YTP

In an age where everyone has ADD to the point of mild autism, the youtube poop has become a popular form of internet comedy that follows the idea of "unexpected is funny" to its illogical conclusion.

These poops are unabashedly immature edits of other videos. By using extremely simple video editing techniques, such as cuts, loops, flip screen, magnify, zoom, mirrorimage, sound effects, rewind, suddenly loud as fuck, etc. one can "poop" a video (usually already funny without poopage) to take words and situations out of context, make in-referencing to other poops, and generally make complete lack of structure hilarious. If you don't find this funny, fuck you.

durhamrockerz is my favorite youtubepooper, and convinced me that the youtubepoop genre wasn't just hit or miss funny, but can be very strategically funny indeed.

Happy in Paraguay, not really a poop, but the last few seconds in the ending are straight poopage.

I believe their ancestry can be traced back to the animutations and fanimutations that followed thereafter so many years ago on albinoblacksheep. in the same way, they are only funny to people who spend too much time on the internet.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/animutation/

His Majesty, the Opulence that is: CrustCake

I've discovered something wonderful.
when a loaf of bread is complete, two one sided "crust ends" remain. Instead of begrudgingly substituting them for a regular piece of bread, make Crust Cake. I think I'm going to make this a bread-loaf-finishing tradition.

Crust Cake;

since I ate this, my dearest creation, quickly after its birth, no pictures record its existance; so i'll try and explain through a verbal diagram of an exploded view of the sandwhich/cake/tart.

0.toast a a top crust, a middle piece, and a bottom crust until dark and crispy
1.top crust
2.Nutella
3.Cinn/Sug
4.mltd bttr*
5.Mdl piece
6.mltd bttr
3.Cinn/Sug
4.Nutella
2.Btm crust

*as you would guess, the butter is melted on either side of the middle piece, which is then coated in cinnamon sugar. the two ends have liberous amounts of nutella on them.

cooking with dog

I really like the format of this show, I really like engrish, I really like the dog too.

the show well uses the internet video form by rapid firing the steps (you could always pause), although each step is described well. The video is hypnotizing. and that dog.

Let's Light This Fatboy Up!

So this weekend I spent in the company of two of my dearest friends. On Saturday, we woke up in the early afternoon, did some baking, ordered in thai food, watched 3 ninjas Kick Back on NetFlix and then took well needed naps until 6 or so.

One thing I realized is that 3 Ninjas is amazing because it has the ability to transform into any one of 3 of the best movies produced in the early 90's.
1. Home Alone:
the main characters (the three motherfucking ninjas) use a tape recording of their grandpa's voice to trick an airline into letting them by tickets to tokyo, even though they are underaged, then they mysteriously spend a week in japan, sleeping god knows where, and I think tum-tum gets raped by sumo wrestlers.
2. Mighty Ducks:
this movie is so awesome that they manage to fit in a baseball championship subplot, where they are able to demonstrate their growth as a team, and as responsible young-adults.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
this is more obvious due to the martial arts action. More so than the action, the team dynamic is the same, consisting of the hot-head Raphael(colt), the screwball Michaelangelo(tum-tum,michael), and the do-good team leader Leonardo combined with the brains of Donatello, (Rocky, Jeffery). In one scene, some goon even says "what are you? some kinda teenage mutant jerks?"


you can also watch the whole goddamn thing on youtub.

50th Post

the nostalgia burns so sweet.



i remember watching this shit in my pajamas while eating lucky charms, probably playing megaman 3 during commercial breaks. I lol'd pretty hard when i remembered they gave Roll (megaman's blond sister-bot) a vacuum arm as her power, i can't even remember how that made sense in the show, but what else could a woman want grafted permanently onto their body?

Wizard Smoke

I'm a fan of this skateboard video for a few reasons; really nice colors, in the form of wizard smoke (flour and tempera paint), oldy jams, and the kind of strange half cinematic half voyeur nature that skateboard videos often accomplish. The music is listed in the credits.

Wizard Smoke from Salazar on Vimeo.

nothin' to lose.

following in the success of DJ duo (dip-lo and switch) Major Lazer, is Duck Sauce (A-trak and armand van-helden). Catchy, funky, and super smooth. Check out these moves.



and another major lazer jam. Eric Warheim directs once again.

This is now a Genre

He's the toughest, most bad-ass guy in his chosen profession, but can he deal with kids!? He must use his old tough-guy-job skills in a whole new context! But oh no! he's implicated these ordinary kids in some kind of dangerous criminal plot!


the originator


still funny somehow


what?



but, i like jackie chan.

3D Dot Game Heroes

pretty sweet looking game. From Software always delivers fun games, at the price that they are usually short and quickly become unsatisfying[see: tenchu, way of the samurai]. However, this game, what seems to be an NES era zelda type of action adventure, envisioned in a world composed of uniform sized bricks. Note the atmospheric blur effect, and how defeated enemies blow up into scattering piles of cubes.

Video Games | 3D Dot Game Heroes | Japanese Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

JJJJound

a man after my own heart. A list style collection of images posted on a blogspot page that seems to never end. The theme of the posts is somewhat scattered (ranging from big cameras, men's fashion, pictures of Nas, artsy porn, shoes, among other things) but each image is in its own way provoking or at least cool. check it.

It's Nice That
the site where I discovered jjjjound is also a great collection of current events in creativity and spotlights on new and intriguing creators.

remember to fly Katsopolis air if your in the bay area.

Al Franken and google Japan

here, Senator Al Franken draws the map of the United States by memory.

this is how google streetview is made in small Japanese toy villages.

and for more google japan action: superdog 2.

Keep the fire

This is a landmark achievement in all things to ever occur: click on Michael McDonald's visage to link.

Link given to me by the increasingly handsome Giovanni Russonello. To answer any questions about my obsession with the blue eyed soul singer, see: yacht rock

canabalt

pretty sweet game, one button controls [c or v to jump] and randomized levels.

although the music isn't as bad as it is just very loud.

http://adamatomic.com/canabalt/

Whoopsie Goldberg

Ever notice how Lil' Wayne looks remarkably similar to a half beaten to death and recently released from prison Whoopi Goldberg?

Major Lazer

Major Lazer is an electronic DJ'ing duo who know how to bust some sick tracks. They are also skilled at making music videos that you're gonna wanna watch in HQ.

This first video's direction seems to be 'make a commercial for that awesome TV show you watched as a kid, that never was.' And since it can't be embedded, find it here.

This Video, for 'Pon De Floor', another tune by Major Lazer, is Directed by Eric Werheim (of Tim and Eric). If I can be blunt with you for a moment I feel like this video is attempting to recreate Dance Floor Dale, his video for Flying Lotus, except taking out just enough flashing lights to make it tame enough to be allowed on the youtub. I'm giving it a high score in the areas of choreography, casting, and costume design, all of which are prime examples of Eric's finest talents.

Part exploitation, part purified extract of funky shit, I'm not gonna say much else because it really has to be experienced first hand. I'm not saying you have to be Blazin' Hazen to enjoy these videos, but it definitely don't hurt.

watch in high quality, so you can bathe in it, proper like.

Favorite Character Designs Pt.I

Character: Raidou Kuzunoha
from: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless army and Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abadon
Designer: Kazuma Kaneko



Raidou is an old school RPG frontman, like all of the megaten protagonists he doesn't have dialogue visible to the player, and is a destiny chosen badass who looks like a faggot (see:funniest word ever). Since Raidou conducts his demonic detective agency in 1920's Tokyo his costume naturally takes cues from early 20th century japanese military outfits, but it also seems to draw inspiration from the Italian polizia [furthering my theory of Japan's secret obsession with Italy], and the awesomeness of capes paired with katanas. I guess I like it so much because it is very typical of Kazuma's design and is a character that I immediatly wanted to play as upon seeing him on boxart for the first time.

Kazuma Kaneko is one of my favorite video game artists evar. Kaneko's designs are easily identifiable by his trademark porcelain skinned anime-esque characters and smooth contoured clothing that looks like it jumped to life from a fashion student's sketchpad perfectly vibrant and ironed [wrinkles resisted whilst demon battling]. His designs were featured in the not very popular Dreamcast title Maken X (not quite sure how i just remembered that) and also did character designs for Devil May Cry 3. He's more popular for his work in the Shin Megami Tensei series (MegaTen for short) and their spin-offs, including the second persona title for the ps1 [the sequels 3 and 4 for the ps2 feature a new content artist,Shigenori Soejima, who is growing on me] and the intensely named titles [above] featuring Raidou. He also designed this guy and his giant robot for Zone of the Enders 2, easily distinguishable from the designs of Yoji Shinkawa [another favorite designer of mine, known for his work on the Metal Gear Solid franchise]

One of my secret goals in life is to have a suit designed by Kaneko-sama.

and this.

Freddy

watch in HD.

makes me really want to paint a portrait of Freddy Mercury, I can't think of a popularly recognized image of him.

thawt.

It comes to light that a game establishes its narrative in its design, visual and aural, first and foremost. Dialogue helps flesh out characters(although this is a relatively new feature in games other than rpgs and still some games like Ico see no need for it), but the transportative, escapist core of video game pleasure lies completely in the games interface and how one takes it in and puts the narrative together slowly and unknowingly until it becomes a familiar if not disturbing or intriguing environment. I think this accounts for why a games box art is incredibly important for me, and why I need content design to be quite excellent in order to really get into a game.

I don't wanna be a (multi)player no more.

Complaint: Why is it that the growth in online multiplayer for console games has made it so much more difficult for console games to be enjoyed with multiple players who are all playing together, in the same room, on the same console?

Not that there really are any console multiplayer titles anymore, with the exception of fighting, party, and racing titles but even those seem to becoming weened into purely online experiences. For example, in order to play castle crashers on (my friend's) xbox 360, each of us had to first create our own seperate accounts on his xbox. Not that it was a backbreaking process, it takes about 3 seconds, but its one of those things that kind of jab at you like 'well why are you playing on my xbox?'

this new psp mgs looks pretty exciting however, besides demostrating Kojima's relentless sense of humor, it actually looks like a ton of fun (love the new boxes and their new uses).

I dunno, i still think that beat'em ups should come back in style [see my post on why a sequel to the bouncer should be made].

I just miss the days of sitting in my friends' basements playing any iteration of sonic or streets of rage for hours. We were much less cogniscent of what titles were being released back then, we just knew what was awesome and they were instantly timeless, sonic, sonic 2, and sonic 3 could and would be played back to back in the same afternoon, each enjoyed for their seperate qualities (the same could be said of mario bros. 1,2,&3, or streets of rage 1,2, and 3)

[side note: during conversation, my girlfriend hummed the first few notes of the first level song for super mario bros. 2, and i called her out on it, she was impressed, then i explained how its not a real super mario bros. title but a reskinned game called Doki Doki Panic that was localized in America as Super Mario Bros. 2 and this did not impress her as much]

here's some awesome in thanks for reading this shitty post.

i think i'm going to try and list all the games i used to play for the genesis era consoles one of these days.

Skate 2

Skate 2, the sequel to Skate (or "Skate it"?), is a surprising marvel of a game.

I never played the original despite my own wishes, but I recently played Skate 2 (many many times) on the 360. There are a few things that it accomplishes so well, let me tell you about them:

1.Level Design- shit's amazing, its so fluid and connected that it feels like you're skating through a Girl Talk album. I mean making an entire city (San Vanelona) is one thing that's already difficult to pull off, but to also make the whole thing skatable, with foresight on where amazing potential lies to land sweet lines, is a feat of genius.

2.Sound Track -you should have noticed E.L.O. - Showdown, yea the sound track is pretty beast

3.Didn't fail on promises - Unlike certain developers, EA managed to pull off exactly what it said it would; landing tricks are harder and take many tries, but when you land it you're gonna wanna save the replay and show it off to friends. The controls, by the way, are pretty sweet. Similar to Fight Night, you operate the left and right thumb sticks in different patterns to achieve your moves. The left thumbstick is what controls the positioning and turning of your body while the right thumbstick is used for tricks; holding the right thumb stick down and then flicking it up results in an ollie, for example.

My only complaint is that the beautiful world is only scarred by the difficulty of fast traveling. The map is not very descriptive and trying to teleport to locations that you enjoyed become a guessing game. A few hints from gta or oblivion could have helped.

Looks like my pap on saturday night.

calling it.

If and when I form a band [If and when I decide to realize my gifted aptitude for music] I have reserved the use of a few band titles, which i have kept on various lists. I don't know where those lists are now, but I'm writing down the titles as i remember them right here:

-asdfjkl; [pronounced 'the Home Row']
-!? [pronounced 'Interrobang', and stolen from a friend]
-Cheese Pizza [possibly an album title]


And business ventures:
Sweet Jesus - Christian themed creative candy store.
The Sarina Beanery - a coffee beanery named after a friend of mine whom I stole a band name from.
Squints- a bar in the cafe sense, which includes a bath house.

Ghost Busters: The Game: The Thoughts

A Game has a few aspects to take into consideration when deciding on whether it's good, great, or just barely playable. Ghost busters does things rarely accomplished in gaming; it has great writing, excellent voice acting, and interesting (if not derivative) gameplay, the pacing was even pretty good if a bit rushed. The dialouge, mostly consisting of the banter between Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, and your character (a young and doofy looking new recruit who in the classical gaming fashion does not speak) as they go about not being afraid of no ghosts is actually very funny in a saturday morning cartoons version of ghost busters kind of way. The opening of the game, which delivers the intro in a format that stays faithful to its 1991 cinematic setting, says that it was written by Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd, and I believe it. The music is also awesome, because the music from the movies was awesome, and it replays them all very appropriately. Even the environments were rendered very believably, and familiar locations, like hotels, the public library, and timesquare, become labyrinths filled with ectoplasm.

However, there's only one aspect that bugged the shit out of me; it doesn't explain the game mechanics very well at all. The game is pretty simple, so maybe too much instruction would destroy the movie vibe it tries to gain by having no in game gui and generally going all dead space on us [not a bad game to rip off of]. However, the dialouge of your fellow ghost busters is entertaining, like when Dan Akroyd's character explains your gear in an overly complicated way, as he does in the movie, throwing around scientific mumbo jumbo that noone else understands, but when this is supposed to substitute a tutorial on game mechanics, it pretty much fails. It could have benefitted from pop up screens that quickly summarize the game world in text. I got this new blue version of the plasma stream blaster and I had it for half an hour and had no idea what it did or why I needed it.

either way, it kicks the shit out of the original game.

Just a Thought

Today I had a brilliant day dream. What if Atlus and Nippon Ichi decided to publish a game together? Both publishers are renowned for their well crafted games that exude style while maintaining a healthy difficulty, endless (almost literally endless) amounts of gameplay, and the love they show to their loyal fanbase. Some would contend that their games are nearly impossible to finish and inaccessible, but it's hard to not be drawn into their charming visuals and distinct gameplay.

Imagine a strategy rpg of the Shin Megami Tensei persuasion, but using the strategy greatness that NIS is able to pump out. Not to mention the crossover capabilites, considering that the gameplay of the SMT/Persona/Devil summoner series revolves around the use of demons, and the Disgaea series is almost entirely populated by the comically inclined demonic minions of the netherworld overlords (which resides in outer space.. which would make them actually aliens?). Either way, the quirks of these two hardcore powerhouses would cause a rift in the uber gaming community, as it would have a learning curve that only five people would be able to adjust to, but i'm sure that fanboys everywhere would murder babies just for the plush dolls that would be birthed from this most fertile union.

o hi

BIRDY NAM NAM - THE PARACHUTE ENDING from Steve Scott on Vimeo.

awesome.

This one actually applies to video games, since it's a fan video made using Little Big Planet.

The Killers "spaceman" from PrettyMonkeyStudio on Vimeo.

and this one starts getting good around 1:30, then quickly gets awesome.

Video Games from MUSCLEBEAVER on Vimeo.

FPS ideas

not sure how these got into my head, or why i'm thinking about fps's so much.

1)an epic free range zombie survival fps, where you live in a post-zombie apocalypse world and you travel from safehouse to safehouse, killing zombies, meeting and possibly bandinbg with survivors on the way, finding supplies, and if your so inclined, finding a solution to the zombie threat.

I figure the gameplay would involve lots of vehicles (except fuel would be limited, i think the survival aspect should be the key to its horror quality) and your constantly being hunted, so if you are spotted by a zombie, you better have a plan of action (it would also be interesting because everyone would have a different gut reaction). Do you find a high point and drop explosives? do you try and get their attention, leading them and locking them into a warehouse that you've previously rigged with explosives? or maybe you just run because your chopper is out of gas, your friend is badly wounded and you just finished your last clip. Their would also be different kinds of zombies, like ones that can mark you or lead other zombies. Maybe you come across a scientist who thinks he could make a cure if you can find a proper lab and a good specimen, or maybe you can find a radio tower and signal help, or maybe you launch a nuke, or maybe you just say fuck it and kill zombies cuz its fun. Most of said fun would probably be generated from a really fun physics engine, maybe the game could even record things like the highest altitude you've managed to shoot a zombie up to using explosives, or the most zombies you've lit on fire at the same time, and you could edit these clips in game, skate style. Your safe houses could become jeapordized if a zombie follows you in or other zombies realize youre there, or it doesn't have a properly secured entrance, in which case you'd have to go on the run again, or figure out a way to secure it.

I actually got this idea from watching The Invasion earlier today, i thought it would be cool if there was a game where you had the freedom of walking around a city, except you have to try and act and survive amongst a population of bodysnatching aliens.

TIE FIGHTER 2
a sequel the the awesomeness that was the flying combat simulator Tie Fighter, except instead of mostly flying imperial war ships, you would be a storm trooper, carrying out missions with your squad, raiding rebel star ships, collecting a salary, gaining ranks, et cetera.
I also think that a new jedi knight game is increasingly necessary after the failure of what could have been great called force unleashed.

They Stole My Idea: Final Fantasy Gaiden

I decided to make this a regular thing, since it always happens. A few years ago i was playing ff1 on an nes emulator and I thought that the quick barebones rpg elements were gritty and stupid but also very addictive, and making your own customized team of 4 warriors is a great mechanic for continuing replayability. So i envisioned a revamped, possibly 3 dimensional and stylized return the the rpg basics, but that has just been accomplished.

Video Games | 4 Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden | Japanese Debut Gameplay

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The game features chibi style 3d graphics which work perfectly to represent the old school rendering techinques of rpg's, and even the textures of the towns filled with inns and weaponsmiths seem to be pixelated, much to my enjoyment. My only gripe is that I wish the music also played into this reversion game. I guess it would be silly for a game on the DS (which has excellent sound quality) to have clunky 8 bit sounds, but i think that leaves room for exploration. Imagine how awesome it would be to have a whole symphony composed of layered 8-bit sounds? that registers as pretty-tight on my scale of dumb to awesome-o-matic. and not many things get the awesome-o-matic rating.

Cave Story and Freeware

I had seen CaveStory exist only as Fan art and mentioned on gaming websites with great praise but little info. Then I decided to take the big step of typing "cave story" into my google toolbar and discovering the fansite. You can download the game, complete with the english translation. Its a small file and a quick install for a game that kicks so much ass, you will not regret it.
Studio Pixel, which is just one japanese guy (known as pixel) made cave story over the course of 5 years, and it was released a few years ago for the price of $free.99 to the much appreciated gaming public. Attending college, and being broke as a joke, makes it difficult to keep up with games the old fashion way (by playing them) and leads me to read previews and reviews as the only way to experience most of the current gen. I don't even own any current gen consoles, not even my DS, if you consider the DSi to be its replacement.

The gameplay of CaveStory is similar to Castlevania or metroid and it manages to accomplish some of the most engaging platforming levels i've played outside of my early childhood. However this is not the only area the game shines, it creates memorable characters that develop in a deceivingly simple plot, has some amazing boss battles, and the soundtrack does that funny trick where you don't notice it until you catch yourself humming it later. The game has garnered so much attention that it has coming to the wii as downloadable content, thats pretty amazing for freeware designed by one guy.

I've also been playing two other free games, Battlefield Heroes and Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. Battlefield Heroes is fun because it takes the core of the Battlefield franchise's game mechanics (heavy on the vehicles and the choice of player classes) but makes it extremely accessible for casual play, namely because it's free, the rounds are short, and the game doesn't take itself very seriously. The cartoony graphics aren't done as well as TF2, but then again, its free and still in beta. My only gripe is that it doesn't give a good sense of accomplishment after you kill (should i say frag?) another player. It's extremely easy to hit someone, even at long range, but everyone has very large amounts of health and even headshots or tank blasts won't take down someone in one hit, getting a bunch of kills stringed together while protecting a capture point does feel pretty good though. Also, i think because its in beta, or to push the casual aspect, you launch the game from their website, and it auto finds a server for you, which can sometimes lead to bad results, but its usually fine, you can also save favorite servers, but you can't choose any right from the get go.

Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine is an mmo spinoff of one of my favorite game franchises, so naturally i had to try it out. The game basically plays out exactly like one of the console games, which is a post-apocolyptic demon filled pokemon more or less. The Tutorial missions suck, and the translating is spotty, but if you wanna catch'em all its a pretty good time. My favorite part, just like in the console games, is conversing with demons to get them to join you and then mixing them together to see what comes out, its a lot more exciting then it sounds. It kinda makes me wonder why breeding simulators like monster rancher never made it big, I'm sure that gameplay hasn't been explored to its full potential.

ff7 intro Revisited

I recently watched the intro to final fantasy 7, not for the first or last time, and realized just how great it actually is. Just looking at it cinematically, the amount of character given to the city of Midgar in such a brief intro is a beautiful introduction to the steampunk attitude and depth of mystery that saturates the dark and gritty first few hours of gameplay. The opening cinema transitions directly into gameplay, with a quick train jump thrusting you straight into the explosive tutorial dungeon(materia reactor). The sense of scale constantly fluxing, from stars to an alleyway, to a street, birds eye view of a city, runaway train, back to street level, if nothing else gets the player excited to delve into the game's unique lore.

Video Games | Final Fantasy VII | PSN: Opening Cinema

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

It's kinda bladerunner-esque, but then again i've been comparing everything to bladerunner since i watched it a few weeks ago. I may also be going off the handle since watching this brings back such sweet memories.

O, look at the time.

This story just seems important on a socially responsible and comical level. Click PB for the article!
wut, it wasn't at all instigated by some kind of litigation, they just decided, hey this is way fucked up? I kinda like that.

e3, microsoft delivers?

It seems easy to say that the most impressive news from this years E3 is coming from the microsoft camp, although I'm quite skeptical.

Project Natal - In a nutshell, it seems that microsoft is planning on some kind of hardware (now that i think about it, i'm not sure if it would be an add on for the 360 or a new system altogether) that allows for motion sensitive input, and would include a very impressive amount of participation of your entire body in gameplay. However, I can't concieve by what method this would be possible. At first I thought of a wii type of sensor bar, but even that needs a wii mote, this system seems to be completely body controlled. I don't think the final iteration of this idea will look like this, or work as well, or come out any time soon.
"

Video Games | Project Natal | E3 09: Project Natal Intro

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Of course it is an attempt at getting some of that wii money, expanding the market of games accessible to everyone and their grandmothers, and good luck to microsoft... but they're starting to sound alot like Peter Molynieux, which brings me to my next point!


Milo - Peter Molynieux once again acts as the over promising spokesperson to his latest 'omgthiswillchangeeverything' genre of games, Milo. Which doesn't seem to be a game, its more like a super creepy AI child, which reacts incredibly real in its demo which was 'not acted, but recorded in real time gameplay'.
"

Video Games | Lionhead Milo Project | E3 09: Milo Tech Demo

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I can understand the notion of simplification making design elegant, but I can't help but disgust at a game that just wants to get rid of the controller, i mean what is a video game without the controller, its the handshake of the game, its what's plugged into your brain via your sense of touch and reaction, I just don't think i'd enjoy a future of gaming without a controller. I also think that just like Fable, this is gonna suck, and then a sequel will be made, and it will be more tolerable.
Is this supposed to be entertainment? art? a science experiment? What is the goal of a game studio creating a game of babysitting? What happens when the inevitable gamer screams loudly and tries to verbally abuse Milo? Anyway, I'll believe this project natal nonsense when i see it in a live demo.
Update!: in this kotaku article, Milo is given a press demo, which explains the mechanics much more thoroughly, but its still far away from completion.

Bach from the dead

While in Rome, I made a visit to San Luigi's cathedral [home to some of Caravaggio's greatest works btw]. As soon as I walked through the entrance portal, organ music began to fill the cavernous vaults of that baroque masterpiece, and the first thing that came to mind was wishing I had a whip and a name ending in Belmont.


If you have about $2000 to spare and are really desperate for a reason to replay a favorite castlevania title, go to an old European cathedral and listen to some organ playing, you'll be vehement with vampire vengeance.

Very princely indeed.

Ciao! I just returned from Umbria, Have you ever been to Italy? I just returned from a weekend stay with some friends. I hope you can visit during the day's rolling. Like that's possible.

This is a cool project I saw at the Awesomer, a DIY trackball for playing Katamari Damacy!


Let's Play Katamari! [hopefully you can look past the annoying banter]

It's an attempt at making katamari more complete [I think]. I don't think that the ball is at all neccessary for enjoying katamari, the katamari team did a wonderful job of exploiting the ps2 analog sticks and translating their motion into pure katamari psychadelia. However, it's awesome because I believe katamari harkens back to the days of the arcade [how unfortunately distant those days are], where games were based on a single game mechanic and high scores. The trackball was a common replacement for the joystick in many an 80's game cabinet. The trackball gave gameplay momentum [literally and figuratively] and required a different set of motor skills than the average quarter eater. Missle command, anyone? In the 90's however, all trackball games devolved into golf and bowling, y'know the game that you're dad played while you were playing turtles in time. So in that way, the trackball fits really nicely and, if nothing else, could give you a reason to squeeze more hours out of Katamari.

Tone down the graphics, turn up the style, add a quirky but addicting game mechanic and you'll have what makes katamari so damn fun, and a great way to relax. It's one of the games I show my friends who don't play video games that often, because it embodies the mindless fun that lies at the soul of games. It doesn't feel any need to justify or even attempt to relate to it's audience, and somehow that makes it really accessable. Katamari is self-aware, it knows that it's fun and it's happy when it makes you happy. Much like Jet Set Radio, One of katamari's strengths is it's soundtrack, full of upbeat, bizarre, and original tracks made just for the game [almost all of the songs are about rolling balls.]

there are other recent titles that follow this formula of singular quirky game mechanic and super stylish gameplay, like patapon by rolitoland, loco roco, killer 7, and katamari's successor Noby Noby Boy. This return to the arcade style is nothing new for browserware and other light pc games like world of goo, and many of the games at popcap.

I NEED SCISSORS, 61!!!

So I posted that trailer and jumbled excitement out of child like giddyness, then i realized that no other game site on the internets was posting anything... which got me confused, because this should have hit every major site on the intarwebs with the force of superman drop kicking an atomic bomb. but i think noone picked it up because it originally was shown on an apparently unreputable site, but c'mon, the quality of the trailer is undeniable.

Aright, so i got really excited by the trailer for Trico and didn't take the time to consider that it wasn't real. Now, i know that it's real, as in developed by team ico, my game sense tells me so, but it definitely is not the final rendition of the game, and if the trailer for Nico tells us anything, they can make pretty big changes late into development. but then again, the trailer for Nico demonstrated all of the key gameplay and environment design of the final product, and i'll assume that they learned some kind of directoral lesson from that experience and wouldn't make such a huge change as was neccessary with Nico [as in multiple playable characters, which i assume was going on in the trailer].
That said, in my humble opinion, the trailer for ico is real as the shitbrick you dropped after watching it. If anything, character designs will probably change, the main characters outfit in the Trico trailer was refreshing in its simple design and bold colors, but it seems a bit to simple or unfinished than what i would have thought.


In other news, here's the Trico trailer again in HD. And i'm not sure why i haven't commented on the likeness of the two protagonists to the luck dragon and Atreyu from never ending story yet.

Project Trico

I saw this a few months ago and got way excited, and never dreamed that i would actually see any output of this project so soon.

The reasons for Loving team Ico are many. This is the first video, that i've ever seen, for the newest installment since Shandows of the collossus. I gotta say that Team Ico is on my list of favorite game designers/designers in general, up there with Kojima and Suda 51, who are also considered somewhere in the genre of art games. 'Art games' are not really a genre but the level of beauty and personality in these games usually far exceed the standard.

Both Ico and Shadows featured a young boy as the protagonist, traveling perilous terrain for ambiguous but noble reasons. The thing that they succeeded at the most, for me, is pulling off an amazing amount of charm and sophistication in the design, almost effortlessly, and an amazing level of immersion which comes with the highly contrasting sense of scale; in Ico you were a little boy attempting to escape a gargantuan castle, waving a stick at giant shadow monsters while trying to escort a very frail princess, and in Shadows you played a slightly older boy single handedly felling skyscraper sized demon-beasts, scattered about a lush and diverse landscape [which you navigate on horseback].



I think all fans of the first two games have all been pondering on what they would do next, and I for one am a happy camper. Ico and Shadows both took [most likely] the same world and used it to create very different gameplay mechanics.
The style of Team Ico is reminiscent of cinematic platformers out of this world, Flashback, and Heart of Darkness; with the memorable visual detail and lack of heavily descriptive written narrative, or in game HUDs (which gives alot to the imagination).
Trico seems to combine elements of Ico and shadows, but twists them just so. This is one of the rare cases where a creative interesting game gets sequeled not due to its selling power, They've always been 'cult favorites', but i guess it gets reiterations because of just how good its been at making Sony look good.
Conjecture:
Once again, the playable character seems to be a young boy [without horns], and once again seems to travel with a friend who doesn't talk much. The friend this time around is some kind of giant kitten/griffin/possum thing which will easily become one of the most loved characters in cult gaming next to the companion cube. The trailer seems to show the two protagonists escaping some sort of castle/fortress [which seems to be held within a larger city of similar architecture], and for some reason the giant catbird befriends the boy.
This time, it uses Shadows' system of clinging to the fur of a giant except as a mode of transportation. i also think its hilarious that as helpful as having a giant flyying/swimming/running kittenbird could be in terms of getting around a fantasy worldscape, its inclusion in navigating claustrophobic dungeon areas is so laughable that it's genius (in most games, your transportation, horse, chocobo, etc. has to wait outside, these games never even had to justify it, it just wasn't part of the game, it was a standard that they just didn't go indoors/ past loading screens).
I think that human enemies might make an appearance, as in some screens of the trailer show a bunch of arrows sticking out of your kittenhawk's hide. It also seems that feeding your cute monstrosity is somehow linked to the gameplay. Hrmm, and now that I think about it, if there is a baby kitten/bird/thing, maybe there are adult ones, which could be very frightening or unbelievably cool. This game just oozes awesome, and i can't wait for Team Ico's next masterpiece.

[note: trailer was apparently made over a year ago, shown, behind closed doors, at last year's E3 to a very select audience, Imagine what this game must look like now?!]

You are There

This is pretty sweet, pretty sure i have an intellivision in a box in my basement.

Jet.. Set.. stole my fucking idea...

While this is really damn cool, and i can only hope sega steals it for a wii-sqluisive sequel to two of my favorite games of all time Just for the record, I thought of this first, so fuck you Martin Lihs for being awesome. Check out the about page on the wiispray website for more info. I never considered that the bauhaus school would still be in operation, good stuff.

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

I don't see why the fake aerosol can is necessary, much like the mario-kart driving wheel, i'm sure its just to add to immersion/look cool. The tagging in the video is quite bush league if I say so myself (and I will), some drip effects for pools of digital paint would be awesome as well. I wonder what a talented graffiti artist could complete with this kind of tool. I sort of imagine a basement where someone tests out a giant spray, trying to get it done faster and smoother, then using the same software to place it in a photo of where it would be thrown up, after this danger-room type training, he/she'd venture to their spot and get to work.

I really really want this or I'm gonna resort to some old school vandalism. and while we're on the subject, fuck yo' ipod.

Related: Let's Play

An awesome site, where contributors display play-throughs of games. The layout of each is different depending on the author, but its always divided into chapters, and by using screen shots, sometimes video, and transcribing the events of cutscenes, you can experience an entire games events without playing it! (that doesn't sound as enticing as it is.) My only bone to pick is that many submissions use this opportunity to add way too much commentary that i'm sure they think is hilarious, but very often, it isn't.





I suggest the runthrough of Snatcher, its a good ol' kojima joint, and a game that you wouldn't be able to play otherwise. (unless you illegally download the ROM!!!)

Related to my Interests: Usavich

A series of minute and a half long cartoons featuring two oddly coupled rabbits. A quick wiki search results in a few facts that one could not possibly gather from the show. The rabbit with the red stripes and safety pin through one ear is an ex-mob boss, while the one in the green stripes is a kind heart-ed laborer who was thrown in jail because he missed work due to a hangover, oh and this all takes place in Soviet Russia.



There are 3 seasons, the third one still running on MTV Japan apparently.
i think i included this here because the graphics look suprisingly similar to the in game engine to Radiata Stories.

Games that Deserve Sequels 4: Final fantasy Tactics

[my eternal frustration, and yet another square title]

I've been bitching about this subject for years, to the annoyance of my close friends. In fact its probably the reason behind this blog. Final fantasy tactics is a srpg for the psx that is nothing like its successors ffta and ffta2 for the gba and ds respectively fyi.
the original fft told a dark story of class struggle, the ties of family, honor, and deceptiveness of religious belief. Final fatasy tactics advanced noticeably started off with a snowball fight outside of an elementary school, see the difference?
let me say that final fantasy tactics was not perfect, but the team that made ogre battle made fft as good as strategy rpgs would ever get before Nippon Ichi Software came around. FFT also notably invented the squaresoft universe of Ivalice, where Vagrant Story, ffta, ffxii, and ffta2 also took place (although whether or not a continuity exists is a matter of heated nerd debates).
They did refurbish fft for the psp, which i never played. They added the main character from ffta2 (which debuted months afterward) and balthier from ffxii. I was satisfied with cloud (ff7 also came out after the original fft, maybe they thought of this as some kind of trend). To the variety of class selection they added Onion Knight and Dark knight (the dark knight was available in the original only as a gameshark exploit).
These are the main issues i have with Final fantasy tactics' further iterations:
-Child geared themes (which made the battles seem less than epic, hard to be avoided on the ds)
-the addition of extra races, the numou, bangaa, and other nonsense. i don't have a problem with the races specifically, but the fact that they created a supremely shit-tastic job system that was uselessly convoluted and created jobs that were insignificantly different from one of a different race's job library made the process of creating a diverse and effective army an annoying one.
-the loss of 3d environments, no movable camera
-cant ride(except for moogle chocobo knights)/raise chocobos, or have monster party members
-wtf happened to the chemist?
-the law system is iffy, it makes the battles interesting sometimes, sometimes just irritating, many times has no effect on how i play, and other times just pisses me off because it doesn't effect the enemy for some reason.

These are mostly problems with the first ffta, the second one actually had some features that i liked:
-great music (the DS has amazing sound quality)
-no more random battles (also a feature of ffta)
-A constant and extremely large collection of side quests
-the auction system
-weather
-material collection/item creation (surprisingly addictive)
-saving during battles

for me, a good sequel would have to consider these decent additions by ffta/2, a more substantial and satisfying job system, and a return to the dark medieval atmosphere of the original, with murder, kidnapping, and zodiac demons in tow. Maybe the ivalice alliance could take this chance to solidify the ivalice universe's story (like why it turned into a never-ending story type book for some kid to find, or how all of these lizard people popped up)

feels great to get that out.

Huh.

While doing my secret finals studying technique of downloading a gba emulator along with the full library of pokemon titles, I came to an interesting realization; Why hasn't a pokemon MMO ever been conceived. I just find it odd, i mean the pokemon universe almost preassumed the massively multplaying genre, its a bunch of different characters each with their own unique team of up to 6 spherically imprisoned monsters, each team exhibiting different strategies to fulfill that goal of catchin'em all. It's kinda like .hack with all the npc's except it doesn't actually tell the story through a fake online server narrative.
To be honest I haven't reallly followed the titles past red and blue, i played sapphire a little, and was definitely intrigued with the day/night, seed planting, double teaming, dogshow type stuff that it came up with. It's very easy to imagine most of the npc's being replaced with other players. I'd play it, and i'd say the same goes with much of my 20 something peers.

My Problem with Bethesda's Oblivion model

By oblivion model, i mean the style of sandbox gameplay and the graphics/physics engine that powered Oblivion and then Fallout3. These are two games that i played tirelessly, up to the point where i questioned the value of the time of my life lost to the game (not many games accomplish this level of profound thought). I don't have to say they were great, they have enough awards and reviews that explain that, but I'll still bitch about it.

I basically have 2 problems with the current model of this game creation, which as far as i know will be fixed upon the inevitable sequel to oblivion. These problems contribute to difficulty of immersion, and maybe more importantly for games like oblivion and Fallout3, the inability to destroy that glass wall of false reality by stepping beyond what you expect out of the game after hours spent trolling its landscape. I'm not taking into account what is actually possible in the software, but my demands are not too outlandish.

Problem no. 1, clone character models:
Simple, everybody has the same body and thats really annoying. There are basically 4 character models in Fallout3, Man, Woman, Boy, and Girl. All with different faces, hair, clothes and skin tone, but still, how about some fat people, or really thin people, or reaally muscley people, mutated people, maimed people, idk, variety would make characters more memorable when they should be and clinch that final level or reality needed for these games.

Problem no.2, Enemy scale:
There are crazy insect, goblin, orc, mutated bear, scary clawed things, that really speak to the imagination, but there are no 'real' flying monsters. The flying monsters just hover, its more like their on stilts than flying. What if an enemy that flew (and all the flying enemies sucked, bloatfly? imp?) actually flew around, changing their altitude, running away, or even got knocked down to the ground and forced to crawl about? I mean they had swimming enemies that i think accomplish this, sort of. This would make the already stellar in game physics seem that much more believable. There also weren't many enemies that scared you with their pure size (save the super mutant giant guys, and the queen ants). I mean, no dragons in oblivion? no dragons?

Related: Creative Uncut

This website is fantastic. www.creativeuncut.com

This guy collects Video game design artwork and keeps a large and ever growing database of his findings. I've been following the site for a few years, the layout has changed a few times (i was a bigger fan of its previous layout), but the updates have only been coming more frequently. Now its updated on a nearly daily basis. He even has an open door policy with sharing his collection (he doesn't even put hideous watermarks on them). What a nice guy.

Games that Deserve Sequels 3: The Bouncer

[another title where squaresoft attempted and failed at success outside of traditional rpg's]

there exists games that are so good that they spawn an amazing franchise that creates multitudes of sequels, each recreating their respective genres and changing the pace of the industry (mario, metal gear, zelda, resdient evil, etc). There are other games that are just good enough (or hold some niche) that they spawn rather soulless or uncreative sequels that don't do much but end up taking space in the discount bin 5 years later (tenchu, armored core, dynasty warriors, etc. [mind you that these are series that are very enjoyable to play, have large fan-bases, and may have great visuals and design, but each iteration doesn't change much]).

The bouncer is neither of these, it didn't generate enough profit or praise-worthy reviews to warrant a sequel, but it did attempt to improve upon its chosen genre, but thats where my complaints begin. Sequels are a chance to take a good game, and deepen it to create a great game. Bouncer had many features packed in, including memorable and descriptive character design in the spiky haired anime fashion by Tetsuya Nomura, slick visuals for the fairly infantile ps2[of course expected of square, but unlike square at the time it didn't have to rely soley on fmv's but it utilized in-game footage], great (if slightly cheesy) voice acting, and branching story paths that were somewhat compelling (i was a big fan of the loading screen flashback dialogue). It's downfall were shitty controls (which have been making or breaking games since the genesis of gaming [pun]), a very short (but replayable) single player, awkwardly music-less parts of the game, extra modes that were just not fun, and a swinging pendulum of difficulty that ranged from boring to gameover marathon.

Lets not forget though, this was a BRAWLER (aka beat'em up), a genre that never ever gets a solid, profitable game, at least not since the days of streets of rage (which spawned 2 sequels). Notice the trend of these revered titles?; Final fight, the arcade version of alien vs. predator, Teenage mutant ninja turtles (the arcade game and turtles through time), Die hard arcade (a personal fave), the X-men (legendary for 6 person multiplay). All Arcade titles, aka living in a generation that no longer exists because it wasn't makin' cake, despite the fond quarter-filled memories. I would say that these games died to give rise to another genre that doesn't evolve much; slash'em ups, like dynasty warriors, which replace the sense of accomplishment gained by a successful series of strikes on some thugs on a linear path with killing hordes of enemies in a few swings of a spear/other pointy object in a large arena like setting (i did like drakengard, just wish it was more engaging).
The Bouncer also had fun rpg elements which made you feel noticeably more powerful as your characters progressed, gaining more moves and building up stats (although your cpu teammates often stole your kills, wasting precious experience).
However, imagine if square had taken another stab at it, expanded the bouncer universe, got tighter controls, made more references to final fantasy (Like the cactuar on the back of the leather jacket, and the dogstreet logo featuring angelo from ff8 [imagine unlocking tifa as a playable character or lining some virtual hq with plush versions of tonberrie or moombas], square has the most fanboys of any developer, this would actually be a marketable move), give it a long single player campaign, utilize the amazing musical talent in the squareenix arsenal, mix up mini games between fighting levels that were more fun than walking around looking for a button on a train, had evenly designed difficulty/pacing, and idk include a demo for metal gear solid 2 (worked for ZOE). They would be embarking on the impossible, making a next gen brawler that manages to have a fanbase.

[sorry for all the parentheses]

Games that Deserve Sequels 2, Electric Bugaloo: Tenchu

a series that chaps my nuts, it's (as far as i know) the only ninja/stealth-action title that has had success in america, its really the only popular stealth title next to Metal gear that exists in the west, and thats a large shadow to live in, and also one that is slowly disappearing (considering mgs4 was purportedly the last in the series), so profit exists for a GOOD sequel. Maybe since it has no other competition except for the rather insurmountable metal gear, is the reason why it has come to suck so much ass.
It has SO much potential, but the series has managed to get worse with every iteration, now its just hokey, and following the trend of making games into shitty hollywood movies. It lost its vision, but unlike a blind shinobi that trades its vision for lightning fast fists, it just sucks. To be honest, this is one series where i wish they would just steal some key elements from other games (notably metal gear and assassins creed), add ninjas, INTELLIGENT AI, clever level design, and solid controls, and i don't see how you could fail. One thing they should focus on is combat mechanics, one big gripe i had with the games was that the stealth kills got old after seeing them over a million times [scratch that, seeing impossible amounts of blood spew out of an unsuspecting guards gaping noggin never really gets old]. Whenever they didn't work out it was nearly impossible to kill a guard in a satisfying way, and facing multiple guards the only option was to run away basically, not very ninja like either. Maybe the inclusion of multiple characters, and even something as simple/hokey but repeatedly fun; alternate costumes/weapons, maybe even a focus on horror. It might not be just me, but what if the horror that was raped and left to die by resident evil could be picked up by a ninja game, at least the elements of survival, suspense and fear for the mortality of yourself and your friendly characters (I guess the original onimusha had that...another series that turned into a steaming pile of action nonsense). Multiple endings, branching story path, could regain the honor lost amongst ninjas.
Hell, even poking some fun at the 80's early 90's ninja culture boom with some clever use of graphics and music could really work. They also have to get rid of the shitty/useless items, i swear i've played through whole games and only used like 3 or 4 out of the like 30 items they give you, then again metal gear solid 2/3/4 is also guilty of this, but at least those items have fun built into them.
Maybe a new series is in order, maybe taking the story from path of the assassin, an old amazing ninja manga. In the manga, the main character had a cat that told him the time by the size of its iris', maybe this could be a clever graphic of showing time left to complete a mission or you could even use the cat as a tool (mk.II style).
The more i think about elements from resident evil in a ninja game, the more i like it, like the status screen, what if going away and hiding wasn't just so you could wait around and not do shit until the completely unqualified guards just dismissed your reoccuring presence, and you could check a status screen, map, status of tools and found objects/puzzle pieces, scope out how many guards are in the area, set up traps, etc. I also think that timing should be more important, like time sensitive missions, maybe if the world was constant (sunlight, weather) it would force you to work to those advantages, maybe thats too much to think about, yea probably is.
A clever close combat system, utilizing context sensitive grapples and counters (stealing from cqc) but also incorporating unique close combat weapon techniques, could lead to players developing their own preferred method of stealth action, which could make interesting multiplayer modes. I also think that removing some of the Superhuman elements from the game could actually make it more fun. Like assassins creed, the freerunning takes ridiculous amounts of strength, speed, agility, what have you, but its believable and makes you feel much more bad ass than just jumping 20 feet in the air 'cuz your a ninja. some excercised realism could really work. Careful acrobatics could become really important, like diving into a particular window, escaping a burning building, jumping over a guard, maybe even landing silently should be a carefully controlled operation.
The idea of performing individual, relatively small moves, with precision (like landing silently, drawing a blade, throwing a shuriken), could be an important and fun aspect. Maybe training courses could break up the serious tension of the game, some mini games that let you show off your ninjaness, like mgs vr training or Kengo, except with crazy acrobatics included. Cool disguises should also be apart of many levels, and other ninja clans, imagine having to take out other ninjas, with guards about, except you can't let the guards discover you, that's challenging. Co-op play could be amazing (distractions, leg-ups, reavealing guards on your map, etc.)
Maybe the assassin's creed team will make the second sequel take place in fuedal japan (the first sequel is taking place in italy, and possibly the rest of europe) and i won't have to think about this anymore.

Related: Anamanaguchi

So, theres this group that plays high-speed 8-bit rock (with the accompaniment of a hacked NES) and its pretty terrific.

http://www.dawnmetropolis.com/

http://www.last.fm/music/Anamanaguchi - description of the band at Last.fm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35948261@N00/2349400750 - one of their hacked cartridges


Their latest album is titled Dawn Metropolis (sounds like a stage from Sonic). Imagining an NES title that would have these songs as its soundtrack is an epic experience.

My Gripe with Resident Evil 4

Note: I have not yet played RE5, but i'm sure its guilty of the same nonsense.

I can't get mad at Capcom for becoming amazingly successful and producing incredibly fun and industry changing games. I will however blame them for the complete abandonment of the survival horror genre.

It might be said that they cannot destroy the genre, since they created it. I myself would even argue that it may just be the current era, and the age of the classic survival horror has set sail to that mass graveyard where games eventually crystallize and are rebirthed as the old school (somewhere in nevada).

However, this trend of self destruction was set in motion from the very beginnings of the series, but the final nail in the coffin was driven home by Resident evil 4. It basically boils down to resident evil being a flagship series that did everything in its power to 1up the entire industry in terms of scope, in every sector of the game, which it did, leading to its success across pretty much every video game of the year category that was possible in 2004.

A few things that made the originals Survival Horror:
-Eerie mostly vacant environments, the solitary moans of brain suckers got you ready to cross a doorway loading screen after checking that you had the equipment to face whatever may be beyond.
-Difficulty of obtaining healing items and ammunition, strategy of taking what you need.
-Puzzles that added to the mystery of the environment, making the situation creepier with wierd imagery and
-some light shed on other peripheral characters through readable journal entries, notes etc.

Things that compromise that in RE4:
-that fucking guy who sells you items? the character himself is laughable, and the fact that you can BUY items is not survival. BULLSHIT.
-Shining Items; sure otherwise it would be difficult to spot items in the fast paced 3d environments of RE4, but all of the immersion gained from the environments and over-the-shoulder view (one of the unique qualities of RE4 that made it so accessible and was subsequently used in dozens of games every year since), was destroyed by the glowing rings of color used to signify obtainable items.
-All the playable characters are jacked, you can punch zombies into the fucking next dimension, whats scary about being Arnold Schwarzenegger in the terminator? it would be scarier to be Eddie Furlong (a similar sense of danger created in Ico).
-That huge boss that looks like an orc from Lord of the Rings, you're stationary, in the turret of a Hummer, and he doesn't strike at the car? NOT SCARY.

no more fixed cameras (interestingly making it less cinematic, but more 'hollywood'). To be honest, many are excited by the no fixed camera, seeing it as a step that every game must take to move into the next generation, but i mean thats where most of the ambiance and scares really came from, the scene, having it all layed out. The camera doesn't even always have to be stationary, but i mean a clever use of camera direction would be so much more impressive and able to scare than a constant over the shoulder view, that is the stuff of action shooters, not a survival horror.
Although, this over the shoulder view allowed for larger more complicated environments, and even new items like long distance weapons, which wouldn't have made sense in earlier titles.

I wouldn't be so pissed if games that i once respected, like silent hill, didn't also try to make the leap into more combat heavy, over the shoulder gameplay. RE changed, and everyone followed.

whatever.

Games that Deserve Sequels 1: Bushido Blade

Many of us have probably forgotten that square used to make fighting games, well i for one would love to see them return. I'm not exactly sure where square-enix stands financially at the moment, although i'm sure they're not in a rush to make risky leaps. However, Bushido Blade and Bushido Blade 2 were fighting games that carved out their own niche in the genre. With the current revival of fighting titles, this one would blow up in the face of gamers like so much dynamite.

Bushido blade was a title that utilized slower moving, more calculated, and careful controls to win a fight that usually was settled by one strike of the blade. I'm not going to call this realistic (theres a move where you can jump 15 feet in the air over your opponent), but when it comes to video games, this is pretty close. The tension of needing to plant one good move, the, knowledge that one failed defense would lead to your humiliating defeat created a title that was not for the soft of core. This is perhaps why it never picked up steam, it was incredibly difficult to begin, and even more difficult to master. At the time, the environments were staggeringly large for a fighting title, nowadays, the fights could stretch even larger environs, possibly incorporate group battles, and seamless level transitions so that the tension of your ever in danger thread of life could be carried throughout a campaign.

Another thing that the two game series did well was having colorful and often times eccentric characters that you wanted to learn more about, which was only achieved through the single player campaign, where you discovered the relationships between each character and both sides were actually quite complex and interesting. (I forget their names, but the symbol for one side was red and one was blue in respect to the oldschool model)

There were also multiple weapons to select from at the beginning of a fight, of course some were naturally suited against others, while some characters were more adept at particuular weapons (having more or unique moves, or being faster with it).

Overall these were unique and deep fighting titles that i think could be revived with great success.