Archive for April, 2007
Shoot Them Up: Raiden III Controls: Indecipherable!
Funny story. Postman over at SHMUP site Shoot the Core is telling a tale of when sloppy localisation, this time in the case of Raiden 3 on PS2, can give ignorant/unsuspecting gamers some drama. Seems that, like every single Japanese game, the “confirm” action on Raiden 3 is assigned to the “O” button. Normally, this is changed in the localisation process to the “X” button, so that our clumsy Western brains can make sense of it.
Not in Raiden 3. And it led to Postman’s local GameStop having all three copies returned because “the game locked up on the memory card setup screen, and wouldn’t progress any farther”. Well, it hadn’t - all they needed to do was hit the “O” button.
I wouldn’t have let them return it. No, I would have kept the cash, as stupid tax. Everybody knows that when you get to a screen you can’t progress, you mash. You mash every single button, repeatedly, and you mash them in every combination you can think of, and you do not stop until you get a result.
Raiden 3 humor [Shoot The Core, via GameSetWatch]
Meat Soup: Goatgate: Sony’s Side Of The Story
Sony threw a party with a dead goat. You may have heard. Anyways, as the source of the ALARM was the less-than-credible Daily Mail (or to be precise it’s Sunday edition the Mail on Sunday), we figured it was best to get both sides of the story before beheading Sony’s PR and feasting on their insides. SCEE just got back to us, and (in summary) had this to say:
So the party was held nearly two months ago and twenty journalists were served traditional soup. That doesn’t excuse Sony - a dead goat is still a bit off - and it definitely doesn’t excuse OPSM, but it’s hardly the orgy of decadence the Daily Mail and now other media outlets would have you believe, either.
If you’re interested, the full SCEE statement is after the jump.
Hi Luke,
The event did take place, in Athens on 1st March. Approximately 20 journalists from European countries attended the event from a variety of gaming and lifestyle media - although none were from the UK.
The article in UK Official PlayStation Magazine (OPSM), from which the Mail on Sunday article was sourced, was written by a journalist who did not attend and done on the basis of the invitation for the event, which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance - the journalist chose to take it as fact!
The photograph was one of many supplied to the magazine to provide a balanced view of the event. Unfortunately, the article was sensationalised and focused on a picture that was unrepresentative of the wider event.
When we saw the article for the first time on Thursday of last week we contacted the Publisher of OPSM who accepted that the article was not appropriate for their broad audience. On Friday, before we had received
any contact from the media, they agreed to remove the centre page article before the magazine goes on general sale.The event was a theatrical dramatisation with a Greek mythological theme and, as part of the set dressing, a dead goat was sourced by the production company from a local butcher. Following the mainstream popularity of shows such as ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here’ a series of challenges were set for the journalists. The ‘warm entrails’ referred to in the invitation and in the Mail on Sunday article was actually a meat soup, made to a traditional Greek recipe and served to attendees in china bowls direct from the caterers. There was never any question of journalists being able to touch the goat, or indeed eat the soup direct from the body of the goat, as one report has alleged. The goat was returned to the butcher at the end of the event.
We recognise that the use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of conduct we set ourselves. We are conducting an enquiry to establish the circumstances behind the event in order to ensure this does not happen again. We also apologise to anyone offended by the article in the OPSM (subscription copies were sent out ahead of street date).
Nick Sharples
Director of Corporate Communications
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
The Final Frontier: A Controller To Hunt Monsters With
To get everyone all jazzed up for the online Monster Hunter game, dubbed MH: Frontier, Japanese peripheral maker ELECOM is releasing a twelve-button MH: F controller. Besides the fact it says “Monster Hunter,” nothing at all about this controller seems standout. Let’s hope the same’s not true for the online game.
Monster Hunter Online Controller [ELECOM via Akihabara News]
The Brotherhood Of Nations: Crossing The Cultural Divide
Fancy an interesting read? Course you do. Aleks Krotoski over at The Guardian has been working on a series of articles called “Who’s like who”, which look at the similarities and differences between different cultures and their gaming tastes. The criteria?
I took all of the votes that were sent into the IGDA’s website for the Game Developers Choice Awards open nominations, split them into their relevant categories and calculated which games were voted for most by the international community.
Krotoski’s latest piece looks at the category of game design. The findings? Shocking. Only Japan and Finland shared an interest in Dead Rising, shattering my long-held theory that zombies are the universal language of love.
Who’s like who? Game Design [games blog]
Slave To The Ds: Dominatrix Invades Kiddy DS Event
To promote its upcoming DS title Kekkaishi: Karasumori Ayakashi Kidan , Bandai rolled out demo kiosks at an event in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro over the weekend. The game is based on the popular anime Kekkaishi. Quick crowd inventory: In the above pic, there are small children, mothers and fathers. Perfect crowd for dominatrix Sumiko Nishioka! She’s going to whip those soft, wimpy children and teach them about pain. Domme Sumiko is actually a comedian and TV personality in Japan. I’ve seen her on a few program and didn’t find her remotely funny. This publicity choice, however, is hilarious.
HG Part II, She’s Not [Famitsu]
News: PC World: Xbox 360 owners shouldn’t bother upgrading to Elite
PC World’s reviewers have chimed in on the just-released Xbox 360 Elite. Though they laud its HDMI video support and 120GB hard drive, they fall short of recommending it for current Xbox 360 owners.
News: Shrinkage in store for Xbox 360 GPU
News sources in Taiwan claim that the Xbox 360’s Xenos GPU will be shrinking from 90-nm to 65-nm in a cost-saving measure, which could indirectly lead to an eventual price cut for the console.
News: Analyst: Nintendo’s third parties need not worry
Contrary to a prior analysis by Kaufman Bros. Equity Research, Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter believes that third party publishers have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to making their fair share of money with Nintendo platforms.
Screen Update: Space Station Tycoon
Get ready to build your own land of tomorrow with these stella screens.
Screen Update: Mortal Kombat Armageddon
More ways to swing your Wiimote for maximum damage.
News: Nintendo’s next focus: software
With Nintendo hardware effectively installed in millions of homes across the world, the company’s next step is to create the groundbreaking titles to support their console platforms.
Review: Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos
Aedis Eclipse 2: Generation of Chaos had some lofty goals for strategy RPG fans–including 30+ hours of gameplay and deep strategic action–and were it not for some serious user interface and pathfinding issues, it would have certainly delivered on those goals.
News: PaRappa gets paper-thin face-lift for US PSPs
A PSP remake of the influential music/rhythm game PaRappa the Rapper is set to hit stores this July, featuring multiplayer ad-hoc gameplay and all-new remixed levels.
Screen Update: Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
The WW2 timeline keeps twisting and turning with Turning Point.
Cheats: Upgrade Trainer Card
Upgrade your trainer card in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl to prove your worth as a monster master.
Screen Update: Turn It Around
Start spinning with Turn It Around!
News: Paradise ahead for Burnout series
The next installment of the hyperactive car-smashing Burnout games will be hitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles this winter, and Electronic Arts has finally revealed the game’s official title: Burnout Paradise.
Phoenix Wright: Papercraft: Phoenix Wright
Paperkraft.net points us to Court-Records.net where they have posted this great Phoenix Wright papercraft model. Also available are models of Mia Fey and everyone’s favorite frilly collar wearing attorney, Edgeworth. All three models look fairly easy to put together with the possible exception of Phoenix’s trademark spiky do. Just be careful you don’t lop off a few spikes while your cutting him out. I particularly like the “Objection!” word balloon that accompanies it. Nice touch! Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the Court-Records page to find the models.
Phoenix Wright, Mia Fey and Edgeworth papercraft models [Court-records.net]
[via PaperKraft.net]
Peacemaker: Israeli-Palestinian Sim Goes Commercial
Peacemaker, a Carnegie-Mellon University student made game that simulates the Israeli-Palestinian struggles, has been picked up for commercial sale by publisher Manifesto games. Peacemaker recently won the University of Southern California’s Public Diplomacy Games Contest for it’s excellent content. The game is one of many such games that have come about recently that deal with real world issues.
PeaceMaker allows the player to try his or her skills of diplomacy and leadership by playing as either the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President. Incorporating real-world events and news stories, the game challenges players to succeed as a leader where others have failed; to experience the joy of bringing peace to the region - or the agony of plunging the Middle East into disaster.
I got to hear a lot about these types of games at the Living Game Worlds Symposium last month. Unfortunately most of these are web based games or student projects and not many people have heard of them. Hopefully, this will be the start of a trend towards getting games of real purpose in the hands of gamers.
Peacemaker Blog [Peacemaker]
[via GamePolitics]
Atari: Clip: Ancient Atari Ad
This one is truly ancient and believe me, I should know. It’s amazing to look back on these ads and remember a time when we thought those giant chunky things were the greatest thing ever. Not to mention how excited I remember being about Adventure on my brand new 2600. That square with an arrow for a sword was the most amazing thing we had ever seen, especially right in our own homes. I can only imagine what games will be like 25 years from now when we look back and say “Man those PS3 graphics sure were crap. How did we ever play that and think it was cool?”
