Of Games and Art.

Japanese Video Game Industry is Dead?

2009-09-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Keiji Inafune is a name every gamer from the NES generation should know. He is the mind behind the Mega-Man series, as well as many other amazing titles sense then. In the video below during TGS, Inafune talks about how the Japanese game industry is dead. More after the jump.

I'm giving you the link because I couldn't get embedding the video to work.

"Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished."

Aside from Capcom, Japan has no more creative innovations towards the game industry? Really? An odd sentiment considering Final Fantasy XIII and the new game from team Ico are on the way. On the other hand, Inafune has been recently working on the western developed Dead Rising 2. Inafune has also been working in the game industry sense Japan's gaming hey-day when the world craved Nintendo games. Only the future can tell what will happen to the Japanese game industry though. Commenters, predict!

Final Fantasy 8 turns 10.

2009-09-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

I love Final Fantasy VIII. For the last ten years, it has been one of my favorite games of all time. And, as of last week, it has been exactly ten years. To celebrate this occasion, I played The Beatles Rock Band. That's why I'm now writing this article a week after the games anniversary; because The Beatles Rock Band is a lot of fun.
Whenever I'm asked about what my favorite games are, the most consistant answers have always been either The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and FF8. I've played both games countless times and always seem to have fun doing it, but no matter how many times I play either game, I seem to find that there are things I've never found before. In Ocarina of Time, I found a dieing Hyrule soldier in a back alley. I was astounded that I never knew this existed. What was more astounding that this was a magic spell I never knew about in Squaresoft's awesome JRPG.
During the final boss fight, you can draw and cast a spell only obtainable there. I never knew this because My characters are already geared up and fully leveled by then. The spell you can use, is ultimately forgettable that late in the game; but something must be said about what it says about the games design. For that, I thank the good people at Squaresoft for creating a game that keeps surprising me.

The fate of Captain Shepard and its impact on the next Mass Effect Guy.

2009-05-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Over the last weekend, Bioware announced that Captain Shepard isn't as dead a previously believed. This does, however, make you wonder how will your choices in Mass Effect 1 impact the upcoming sequel. If you played the game as a compassionate leader, will your starting world be any happier?

Recently, 2k Boston faced a similar situation with the upcoming sequel to its 2007 hit Bioshock. Bioshock ended with your character being either a saint or a sadist in regards to the lives of little girls. 2k Boston figured out how to tie in the solution to Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams without messing with the first games cannon. The solution: Make a prequel!

The easy solution to this problem was answered in an easier fashion in Biowares hit game Knights of the Old Republic 2; Bioware simply chose that the official ending to the first game had the main character be a good guy, and that's what went down.

If Mass Effect 2 starts by loading the history of your previous 'characters' history, this could increase replay value of the first game in order to see how the game changes, but this would require a lot of preparation time for the player. Also: What happens in the game if you didn't play the first Mass Effect? With E3 coming up, my inquires may end there. If not, I very wel may have to wait until Mass Effect 2 comes out.

Weekly Nostalgia: Cartriges

2009-05-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, I remember my Christmas tree being surrounded by small mostly-hollow boxes. These boxes were too small for clothes, too big for cassettes (you know, those early CDs) and too light to be a VHS tape (early DVD). These magical boxes contained video game cartridges.

I love cartridges. I love the noticeable label on the front of both the cart and the previously mentioned hollow box. I also love the cartridges shape This made the game immediacy easy to identify what console it was for. In this day and age, you need a logo on the disc to determine what machine the game is for. By looking at the cartridge, you immediately knew if the game was for your SNES or if it was for a Sega Genesis.

There was an identity to a cart sicking out of your console; a motivation to keep playing Donkey Kong because it looked at you as you walked by your SNES. With modern disc trays, it's easy to not think about what game you were last playing.

I'm not the only person who misses cartridges. In September 2008, Capcom sent out Press versions of Mega Man 9 in in jewel cases shaped like NES cartridges with a similar cover design of past Mega Man titles. This proves the nostalgia of cartridges in the American Zeitgeist.

The Grey or Black plastic cases are primitive in almost every way to discs. Their only advantage is the fact that cartridges have no loading times. This was true in the N64/PS1 era, and remains true in the DS/PSP generation. Discs allow for both lengthy/deep cut scenes and vast amounts of data space. A single Blu-Ray disc could easily hold every NES and SNES game ever designed.

I miss a lot of things about video game's past, and I will continue to talk about them in future posts, but for now, please bask in the nostalgia-ridden bliss of gaming before the mid to late nineties.

Nintendo needs spice to their bland pastry known as video games.

2009-05-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that on Zelda game? You know, the one where you go into the dungeon, get those keys and kill that pig boss guy? Wait, that's every zelda game...
Well do you remember that one Mario game? You know, the one where you collect stars and save the princess? Wait, that's every one....

How about the Punchout series? Metroid? Are you begining to pick up what I'm putting down? Nintendo is guilty of repetition; although it's not necessarily a crime. George Lucas of Star Wars fame has oftern compared his series to poetry due to its repetition. What makes Nintendo in need of updating their properties and not Star Wars is because repetitive gameplay is rarely a good thing.

Everybody who has ever played a Legend of Zelda title shudders whenever someone mentions the Water Temple. The torure and confusion of raising and lowering water levels still gives players nightmares. Although the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time is a brilliant and confusing level, it doesn't need to be remade in the next Zelda game (the next Water Temple being Great Ba in Majora's Mask).

The Mario frinchise is in trouble from repetition also, but in a defferent way. Marios level design in varrying and brilliant in every new title. but its storyline and gameplay has been the same for thirteen years. Nintendo has even tried to remedy this with Mario Sunshine, but-- oddly enough, Sunshine is often known as the black sheep in the series and rejected by fans. Every mario title effectivley starts and ends the same way/ This will ultimatley lead to the franchisses downfall. How many tributes and homages to itself does Mario really need?

Now, E3 is coming soon and all my Nintendo qualms may end. I love Nintendo, I think the Wii has the potential to change the way games are played, but with Wii music and Wii Play, Nintendo seems to want to broaden their audience and wallets instead of broadening their library of games.

Nintendo has a legendary ammount of franchises, but they are starting to suffer grom blandness. As a gamer, I hope these franchises star fresh-- like Salad, and not stale and tedious-- like Dynasty Warriors..... er... I mean cheese...

I love Adam Sessler.

2009-04-29T16:42:00.001-07:00

As of late, I've been writing an article (I'll try to finish it and get it up tomorrow) about how Ninendo either needs a new franchise or a way to make their old franchises new. That's all I'll talk about that now because anything else will spoil my article.
Adam Sessler has a similar post about not just Nintendo, but Japanese game design in general on his Soapbox videos. On top of that, all of his other Soapbox videos are really strong. The videos let him rant about any game dispute he wants to talk about, and because it's Sessler talking about it, it makes people want to listen to him.
Anyway, Adam Sessler, I love you.

Why I love the Escapist

2009-04-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Escapist has five magazine styled articles every week under one topic. This leads to amazingly broad concepts to be written about. On top of this, the Escapist has some great video features. Anyway, the escapist is up for a Webby and I give it my whole-hearted recommendation.

And now I'm back!

2009-04-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hello to my minimal viewership!
Sorry I've been gone for a month or so. My grandma went to the hospital and I've had to deal with a new quarter of school. Back to Blogging!

Virtual On is coming out Wednesday for 1200 points. ($15)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 may be coming out for Live and PSN.
I'm still looking forward to Arkham Asylum, even though I wont get to play as the Joker.
Stephen Totilo will now be working for Kotaku as of next Monday.
Next Sunday will possibly have an awesome game sale at Best Buy.

Many other things happened this month, but this is the big stuff that happened this week in gaming in my opinion.

Why wont they let us catch 'em all on WII?

2009-03-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

In an interview with Pokemon's director Junichi Masuda and designer Takechi Kawachimaru on Whattheyplay.com, there are no current plans for either a Pokemon game on the Wii or a Pokemon MMO. For the most part, I can understand now desire to turn their franchise into an online game. Not everybody wants to be Marvel with World of Wolverines, but Pokemon has had ten years of almost identical gameplay. The gameplay has been a lot of fun and I've loved the series, but Pokemon Chrome (or whatever they call it) needs to change up the formula because the game is in desperate need for a change. Untill that happens, I'm gonna count my pennies and hope to get a copy of Platinum soom.

Bioshock: now with more shockers!

2009-03-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

Bioshocks multiplayer has been all over the internet over the last day or so. Honestly, I couldn't care less because I don't play multiplayer (I just don't want to pay for gold); with that said, a co-op may be cool though. Cooperative play is easily one of gamings biggest current trends (ie. RE5, Halo 3, Army of Two, GoW2), and Bioshock was a brilliant game. If someone wants to join me in killing splicers while wandering through the wonder that is Rapture? Sure! If there's a deathmatch or something attached (which I'm sure there will be).... Well.... I'm sure the maps will be cool.

My Totilian responce.

2009-03-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

MTV Shows

Earlier today, Stephen Totilo posted a video about the lack of exclusives for Xbox 360 this year. Ultimatley, I agree with him. The list seems a little small, but I'm not sure what's coming out for the PS3 this year. The Wii's lineup is looking great though. What this means to me is that this will be a slower year for gaming--something I'm a little happy about. The last two years have been huge in gaming, and I need the time to catch up.
The lack of exclusives this year also means the start of new productions in 2010. Maybe next year we will see some new IP's. The only new title I played in 2008 was Mirror's Edge and I would love to see a new game with that engine. For now, I'm more than content playing The new Wii titles, while awaiting the collector's edition of Arkham Asylum.

Blockus Levitatus!

2009-03-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

According to Joystiq, a LEGO Harry Potter may be on its way. For all of us that wish that Lego Batman were fighting bald guys other than Killer Crock this may be out best bet! I mean, other than that big guy in by the airplane in Lego Indiana Jones...

'Virtual On' X-box Live!

2009-03-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that's unbelievable awesome, it's giant fighting robots. Whether it's anime or....well... people parodying anime; giant robots are fun. And with that said, American X-box Live owners will be able to play the awesome game, Virtual On, sometime in spring 2009. This makes Virtual On the best X-box game with giant fighting robots. Sorry Front Mission, I'm just not into robots with stats..

Post-PAX resolutions

2008-09-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hello people who aren't reading this because this is a first post. I'm writing this several days after PAX and I felt the need to write about my impressions and feelings about the gaming industry. Writing here has been a plan for several months, and I'm finally starting it. The intention of this Blog is to talk about gaming and how it relates to to other mediums, but also about games on its own.

For a first post, I figured I would talk about a game that has been out for several years, but I was able to procure from a technicolor vintage gaming vendor at PAX. The game was an early Nippon Ichi title, and is known purely for it's theatrical novelty-- The musical.
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a simple JRPG filled with simple tactical gameplay that takes more skill to lose than the other way around. The musical aspect may be misinterpreted nowadays with Guitar Hero and Rock Band being A-list titles, but the musical in context is more along the lines of The Sound of Music or Cats. Aside from the adorable lyrics, and witty dialogue referencing Abba lyrics, the game has a cult following that has caused the release of a DS game. If your into Simple RPGs, I'd recommend it, but if you don't like musicals, you aren't missing much.