GameOfTheBlog.com

Name this game!

2008-11-14T11:09:00.005-06:00

"[BLANK] is all about the emotions associated with family and teenage angst," said Nick Harper, the game's creative director. "We've taken that philosophy and turned it into gameplay mechanics that will be fun and challenging.

I know what you're thinking..."Sixteen Candles", right? Unfortunately, that is not the correct answer.

BREAKING NEWS: Yaris De-Listed From XBLA With No Warning

2008-10-30T11:02:00.004-05:00

"In an interview at the Tokyo Game Show in Japan this week, Microsoft corporate vice president John Schappert backed away from that perception a bit, saying the information about XBLA de-listing had been taken out of context and that there was no plan to do any such thing."

"We will also give a three-month notice before delisting any title."

LIES.

From the Collectibles section of the XBOX 360 Store

2008-10-08T18:09:00.004-05:00

SKU: 609555417945
White matte laminated euro shopping bag with shoulder length handles in white with a cardboard bottom. Bag size 12" x 8" x 14".

Style Number: 451603 XBOX

Price: $2.15

SKU: 609555393294

This 8.5 X 11 inch spiral bound notebook with 90 sheets of lined paper offers plenty of space for those who dare to dream.

Style Number: 711702 X360

Price: $7.65

From the Guinness World Records: The Videogame for the Wii press release

2008-09-29T13:16:00.003-05:00

"Accessible game mechanics enable anyone to grow the longest fingernails ever seen..."

Visit the Endcap Of Forgotten Games

2008-09-26T10:55:00.007-05:00

I found this in a Microcenter ad from a month or so back. I see at least 3-4 games here I (don't) need to buy.

Does anybody else find this funny? Because I think it's really funny.

I think we need to come up with a name for that strange, sad, hobo-like forgotten game endcap mascot. I bet he'd get along famously with the denizens of The Island Of Misfit Toys.

UPDATE: I've decided he should be called Lil' Cappy, but Frank likes Cappy The Endcap Game better.

I Escaped from Ike to GDC

2008-09-15T10:03:00.003-05:00

Just got into Austin last night from Houston. Due to Hurricane Ike, the power was still out at my apartment. No flooding at my place, but the heat and humidity were somewhat unbearable.

I feel a bit guilty escaping Houston and leaving my wife and kids behind(who just had/are having both of their birthdays-we might not be able to have the parties this weekend) but I had this trip planned for months and the wife told me to go. There is no school through Wednesday(at least) and the only thing to do is to wait for the power to come back on. Don't have my camera with me, but maybe I can take some decent cell phone pics to upload when I get back. I'm also meeting a bunch of people in person that I've only spoken to online. Hopefully I can stay the entire time, but it matters whether my paycheck comes through as scheduled and things stay stable back home.

Wish me luck!

Ballance Impressions

2008-08-12T21:07:00.005-05:00

See, I got a halfway decent video card for my new(ish) computer so I've been trying out some actual 3d PC gaming as of late. And of course, since I'm a cheap bastard the only games I'm playing are under 5 bucks each. The latest was found at a Dollar Tree:

Ballance

It's basically a puzzle-heavy cross between Monkey Ball and Marble Madness. Some of the puzzles are amazingly devious from looking at some vids of the later levels. Which I probably shouldn't have done since now that I've seen how crazy hard it gets, there's no way I am going devote the amount of time required to get good enough to get even halfway though this game. I gotta respect the brilliant level design though. Here's a clip of a nicely paced run through an level that was available only online from the developer's website. Keep in mind that one of the major gameplay elements is transforming your ball into paper(which looks like wadded up newsprint!), wood, or stone which affects the speed and weight.

If you found that interesting, check out this speed run of the same level.

The horrors of inpependent gaming.

2008-08-11T23:32:00.007-05:00

Played a bit of Wik and the Fable of Souls from the PC version I got at Half Price Books for three bucks. Wik was interesting, but I'm not sure I'll play it again anytime soon, it was a little too Lemmings-ish for me. The disc had a bunch of other independent game demos so I tried the claymation art shooter Platypus which I had seen on shelves for the PSP. It wasn't a great shooter that I could tell, but it was terribly fun to play and has amazing Commodore 64-inspired music(EDIT - turns out the music is composed entirely of C64 game remixes).

Then I popped onto the website and read the incredibly depressing story of how one guy made essentially made(everything but the engine) the whole thing by himself, only got paid 2,000 bucks to do so, had his house burn down during the process, and then lost the ability to sell it on his website. Then when the PSP version came out, he saw that his name wasn't mentioned at all in the credits.

Whee.

EDIT: I was able to read that messageboard thread more and there's an interesting post from the lead programmer for the PSP version.

Pac-Crap

2008-06-24T23:16:00.003-05:00

I know that video game history is rife with wonderful tales of Pac-Man ripoff s, but they never cease to amuse me.

Shirtless and alone In space with only a politically questionable arcade game to keep you occupied...

2008-05-21T15:43:00.004-05:00

Sometimes you come across something that is so unexpected and unnecessary that you have trouble accepting the fact that it actually exists. "Bin Laden Basher"(from the Creative Engineering, Inc., the creators of Showbiz Pizza's Rock-A-Fire Explosion) is one of those things:

"We built one prototype of this unusual, politically motivated game in the tradition of "Wac-A-Mole". While we have no plans to go into production, we will sell the prototype to a collector of unique games."

I have so many questions.

How could the DS market possibly be in danger of an 'Atari Crash'?

2008-05-07T14:56:00.002-05:00

"...actually, and again, and this is those whispering voices saying this, but you've started hearing the phrase "Atari crash" pretty frequently. People are talking about how the second "Atari crash" is around the corner. And Nintendo is the one that has to figure out a way to stop it."

"Nintendo put a lot of thought into the original, and ran some really cool commercials for it. But some of these companies just slap something together, put the word "brain" in the title, and release it. There are a ton of them, and barely any of them are interesting."

Is this really necessary?

2008-03-19T21:41:00.003-05:00

Was anybody really asking for these?

Did someone do research about how a game would sell better if it just had more chicken-related content?

Is there a large enough subsection of the populous that feels the urge to hunt, attack, and shoot chickens that there has to be some sort of socially acceptable video equivalent for this deranged mindset to live out their sick poultry violence fantasies?

I think we all know the answer.

Mankind's Greatest Achievement?

2008-02-27T13:33:00.006-06:00

Last Christmas, my 5-year-old daughter wanted nothing more than a 300 dollar robot pony. It crushed my heart to tell her that she would never get one and even wishing wouldn't help but I feel like she learned a valuable life lesson.

I wonder if this Taffy TV Video Game would be a suitable replacement:

It appears to be made by Senario who don't have an easily accessible website, but man I want buy one of these so bad.

How can I resist buying a product that proudly exclaims:

"Huge Inflatable Pony Controls the Game!"

I mean shit, what am I supposed to do? That's got to be the most persuasive advertising since I received a spam e-mail with the irresistible header "An All Monkey Jazz Band!!"

Thanks to Frank who found this miracle of modern technology on GameSniped.

Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition: Secrets

2008-02-07T10:49:00.002-06:00

I picked up the PS2 version of Twisted Metal: Head On yesterday and had a bit of fun with it. It was nice to see all the extra production info, too bad the game isn't not online.

Before you play the section of the four never before seen Twisted Metal Black 2 levels, ther's a video describing that the sequel to Twisted Metal Black was halted because 6 of the production members died in an airplane accident on a celebratory ski trip. The story goes that two years later on the exact date of their death a note was sent to Sony pleading to release the completed levels...signed by the six dead game makers(dun Dun DUNNNNNN!!). After you beat the 4 levels on hard, you can see the note which reads:
We are disappointed to hear of your decision
To keep the world from seeing the last
Of our work
...We Beg of You...
Show them all what we have done...
Show them our last earthly deeds
...If you doubt our existence look to the
Dark past for proof that we are who we say
For in the dark past you will find proof
That we know what the future will bring...

And do not forget...
The truth lies in the greenery of Paris...
...To the left the truth is revealed...
This is why we have come back...
...To let you know what awaits...

The disc also has a half hour documentary entitled "Twisted Metal: The Dark Past" and right at a portion where they're speaking about the Paris level in TM1, numbers flash quickly throughout the rest of the film(I wasn't able to capture the first one):

Using a basic numbered alphabet code it spells out "Twisted Metal is Coming On PSThree". Jaffe has previously mentioned that the game would include clues to the next game that his new production company Eat Sleep Play was making, so that appears to be it. I'll bet those signatures contain additional clues/jokes.

Big thanks to the posters at GameFAQs and NeoGAF so the quick info. I'd seen the numbers while watching is last night and was planning to decode it today, but they beat me to it.

Games I Bought And Then Didn't Play That Were Released In 2007 - Now With Previously Unannounced Bonus Content

2008-01-26T11:49:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are the games I picked up that were released in 2007 that I didn't actually play along with the reasons why. Special Bonus Content at the bottom!

Adventures of Darwin - A lot of these "bought but didn't play" titles were purchased to support the release of unique budget games. I love a lot of the ideas of the Simple 2000 series and so far Adventures of Darwin is the only one released in the US. Europe, the wonderland of budget PS2 games, has seen many of them released with full translation so maybe more will show up over here but with D3 having a serious presence in the US and releasing award winning games I'm not holding my breath.

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - For 15 bucks, I had to pick up this one too see what all the fuss was about. 2d wrestling on the PS2, how could I pass it up?!

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories - 20 bucks, another GTA game I'll probably never finish. I have the other four(!) for the PS2, I had to complete the set!

Th3 Plan - Reviews aren't great but the gameplay and presentation seem interesting. 3.33 well spent.

The Red Star - Still kicking myself for not having played this yet, especially since it was such a hassle to find a sealed copy at Gamestop. Someday...someday.

Brave: The Search For the Spirit Dancer - I actually played through this in the last month and it's a great character-based 3d platformer that only Dave Halverson and I can truly appreciate. From what I can piece together, it was originally developed by Vis Entertainment(who then went out of business) and later picked up by Evolved and ultimately published by SouthPeak. Looks great, plays well, and the level design is stunning. The only problem I have apart from some difficulty spikes is that the camera control should have been a bit more dramatic to show you more of the impressive landscape. Southpeak is releasing a remake just entitled Brave for DS, Wii, and PSP. Hopefully they'll market it a bit better this time because it's worth experiencing.

BONUS FOOTAGE - Here's a few I played from 2007 that I forgot about until Just. Right. Now.

Crazy Frog Arcade Racer - Actually just the Euro-only Crazy Frog Racer 2 renamed for our delicate American minds. I guess this rules out getting the original over here. Sigh. It's pretty awful gameplay-wise but it looks somewhat nice, and there's a bad rhythm game thrown in for now reason. The novelty is very much worth the 3.33 I paid for it.

Lumines Plus - I was excited to play this and tried to, but I just didn't get the gameplay. I tried though. Oh, how I tried.

Mountain Bike Adrenaline - Another from the three "3 for 9.99" PS2 game packs I bought on Black Friday. The weird shimmery tesselation(or whatever) effect on everything is disconcerting and takes a bit to get used to. All in all, a terrible game in everyway, but a good game based on this sport should still be made.

Games I Played That Were Released In 2007 - Part II

2008-01-19T15:45:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are the rest of the Games I Played That Were Released In 2007. Looking over it, there's only two PS2 exclusive titles, how sad.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - From what I've been able to gather, the PS2 version is exactly the same as the 360 and ps3 version, only with lesser graphics. This in itself is pretty amazing, considering the console's age. Or maybe they held back so that all four major console versions would be the same. Already the increasing complexity of the next round of console is widening the gap between multiplatform titles, with most losing content or features(Rock Band and The Simpsons Game) or just making a completely different game(the upcoming Ghostbusters). Anyways, this is a great game, they borrowed a lot of ideas from Bully, lots to do, wonderful use of the maurader's map as a guide to the next task, up there with best looking PS2 games.

Jackass: The Game - Looks and plays better than you'd expect. If you're not a fan, don't expect it to convert you, but if you are, it's very very fun.

Meet the Robinsons - The only non-PS2 version game I played on this list and one of the last Gamecube game released. It ties very well into the movie's story and emulates the (highly underrated)film's look well. Nothing too special, but very well done.

Game Of The Blog's 2007 Game Of The Year

Raw Danger - Yet another game I obsessed about... but I actually played through this one! Not graphically impressive in any obvious way but contains an engaging multi-faceted story that is probably the closest form of urban exploration you'll get in a videogame. The empty crumbled city is effectively creepy yet peaceful and the brief action sequences are exciting, harrowing and well placed. It does get a bit too Japanesey, design-wise, with the strict save system and level progression. I would have preferred an easier way to repeat levels to see more of the branching storyline. Also, the caucasianation process was entirely unneeded. Here's to hoping that Downfall: San Francisco actually exists because it sounds similarly awesome.

Rock Band - I was lucky to have a friend who has the 360 version and got to first play the game as it was designed, live with four people. He later hooked it up on the screen at a movie theatre and it feels almost as good as actually playing live. The drums are awesome, the vocals are super fun, but yet again, the PS2 version is sorely lacking. The world tour game is strangely absent and just like Dancing With The Stars, the on-screen action is just video footage. This FMV band info is strangely absent from most major reviews with Gamespot going as far as to say "the character modeling and animation still look great, and a lot of the visual filters the other versions had are on display here. Granted, it almost seems like the game is just running full-motion video of characters from the PS3 or 360 versions playing because the game uses a lot of the same band members over and over again". I assume they didn't spend much time replaying the songs. IGN doesn't even mention the graphics. Luckily, my old original Guitar Hero SG works with it and it also recognizes the Logitech mic from Karaoke Hero. I look forward to picking up the drums when they're released separately.

Shrek the Third - It's better than the other Shrek games if that's saying anything. The film was aggressively terrible, the game is just the normal afterthought. Some interesting spots here and there(the mechanical version of frogger was interesting) but unmemorable as a whole. The cut scenes are amazing though, someone needs to put all of those online. They're done in a cut out puppet style, the intro one can be seen in this video starting at 1:30.

The Simpsons Game - Probably more fun for big Simpsons fans, especially a nerdy gamer ones. Due to the cel-shaded graphics, the PS2 version looks almost exactly like it's next gen brothers, but the entire town of Springfield that can be accessed between levels in those versions is reduced to just the Simpsons house in this one.

Next up: Games I Bought And Then Didn't Play That Were Released In 2007!

Games I Played That Were Released In 2007 - Part I

2008-01-09T12:24:00.000-06:00

I play a lot of older games(mainly because I only own a PS2 and Gamecube and also usually have to wait until they drop in price) so my list of Games I Played That Were Released In 2007 is small enough that I will subject you to brief reviews of all 17.

Alvin and the Chipmunks - A terrible rhythm game complete with confusing gameplay & graphics that have nothing to do with the song that's playing. I played through the whole thing in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Even worse? Slowdown...in a rhythm game. Since there are a lot of well known songs(40!) done Chipmunk-style, I'm surprised this hasn't gotten a soundtrack release(even indirectly), it's the best part of the game. Sadly, the actual movie soundtrack is mostly R&B & Hip-Hop tunes. Make sure to check out their version of Phantom Planet's California.

Arthur and the Invisibles - One of the better 3D platformers I've played on the PS2. Beautiful graphics, voice, and control. For those who like the genre(I'm lookin' at you, Halverson!), an unheralded gem.

Bee Movie Game - Although it truly captured the tedium of being a lowly worker bee with it's constant stream of mandatory jobs in between the interesting parts, it's a great licensed kid's game with lots of various things to do. Maybe the best stab at a "GTA for kids" style game so far. Also, providing his own voice is further proof of Seinfeld's commitment to the project.

Biker Mice from Mars - Awful horrible trash. I was only able to stomach playing a half hour of this UK only garbage. BREAKING NEWS: As I was searching out the box art for each of these, I found that this was actually was released in Americatown in early June. With such universally reviled gameplay, I'm amazed that SCEA let this one slip through.

Carol Vorderman's Sudoku - I got a bit obsessed with this earlier in the year, mostly because it was one on the earliest horsemen of the coming tidal wave of strange PS2 bargain releases but after playing it for a bit, I probably never will again. It's a great game, just not entirely my bag.

Chulip - Here's another game I spent too much time thinking about and then hardly played after buying it. It's one of the most unique console titles ever and I look forward to setting some time aside to fully experience it's complete freakishnessism.

Dancing with the Stars - Decent rhythm game that actually evokes ballroom dancing steps while using the controller...if my thumbs were Stacy Keibler's feet. Not sure if the dance pad movements are as interesting. Sadly, all of the onscreen dancing is just video(ballroom dancing mocap!) and the song list is filled with random original pieces, but gladly it all looks incredibly creepy.

God of War II - Incredibly well done and an amazing swan song for the PS2's stellar library. Playing as a weakened and defenseless Kratos near the beginning of the game was one of my favorite gaming moments. Quite possibly the manliest game ever made.

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s - Mostly due to the weak number of songs, this collection is highly underrated, even getting called "aggressively awful dreck" by the pinnacle of videogame critique, Playboy.com. If they had just added 10-15 more songs and/or dropped the price 10 bucks it probably wouldn't have been so harshly received. "Only A Lad" is worth the price of admission alone.

...

And really, what's wrong with not changing gameplay and just adding new songs? it's not liek there aren't 25 different freaking versions of beatmania for the psone and PS2 in Japan(grumble grumble).

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Boss battles aren't that fun or even predictable(I beat Tom Morello after 20-30 tries but when I won it seemed random, when I got to Slash and Lou I took then out in the first try), the product placement was excessive(I bet Morello just loves being introduced by the Axe deodorant Bom Chicka Wah Wah strippers), and the character models questionable. I played the PS2 version, which brings up a whole 'nother list of ups and downs. Here they are...in list form:

Downs: The lead singer looks even more freakishly Muppet-like, the drummer has only two arm positions, no star power animations for the regular characters, no Bret Michaels(even thought the video of his mocap session is still on the disc), and worst of all...no breast physics

Ups: No Bret Michaels(HA HA, GET IT), a Budcat logo guitar, and vastly better unlockable characters than the ps3/360 version(Elvis and a robot!)

OTHERWISE, it's awesome and one of my favorites of the year.

The last seven Games I Played That Were Released In 2007 will be revealed soon!

X-Treme Gaming Update - Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Game

2008-01-03T15:15:00.000-06:00

So after playing through the PS2 version of Strawberry Shortcake: Adventures In the Land Of Dreams(crudely renamed "The Sweet Dreams Game" for uncouth Americans such as myself) in all of 4 hours or so, I was perusing the instructions for some helpful gameplay tips(Which I did not find. Hopefully publishers The Game Factory or developers Eko System will read this and respond with directions on how to unlock higher levels of difficulty) and noticed the odd feeling of the outside cover.

It was slightly rough and textured, not the smooth glossy finish that usually adorns most official Playstation 2 manual covers.

I scratched at it slightly, listening to the sound as my dirty fingernails attacked its unusual surface and then...

what's...that smell?

OH NO, it couldn't be...

Strawberries

The game manual for Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Game has a strawberry scented scratch and sniff cover.

The Bee Game VS Bee Movie Game

2007-10-17T14:56:00.001-05:00

For no reason other that to virtually shake my finger disapprovingly at Midway, I present to you the DS box covers for Bee Movie game and The Bee Move Game:

(For those not familiar with the anime television series that originated in the mid 70's and was mainly popular in europe only, click here.)

Brutal Legend Surfaces

2007-10-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

I was glad to see of the confirmation of Double Fine's Brutal Legend by way of magazine cover and even more excited by the revelation of a 45 single in this frustrating Kotaku video(conveniently located behind the jump as usual). Hopefully someone will post a clean version where they're not playing it backwards, adjusting the speed/tone, and talking during the whole song.

Doing some simple searching, I find that domains for Riggs Records, Tainted Coil, and Corpse of Hope were all registered on August 24 of this year.

Also, Corpse of Hope is already a song title from the Austin/Denver hardcore band Severed Heads Of State. Listening to song samples on their myspace and record label pages, they are definitely not the same people behind the music.

I'm surprised no one has uploaded scans of the article as I'm most interested in the gameplay and platform. This would definitely be a system seller for me if I could afford to buy a new system!

EDIT: This Something Awful forum post has more details including

"other voice talent included Lemmy from Motorhead as your bass player and healer, Rob Halford as the antagonist, and Ronny James Dio as an unannounced character, additionally there's gonna be original music from Zakk Wylde, Skold(?), Wolfmother, and Judas Priest."

and this direct quote:

"...Their first stop is the Crushing Pit, where many of the young men of the village have been abducted in order to mine for ancient car parts. Without tools they're left to endlessly smash their heads against the wall, building up grossly disproportionate neck muscles. Lars wonders aloud what can be done with a bunch of listless kids who only know how to bang their heads all day. 'Start a revolution' Eddie Intones."

but most importantly:

"Coming out on PS3 and 360", "Zelda type game" , "game focuses on large conflicts with many enemies at once", & "Grounded in the familiar, the third-person action of Brutal Legend pulls the player back from the strange and into the conventions any action game is familiar with - at least at first."

Strange Video Games In Today's Modern Arcade Vol. I

2007-09-16T13:59:00.000-05:00

As a parent of young kids, I see a lot of weird arcade titles that only exist in child oriented gaming locations such as Chuck E. Cheese and in this example, Incredible Pizza. I took pictures of some of the more interesting ones. Click the pics for larger sizes and makes sure to check the company websites for more weird titles.I'm not sure if they got Rick Dees' permission for the title, but Disco Duck from Coastal Amusements is basically whack a mole for your feet.
This was a really nice and elaborate cabinet for Fishin' Time from ICE(Innovative Concepts in Entertainment Inc.)
The one that takes the cake though is this Gone Fishing cabinet from Tsunami Visual Technologies, Inc./JVL Corp. As you can see, it's just s single giant button that whacks a fish for distance. Yes, it's an arcade version of that penguin whacking Flash game from Yetisp ort s.

Austin video game finds

2007-09-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

(As I'm writing this, I'm sitting right next to the voice actor portrayed "Big Rigg" in 50 Cent: Bulletproof....right next to him, the guy who was "Mobster" in the same title)

In the last couple of evenings, after the conference has wound down for the day, I've been able to find a few places around Austin to check out some video game stores.

On the first day, I was able to check out Game Over Videogames. They have a large selection of games for pretty much every major American console ever made, but sadly no copies of Banjo Kazooie or Tooie. There ware also lots of gaming shirts, toys, etc. The prices seemed a bit high for some things but then again, I haven't shopped for classic games in while. They did have a tempting copy of Buffy The Vampire Slayer for the Xbox but I passed. I wish someone would open up a similar store in Houston but I'm not holding my breath.

The second day, I drove up and down Lamar Blvd to check out various shops I haven't visited in around a decade(Waterloo Video: wish there was something like that in Houston, Planet K: I don't remember it being as much of a head shop).

I went to two Half Price Books and actually found some PS3 and 360 titles, if I had either system I'd proabably snap them up at 30 bucks each. I settled for a PS2 copy of Midnight Club Racing for three buck and a Yakov Smirmov videotape of his Branson act.

Cheapo Discs & DVDs seemed promising with Simpsons Skateboarding PS2 for 10 bucks and Bust-A-Groove psone for only three. Sadly, the former was scratched and the latter turned out to be a bootleg. I settled for Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time PS2 for 7 bucks.

I also ran across a Goodwill store that was beautifully organized and had stuff I've never seen in my town such as an Xbox and and original Gameboy with a case and tons of games.

I dared not to ask prices, I'll just imagine they were 20 dollars each and remain happy in my blissful ignorance.

Top Gun slot "machine"

2007-09-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

I hesitate to even call this thing a slot machine, it's more of a gambling videogame(they call it Sensory Immersion Gaming):
As you can see from the marquee, they got all of the major stars(Kelly McGillis, Anothony Edwards, & Val Kilmer) I asks the guys with WMS about this and they sais it was because "you're Maverick!", but I wonder if licensing had more to do with it.
They've also produced many other themed casino machines based on such properties as Hasbro board games(Monopoly), Clint Eastwood's likeness(Dirty Harry, Fistfull of Dollars) and even Green Acres.

I think I'll wait for Mr. Belvedere Video Poker.

Austin GDC - Habbo Hotel

2007-09-06T13:07:00.000-05:00

This the the biggest room yet:
A lot of the sessions that have interested me the most here at the Austin GDC are the ones relating to online communities. As a parent with two young girls, one rapidly becoming a tween, the interactions and community psychology of online worlds is something I've been paying attention to more and more. I was able to see two keynotes today, the first from Sulake lead designer Sulka Haro. Here's a few things I found interesting.

In Finland, cellphones are common enough among teenagers that the initial sales were SMS based, directly selling the in game furniture items that you decorate your room with(called furni),but when the game introduced a UK version, they moved to selling credits for money which turned out to be one of the most complicated things in the game. Worldwide there are around 100 different ways that they sell credits.

They use the idea of one in a million when thinking about users figuring out loophole in the game. With 80,000,000 users 80 will find the loophole.

With advertising, they're try to get away from standard avenues such as banners and heading more toward branded items, such a a Mountain Dew couch. It's been very successful with branded items becoming more valuable than readily available item that might even have more functionality.

Some items are apparently worth up to two thousand real-world dollars, they recently calculated the total market value of all existing items at around 550,000,000.

When dealing with cheaters and scammers, the fear of their parents finding out what they've been doing is a much worse threat that jail time.

In a recent survey, 70% of habbos wanted a foreign friend but only 44% have a positive attitude toward foreigners(!). So many Finnish teens crowded the Japanese hotel when it opened that they had to develop IP blocking technology to prevent the Finns from overtaking it.

He doesn't like the terms web2.0 or game 3.0 for Habbo since they've been doing it for almost 7 years. Also dislikes the term User Generated Content. It's too generic and makes users sound like content creating robots. Prefers the term "player created activity". Proud that Habbo is a non-violent non-game.

He then showed some of the content of Habbo(which has gotten pretty insane since I dabbled with it 5 years ago.)

There is now a music mixer and audio samples that can be bought. Habbo was silent for 6 years and now music is everywhere and most is player created. The resulting music can be bought for about 15 cents an album and burned to a CD.

He showed a room that looked like a McDonald's with people standing in line to order and as he said "people are role-playing a minimum wage job". There was also a police station with people acting a police officers, there are numerous armies, mafias, pretend gambling casinos. He pointed out that they can't actually do anything malicious, it's all just role play. There are also record stores and he also showed off a room with 20 rare expensive items that totaled up to 200 dollars. Since that particular item is no longer offered it's actually worth much more now. He then showed a room of people dressed in brown role playing as horses "for hours and hours and hours."

Habbo is almost completely user driven and they try very hard not to define content. There are no pre-defined feedback loops, no in-game rewards for doing anything. Players get enjoyment from fame gathering or just loving to play. The players usually know what's hot before the designers do. He has to resist the temptation to think he knows that the users want. In other MMOs community managers end up becoming superstars in the world and they try to avoid that like crazy.

A couple of examples of in game Habbo transitioning out side of the game world, Habbo-themed wedding invitations and cake topper for a couple that met in the game and the "pool's closed" phenomenon - a giant raid by 4chan that temporarily shut does the US hotel and is now a t-shirt and meme repeated by people who might not even know what it originally meant.

Far Cry 2 To Have Orphanage Burning Mini-game

2007-09-05T16:23:00.000-05:00

...is a headline that you'll never see. Mythical orphanage burning was a hypothetical mission that you might get sent on if you acted like a complete bastard in a game that was designed to react to a player's previous actions in the game.

Another interesting bit in the talk "Familiarity breeds contempt: Building game stories that flow" by Ubisoft's Patrick Redding was an example game called "papaRatzo", a free-roaming title where you play a photographer rat in a London that's eternally night time and your task is to take embarrassing and incriminating photos of mythical creatures called "Cele-Brites".

The game sounded so awesome I sort of glossed over the example it was used for. I've also been up since 4:30 am driving for 3 hours. Here's a picture of that big room.

And here's a picture of the next room I was in:

It was uncomfortably small and packed but the talk about "community influencers" in MMOs was very interesting. I really never knew such a thing existed and it's a deviously clever use of your userbase. I attempted similar community interaction(on a much smaller scale) when I used to have a live talk show on cable acces tv. I still talk to people I met on those message boards and get togethers.

I also took four pages of illegibly written notes for seemingly no reason.

I have infiltrated the Austin Game Developers conference

2007-09-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

By large amounts of persistance and a lot of luck, I am lucky enough to attend the Austin Game Developers Conference, even thought I feel have no business being here. There was a bit of trouble checking in a getting my badge so I missed the first two sessions, but I'm finally in and patiently waiting for this one to start. It should be interesting.

This room is freaking huge.

Documentary and intro videos from I'm Your Man! (bonus flowchart included)

2007-08-29T10:57:00.001-05:00

Here are both the original theatrical intro(starring A. Whitney Brown) and a short documentary on Interfilm from the I'm Your Man! DVD.

As promised, here's a bonus flowchart!

(click for full size)

Video Gaming Torpor

2007-08-29T08:58:00.000-05:00

I've been in a gaming funk lately. I've been trying to finish playing games I start all the way through for the past year or so but it gets tough when you play a couple of terrible titles in a row.

Spongebob Squarepants: Creature From Krusty Krab seemed promising. I recently played another Squarepants title, Battle for Bikini Bottom, which was an excellent platformer but this one was horribly simple and repetitive. It's especially sad because it looks amazing and it's very well made, the game play just falls way short. It would be a great starter game for those new to video gaming, but it's hard to recommend it to anyone else.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is another depressing situation. Rayman 2 was an amazing game, I'd easily place it somewhere high in my top 10 favorite 3d platformers. With just Rayman 2 and Beyond Good and Evil, Michael Ancel has secured his place in gaming history(...and my heart) but unfortunately, he didn't really have anything to do with Rayman 3 and it really shows. The controls are really strange, the worst being when you jump, the forward momentum slows while you finish a floaty slow motion jump. It's baffling and hard to get adjusted to. The camera is also very oddly dynamic and hard to control. Again, the game looks beautiful, it's just a shame that there's no game play to match it.

Crime Patrol Strip Club video

2007-08-21T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here's the entire strip club level of the arcade game Crime Patrol from American Laser Games. Tacked on to the end are all of the results of missed shots. I took this off of the DVD version released by Digital Leisure.

This sequence makes me wonder why there aren't strip clubs that sell Yoo Hoo by the box in my area.

Lucky Britain

2007-08-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...England gets all the good shitty licensed games:

(ACTUAL SCREENSHOT)

Game Haven's Crystalcade

2007-08-20T10:27:00.000-05:00

Kotaku posted a story yesterday about someone finding a four thousand dollar arcade emulation box/joystick thing in a Skymall catalog, but I think they missed the big picture. The same company sells a full-sized clear light-up color-changing arcade emulation machine with a mirrored bezel and joysticks plated with precious metals. Game Haven presents unto the world...Crystalcade:

I'm pretty sure that they should have called this thing the PimpCade. Prices aren't listed but as they say, if ya gotta ask...

I'm Your Man DVD booklet essay

2007-08-17T00:41:00.000-05:00

Here is another piece of writing found with the I'm Your Man DVD, this time from the enclosed booklet. It's very informative and mildly depressing as this was the only ChoicePoint release, despite the cheery outlook. Once again, I've retained the original formatting and odd punctuation. No spelling mistakes to fix this time!

You just bought the first interactive movie ever on DVD. In fact, you own the first interactive movie -- period. And now that you've proved just how forward-thinking you are, maybe we should explain ourselves.

What is A ChoicePoint Film?
Thanks for asking. ChoicePoint Films are the first form of DVD entertainment to pay equal attention to both the movie and game experience. They pull off every stunt that the DVD format is capable of and few have truly used. By taking live-action film and combining it with interactive programming. A ChoicePoint Film lets you construct your own movie from multiple plots. You call the shots!

This stuff just isn't possible with any other home entertainment platform, but it's nowhere near as simple as it sounds. And it certainly didn't happen overnight There's much more to it than that.

-Where'd I'm Your Man Come From?
"Plastics" was The Word in the late 60's. In the early 90's, it looked like The Word
was "Interactivity." Computers and software were no longer the tools of the strictly techno-savvy. Entrepreneurs and artists had them, and they wanted to make something
of the new medium. So, Goth-driven 3D games and Verne-inspired CD-ROMs exploded on computer screens everywhere. E-mail and networked computers paved the way for the World Wide Web. Interfilm Technologies -one of the first to pioneer space in New York's digital neighborhood, Silicon Alley- set out to explore interactivity in ways that are still considered ground-breaking.

The concept of Intertfilm combined the old and the new. It was founded by two guys named Bob Bejan and Bill Franzblau. With an eye to the past they patterned themselves on the film factories of the 20's-the idea being to rapidly produce and distribute films of every genre. The other eye was on the future of technology, so each of these films would be incredibly interactive. Pistol grips mounted on the arms of theater seats would let the audience collectively decide each movie's direction.

“I'm Your Man” was the first product of the Interfilm studio. Produced in the spring of 1992 for just over $200,000, it was filmed in and around Interfilm offices - in one week. In the cast were Kevin Seal (MTV's 120 Minutes), Mark Metcalf (Animal House) and Colleen Quinn (Loving). The script was by Bejan and several future founders of The State comedy troupe. Bejan, a longtime Joe Jackson fan, contacted the musician and convinced him to score the film (for a fee which included computer equipment and training). Movie exhibitors were wildly receptive to the Interfilm proposal and a theater at the Loew's 19th Street Cinema in New York City was quickly outfitted with a prototype Interfilm System. This engineering feat combined video projection, laserdiscs and a computer to deliver frame accurate, on-the-fly response. Its creators, the founders, and inventor Kevin Centanni were awarded a patent.

Upon its release. "I'm Your Man" was an instant media sensation, attracting attention everywhere-from the Wall Street Journal to The Today Show. It played to raucous crowds for weeks. And with "I'm Your Man" as proof of its interactive concept. Interfilm Technologies went public in February 1994, raising millions. The first interactive film
Studio was established.

You Either Get It Or You Don't – How Does The Future Get Left In The Dirt?
This began an incredible period of productivity. Over to 40 theaters across the nation were outfitted with Interfilm Systems. More than 25 scripts were put into development, with contributions from Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Paul Malmont (Lovestruck). Interfilm matinees were created and released by producer James Graham. And the next two films, "Ride For Your Life" and "Bombmeister," were produced. Even Hollywood got into the act. Bob Gale, creator of "Back to the Future," embraced the new medium with "Mr. Payback," the first Interfilm to be produced outside the fledgling studio.

They say pioneers are the ones who get shot full of arrows. A year and a half passed after
“I’m Your Man"-an eternity in the evolution of new media. By Interfilm's second debut, the zeitgeist had moved on. The Internet was the thing, and the interactive consumer
was at home, staring into the computer. So, in the spring of 1995, Interfilm Technologies
closed its doors. The era of interactive filmmaking-which had just barely begun-seemed
to be over.

So Now What?
"I’m Your Man" has been re-designed, taking full advantage of the DVD technology. Planet Theory Inc., the producers of "I'm Your Man" and future ChoicePoint Films, have been able to restore the film and its vision of interactive filmmaking that is stil ahead of it's time.

Be sure to watch for the next ChoicePoint Films, No genre is safe from interactivity -
children’s titles, horror, comedy and suspense, to name just a few. This is a concept
whose time as come. Again!

Bit O' Madden

2007-08-16T16:23:00.000-05:00

Much like children's MMOs and casual gaming, most enthusiast gaming blogs like to to ignore the gaming elephant in the corner and most recently it's been Madden NFL 08. Even though I can't play the game(nor do i care to learn), I have to admire the juggernaut that it continues to be and can always find something interesting to write about it.

While perusing the Madden producer blog I see that the "current gen"(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC) versions of the game have an exclusive Fantasy Challenge mode that isn't on the next gen Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. While still retaining the complicated control of Madden, the rest of the mode is truly fantasy based with players who disappear, cheat, grow in size, etc. Even the venues are uniquely bizarre.

I also found this video that show EA's dedication to realism. They motion capture on what appears to be real grass.

Interfilm mission statement/design document

2007-08-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

This was found on the I'm Your Man DVD and described therein as "The original Interfilm mission statement is presented here for the first time" although the back cover calls it a "design document". The formatting is left intact but I corrected the numerous spelling and punctuation errors. Originally presented as a series of still frames, I removed the repeated pages and rearranged them to what I assume what should have been the correct order.

Introduction

The following pages will outline the process and configuration of the Interfilm medium.

It is our hope that this first attempt at documenting and mapping the trial by which we were able to create this first Interfilm episode will lead to a better understanding of what is needed to effectively create interactive cinematic experiences. As well as provide a template for the creation of subsequent episodes.

For purposes of clarity and ease of reading the document will be divided into three sections.
1) Story Development
2) Production
3) Presentation.

With that said, let us move on to the process itself.

Story Development

Despite the fact that Interfilm represents a commitment to interactive branching entertainment, there are many of the classic rules of drama and storytelling that apply in the format.

It goes without saying that the ability each audience has to make organic changes in the story makes an Interfilm episode non-linear... however, the mere fact that an audience member can press a button and turn a character from a hero into a coward is not enough to sustain interest and excitement past the first few moments of the experience.

A commitment to character depth and solid storytelling is essential to a successful interactive experience.

To that end, this first episode was written through the implementation of a writing team approach.

Unlike a normal writing team situation where all of the writers would concern themselves with storyline, plot development and characters in the global sense of the script, the Interfilm team worked very differently. The team was lead by a head writer. The head writer worked primarily as a referee... responsible for the structural integrity of the story. Making sure that events that were happening in real time on different levels were actually jibing together. In addition he had a responsibility for the plausibility of each situation. What is meant by this, is keeping the story fun and interesting rather than resort to the classic “and then I woke up” scenario.

With this "hub" in place, the remaining members of the writing team focused on the voices and actions of specific characters. In this way the writers were free to really concentrate on the way a character would react in any given set of circumstances.

Rather than having to be burdened with all of the incumbent baggage of multi-plot line development of the ramifications of any of their character's actions on the plot of other
Characters, they could instead concentrate on making sure that dialogue and action rang true for the character and that the jokes were funny

[THREE PAGES MISSING]

expected of them during the course of the picture. He also serves a similar role to the head writer in that he defines the rules of play to the audience. Finally, he introduces the audience to the three principle characters of the episode.

With this introduction accomplished, the audience is ready to move on to the next act and begin developing the next set of skills that are required of them.

Act Two: Audience as editor

Interfilm was created to be a group activity on purpose.

So much of technology is isolationist in nature. The objective of Interfilm is to create a satisfying group experience that utilizes technology to its end.

This intention, however, has its pitfalls. First, the fact that the experience is had by a group requires that in branching situations. The majority wins in the decision.

The obvious problem with this truth is that if you take a group of strangers, put them in a dark room and make them vote right off the top of an entertainment experience. Two thirds of them are going to be mad at you because they didn't get what they voted for. We had to find a way to introduce the audience to the characters without making them vote for organic change in the script.

For act two, we play upon a characteristic that has developed in almost all of us when we watch television... we graze, moving from channel to channel looking for something interesting enough to keep our attention for a period of time.

The difference is that with Interfilm, the channels that the audience is grazing through all relate to each other. Each is a movie created in a specific and different style that focuses on one of our three principle characters. These movies play in “real time” although all of them are very different in every way we realize that, as we watch them, the characters are about to find themselves in close proximity. That is to say, close enough that they will be able to interact with each other. In many ways, the easiest way to visualize this is to see a chess table with the pieces put away. Act two is really the setting of the table for play, one by one, in “real time” the pieces are assembled on the table. Each of the pieces is very different, possessing a unique character with different needs and powers, but all of them arriving at the same place about to share the same experience.

The audience is then encouraged to "group graze" through the use of a cumulative voting process. The channels change as half of the group chooses to watch a specific character. Once The change is made, the tabulation of votes resets to zero and the process begins again, over and over, as many times as the audience wants.

This accomplishes several things. First, it allows the audience to get a sense of each of the characters and learn a little about their stake in the situation. Second, it makes the audience comfortable and articulate with the hardware. It's easy so there is no reason not to play with it and have fun. And third, perhaps most importantly, it gives the audience a sense of itself.

Because the tabulations are projected below the picture, the numbers are speaking for the audience. At least at the beginning. The numbers will serve as the voice of each individual of the audience... each one making his or her statement. Then, as each of them becomes more and more involved in the story and their role in its outcome, they will begin to speak for themselves... calling out the choice that they want to see... campaigning to get the segment they want to see.

Once this sense of self is established, it becomes much easier to ask the group to vote on organic change in the story... the reason being that they have now become inextricably linked not only to each other, but also to the picture itself…they have a direct effect on the outcome of the plot.

At each choice point the audience is offered either two or three choices. They are then given ten seconds in which to decide Where to send the characters or the situation. In duration we tried to give the audience an opportunity to partake in the film every 1 1/i2 to 2 minutes.

It does not take long to figure out that two to three choices over ten minutes of film times three characters could create an almost infinite number of possible courses and changes.

Why the intersection applies:

The reason that the intersection scene is so important to the Interfilm process at this point is because we are, for the near term at least, limited by the capabilities of tested, robust hardware.

Because we are utilizing laser disc technology to store and play back the movie’s elements. We are limited to 45 minutes of media per disc. At the time of the writing of this document, an Interfilm retrofit consists of one (1) laser disc player. It is, however, reasonable to assume that over the next 24 months that storage capability will be doubled.

Interfilm trailers for Bombmeister and Ride For Your Life

2007-08-14T13:28:00.000-05:00

Here are trailers for the 1995 interactive films Ride For Your Life and Bombmeister. Neither have been released on DVD and Bombmeister remains completely unreleased as it didn't even come to theaters. BoostVideo purchased all of the rights to the Interfilm properties in 2006 and plan to release Bombmeister online soon. Both trailers can be found on the DVD version of another Interfilm title, I'm Your Man.

Game Wizard Belt Buckle

2007-08-10T09:48:00.000-05:00

I have quite the belt buckle fetish so you can imagine the unbridled joy that came across me when I obtained this presumably 80's era gem that I am wearing right now as I type this:

"GAME WIZARD"

I particularly love the vague, non-copyright infringing video game characters but perhaps most telling is the only inscription on the back, "L7".

Even the buckle is laughing at me.

DVD Game Madness

2007-08-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

While doing some research on FMV games in general I started looking into the console, PC, and arcade games that have been converted to DVD video format. This took much longer than I thought it would. Everytime I searched for a picture or link, more titles would pop up. A lot of these titles are fairly hard to find, even on the internet. I'm pretty sure this is the most comprehensive list of US released DVD games anywhere, as depressing as that might be.

England has a many, many more DVD games that the US does. Based on gameshows, long running soap operas, comedy shows, reality tv, the list goes on and on. Most of the DVD game titles over here are usually part of a board game, I've only listed titles that use just the remote.

In the US, Digital Leisure have released the most easily obtainable titles. So for there are 16(!) DVD games converted primarily from laserdisc arcade titles.

Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dragon's Lair III
Space Ace
Thayer's Quest
Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog McCree II: The Lost Gold
The Last Bounty Hunter
Crime Patrol
Who Shot Johnny Rock?
Drug Wars
Space Pirates
Hologram Time Traveler
Shadaon

Dragon's Lair III is an odd one because it's actually just comprised of in-game footage of the Dragon's Lair 3D console game which you then control like a traditional Dragon's Lair game.

Are You All That? - DVDi developed this trivia party title and Digital Leisure published it but you wouldn't know by looking at their site. The only way I discovered it was by browsing their online shop. They also have a media page that I only was able to stumble across with a Google search. The company line says it all:

"Dr. Know-It-All Browne keeps score (so you don't have to). In his own charismatic, slang-infused style, the doctor will "dis" or give "props" to players as he sees fit."

That sure sounds "Off Da Hook" and "Bumpin", isn't that what the kids say these days? I also like how they portray the fact that repeated questions are unavoidable:

"Any repeated question is a valid question for the player who receives it. It will earn or lose a player points, just as any other question. Dr. Browne believes in rewarding players for paying attention and being sharp enough to remember previous game play. "Consider it a bonus gift... from me to you," he says."

Yes. It's a gift. I hope you're grateful to Dr. Browne.

Another video game to DVD game conversion is Lara Coft Tomb Raider: The Action Adventure which uses footage from the 6th game The Angel of Darkness. It's out in the UK but the original December '06 US release was missed.

Speaking of video game to DVD conversions, I stumbled across a whole batch that have quite a sordid history. Here's what I was able to gather. Just before the dot-com bubble burst, Brilliant Entertainment had a browser plug-in that played 3D graphics movies based mostly on licensed properties. The software, called B3D, was eventually revealed to contain a spyware/adserver/distributed computing thing called Altnet that was in cahoots with Kazaa somehow. More info here and here. There were tons of different episodes and even more planned. You can read about those here and here.

You can actually still watch/play the Superman episodes on the UK Warner Bros site. It has the plugin to install and everything. Of course it will still be detected as spyware and/or a virus so downloader beware. I got it to run for a bit on Win2k and xp before my scanners decided otherwise.

How does this dead web software apply to DVD, or even games you ask? The episodes were all essentially no-lose choose your own adventure stories. Some were released as CD-ROM titles and thankfully for mankind, many of them were eventually ported to DVD video. They even received ESRB ratings. This is what I think is a complete list of titles:

Xena: Death in Chains
Xena: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Gravity Angels: Alien Discovery
Gravity Angels: The Betrayal
Gravity Angels: Payback
Gravity Angels: Death Force
Superman: Menace Of Metallo (unreleased)
Ace Ventura Pet Detective: The Case of the Serial Shaver
KISS Immortals
Choose Your Own Nightmare: Night Of The Werewolf
Choose Your Own Nightmare: The Curse of the Mummy
Choose Your Own Nightmare: Halloween Party
Choose Your Own Nightmare: Evil Pen Pal
Choose Your Own Nightmare: Bite of a Vampire

Silent Steel - A port of a Tsunami Media CD-ROM game, it's the first DVD game ever put onto a disc(1996)...but it wasn't actually released until a few years later.

I'm Your Man - Along with Mr. Payback, Ride For your Life, & Bombmeister(unreleased), it is one of four titles made with the Interfilm process and designed to be shown in a regular theater. Roger Ebert's review of Mr. Payback sums up the output. I'm Your Man is the only one on DVD so far. Each play through is only about 20 minutes.

The Misadventures of James Spawn - The first ever interactive movie produced specifically for DVD. A fresh off the boat stereotypical Indian man receives a ring that lets him wish for stuff. That description combined with the cover picture should give you an idea of the quality.

Stab In The Dark! - A murder mystery party on a DVD from what I can gather. It's put out by Drew's Famous so it could suck a lot.

Choose Your Own Adventure - The Abominable Snowman - And animated feature from the same company that publishes the classic books comes this animated feature featuring the voice talents of William H. Macy, Frankie Muniz, Felicity Huffman, and Lacey Chabert. It looks pretty interesting.

Scourge of Worlds: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure - I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this one, it seems to have a bit of an underground following. It was released by Rhino and there's even a Special Edition version.

Tender Loving Care
Point of View
Created by some of the makers of the pioneering CD-Rom titles 7th Guest and 11th hour, these are a couple of the most well-known interactive movie titles. Both are less adventure game and interactive movie that changes according to the various psychological questions. The first four chapters of Point of View can be played online here. A great Gamespot article detailing the rise and fall of Trilobyte tells how Tender Loving Care caused some problems in the company before they split off as Aftermath. Tender Loving Care was also released as a normal movie in the UK.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Dracula Unleashed
Both of these titles were widely released on various consoles and computers about a decade and a half ago so it's nice to finally see them with a nice video clarity. The easiest way to obtain both of these is from the Infinite Ventures online store.

Disney Dogs Edition: Blue Ribbon Challenge
Disney Princess Edition: Become The Ultimate Princess

These two Disney DVD Game World aren't just for kids, especially the Disney Dogs version which has a special difficulty level for hardcore Disney-ites.

Adventureville: The Cosmic Kitty Adventure - Look! Another "first".

Brain Quest: Ages 6-8
Brain Quest: Ages 8-10
Nancy Drew: Curse Of Blackmoor Manor
All from Brighter Minds Media, the Nancy Drew game is converted from the PC title of the same name.

Phantom of Inferno
Day of Love
Amusement Park
Tea Society of a Witch
Hourglass of Summer
Ishika & Honori
Exodus Guilty
Dragonia
All of these Herameki Anime Play titles are essentially visual novel PC titles converted to DVD Games, subtitles and all. The animation is fairly nonexistent, relying on still images with narration instead. More titles were planned, but they were eventually canceled in 2005.

Shrek Princess Club
Shrek Pick-A-Pair!
Shrek Castle Races
Shrek Totally Tangled Tales
Over the Hedge Wacky Moments in Human History
Madagascar Animal Trivia
JumpStart Power Prep
JumpStart PreK-1st Grade: Frankie's Field Trip
Discovery Channel American Road Trip
The Bible
Time Troopers
Show Me the WILD!
Santa's Trivia Game

b EQUAL has a large number of DVD games all based on licensed titles from Dreamworks, JumpStart, Discovery and History Channel, and oddly enough the classics Rankin-Bass TV special Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.

Doctor Who: Attack Of The Graske is a well made, fully playable online FMV game that seems as if it was developed for DVD, especially the bit about The Doctor syncing your remote with the sonic screwdriver.

Here is a nice 1996 essay exploring the current state of interactive media and movies.

Another 1996 DVD game article, this one approaching the topic from the technical aspect. Registration required(and highly reccomended).

The Cigar Deadline - An interactive movie of sorts on youtube.

InteractiveMovies.org - A nice list of FMV titles in various formats.

Interactive-Film.com - Proof that interactive movies aren't dead with more than a dozen recently made and playable online titles.

The Secrets of EA's Catwoman

2007-07-30T17:45:00.000-05:00

Let's get this over with. I like the Catwoman game. I'm not even going to try to justify my love for it. It was frustrating as hell, but it has a certain charm. What other game lets you collect bling? Anyways, for some reason or another I was looking at it the other day and noticed a few things.

The title screen changes to add a "Special Edition" tag after you enter a code found while playing the game. Where they originally planning to release two versions?

In another unlockable section I found this concept drawing of Catwoman fighting a Giant Enemy Crab.

The thing that most people remember about this game is the unique idle animation. After about a minute of standing still, the Halle Berry simulacrum begins to bump, grind, wink, ask if you "Like what you see?" and beckons you to "Come closer baby", all the while fondling her digital bits to a low key techno beat. It really must be seen to be believed.

So here's a clip I made of the game doing just that for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

ActionButton.net Podcasts

2007-07-16T13:14:00.000-05:00

When I first read Tim Roger's work on Insert Credit 4-5 years ago it was a breath of fresh air for me. It was some of the first writing on games that veered towards the Lance Bangs style of reviews that for some reason I never realized was missing from video games. While I didn't always agree with or even enjoy reading his work, at least it was something different. I realize that he's not the only one out there doing exceptional and unique games criticism, but good or bad, he's the first person I think of.

For about five months now, he and others have been posting reviews at ActionButton.net and again, it's hit or miss but always a good read. Just today I noticed that they have a podcast section. It's essentially just the reviews read by someone entitled Charles Hartley and it's great. His style of reading very odd, almost as if any pauses that might have occurred during the recording were edited out and the first few seconds have you suspecting that maybe(just maybe) these are actually being read by some speech synthesis program trying to sound like Agent Smith. It also reminds me of the book-on-tape version of Neuromancer read by William Gibson himself who spits out his own words with in a near beat-poet style delivery. Again, it's wonderful.

I feel that's it's actually better than reading the reviews themselves. Check out the one for Saints Row and see what you think.

My First Press Release

2007-07-13T13:16:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to get access to press releases and haven't really gotten anywhere but I finally received my first batch..from Crave Entertainment. I couldn't be happier. These are right up my alley.
The PSP version of Dave Mirra BMX Challenge that came out last November didn't fare too well review-wise, but maybe it's because that version didn't have a the Monster Energy drink boost meter the the new Wii version has as seen in the screenshot above. It also has the leg up on other extreme sports games that have you unlocking mundane shit like new gear or levels. In Dave Mirra BMX Challenge you get to unlock women's clothing!
Another upcoming title that look interesting and apparently is quite fun to play is Spelling Challenge for the PSP and DS.
The graphics look purposefully clear and simple but the color scheme makes me wonder if they were trying to emulate the look of the late 70's Speak & Spell toy:
Other titles listed are George Of The Jungle for PS2 and DS which is based on the upcoming Cartoon network series, a Napoleon Dynamite game for the PSP and DS, and a Crayola game for the DS that has one of the best screenshots ever:

Aventure games on consoles

2007-07-11T15:50:00.000-05:00

I love a good list so here's one I put together of adventure games on last generation's consoles. The term of adventure game is getting harder and harder to pin down but I think that all of these qualify. PCs are usually where this kind of game ends up and I attribute that to why there are so many "true" adventure titles on the Xbox, as they were easier to port to the system. Titles in bold are multi-platform.

Xbox:
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Indigo Prophecy
Myst III: Exile
Myst IV: Revelation
Still Life
Syberia
Syberia II

PS2:
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
Chulip
Disaster Report
Echo Night: Beyond
Escape from Monkey Island
Indigo Prophecy
Myst III: Exile
Raw Danger!
Shadow of Destiny

GameCube:
Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse(hey, I had to include something!)

Borderline titles I thought about including were The Da Vinci Code, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Haunting Ground, Shenmue II, and X-Files: Resist or Serve. It's essentially the amount of combat took most them out of the running.

Any additions or arguments for deletion?

Late-Gen releases

2007-07-09T11:48:00.002-05:00

The PS2 is closing in on 7 years of existence and still has some original titles coming out for it, whereas the Gamecube and Xbox flow of titles pretty much completely stopped with the release of their respective hardware updates, Wii and Xbox 360. The only two titles of note that both systems are getting are Madden NFL 08 and Ratatouille. From the research I've done, these are the last titles that will be released for both* systems.

The Madden NFL 08 Gamecube and Xbox titles are interesting not only because it shows the power of Madden but that they will both cost 39.99 as opposed to the 49.99 being charged for the Playstation 2 version! Further proof of the devastating combination of Madden and PS2.

These two versions of Ratatouille are the same price as the PS2 version(39.99), but notice that the Xbox version is an EB Games/Gamestop exclusive. Better buy up a 20 copies for your collection while you can still find them! And yes, it actually has that stripe printed on the cover itself.

*UPDATE: Turns out the Xbox still has an NCAA 08 and FIFA 08 left in it.

Embrace(the public domain movie goodness that is)...The Darkness!

2007-07-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

I haven't paid too much attention to the PS3/360 title The Darkness that was released recently, mostly because I'm not much of an FPS fan, but a user comment on some Kotaku post perked my ears. It contains full length movies, music videos and cartoons that play on the televisions throughout the game. While I have no means to play it, I was able to cull together some titles, mostly from this GameFAQs post by "tragicchilds".

Feature Films-
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
The Street Fighter (1974)
Return Of The Street Fighter (1974)
Sister Street Fighter (1974)
The Street Fighter's Last Revenge (1974)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Nosferatu (1922)
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (1936)
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
Animated Shorts-
Gabby:
Fire Cheese (1941)
Popeye:
A Haul In One (1956)
Cookin' With Gags (1955)
Floor Flusher (1954)
Greek Mirthology (1954)
I Don't Scare (1956)
Nearlyweds (1957)
Insect to Injury (1956)
Parlez Vous Woo (1956)
Shuteye Popeye (1952)
Spree Lunch (1957)
The New 3 Stooges:
Hairbrained Barbers (1965)
The Littlest Martian (1965)

"over 10" Music Videos including -
Pelle Carlberg - "Riverbank"
The Duskfall - "Shoot It"

Ten full-length Top Cow comics(all 1st issues) of The Darkness, Magdalena, Witchblade, Cyberforce, Hunter Killer, The Necromancer, & Strykeforce.

The first thing you notice about the list is that virtually all of it(besides To Kill A Mockinbird)* is comprised of common public domain material. This is an easy, cheap, and I think ingenious way of filling the in game televisions with hours of natural-looking media. There are a few other games I can think of that used PD materials(the Make My Video series, Jack Sprite vs. The Crimson Ghost), but it's still an untapped resource. The PS3 is able to flex it's massive Blu-Ray storage space, as the 360 version is reported to have considerably less material.

It's also interesting to note that both of the music artists I was able to find are from Sweden, which is also where developer Starbreeze hails from.

*I have a feeling that the Flash Gordon episodes used are actually from the 1954 TV series which, unlike the Buster Crabbe serials, is PD material.

Random Gaming 06.29.2007

2007-06-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

-While perusing the Blue Planet Software site, I saw their logo and thought "Dude, whoever did that totally ripped that off Roger Dean." Well, I was sorta right. He's "Consultant for art design on the company's computer games and influences the artistic quality of its products" whatever the heck that means. Maybe it just mean that Henk Rogers is a huge Yes album cover fan and was totally stoked to get Dean to do the Blue Planet logo. More research actually shows that Henk wrote the storyline to a 90's Black Oynx sequel that had Dean doing the art. Doesn't look like it ever came out. The logo and art direction of Tetris Zone looks like Dean's work also. Update: ...and he did the most recent version of the Tetris logo.

-Too bad this officially USLMRA licensed Lawnmower Racing Mania 2007 game never came out on the Xbox even though it "went gold". It would have been the perfect follow-up to Lawnmower Racing 2006. *sigh* Now we're just gonna have to wait for next year's Lawnmower Racing Mania 2008.

-There exists in this world we live in a Dance Dance Revolution DVD Game. When showing this to a friend, he was sadly optimistic, saying that DVD technology could handle a game of DDR using the remote to enter the steps. When I showed him a review that stated "The 2 mats that go with this game do NOT attach to anything that scores you - they just go on the floor by themselves." and "it's a little like step aerobics on a flat surface", I think a little piece inside of him died.

-Here's an odd little flash game called "Genie Joe and the Axeman" trying to promote a hot sauce from Joe Perry of Aerosmith. The product is called Joe Perry's Rock Your World and come in two flavors, Boneyard Brew and Mango Peach Tango. That's I have to say about that.

-The winner for the best quote I found this week goes to Babaroga Games: "Muppets Puzzle Party" is an original title developed by Babaroga for Disney Mobile Studio, inspired in part by Babaroga's original game "Strip-off at the Krystal Pistol"

Elf Bowling In Fiji

2007-06-25T14:33:00.000-05:00

Kotaku recently posted a story about Elf Bowling: The Movie coming to DVD this October. The fact that Elf Bowling, a simple online flash game that was popular enough to produce numerous sequels and eventually end up ported to boy Gameboy Advance and DS has inspired a feature film is amusing enough but as usual, obsessive internet research reveals a bit more.

The earliest mention I can find is from May 15th on the official Fiji Audio Video Comission(FVAC) site. That page says that the planned release(then just called “The Great North Pole Elf Strike”) was for Christmas 2005. The listing for Elf Bowling - Bocce Style on the official NStorm games site also gives the same release window.

Another 2004 mid-may post at Animation Magazine's site gives a few more details such as Miramax picking up the home video and television rights and the production being animated in Fiji.

The story picks up in April 2005 in this speech by Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase speaking about the new Animated Film School where he says that the film is nearing completion. Of course he also says "They tell me “The Great North Pole Elf Strike,” is based on an internet game where elves stand-in for bowling pins. Fiji looks forward to being similarly bowled over, by what this great joint-venture holds in store for us!" so who knows how well it was coming along.

The most recent rumblings are from mid June last year where the film had it's simultaneous world premiere in Fiji and the US at the 1st annual Kula Film Awards, Fiji's version of the Academy Awards. Elf Bowling was also referred to as "the first animation feature made in Fiji".

Much to my embarrassment, I couldn't find where the hell Kotaku got their image of the home video cover from, but I did find this small drawing at the official site of the one of the directors:
Not sure if the movie will be any good(hey, I'm trying to stay positive), but they did get a couple of good voice actors for it including Joe Alaskey(current voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck) as Santa Claus Tom Kenny(Spongebob) as "Dingle Kringle".

Odd Gaming Moments: Vitamin C Motion Capture

2007-06-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

I'm not a sports fan and can't play sports games but I do often buy them when they're just a dollar or two. I usually just pop them in and start a computer vs computer game to admire the graphics. At least I can enjoy the extras. In this video from Triple Play 2002 for the PS2 entitled "Who Is Vitamin C?", we get the aforementioned popstar talking about how much she played Triple Play while creating her most recent album. Sadly, the album bombed and her record label dropped her so maybe she should have concentrated on the music instead. We also get to see her dance and lipsync in a mocap suit but sadly the resulting CG looks nothing like her. She's apparently in the game as one of the players, but I have no idea how to make that happen(see first sentence above).

Random Gaming 06.21.2007

2007-06-18T18:41:00.000-05:00

Nice picture, eh? I found it over at Deep Fried Entertainment.

-There exists in this world we live in a mobile phone game based on the movie School Of Rock. Sadly, it's just a Simon clone, but it does have the nice addition of unlocking free wallpapers and ringtones as you play. I wish more mobile games had that feature.

-A PC gamed called Elvira's Monster Match 'n' Stack is on its way featuring the likeness of Elvira Mistress Of The Dark. Sadly it's just a generic block stacking game. The graphics do look nice though.

-It may not be the most appropriate game to play in Greensburg, Kansas but Tornado Jockey definitely looks fun. Is this where Digital Chocolate got their idea for the very well-reviewed Tornado Mania!?

-This is bizarre. I found this Gamespot story from late 2003 entitled: Dan Rather Not Voicing video game:

"A fairly ludicrous rumor made the rounds Friday, which had venerable CBS anchorman Dan Rather lending his voice to a British video game.

According to the stories, a press release by UK publisher System 3 Games said Rather would be lending his voice to America's 10 Most Wanted, the European title of the recently released--and roundly panned--Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror. Developed by Black Ops Entertainment and distributed by Encore Software in the US, Hunter lets gamers beat such international nasties as Osama bin Laden into submission and/or a bloody pulp.

"What are you talking about?" said a CBS News representative when queried by GameSpot about Rather's involvement. A call to Black Ops' offices yielded similar results. "I don't know anything about that," said a baffled spokesperson at the California-based developer, "nothing even close."

Now compare that with the description of the game I found on Black Ops' own website:

"America's 10 Most Wanted enlists the military expertise of CIFR's top agent in the hunt for US fugitives listed on the FBI website, including the notorious leader of the Al 'Queda terrorist network Osama Bin Laden and the ousted leader of Iraq Saddam Hussein. Commentary is provided by Dan Rathner, star news anchor for the US television network CBS over licensed news footage from CNN. In game music is provided by members of So Solid Crew who will also make guest appearances in the game."

Ohhhhhh. Dan RathNER. I can understand the confusion...wait, no, I still don't understand.

-Speaking of Black Ops Entertainment I see that they have "'Video Game Jumpstart,' designed to help kids and people enter the videogame* business." At only 40 bucks I have to admit that at least it's fairly cheap. Otherwise, I have nothing else to say(except that I hope there is a section on how you can use the game engine that you built with money from a Hollywood license for both the movie game and a game where you get to punch Osama Bin Laden in the face.)

*Even Black Ops can't figure out the videogame vs. video game conundrum!

Raw Danger's release date is slippery(when wet)

2007-06-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

Ugh, I can't believe I just wrote that title up there.

Still no solid news on the Raw Danger release date. Apparently Amazon.com has sent out e-mails to pre-order customers notifying of a delay containing this note:

"Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the product(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when they may be delivered:

"Raw Danger" [Video Game] Estimated arrival date: 06/22/2007 - 06/29/2007",

while others have received notices stating the arrival date at July 7-9.

Gamestop/EB has pushed the release day forward to today(6.13.2007) and GSW commenter TJ2000 points out that they advertised the release date as the 19th in their most recently weekly flyer:
There's also unsubstantied info out that the change from M to T which resulted in the dropping of "Sexual Themes" descriptor was from a sequence where you were playing as a schoolgirl escaping from a teacher intending to rape you. That sequence could possibly be the one pictured in the bottom three screen shots here.

Update(late evening): Just checked Gamestop.com and it's been pushed forward again one day(the 14th). Copies have appeared on various torrent sites within that last few hours so at least one person got their hands on it.

Raw Danger is coming soon(and may already be here!)

2007-06-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

Raw Danger, The sequel to the PS2 classic Disaster Report, is one of those budget releases that I often lust after and have a hellish time getting my hands on(see Chulip, Carol Vorderman's Sudoku, Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer, etc.) Here's some various info I've dug up about it.

The best place to start is the official website for the Japanese version, Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2: Itetsuita Kiokutachi. There are pages for wallpapers, videos, book covers(!), and press pictures(characters, logo, screenshots).

By way of GameSetWatch, I see that Namako Team has a couple of posts by Trevor Wilson pertaining to the US version dealing with problems that might have arising form the honkification of the main characters(everyone is now blond?) and the ESRB rating changing from Mature to Teen(boo).

I initially had hopes for some actual promotion of this game when IGN published a three page Survival Guide(note the changes in hair color on the character art)back on April 13th but there really hasn't been anything of substance since then. The official Agetec page for the US version is extremely lame with only a picture of the cover and five screenshots. As usual, I'm shocked that any company would release a game that they apparently have worked very hard on and not give it a lick of promotion. What is wrong with these companies?

Speaking of the cover here's a comparison of the main characters from the original version and the US box art:
You can see that they used the Japanese art for reference but Anglo-ized the faces(And kept the same hair colors!). I'm not sure about the whole street sign theme they went with, complete with an out-of-place bio hazard symbol and subliminal skull and crossbones, but it is an attention-grabber.

As usual price and release dates are all over the place. Most have the release date as today with the price 14.99 but here's a general roundup.

Amazon - 14.99 - Available to purchase, but not in stock
Gamestop /EB - 19.99 - Release date is today but you can't actually order it yet. A call to local stores says that it's in the computer as being out, but no one has any copies. I would have pre-ordered this and have been trying to for months, but they never had it listed. It must have popped up in the last week or so.
Best Buy - 14.99 -Release date is next week (6/18)
Agetec store - 39.99(!!) - Can't actually order it yet.

Too bad we don't get the promotional whistle with pre-orders and I hope they haven't cut this cute little guy out of the game (whoever he is). I'll report when/if I am able to find it locally and what color everybody's hair is now.

Odd Gaming Moments: Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses

2007-06-11T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well thanks to online PS2 repair guide Pro-Tips, the easiest fix(cleaning the laser lens with rubbing alchohol) actually worked. I'm glad because it sure didn't worked the second time my PS2 had the DRE blues and I sure didn't want to have to start messing with that wheel business.

In celebration, I bring you this first installment of Odd Gaming Moments. In this episode, we start with an easy one by watching a section of Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses for the PS2. I've saved you from viewing any actually basic gameplay(wimpy no-lose platforming) and shoot you straight to the good stuff, i.e. carefully choreographed dancing sequences and frightening in-engine cut scenes.

Please, not again.

2007-06-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

There are sometimes that you rely on entertainment waiting at home to get you through the day. Work is boring, family life is hard, money is tight. I may not be able to fix all of the problems in life but attaining 100% on Lego Star Wars II is within my grasp.

So it's soul crushing to say the least when I get home ready to ignore my family for a few hours and see this bullshit:

Fuck.

This is the third time this has happened. The first repair was paid for, the second one was free, and I don't think they're going to do it again for free so I guess I'm screwed. And of course I don't have the money for a new one.

Thank God for HDLoader, though. It allowed me to continue my stud and gold brick hoarding after an hour of ripping and transferring my original disc. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to check out my recently obtained copy of My Street as it has issues with online gaming.

I hope and pray that one of the various self repair techniques found on the interweb fixes it or else I'll have to start facing reality...and we all know how hard that is.

Charlie's Angels: Full Road Halo* X Throttle Cyclone

2007-06-04T18:10:00.000-05:00

"Thank God that's over!"

This is not the what a developer would want a player to exclaim after completed their game but that was my soul's honest response to Charlie's Angels for the Gamecube. I can usually find some enjoyment in a bad game but after a the first two hours, the final two I had to endure to finish it were pure punishment. Well, at least it makes for a good story.

Rather than re-hashing the games problems(repetitiveness, awful models, invisible walls, terrible animation, weak dialogue, total lack of The Mac-man, etc.) I'll point you to the Metacritic page that has some wonderful and creative reviews on the title. Some times it takes pure hatred and anger to write a really good scathing review. Gamecritics.com's Gene Park(who actually called Ubisoft tech support about the controls!) put it best:

"...Charlie's Angels is a horrible game manufactured with the creaky spare parts of a rusty genre along with fallen gears from the movie hype machine. This is the kind of game that's given away when you order a large pizza and get the second one for half price. This is the kind of game you might see kids play in daytime cartoon shows. They look generic and lame, but it's clear that yeah, it's a videogame."

In doing research about the game is seems that there were a lot of failed tie-ins to the second movie Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle including jewelry, reproductions of clothing worn onscreen, children's clothes(!), awful-looking bobble head dolls, an online animated prequel, a mobile game, and a download-only PC title, Charlie's Angels: Angel X.

There's not much info out about Angel X on the official site, I had to resort to gaming enthusiast sites for a decent description and screenshots. The demo link on the official site doesn't work, but it can still be downloaded from numerous sources. So, I tried it.

The strangest thing about it is that it's a point and click brawler. The control is described as comparable to Diablo or Baldurs' Gate. I'll have to take their word on that as I've never played either but playing through the first level of Angel X doesn't really make me want to. I really couldn't see it being entertaining at all, especially at 20 bucks.

While I have to admit that it's amusing that there are Nestea Cool trucks and vending machines outside of the ancient Chinese training dojo-type place and a Sony-Ericsson Kyocera phone onscreen at all times but again, 20 bucks? This game should be free.

The nadir of the advergaming was when I had to take a picture of the the villain speeding away in the Nestea Cool delivery truck with the Sony-Ericsson Kyocera phone. I'm disappointed that they couldn't work in Best Buy and the Pentium 4 processor. I guess that's in the full version.

To make it even more baffling, it's often referred to as "Charlie's Angels: Angel X Online Game" but the only thing online about it seems to be the way to buy it and the leaderboard scores.

As a bonus to my obsessive ramblings, here's the code that I obtained by decrypting the flash file to the Best Buy portion of the official Full Throttle site(sad, isn't it?). The secret code to the Secret Content page of that site is "ca062703". Ah fuck it, here's the direct link.

*The original title of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle was Charlie's Angels: Halo. I guess Microsoft didn't like Sony using the name of one of their most popular game franchises.

Random Gaming 2007.05.30

2007-05-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

Finished Chibi-Robo(the story portion at least) a few days ago. Amazing game. Amazing music. I truly wished I enjoyed cleaning my own home as much as I did cleaning the Sanderson' as a tiny robot. I could too easily identify with the mature themes of a struggling family including the unemployed father who continues to buy ~~videogames~~ toys for himself at the expense of the family budget.

Played a bit of Go-Go Hypergrind! on Sunday. While it has great design and art with some interesting trick implementation, it's basically another Tony-Hawk-as-a-cartoon wannabe. Just as I'll play any 3d platformers I can find, I imagine there's someone out there who enjoys playing any sub-par skateboarding game just because it's part of the genre. This would be a worthy addition. I'm amazing the first level with a billboard advertising milk featuring a woman with a giant pair of constantly flopping 3d boobs that you can bounce on or be flattened by got past the Teen rating! Download the theme song "Jam Jam Hype" here.

Tried my damnedest to play Resident Evil 4 but just didn't get it. I guess it will require some more practice, but I'm not sure if it's will be worth the time to me. I might just have to turn on god mode and plow through it to see the story and pretty ~~shade of brown~~ colors. I hate it when I don't enjoy playing a wildly popular game. I'd love to experience RPGs, FPSs, Sports Games, RTSs, etc., but I usually just don't enjoy the mechanics or the learning curve isn't worth my time. But hey, at least I try.

Took a few hours, completely aced Tonka: Rescue Patrol, and had much more fun than I probably should have. It's definitely a kids game(no way to lose or die, constant stream of go there arrows, insistent narration) but one interesting aspect is that when you're driving your police/dumptruck/crane/bulldozer vehicle around, you can plow your way through all street signs, mailboxes, lights, stop lights, benches, etc. Dropping down the blade on the bulldozer even allows you to collect items that float in front of the vehicle, spinning around aimlessly. It became a fun physics game to see how many mailboxes I could catch and watch them clip through each other in a giant mass of rotating blueness. The game never scolds you for any of this, you can't run over people(you can chase them around though), it just continues to remind to to "follow the yellow arrow to the next load!".

Found a few more of the system exclusive Xbox games I'm craving. I also found out that I won't be able to borrow an Xbox from anyone anytime soon, so I dunno what I'm gonna do about that. Can't afford the 100 bucks that GameStop/Crazy charges and haven't found any exceptional deals on Craigslist. Grrr.

One exclusive I did find for cheap that seems interesting is Chase: Hollywood Stunt Driver. It follows the Tomb Raider "might as well use a hot chick" school of character design(not that I mind, it's better than playing as Steve Railsback) and seems like the game I was looking for when I bought Stuntman. Why hey, lookit the back of the box right here, I seem to be right!
The Stuntman envy runs so deeps, they actually felt the need to assure their dominance in quote form twice!
Since it's my birthday today, I'll go ahead and finish that game of Charlie's Angels that I started last night. Holy smokes it's awful. It has just enough to make it mildly entertaining enough to play through but it's still not an easy climb.

Let me just put it this way: Lucy Liu's power-up is a muffin.

Buzz! The AmeriQuiz

2007-05-26T15:50:00.000-05:00

One of the most interesting new game announcements to come out of Sony Gamer's Day was that the Buzz! series for the Playstation 2 is finally coming to America. It has been a huge seller in Europe for a couple of years now and I'm a bit surprised it hasn't come over sooner. I assume the recent popularity of other unique peripheral games that lend themselves to the "party game" banner such as Guitar Hero, SingStar, and the American Idol version of Karaoke Revolution has something to do with it.

The Buzz! games are gameshow-like trivia based titles that use special controllers call Buzz! Buzzers:
All four buzzer controllers connect to one main cord that plugs into either USB port of the PS2 so luckily there is no need to mess with the Multitap. Interestingly, the controllers are recognized in Windows as a 20 button joystick, so there's lots of fun hacky stuff that could be done in that aspect. The big shiny red candy-like button even lights up!

So far there are 8 titles in the series in Europe have been released or announced:

Buzz! The Music Quiz (2005)
Buzz! The Big Quiz (2006)
Buzz! The Sports Quiz (2006)
Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party (2006)
Buzz! The Mega Quiz (2007)
Buzz! The Schools Quiz (2007)
Buzz! Junior: Monsters (2007)
Buzz! Junior: Dinos (2007)

Music and Sports are self explanatory, Big and Mega are general trivia, the Junior titles are themed version for younger players that also include simple party games in addition to the trivia questions, and The Schools Quiz is an educational title based on the UK Key Stage 2 school curriculum( if my research is right, that's the US equivalent grades 3 through 6, ages 7-11).

Just to give an idea how expansive this series has become over there, the official site
lists 11 different languages, Buzz! The Big Quiz beat out Guitar Hero and SingStar Rocks!(which is it's own European PS2 party game juggernaut with 10 different titles, localized language versions, and a 2005 BAFTA win) to win a 2006 BAFTA award for Best Casual and Social Video Game, and even the recent "party" version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that included support for the Buzz! Buzzers.

Only two titles have been announced for the US, localized versions of Mega Quiz and Junior: Jungle Party, but if everyone makes sure to buy at least 4 copies of each, I assume we'll soon see PS2 versions of haphazardly put together board games based on shows that have only been on for a few seasons.

Double Fine new game update!

2007-05-25T15:15:00.000-05:00

On the official Double Fine site, Tim Schafer posted a "NEW GAME UPDATE" in the news section yesterday. It reads as follows:
"I was walking through this Mexican restaurant today, just to use the phone, and somehow I tripped and fell and my mouth landed on a Chicken Mole Torta and I ate it."

Sweet! I can't wait to play this awesome and new game! It obviously has something to do with eating Mexican food and dialing the phone...and maybe tripping.

The Scarlet Banner

2007-05-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

Today(well, actually yesterday) is(was) a glorious day in my gaming life.

I discovered that Amazon is selling new copies of Charlie's Angels for the GameCube for only 7.50. While looking to bring my total to at least 25 bucks(to qualify for free shipping) I remembered that Amazon was selling the PS2 version of Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy for 18.99, well below the 29.99 it was recently priced at. When the page loaded, I was greeted with this new image:Dammit.

As a (fairly)poor gamer, I usually have to wait awhile until a big game settles at Greatest Hits status before I can talk myself into buying it. But the catch is that one has to strike while the iron is hot in order to avoid the dreaded Ugly Red Stripe branded across the top, the collector's bane.

I just wish Sony was better about getting the news out. I can understand not wanting to broadcast the fact that a game you are selling is about to drop in price 30 dollars but it would be nice to tell us after the fact.

If the Amazon copy is...unclean, I'll just have to search for an original version and then return the bad one. Yes, I have done this before. I've even gone so far as to buy an opened Gamestop "new" game to avoid the red stripe. After all, I don't want to look like I was too poor to buy it when it was first released, right?

So yeah, Charlie's Angels, 7.50, Greatest Hits labels suck...

*sigh*

Dear lord, why do I have to make everything so complicated?

Fatal Frame spoilers, now in chart format!

2007-05-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

While looking up some info on Wikipedia, I came across this frightening "correlation chart" detailing the plots/characters/locations of the three Fatal Frame titles.

My favorite part is right there at the bottom left:

"Some secondary characters/events have been purposely left out to preserve clarity"

This actually kind of makes me not want to play the game.

Random Gaming: 2007.05.16

2007-05-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

I've been buying way too many cheap used games lately...even for systems I don't currently own. I figure that the system exclusive games for the Xbox and Gamecube aren't getting any more common so I might as well grab them as they float past the my innertube of life. So far everything has been pretty damn cheap so far, as most of them games I want to try are very much unloved. A friend let me borrow their Gamecube and I know another with an Xbox so there's at least a chance that I'll be able to play these someday.

Notable titles I've found so far: Tork, Cel Damage, Whacked(all Xbox) and two for the Gamecube: Universal Studios Theme Park(more on that one another day) and Chibi-Robo(Holy shit! I'm actually playing a well-made game!).

Still looking for these Xbox exclusive titles:

Grabbed by the Ghoulies - Rare's solo original IP on the Xbox. Inappropriately named.
Jet Set Radio Future
Kung Fu Chaos
Mad Dash Racing - i.e. the prequel to Whiplash.
Shrek - Why are there "New characters designed by Todd McFarlane"?
Sneakers - Toys"R"Us exclusive, kiddy game, probably terrible.
Scrapland - From what I understand, this is basically GTA in robot-land. I'm assuming it blows.
Spy Vs. Spy - Another odd exclusive. Online play!
Stubbs The Zombie
Tron 2.0 - Much like Kingdom Hearts II, I'll play it only because it's Tron.
Toe Jam and Earl III - Again, probably a big letdown.
Voodoo Vince - One of the few exclusive platformers. I think Tork and Blinx 1 & 2 are the only others.

And these for the Gamecube:

Animaniacs - Also released on the PS2 in Europe only.
Billy Hatcher
Charlie's Angels - This also got a Euro-only PS2 release. Currently the holds the lowest review score on Gameranks(24.0%)
Cubivore - Prohibitively priced.
Darkened Skye - The Skittles game!
Eternal Darkness
Go! Go! Hypergrind! - Cel-shaded skateboarding game with artwork and character design by Spümcø.
Shrek: Extra Large - Supposedly more content that the Xbox version(but looks worse).
Tonka Rescue Patrol - Can it live up to Roscoe Mcqueen: Firefighter Extreme?
Wario World

And since no one asked for them, here are links to my wanted lists on VGRebirth.

Xbox
Gamecube
PS2

I'm not kidding, Tony.

2007-05-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

I forced a rare moment of free time and got out to see Grindhouse with my brother. In Robert Rodriguez's section, Planet Terror, there is a scene where Marley Shelton drives up to a house and stops. She looks around, terrified of what mind be lurking in the shadows. Her 7 year old son sit next to her, also scared. She looks towards the glove compartment and this dialogue transpires:

Mother: I want you to open that for Mommy. Now, take the gun. Careful! And if anyone comes to the door, that isn't me, I want to to shoot them, okay? I'm not kidding Tony, you shoot them. Just like your video games. You shoot them in the head.

Son: What if it's dad?

Mother: Especially if it's your dad. And be careful where you point that thing, you'll blow your own face off! I'll be right back. I love you.

As one would guess, this does not end well.

Praise the Lord in the heavens above, I am finally finished playing that damned Aeon Flux game.

2007-04-27T11:53:00.000-05:00

I'll often buy games when I find them for cheap and since most are based on licensed properties, I'll hold off playing them until I see the source material. I wouldn't want to have the plot of Over The Hedge ruined for me!

So after a buying some 4 for 20 dollar Blockbuster pre-viewed DVDs, I had an Aeon Flux/Ultraviolet* double feature one Sunday evening to prepare myself for the onslaught of terrible frame rate that is Aeon Flux for the PS2.

I'm not sure why this one was so hard to sludge through, I've played much worse. A lot of it had to do with the aforementioned frame rate. I wasn't bothered by the flip-book presentation in such infamous offenders like Shadow of the Colossus, but I couldn't get past it on this one. The jerky animation just added to the problem. I've got a feeling it's more of a PS2 version specific issue, as the videos I've seen of the Xbox version are much nicer. It's never been more apparent than in this case that there is a vastly superior Xbox/Gamecube version than the PS2 port I'm always stuck with.

The fighting didn't have the ability to raise above button mashing(usually not an issue with me, but even I can tell when it sucks) and the platforming was hit or miss...literally. It involved jumping at a specific spot on a pole or ledge and only that spot. To jump to the next ledge involved pushing in the proper direction(not always immediately evident from the camera angles) and pressing jump. I imagine it would seem impressive to an onlooker, but it requires no real platforming skills whatsoever.

I do have to admit that the character model looked very much like Academy Award® - winner** Charlize Theron (especially compared to the horrendous faces used in the recent Matrix games) but couldn't stand how all the characters slammed instantly into this strange model pose(body sideways, one foot back, head turned, shoulder jutting forward) whenever they stopped moving. It just looked freaking recockulous.

And once again, I am at odds with most other reviewers who generally had more positive feelings about the game. My self imposed gaming outsider status knows no bounds. I try to enjoy popular games, and I sometimes do(God of War, GTA), but I know I'll die alone in the knowledge that Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure was an under appreciated platforming masterstroke.

* The answer is yes, they are essentially the same movie...except Ultraviolet is a bit more unapologetic as to the reason it exists, i.e. pretty colors, hot chicks, and lots o' kablooey. It's a shame that an Ultraviolet game wasn't made, with it's Gun Kata and all...
**Actress in a leading role, Monster, 2003

Celebrating a proper era of digital entertainment.

2007-04-18T14:07:00.000-05:00

I haven't seen this at any of the major news sites but at the bottom of the most recent Rockstar Propaganda e-mail is a link to this nice video montage of their titles set to Eminence Front. I tried to embed the video using code from Rockstar, but no go so here's the crappy YouTube version. Go check the official site for larger, clearer, downloadable versions.

"ROCKSTAR GAMES MCMXVIII-MMVII
Celebrating a proper era of digital entertainment.
On to the next..."

It's interesting to note the games that aren't shown. From what I can tell(I haven't played them all), it's pretty much just The Warriors, the GTA3s, Bully, Red Dead Revolver, the Midnight Clubs, the Max Paynes, and Manhunt. No 2D GTAs, State Of Emergencys, Smuggler's Runs...hell, not even freakin' Oni for God's sake!

It would be perfectly fine to attempt this with monkeys though...

2007-04-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a warning screen that appears when you boot up the classic Habitrail Hamster Ball for the PS2. I don't remember seeing a similar screen preceding 50 Cent: Bulletproof.

"This game is purely fictional fun and in no way represents the proper treatment of real hamsters. Refer to our Hamster Care Guide on how to look after your hamster."

I'm on your ass, bird!

2007-04-02T18:23:00.000-05:00

Kotaku posted a great article on how Shadow of the Colossus came to be included in the recent film Reign Over Me. Here's a short clip from the film featuring the game.

Konsole Knavez

2007-03-22T18:56:00.000-05:00

A fairly recent Insert Credit post of GDC 07 photoz alerted me of the existence of Konsole Kingz, a hip-hop oriented gaming DVD website...thing. Although their website recently went into "down time", I was able to grab a couple of preview picturez of a couple of the Konsole Queenz, who have their own website. While most of the previous queenz' pictorialz are just hot honeyz posing with a konsole or holding a kontroller, it appears that they're getting a more thematic as seen in these shotz of Xbox Lindsey with a green wig and silver bodypaint and UNO XBLA Shellie wearing only a headset and strategically placed cardz.

Pictures of the Rockstar ransom mug

2007-03-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

I think the ransom mug that Rockstar sent to me is so nice, I'm posting a couple of pictures as it now exists in its natural habitat of holding my pens at work.

[there was a small chance that]ROCKSTAR GAMES AND TAKE TWO INTERACTIVE[could have] SUED ME

2007-03-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

Shortly after Rockstar Games announced that Manhunt 2 was coming this summer, I registered www.manhunt3.com. Why? For the same reason I registered www.BreastPhysics.com, www.3dPlatformers.com, www.CharlieSpradling.com, and numerous other goofy domain names. For the same reason a dog licks his balls. Because I could.

I actually forgot about it for about a month until I got this e-mail:

Mr. Parker,

I am an attorney with Take Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games. We recently learned that you registered the domain name manhunt3.com.

Your registration of manhunt3.com violates our rights in the manhunt trademark. I would appreciate it if you would contact me by March 7, 2008 to arrange the transfer of the domain to Rockstar Games.

Sincerely,
Gena Feist

Gena A. Feist
Vice President & Associate General Counsel
Take Two Interactive

I didn't completely freak out, but I was very concerned. I'm a fairly un-rich apartment dweller with two kids so I have completely no resources to fight this sort thing. After doing a bit of research on the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act I knew that I couldn't ask for more than the money I paid to register it, so I called Gena on the 6th and just told her outright that I wasn't trying to get rich off of this and I'd transfer it over right away. She was happy to wrap it up so easily and offered to "send me some Rockstar gear" when it was all over. After a few e-mails back and forth with the Rockstar tech guy(and after remembering that I had also registered manhunt4.com), it was done and I received a package(Simon called it a ransom, I prefer "bounty") about a week later.

Three t-shirts(Vice City Stories logo on black, Barcode logo on black, San Andres logo on white), a gray pullover with a small embroidered Rockstar logo, a light gray knitted cap with ROCKSTAR knitted in white around the bottom, and a beautiful [hot]coffee mug with a Great Wave off Kanagawa-inspired design featuring the small R* logo(Hmmm...maybe the first proof of GTA: Toyko?).

All in all, I'm happy with the outcome. I meant no malice. I wasn't trying to screw anybody over. I got some company swag. Maybe there was a chance that they really didn't have an obvious right to the domains, but I am an admitted Rockstar fan and as I said before wasn't doing this to start trouble.

At least I got a good story out of it.

Dual Screen virginity...taken!

2007-03-14T14:40:00.000-05:00

I just touched my first Nintendo DS yesterday. I've fiddled with demo units a bit, but never actually held one outside of those strapped down confining bonds. It's quite nice, the clear plastic on white really is a nice touch.

The fact that I've never had the chance to mess with one of these things in its natural habitat is unfortunate, but this is also coming from a guy who's only actually touched an ipod once. I just don't know any people who buy these things and I sure as hell can't afford them.

Hell, the number of gaming enthusiasts I personally know could probably be counted on one hand.

The making of Kya: Dark Lineage video

2007-03-10T21:52:00.000-06:00

Here's a great 25 minute making of video for the excellent and highly underrated Kya: Dark Lineage for the PS2 from Eden Studios. I uploaded it to Game Videos for easy viewin', but you can also download the original here. Too bad there will never be a sequel. *sigh*

The first hour of Carol Vorderman's Sudoku - PS2

2007-03-09T10:25:00.000-06:00

Let's face facts, it would be really hard to screw up sudoku. The only thing I'd imagine you could do to accomplish this would be to have broken puzzles with multiple or no solutions. Carol Vorderman's Sudoku for the PS2 does not do this so in that aspect, it succeeds. Everything else(tutorials, graphics, music) is just gravy on the biscuits so consider anything negative I say here to be extremely nitpicky.

I haven't played that much sudoku beyond the easy level puzzles so the 30 minutes of video tutorials describing various techniques at each difficulty level were fairly insightful. Unfortunately they didn't letterbox them for a 4:3 ratio from the original PSP versions and they are vertically stretched. The controls were pretty easy to figure out but it wasn't immediately clear how to "pre-mark" the squares with the possible number combinations. The music seems to only be one track a few minutes long, but it sounds nice and unobtrusive. Strangely, the manual has not been re-done from the PC version and still lists an option to print out puzzles. The most unique parts are the career and challenge modes which has you completing increasingly difficult puzzles, achieving martial arts-style belts and dans along the way.

None of this helps me to feel any better about playing this on a Playstation 2 with its 128-bit 294 MHz Emotion Engine processor. Minus the videos, this could feasibly be recreated on any early 8-bit systems. I also really enjoyed Puzzle Challenge: Crosswords and More! but I haven't cracked it open since I first played once it after purchasing it back in May of last year. If I had a PSP both of those would be great for short bursts of gameplay(I used to play the mobile phone Gameloft version of sudoku fairly often) but when I am able to actually find an hour or two to play, I find I'd rather experience one of the hundreds of other graphically rich games that I couldn't easily recreate with a pencil and a piece of paper.

Carol Vorderman's Sudoku! Wait...who?

2007-03-06T17:53:00.000-06:00

Carol Vorderman's Sudoku is a PS2 game I've been watching for awhile . It has more that a few odd angles to it, even more than just being a sudoku game for a home console that's arriving about two years late. Just trying to find a website and figure out the publishers and developers for the damn thing was a nightmare. Here's what I've been able to figure out.

The title was first published in Europe on August 25th of last year. Xplosiv is the company listed on the cover, but a bit of digging bring up the names of Empire Interactive and Atomic Planet Entertainment Ltd. After a bit, I was able to figure out that Eidos Interactive is the US publisher. On the official US site, Empire and Atomic Planet have logos appearing, along with(and this is where it gets weird) www.Puzzle.tv and Secret Stash Games.

www.Puzzle.tv has its name attached to two other puzzle games: Puzzle Challenge: Crosswords and More! for the PS2 and PSP and Sudoku Fever for the Game Boy Advance. Their website isn't too descriptive but seem to be a UK-based puzzle subscription service for various platforms "including traditional print, the internet, cd-roms, computer games platforms, interactive television and mobile phones".

Secret Stash Games, the only company listed on the US cover, is almost a complete mystery. A Google search on their name reveals exactly 3 unique results including the slightly unsettling fact that their official website is a badly designed MySpace page that doesn't in any way try to to suggest that they are involved in game-making. The other notable mention is in a review of Chili Con Carnage on a 1up journal. So off I go to the official Chili Con Carnage site and hey, whadya know, they're listed on the US version of the site and once again they have the only logo on the cover. From looking at the WHOIS info for www.secretstashgames.com(currently not being used!) the registrar is Eidos so I'm guessing that it must me some sort of imprint company.

I also noticed they've used a very different picture for the cover. Here's the Euro version:

I guess they didn't like the giant belt and bracelet combo.

We haven't even gotten to who Carol Vorderman is. I'm not sure why they didn't change the US title to something like "X-Treme Sudoku! featuring Carol Vorderman" because her name carries no recognition over here. From what I've read, Carol is a 47-year-old thinking man's crumpet, television presenter, Mensa member, sudoku expert, and who knows what else. She's most famous for co-hosting a game show called Countdown for the last 25 years, with mathematics being her specialty on the show. In 2005 she hosted game show called "Sudoku Live" in which 9 teams competed to solve sudoku puzzles...live! There are also many products with her name attached, many of them sudoku books, DVD games, detox diet books, handheld games, etc.

Of course, all of this doesn't mean squat over here...but she's easier on your eyes than Professor Kawashima!

I just don't understand why companies who is releasing a console game can't even get a cohesive online presence or promote a product well. I shouldn't have to fight with the internet just to figure out even the most basic information only to come up with dead ends and seemingly hidden websites. Of the five companies listed on the US version of this game, only two have any decent information. The secretive nature of publishers and developers seem to sometimes bite itself on the ass when it hinders the consumer from hey, you know...buying the product.

Unfortunately, although the release date is supposed to be today(only EB/Gamestop have it listed) I won't be able to pick up this title right away because as great as the novelty is, I just can't force myself to pay 30 bucks for a FMV sudoku console game. Instead, I'll be paying half price for yet another PSP to PS2 port.

I'll leave you with a handy tip from Carol that highlights the very British nature of the game:

"I use a propelling pencil with a rubber on the end - it has the thinnest nib."

Update 03/08/2007 - The price dropped to 19.99 the day before it came out. I could not control my odd-game-lovin' urges and have a fresh copy in my grubby little hands. The worst part? I paid for part of it by canceling my pre-order for God of War 2.

Teenage New Mutant Wave Ninja Hooker Turtles

2007-03-04T13:16:00.000-06:00

Looking at the TMNT arcade flyer, is it pure coincidence that April O'Neil is striking a pose almost exactly like Ginger Lynn on the poster of 80's porno classic New Wave Hookers?

Inspired by Kotaku

Game soundtracks available online

2007-03-01T16:13:00.000-06:00

There's a recent EA press release touting that a large number of its game soundtracks are now available on iTunes(booooo DRM). Perusing the EA Trax site, it appears that the bulk are mostly of the sports game licensed song collection variety as opposed to actual game scores. No package album prices either. All 35 tracks of Madden 07 will cost you 34.65.

The scores that they do have available are still for sale in mp3 format. The links say "purchase from EA" and take you to "Nettwerk Store"(whatever the hell that is) to buy them. To complete the audio format roundup, preview clips are available in RealPlayer format.

Most of the scores are from games with rabid followings like Lord Of The Rings, The Sims(Mark Mothersbaugh!), and Harry Potter(all the way back to '03) but there are a couple of others such as Need for Speed:Most Wanted and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005.

The part of the release that get my hopes up the most is this section:

"EA will continue to add songs, scores, themes, beats and ringtones from EA game franchises past and present including NBA LIVE, FIFA Soccer, Command & Conquer™, Medal of Honor™, NASCAR®, SSX™, Battlefield and more."

I can only dream that "and more" alludes to Catwoman and Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat.

Actually, what I really dream is that this will spurn more western game companies to release original game soundtracks. I think they would sell well at a low price point of3 to 5 dollars or so. Official Sound Tracks of Japanese games are are common in Japana but are hard to come by over here and often prohibitively expensive.

It would be even better if they would just release them for free as some have. The entire released album of Rockstar's masterpiece Bully with exclusive bonus tracks is available free at Emusic. You don't even have to sign up, just download each track separately.

Even EA has given a game soundtrack away for free, Ty The Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue. BushRescue.com, an official Ty fan site by developer Krome Studios has 65 tracks of music and sound effects. Direct download list here.

Picture courtesy of Video Games Live

Frank Welker as Curious George recording session video

2007-02-27T12:17:00.000-06:00

One thing I love about recent games is the ability to include DVD-like extras in the form of interviews, making-of videos, concept art, and sometimes even in-game commentary.

In the recent Curious George platformer by Namco based on the 2006 film(probably the last feature length cel animated film that will ever be made) the requisite collectible is, of course, bananas. Collecting at a certain percentage of these per level unlocks videos and hats(!) in the gift shop. These are then paid for with "curious points" which are are garnered by interacting with certain objects, usually resulting in George fucking shit up as he is well known for.

Most of the videos to be unlocked are clips from the film that are interspersed throughout the game to aid the plot, but there are also 6 clips of voice actors recording lines for the game. it's interesting to see, but each is really only good for one viewing as it's a bit repetitive watching them say each line 5 times.

The best clip is of Frank Welker(who is closing in on 600 IMDb credits) making monkey noises for two and a half straight minutes as seen below.

The Amplitude servers are no more.

2007-02-26T20:58:00.000-06:00

Sony Online shut down the Amplitude servers at 3am PT on Monday, February 26 2007 and I was there. Well, I was there the night before...but at least I got to play a game of Freezepop's "Super Sprøde" with Harmonix's own Sean Baptiste! I had a lot of fun and wanted to say thanks to all my fellow FreQs. It's just a shame that I only got broadband and a network adapter a month ago.

I completely understand Sony's decision. Amplitude was the first game I tried when I got the adapter and there were never more that 3 or 4 people online. Last night there were about 20-25 at a time when I logged off. I wouldn't be surprised to see an improved version of the Amplitude/FreQuency formula continued with a new downloadable version on the PS3. It would a perfect fit for the buy-a-song micro transaction model.

...and isn't that Amplitude art up there neat? It reminds me of early Atari 2600 box art. You can download the Lobo-designed wallpaper here.

Is Gamestop selling Lumines early?

2007-02-23T10:21:00.000-06:00

Being a poor man who's most next-gen is a hand me down Playstation 2, the only new release games I can talk myself into buying have to be either very unique or very cheap. Sure I'd love to pick up God of War II, but at a 50 buck price point I'll have to wait until it becomes a Greatest Hits title. This leaves me looking forward to 20.00 budget PS2 games ported from the PSP.

Being a Rez fan, I was looking forward to playing Lumines after having heard such good things about it so I was happy to hear that it was coming to the PS2 as Lumines Plus. At a price of 29.99 I thought I might be able to convince myself it was a worthy purchase even if I had to line up early enough before the the bums to donate plasma every day for a week.

Yesterday, some web surfing revealed that the price had dropped to 19.99 so it immediately became a must buy. I also noticed that Gamestop had it listed as available and sure enough when I called, my local store had a few copies. So this morning I got a copy i my fat little hands when the store opened at 9am(along with a copy of the now-also-at-20-dollars PSP to PS2 port Mercury Meltdown Remix*).

Checking other major sites online, the prices are fairly consistent but the release dates are all over the place.

Gamestop has 2/20 at 19.99
Gamespot has 2/20 at 19.99(with a Best buy pre-order link on the same page!)
IGN has 2/27 at 19.99
Best Buy has 2/27 at 19.99
Amazon has 3/1 at 19.99
Target has 3/1 at 19.99(Amazon handles their online store)
Circuit City has no listing.
Walmart has it available to ship for 29.82(!)

I wouldn't really say that Gamestop "broke" the street date(although that would make for a more eye-catching if less honest news title) but it does show how game publishers often don't pay enough attention to the lower profile release dates and promotion. The official Lumines Plus site has a "Coming Soon" message(as seen above) even though it's printed on the back of the box!

*Featuring "State of the Art Blob Physics"!

I'm way too proud of this.

2007-02-22T13:55:00.000-06:00

I'm about to show you something that few people on earth have seen. Gaze upon the screen shot below...but only if you dare!

Ant Bully for the PS2, I have defeated you.

Yes, I am a 32 year old man and I spent many many hours collecting all the fire crystals and getting a gold medal on each level to obtain a perfect 100% score on Ant Bully for the PS2. I wanted to post this because I am not ashamed that I really enjoyed this game. Sure it was fairly simple, the fighting sucked, the sound was extremely buggy, there were only about 7 enemies repeated hundreds of times, and the Nicholas Cage impersonator was terrible but dammit, I had fun. I thought the environments and level design were beautiful and the feel of being ant-sized was very well implemented.

I could go on about other aspects of the game but I know for a fact that no one cares. Not even on GameFAQs.

Why post this then? Why crow about an achievement that few others over the age of 10 could be proud of? I guess it's just a good look into what kind of gamer I am and how unique video game enthusiasts can be.

Or maybe it will cause you to never look at this site again.

The first 3 hours of Chulip

2007-02-20T11:03:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I finally got the damn thing in my hands, rushed home, ignored my family for 3 hours, and very much enjoyed it(the game, not the ignoring of my family....well, maybe both).

As expected, Chulip is a very strange, very Japanese game. You play as a poor boy who has moved with his father into a small town from the big city. A large portion of the populous live in holes underground and most of the game is figuring out how to coax them out and kiss them so that your heart will grow large enough to allow you to kiss the girl of you dreams under a tree.

The plot, script, character design, and art are all very unique but when you strip all of that away, Chulip is brutally unforgiving adventure game. So brutal in fact, that the instruction booklet seems to(I only quickly glanced through it) contain complete solutions to when and how each underground dweller needs to be kissed. You'll probably need it though, as even the simple fact of riding on the wrong playground equipment can instantly end your game. Just make sure you go to the bathroom a lot to save your game. Seriously.

This brings up something else I noted as playing the game. From my initial time with the game, it feels that Natsume has done a very admiral job on the translation. I can't even imagine the difficulty they had in conveying some of the original Japanese cultural idiosyncrasies into something that westerners could also relate to. Not only is ons of dialogue, but there are many signs that had to be translated( i.e. movies posters for "FART WOMAN").

The soundtrack is also great. I'm on level 2 and it's a catchy a cappella tune, while the main theme reminds me of an atmospheric 70's Italian giallo film. You can check out a review and clips of the CD release here.

If you are in any way interested in this game, please pick it up. Hopefully it will encourage Natsume and other publishers to continue to publish imaginative and unique games such as this one.

Also make sure to read this very fair review at 1up.

New Bully Contest

2007-02-17T10:10:00.000-06:00

I recently got an e-mail recently from Rockstar Games about their "Harrington House Fraternal Society Initiation Rites Sweepstakes". You can enter at the contest page and win a whole bunch of neat Bully-branded items. Harrington House in the game is where all the preppies live, or as the website states:

"The esteemed Harrington House brotherhood at Bullworth Academy is a preparatory fraternal society of the highest order. Traditionally reserved for the progeny of America's most renowned embezzlers and captains of corporate monopoly, we are now forced by an absurd civil ruling to open admission to the hoi polloi of Bullworth as well."

If you're one of the five lucky winners, you'll receive a group of 12 different prizes: a cricket bat, six buttons, skateboard deck, dodgeball(previously included in the gamestop special edition), notebook, paperweight(which would make an obnoxiously wonderful belt buckle), pencils, rugby shirt, slingshot, bumper stickers, and t-shirt...all of them emblazoned with the Bully logo.

The odd thing is that I received the e-mail on the 12th, but I have yet to see anyone else post about this so unless one of the larger site posts on this, the odds of winning aren't too bad. So why the hell am I posting about and increasing the odds? Because I love you all.

Gamers becoming a target audience?

2007-02-16T10:56:00.000-06:00

While unsuccessfully trying to find the Tony Hawk Project 8 skateboard deck/PS2 game combo that was marked all the way down to 22 bucks at some Target stores, I came across this sign posted outside the construction of some new apartments:

"Foodies, Activists, Gamers, Techies - You belong Here."

This is the first time I can remember "gamers" being targeted for anything other than...well, games. Visiting the website for the Alexan Main Street ~~apartment complex~~ ahem...luxury rental residences shows a typically annoying intro showing the different amenities offered to each cultural sector:

Foodies - Cooking Classes
Wine Buffs - Tasting Room
Techies - Internet Lounge
Gamers - Alexan Arcade
Fit fanatics - Athletic Club
Water Babies - Lap Pool

Other groups of people listed as being "belonging" are: Teachers, Newcomers, Art Lovers, Artists, Runners, Bloggers, Shopaholics, Technicians, Rockers, Natives, Attorneys, Joggers, Nature Lovers, & Chocoholics.

What is an "Alexan Arcade"? Could end up being a pool table and a Zizzle pinball machine stuck in an abandoned maintenance closet for all we know.

I could blather on about how inane the whole thing is(they want chocoholics and attorneys but no doctors?) but the interesting part is that the advertisers actively targeting gamers. It may be a horribly misguided attempt, but it's nice to see the that the gaming community can be thought of as an actual consumer segment. Even smug bastards like this guy:

Update: At the urging of a friend, I tried to find out a bit more about the company behind it and exactly what an Alexan Arcade is. Alexan is a brand of Trammell Crow Residential and from looking at every one of the websites for all of the other Alexan Communities(at least the ones that worked), I could not find another mention of gamers, Alexan Arcade, or even the same sales pitch that they are using for Main Street. I called the local Houston office for more information, but I don't expect a response until Tuesday.

No Chulip for me.

2007-02-15T21:03:00.000-06:00

I had to wait until 4:30 today to find out that according to the store I pre-ordered it at, the release date for Chulip got pushed back to the 19th. The odd part is that the website now says that it's already out and ready for shipping(shakes fist toward the heavens) . *sigh* I guess I'll have to post some more characters to tide me over.

I guess I'll start up The Ant Bully and hope there's absolutely no kissing in it. Just more tasty communism.

Chulip delayed?

2007-02-14T18:01:00.000-06:00

One of the signs of a dying Sony console seems to be when SCEA loosens their quality stranglehold and all the weird budget games get released. One of the first horsemen of this budget PS2 game apocalypse is Chulip.
"You and your father have just moved into a rural town famous for an ancient legend. It's been said that whoever kisses underneath the old tree on the hill will be destined to live happily ever after. With your eyes set on a girl living in a nearby pipe...you set out on your quest."

How can anyone resist such compelling kiss-based gameplay? The release date has been pushed back constantly for more than two years so it was great to find out that it finally was being released as a Gamestop/EB Games exclusive today, February 14th(Get it? A Valentine's Day release for a kissing game! HO HO HO). I pre-ordered the game a few weeks ago, only the second time I'm ever done that(I'm lookin' at you, Ape Escape 3), received my bonus keychain, and was dismayed to see that the release date on the Gamestop site is now the 19th. I called my store and they still have it listed as tomorrow(Gamestop receives all low-profile games that day after release) and a call to the publisher Natsume got me a "I think it came out already...yeah, it came out today". Hopefully I'll know more by noon tomorrow.

Also, wanna know a seemingly harmless game got a ESRB Teen rating with a "Suggestive Themes" descriptor? Maybe it because of characters like this Gimp fellow.

IGN's grasp of time slipping further every day.

2007-02-13T11:04:00.000-06:00

I'm not one to bitch about my love or hatred of specific large gaming sites, I think they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I couldn't help but notice two recent oddities with reviews on IGN.The highly anticipated "last great PS2 game" God Of War II is coming out March 13(the same day as Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's Birthday. Coincidence? You decide!), so why did IGN post a review of it just yesterday, more than a month before the the game comes out? Who's interests does that serve? I know there's a huge amount of hype behind this game, but I'd leave these super-early previews to smaller sites and blogs.
While perusing the IGN review for Flushed Away I noticed this bit of text:

"Flushed Away isn't the strongest license ever to hit gaming shelves. Seeing a very limited run of time on the big screen, the movie wasn't considered to be a huge success on any level, and much like the film, the console game lacks any serious depth."

The problem with this sentence? The review was posted on November 7 while Flushed Away debuted in theatres on November 3rd, only four days earlier! What the hell are they referring to? I wondered if maybe they just cut/pasted parts of another review, but I couldn't find proof of that.

The only other probable reason is this is proof of what everyone has suspected all along. Video game reviewers don't actually review the games, they use a hi-tech review writing supercomputer that takes in the general details and the machine spits out yet another pessimistic negative review.

Europe's crappy PS2 exclusives

2007-02-12T12:29:00.000-06:00

Discovering the horrible titles that SCEE allow to be published for the PS2 is a favorite pastime of mine. Here's a recent find from Hollan-based frequent offender Phoenix Games a.k.a. "The Only European Super Budget Publisher".

"Paccie"

Sony of America would never let something like that on the shelves and I for one feel the loss. I love crappy games, especially licensed ones. Every once in awhile one will sneak is way across the sea, but we'll probably never see the glory of such titles as Ninjabread Man, Cocoto Platform Jumper, or Little Britain: The Video Game.

Unidentifiable Ethnicity

2007-02-11T18:50:00.000-06:00

It seems that once of the most common responses to a recent list of The First 11 Black Videogame Stars is "I never thought of Jade(from Beyond Good and Evil) as black". I feel that same way, and thought of some other videogame characters that I feel were designed in same vein.Maya from the Yourself!Fitness exercise program was specifically designed to be a racial mirror of sorts as related in this Gamasutra article from February 2005:

"We tried to make her ethnicity look unidentifiable. The thing we get the most is that Maya looks Latino, but she looks Caucasian, sort of Asian. We want people to really define her the way they see her."
- Jason Leighton, Chief Technical Officer at responDESIGN

Not much to say about Trane from Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure except that even though he's on the list on black videogame characters, I always saw him as a multiracial person with an Asian background.While it's bit surprising that Riddick from The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay was left off the list of black videogame characters, he's a perfect addition to our list. Vin Diesel wrote and directed a short film early in his career called Multi-Facial detailing the difficulty he had with casting agents trying to pigeonhole him in a certain racial mold, finding to be "too black", "too Italian", etc.

I usually don't pay much attention to the race of my on screen avatar but it was an interesting article that certainly provoked me to think more about how I perceive their race of human videogame characters. A multi-racial design that everyone can see as themselves certainly is an interesting way to reach out to every player.

After all, barring robot takeover, we'll all look like Jade/Maya/Trane/Riddick in a few thousand years.

Manhunt 2 Wii

2007-02-08T20:24:00.000-06:00

Rockstar recently announced that Manhunt 2 is coming out this summer on Playstation 2, PSP, and...wait for it...Nintendo Wii. Rockstar is very calculated their releases so what can we read from this recent decision?

The modern Rockstar as most people think of it began in 2001 and Nintendo-wise have only released two exclusive titles(Smuggler's Run: Warzones for the Gamecube and Grand Theft Auto for the Gameboy Advance) and two Gameboy Advance ports of previously released games(Max Payne and Smuggler's Run).

In the land of the Xbox there have been many Rockstar releases, but no exclusives. They were always released in conjunction with the PS2 version or months later.

From the looking at their first(and so far only) next-gen title, a table tennis game for the Xbox 360, it's fairly apparent that Rockstar can do whatever the hell they want to.

So when they announce that their newest title will be released on a next-gen system primarily known for it's innovative controllers we must assume that Rockstar chose to work on the Wii because they think that a Wii version will enhance the gameplay, not because they want to blanket every system possible EA-style.

Rockstar will fully jump in to the next-gen when they are damn well ready and it should be impressive to watch.

Hello World!

2007-02-03T14:08:00.000-06:00

Welcome to GameOfTheBlog.com!