Supple Think: September 2007

Modern arcade vaporware: The Act

by alzabo

Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007
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Full motion video games get a bad rap and I think it’s mostly undeserved. When the subject comes up and people start throwing about terms like “Interactive Fiction” and “Digital movie” the conversation starts down a path that eventually leads to Dragon’s Lair, Night Trap and maybe even The Daedalus Encounter.

Most gamers would agree that Full Motion Video games are a dead genre, and that they should stay that way. Based upon the games that have come before, I mostly agree. Well, I agreed until recently. I’ve noticed that game play elements from full motion video games are starting to make a comeback in modern video games, and they mostly go unrecognized.

Arcade classics like Dragon’s Lair and Space ace had full motion video game play that required the player to press specific buttons in sequence to advance in the game. That was the whole of the game play, and I admit that it was quite limited; but you have to admit that it was a huge leap forward in interactive entertainment in 1983. Even today, when I come across a working Dragon’s Lair cabinet I can’t help but drop some coins in and enjoy the lavish Don Bluth animation. Dragon’s Lair is very similar to several sequences in Sony’s God of War, Ninja Theory’s Heavenly Sword and Capcom’s Resident Evil 4. All three games have playable sequences that are almost exactly like Dragon’s Lair, requiring quick input of specific commands in rapid succession to get past obstacles.

Old full motion video games are usually dismissed as not being video games, some claim that they are trying to imitating movies. I could easily counter that almost all video games contain cut scenes and that that game “feature” grew directly out of full motion video games. Even today some games are mocked for imitating films, the Metal Gear Solid series and Final Fantasy VII (VIII, IX, X and XII) come to mind. Full motion video games are not dead; they live on in games of all genres. All this discussion brings me to a game that currently languishes in Production hell and will probably never be released because it is dismissed as a “Full Motion video game.”

The Act, by Cecropia blends high quality animation by Disney animators, an innovative simple control scheme and an endearing plot to make a game that I find absolutely tantalizing. While the premise of the game should be obvious from the attached photo, the way you win her heart isn’t by pressing A and going right, then left then jumping. The game’s only control is a potentiometer, you control the protagonist’s reactions, demeanor and actions; by twisting the knob to the left he is calmer, more shy and quiet, turning to the right makes the hero quicker, more boisterous and outgoing. That the inputs are highly variable is a huge step up in game play interactivity when it comes to full motion video games and interactive cut scenes. While this control scheme may seem odd, it makes perfect sense when you consider how the player clears the challenges. You don’t force your way thru by jumping and interacting with objects, you use the knob to control your characters emotions and reactions to the events around him, too much twist in either direction for too long beyond the correct emotion on the knob results in failure. Wow, a game where victory depends on feeling, emotion, and tricking people. I can’t wait to play it. . .


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Why I Love Treasure

by Zen

Posted on Tuesday, September 18, 2007
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There are tons of reasons, but these are the only two you'll ever need:



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Nintendo’s New Holiday

by alzabo

Posted on Saturday, September 15, 2007
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Until now I had no real reason to talk about the Nintendo’s Virtual Console service for the Wii, but their recent announcements for the European and Australian VC have forced my hand. This month is the “Hanabi Festival.”

The Hanabi Festival is a chance for Nintendo to release a smattering of games that previously had not been available to EU and AU customers through normal channels. The games offered initally are Super Mario Bros. 2 (Famicom), Mario’s Super Picross (Super Famicom), with other unreleased games like the incredible N64 title Sin & Punishment becoming available for download at later this month.

While I applaud Nintendo’s decision to release some Japan only titles in the west, I must admit that I’m kind of upset with the way in which they’re releasing them. Nintendo is brazen enough to ask for an extra $1 for the games offered during the “Hanabi Festival.” Oh, and games like Mario 2 will only be offered during the festival. Yeah, not only do you have to pony up more for the game, you have to buy it before the end of September (I guess that’s one way to insure strong VC sales).

In addition to the insult of having to pay more for these games, Nintendo is even cutting back on localization for these special limited time VC releases. Mario’s Super Picross doesn’t even have a English title screen. I guess that’s what Nintendo meant when they called it a “Hanabi Festival,” Hanabi must be some 27+ stroke kanji that roughly translates to: “pay extra for a game that isn’t localized.” I guess this is all just a test by Nintendo to see just how deeply they can stick their thumb in our eye before we collectively close our wallets.

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I'll be the first to admit...

by K1

Posted on
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Durfy was right.

Games that I've acquired in the past 72 hours that I have no time to play:
- Gyakuten Saiban 3
- Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core
- Heroes of Mana
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Super Metroid
- Paper Mario
- Mario Strikers Charged

Games that I am playing for 10 minutes at a time in between bouts of coding:
- Geometry Wars

712,000 is my high score so far, my personal goal is 1,000,000, this game is hard.

I think I had something profound to say about Magic Cards and/or Achievement Points, but that'll have to wait until I'm done with work stuffs, sigh... Article Permalink

Retro Games

by alzabo

Posted on Thursday, September 6, 2007
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They are endlessly fellated in print and frantic sweaty conversations between retro gamers and spastics in t-shirts with Nintendo and Atari joy pads on them that say things like “roots” and “Wizard Needs Food Badly.”


MOST OLD VIDEO GAMES SUCK.


Scads of old games are fun, but then as now only a select few games are destined for greatness. Why are some titles held up as shining examples of game creation if they’re no fun to play. Mouth breathers will cry out: “Dragon Mother 2: Eternal Rapture is important! It shows the evolution of the genre!” That’s wonderful, but it doesn’t mean I want to replay a RPG from 10 years ago that has a poorly designed battle system just because it spawned 6 other similarly titled games that were more fun to play and don’t have onerous controls that makes me wish I could smash my hand with a hammer in lieu of continuing to play.

Despite the negative opinion of retro games expressed above I should point out that there are many worth playing, which brings me to Game Center CX.


Game Center CX is a late night Japanese TV show staring Shinya Arino, it chronicles his attempts to beat retro video games on the original consoles; no emulation, no save states, no refuge.

Game Center CX show should be viewed by all who claim retro gamer "cred," it will hopefully remind them of that some games are best left as memories. Most episodes start with Arino describing the game that is to be attempted in the episode, his whimsical & nostalgic descriptions often shift quickly to very real frustration as he proceeds to spend literally hours attempting to beat the classic game (in Ghosts 'n Goblins first level, he is killed countless times by the Red Arremer). While I can sympathize with Arino’s situation as he is forced to plow through over 60 "classic" games (including the Japanese JJ & FJeff [カトちゃんケンちゃ] and Takeshi’s Challenge [たけしの挑戦状] ), I must admit to enjoying his suffering as he plows through one game after another. I can’t help but think that most of these games are better left in the past.

Next time you have to suffer through some neck-beard telling you “retro games are the best. . . Mappy is the best game ever!” You can suggest they watch this show, maybe if they’re smart enough they’ll understand that Game Center CX is as much an indictment as it is a acclamation of “retro games”

To learn more about Game Center CX you can visit Wikipedia, or watch some of the episodes here.

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