Blog Archives
Amazing Frowg – Galactic Gravy
I had been working on my own review of the OUYA, which I believe is rather amazing – the OUYA, not my review. I was then introduced to this video that a friend of mine produced and, well, it’s way better than anything I could come up with. So instead of posting my completed review of the OUYA, I choose to show you this video by aspiring, young, thought provokingly gifted, journalist/videographer/comedian, Michael James Yohe. Enjoy.
Money Can Buy Happiness; A Good Time to BARF
YES! It’s finally happening.
Just listed on Kickstarter yesterday, Conatus Creative, a Canadian based indie developer and all around super fans of River City Ransom, somehow managed to obtain the license and are creating one hell of a sequel over 20 years in the making!
Before I get into all that, allow me to refresh your memory on a few things. Over 2 years ago I first caught wind that they were going to be making a River City Ransom 2 – that never happened. I look back at that post now and laugh at the estimated summer 2012 release date (River City Ransom 2 FINALLY!!!). Then, earlier this May, I heard another developer was working with the publisher of the GBA re-release to create an official North American sequel to River City Ransom. They had nothing but a sad little site asking you for your email to sign up for more information (This Game Makes me Want to BARF). I was a little concerned this attempt at a sequel was going to be another shattered dream. BUT a week ago I got an email from them stating they would be up on Kickstarter the following week! OH JOY! After checking out the Kickstarter page, I couldn’t be happier with the direction this game is taking.
So, first off, they are treating it as a true sequel to River City Ransom – River City Ransom: Underground. Not Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari 2, the Japanese version which features Kunio, main character in the long running Kunio-kun series. This is Alex and Ryan, about 25 years after taking on the girlfriend-abducting Slick and his endless army of high school gang members. Alex and Ryan are pushing middle-aged now, still friends, and run their own business together, and more importantly, still kick ass together.
It’s looking like there will be a great deal more playable characters other than just Alex and Ryan and unlike it’s predecessor, there will be a slew of different moves unique to each character. But they say they want to keep what made RCR great and not pervert the essence of its awesomeness. Like what Capcom did to Final Fight when they tried to make another one of those. There will be new moves, new shops, new items, and I’m sure new updated game mechanics, but as fans of the NES classic, they have every intention of staying true to the original. They’re going to be letting backers in on some small aspects of the game development such as gang member names, streets, and shops, and if you have considerably deep pockets, even put your likeness into the game as a boss.
I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. Set to be released this time next year, we have a bit more waiting to do than a nativity calendar would afford, but if it’s been since 1989, what’s one more year?
So you want the bottom line? Funding this game on Kickstarter will make the world a better place. River City Ransom is the best brawler ever. Yeah, I just made that claim, and if you disagree then you’re just wrong. So if these guys at Conatus Creative share even 1/100 of the love I have for RCR, then this game will be so good, it will probably cure cancer!
If you haven’t figured it out already, you can click either of the pictures or HERE if you want to go to their Kickstarter page, and YOU DO WANT TO.
Mega Ma… I mean, Mighty No. 9
picture by Tomycase from deviantart
It’s no secret that I have a mega boner for Mega Man. When I heard that Keiji Inafune was leaving Capcom and they were ultimately canning their Mega Man Legends 3 project, it was bad news bears for me and many other Mega Man fans worldwide. Inafune, refusing to accept defeat in, what he thought was, the failing Japanese game development community, eventually went on to form his own development studio called, Comcept, bringing other Capcom talent with him.
On August 31st, Comcept brought their Mighty No. 9 campaign live on Kickstarter. In less than a day, they already had met their funding goal. Clearly this was the answer Mega Man fans had been waiting for. What is Mighty No. 9? Go look for yourself on their kickstarter page. It’s basically an updated Mega Man style game, enhanced for a new era. It will have the same classic 8/16 bit style of gameplay, but they will be taking fan input to help mold their game. You play as Beck, the sole robot to not be affected to a insanity causing virus which causes other robots to go berserk. Fight through levels in any order you choose and mix it up with an evil robot boss at the end (sound like Mega Man much?)
The game is being developed for PC, and recently announced, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U. However, it has an estimated release day of April 2015. With almost 2 years to go, the gaming landscape will undoubtedly change quite a bit, so I’m sure we’ll see additional releases on the newer systems as well. The PC will support gamepad controls, which are 100% necessary as anyone who’s tried to play a Mega Man game on emulator with a keyboard should know. And if you’re saying, “Well I have no problem playing NES emulators with a keyboard,” shut up, I wasn’t talking to you. It’s hard for me? OK?!
I really can’t express in words how excited I am. They even are releasing retro style box art and manuals. The only thing that could make me happier is if they have a physical disc to put in that case rather than just a digital download.
Mercenary Kings – 2D Action Awesomeness
Tribute Games , the team that brought us Wizorb, and more importantly, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game, has a new upcoming Kickstarter-funded project in the works. Mercenary Kings will be a 2D platformer that looks like an absolutely bombastic, kill-spree, weapon-fest…. with very cute animation. It’s like if Contra and Metal Slug had a chibi wedding with Hello Kitty. The thing I’m most interested in is their gun crafting mechanic. Apparently every part of your weapon is customizable, allowing you to make all sorts of (hopefully very wacky and ludicrous) gun bastardizations. The game boasts 4 player local co-op, and will be available on a number of platformers including PC and the upcoming OUYA. Now if they could only get Anamanaguchi to do the soundtrack for them…
Anyway, I really don’t have much else to say about the game that you can’t read for yourself on their own page. So go there, check it out, watch their video, and get excited dammit!
OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console
At first I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about the OUYA, but it’s starting to look like a pretty legit system. What’s OUYA? So glad you asked. It’s a console in the making that breaks away from “The Big 3”, using an android based, digital download format, that will be playable on your TV.
I’m still a little conflicted though. I suppose it really depends on where the video game market goes and how well they execute their format. Will this be a commercial success? I really don’t know. But I wouldn’t necessarily want it to be either. A “commercial success” can often feel soulless and cheapened. It also kind of feels like they’re trying to sell us something that we already have. It runs on android. If I really wanted to I could hook up my android tablet to my TV and a controller to that. Granted not all games could work this way, but this is one of their main boasts. Well I can already do this. I’m also not the biggest fan of digital download. I prefer to own a physical item. If they’re going to be selling console class gaming, I’m sure they’ll be more expensive than your typical app store game. And then you’re locked in. No returning it, no selling it when you’re done, no lending it out to a friend.
On the other hand, Brian Fargo is absolutely right. Console gaming is where REAL games are (I totally agree. I’ll be the first person to tell you iPhone games are trash), however, you need to be a big name to make any sort of money. Actually forget that. You need to be a big name to even be considered for making a game for a console. Unless your game is going to make $4mil in it’s opening week, EA and Activision don’t want to know you. And this is why I most certainly will be getting an OUYA. Indie developers of all kinds will have easy access to releasing their games on the OUYA format. And since it’s a console you play on your TV with a controller, not a clumsy, on-screen, touch-sensitive pad, it will feel more like a real gaming experience.
Most recently OnLive and more importantly, Square Enix have jumped on board. That was the moment I was sold (trying so hard not to be a Square Enix fanboy). I had already put my backing into the project, but it was when I got this news that I no longer felt like it might have been an iffy decision. They’ll have available at launch, a remake of Final Fantasy III. Not the American III, which is really VI. But the one that was only released on the Japanese Famicom and had the DS remake back in 2009. Don’t expect a straight port either. Apparently it will be a full HD console remake from the ground up.
You don’t have much more time to get in on the ground floor. They have about a week left for backers to get on board. It’s only $99 for the console and a controller when it releases. They’re already well over their goal, so this is happening. The OUYA could very well change the face of the console gaming market. We’ll see what happens.
OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console <—– The OUYA Kickstarter page
Wasteland 2 – By Gamers, For Gamers
“By gamers, for gamers” Interplay’s motto – a video game company founded by Brian Fargo, who brought us classics like Planescape: Torment, and of course the lauded Fallout series.
Wasteland, the George Washington of the Fallout series. Actually it’s more like Fallout was the spiritual successor of Wasteland. And I’m not talking about Fallout 3 and New Vegas – those are laughable mutations compared to what Fallout 1 & 2 brought us. Wasteland was THE sandbox game before that term was even used. It existed in an era when games with creativity could thrive and not be shadowed and forgotten because they didn’t sell 2 million copies the first month they’re out.
Why is this all relevant? Because Brian Fargo’s new development studio, inXile Entertainment, is going to bring us Wasteland 2! And this will truly be a game by gamers, for gamers. For starters, a handful of talent from the original Fallout team will be working on Wasteland2. Plus this will be a project free of big corporate publishers (oh how I wish EA never bought Bioware, but that’s another story), they are getting their funding through Kickstarter. They’ve actually already met their budget and will be officially funded on April 17, but if you want to get in on the ground floor, there’s still time to check it out. Besides, the more money they get, the more they can throw into the production of the game and the better it will be.
Maybe you’ve never played the original Fallout games. Maybe you’re first foray into the Fallout universe was Fallout 3. In which case, I feel bad for you. You like Fallout 3 you say, and can’t imagine it not being a first person shooter, and hated all the “useless” dialog in the game? Well then you might as well just forget you read any of this and go on with your life. But if you really want to experience a true open world classic RPG made by the masters of the craft, then do yourself a favor and check out the game.
I got this email update from them, plus you can just find it on their kickstarter page, and rather than paraphrasing it, I’ll just copy and paste the whole thing here:
All of the money we raise through Kickstarter is being spent on making the game. Most of the cost of development is in paying for the team to create the game. There will be a team of engine programmers, game-play programmers, UI engineers, character artists, environment artists, animators, effects artists, UI Artists, sound designers, composers, writers, game designers, systems designers, level scripters, and testers. Not to mention all the interns it will take to handle the mailing out of the physical goods. It is simple math that the bigger this budget gets, the more jobs it will create. The bigger the team, the deeper and bigger the game gets. If you want a deeper and larger game, and we think that you do, you want us to raise as much money as possible to spend on the game.
Did I just hear all 43,000+ of you say ‘How can we help?’
I am glad you asked!!
One thing you will notice in that list of potential jobs above is that nowhere in that list do you see ‘Marketing Lady’ or ‘PR Guy’. That is because we don’t have these positions, nor do we plan to hire them. We want to spend the money on the game, and only the game.
This is where you come in…
All 43,000+ of you are our marketing and PR team. We need your help to get the word out that the Kickstarter countdown is on.
• Post to your Facebook pages with links back to the Kickstarter.
• Follow @BrianFargo on twitter and retweet my Wasteland related tweets.
• Post it to forums where you think it is relevant.
• Send emails out to everyone you know.
• Go to our website and put our Doomsday countdown clock on your website.
• Get a friend or family member to buy in.
• Shout it from the rooftop.
• Do some early shopping for Christmas 2013!
If every person who has pledged manages to get one more person to buy in for $15, we will increase the budget by over $600,000. You can help the project in very tangible ways by helping us get the word out.
Lastly, I am very excited to release the first official piece of Wasteland 2 concept art. We asked the very talented Andree Wallin to help us establish the look and feel of the Desert Rangers. I think this image speaks for itself…
Hope you enjoy it,
Brian
gameblorg 