Bros. before hoes
by alzabo
Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
I have a copy of smash 3, and it really embarrasses me. Not only do I feel that I’ve betrayed some sacred trust by buying it I can feel it’s horrible nostalgia beam slicing to my core and waking the animalistic consumer beast lying dormant in the recesses of my brain. The lumbering beast speaks in a guttural tone not unlike the mingled mumblings of a thousand neckbeards; urging me to spend absurd amounts of money on hard-to-find games that feature the participants of the incestuous pantheon known as Super Smash Brothers: Brawl.
One side effect of acquiring SMABURA is a renewed use of my Wavebird, which has not seen regular use since the summer of ’05 when Nanohana and I helped Leon S. Kennedy rescue a girl with huge monkey ears.
While looking at my rarely used Gamecube I looked back at my meager collection of games and spent some time ruminating about why this was such a neglected console in my house. The final game I bought for it was Odama, and in all I only purchased seven games. I won’t waste space detailing the short-comings of the ‘cube, instead I’ll simply say some positive things about it.
In hindsight, these are some of the things that stand out to me. The controller design is a welcome departure that I still appreciate today, I love it’s funky look and how it comfortably fits in my hands. The large central green “A” button flanked by a smaller red “B” button and two grey “X” & “Y” buttons makes more sense than most people are willing to admit for several genres of games. Some of the games that I found to be an absolute joy and never stopped being fun were: Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe, Odama, Metroid Prime and Zelda: The Wind Waker.
While using my old Wavebird for the newest Nintendo party game on Wii, I chuckle slightly as I remember all the good times I’ve had with it fucking with my co-players in Super Monkey Ball by switching comm. channels to control my opponents characters. Using the Wavebird also makes me feel slightly hollow inside, almost like I’ve betrayed someone.
Then I remember that Nintendo hates me and will never give me Earthbound. If I ever want to play some weird rare Nintendo game they’re as close as the nearest computer with a internet connection.
Article PermalinkSuper Smash Bros.: Rawls
by Zen
Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008
So I know a lot of people are criticizing Nintendo for some of the directions they took with the latest Smash Bruthas game. When a beloved game franchise goes in new places in ways that change its fundaments, the results can be disappointing. One needn't look beyond the recent Burnout Paradise to see this writ large, but it's been happening increasingly often of late as the old giants of the industry start to feel the need for the ol' Harrison Ford earring.All that said, SSB:R is a splendid fighting game, well balanced and thoroughly considered. Every time I lost a match or died in the single-player mode I knew it was just, and the controls are responsive and intuitive.
This game is recommended for anyone who likes the point to be made early on and then repeated for 300 pages.
Dudes Who I Want To Pay But Can't
by Tupperwarez
Posted on Tuesday, March 11, 2008What, you'd rather read ten fucking paragraphs of "Yeah, what he said."? Here's your list.
Neil Manke
Some of you might have heard of They Hunger, a zombie outbreak themed single player mod for Half-Life 1. They Hunger was essentially a series of episodes, before the industry latched onto the term. It was very polished work that rightfully earned Neil and his collaborators positive press. Well, it turns out Neil has a game studio, Black Widow Games. And they are perilously close to releasing They Hunger: Lost Souls, which will be a purchasable, stand alone game based on the Source engine. The trouble is, they've been 'almost done' since last year. I hope this thing isn't stuck in QA limbo, because I'm really interested in checking out the final result.
Konjak
This guy isn't just a great artist. He also makes games that are both fun to play and look at, like Chalk and Noitu Love. Also, Noitu Love 2 is coming out soon, and it's looking really rad. He has worked on commercial games before I believe, doing sprite work for Contra 4 and such. But the fact remains that his work is definitely worth your time and money.
Nifflas
This is the guy that gave us mellow, exploration-themed platformers like Knytt and Within a Deep Forest. I find these games relaxing and laid back, and Knytt has the added bonus of odd looking critters and people(?) going about their business in the foreground and background. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. It's like having an aquarium, but without the mysterious green scum that kills all your fish and makes you cry. Oh, that's right, he has a Donate link on his homepage. Does this still count? Oh who cares, I still think I should give him money in an official capacity, like a retail/online purchase of some kind.
Cactus
This guy. This guy is a machine. He cranks out all these bizarre little games with alarming frequency. Please, go poke around his site and give one of the many little doodads he has made a try. Cactus himself admits that they are more like experiments dressed up as games. And like most experiments, not all of them are successful. Still, his enthusiasm for trying new and strange things is certainly noteworthy. I would be really interested to see what he would turn out were he paid for his time.
Article Permalink
New Xbox & PS3 Game
by alzabo
Posted on
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IT'S MAHVEL BAYBEE
by alzabo
Posted on Sunday, March 9, 2008If you've ever been to a vs fighting game tournaments, the above video may be familiar and quite funny. Or it may remind you why you stopped going to play in arcades.
I recently re-visited a site that was a popular spot for X-Men vs. Street Fighter tournaments 10 years ago. The vs. fighting games are all alone in a infrequently visited part of the arcade, two new VF5 cabs are there along with the old and battle scarred cabinets that in my youth housed Vampire Saviour, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter 2 Turbo and many others. These cabs now hold the final games from that long gone era, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike and the previously mentioned SF2T. I'm impressed at the staying power these games have, with dust on their controls it's obvious that they rarely see more than 1 play per day. I like to think that the operator keeps them out as a reminder of happier times, like a widow keeping her husband's ashes on the mantle.
As I ran my hands over the scarred and new dusty plexiglas of the control panel I fondly remembered all the time I spent standing in front of these cabs a decade ago. I gave the stick a twirl and the buttons a quick press to see if it was maintained, to my surprise it was in perfect condition!
In my mind, these games are not a effigy to old arcade games. They are a promise and a hope. With Street Fighter IV and King of Fighters XII on the way, maybe cabinets like these will see action again by a new generation of competitors. Eager to slam the control panel in the heat of the moment and add their own marks to the plexiglas.
It'd be poetic if it wasn't so silly. Article Permalink
Revenge of "Developers I want to give money to"
by alzabo
Posted on Saturday, March 8, 2008What I’m trying to say is, “up yours kid.”
#4 - Fasa (Shadowrun for SNES, Genesis, SegaCD & Xbox360/PC): 
Before the Xbox 360 launched, one of the titles that was announced but not shown was Shadowrun. I am absolutely in love with the previous three games for three separate reasons. The promise of a new Shadowrun was quite exciting, the after the three previous games had all taken very different approaches to creating their games and I believed that Microsoft Game Studios would do this as well. Their different approach was to throw away all the interesting story elements of the Shadowrun universe and create a FPS. A FPS with magical trees, teleportation and gameplay that was absolutely forgettable. I’d like to give a developer money for a new Shadowrun RPG, but after the horrible sales of the FPS, I think developers believe the Shadowrun License has AIDS.
#3 – Vivarium (Seaman, Odama): 
“Yoot” Saito was both the key designer and "face" of Seaman, most people who owned a Dreamcast or at least have a passing interest in games recognize his face and maybe even attempted to have a “conversation” with him. His unforgettable Dreamcast title Seaman is one of the creepiest and most interesting video game I’ve ever witnessed. He also was the creative force behind the innovative Gamecube pinball title, Odama. Both games share the innovative idea of changing the way players interact with games; forcing the player to speak into a microphone to control the game just as often as they use a controller. I’d love to play more games by Yoot Saito that have innovative strange controls like this, but Seaman 2 was not released in the US and the DS’s microphone is almost never used for the sort of detailed open ended interactions that players can experience in a Yoot Saito game.
#2 - The Behemoth (Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers):
Alien Hominid was an excellent first title that started out as a flash game and made the jump to consoles, the game play is very similar to SNK’s Metal Slug series and is not only fun to play but quite difficult. Their second title is the 4 player action platformer / RPG Castle Crashers has been endlessly delayed. I’m practically salivating at the idea of playing a “new” guardian heroes style game with my friends. I’d be willing to pay way more than 800 Rape Bucks (a.k.a. Microsoft points) for this title. Too bad it seems to be stuck in development hell.
