanied by insane amounts of moving from point A to B and searching. There is literally nothing more to do than either enjoy the landscape or fall asleep.
Until you come across the Colossi. Those huge beasts, that make up halve the experience are everything you always wanted in a fantastic action game: towering, intimidating beasts, they need to be taken down step-by-step, usually requiring you to get on top of them while they move. The platforming on a moving level can not be described in words, it is something everybody should experience themselves. It mainly works, too.
What does not work, however, is the lack of guidance and patterns to be recognized and employed in resolving the challenges. Players will most likely spend the second half of the search for the colossi circling them in a stupefied way, waiting for seldom in game-hints to appear. It is nearly impossible to guess the tasks needed to bring the colossi down.
Moreover, the game failing to provide you with simple motoric help, that isn't part of solving le grand puzzle in the first place will instill a primordial anger in even the most laid-back gamers, wanting to throw the controller against the wall .
So we relax from being lulled into this weird mix of boredom-rage, and head back to our old trusty gaming companion, the PC. That's right folks, the renaisscance is at hand! Maybe. Two nice examples that PC gaming is still not dead are F.E.A.R. (an old-school but well executed FPS) and Ragdoll Kung Fu :this game is strange. First of all, it can't really be compared to any other game I know. You control a ragdoll, using your mouse to drag it's limbs (and head) across the screen. If you move your cursor in circles, you build up chi which is the driving force behind all your moves, be it mile-high jumps or Bruce Lee - inspired chopping attacks. Given that it can be bough online for a mere 15$, I'd urge everybody with a suitable machine (it doesn't come on Macs) to check it out. Beware: great concept, bad for left-handed players with right-handed mouse. Which concludes the experience for me.
So what, apart from finding seemingly great experiences that turn frustrating soon, is there left to play? Luckily there are glimpses of hope, even though the come from the past. More on those in the next entry.
Tue - September 20, 2005
Random comment about an obsolete control scheme
I stumbled across this guy: DavidT
It's an older post, but basically he sums up the problem with obsolete control legacies quite well. Don't worry man, we're on it. Basically, it's all about proper controls for the right game. God of War wouldn't work without the jump, but it does very well without the camera control :)
[...] In many of today's games jumping is a novelty thrown in because it can be thrown in. It's no longer a necessity for game play. Jumping is becoming more like bump mapping and lens flare. Something that can be done but is rarely used to it's full potential. [...]
It's an older post, but basically he sums up the problem with obsolete control legacies quite well. Don't worry man, we're on it. Basically, it's all about proper controls for the right game. God of War wouldn't work without the jump, but it does very well without the camera control :)
Sun - September 18, 2005
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is called Indigo Prophecy in the states. Apart from that,
it's still a great game. and one of the better takes on the 'interactive
storytelling' grail. This is probably the dullest entry on a video game every.
Tomorrow i shall post pictures of beautiful women in high heels.
Tomorrow i shall post pictures of beautiful women in high heels.
Wed - September 7, 2005
I got a dog
Okay, after reading this design review of
Nintendogs
i decided that it was not a simple tamagotchi,
but an actual game.
Now that Pizza (that's how i named the dog) moved in, i quickly discovered that playing with your virtual pet while other (non-gamers) are around can be quite embarrassing.
Let's see how this develops. It's a black labrador retriever, btw
Now that Pizza (that's how i named the dog) moved in, i quickly discovered that playing with your virtual pet while other (non-gamers) are around can be quite embarrassing.
Let's see how this develops. It's a black labrador retriever, btw
Sun - September 4, 2005
Sony vs. PSP owners, continued
Apparently, importing a PSP is bad if you plan to play
european games on it:
The story of Alex from UK on Joystiq
The only usefull comment, apart from all the soft-brained ha-ha-you-had-it-coming kids was this:
The story of Alex from UK on Joystiq
The only usefull comment, apart from all the soft-brained ha-ha-you-had-it-coming kids was this:
Posted Sep 2, 2005, 4:08 PM ET by X_Phoenix
Hey,
Perhaps they shouldn't keep us waiting half a year?
Sat - July 9, 2005
Cave Story
Still, Cave
Story
alias Doukutsu
Monogatari is worth every mention. If there
was only one game that I could take from 2005, I'd be torn between this amazing
piece of craftsmanship and very few other excellent commercial titles. I'd
probably take Cave
Story, just for the replay
value.
This game was created by a single person over the course of 5 years. Pixel, the creator, started working on it as a student. He took all the time he needed to perfect every aspect of the story, character, artwork and most importantly, the controls. More in this interview.
This game is, in a sense of technology- and content independent measuring, a perfect piece of work. The fact that the visual style, love for details, music and characters are as great as the whole experience makes it even better.
Even if you don't like cartoony japanese artwork, and prefer high-res 3D pixel shaded simulations, you'd miss one of the most involving interactive experiences if you didn't give it a go. Beware though: the first steps are hard, but once mastered reward you tenfold.
Get the Windows or Mac version from gameflaws.com , a similarly dedicated project that was created out of love for the game. There you will also find a download for a patch that converts the game to english. Long live the indie movement!
I admit that my version of the hero isn't dressed exactly like the original...
This game was created by a single person over the course of 5 years. Pixel, the creator, started working on it as a student. He took all the time he needed to perfect every aspect of the story, character, artwork and most importantly, the controls. More in this interview.
This game is, in a sense of technology- and content independent measuring, a perfect piece of work. The fact that the visual style, love for details, music and characters are as great as the whole experience makes it even better.
Even if you don't like cartoony japanese artwork, and prefer high-res 3D pixel shaded simulations, you'd miss one of the most involving interactive experiences if you didn't give it a go. Beware though: the first steps are hard, but once mastered reward you tenfold.
Get the Windows or Mac version from gameflaws.com , a similarly dedicated project that was created out of love for the game. There you will also find a download for a patch that converts the game to english. Long live the indie movement!
I admit that my version of the hero isn't dressed exactly like the original...
Killer7, MetalGearAcid: japan overkill
a quick DS update
Incoming DS soft, supposedly good!
Sugar, Salt and Lime
The End of the World
eyeweiss at GDC 2005
Ibara website up
Konami on NDS
La Li Lu Le Lo - I know what you did last night
War of the worlds
NDS pictures
Funny side note about Konami
Tracking your DS
Wake up and smell the ionized asteroid bits
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Published On: Feb 08, 2007 11:56 PM
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Published On: Feb 08, 2007 11:56 PM