Return of the JRPG Maestros
By Ryan McGee | January 29, 2010
Two new titles announced today by the architects of some of my old favs.
A few years removed from their latest works, the venerable dynamic duo of Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu have revealed their next creation: The Last Story
At first glance, it’s tough to miss the irony of the choices made behind blatant artwork and name allusions to their seminal work. A sound business decision no doubt, yet I cannot help but ponder whether these great artists realize they will never approach the impact of Final Fantasy if they pay homage (and therefore second fiddle) to it in every way.
Is the title and artwork reminiscent of something you know?
There is speculation based on some patent filings and references by Sakaguchi that The Last Story will feature unique playing mechanics. Therefore, it should come as no surprise given the time the title must have been in development that it will be released on the Nintendo Wii. Perhaps we’ll be summoning Ka-nigguts of the Square Table and Gigglymesh with 1:1 MotionPlus gestures, unless the Vitality Sensor determines our hearts are beating too fast because such powerful allies only answer the call of heroes that are calm under pressure… ;-D
Teaser splash here. Uematsu-san can still pen a simultaneously sweet, melancholy, and haunting melody.
Tetsuya Takahashi, creator of Xenogears and the Xenosaga trilogy also returns in another title announced for the Nintendo Wii today: Xenoblade
Xenoblade was formerly known as Monado: Beginning of the World, and premiered with a trailer at E3 2009. The new moniker, while it will obviously help sales, is yet another example of an artist willingly putting themeselves in the shadow of their own previous work. Too bad for the legalities of the situation; I would welcome a sequel to Xenogears like few others. At least the music on the teaser splash is epic…
Both titles appear to be scheduled for a nebulous “2010″ release. Here’s hoping they illustrate these old maestros still have the gusto!
Topics: Random, Wii Games, Wii General, Wii News | 2 Comments »
VVVVVV – no, that’s not a typo; it’s something you need to play
By Ryan McGee | January 22, 2010
Pricey at $15, especially when it seems like there may only be 5 levels (albiet large ones, I only found one shiny object in lvl 1 and two in lvl 2, and the map screen seems Castlevania huge), but the demo is 2 levels and provides a satisfying sampling, and it goes to the creators… right?
Simple old school WASD or arrow key and one action button controls combined with great twitch platforming. Magnifique!
Frickin’ LOVE the music. Absolutely made the game for me. It really picks up in level 2 too. I’m such a sucker for epic melodied 8-bit MIDI ballads. Hints of Metroid and Mega Man… but still distinct. There goes that old nostalgia kicking in again. ;-) We can get the soundtrack here. Chiptunes FTW!
Nice touch with the names for each and every room/challenge. Some clever ones in there to be sure. A few of many I enjoyed:
- “Hitting the Apex”
- “Young Man, It’s Worth the Challenge”
- “Free Your Mind”
- “The Bernoulli Principle”
Creator/Programmer Terry Cavanaugh seems like a bloke worth learning about. His other works and website: http://www.distractionware.com/
Always good to see internet used in this way, providing these geniuses with the tools to builld these grassroots communities/markets/fanbases and ultimately survive on labors of love.
Share my enthusiasm? Your thoughts? ;-D
Topics: Random | No Comments »
Legend of Zelda Marathon for Charity(Live Feed)
By Daniel Yerelian | December 31, 2009
Just read about these awesome guys who play marathon video game sessions to raise money for charity. They usually stick to a single game series and right now they are busting up Legend of Zelda. An awesome idea!
The games they are hitting are:
The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda’s Adventure.
The charity for this marathon is:
Free the Children
Check their live feed out here:
http://www.extralives.org/zelda.html
Topics: General | No Comments »
Pac Man with Roombas
By Daniel Yerelian | November 11, 2009
This is totally sweet. I guess these guys make remote aerial craft software, which is what they are using for the roombas.
Topics: Hacks, Random | No Comments »
Leeroy Jenkins in RL
By Daniel Yerelian | October 27, 2009
This is nice, but the original WoW video is still way better. It’s included below because I wanted to see it again anyway.
Love it.
Topics: Humor, PC - Games | No Comments »
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