The King Of Fighters XIII And Other Awesome Links Of The Day

February 25, 2010

King of Fighters? That fighting game with the chick with the camel toe?! Yes it’s that game, but don’t hit the back button on your browser yet; this time it’s the newly announced sequel being previewed next month in Japan.

SNK, the company behind other well known series such as Metal Slug and Samurai Showdown, announced the game today with a simple press release and a very sexy logo image to boot (as seen above.)

The previous King of Fighters entry, The King of Fighters 12, was the first to usher in high definition 2D graphics that replaced the  series previous set of character sprites that were being constantly recycled despite their ageing quality.

More changes, including a completely re-hauled fighting engine that tossed away what was done in The King of Fighters 11 and 10, were also introduced in The King of Fighters 12, but unfortunately that didn’t save the game from major fan disappointment.

The game’s fighting mechanics were almost fundamentally locked down and the character graphics, including the backgrounds, were in my opinion beautiful. Yet The King of Fighters 12 was sadly plagued with a short roster of characters and an online performance that made dial-up look good by comparison. Overall many gamers felt short changed as to what they perceived to be half  of a game for full retail price.

Hopefully, SNK can fix these issues and give a more better experience this time around. Though with the sound foundation they made with The King of Fighters 12, that won’t be an Mount Everest’s climb to achieve such a goal. Again, hopefully.

The unveiling event for The King of Fighters 13 will be March 25th, at Belle Salle Hall in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, Japan; basically the nerd section of Japan for all you Japanese culture illiterate.

Well before I head off to DeviantArt to look at awesome fan art of Terry Bogard, I might as well leave you with some meaty awesome links of the day. OKAY!

So a Sony executive says that they made a mistake with the PSP Go? Well, admitting you have a problem is usually the first step to recovery.

Sony Exec Says PSP Go Did Confuse Consumers, Might Have Been Too Expensive [Engadget]

Oh yeah… there was some big Nintendo event yesterday or something like that, and they showed some pretty huge games, along with a bigger version of a current handheld device. Must of been a really big event for someone to take pictures of it too.

Pictures From Nintendo’s Media Summit [GoNintendo]

What was it like to play Mario Bros. on the Atari 2600, while a lucky majority were a bouncy-bouncy-joy-joy with our Nintendo Entertainment Systems and Super Mario Bros. 1 to 3? Nadia Oxford over at the 1Up Retro Blog writes that the view was good from her vantage point. That, and it also gave her a good excuse to post this video (below link.)

Shuffle On, Shellcreeper: Remembering Mario Bros. for the Atari 2600 [1Up]

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Posted by spindash00

What Did I Find On The Internet? Populous Box Art!

February 16, 2010
There was a time when picking up a video game box was a cryptic attempt to figure out if it was a game worthy of playing. The ease of online reviews, game play videos, and message board threads a plenty has certainly lessen the burden on us gamers.
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But imagine being a kid before all of that, shuffling through the shelf of video games at your local rental store, trying to determine which game to spend your homework free weekend with.
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Now as you gaze through the lengthy selection, arranging in you mind which games stood out and which didn’t, you suddenly come across this unique little number.
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Very… explosive, huh? I guess you’ve got to really grab the potential customer’s attention, and it certainly does that.

But seriously, what is this game about? Is it a game where you smash skulls with the head of what I think is Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings trilogy? And why is that castle exploding from underneath? Did someone not pay to get plumbing fixed, or didn’t notice in the buyer’s guide that their land was over highly active lava pit?

Neither the name or the side blurb really help too. “The Ultimate Triumph of Good Over Evil!” …So wait? Good already won? Then what is the point in playing this game? That’s like playing Super Mario Bros. and the Princess is already saved.

My stupid ignorance aside, Populous, which premiered on the PC, is well regarded by video game historians by being the first God game originally conceived by Fable creator Peter Molyneux.

What is a God game? Well a “God game” or a “construction and management simulation,” is a gaming genre where the player is put into the position of overseeing and maintaining anything – be it a zoo, a country, or even creatures. Games like Will Wright’s The Sims and Sid Meier’s Civilization are all prime examples of God games.

This version of Populous, with the certainly interesting box art, was a Super Nintendo port developed by Infinity and published by Acclaim back in 1991 . At that time Nintendo Power gave the game a 3.7 out of 5 so it must of been an alright choice then.

I personally remember coming across this tittle a number of times at the video rental store when I was a wee lad, but I never had the will to rent it. And I’m pretty cool with that decision, seeing as I’m not a fan of god games to begin with.

Yup. I can feel my gamer cred go down even more by the second – not that I had that much to begin with. Hey-o!

*Please excuse this post for alignment errors, WordPress isn’t being very forgiving today.

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Posted by spindash00

What An Nintendo Employee’s Workstation Might Look Like

February 12, 2010

Nintendo and a top secret government agency. What do they have in common? One enforces well elaborate measures to ensure absolutely nothing leaks to the press or public, and the other is a top secret government agency.

Joking aside, it can be pretty evident when working within the video game industry how tightly lipped and secreted the Big N can be. At one point, Nintendo put a stop to all media interviews with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto; fearing that any information about future projects would be learned.

So when any tiny morsel of insight of what goes on in Nintendo’s walls is shown it’s a pretty joyful event. Kind of like getting a sneak peek at how chocolate is made at a chocolate factory.

Now thanks to some inquisitive folks down at everyone’s go-to gaming forming, NeoGAF, we get to see some awesome pictures of what an Nintendo employee’s workstation might look like. Check some of them out.

Is that a different version for the box art of Super Mario Bros. Wii I see my little eye?

Tingle?! Ahh! Get it away! Get it away!

Where do they get all those wonderful toys?

Wii Sports Resort anyone?

There is a lot more where that came from – all really incredible, but I don’t want to take up the whole web page (or this site’s bandwidth,) so you’ll just have to take the jump in the link below.

A NeoGAF forum member, by the name of mehdi_san, clues us in to the origin of the images above; posting that they might be from an Nintendo recruitment book made to attract university students.

It is a standard Japanese practice done by every company in country to entice would-be graduates to apply for a job at their company. In fact if you continue your search through that forum thread you will find other pictures from said mentioned book.

Nintendo fans (or 2ch reader), do you know where are these stuff come from ?? [NeoGaf]

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Posted by spindash00

Sonic 4: Episode 1 And Other Awesome Links Of The Day

February 9, 2010

With virtual soapboxes left and right, it hard to tell sometimes who’s opinion bares insightful weight and whose’s doesn’t. But if you’re wise enough to catch on, the true test is to watch how people react to certain things.

And in this medium there is no truer test than everyone’s favorite blue boy – Sonic the Hedgehog. Now, not to say that this is a cross the board examination that is always correct, but if the person in question mentions the eye color of a cartoon hedgehog being the instant mark of fail for game that was shown mer days ago… lunacy off the starboard bound, captain!

If none of the above makes a heap of sense – good. Then you can ignore all that horse-hockey and I can tell you the exciting news: Sega is finally bringing us a new 2D Sonic game that from the title alone tells you how ambitious or down right crazy the developer might be.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode. Surprising is an understatement when addressing the tittle. Yet in no way is this some fake ruse to make you spit-take violently. (Sorry if that has already happened.)

Last week the Sega Blognick unwrapped the real name to Project Needlemouse by showing a more in-depth teaser for the game, which featured a brief snippet of game play. Albeit only 3 seconds of it.

From the looks of things, a rather short one, it strikes a close appearance to the tradition Sonic games form the 16-bit era, but with a shiny high definition current console technology spin. Being a fan (and I’m sure Jay is too) of New Super Mario Brothers Wii, I am quite fond of this type of treatment. So no worries here.

We will have to wait for later videos tell how the direction of the game play is going to be, but Sega has mentioned in the initial press release that the game will be inspired by those classic Sonic games on the Genesis. In fact this game picks up right where Sonic & Knuckles leaves off and will begin a new grander story told in episodes.

Ah’ that’s right, that whole “Episode 1″ moniker at the end of the title. Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, this game, for now, is a digital download experience for PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Nintendo WiiWare, and a secret platform to be mentioned later come this Summer. (Leaks already have this pinned down as perhaps being the iphone.)

The plan from Sega is to release the game in episodic chunks, and although there has been no official statement on the size of each “chunk,” word around the web is that they will be as long as a full length Genesis Sonic game.

All this spiky blue hedgehog talk is making me want to plunge back into Sonic’s 1 – 3 & K, but first, as the title of this post promises, some awesome links of the day.

Speaking of another famous face in the video game fandom, Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto loosens his lips about what he is currently working on. Next Zelda game, heard about it. Some new motion plus game, boring. A new console from Nintendo is coming soon? Say whaaat?

Shigeru Miyamoto Discusses New Nintendo Hardware [1Up]

Old Electronic Gaming Monthly might be gone, but Steve Harris, once former and now turned current owner of EGM, is set on bring the gaming publication back anew.  Check out what Mr. Harris has in store by checking out the recent press statement on the EGM Now website.

EGM Now Website

Who doesn’t love the Angry Video Game Nerd? Well maybe the developers of those games he swears at. But hey it’s all in good sport! (Not really.) Anyway, let’s check in with the Angry Video Game Nerd as he takes on Little Red Hood.

AVGN – Little Red Hood [ScrewAttack]

Well I’d love to stick around but I’ve got to speed, Keed! (Yeah, I wonder face palm that last line too.)

1 Comment | Digital Distribution, PSN, Sega, Shigeru Miyamoto, Wii, XBLA, awesome links of the day | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by spindash00

What Did I Find On The Internet? Mr. Gimmick!

February 4, 2010

Finding an unreleased video game and venturing through it’s game play can either spark wonders of what could of been, or either quite whispers of… ‘I guess that’s why they didn’t.’ Gimmick!, or Mr. Gimmick! outside of Japan, is a game that is awe inspiring in the first regard but at the same time can reflect the later statement too.

Gimmick! is a 2D platform game created around 1992 for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Japanese developer Sunsoft. The developer today is well known around the game’s sphere for being the makers of the following awesome games: Batman, Batman: Revenge of the Joker, Blaster Master, Journey to Silius, and another rare title Ufouria: The Saga.

During the 8-bit era, Sunsoft’s games were known to be at the cutting edge of graphical and sound capability. Able to squeeze out of a NES the best of what the system could do; sometimes even more than what was not perceivable to others in the industry. Gimmick! is proudly a prime example of such prowess from Sunsoft and perhaps as well their last gasp.

The story of Gimmick! begins as a little girl receives a cute doll for her birthday and instantly falls heads over heels for it. This reaction causes all her other toys to become quite jealous, and at night, kidnap her, and hold her captive in an alternate dimension inhabited only by toys. It’s up to the protagonist, the doll she received for her birthday to save her.

Gimmick!’s world is bright, cheery, very kid oriented, but above all beautiful in the way it presents it’s scenery. And what is more impressive is that Gimmick! doesn’t just stop there, as there is more depth to this game’s graphics than at first’s glance. Nothing in Gimmick! is redundant in it’s own detail as you will soon learn in the video below.

Even with the music that goes along with Gimmick! holds no punches back. The sounds are crisp; almost as if being produced for a system of higher processing power. Honestly, when first seeing game play of Gimmick! I instantly secondly guessed the platform this game was running on. It is that amazing.

As you will watch in the video below, provided by Frank Cifaldi, you can see this brilliant technical marvel at first hand. Frank graciously even adds insightful information about the game’s background and engineering. Take a look at the first part.

Gimmick! never made the trek to our part of the world and as with every unreleased game, no one knows exactly why. It only ever came out in Scandinavia under the tittle Mr. Gimmick!, and never found the light of day again until Memorial Series SunSoft Vol. 6 for the Sony PlayStation in Japan.

Perhaps the crushing difficulty that hid below the game’s smiley graphics was reason not to release it elsewhere. It bares repeating how hard this game is, as Frank himself had to slowdown the game’s speed through emulation in order to get a fair shake at beating Gimmick! Ninja Gaiden doesn’t have nothing on this game, that is for sure.

You can certainly find Gimmick online through emulation. So if you want to experience Gimmick! at first hand, go for it. And if you all want to discover more unreleased games that never made the light of day, visit Frank Cifaldi’s Lost Levels website.

Lost Levels – A Website About Unreleased Video Games

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Posted by spindash00

Dantes Inferno Super Bowl Ad And Other Awesome Links Of The Day

February 2, 2010

On Sunday February 7th, 2010, the world will gather around their TV sets – - food, drink, and fan apparel included, to celebrate one of the biggest events of the year. Super Bowl XLIV. (That’s 44 if you can’t read roman numerals.) A kick-ass spectacle that features the two best professional football teams in America as they battle three hours for the ultimate prize of fame and glory.

Now this is the point where I can just feel the instant rolling of eye balls from every nerd around the web at my pig-skin loving gushing. ‘Get with the point‘ you say! I hear you, I hear you.

Well if you do manage to flip your TV towards the big game, you might just catch a commercial featuring the game Dante’s Inferno. The Electronic Arts published and Visceral Games produced third-person action title based upon the first book of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy, will be featured in a Super Bowl advertisement after it was initially rejected by CBS executives.

As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, CBS, the television host for the Super Bowl, declined the commercial at first, not because it depicted highly gory scenes of blood and disturbing imagery. No America can handle that. It was the advertisement’s simple tag line, “Go to Hell,” that got this commercial a big no go over concerns of offending specific audiences.

But don’t worry, the commercial will be allowed to be shown now, as EA fixed the tag line to “Hell Awaits.” Which is much better… maybe? I guess the logic in this is that you can invite people to hell, but when it comes to telling them directly to go, that’s where you cross the line. Alright then?

What else happened around the web while you were busy listening to gaming podcast after gaming podcast talk about their love fest with Mass Effect 2? I’m glad you asked!

It seems Wal-Mart and Best Buys’ timid toe dip into the used game business which has been ruled mercilessly by GameStop over the years, has come to a short and silent end.

Wal-Mart Best Buy Quit Short Lived Used Games Test [IndustryGamers]

Leigh Alexander of Kotkau describes a particular fan made game from Japan that caters to a unique fetish which focuses on cute girls with disabilities. Believe me when I say this isn’t the reason why I love Japan.

Romance With Disabled Girls: How And Maybe Why An Unusual Video Game Came To Be [Kotaku]

And in spirit of Groundhog Day (you forgot didn’t you?), the Sega American blognick has released some more tasty information about Project Needlemouse. Sure there is not much besides a piece of concept art and a short audio clip that teases the music direction, but it is enough to hold anyone over until the next big (and they mean big) reveal on Thursday.

Project Needlemouse Final Name Coming Thursday, First Peek At Game Audio, And More Concept [Go Nintendo]

Were my awesome links of the day ‘awesome?’ I’d like to think so. (Oh please be awesome, oh please be awesome!)

Leave a Comment » | Only From Japan, Sega, The Biz, Wal-Mart, awesome links of the day | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by spindash00

WordPress iPhone App

January 31, 2010

I am chillin as I type on the iphone’s touchscreen; it’s not quite as convenient as I had imagined. Either way, it is fun for quick updates. I also picked up a neat stock trading game called Learn Stocks. You are given money to start with and you must watch real world stocks and buy or sell when the time is right.

Since I don’t know a damn thing about the stockmarlet I went to Jim Cramer’s website and just decided to follow his advice. It’s not real money anyway. Unless this turns out to be some sort of Ender’s Game situation and I am really screwing some investor somewhere.

I am actually growing quite fond of typing on this thing.

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Posted by 8bitjay

Pach-Attack! And Other Awesome Links of the Day

January 26, 2010

Everyone’s favorite (or not) neighborhood friendly analyst Michael Pachter is getting the spotlight in a new video segment on GameTrailers called Pach-Attack!

And indeed that is what you will get in these short bits staring the Wedbush Morgan Securities forecaster; who has also guest stared in other GameTrailers’ programs like the Bonus Round.

So if you are like me, and enjoy Pachter’s insightful and funny outlook on the game’s industry, check out the first episode below where he lists his biggest winners and losers of 2009. And if you’re one of those people who don’t… well there’s a NeoGaf forum thread for you somewhere to vent your nerdy disgust.

Pach-Attack! Episode 1 [GameTrailers]

In other video game related awesome links of the day: an airport in Hong Kong have partnered up with Sony to install PlayStation 3 kiosks, Microsoft of Japan is launching a bunch of new commercials, and a Bitmob contributer argues for the use of Quick Time Events (which will make someone here angry and comment below.)

Plus you can also check out the discussion of the challenge of blending both game play and narrative with Rainbow Studios senior game designer Ara Shirinian on Gamasutra, and lastly, coming to Japanese theaters later this year (and a DVD rack at a Best Buy near you) is a live action movie based on Capcom’s Dead Rising series.

While this might not be Burger King, these awesome links are still flamed broiled hot – hot – hot!

Hong Kong International Airport Gets PS3 Kiosks [Joystiq]

New Xbox Japan Ads Are Reminiscent of Old Dreamcast Ads [Kotaku]

Quick Time Events When And When Not To Use Them [Bitmob]

The Uneasy Merging of Narrative and Gameplay [Gamasutra]

Capcom Making a Dead Rising Movie [GoNintendo]

1 Comment | Microsoft, NeoGAF, Only From Japan, PS3, Xbox 360, awesome links of the day | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by spindash00

A Video Game Legend Joins The Cast Of Jersey Shore

January 22, 2010

I’ll be honest when I tell you that I have no passing interest in this “Jersey Shore” all these cool kids are raving about. Most of these MTV reality shows are just showcases for some of the worst human behavior of our generation. That is the common wisdom of these things.

But I can understand why it brings in the viewers like cartoon bears to picnic baskets; these TV train wrecks can be pretty amusing to watch. And as with anything that is popular, sooner or later more people want on the bandwagon. Including a certain Italian plummer as he surprisingly (but if you think about it – appropriately) stars in Jersey Shore: The Movie.

Check out the exclusive world premier trailer below to find out which famous video game star is trading in his classic red cap and overalls for a glop of hair gel and rock hard abs.

Warning – Video Contains Foul Language And Adult Content

Strangely enough, I feel like watching a Marx Brothers movie and eating a pint of tootsy fruitsy ice cream right about now.

2 Comments | Humor, Misc, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by spindash00

Super Mario Bros. 3 In An Awesomely Creative Animation

January 21, 2010

When I was a little kid I loved anything that required cutting paper, gluing pieces, shaking on glitter, and coloring crafts with crayons and markers. I remember once drawing this cute picture of a lighthouse and then making a frame decorated by seashells to go with it. That beautiful picture hanged on the fridge for quite some time until it unfortunately disappeared. Putting that aside, I just love seeing anything that attempts such a cool direction of art — including when it’s applied to video games.

Let me introduce smartkid82504, a Youtube user that made a fantastic video clip of Super Mario Brothers 3 out of cardboard, paper, glue, and colored pencils. It would be kinda great to see this type of animation used for a real game, but I highly doubt that the expense (creatively and financially) would be worth it.

I still think my lighthouse drawing with the seashells is better though. (Well not that much better.)

smartkid82504’s Youtube Channel [Youtube]

4 Comments | Shigeru Miyamoto | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by spindash00

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