One of the series that we’ve been watching in my anime club is Sayonara Zatsubou-Sensei (translated: “Farewell Mr. Despair”). It’s one of the best cartoons I’ve seen, filled with dark humor, unusual visuals, and of course fan service. It’s about a high school teacher who is always suicidal and the bonds that he builds with each of his bizarre students.
Here’s a taste of the show via it’s opening credits, which may in fact be the most NSFW opening credit sequence ever. Enjoy!
David Sirlin was recently interviewed over at Video Gamer where he discusses the development of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. He answers loads of common questions that the fans have all had on their minds (including myself). The most talked about topic that this interview brings up is the difficulty in storing all the high-resolution graphics in this package while staying within the 150MB download limit for Xbox Live Arcade. It affects both the quality of the graphics, but also the music.
This is where I come back to an old argument of mine… Have we been given an official reason as to why this game can’t be released on tangible media? Downloadable games are fine for ports of older games or any game with a simple look and design. If you’re going to produce a complicated game with the promise of high-definition graphics, you need the appropriate storage and distribution. Downloadable content may be cheaper, but as we can see here, the restrictions may prove more costly in the realm of quality. And call me old fashioned, but I always prefer that any product that I purchase have a physical form. Something that I can stick on a shelf and give longevity.
Sirlin’s other comments covering things like the gameplay tweaks and preliminary screenshots give me plenty of hope, though it may be a while yet before I acquire a current-gen console for which to play these sweet new fighters. He also discusses 2D games versus 3D games in today’s gaming market, along with Street Fighter IV, controller design, and his own personal favorite fighting games. At the end he’s asked if he has interest in working on Street Fighter IV, to which I’m happy to say that he does if asked.
They say that the best things come to those who wait. I’ve been a bargain bin gamer for quite a while now, so while I’m often about five years behind my peers in what games I own, I usually luck out in finding the best deals. Time like this are when I get to gloat about my patience.
Konami has assembled Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection, which is supposedly due out in North America this coming March. It’s available for pre-order at Play-Asia for a sweet $34.90 plus shipping. It contains Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. This is a fantastic bargain since MGS2: Substance alone goes for about $27 for a used copy. My big hope is that the version of the first MGS in this collection contains both VR Missions and the high-resolution textures found in the PC port.
A different, 20th Anniversary collection was produced some time ago which included the core versions of the first three games, along with PS2 ports of the classic Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake games as well as a couple supplemental discs. While I wish some of those were also included in this Essential Collection, I still maintain that packaging the three “director’s cuts” of the games is well worth the price that it’s listed.
The new Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has been, from the start, a project developed for hardcore fans of Street Fighter by hardcore fans of Street Fighter. I’ve been so proud to see Capcom welcome so much participation from the fighting game community into their development processes. In the past, I’ve mocked them for doing so, listening to the majority of the community…even though the majority are idiots.
Over in the Shoryuken forums, David Sirlin has posted this message, addressing the masses regarding the victory quotes of previous releases of the Street Fighter II games. Apparently the development team needs help retrieving the original quotes (which I find odd that Capcom wouldn’t have available for them in some kind of knowledge base). What makes it challenging is that there are slightly different versions depending on which port (arcade, SNES, etc.) and the Game Boy Advance version had a whole new set.
The cool thing is that David Sirlin has offered the community the chance to come up with some new quotes, though he makes no promise that any of them will make it into the final cut. Time to flex your creative muscle, folks! So far, my personal favorite (and I’ll paraphrase here) comes from the guy who runs the Street Fighter Blog, who assigns Balrog to end his fights with, “Get lost before I chew off your ear!” How perfect is that?
GameTap posted an insightful article spotlighting the arcade scene’s last surviving icons, Sunnyvale Golfland in Northern CA. The article starts off giving some history on the family-owned miniature golf park, noting it’s relevance to it’s part in serving as a testing ground for game developers throughout the decades. What’s further discussed is the evolution of the arcade market’s evolution within the video game industry as well as the causes leading to it’s proximal demise.
I gotta agree with many of the points made as to why arcades became practically non-existent shortly after the turn of the century. Most significant, I’d say, being the cost of the hardware in the arcade machines themselves. Arcade games for years had the advantage of being far more advanced than the consoles. But with Next Gen consoles bridging that gap (the Dreamcast being a primary culprit, being built on technology that was shared with it’s arcade counterparts), unimpressive software had to be compensated by superior audio/video hardware to attract an audience.
Similarly, one point I often mention is the turnover of new titles. It takes a while for arcade to make enough money from a game before they can pay off it’s cost before it becomes profitable. Many of the arcade high-rollers (like Capcom) would pump out sequels so frequently, it was hard for arcades stay fresh with the hottest trends and make end’s meet.
I believe that the arcade community–in spirit anyway–is not as dead as it may seem. It’s simply evolved into a different form. More accurately, forms. Games that are co-operative have found home in most PC games like MMORPGs or first-person strategy games. Those seeking the challenge of the high score have various online games as well as console-based gaming networks like Xbox Live Arcade. Consoles have also made it easy for those seeking the competitive scene, since all you need is one console, any TV, the game software, and a place for all to meet in order to kick off a tournament. Game centers (like Game Frog) are taking advantage of the less expensive PC and console equipment in order to support the public gaming market.
Old school gamers like myself may never see arcades the way we did in our glory days, but we’re far from seeing the video game community fall from a joyous gathering of geeks into a reclusive dissolve into solipsism. Myself, I’ll always have the game room at the annual Animazement as well as the weekly CORPSE meet-up.
This is quite possibly the most manly drink ever. More so than that episode of Fist Of The North Star when he deflected a hundred throwing daggers with nunchucks!
Molleindustria has conjured up a 2D fighter themed on religion, named Faith Fighter. You choose one of six religious figures (including God, Buddha, Muhammad, etc.) in a one-on-one battle, Ã la Street Fighter. It’s available to play both on their website and via download.
The game’s kinda hard to play using the keyboard, but the novelty alone is satisfying enough for a few rounds. The artwork is very impressive, each character design faithful to both the deities they represent and the fighting game genre. They offer a censored version for those still offended by the image of the prophet Muhammad, but if the game concept alone doesn’t turn you off, then what’s the point?
Heath Ledger, who is set to play the Joker in the upcoming film “The Dark Knight”, was found dead in his appartment today at 3:45pm. What does this mean for the movies post production schedule?
Capcom is currently offering any gamers that are in the San Francisco area on Friday, January 25th to test out some new game they’re working on. They’re keeping the game that will be tested a secret, but let me take a friggin’ guess. If you live in the area (or plan to voyage there by next week), Capcom has posted some information here and an email address for you to send your application.
I would love to get a peek myself, but I know that I’m not worthy. I don’t play nearly as much–not just for my own enjoyment–but also enough to fully have the understanding of the game’s mechanics to offer suitable feedback. It’s refreshing to know that Capcom is ready to test the game with hardcore players and their special brand of punishment. The whole reason why there were like, five versions of Street Fighter II is because the competitive crowd would push each one to it’s limits, exposing issues that Capcom would then have to address for the next version. Considering how expensive that method can be, I would have a lot of respect for them if they learned from that lesson and did as much testing as possible before releasing a final, complete product.
We’ve been dished our next look at the still-in-development Penny Arcade-based game, Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness. Unlike the disappointing demonstration clip that slipped loose upon us last year, these new clips offer us a deeper look into the gameplay itself.
Along with the much-anticipated cell shading, what’s most visible is the game’s turn-based style of combat. Those who have played Final Fantasy X should find the charge attacks to be very familiar. It also appears that each character’s individual style is faithful to both their webcomic and creative counterparts. Gabe brawls in the way you might see in a fighting game (Gabe being an SNK 2D fighter devotee) and Tycho approaches a fist-fight as one would in a tabletop RPG, his nose buried in a game system tome…and violently insane.
So far, I’m impressed! Graphical improvements aside, what’s been most reassuring for me is seeing that the Penny Arcade style of humor has been kept in tact. Given it’s origins, high standards should be expected for not only the gameplay, but for the laugh-factor as well. From the sarcastic dialog to the silly names of attack moves, the game so far maintains the Penny Arcade spirit.
Still no word on a release date, but as long as quality is the main focus, I’ll accept the “when it’s done” approach to development.
