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No KOF from SNK on the VC ASAP – WTF?

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As you can probably guess, I’m damn psyched to see some Neo Geo games on the Virtual Console. What I’m not so excited about is news like thisthat tells me that some of the premier Neo Geo games won’t be the first ones released. The reasoning is that you can find most of the King of Fighters games easily enough, and they’ve just released the Metal Slug Anthology on two consoles. Normally I would understand the logic, especially if it means the first games to hit the VC is stuff like World Heroes or Baseball Stars. Yet the more I thought about it, the less it makes sense. Here’s why.

– Technically it is possible to own of the KoF’s from 98-2003 via the PS2 and Dreamcast. But all of them are “enhanced ports” with the 2d backgrounds changed to ugly 3d, and lord knows what kind of changes to the original arcade balance. →  Read the rest

Halo Prime 3

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No link for this blog post, but let’s just say that there are some videos of Halo 3 beta lurking around the internet, and a certain writer has seen the clips. This isn’t a discussion of my impressions, but instead a remark on one noticeable change I observed. The HUD has been changed to resemble Halo’s biggest “competitor” that’s not really its competitor: Metroid Prime.
Chief is running away from Samus.

This isn’t going to be the rant of a Nintendo fanboy complaining that Bungie ripped Retro Studios off. Quite frankly the best parts of both Halos came from previous games. What bothers me about it is that the HUD actually looks worse than before. It’s far too cluttered; what used to occupy three corners of the screen now fills up four corners and the top center. →  Read the rest

Hotel rooms have an inordinate number of games

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I’m currently on a business trip selling whatever it is I sell. Last night, after billing every available adult film to my company, I found myself browsing the video game selection of the hotel TV system. Check out their GameCube collection:

Mario Kart
TMNT
SM Strikers
Mario Tennis
Mario Party 7
Backyard Baseball 07
Rogue Squadron 3
1080 Avalanche
Twilight Princess
Battalion Wars
Super Mario Sunshine
Tomb Raider
Mario Golf
Kirby Air Ride
Pokemon XD
Urbz
Animal Crossing
Rogue Squadron 2
Pokemon Colosseum
Mario Party 6
Ocarina of Time
Mario Party 5
Wave Racer
Luigi’s Mansion
Paper Mario 2
Metroid Prime 2
Pokemon Channel
Wario World
Custom Robo
Wario Ware Inc
Chibi-Robo
Wind Waker
Starfox Assault
Geist

The first thing that struck me was how their collection is better than mine. →  Read the rest

PS3 Gets Boatload of PS1 Titles…in Japan

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Through their newest 1.70 firmware update for the PS3, Sony has bestowed upon the Japanese buying public a cornucopia (25 to be exact) of PS1 titles for purchase through the Playstation Store. This will also mark the very first time that PS1 titles are playable on the PS3. Before today, they were only playable on the PSP, which makes absolutely no sense.
Blocky characters in 1080p: totally worth $600.

And sadly, not all of the titles that are being released tomorrow are playable on the PS3. You can check out the complete list at PSPFanboy.

Now, although this is only for Japan, it does seem that Sony is at least somewhat trying to do what Nintendo has been doing with their Virtual Console Mondays. Nintendo has been on the ball ever since the service started a week after the Wii’s launch, and after seeing how much profit they stand to gain from doing nothing releasing their old wares, Sony has decided it’s their turn to milk their customers of their hard-earned money. →  Read the rest

Square Enix announces FF remakes for PSP

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Recently, Square Enix (hereafter referred to as Squeenix) announced and released (in Japan) remade versions of Final Fantasy 1 and 2 for PSP. Unlike their previous remakes of the two games for PSX and GBA, these games would be sold separately at $35 apiece, but with still more features and extras. Although it remains yet to be seen whether they will fix the atrocious leveling system in Final Fantasy 2 that carried over to the “Origins” remake, I have some doubts as to whether these remakes will be good enough on their own to merit buying the same game for the third (fourth?) time, even for the hardcore fan.

The question now is whether Squeenix is stepping over a line in remaking the same two games for the third time in two console generations. →  Read the rest

Xbox 360 loses a few exclusives / PS3 gains Chopin

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Namco’s Chopin themed RPG Trusty Bell and SCi’s almost biblical Kain & Lynch, both once 360 exclusives, are now coming to the PS3 as well. Sony naysayers (me) are now faced with acknowledging neither console is safe from losing exclusive titles. Third party publishers seem unsatisfied with their platform choices. The 360 failed to dominate the market during its year lead and is currently being outsold by the GBA in Japan and the PS3 is catching on slower than most anticipated, likely due to it being positioned as a meal at a fine restaurant in the back of a Mercedes that is for everyone. Publishers could go to Nintendo, but then their triple A games look like shit and are stuck on one platform, whereas a game developed on either of the other two could be easily ported. →  Read the rest

One Thing Right, One Thing Wrong: Sony Edition

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In our final edition, we get to talk about everyone’s current whipping boy, Sony and it’s uber-beast of a console, the PS3. Oh boy, how the might have fallen. In one fell swoop, the Playstation brand went from the de facto system for anything “video gaming” to some machine that costs way too much. But, it’s not all bad.

Ummm. Hmmmm.

Yeah, let’s start with the bad things first.

Well, one thing that I can’t understand for the life of me is what you have to do when updating the PS3’s firmware. You have to connect your wireless SIXAXIS controller into the system with a USB cord. Can someone please tell me why? What the hell does the controller have to do with a firmware update?

And why can’t the system just connect with the controller through the Bluetooth? →  Read the rest

Virtual Console offers more obscure titles

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Today, a few low profile games were released on Nintendo’s Virtual Console (Gradius III, Wonder Boy in Monster World, Battle Lode Runner). Many gamers’ reaction was, “This sucks, when is Nintendo giving us Super Metroid and Super Mario RPG?” or the other side of that coin, “Ha ha, enjoy your crappy VC games losers. I’m glad I don’t have a Wii.” It’s an alarming situation but provides insight into the minds of many gamers.

Square Enix recently announced it would be remaking every game they’ve ever thought about making. Many of us wondered why consumers will no doubt validate this developer’s decision to not develop games. This desire to play and replay the same game isn’t limited to Squeenix fans, though. Every angry Wii owner who is waiting to beat Zelda 2 again is the same species as the guy waiting to defeat Sephiroth an eighth time, but this time with more polygons (I hear in the PS3 remake you can make out his vagina). →  Read the rest

One Thing Right, One Thing Wrong: Microsoft Edition

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Continuing our week-long series of “One Thing Right, One Thing Wrong,” today we turn our attention to Microsoft and it’s rather sleek-looking Xbox 360 console. Compared to the original Xbox, the 360 is leaps and bounds better, but still isn’t exactly perfect, which we’ll now discuss.
Xbox 360: So smart, yet so stupid.

In a move that Nintendo should probably take a lesson from, Microsoft gives each person a Reputation rating on their Gamercard, which is represented by a 5-star rating. It lets players that play games online know what kind of people they are playing with. The lower the rating, the more obnoxious the player will be while playing with him/her. All you have to do is view that player’s Gamercard and check the Reputation rating, which is to the right of their Gamer pic. →  Read the rest

Virtual Console Previews/Reviews – Week of April 16th

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Wii Virtual Console:
Glass Joe, you were so misunderstood.

Punch Out!! (NES): Not Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, but I actually liked this one better anyway. Quite possibly my favorite NES game of all time. At 500 points, this is a complete no-brainer. Go get this … now. Japan has had this on the VC for about a month and a half now, I wonder what the hold up was? We have it now so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Virtua Fighter 2 (Sega Genesis): The reason I purchased the infamous 32X for the Genesis was for Virtua Fighter 3D and it was well worth the money (at the time). This, sadly, is not the 32X version but the pseudo-3D version for the Genesis. Still fun, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it. →  Read the rest

Joe Scarborough even more of an asshole than original tests indicate

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He has the honor of being the first person I’ve heard mention video games in regards to the Virginia tech shooting. Looks like Joe has found the culprit. Joe closed this case tonight on his daily crime against humanity called Scarborough Country.

Seriously though, it was only a matter of time before someone hinted that games may be partly to blame and for all I know, he isn’t the first to do so today. Funny what things are ripe for picking as causes. If someone crazy is Islam, likes game or listens to metal, it’s those things fault. If they are ex-Marines or extreme conservatives waging war against secular America, they are portrayed as just nuts.

How can Joe, knowing nothing about the killer, bring up video game violence? It is an easy target. →  Read the rest

One Thing Right, One Thing Wrong: Nintendo Edition

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This week I’m going to introduce a new segment on vl. Called “One Thing Right, One Thing Wrong,” I’m going to talk about about two things, one good, one bad, that a respective console maker has going for with their current generation console. And to start it all off, I decided to go with fanboy heaven, Nintendo and its Wii system.
Wii: next-gen home for Channel surfing.

First, the good news. In keeping with this whole “non-gamer” kick that Nintendo’s been on, they’ve implemented the now-famous Channel system with the Wii. Essentially, you have upwards of 48 “channels” that can be viewed on the Wii’s main menu, be it specialty programs like the “Everybody Votes” channel, or full-fledged games from the Virtual Console service. And with the ability to add new channels when they are released, the Wii is poised to give consumers new ways to have fun with their console. →  Read the rest

Virtual Console Previews/Reviews – Week of April 9th

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Wii Virtual Console:
30000 high score? n00b.

Galaga (NES): I don’t really need to explain this one to the people who would be reading this article. Galaga was an awesome arcade game and the NES conversion was good enough to recommend this purchase to any fan of classic shooters.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Sega Genesis): A horrible game. I have no idea who is deciding what titles are released for the Genesis, but they should be fired. Seriously … Alex Kidd?!? Before Earthworm Jim, the NHL series, Road Rash, etc.? This game is worthless.

Bravoman (TG16): Another good game for the TurboGraphix this week. Bravoman is a platformer that moved between classic side-scrolling play and pseudo-3D shooting levels (think 3D World Runner for the NES) with some great level design and perspective tricks. →  Read the rest

Wii Shortages Will Continue

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Next-Gen has reported through an interview with Nintendo of America’s Perrin Kaplan that it may be awhile before the Wii Shortage of ’07 ends. Perrin stated that they are at maximum capacity right now in terms of manufacturing the system, but the demand for the system is still at a fever-pitch, making it very hard to keep an amble supply on store shelves. The Internet community has known about this situation for some time now, but it’s surprising to see that even Nintendo themselves can’t predict when the shortage will come to an end.

But let’s think about this for a second. Even though the Wii is doing gangbusters right now, you can’t call it a complete success when the demand for it far exceeds supply. It isn’t good to have virtually no stock of your product on store shelves when everyone and their grandma wants one. →  Read the rest

Best Game No One Heard of: Pac-Pix

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If there is one game I could say that everyone should play at least once, it would have to be Pac-Pix. It showcases the DS in a fantastic way, and it is a really fun game. But sadly, it sold very poorly, and got only average review scores. Basically, everyone put on their “stupid caps” and didn’t pay any attention to the game.

The major reason for this was the time it was released. It came out in the first six months of the DS’s lifetime. Everyone was still waiting for that one game to justify their purchase for the system, and Pac-Pix didn’t live up to that. If the game came out now, it would be received much better. Right now though, you can’t even find it on GameStop’s website. →  Read the rest

Virtual Console Reviews/Previews

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XBox Live Arcade:
This cutscene was awesome when I was younger … it still is.

Luxor 2: I played the first one on my PC and it was quite fun. Pretty much the same game as Zuma but with some added special effects and an Egyptian theme. The new version has almost 90 levels and supports HD 1080i, which is a great deal for the price. Plus, I love when games like this have a plot they want the gamer to care about. “You must save ancient Egypt from the terrible wrath of Set” … by shooting colored balls into a snaking line.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade 1989): I know this one was technically released a couple of weeks ago, but I had to throw it into this list because it’s that good. →  Read the rest

Puzzle Quest – I’ll see your red gem and raise you three yellow ones!

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As you’ve probably heard from other places, one of the “next big things” is a recently released game by the name of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords.
I challenge you… to a duel even more ridiculous than turn-based combat!

Puzzle Quest can best be described as a Puzzle RPG – you play a competitive puzzle, something like Yoshi’s Cookie or Bejeweled, where you take turns on the same board. Matching 3 or more of any object gives you mana, gold, or experience or does damage to your opponent, and you win by running your opponent out of HP. To top off the RPG bits, the single-player mode plays has an RPG-esque quest system complete with stylized fantasy portraits, and you can get equipment that modifies your stats or various board effects. →  Read the rest

Fight to the Death: Evolution Vs. Revolution

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A quaint little article over there on Next-Gen.biz caught my eye earlier today. It’s an interview with Rod Ferguson, the producer on Gears of War, at the GO3 conference where he stated that he felt a little upset that most critics thought Gears of War didn’t bring any originality to the shooter genre, and that it was a negative aspect for the game. He goes on to say that a developer should always focus on making a game fun first, and not just innovative for innovation’s sake.

Even though Gears of War was severely lacking in the innovation department, I do agree with his insightful commentary. We don’t always need to have something new in our games to have fun with them. Even though I’ve been known to poo-poo Twilight Princess for being a nicer-looking Ocarina of Time, I still had a lot of fun with that game, as well as Gears of War. →  Read the rest

Quick GTA IV Impressions

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For those of you that were living under a rock this week, Rockstar and TakeTwo released the very first trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV, the next installment of their so-called prostitute-slapping, murder simulator (or so I’ve heard from those nutty politicians). I’m sure you’ve seen it by now, as the Intranets nearly exploded when the trailer was first released. You can check it out again at GameTrailers.com.

But there was one thing that got me thinking. A comment on one of the Digg articles brought up the issue of flying planes into buildings. You can see all throughout the trailer that Rockstar has faithfully recreated New York City, with glimpses of the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the Empire State building. It maybe called Liberty City, but it’s basically NYC with a new name. →  Read the rest

Is the Wii a Toy?

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I don’t really like the idea of commenting on other game-related blog posts, but I find this one worth discussion because I fear it may be a trend among game journalism in the next year or so. Game Revolution wrote this blog post, in which they claim the Wii should not be compared to the PS3 or the 360 because it is a toy.

There’s a lot to discuss about the post. If you want to believe GR (and their defenders in the comments), it is simply an innocent argument claiming that the Wii is not bad, just different, and that difference is enough to avoid comparison. But at least a few commenters there feel that the blog post is implying something a little nastier than that, and after reading it I tend to agree. →  Read the rest