The most juicy piece of information is definitely the multiplayer mode, that not only will allow up to eight players to duel in the virtual skies both via infrastructure and ad-hoc connection, but, for the first time in the series, will include a four-player cooperative mode during the campaign. This explains the "Joint Assault" title. The ability to play a flight combat game alongside three other friends definitely seems a lot of fun. We can definitely hope to see an home console-based Ace Combat game featuring the same option in the future (Namco Bandai just trademarked the title Ace Combat: Assault Horizon)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Ace Combat X2 Joint Assault: New Trailer, Screenshots and info
The most juicy piece of information is definitely the multiplayer mode, that not only will allow up to eight players to duel in the virtual skies both via infrastructure and ad-hoc connection, but, for the first time in the series, will include a four-player cooperative mode during the campaign. This explains the "Joint Assault" title. The ability to play a flight combat game alongside three other friends definitely seems a lot of fun. We can definitely hope to see an home console-based Ace Combat game featuring the same option in the future (Namco Bandai just trademarked the title Ace Combat: Assault Horizon)
Missing Shogi from Yakuza 3? Try Shogidokoro
More or less everyone knows, by now, that several pieces of content have been (quite foolishly) cut from the western release of Yakuza 3. Between such content, Shogi is one of the minigames (or better sub-games, since it wasn't "Mini" at all), that I will miss the most, having played it as part of Yakuza 2 for quite a while, finding it a very interesting diversion that added several tens of hours of gameplay to the game.
Unfortunately, according to Sega, it doesn't "resonate" with the western audience, since, you know... the western audience (at least according to Sega) is stupid.
For the ones that are unfamiliar with the game, this wikipedia page explains the basics quite well.
Being more complex than western Chess due to some interesting mechanics, like the ability to drop captured pieces back into the game, Shogi is a delight for the brain, and a true treat for truly hardcore gamers.
So, now that Sega has left us orphaned of this lovely treat, what should we do, besides trying to find a copy of Yakuza 2?
We can play with Shogidokoro.
Shogidokoro is not exactly a game by itself. It's a Windows-based graphical user interface that can load several shogi-playing engines and let you play against them, let two engines play against each other and even let you or your engine of choice battle against other humans or other engines online (quite obviously, an engine is a program that will play shogi).
This means that, in order to play, you will need Shogidokoro itself, and at least one engine.
The best part of this all is that both Shogidokoro and one of the most popular engines, Spear, are free. You can go directly to the Spear homepage and download it. You will also find the instruction on how to download and install Shogodokoro.
The graphics aren't exactly the best you'll ever find in a game. They're indeed quite simple, but the game is deep and extremely fun. It doesn't only require intelligence and tactical thinking, but also quite a lot of imagination and ability to adapt to different situations. I'd dare say that it's quite a lot more stimulating and imaginative than western Chess.
The combination between Shogidokoro and Spear actually forms a very deep and complex program, with strong analytical tools that will help you learn and get better quite fast (even if, due to the amount of imaginative thiking required, playing against skilled humans is always better).
Instead of wasting your money with overpriced gimmicks like Brain Trainer and similar, give Shogi a try. You can be sure that your brain will stay trained and young even without the help of Dr. Kawashima.
Unfortunately, according to Sega, it doesn't "resonate" with the western audience, since, you know... the western audience (at least according to Sega) is stupid.
For the ones that are unfamiliar with the game, this wikipedia page explains the basics quite well.
Being more complex than western Chess due to some interesting mechanics, like the ability to drop captured pieces back into the game, Shogi is a delight for the brain, and a true treat for truly hardcore gamers.
So, now that Sega has left us orphaned of this lovely treat, what should we do, besides trying to find a copy of Yakuza 2?
We can play with Shogidokoro.
Shogidokoro is not exactly a game by itself. It's a Windows-based graphical user interface that can load several shogi-playing engines and let you play against them, let two engines play against each other and even let you or your engine of choice battle against other humans or other engines online (quite obviously, an engine is a program that will play shogi).
This means that, in order to play, you will need Shogidokoro itself, and at least one engine.
The best part of this all is that both Shogidokoro and one of the most popular engines, Spear, are free. You can go directly to the Spear homepage and download it. You will also find the instruction on how to download and install Shogodokoro.
The graphics aren't exactly the best you'll ever find in a game. They're indeed quite simple, but the game is deep and extremely fun. It doesn't only require intelligence and tactical thinking, but also quite a lot of imagination and ability to adapt to different situations. I'd dare say that it's quite a lot more stimulating and imaginative than western Chess.
The combination between Shogidokoro and Spear actually forms a very deep and complex program, with strong analytical tools that will help you learn and get better quite fast (even if, due to the amount of imaginative thiking required, playing against skilled humans is always better).
Instead of wasting your money with overpriced gimmicks like Brain Trainer and similar, give Shogi a try. You can be sure that your brain will stay trained and young even without the help of Dr. Kawashima.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Vanquish: New info gameplay and story revealed
Today Sega revealed on the new official site some new information about Vanquish, the upcoming shooter developed by Platinum Games and scheduled for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 this winter.
The most juicy piece of information is probably the background behind Vanquish's story that has been described in detail.
Providence is an american space colony, built with the shape of an immense cylinder to capture the energy of the sun. It's basically a gigantic power plant that sends energy back to Earth.
Unfortunately the station has been hyjacked and the power plant has been turned into a weapon of mass destruction. The enemy used the amplified microwave energy to irradiate San Francisco causing the dead of half a million people in an instant.
At the same time in Washinghton the American government received an official declaration of War from Russia. An oganization managed to stage a military coup in Russia and is now demanding an immediate and unconditional surrender of the United States. In case of a refusal New York would suffer the same fate as San Francisco.
As America faced it's moment of greatest peril, a savioir was chosen. Sam Burns, a war hero that experienced three conflicts and was awarded with the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star. The fleet on which he's stationed is already approaching Providence.
Burns was sent from the D.A.R.P.A. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), an organization controlled directly by the President and by the Secretary of Defense, with the apparent mission of testing the new ARS battle suit, but now he has received a new task, to be a hero.
It's only a matter of time before the "Star of Russia" will eventually strike on New York.
The battle for the destiny of the United State has begun.
While the story doesn't seem exactly the most original to ever grace the gaming industry, it still has potential to deliver. What definitely delivers are the new screenshots that have been released with it, that you can confortably browse in this flickr album.
Sega has also given quite a few snippets of juicy information about the gameplay, focused on the used of the ARS (Augmented Reaction Suit) system battle suit, the most advanced combat armor ever built by the Hewytt Ayumi Aerospace (this is the best translation I could get of the name, but the final one could be different). The suit has a battle potential comparable to that of the most modern combat vehicles, and it's built with carbon nanotube filaments, creating a material more resilient than steel but just slightly heavier than air.
While the game is a shooter, the ARS has extreme close combat abilities, and this will allow the player to engage the enemy in melee, with punches and kicks. It's also able to enter a "Boost" status in which movement speed, agility and mobility will be greatly enhanced in order to dodge bullets, dash between obstacles and approach fights tactically by dashing behind enemies to attack their weaker backs.
In addition to that, under certain condition the suit will enter an "Augmented Reaction Mode" during which the flow of time is slowed, reducing the speed of the enemies and their attacks (basically Bullet Time). A combination of the use of the Augmented Reaction Mode and the Boost mode will be possible in order to defeat the most powerful enemies, some of which will be of gigantic proportions.
That's all for now. I have to see that while shooters aren't my favourite genre, Vanquish definitely looks sweet, and while it seems to feature gameplay ideas that aren't exactly new, their combination could prove the true selling point of the game. We'll have to stand by for new information that will probably come soon, given that the scheduled release window isn't that far.
PS: After the cut you can see the Debut trailer of Vanquish, released a couple months ago, in the case you missed it. An interesting fact about it. It's been directed by Alexei Tylevich of Logan Production, that handled the opening movie of Metal Gear Solid 4. Sega sure seems to be pulling out the big guns for this game.
The most juicy piece of information is probably the background behind Vanquish's story that has been described in detail.
Providence is an american space colony, built with the shape of an immense cylinder to capture the energy of the sun. It's basically a gigantic power plant that sends energy back to Earth.
Unfortunately the station has been hyjacked and the power plant has been turned into a weapon of mass destruction. The enemy used the amplified microwave energy to irradiate San Francisco causing the dead of half a million people in an instant.
At the same time in Washinghton the American government received an official declaration of War from Russia. An oganization managed to stage a military coup in Russia and is now demanding an immediate and unconditional surrender of the United States. In case of a refusal New York would suffer the same fate as San Francisco.
As America faced it's moment of greatest peril, a savioir was chosen. Sam Burns, a war hero that experienced three conflicts and was awarded with the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star. The fleet on which he's stationed is already approaching Providence.
Burns was sent from the D.A.R.P.A. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), an organization controlled directly by the President and by the Secretary of Defense, with the apparent mission of testing the new ARS battle suit, but now he has received a new task, to be a hero.
It's only a matter of time before the "Star of Russia" will eventually strike on New York.
The battle for the destiny of the United State has begun.
While the story doesn't seem exactly the most original to ever grace the gaming industry, it still has potential to deliver. What definitely delivers are the new screenshots that have been released with it, that you can confortably browse in this flickr album.
Sega has also given quite a few snippets of juicy information about the gameplay, focused on the used of the ARS (Augmented Reaction Suit) system battle suit, the most advanced combat armor ever built by the Hewytt Ayumi Aerospace (this is the best translation I could get of the name, but the final one could be different). The suit has a battle potential comparable to that of the most modern combat vehicles, and it's built with carbon nanotube filaments, creating a material more resilient than steel but just slightly heavier than air.
While the game is a shooter, the ARS has extreme close combat abilities, and this will allow the player to engage the enemy in melee, with punches and kicks. It's also able to enter a "Boost" status in which movement speed, agility and mobility will be greatly enhanced in order to dodge bullets, dash between obstacles and approach fights tactically by dashing behind enemies to attack their weaker backs.
In addition to that, under certain condition the suit will enter an "Augmented Reaction Mode" during which the flow of time is slowed, reducing the speed of the enemies and their attacks (basically Bullet Time). A combination of the use of the Augmented Reaction Mode and the Boost mode will be possible in order to defeat the most powerful enemies, some of which will be of gigantic proportions.
That's all for now. I have to see that while shooters aren't my favourite genre, Vanquish definitely looks sweet, and while it seems to feature gameplay ideas that aren't exactly new, their combination could prove the true selling point of the game. We'll have to stand by for new information that will probably come soon, given that the scheduled release window isn't that far.
PS: After the cut you can see the Debut trailer of Vanquish, released a couple months ago, in the case you missed it. An interesting fact about it. It's been directed by Alexei Tylevich of Logan Production, that handled the opening movie of Metal Gear Solid 4. Sega sure seems to be pulling out the big guns for this game.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Famitsu Controversy Part 2 - Hypocrisy
A few days ago I wrote about the controversy stirred by Kotaku over the review of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on the Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu.
To recap for the ones that missed it, Famitsu has a Tie-In deal with Konami, that will result in the magazine making an appearance in MGS: Peace Walker as a in-game item. Also, Famitsu reviewed the game and gave it a 40/40 perfect score.
Kotaku evidently took offense at that, and Brian Ashcraft posted an libel-bordering and sensationalistic rant titled "Do not trust this magazine's review scores", pretty openly accusing Famitsu and Konami to have an undercover deal in order to promote the game with a perfect score.
Looks like both Famitsu and Konami didn't like the article, which isn't surprising, in journalism throwing wild defamatory accusations without a shred of proof is called libel, and it's obviously a bad, bad thing. This not even mentioning that intentionally bashing the credibility of a competing publication is absolutely wrong both under an ethical and a professional point of view as I already illustrated on my previous article on this subject.
As Brian Ashcraft himself denounced in a pretty clumsy attempt to give further ground to his unproven accusations, both Konami and Famitsu wrote a formal letter of protest to Kotaku Japan and Konami withdrew the invitation to a PR event for the launch of Peace Walker.
A reaction that I would define quite mild, considering that libel can easily lead to lawsuits.
This is the point where a professional journalist should swallow his pride, understand that he scattered accusations around without a shred of proof, admit he was wrong, apologize and move on.
Unfortunately this isn't the case and the grasping at straws gets absolutely desperate: "Waaaaah they responded on the same day! They must have decided together to bully Kotaku! Waaaaah! Conspiracy!"
Good morning, Mr Bashcraft. Welcome to reality. Publishers and journalists TALK to each other. You probably talk to publishers daily, don't you? When one of the two parties saw that libelous article, it's pretty obvious that they called the other to let them know that some site was slandering them. There's really nothing weird and no chance of a conspiracy in that. So it's pretty obvious possibility that a response was issued on the same day and, surprise surprise, was received on the same day.
One of the most funny parts is how Ashcraft talks about writing to Kotaku Japan (that is owned by a different company than Kotaku, and just translated and published the article), comparing it to "shooting the messenger".
Too bad that Kotaku Japan isn't a "messenger". They willingly published an article that at the very least bordered libel. No matter where it was originally written, they decided to do so under their responsibility. If you publish an article, you're just as liable as if you write it.
It's probable that neither Konami nor Famitsu even noticed that the article was just a translation of what it appeared on Kotaku. The two sites being owned by different companies is a marginal detail. They have the same name, and Kotaku Japan lives mostly on articles translated from Kotaku. To an external observer they are the same entity, so it's natural that they just wrote to the apparent Japanese counterpart.
But there's one more little, but not so marginal piece to this absolutely hypocritical puzzle.
Mr. Ashcraft in his first article mentioned how Famitsu should have "offered a full disclosure" (but what is there to disclose? The tie-in is public knowledge, they went as far as going on stage in a press conference to announce it) accompanying their coverage of MGS: Peace Walker.
So, according to Kotaku, Famitsu is unreliable because they didn't write a full disclosure about the Tie-In deal between Famitsu's publisher Enterbrain and Konami.
Too bad that Mr Ashcraft forgot a couple little details (besides the several advertisement deals that involve themes that turn Kotaku in a whole big adboard for this or that game quite often):
There's absolutely no full disclosure about any tie-in on Kotaku's very positive review of WarioWare: D.I.Y. None that would even slightly hint to any promotional deal between the site and Nintendo.
But surprise, surprise! A few days later Kotaku announced the fabulous contest Master WarioWare: D.I.Y., Make Us a Game, Win a HUGE Prize, prompting readers to create a Kotaku-themed minigame using the Nintendo's little platform, and offering "HUGE prizes" sponsorized by... Nintendo.
But this isn't all:
There's absolutely no full disclosure about any tie-in on Kotaku's extremely enthusiastic (even a little too enthusiastic in my honest opinion, since they basically avoided mentioning all the flaws of the game besides a very minor one) review of Forza Motorsport 3, nor on the just as enthusiastic and quite frequent follow-up coverage on the game.
But surprise, surprise! Kotaku's sister blog Jalopnik, part of the Gawker network (that publishes Kotaku as well), has a Tie-in with Forza 3. They helped choose the cars in one of the Forza DLC packages with an extensive voting event called "Forzalopnik", and VIP players of Forza Motorsport 3 received a Jalopnik-themed car delivered in game directly by Turn 10.
To recap for the ones that missed it, Famitsu has a Tie-In deal with Konami, that will result in the magazine making an appearance in MGS: Peace Walker as a in-game item. Also, Famitsu reviewed the game and gave it a 40/40 perfect score.
Kotaku evidently took offense at that, and Brian Ashcraft posted an libel-bordering and sensationalistic rant titled "Do not trust this magazine's review scores", pretty openly accusing Famitsu and Konami to have an undercover deal in order to promote the game with a perfect score.
Looks like both Famitsu and Konami didn't like the article, which isn't surprising, in journalism throwing wild defamatory accusations without a shred of proof is called libel, and it's obviously a bad, bad thing. This not even mentioning that intentionally bashing the credibility of a competing publication is absolutely wrong both under an ethical and a professional point of view as I already illustrated on my previous article on this subject.
As Brian Ashcraft himself denounced in a pretty clumsy attempt to give further ground to his unproven accusations, both Konami and Famitsu wrote a formal letter of protest to Kotaku Japan and Konami withdrew the invitation to a PR event for the launch of Peace Walker.
A reaction that I would define quite mild, considering that libel can easily lead to lawsuits.
This is the point where a professional journalist should swallow his pride, understand that he scattered accusations around without a shred of proof, admit he was wrong, apologize and move on.
Unfortunately this isn't the case and the grasping at straws gets absolutely desperate: "Waaaaah they responded on the same day! They must have decided together to bully Kotaku! Waaaaah! Conspiracy!"
Good morning, Mr Bashcraft. Welcome to reality. Publishers and journalists TALK to each other. You probably talk to publishers daily, don't you? When one of the two parties saw that libelous article, it's pretty obvious that they called the other to let them know that some site was slandering them. There's really nothing weird and no chance of a conspiracy in that. So it's pretty obvious possibility that a response was issued on the same day and, surprise surprise, was received on the same day.
One of the most funny parts is how Ashcraft talks about writing to Kotaku Japan (that is owned by a different company than Kotaku, and just translated and published the article), comparing it to "shooting the messenger".
Too bad that Kotaku Japan isn't a "messenger". They willingly published an article that at the very least bordered libel. No matter where it was originally written, they decided to do so under their responsibility. If you publish an article, you're just as liable as if you write it.
It's probable that neither Konami nor Famitsu even noticed that the article was just a translation of what it appeared on Kotaku. The two sites being owned by different companies is a marginal detail. They have the same name, and Kotaku Japan lives mostly on articles translated from Kotaku. To an external observer they are the same entity, so it's natural that they just wrote to the apparent Japanese counterpart.
But there's one more little, but not so marginal piece to this absolutely hypocritical puzzle.
Mr. Ashcraft in his first article mentioned how Famitsu should have "offered a full disclosure" (but what is there to disclose? The tie-in is public knowledge, they went as far as going on stage in a press conference to announce it) accompanying their coverage of MGS: Peace Walker.
So, according to Kotaku, Famitsu is unreliable because they didn't write a full disclosure about the Tie-In deal between Famitsu's publisher Enterbrain and Konami.
Too bad that Mr Ashcraft forgot a couple little details (besides the several advertisement deals that involve themes that turn Kotaku in a whole big adboard for this or that game quite often):
There's absolutely no full disclosure about any tie-in on Kotaku's very positive review of WarioWare: D.I.Y. None that would even slightly hint to any promotional deal between the site and Nintendo.
But surprise, surprise! A few days later Kotaku announced the fabulous contest Master WarioWare: D.I.Y., Make Us a Game, Win a HUGE Prize, prompting readers to create a Kotaku-themed minigame using the Nintendo's little platform, and offering "HUGE prizes" sponsorized by... Nintendo.
But this isn't all:
There's absolutely no full disclosure about any tie-in on Kotaku's extremely enthusiastic (even a little too enthusiastic in my honest opinion, since they basically avoided mentioning all the flaws of the game besides a very minor one) review of Forza Motorsport 3, nor on the just as enthusiastic and quite frequent follow-up coverage on the game.
But surprise, surprise! Kotaku's sister blog Jalopnik, part of the Gawker network (that publishes Kotaku as well), has a Tie-in with Forza 3. They helped choose the cars in one of the Forza DLC packages with an extensive voting event called "Forzalopnik", and VIP players of Forza Motorsport 3 received a Jalopnik-themed car delivered in game directly by Turn 10.
Yet, there's no full disclosure on this on Kotaku's articles about Forza Motorsport 3.
I rest my case.
I rest my case.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Online - New browser game announced
Well, looks like it just snowed: today the Japanese developer GameOn published a juicy press release announcing a deal with the manga and novel publisher Tokuma Shoten, paving the way to the development of an online browser game based on the Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu) saga.
The most hardcore anime and manga fans probably already recognized the name. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is the most prominent, deep, poetic and long winded space opera ever published in Japan. Counting 10 novels, 9 short stories, 11 manga volumes, four anime series for a total of 110 episodes, two theatrical animated movies and 53 OAVs, it's rightfully seen as as the premier masterpiece of Japanese science fiction, often compared to Star Wars and Star Trek.
The saga focuses on the space faring war between the Galactic Empire and the Free Planet Alliance (at least initially) and more prominently between the two military geniuses Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-Li, staging the classic conflict between dictatorship and democracy. A very peculiar trait, though, is that the narration doesn't take a moral stance and doesn't pinpoint an "evil" side, treating the two factions equally, and focusing more on the personal stories and feelings of the several tens of characters that orbit around the two leaders.
Besides featuring some of the best starfleet battles ever seen in animation (or on film), it definitely reaches an almost unparalleled pinnacle of depth and complexity between any space opera. If you're curious, the whole saga is available fansubbed. Watching it all will take you quite some time. Very well spent time, I might add.
For the moment nothing has been disclosed about the gameplay. The only known detail is that Legend of the Galactic Heroes Online (the name is tentative) will be a browser-based game, and as such no client download will be needed.
The most interesting fact, though, is that the press release explicitly states that GameOn isn't aiming just to the domestic Japanese market and that the service will be offered worldwide. Looks like even us western-based gamers will be able to enjoy it. No release dates have been given yet.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Yakuza RetroReview: yes, the first one
If you have followed this blog before, or the gaming press in general, you know about the western release of Yakuza 3 (and the controversy involved). It's very possible that you missed the previous chapters of the series, and you might be wondering if it's worth playing them before starting the third game. This is exactly the purpose for this little retro-review.
One of the first hurdles you might find, if you'll want to play this game, is actually finding a PS2. Yakuza works with no problems only with the first rare models of the PS3, the American 20/60 Gb models with an hardware retrocompatibility chip. If you have an European 60 Gb or an American 80 Gb with software retrocompatibility, then the game will freeze twice during the story making progression impossible.
The story sees Kazuma Kiryu returning to Tokyo after spending ten years in jail. A decade before his childhood friend Nishiki (Nishikiyama in the original Japanese script) killed the chairman of his Yakuza family, and Kazuma decided to take the blame upon himself. As a result he was expelled from the clan and convicted.
Kazuma finds his old home in turmoil, with the former chairman of the Tojo clan assassinated and ten billion yen stolen from the clan's coffers, resulting in an internal power struggle that sees a largely changed Nishiki as a main player. On top of it all Yumi, the girl he loves, went missing and is nowhere to be found.
To complicate further an already complex situation, Yumi's niece Haruka is being targeted by several members of the Tojo clan that seem to think she's the key to find the stolen ten billions. Kazuma still feels honor-bound to his old clan, and to his foster father, Shintaro Fuma (the original name is Shintaro Kazama), head of the Fuma family and one of the leaders of the Tojo clan. His old ties will lead him to investigate on the mysterious chain of murders and to protect Haruka whatever the cost.
One of the first hurdles you might find, if you'll want to play this game, is actually finding a PS2. Yakuza works with no problems only with the first rare models of the PS3, the American 20/60 Gb models with an hardware retrocompatibility chip. If you have an European 60 Gb or an American 80 Gb with software retrocompatibility, then the game will freeze twice during the story making progression impossible.
The story sees Kazuma Kiryu returning to Tokyo after spending ten years in jail. A decade before his childhood friend Nishiki (Nishikiyama in the original Japanese script) killed the chairman of his Yakuza family, and Kazuma decided to take the blame upon himself. As a result he was expelled from the clan and convicted.
Kazuma finds his old home in turmoil, with the former chairman of the Tojo clan assassinated and ten billion yen stolen from the clan's coffers, resulting in an internal power struggle that sees a largely changed Nishiki as a main player. On top of it all Yumi, the girl he loves, went missing and is nowhere to be found.
To complicate further an already complex situation, Yumi's niece Haruka is being targeted by several members of the Tojo clan that seem to think she's the key to find the stolen ten billions. Kazuma still feels honor-bound to his old clan, and to his foster father, Shintaro Fuma (the original name is Shintaro Kazama), head of the Fuma family and one of the leaders of the Tojo clan. His old ties will lead him to investigate on the mysterious chain of murders and to protect Haruka whatever the cost.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Gamer Segregation: It's about time to do away with it
It's now official. After being able to play Starcraft for years with and against players from all over the world, fans of the series will find themselves segregated in their own regional Battle.net communities. You're European? You might as well make sure that your American friends are on MSN or Skype, because you won't sure be able to play with them on Starcraft 2.
Wings of Liberty, of course, is only the latest example of that nasty thing that I define "Gamer Segregation", with several games that limits the ability of their players to enjoy an online match with their friends that happen to live across a pond.
Blizzard was already a major offender, with their World of Warcraft players neatly split by region, but many other MMORPG developers did the same: Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Aion... The list could go on much longer than that.
We live in a globalized world, and communicate in a world wide web, with the ability to make friends with people from all over the globe, meeting different cultures and ways to play games. Isn't that the best thing about playing online? Being able to meet and interact with gamers that we we'd never have a chance to encounter otherwise? Coming into contact with different cultures that will broaden our horizons?
Unfortunately several developers seem to think that such things have no value, as they continue to drop barriers on this globalized online world, preventing their users from playing with a sizable percentage of the friends they happened to make over the internet.
This gets even more problematic when regional servers are handled by third parties that don't have direct access to the code, and have to wait for the original developer to move in order to solve the slightest issue. The obvious (and nasty) result is that players find themselves not only segregated in a sort of online ghetto, but also having to bear a lower quality service, often for the same price.
I can't even count the times in which I had to go to the trouble of importing the American version of a game in order to play with my American friends and avoid being stuck with a third party that would have given me a worse service.
That, of course, implied having to chose some of my friends over the others, which isn't exactly a pleasant part of the whole procedure.
Whole glorious guilds have been painfully split when they happened to move from a game with world-wide servers to one with regional communities.
Normally such developers tend to bring server stability and latency as an excuse (when the real problems are the usual, money and organization). Those excuses don't fly anymore, they stopped being valid years ago.
Nowadays the quality of phone lines is so varied across the globe that one's connection with a server located in the next town could easily be worse than with one located in a different continent. Further proof of this is that game with world-wide servers already exist and thrive with no peculiar lag problems.
Most RTS don't have separate regional servers, and work with no connectivity problem. The same can be said about many MMORPGs, not to mention console services like Xbox Live.
It's obvious that connectivity problems due to location are pretty much a thing of the past, so why do developers continue to segregate their players in their own regional ghettos?
Personally, I find this extremely annoying and unacceptable in today's globalized online world.
One of the most shining examples, that every developer out there should watch and learn from, is Final Fantasy XI, that features not only world-wide, but also cross-platform servers, a feature that will be inherited by Final Fantasy XIV. No matter if you're Americam, European or Japanese. No matter if you play on PC, PS2 or Xbox 360, you'll be connected to the same servers, and you'll be able to play and interact with your friends, whatever their nationality and platform of choice are.
I can only look forward to the day in which every game will be like that, allowing us to relate with different people, different cultures and different ways to see gaming.
Trinity Universe official western website launched
NIS America launched today the new western website for their upcoming JRPG Trinity Universe, scheduled to be launched in June 2010 exclusively on the PS3, both in Europe and in the US.
Trinity universe is a crossover JRPG jointly developed by Nippon Ihi Software, Idea Factory and Gust and featuring characters from the Disgaea series and the Atelier series, but sporting a completely original gameplay and combat system.
The story can be played from two different perspectives, that of the Demon Dog King Kanata and that of the Valkyrie Rizlea, whose profiles, alongside a brief overview of the story, are the only elements available on the new website for the moment.
With the western release of Trinity Universe following closely Sakura Wars: So Long my Love and The Last Rebellion, NIS America demonstrates again that they fully intend to target the western market, but just as Atlus USA does, they don't want to do so by purchasing western studios, but by bringing over their own best titles, retaining their original distinctive Japanese flavor.
That's refreshing for sure, and other Japanese companies should definitely learn from NIS and Atlus. Yes Sega, Square Enix, Capcom and Namco Bandai, don't look the other way, I'm talking about you. Watch and learn.
You can see a trailer of the game after the jump :D
Trinity universe is a crossover JRPG jointly developed by Nippon Ihi Software, Idea Factory and Gust and featuring characters from the Disgaea series and the Atelier series, but sporting a completely original gameplay and combat system.
The story can be played from two different perspectives, that of the Demon Dog King Kanata and that of the Valkyrie Rizlea, whose profiles, alongside a brief overview of the story, are the only elements available on the new website for the moment.
With the western release of Trinity Universe following closely Sakura Wars: So Long my Love and The Last Rebellion, NIS America demonstrates again that they fully intend to target the western market, but just as Atlus USA does, they don't want to do so by purchasing western studios, but by bringing over their own best titles, retaining their original distinctive Japanese flavor.
That's refreshing for sure, and other Japanese companies should definitely learn from NIS and Atlus. Yes Sega, Square Enix, Capcom and Namco Bandai, don't look the other way, I'm talking about you. Watch and learn.
You can see a trailer of the game after the jump :D
Thursday, April 22, 2010
New Project K teaser video. Official site opens.
The new official site for Project K has been opened today by Sega as part of the Ryu ga Gotoku (Yakuza) portal. The site includes very little at the moment, but it already confirms that the main character of the PSP title won't probably be Kazuma Kiryu. What's most interesting is the short teaser video included in the website, that you can see after the cut.
It's always interesting to see that, while western analysts like Michael Patcher already label the PSP as a dead console, it's software line-up becomes stronger by the day, with plenty new core-oriented titles announced often.
Looks like game developers don't share Patcher's views.
Edit: On a side note, a new Ryu ga Gotoku official Youtube channel has been opened yesterday even if, at the moment, it includes video clips from Yakuza 4 only.
You can see the new teaser video after the cut.
It's always interesting to see that, while western analysts like Michael Patcher already label the PSP as a dead console, it's software line-up becomes stronger by the day, with plenty new core-oriented titles announced often.
Looks like game developers don't share Patcher's views.
Edit: On a side note, a new Ryu ga Gotoku official Youtube channel has been opened yesterday even if, at the moment, it includes video clips from Yakuza 4 only.
You can see the new teaser video after the cut.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Famitsu Controversy
The Japanese weekly magazine Famitsu has given a perfect score (40/40) to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and people are already up in arms about it. Why? Because Famitsu has a tie-in with Hideo Kojima's upcoming PSP game and the magazine appears in the game.
Kotaku even went as far as writing an heated and article titled "Do Not Trust This Magazine's Review Scores" that could be only defined as bordering on libel. This, of course, isn't even the first time that the American website slings mud at their Japanese colleagues. They have published several articles (like this one) in the past with that sole purpose, for some reason that I personally fail to understand.
Is it because they normally give more attention (and higher scores) to Japanese games and less to western games? I wouldn't be surprised, since for a western-centric site like Kotaku this must be a serious affront.
On a side note, I find it really funny that Kotaku and many other websites posted several articles denouncing how MGS: Peace Walker has several instances if in-game advertisement, when such deals are very, very common in the western gaming industry, so much that there even are several agencies dedicated just to deal with that. But that when that happens in a western game, it seems to be unimportant. When it happens in a Metal Gear game looks like it's "big news".
Anyway, if it wasn't sad enough to see gaming journalists slinging mud at their colleagues ("you should trust us! Not them!"), it's downright shameful that Kotaku isn't even alone in this crusade.
So what should have Famitsu done? They shouldn't have reviewed at all one of the most awaited (and best looking) incoming games for PSP because they have an advertisement deal with Kojima Production? Or maybe they should have automatically given it a lower score to avoid being criticized by Kotaku and by the other western "me too!" journalists that will follow? I don't think so.
So why should we "not trust" Famitsu's review scores? Because they have advertisement deals with game developers like Kotaku suggests in this article?
This kind of argument honestly makes me laugh. I worked in the gaming press before, on print magazines, and I'm sorry if I'm about to let out a terrible secret, but this is something that's common to every single gaming publication in the world, printed or online, Japanese or Western.
Every gaming magazine makes more money with advertisement deals than with newstand sales, this is even more true with gaming websites (like Kotaku), since their only source of income is, surprise surprise, advertisement.
I'm sure you noticed when they put up those nice cute themes that basically splatters a game all over their front page. It's hard not to notice. That's how they make their money to buy groceries. Writing is not their little hobby as bloggers, but it's a well paid job, and their salary is basically paid by the game developers that put their promotion on their websites (or on their magazines, for the printed press).
The gaming press has always been saturated by this kind of "underground commerce". Exclusive previews, costly or extravagant giveaways from developers, exclusive covers, advertisement deals and so forth. Game developers do their best to sway the opinion of journalists (and often they even go as far as explicitly asking to trade higher scores for favors and exclusives) and journalists are, more often than not, quite happy to give in. The few that aren't willing to, are going to get in trouble with their publisher/editor in chief quite quickly. There's no thing as a truly "independent" gaming publication.
So yeah, sorry if I let the cat out of the bag (I would actually be surprised if many didn't know already), but gaming journalism, just as much as any other field of journalism that's based on reviews and opinion pieces on commercial products, has always been, is and will always be largely a matter of give and take.
No matter if a publication is Japanese or Western, no matter if it's printed or online. As long as advertisement deals are in place, there is a lot of potential for little (or big) deals and exchange of favors. Even just receiving fancy review copies with lots of swag and niceties can sway the opinion of a reviewer, let's not even talk about advertisement deals worth tens of of thousands of dollars.
Do you really think that Japanese publications give higher scores to Japanese games because they're all bribed, while western publications give higher scores to western games because they're all righteous and fair?
Japanese publications give higher scores to Japanese games because Japanese developers spend much more in advertisement on Japanese magazines (and spend very little, in comparison, on western magazines/websites), while western publications give higher scores to western games because western developers are more prodigal in their promotional spending on western magazines/websites. Those that receive more, give more. Give and Take.
Should you trust Famitsu's review scores? No more and no less than the scores and reviews you read on your average magazine/website that happen to come from the west (or any other Japanese one). As long as there are advertisement deals, review copies, exclusive previews, favors and such, no one is "clean". It'd be a good idea for Kotaku to drop the "holier than thou" attitude. Their salaries, their nice swag and the shiny gadgets they can fill their homes with, come from game devs just as much as everyone else's in the gaming press.
That's why people should make their own opinion. Don't trust Famitsu? Sure. Actually, don't trust anyone. Kotaku included. Don't trust even me, I'm not paid and I don't get review copies or swag, but I'm biased anyway, like everyone else out there.
Kotaku even went as far as writing an heated and article titled "Do Not Trust This Magazine's Review Scores" that could be only defined as bordering on libel. This, of course, isn't even the first time that the American website slings mud at their Japanese colleagues. They have published several articles (like this one) in the past with that sole purpose, for some reason that I personally fail to understand.
Is it because they normally give more attention (and higher scores) to Japanese games and less to western games? I wouldn't be surprised, since for a western-centric site like Kotaku this must be a serious affront.
On a side note, I find it really funny that Kotaku and many other websites posted several articles denouncing how MGS: Peace Walker has several instances if in-game advertisement, when such deals are very, very common in the western gaming industry, so much that there even are several agencies dedicated just to deal with that. But that when that happens in a western game, it seems to be unimportant. When it happens in a Metal Gear game looks like it's "big news".
Anyway, if it wasn't sad enough to see gaming journalists slinging mud at their colleagues ("you should trust us! Not them!"), it's downright shameful that Kotaku isn't even alone in this crusade.
So what should have Famitsu done? They shouldn't have reviewed at all one of the most awaited (and best looking) incoming games for PSP because they have an advertisement deal with Kojima Production? Or maybe they should have automatically given it a lower score to avoid being criticized by Kotaku and by the other western "me too!" journalists that will follow? I don't think so.
So why should we "not trust" Famitsu's review scores? Because they have advertisement deals with game developers like Kotaku suggests in this article?
This kind of argument honestly makes me laugh. I worked in the gaming press before, on print magazines, and I'm sorry if I'm about to let out a terrible secret, but this is something that's common to every single gaming publication in the world, printed or online, Japanese or Western.
Every gaming magazine makes more money with advertisement deals than with newstand sales, this is even more true with gaming websites (like Kotaku), since their only source of income is, surprise surprise, advertisement.
I'm sure you noticed when they put up those nice cute themes that basically splatters a game all over their front page. It's hard not to notice. That's how they make their money to buy groceries. Writing is not their little hobby as bloggers, but it's a well paid job, and their salary is basically paid by the game developers that put their promotion on their websites (or on their magazines, for the printed press).
The gaming press has always been saturated by this kind of "underground commerce". Exclusive previews, costly or extravagant giveaways from developers, exclusive covers, advertisement deals and so forth. Game developers do their best to sway the opinion of journalists (and often they even go as far as explicitly asking to trade higher scores for favors and exclusives) and journalists are, more often than not, quite happy to give in. The few that aren't willing to, are going to get in trouble with their publisher/editor in chief quite quickly. There's no thing as a truly "independent" gaming publication.
So yeah, sorry if I let the cat out of the bag (I would actually be surprised if many didn't know already), but gaming journalism, just as much as any other field of journalism that's based on reviews and opinion pieces on commercial products, has always been, is and will always be largely a matter of give and take.
No matter if a publication is Japanese or Western, no matter if it's printed or online. As long as advertisement deals are in place, there is a lot of potential for little (or big) deals and exchange of favors. Even just receiving fancy review copies with lots of swag and niceties can sway the opinion of a reviewer, let's not even talk about advertisement deals worth tens of of thousands of dollars.
Do you really think that Japanese publications give higher scores to Japanese games because they're all bribed, while western publications give higher scores to western games because they're all righteous and fair?
Japanese publications give higher scores to Japanese games because Japanese developers spend much more in advertisement on Japanese magazines (and spend very little, in comparison, on western magazines/websites), while western publications give higher scores to western games because western developers are more prodigal in their promotional spending on western magazines/websites. Those that receive more, give more. Give and Take.
Should you trust Famitsu's review scores? No more and no less than the scores and reviews you read on your average magazine/website that happen to come from the west (or any other Japanese one). As long as there are advertisement deals, review copies, exclusive previews, favors and such, no one is "clean". It'd be a good idea for Kotaku to drop the "holier than thou" attitude. Their salaries, their nice swag and the shiny gadgets they can fill their homes with, come from game devs just as much as everyone else's in the gaming press.
That's why people should make their own opinion. Don't trust Famitsu? Sure. Actually, don't trust anyone. Kotaku included. Don't trust even me, I'm not paid and I don't get review copies or swag, but I'm biased anyway, like everyone else out there.
My interview with Cheryl Olson
Personally, I think that her views are definitely worth a read. Not only she takes a much more logical standpoint to parenting in relation to videogames than most of her colleagues, politicians or the media, but she expresses it in a way that it's very, very difficult to argue. She's not pro or against games, but she "defends" gaming better than most gamers or gaming journalists could do.
Give it a read, you can find it on This is My Joystick.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Sky Crawlers Review: a misplaced beauty
Like most core-oriented titles on the Wii, The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces has been released at the end of last year in the US and a few weeks ago in Europe basically without any kind of promotion, coming under the radar of many gamers that would have been, otherwise, interested in playing it.
While not surprising, given the platform, I found this quite disappointing, considering the scope of the production and the teams involved: Project Aces (Ace Combat) for the gameplay, and Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell) for the animated cutscenes. It's obvious that better promotion would have given this game the attention it deserves.
The story is set in an alternate Europe, during an unspecified time frame. In that era war is a thing of the past, but it's still part of human nature, deeply embedded in the very core of the human soul.
That's why, in order to remind the value of peace to the people, a mock conflict is staged between two corporations, Rostock and Lautern, and fully televised for everyone to see almost like it was a sport.
Professional pilots fight each other to the deadly end in bloody dogfights for the enjoyment of the masses and the prosperity of the corporations involved, ensuring that the aggressive instincts hidden in the hearts of the civilians remain satisfied and dormant.
The level of cynicism reaches a climax as a partly failed genetic engineering project creates human beings with the looks of children that appear not to age and die of natural causes. Named Kildren, they are enlisted as pilots and simply reproduced when they die, pushed back into the grinder of the mock war in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth.
The main character, a normal human that bears the call-sign "Lynx", is a recruit of a Rostock squadron as the first Kildren are introduced into the roster and will have to cope both with the events of the war and with the impact with those new and unsettling colleagues.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Yes, video games can be art.
Roger Ebert, film critic at the Chicago Sun-times, is known amongst gamers because of his iron-clad and honestly pretty antiquated standpoint that Video games can never be art.
Yesterday, responding to a conference held by Kellee Santiago that shown how games can indeed be art, Ebert wrote a lenghty blog post to restate his views and try to invalidate Ms. Santiago's.
It's quite convenient that Ebert chose, between the multitude of examples brought by the gaming industry, Santiago's conference in order to reiterate his points. While Ms. Santiago put in a good effort, I find the examples she brought are a little shaky and overdone, especially Waco resurrection.
That's why dismantling her points is easy pickings for a seasoned journalist like Mr. Ebert.
Unfortunately for Mr. Ebert, though, his own standpoint is just as easily picked apart: he's a film critic, and he obviously thinks that film is an art form.
Then why can't video games be art? They use exactly the same canons of expression and just add interactivity.
Film = visual art + music + storytelling + acting
Video game = visual art + music + storytelling + acting + interactivity
We can easily notice that the only difference between the two media is interactivity. Does Mr. Ebert think that interactivity alone is enough to make videogames less of an art form than movies?
That's pretty far fetched, given that interactive art is a sanctioned and actually very interesting form of art.
So games are, exactly like movies, a composition of several forms of art, quite often, as opposed to what Ebert says, just as advanced as their counterparts appearing in an actual movie.
Is the soundtrack of Dragon Age: Origins less compelling and emotional than the music in Battleship Potemkin? Is the storytelling in a Metal Gear Solid 4 less involving and complex than what we can see in The Bridge on the River Kwai? Are the characters of Valkyria Chronicles less deep and interesting than those of Letters from Iwo-Jima? In what form would Mass Effect be inferior to Blade Runner? Why would Yakuza 3 be considered less of a form of artistic expression than Kikujiro by Takeshi Kitano? Of course there are variations according to taste, but it's easy to see the trend (I purposely picked games that are quite mainstream, without going to look for obscure, purposely artistic productions).
Movies and Video Games can even be integrated in a wider form of storytelling. Mamoru Oshii's Sky Crawlers is a clear example, with the Wii game serving as an almost indispensable prologue for the animated movie, that won an award at the Venice International Film Festival in 2008. It's quite difficult to fully understand the movie without playing the game, and vice versa.
In the end the concept is pretty simple:
If film is art, video games can be art.
If video games can't be art, film isn't art.
Ultimately Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. Video games are product of deliberately arranging elements and most definitely affect the senses and can generate plenty emotions.
I understand that "old" film critics like Ebert are so absolutely frightened by the growing popularity of gaming over filmed media, that they actually feel compelled to try and "shoot them down" in an attempt to protect their own job and popularity.
I'm sorry, though, but negating the existence of art in the gaming field is a serious delusion, akin to the delusive behavior of those that, in the past, negated the validity of movies as an art form in order to try and support older and more critically accepted forms of art.
Can video games be art? Of course. Are all video games art? Nope, exactly like not all movies are art, not all books are art and so forth.
I'll conclude by answering a question that Mr. Ebert asked in his post: Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art?
Why were scientists and astronomers so intensely concerned that Earth be defined as circling around the sun and not the other way around (enough to face endless trials, imprisonment and worse)? Simply because it's true, Mr Ebert. Do we need any other reason?
Yesterday, responding to a conference held by Kellee Santiago that shown how games can indeed be art, Ebert wrote a lenghty blog post to restate his views and try to invalidate Ms. Santiago's.
It's quite convenient that Ebert chose, between the multitude of examples brought by the gaming industry, Santiago's conference in order to reiterate his points. While Ms. Santiago put in a good effort, I find the examples she brought are a little shaky and overdone, especially Waco resurrection.
That's why dismantling her points is easy pickings for a seasoned journalist like Mr. Ebert.
Unfortunately for Mr. Ebert, though, his own standpoint is just as easily picked apart: he's a film critic, and he obviously thinks that film is an art form.
Then why can't video games be art? They use exactly the same canons of expression and just add interactivity.
Film = visual art + music + storytelling + acting
Video game = visual art + music + storytelling + acting + interactivity
We can easily notice that the only difference between the two media is interactivity. Does Mr. Ebert think that interactivity alone is enough to make videogames less of an art form than movies?
That's pretty far fetched, given that interactive art is a sanctioned and actually very interesting form of art.
So games are, exactly like movies, a composition of several forms of art, quite often, as opposed to what Ebert says, just as advanced as their counterparts appearing in an actual movie.
Is the soundtrack of Dragon Age: Origins less compelling and emotional than the music in Battleship Potemkin? Is the storytelling in a Metal Gear Solid 4 less involving and complex than what we can see in The Bridge on the River Kwai? Are the characters of Valkyria Chronicles less deep and interesting than those of Letters from Iwo-Jima? In what form would Mass Effect be inferior to Blade Runner? Why would Yakuza 3 be considered less of a form of artistic expression than Kikujiro by Takeshi Kitano? Of course there are variations according to taste, but it's easy to see the trend (I purposely picked games that are quite mainstream, without going to look for obscure, purposely artistic productions).
Movies and Video Games can even be integrated in a wider form of storytelling. Mamoru Oshii's Sky Crawlers is a clear example, with the Wii game serving as an almost indispensable prologue for the animated movie, that won an award at the Venice International Film Festival in 2008. It's quite difficult to fully understand the movie without playing the game, and vice versa.
In the end the concept is pretty simple:
If film is art, video games can be art.
If video games can't be art, film isn't art.
Ultimately Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. Video games are product of deliberately arranging elements and most definitely affect the senses and can generate plenty emotions.
I understand that "old" film critics like Ebert are so absolutely frightened by the growing popularity of gaming over filmed media, that they actually feel compelled to try and "shoot them down" in an attempt to protect their own job and popularity.
I'm sorry, though, but negating the existence of art in the gaming field is a serious delusion, akin to the delusive behavior of those that, in the past, negated the validity of movies as an art form in order to try and support older and more critically accepted forms of art.
Can video games be art? Of course. Are all video games art? Nope, exactly like not all movies are art, not all books are art and so forth.
I'll conclude by answering a question that Mr. Ebert asked in his post: Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art?
Why were scientists and astronomers so intensely concerned that Earth be defined as circling around the sun and not the other way around (enough to face endless trials, imprisonment and worse)? Simply because it's true, Mr Ebert. Do we need any other reason?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
New Hexyz force trailer released by Atlus
The new JRPG, released in Japan at the end of lasy year, features two separate storylines and high quality anime cutscenes. It'll definitely be a good appetizer for an hot summer for PSP owners, with the upcoming release of Valkyria Chronicles 2 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
While big-mouthed analysts like Michael Patcher love to predict it's demise (and have done so for years now), Sony's portable seems to be well set to deliver more great core games for us to enjoy.
Who's surprised?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Yakuza 4 sold big in Japan, more anti-japanese games nonsense ensues
If you followed this blog for a while, you probably know that the Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku series is pretty great, sporting different, but definitely worthwhile gameplay, an astonishing wealth of content, an awesome story and extremely likeable characters. Many improperly compare it with Grand theft Auto, but I would go as far as saying that Yakuza games (while sharing the crime and underworld theme) are more enjoyable thanks to the characters that, while having their share of shady dealings, aren't completely dumb as rocks like the average GTA protagonist.
Kazuma Kiryu is a deep, easy to relate with and compelling character, while Nico Bellic, Luis Lopez and Johnny Klebitz are just run-of-the-mill thugs with a lot of brawn and a brain as big as a hazelnut.
It's not surprising that, where well marketed, the Yakuza series sells well, and in Japan Sega knows how to promote it's games: big billboards, commercials everywhere, tie-ins, even themed limos cruising around Tokyo. Some may argue that the series sells well in Japan only because it's Japanese, but personally I'd say it's very easy to see the potential even overseas.
In any case, Yakuza 4 instantly jumped to the top three between Japan's best selling PS3 videogames of all time, selling 526,093 copies in less than a month and ranking third behind Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4. Quite an achievement for Toshihiro Nagoshi's team and a testament to the series' quality.
Unfortunately it seems that the reactions to such news aren't all positive. Ben Reeves of Gameinformer seems to be quite cross with the Japanese, that dared to appreciate the last chapter of the Yakuza series. As he reported the news, he finalized his article with: "That’s right, the third best selling PS3 game in Japan is Yakuza 4. Japan is weird"
Weird, huh? I find this comment much weirder to be honest. Personally I'd define quite refreshing the fact that there's a country in the world in which the charts aren't topped by extremely disappointing and lackluster shooters like Modern Warfare 2.
But yeah, God forbid people actually liking a game in which the protagonist isn't the usual big bald space marine on steroids fighting the next improbable danger for the human race, or some Marvel super hero clad in a ridiculous costume, with a personality as deep and compelling as a puddle on the street after five minutes of rain.
I'll be honest: every time I see a further example of the rearing negativity bias against Japanese games that some western journalists seem to love to display, I have to spend a minute facepalming.
Unfortunately this kind of bias normally goes hand-in-hand with utter ignorance. Mr. Reeves very well demonstrates how much he knows about the series he's talking about since, while writing about Yakuza 4, he uses pictures from Yakuza 3 both in the article itself and in the blurb on the front page of the site.
But what can we expect from Gameinformer, that published what's probably the most nonsensical and simply misinformation-ridden review of Yakuza 3? Laughable sentences as "trounced by a title as old as Grand Theft Auto III" simply show that the reviewer probably didn't play beyond the first hour so of the game, if he opened the box at all. Without even mentioning, of course, the fact that the intention of trying to pass the supposed "western counterpart" as better is completely evident.
But after all, why am I surprised? Here in Italy we're plagued by Gameinformer too, given that everyone that gets a Gamestop card receives the translated magazine for free (at least we don't have to pay for toilet paper). Reading it is an endless source of sheer amusement and laughs at the local Gamestop, given how misinformed and random the writers are.
Maybe some wannabe "journalists" should buy a bit of professionalism at the local pawn shop before going around writing that a country is "weird" because they happen to prefer a (great) game over your usual run-of-the-mill shooter.
Personally, I wish the west was a tad more "weird" as well. We'd sure get a more varied and interesting gaming market.
If you still didn't get Yakuza 3 (and believe me, you're missing out), you can purchase it from Amazon.com
.
Kazuma Kiryu is a deep, easy to relate with and compelling character, while Nico Bellic, Luis Lopez and Johnny Klebitz are just run-of-the-mill thugs with a lot of brawn and a brain as big as a hazelnut.
It's not surprising that, where well marketed, the Yakuza series sells well, and in Japan Sega knows how to promote it's games: big billboards, commercials everywhere, tie-ins, even themed limos cruising around Tokyo. Some may argue that the series sells well in Japan only because it's Japanese, but personally I'd say it's very easy to see the potential even overseas.
In any case, Yakuza 4 instantly jumped to the top three between Japan's best selling PS3 videogames of all time, selling 526,093 copies in less than a month and ranking third behind Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4. Quite an achievement for Toshihiro Nagoshi's team and a testament to the series' quality.
Unfortunately it seems that the reactions to such news aren't all positive. Ben Reeves of Gameinformer seems to be quite cross with the Japanese, that dared to appreciate the last chapter of the Yakuza series. As he reported the news, he finalized his article with: "That’s right, the third best selling PS3 game in Japan is Yakuza 4. Japan is weird"
Weird, huh? I find this comment much weirder to be honest. Personally I'd define quite refreshing the fact that there's a country in the world in which the charts aren't topped by extremely disappointing and lackluster shooters like Modern Warfare 2.
But yeah, God forbid people actually liking a game in which the protagonist isn't the usual big bald space marine on steroids fighting the next improbable danger for the human race, or some Marvel super hero clad in a ridiculous costume, with a personality as deep and compelling as a puddle on the street after five minutes of rain.
I'll be honest: every time I see a further example of the rearing negativity bias against Japanese games that some western journalists seem to love to display, I have to spend a minute facepalming.
Unfortunately this kind of bias normally goes hand-in-hand with utter ignorance. Mr. Reeves very well demonstrates how much he knows about the series he's talking about since, while writing about Yakuza 4, he uses pictures from Yakuza 3 both in the article itself and in the blurb on the front page of the site.
But what can we expect from Gameinformer, that published what's probably the most nonsensical and simply misinformation-ridden review of Yakuza 3? Laughable sentences as "trounced by a title as old as Grand Theft Auto III" simply show that the reviewer probably didn't play beyond the first hour so of the game, if he opened the box at all. Without even mentioning, of course, the fact that the intention of trying to pass the supposed "western counterpart" as better is completely evident.
But after all, why am I surprised? Here in Italy we're plagued by Gameinformer too, given that everyone that gets a Gamestop card receives the translated magazine for free (at least we don't have to pay for toilet paper). Reading it is an endless source of sheer amusement and laughs at the local Gamestop, given how misinformed and random the writers are.
Maybe some wannabe "journalists" should buy a bit of professionalism at the local pawn shop before going around writing that a country is "weird" because they happen to prefer a (great) game over your usual run-of-the-mill shooter.
Personally, I wish the west was a tad more "weird" as well. We'd sure get a more varied and interesting gaming market.
If you still didn't get Yakuza 3 (and believe me, you're missing out), you can purchase it from Amazon.com
.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Need for Speed: World - Beta Hands On
The Need for Speed: World Beta 3
First of all, let's get something out of the way: if you're looking for an hardcore realistic racing simulation, Need for Speed: World may not be for you. The franchise is taking a step back from the semi-simulation approach of Need for Speed: Shift, and going back to the extra-fast but totally arcade-ish approach of Carbon and Most Wanted. If you prefer a realism, then you might want to move to my coverage of Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 3.
As soon as you enter the game for the first time you're prompted to chose a nickname and an avatar (from a quite limited list of portraits, for the moment) and to buy your first crappy car between the Tier 1 rides, that at the moment include an hideous Dodge Charger, a Mazdasped 3 and a Mitsubishi Eclipse GT.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sakura Wars: So Long my Love released in Europe
Kept pretty much under silence, the Wii version of Sakura Wars: So long, My Love, has been released in Europe. Unfortunately European gamers will never receive the PS2 version, but this is much better than nothing. A reminder is warranted, because almost no effort has been done to promote the European release, resulting in many having absolutely no idea that the game would have reached this side of the Atlantic.
The Sakura Wars (or Sakura Taisen) series is an absolute classic between fans of Japanese gaming, and while we had to wait five years for this game to be released in a language most of us can understand, I would venture to say that it's definitely worth the wait.
Fourteen years have passed since the series first debuted in Japan on the Sega Saturn, and we always had to play it in Japanese or miss out. Now we can only thank NIS America for allowing us to play this little jewel, once again demonstrating that at Sega West they really have no idea of what kind of great games they have in their Japanese library, and that would be very much appreciated even here.
Luckily we have companies like NIS and Atlus, that tend to have much better taste, and quite often give us treats that otherwise we would never get to enjoy.
Anime and Manga fans will also definitely enjoy this game, given that the character design is handled by Keisuke Fujishima, well known for masterpieces like Oh my Goddess! and You're Under Arrest, obviously in addition to being the character designer behind the Namco Bandai's Tales series.
This title also finally strengthens the library of games appealing to hardcore gamers on the Wii in Europe, after the recent (even if very late) release of The Sky Crawlers, Red Steel 2 and waiting for No More Heroes 2, The Last Story and Zangeki no Reginlev.
At last it's time to return my Wii to active service, after it was demoted for more than a year to serving as a cute but pretty useless blue table lamp.
The Sakura Wars (or Sakura Taisen) series is an absolute classic between fans of Japanese gaming, and while we had to wait five years for this game to be released in a language most of us can understand, I would venture to say that it's definitely worth the wait.
Fourteen years have passed since the series first debuted in Japan on the Sega Saturn, and we always had to play it in Japanese or miss out. Now we can only thank NIS America for allowing us to play this little jewel, once again demonstrating that at Sega West they really have no idea of what kind of great games they have in their Japanese library, and that would be very much appreciated even here.
Luckily we have companies like NIS and Atlus, that tend to have much better taste, and quite often give us treats that otherwise we would never get to enjoy.
Anime and Manga fans will also definitely enjoy this game, given that the character design is handled by Keisuke Fujishima, well known for masterpieces like Oh my Goddess! and You're Under Arrest, obviously in addition to being the character designer behind the Namco Bandai's Tales series.
This title also finally strengthens the library of games appealing to hardcore gamers on the Wii in Europe, after the recent (even if very late) release of The Sky Crawlers, Red Steel 2 and waiting for No More Heroes 2, The Last Story and Zangeki no Reginlev.
At last it's time to return my Wii to active service, after it was demoted for more than a year to serving as a cute but pretty useless blue table lamp.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Starcraft 2 priced $60, Special edition $100
When Ubisoft's Assassin's creed 2 followed suit with the same pricetag (and draconian DRM, but that's a different story), people started to worry quite a lot more.
Unfortunately for us gamers, looks like the experiment was a success, and apparently it wasn't an one-time issue. As Starcraft 2 finally approaches it's long, long awaited (almost fabled) launch, it's retail price has been set at $59.99 for the standard edition and $99.99 for the special edition. And that's for just one-third of the Starcraft 2 offering, by the way.
One may easily argue that the special edition, while much more pricey than almost every other PC special edition out there, sports a thick artbook, a soundtrack CD, a behind-the-scenes DVD, a flash drive with Starcraft and Brood War pre-loaded inside, a WoW pet and a few in-game gadgets, therefore it includes enough value for the price (for the ones that play World of Warcraft and don't already have Stacraft and Brood War), or almost.
On the other hand it's the standard edition that comes with a price point that sounds pretty outrageous.
The only cost-related advantage of PC gaming is that the price of games is reasonably lower than that of console games, that normally hovers around 60$, while the average PC game sells, in it's standard edition, for between 40 and 50 Washington-faced bills.
Why is it so? Because PC is a free platform. No one "owns" it and as such developers don't have to pay any kind of royalties to Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. On the other hand, publishing a game on a console costs the developer an average of $7 in royalties.
Unfortunately looks like someone at Activision Blizzard (And I'm pretty sure that many have a good idea of who that is), thinks that the smoney saved by producing the game on PC, instead off being reflected on the retail price, is better allocated in his own fat pockets.
Of course some may argue that the game will be great, and as such the price is warranted. But there are many great PC games out there, and they don't cost 60 bucks, as their publishers are dececent enough not to arbitrarily charge us for royalties they are not paying.
Food for thought.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
New Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker trailer introduces the cast
This morning Kojima Production released the new trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The clip introduces the rich and quite varied cast of the game, that once more shows that Peace Walker has been developed as a full featured Metal Gear Solid game more then as the typical "watered down" portable experience.
While quite obviously I would have preferred MGS: Peace Walker on a home console, I can say that this chapter of the saga seems to be shaping up as a true bridge between the features of HD consoles and the portability of the PSP.
Hideo Kojima himself, during a press conference this morning, made a quite bold statement: "In the near future we'll see games that won't be dependant on the platform, Gamers should be allowed to take the game with them to their living rooms, on the go, when they travel, in any place they are and whenever they want to play it. It should be the same game and the same experience.”. Personally, I can't say I completely agree, as portable consoles aren't yet even near the same experience and performance as their big sisters.
Obviously it'd be nice to have the same game play on a portable console, and then on an home console with the graphics adapting dynamically to the hardware, but honestly it seems a technical nightmare to pull off and quite a radical vision.
It remains to be seen if this declaration of love for portable gaming was Kojima-sensei's prediction of the future, or more simply a personal wish.
Back to the trailer, though, it's quite noticeable that the cast, this time around, will include more ladies than usual, as a probable tribute to the fact that portable gaming is very popular between girls in Japan.
The music is quite epic and definitely helped building my appetite for the game. I'm really hoping to see a complete soundtrack available in the west soon.
You can preorder Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on Amazon.com
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Blu-ray vs DVD: Is it only a matter of disc swapping?
The rivalry between the two fanbases, of course, brought the confrontation to extremes, making it more a matter of pride than an actual technical comparison between the two media, often shifting the focus away from the pros and cons of the solutions implemented on the two consoles, and their actual impact on gaming.
The Blu-ray discs used by Sony's console have a capacity of 25 GB for single-layer discs and 50 GB for dual-layer discs (used more rarely). This is obviously a quite sizable advantage over the DVD-9 used by the 360. More disc space means more and higher resolution assets for the games, less compression and the ability to store even the biggest games on a single disc.
Something many don't know is that the original capacity of DVD-9 (8.54 GB) isn't even used fully by the 360. A sizable area of the disc's surface is in fact occupied by the copy protection system, leaving about 6.8 GB of usable space.
This makes the difference in capacity between the two media even more extreme.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Japanese mangaka rips CNN a new one over Rapelay controversy
A few days ago they covered the erotic games niche in Japan, with particular attention to the game Rapelay.
To put things in perspective, for the ones that never heard about it, Rapelay is a game released in 2006 (yes, I know, CNN seems to be just a tad late to the party, isn't it?) by the Japanese software house Illusion. It was for sale exclusively in Japan and it's been long since retired from the shelves and removed from sale.
The game was centered on fictional rape of three fictional female characters, making no mystery of the aberrant nature of the act.
Of course it's sale has always been restricted exclusively to adults. While it's indeed available on the internet, defining it's diffusion as "viral" is definitely a sensationalistic exaggeration, as it's impossible to find if not searched for purposedly (viral content is, by definition, so widespread that you're going to bump on it whether you're looking for it or not), and even then, one must go through quite a lot of trouble to finally manage to track a real copy and download it.
The late-to-the-party coverage from CNN caused, of course, quite a lot of controversy, stirring reaction from many, especially on the internet. Despite that, though, looks like the network wasn't satisfied, and covered the game again.
Mind you, Ms. Cheryl Olson, writer of Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do commented in a very intelligent way, telling that these kind of games tend to be absolutely ignored by kids that would receive an harmful effect from being exposed to them, until the media and politicians give them publicity.
Obviously the unsurprisingly biased anchorman Mike Galanos, showing a quite annoyed face, proceeded to ignore her remark and shifted the topic on how terribly dangerous games are, and finally rudely interrupted her as soon as she started to elaborate too much on views that weren't instrumental to his videogame-bashing agenda.
The accompanying article written by the journalist Kyung Lah, completed the picture with a pretty misinformed philippic full of mostly outdated anti-Japanese stereotypes and misinformation.
Two days ago the Japanese mangaka (author of Manga comics) Takeshi Nogami wrote an open letter to CNN in which he stalwartly defended his nation and culture, countering the misinformation spread by the network.
Here are a few interesting excerpts:
"I have seen your news report that tries to stir up fear, prejudice and misunderstanding. I have no connection with the spiffy hentai game featured in your report, I am sorry to say; however as an author of Japanese hentai manga, I think I am well qualified to object to the views you present.
As this objection had to be put together promptly, precise data will be presented later, but it is a fact that in this 21st century, we Japanese enjoy one of the most safe and peaceful societies on Earth. Naturally, that is not to say that our society is without problems, but to be honest, I frankly do not think that you are the ones to tell us.
Men and women are equals in politics and in the law. Your society and ours are no different there. Moreover, the crime rate statistics for both general crime and sex crime in Japan are, with all due respect, several times lower than in the United States. Did you, for instance, fear for your safety while walking the streets of Akihabara, or Ikebukuro (holy ground of hentai books for women)? They're probably many times safer than the streets of New York, let alone those of the suburban housing districts around. (And guns are illegal, too.) Furthermore, in our Akihabara and Ikebukuro, there is no persecution of men or women alike, or of sexual minorities like homosexuals. We all live together in peace, expressing ourselves freely."
"Is hentai detrimental to the upbringing of children? Yes, it some circumstances it may well be the case. It certainly true, for instance, of that game you reported about. I am an average citizen with a younger sister and two nephews; I can relate to your concerns. And precisely as such, I beg to differ with your argument.
Those products are developed for rational adults. You surely don't believe that a rational adult would be influenced by such a game into committing rape, do you? Of course, in Japan, both that game you reported about and the hentai manga I draw are only distributed and sold under strict age restrictions to adults.
That your children might obtain such materials on the Internet is a trouble for us as well. Those are pirated copies. We would be grateful if you could let families and schools issue proper warnings to children. And would it be too much to ask that appropriate age restrictions are put in place in stores in your country so that the rational adults can buy legitimate copies?
By the way, in the proud Japanese traditional popular art of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints from the Edo period), there were many works with sexual subjects, called shunga. You did like these too, didn't you? Well, we are their successors. We make works of art. Let me say that again. It is just art. I assume that you are capable of distinguishing fiction from reality like we do. Are you not?"
I don't think I need to add much to what Nogami-san said. It makes perfect sense.
Since he didn't have the time to add firm data on the rate of sexual crimes in Japan, I will lend an hand: According to CEASE (Coalition Educating about Sexual Endangerement) the United State have the world's highest rape rate (at least between countries that publish such statistics), twenty times higher than Japan's.
This study from the Pacific Center for Sex and Society of University of Hawaii is also interesting, as it demonstrates solidly how the availability of certain questionable material in Japan has absolutely no impact on the rate of sexual crimes, that continues to decrease.
The western media, especially in the US, has a well documented history of portraying Japan as the enemy, never missing any chance to show the most aberrant aspects, often misrepresenting them in order to portray the Japanese society as perverted and twisted. This attitude is mirrored quite evidently by part of the western gaming press, that often handles Japanese games with open contempt and an evident negativity bias.
But as a final note, let's go back to CNN. Both articles linked above are penned by Ms. Kyung Lah, born in Korea and, by her own declarations, maintaining a strong Korean identity.
Isn't it very convenient that one of CNN's main correspondents in Japan is Korean? The relationships between Korea and Japan have been historically very bad, and for Korean children is quite normal to learn to hate Japan and the Japanese when they're very little, as part of their culture.
Personally I doubt that, given her heritage and cultural identity, she's the best and most objective person to judge any aspect of the Japanese society, culture or media.
Ultimately, while games like Rapelay are definitely not my cup of tea, nor a cup of tea I approve of, I have to agree with Nogami-san. As he quite rightfully stated, CNN is in no position to give lectures on the Japanese culture and gaming industry. Maybe it would be smarter and more coherent of them to give a good look in their own backyard instead.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Hardcore gamers unite against the casual blight
All the other developers taking part in the competition were core developers, or at the very least developers of high quality commercial games for which the player has to pay.
It's pretty obvious that a developer of free browser games can count on a massive number of casual users (some say 80 million), that obviously dwarf the numbers of the followers of any core developer out there. On top of it, Zynga's games are based on Facebook, and given that The Escapist has Facebook Connect enabled, Zynga's fans were literally two click away from voting, while voters that didn't use the social network had to go through creating an account.
Many argued that Zynga wasn't in the same league as the other participating developers, and they had an unfair advantage regardless of quality (or lack of thereof).
Such concerns proved true as the contest started, with Zynga's admins spamming their whole userbase shamelessly in order to rally votes and gain undeserved victories round after round, eliminating NCSoft, Infinity Ward, Rockstar North and Square Enix.
As they reached the semifinals, they finally faced Valve, one of the most respected and historically relevant game developers of the industry.
Valve immediately took the lead by a couple thousand votes, as the loyal followers obviously voted for them with no hesitation. Then something strange (but not unexpected) happened: several thousand votes for Zynga started to downpour on the poll, overtaking Valve easily. The administrators of the casual company had again unsheathed their secret weapon: Spam.
As they repeatedly begged their millions of casual gamers on Facebook for votes, Zynga managed to keep Valve behind pretty much constantly. Every time Valve managed to overtake them, a couple thousands of fresh votes for Zynga appeared.
That's when core gamers from every corner of the world decided that enough was enough.
The usual rivalries that normally divide the core gaming fandom were put aside for four days, in an unwritten truce that rallied everyone under Valve's flag. The pride of the hardcore gamers was at stake.
From then on, a truly epic battle started, with Valve and Zynga overtaking each other over and over. Despite facing a seemingly endless horde, the core gamers campaigned for Valve basically everywhere: on Twitter, on Facebook, on Youtube, on fan forums and even on the official forums of their favourite developers. No matter where, anywhere there were gamers the call to arms sounded, and while wave after wave of rabid Facebook casuals crashed on the poll, the core gamers held the line valiantly.
Even on the thread dedicated to the other semifinal, a very heated confrontation between Bioware and Blizzard, that was almost a battle of philosophies that generated flame after flame basically everyone still answered to the call. Valve had to win.
In the morning of the fourth day, as the smoke cleared, the Valve flag was still standing, encircled by thousands of beaten virtual farmers.
Valve was finally leading solidly by about 2500 votes. Despite having faced millions, the hardcore gamers were still standing, bloodied but unbowed, as the first glimpse of victory finally revealed itself to their tired eyes.
A few hours later the battle came at an end, as the hordes of virtual farmers retreated beaten and broken to go back to plow their Facebook fields, the hardcore gamers stood victorious on the field of glory, after an epic clash that probably will go down in history.
Never before the hardcore gamer community had locked arms and joined hands so evidently and solidly, repelling the casual blight with unbending will.
As the day of the epic victory of Hardcore gaming over casual entertainment comes to an end there's a message for everyone to hear: The press may be saying again and again that the era of casual games may be dawning. They may be saying that day in which hardcore games will disappear into the the night is coming, but today is not that day. Today we won and justice has been restored in the gaming universe.
No matter what they say. Hardcore gamers won't ever go down without a hell of a fight.
Also victors of the day were the Bioware fans, that managed to gain a solid victory against the rivals rooting for Blizzard, again demonstrating that a smaller but more dedicated and loyal fanbase can beat the partly casual-oriented behemoth.
But in the end, the true victor of the day is Hardcore gaming, so cheers, battle brothers!
We held the line, and now we get the spoils. Let us burn the virtual farms, crush the casual weaklings, see them driven before us and joyfully hear their lamentations. Victory is ours!
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