Archive for April, 2007
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Tim Buckley, author of Ctrl+Alt+Del, is working on a list of features his ideal MMOG would have, being a man who’s played more MMOs than most of us would care to admit his opinions are quite interesting. Most I’ve seen implemented in a game already but never all. Two of my favorite bits:
Character Creation: Character creation is the first thing a gamer sees when he fires up an MMO, and the process defines their character for the entirety of the game. And not just what racial benefits and class they choose, but their appearance in-game. And I, for one, am sick and tired of developers acting like character customization is an afterthought. Something that takes a back seat. Three or four hairstyles and a couple of face options to choose from may be fine for a single player RPG, but when you’re going to be sharing a world with thousands of other people, you need more than that to differentiate yourself.
And,
Around level 20-ish, certain player classes would begin to learn teleports, similar to Wizards and Druids in the original Everquest. Available to port nearby members of their party to specific locations around the world, with more locations becoming available as they leveled up. In EQ, a lot of Wizards and Druids would run “taxi” services in their free time, and some would teleport travelers for free. Either way, it encouraged social interaction between players, something that automated travel in current games does not.
This last bit reminds me of Ragnarok Online where Acolytes and Priests were the primary source of transport, it made for great fun. What would your ideal MMO contain? Let us know in the comments!
Evangelion paraphernalia never ceases to amaze me, a while ago we had the bike, today we have these, the official Evangelion Headphones. This pretty puppies are a collaboration between Chara-Ani (who make all kinds of Otaku stuff) and Audio-Technica, which apparently are “pretty damn good” from an audiophile point of view.
They also come in the official evangelion colors of purple, green and orange, which just happen to be the same as our colors! We should buy a whole lot of evangelion merchandise, rebrand it and sell it as official Dark Diamond merchandise. We’d make a killing, and frankly we need the money, the Champagne and private jets dont pay for themselves.
Thanks Django
In a recent press conference given by Nintendo in Japan Satoru Iwata let a very controversial quote out that has fanboys up in arms. Given Kutaragi’s recent exile from Sony, Iwata said that he “would love to see Kutaragi join up with Nintendo”. Now, as sacrilegious as this could see to both Nintendo and Sony fanboys, Kutaragi is no stranger to Nintendo. The man developed the sound chip for the Snes and let most of the development process of the Snes CD expansion unit, which later became the Playstation.
And for those hopeful that this will lead to an epic alliance in the industry, the fact that Kutaragi holds an honorary chairman position at Sony should serve as a reality check. As controversial as this seems, its less than likely to happen. Its just one of those things, like Bill Gates saying he’d buy Nintendo in a heartbeat if the Yamauchi family wanted to sell. Shocking but most likely inconsequential.
Still one must wonder, what could become of the next Nintendo console of Kutaragi joined Nintendo? A two-thousand dollar virtual reality machine like the Nintendo ON? I cant help but feel a little giddy.
[QJ]
I just remembered one of the most entertaining games from the NES era which made a lot of my evenings joyful, Puss ‘n Boots. Puss n’ boots? The Puss in Boots that came to be the logo for TOEI Animation? Yes, the same.
This game, fully named “Puss ‘n Boots: Pero’s Great Adventure” was released in 1990 by Electro Brain, a company that tried to make a comeback with “Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth” for the N64. Good games, both of them. In Puss ‘n Boots you controlled Pero, who is he cat from the folktale “Puss In Boots” by Charles Perrault; In Japan the game is basically translated to “Puss ‘n Boots: The Great Adventure of Traveling the World in 80 Days”, and as it suggested, the levels of the game took place in different places of the world, starting with the Wild West, crossing through the Middle East, and finally (and painfully) at the very top of the Statue of Liberty (no kidding, that cat goes up and down while “standing” on Lady Liberty’s longest crown-pick. . .you gotta see it with your own eyes).
There seems to be no videos about the gameplay of this awesome game, but in exchange, I’ll give you some pics from it and the teaser trailer for his movie, directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki. Enjoy!
Well, if you liked it, try to get the game!
Luminous Path is still missing, we’ve been frantically searching local newspapers to see if any disgruntled Otaku carrying a giant sex doll was arrested or murdered. So far nothing has come up, but if it does we’ll let you know!
In the meantime someone has to post your weekly Otaku Music Bit, and that someone is me. Today we’re going mellow and slow with some Digimon. Look I made a rhyme!
Its AiM with My Tomorrow, from Digimon Tamers, a very Digimon-ish song.
All right, that’s it for tonight, I have to go meet up with FBINinja, we’re releasing the bloodhounds on Luminous Path’s trail.
By: Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano - On Saturday 28 April 2007 @ 11:31 pm
With the recent release of Nintendo’s Big Brain Academy come, of course, the TV ads. Big Brain Academy intends to follow in the steps of Brain age, giving you small mental tasks to perform and then rating you based on some secret formula (we hear it compares you to Reggie’s score). But after seeing this Japanese TV ad for the game, it doesn’t look very convincing.
Those tests seem they would be much of a problem to anyone above 6 years of age. Suddenly that show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader doesn’t seem so bad, dont you think?
Have you ever wondered what WWII would have been like with Giant Mechas? I wonder about that every waking second of my life, not a day goes by where I dont hit the wall with my angry fist and scream — “damn it, if only we had had mechas!”
Well, I used to do that, not anymore thanks to Cee-Gee Digital Worlds and their latest video where a Nazi giant robot attacks the US, only to be unpleasantly surprised. Before you walk away let me tell you, there is a giant Katana in the video, you cant possibly pass the chance to see a giant katana, its inhuman, I tell you!
Disappointed? I didn’t think so.
By: Abraham 'Velcor' Duarte - On Friday 27 April 2007 @ 12:14 pm
Good news for all Nintendo / mayhem fans! Seems like the new Smash Bros. game for the Wii is closer to its completion and almost ready to ship. Why? At a recent game developers gathering, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima got the opportunity to play it with Smash Bros. Brawl Director Masahiro Sakurai. His comments (according to Ryan Payton, Kojima Productions podcaster):
“You guys could put it out right now and it could sell millions of copies”
Well, I really hope this turns out to be true and get this game this year. . .or they better have to have a very good reason to delay it!
[Joystiq]
By: Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano - On Friday 27 April 2007 @ 8:00 am
Breaking news, according to Nikkei, Nintendo purchased Monolith Soft, developers of the Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga series, from Bandai-Namco. The developer, formed from ex-Squaresoft employees, is currently developing Disaster: Day of Crisis for the Wii.
Wether Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga become new frontline Nintendo IP’s is unknown but now Nintendo owns a powerhouse of great RPG’s, and that, is great news.
[IGN][TAGS]Nintendo, Wii, Gaming Industry, RPG[/TAGS]
If you remember the madness that was the Lucky Star Opening we posted here some weeks ago then you are probably still suffering the after effects of watching it. Odds are you still play it every now and then to either keep you sane or at a healthy level of insanity.
If you dont remember it or had managed to get over it, I’m sorry for what I’m about to do to you.
Just like Hare Hare Yukai took over Japan as everyone and their grandma tried to do the silly dance now the craze has spread to Motteke! Serafuku — the Lucky Star OP. What follows is a compilation of some of the videos this madness has spawn, starting with this awesome interpretation of the whole opening by only one brave Otaku. Beware though, the end is…drafty, to say the least.
Hold on, we’re just getting started next up is a mashup with none other than Michael Jackson.
I know there’s something wrong about mixing Michael Jackson with a loli anime, but in this case its all for fun.
Many, MANY more after the jump!
Oh Square Enix, why do you hurt me so? Why have you forsaken us? Its already a long shot you’ll give us a Chrono Trigger remake and even less of a chance for a sequel, but now you’re telling us we wont be owning CT, or any other Square Enix title, in the Wii’s Virtual Console?
In an IGN translated interview from Japan’s Nintendo Dream magazine, Square Enix’s Shinji Hashimoto said the following regarding the appearance of Square Enix titles on the VC:
“We feel that the Japanese game market still requires media,” explained Hashimoto. “Also, FF and Dragon Quest are played by a wide range of users, from children to adults, so there are limitations when you consider the problems that we would have with billing systems.”
This, of course, is only relevant for Japan, but we all know how much the rest of the world really means to Square Enix: Squat! So there you have it boys and girls, we wont be seeing any great Square OR Enix classics (EVO I’m looking at you) on the VC for quite a while. Feel free to join me in the comments to commiserate.
[IGN]
By: Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt - On Wednesday 25 April 2007 @ 10:47 pm
Well as if we haven’t made enough fools of ourselves yet, the Big Guys at Mozilla, decided to make a cheesy video trying to convert people to Firefox, and even better, they posted it on YouTube.
With the extremely cute Japanese Firefox mascot and these two buffoons in fox ears,(furries, i tell ya!) they might have converted me, but I’m already a happy user. (In before troll-fest) also, Firefox 3? What?
By: Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt - On Wednesday 25 April 2007 @ 10:31 pm
www.GameCareerGuide.com, the new site that was launched to help and direct many of the individuals who want to get into the meat of the gaming industry, including college ideas, and a forum with peer support and a community that can help each other get farther into their careers. If you are contemplating getting into game making as your main choice for higher education, this will probably be your holy grail.
The creator of the site, Marc Mencher of GameRecruiter.com, has an extensive history, including working with 3DO, and Microprose, (two very excellent gaming companies, that made great games, Heroes of Might and Magic, and Transport Tycoon come to mind.) and has even written a book entitled “Get In the Game!” Along with being the curriculum guide to many gaming universities, this man is probably going to be your best friend for years to come.
With the success of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell, a new Tom Clancy series has been announced for the next generation of consoles: “End War.” Ubisoft’s Shanghai studio is going to be handling End War, and if you’re a fan of the aforementioned Tom Clancy games, then you shouldn’t be disappointed. Not much is known about the game, aside from the fact that’s it’s supposed to take place in World War III, and that it is a strategy game.
Ubisoft promises that “EndWar will push the envelope of technology, showcasing artificial intelligence, graphics, physics and animations that were not possible prior to the launch of the new hardware systems.”
By: Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt - On Wednesday 25 April 2007 @ 10:15 pm
Even though i have seen it, 3 years ago to be exact, Viz is airing the first Naruto movie in America, with first reports months ago of it being only in major cities and a select few other cities, over 160 different theaters have decided to show it, which is impressive, and shows that maybe American culture is finally deciding to accept anime and other quirky Japanese items. Now I’m not going to tell you to go see the movie, no, in fact, i don’t really like Naruto, and i absolutely loathe the English dub, but the movie, was definitely a good one, if you like Naruto is a good one to watch, but if you like action like i like my…er, well we’ll let you think of something clever for that.
If you want my opinion:
Movie: Pretty damn awesome for Naruto (believe it! ugh)
[ANN]
com.JPG "Only the finnest in flash animation for your entertainment")
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