Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

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TheFaultsofAlts

RySenkari said:
Castlevania: Peasant Ascension

Castlevania: Peasant Ascension is a 3-D hack and slash/RPG in the Castlevania series, with similar gameplay to the Lament titles of OTL and TTL. It's released for the Apple iTwin and Nintendo Sapphire, and its protagonist is a young peasant man named Ledus Arcana, who rises up against the vampire count oppressing his village. Arcana is motivated to act after the abduction of his beloved fiance as a sacrifice to Count Corvus, the deadly vampire who rules the land and frequently terrorizes the peasants for his own personal pleasure and wealth. Ledus takes up a whip that once belonged to a legendary vampire slayer (implied to be a Belmont) and storms the castle with the help of his fellow peasants in order to battle through the horrors that lay within. The game has some elements of a platformer title, with sections of climbing and jumping in which Ledus must use his whip to traverse gaps and ascend to higher platforms. The game holds true to the Metroidvania gameplay style, with enhancements to Ledus' abilities that gradually allow him to progress further in the castle. As Ledus progresses, battling stronger enemies and members of Corvus' decadent court, he'll rescue prisoners that can grant him equipment and powers and occasionally fight at his side. Ledus' ultimate goal is to rescue his fiance, though he fears she's already been sacrificed. As for Corvus himself, while he's not Dracula, he has many similarities with the ancient vampire count, and toward the end of the game it's revealed that Corvus is communing with him. Ledus will gain levels and stats as he progresses through the castle, in similar fashion to other 2-D and 3-D Castlevania titles. Ledus utilizes different weaponry than the traditional axes and crosses, and it's implied that some of the weaponry, including a broken piece of wood and an incendiary bomb, are improvised by Ledus himself. From time to time, Ledus must return to the village via secret exit portals, in order to help the peasants defend themselves against attack. These segments have the feel of a combination hack and slash/tower defense mode, and while innovative for the series, are considered some of the weaker portions of the game. Overall, Peasant Ascension is considered its best when it falls back on classic series tropes to deliver a solid adventure experience. The game has decent graphics and a strong musical score, but the voice acting is considered a bit hammy, led mostly by unknowns. The plot itself is fairly simplistic and hearkens back to games like The Occulted Circle, in which a progressively stronger series of more powerful and evil villains are defeated. Corvus' motivations aren't explored too strongly, it's implied that he's simply a decadent vampire king who does what he does for the fun of it and not for any sort of noble goal or tragic backstory. As for Ledus and his fiance, Ledus' fiance has indeed been sacrificed, but is able to communicate with Ledus in spirit form, her soul bound to the physical plane by Corvus so that she may be continually tormented. In the end, Ledus defeats Corvus, and then must defeat him again after he summons Dracula and is possessed by him. Defeating Corvus frees Ledus' fiance's soul to ascend to heaven, while the peasants' oppression is ended, and Ledus, heartbroken from the loss of his fiance but satisfied with the freedom of his people, returns to a simple life as a farmer.

Peasant Ascension is released on July 21, 2009. It's considered a middling entry in the Castlevania series, with review scores in the high 7s/low 8s. The game is a solid and fun title for sure, but is seen as an unoriginal entry in the series, with the more original gameplay segments seen as being some of the least fun parts of the game. Sales for the game are mediocre, far below that of Thrillseekers 2, the other major game releasing on that day (Thrillseekers 2 even crushes Peasant Ascension in Japan). While the game is considered a good first seventh-generation title, most critics agree that Konami should innovate the series if it's to remain relevant outside the handheld arena, and that a new style of Castlevania game is needed to shake the series up and bring it to the forefront of the gaming world. While the series' developers have an idea for just such a title, it remains to be seen whether or not Konami allows them to make their vision a reality.

-

Goemon And Friends

Goemon And Friends is an action platforming game for the Nintendo Sapphire. Released as a launch title in Japan, the game was one of the top selling launch games in that country, convincing Konami to eventually bring the title to the West in August 2009. It features the playful and brave ninja Goemon as he adventures through a mystical land with the help of several of his friends both old and new. Each of Goemon's friends has their own distinct abilities, and can actually be used like items to help him progress through stages. They can be thrown at enemies, placed on switches, and even given orders to move around an area in a specific pattern. They can be damaged and disabled, but this only lasts for about 15 seconds, after which they can be brought back at full health to be used by Goemon again. The game is fairly silly and slapsticky, quite typical for platform games in this genre, and takes place across eight areas, each of which has a specific objective that must be fulfilled before Goemon can move on to the next one. While one of the areas is a standard collectathon, another is a giant maze where the object is just to escape, another is a combat marathon, and yet another is an adventure mission in which Goemon must find a way to plug a giant volcano. These different varying objectives give the game a sort of variety that other 3-D platformers lack, helping to set the game apart from others in its genre. There's plenty of dialogue, both between Goemon and his friends and the various NPCs encountered throughout the game, with dialogue being fully voiced and dubbed, and Goemon voiced by Barbara Goodson in the English version. Goemon's friends include a friendly pink-haired princess, a living rubber ducky, an anthropomorphic racoon, a stern-faced rival ninja, a mystical ghost, and Goemon's familiar friend Ebisumaru, among others (there are a total of 20 friends in all for Goemon to acquire). Each has their own abilities, and each can be deployed in a variety of situations, with some player creativity allowed (some objectives can be solved by more than one friend). There's also plenty of hack and slash ninja action, though the combat is fairly simplistic compared to other hack and slash games, and isn't the main focus of the title. The plot is fairly simple, with Goemon and friends roaming the eight lands in search of a way to defeat the powerful Dragon God that threatens the peace. As it turns out, the Dragon God is being manipulated by an evil warlock named Gonaka, who must be defeated to restore the Dragon God to normal and bring peace back to the land.

Goemon And Friends was a major critical and commercial hit in Japan, but wasn't anticipated by too many people in the West, other than longtime fans of the series who had waited quite some time for another localization. It was hyped up reasonably by gaming websites and magazines, some of whom expected it to be a rival to September's The Conkering Hero. However, its release in the West was fairly nondescript. It achieved great reviews, averaging in the mid 8s with some even scoring it near-perfect, but sales were lower than expected (yet still higher than those of any other Western Goemon release). Analysts cited the game's mediocre graphics and the upcoming Conker title as reasons for the disappointing commercial performance of the game, and though Goemon failed to break through in the West, the success of the game in Japan ensured that Konami would continue to make future titles and spinoffs in the series, at least for the time being.

-

Konami continues to hold some of the most lucrative and well-known licenses in the gaming industry, including Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania. The company is beloved by many, but tensions have arisen between some within the company who want it to continue its focus on games, and others who wish to expand the company's rapidly growing amusement machine division. Though gambling is illegal in Japan, Konami has made a fortune manufacturing slot machines and other gambling devices for casinos elsewhere in the world, most notably in the United States, where casinos are a major growth industry in the wake of increased gambling legalization. This has caused a dilemma for Konami: should it continue to produce games, or focus on its growing gambling division?

Just six years removed from Konami's flirtation with purchasing Sega's video game properties and producing its own console, a similar solution to what Sega did has presented itself: should Konami divest its gaming division into a different company, or perhaps sell it off entirely and use the profits to focus on producing gambling machines? While no one from Konami has publicly stated any desire to split the company in such a way, rumors have begun circulating, generated by former Konami employees who claim that at least one high-level executive has proposed such a plan, and that the company is considering starting a "bidding war" between Nintendo and Apple for the rights to properties such as Metal Gear Solid. These rumors are, at this point, just that: rumors, but they do highlight the tensions that the company is currently experiencing as it experiences somewhat of an internal transition and a potential shift in its business model.

The idea that Nintendo might be interested in buying Konami has some merit: Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is said to be close friends with Nintendo's Masahiro Sakurai, and the two companies have frequently collaborated, with Metal Gear Solid being an exclusive Nintendo franchise until the recent announcement that Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven would be getting an iTwin port. As for Apple, that company has been buying up several smaller game development companies, but hasn't made any truly major acquisitions in the last several years. Acquiring Konami would be a major coup for Apple and would keep games like Metal Gear Solid off Nintendo platforms for the foreseeable future. However, Apple has been investing much more of its money into projects outside the gaming industry, and acquiring Konami wouldn't be cheap. It would be a riskier move for Apple than it would be for Nintendo, and there are still some questions about Apple's strength in the Japanese market, despite strong sales of the iTwin and iPhone there. Buying Konami could have the potential to backfire for Apple, and might be a case of the acquisition providing too little benefit for too much risk. However, not making a move to acquire Konami might carry some risk as well, the risk of potential hit games becoming Nintendo exclusives during a time when Apple is looking to show that it has the better exclusive games.

Of course, all of this depends on whether or not Konami decides to sell off its gaming division, and such a move still seems to be a long way away, if ever. The company is still enthusiastic about making video games, with numerous upcoming titles planned for the remainder of this year as well as 2010 and 2011. Konami remains one of the most well known gaming companies, a giant in the industry, and would be putting all of its chips into one pile if it focused strictly on its gambling machines. Konami is expected to remain a force in the gaming industry during the next decade, and we're likely to see their games on both Nintendo and Apple's consoles for many years to come.

-from an August 21, 2009 article on Kotaku
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll go out on a limb and say that Nintendo outright buys Konami's properties by 2013 at the latest. Personally, I'd also love to see the other Konami make Nintendo-themed casino games afterwards, sort of like how Apple owns SEGA's titles while their eponymous toy company becomes one of the biggest manufacturers this side of Mattel. I think that would be a front pager if I ever saw one.
 

Goldwind2

RySenkari said:
Castlevania: Peasant Ascension

Castlevania: Peasant Ascension is a 3-D hack and slash/RPG in the Castlevania series, with similar gameplay to the Lament titles of OTL and TTL. It's released for the Apple iTwin and Nintendo Sapphire, and its protagonist is a young peasant man named Ledus Arcana, who rises up against the vampire count oppressing his village. Arcana is motivated to act after the abduction of his beloved fiance as a sacrifice to Count Corvus, the deadly vampire who rules the land and frequently terrorizes the peasants for his own personal pleasure and wealth. Ledus takes up a whip that once belonged to a legendary vampire slayer (implied to be a Belmont) and storms the castle with the help of his fellow peasants in order to battle through the horrors that lay within. The game has some elements of a platformer title, with sections of climbing and jumping in which Ledus must use his whip to traverse gaps and ascend to higher platforms. The game holds true to the Metroidvania gameplay style, with enhancements to Ledus' abilities that gradually allow him to progress further in the castle. As Ledus progresses, battling stronger enemies and members of Corvus' decadent court, he'll rescue prisoners that can grant him equipment and powers and occasionally fight at his side. Ledus' ultimate goal is to rescue his fiance, though he fears she's already been sacrificed. As for Corvus himself, while he's not Dracula, he has many similarities with the ancient vampire count, and toward the end of the game it's revealed that Corvus is communing with him. Ledus will gain levels and stats as he progresses through the castle, in similar fashion to other 2-D and 3-D Castlevania titles. Ledus utilizes different weaponry than the traditional axes and crosses, and it's implied that some of the weaponry, including a broken piece of wood and an incendiary bomb, are improvised by Ledus himself. From time to time, Ledus must return to the village via secret exit portals, in order to help the peasants defend themselves against attack. These segments have the feel of a combination hack and slash/tower defense mode, and while innovative for the series, are considered some of the weaker portions of the game. Overall, Peasant Ascension is considered its best when it falls back on classic series tropes to deliver a solid adventure experience. The game has decent graphics and a strong musical score, but the voice acting is considered a bit hammy, led mostly by unknowns. The plot itself is fairly simplistic and hearkens back to games like The Occulted Circle, in which a progressively stronger series of more powerful and evil villains are defeated. Corvus' motivations aren't explored too strongly, it's implied that he's simply a decadent vampire king who does what he does for the fun of it and not for any sort of noble goal or tragic backstory. As for Ledus and his fiance, Ledus' fiance has indeed been sacrificed, but is able to communicate with Ledus in spirit form, her soul bound to the physical plane by Corvus so that she may be continually tormented. In the end, Ledus defeats Corvus, and then must defeat him again after he summons Dracula and is possessed by him. Defeating Corvus frees Ledus' fiance's soul to ascend to heaven, while the peasants' oppression is ended, and Ledus, heartbroken from the loss of his fiance but satisfied with the freedom of his people, returns to a simple life as a farmer.

Peasant Ascension is released on July 21, 2009. It's considered a middling entry in the Castlevania series, with review scores in the high 7s/low 8s. The game is a solid and fun title for sure, but is seen as an unoriginal entry in the series, with the more original gameplay segments seen as being some of the least fun parts of the game. Sales for the game are mediocre, far below that of Thrillseekers 2, the other major game releasing on that day (Thrillseekers 2 even crushes Peasant Ascension in Japan). While the game is considered a good first seventh-generation title, most critics agree that Konami should innovate the series if it's to remain relevant outside the handheld arena, and that a new style of Castlevania game is needed to shake the series up and bring it to the forefront of the gaming world. While the series' developers have an idea for just such a title, it remains to be seen whether or not Konami allows them to make their vision a reality.

-

Goemon And Friends

Goemon And Friends is an action platforming game for the Nintendo Sapphire. Released as a launch title in Japan, the game was one of the top selling launch games in that country, convincing Konami to eventually bring the title to the West in August 2009. It features the playful and brave ninja Goemon as he adventures through a mystical land with the help of several of his friends both old and new. Each of Goemon's friends has their own distinct abilities, and can actually be used like items to help him progress through stages. They can be thrown at enemies, placed on switches, and even given orders to move around an area in a specific pattern. They can be damaged and disabled, but this only lasts for about 15 seconds, after which they can be brought back at full health to be used by Goemon again. The game is fairly silly and slapsticky, quite typical for platform games in this genre, and takes place across eight areas, each of which has a specific objective that must be fulfilled before Goemon can move on to the next one. While one of the areas is a standard collectathon, another is a giant maze where the object is just to escape, another is a combat marathon, and yet another is an adventure mission in which Goemon must find a way to plug a giant volcano. These different varying objectives give the game a sort of variety that other 3-D platformers lack, helping to set the game apart from others in its genre. There's plenty of dialogue, both between Goemon and his friends and the various NPCs encountered throughout the game, with dialogue being fully voiced and dubbed, and Goemon voiced by Barbara Goodson in the English version. Goemon's friends include a friendly pink-haired princess, a living rubber ducky, an anthropomorphic racoon, a stern-faced rival ninja, a mystical ghost, and Goemon's familiar friend Ebisumaru, among others (there are a total of 20 friends in all for Goemon to acquire). Each has their own abilities, and each can be deployed in a variety of situations, with some player creativity allowed (some objectives can be solved by more than one friend). There's also plenty of hack and slash ninja action, though the combat is fairly simplistic compared to other hack and slash games, and isn't the main focus of the title. The plot is fairly simple, with Goemon and friends roaming the eight lands in search of a way to defeat the powerful Dragon God that threatens the peace. As it turns out, the Dragon God is being manipulated by an evil warlock named Gonaka, who must be defeated to restore the Dragon God to normal and bring peace back to the land.

Goemon And Friends was a major critical and commercial hit in Japan, but wasn't anticipated by too many people in the West, other than longtime fans of the series who had waited quite some time for another localization. It was hyped up reasonably by gaming websites and magazines, some of whom expected it to be a rival to September's The Conkering Hero. However, its release in the West was fairly nondescript. It achieved great reviews, averaging in the mid 8s with some even scoring it near-perfect, but sales were lower than expected (yet still higher than those of any other Western Goemon release). Analysts cited the game's mediocre graphics and the upcoming Conker title as reasons for the disappointing commercial performance of the game, and though Goemon failed to break through in the West, the success of the game in Japan ensured that Konami would continue to make future titles and spinoffs in the series, at least for the time being.

-

Konami continues to hold some of the most lucrative and well-known licenses in the gaming industry, including Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania. The company is beloved by many, but tensions have arisen between some within the company who want it to continue its focus on games, and others who wish to expand the company's rapidly growing amusement machine division. Though gambling is illegal in Japan, Konami has made a fortune manufacturing slot machines and other gambling devices for casinos elsewhere in the world, most notably in the United States, where casinos are a major growth industry in the wake of increased gambling legalization. This has caused a dilemma for Konami: should it continue to produce games, or focus on its growing gambling division?

Just six years removed from Konami's flirtation with purchasing Sega's video game properties and producing its own console, a similar solution to what Sega did has presented itself: should Konami divest its gaming division into a different company, or perhaps sell it off entirely and use the profits to focus on producing gambling machines? While no one from Konami has publicly stated any desire to split the company in such a way, rumors have begun circulating, generated by former Konami employees who claim that at least one high-level executive has proposed such a plan, and that the company is considering starting a "bidding war" between Nintendo and Apple for the rights to properties such as Metal Gear Solid. These rumors are, at this point, just that: rumors, but they do highlight the tensions that the company is currently experiencing as it experiences somewhat of an internal transition and a potential shift in its business model.

The idea that Nintendo might be interested in buying Konami has some merit: Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is said to be close friends with Nintendo's Masahiro Sakurai, and the two companies have frequently collaborated, with Metal Gear Solid being an exclusive Nintendo franchise until the recent announcement that Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven would be getting an iTwin port. As for Apple, that company has been buying up several smaller game development companies, but hasn't made any truly major acquisitions in the last several years. Acquiring Konami would be a major coup for Apple and would keep games like Metal Gear Solid off Nintendo platforms for the foreseeable future. However, Apple has been investing much more of its money into projects outside the gaming industry, and acquiring Konami wouldn't be cheap. It would be a riskier move for Apple than it would be for Nintendo, and there are still some questions about Apple's strength in the Japanese market, despite strong sales of the iTwin and iPhone there. Buying Konami could have the potential to backfire for Apple, and might be a case of the acquisition providing too little benefit for too much risk. However, not making a move to acquire Konami might carry some risk as well, the risk of potential hit games becoming Nintendo exclusives during a time when Apple is looking to show that it has the better exclusive games.

Of course, all of this depends on whether or not Konami decides to sell off its gaming division, and such a move still seems to be a long way away, if ever. The company is still enthusiastic about making video games, with numerous upcoming titles planned for the remainder of this year as well as 2010 and 2011. Konami remains one of the most well known gaming companies, a giant in the industry, and would be putting all of its chips into one pile if it focused strictly on its gambling machines. Konami is expected to remain a force in the gaming industry during the next decade, and we're likely to see their games on both Nintendo and Apple's consoles for many years to come.

-from an August 21, 2009 article on Kotaku
Click to expand...

Working desings was intersted in goemon otl. Despite the low sales of the latest goemon the fact that there the highest in series in west combied with storng reiveiws could get working desings engougared enotugh to ask komina to let them transalte the next goemon game. Is it possable that the latest goemon game can letter get a budget ditagla reslease on the atl verison of the eshop that sells better then the physical verison in the usa. That could incersased the chance of an english transltion of a later goemon
 
Summer 2009 (Part 10) - Super Sequels On The Supernova
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    Super Mario World 4

    Super Mario World 4 is a 2-D sidescrolling platformer for the Game Boy Supernova. The graphical style is quite similar to OTL's New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS, with fully 3-D graphics but a classic Mario gameplay style that's meant to be a modern update of games such as Super Mario World on the SNES and Super Mario World 2 on the SNES-CD. The game sees Mario returning to an unexplored section of Dinosaur Island in order to defeat Bowser and rescue both Yoshi and Princess Peach. Even though Mario's original green Yoshi has been captured, he's able to ride a wide variety of multicolored Yoshis, with Yoshi appearing in most levels of the game (except for ghost houses, fortresses, and castles). These Yoshis all have special powers, similarly to the red, yellow, and blue Yoshis from the original Super Mario World, and Mario can use these powers to reach secret parts of each level and defeat enemies easier. Super Mario World has a total of 180 secret goals to find, spread across a total of 94 levels spread amongst 11 worlds. In other words, this is a truly massive game, with eight regular worlds and three secret worlds to complete. Power-ups in the game include the Fire Flower, the Ice Flower, Mini Mario, the Jet, and the Cape, along with Mega Mario, which functions similarly to the Mega Mushroom power-up in OTL's New Super Mario Bros. The game sees the return of all seven Koopalings, and Bowser Jr. joins the battle as well. Interestingly, each of the Koopalings has their own boss music, which is actually designed to resemble the music of their namesakes: i.e., Larry's boss theme sounds like a U2 song, Lemmy's boss theme sounds like Motorhead, Ludwig's boss theme sounds like classical music, and Morton's boss theme actually slightly resembles the theme song from the old Morton Downey Jr. talk show. The game features a bit of voice acting, with short cutscenes during pivotal moments such as boss confrontations and between-world cinematics. Luigi is playable in the game, though he can't be chosen by a single player until the game is beaten once. Like in the original Super Mario World, some of the secret levels allow Mario to pass from one world to the other, and it is possible to reach and defeat Bowser within about 15 levels if the player knows which secrets to unlock. Super Mario World 4's music is largely a throwback to the previous three Super Mario World games. Composed by Koji Kondo, it consists of a mix of new tracks and remixed tracks, and is actually one of the largest soundtracks for any Mario game to date, with all the unique boss themes and a unique overworld theme for each world.

    The eleven worlds in the game are as follows:

    Dinosaur Village: A grass/beach world, this is a hidden village for Yoshis who have been chased out of their homes by Reznors and Rexes. Just as in the original Super Mario World, Iggy rules this first world from his castle. There are a couple of secret stages here, and even a fortress where Reznor can be battled.

    Milkshake Mountain: A sweet mountain with ice cream hills and milkshake rivers, this place is inhabited by Koopas who frequently stop to drink ice cream, allowing Mario to have an open shot at them. Wendy rules this world from her castle high atop the mountain.

    Vegetable Jungle: A jungle world made of broccoli and carrots, this healthy realm is inhabited by monkey-like creatures and Shy Guys, along with a few dinosaur-like enemies. Ludwig von Koopa rules this world.

    Flambe Volcano: A large volcanic mountain with lots of cave levels, it's unusual to see such a fiery level so early, and Roy Koopa hopes to catch Mario off guard from his castle deep within this mountain.

    Gelatin Magic: A combination between a house of mirrors and a shifting amusement park all resting on a big pile of jello, this realm is one of mystery and trickery, much like the Forest of Illusion from the original Super Mario World. Lemmy is the boss here, and he's enlisted an army of Magikoopas to protect him.

    Pizza Party Plateau: Life is a massive party in this world, which combines rapidly moving platforming stages with strange swamps of sticky cheese. Morton Koopa Jr. broadcasts his Mario-slandering talk show from his palace at the center of this world and has to be taken down.

    Seafood Cruise: This world consists mostly of floating ships over a vast inland sea, and it's from here where Larry plots to prevent Mario from reaching the Valley of Bowser and rescuing Peach and Yoshi. The secret stages consist of a few floating islands Mario can reach if he's clever enough.

    Valley Of Bowser: The only returning world from the original trip to Dinosaur Island, the Valley of Bowser has changed a great deal since the original Super Mario World, and Mario must fight both Bowser Jr. and Bowser here if he wants to save Peach and Yoshi.

    Lost Lands: These hidden realms deep underneath Dinosaur Island are this game's equivalent of the Star Road, and consist of difficult levels that, if beaten and if their secrets are discovered, can be used to access any part of the island.

    Yoshi's Mountain: After the Lost Lands are fully conquered, Mario opens up a secret passageway to Yoshi's Mountain, ancient home of great challenges used to test the fiercest of Yoshis, and this game's equivalent to the Special Zone.

    Champion's Road: Four ultra-tough challenge levels that only open when Mario completes certain challenges: the first one is opened once the Lost Lands are conquered, the second one is opened once Yoshi's Mountain is conquered, the third one is opened once Mario completes every goal in the game (except the last two goals of Champion's Road), and the fourth one is opened once Mario AND Luigi complete every other goal in the game AND find all five Dinosaur Coins in every single level. The fourth and final level of Champion's Road is borderline-Kaizo in difficulty level, with no power-ups or checkpoints and requiring pretty much every trick in Mario's arsenal. Conquering it proves that one truly is a Super Player.

    Super Mario World 4 is released on August 18, 2009. It receives excellent reviews upon its release, and is widely considered to be just about as good as Super Mario World 2, the last true sidescrolling 2-D Mario game (Flip had many sidescrolling segments but was also 3-D in many parts). Reviews praise the huge amount of levels and the wide challenge variation, with Mario newbies able to beat the main game quite easily, but Mario veterans able to get a real challenge from finding all the secret levels and conquering all the worlds. It drives a spike in sales for the Supernova, perhaps the strongest sales spike for the system since the Gen 4 Pokemon games back in 2007. Fans rejoice to see a classic style Mario game, the first in 16 years, and though it lacks the multiplayer aspect of games like OTL's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, it's still great fun to play. It's one of the best handheld games of 2009, and sales are stellar, with the game becoming one of the top selling titles of the holiday season and joining Pokemon LightSun and DarkMoon as one of the best selling Supernova games of all time.

    -

    Squad Four Declassified

    Squad Four Declassified is a 3-D action/shooter title for the Game Boy Supernova. The second handheld Squad Four game (not counting the ports), it returns to the more 3-D style of gameplay seen in Rebellion and Upheaval, though it does feature a few on-rails segments as well. It sees Shad, Rebecca, Marcus, and Lane on a mission to find a missing scientist on the moon of Fortessa, orbiting in the shadow of a dying gas giant consumed in a mysterious black fog. The game takes place after Upheaval and before the upcoming Protectors, making it a sort of "preview" game to that one, with a few plot threads introduced that don't get resolved until later on, most notably introducing the AI program that would ultimately become Evangelyne. As mentioned before, this game returns to a more classic 3-D shooter style, and allows players to choose from any of the four squad members for most missions, though a few only allow certain ones to be selected. The player can roam freely within the mission area, exploring, battling enemies, collecting items, and sometimes solving puzzles as they work to unravel the mysteries of Fortessa. The game has a rather generous lock-on system, allowing players to aim at enemies quite easily, though in addition to ranged weapons, the squad can also get up close and personal with melee strikes for a more hack and slash style of gameplay. The game allows the player to attack one enemy with melee while shooting another with ranged at the same time, a first for the series. It also features slightly smoother motion and climbing than previous Squad Four games, making areas easier to navigate. The game introduces a number of mini-games and diversions for the player, some of which lead to power-ups that can really help out in a particular mission (like in previous games, power-ups don't carry over between missions). Players can hunt down and destroy a certain type of enemy, they can collect scrap parts to assemble a weapon, they can pick up a jet pack and use it to hover over a series of targets that can be fired on and destroyed, etc. There's more gameplay variety in Declassified than perhaps any other game in the series, which might be a means to pad out the game's length: it's the shortest Squad Four game to date, with just fourteen missions total. While these missions tend to be a bit longer than in some previous games, it's still easy to complete the main mission in just a few hours with enough skill and practice. This does give the game a sort of "streamlined" feel, unlike the clunky Unauthorized, but it also takes away from some of the "epicness" of the main quest, which feels more intimate and personal than in previous games. The graphics have gotten somewhat of a bump up from Unauthorized, though it's still not a top-level Supernova game from a graphical perspective. It's still quite a pretty game, with some of the most unique and haunting scenery yet in Squad Four. All the main voice actors return, though compared to a main series game, there's not as many cutscenes or voice acted lines. It's still substantial compared to most Supernova games, but compared to Upheaval and the upcoming Protectors, it's quite lacking.

    The beginning of the game shows the squad landing on Fortessa and searching for the scientist, a man named Dr. Kiswell. Upon arrival, they find Kiswell's lab abandoned and torn apart, and strange creatures roaming about. The squad comes to the conclusion that the creatures must have killed Kiswell or taken him away, and are even more concerned after learning that the creatures are artificial constructs. Realizing that Kiswell must have been betrayed and abducted or killed by one of his own team members, the squad race to find them. They are eventually captured, and brought to an underground lab where it's revealed that Kiswell himself is the one pulling the strings of the creatures and that he actually killed most of his own team. The squad escapes and spends the remainder of the game attempting to foil Kiswell's plans. They learn that he is seeking to turn Fortessa's dying sun into a black hole, which he can then contain and use as a superweapon. Toward the end of the game, there's a spectacular cutscene in which Kiswell succeeds in transforming the dying sun, and it turns into a black hole, with Squad Four unable to do anything to stop it. This causes Fortessa to be gradually ripped apart by tidal forces, leading to the last couple missions taking place on a world torn up by cataclysms. Midway through the final mission, the squad evacuates from what's left of the planet to Kiswell's escape ship, which he's using as a sort of gravity tractor to pull the black hole behind him. They must defeat an army of robot guards to make their way to Kiswell, who uses the black hole's energy to power a deadly exosuit that he turns against the team, using gravity as a weapon. After Kiswell is defeated, he loses control of the black hole, and it destroys him and his ship, sucking everything into the black hole while Squad Four escapes in an escape pod. The mission is ultimately classified by Squad Four's superiors, who are humiliated that one of their best scientists was able to threaten the galaxy in such a terrible way. In exchange for their silence, Squad Four is given one of Kiswell's AI programs, which they give to a scientist friend of Rebecca's, an AI specialist who might be able to use the program to create something beneficial. The squad then returns to their mobile base, from which they plan to carry out more missions to protect the galaxy from evil.

    Squad Four Declassified is favorably reviewed, with most critics considering it a return to form after the disappointment of Unauthorized. It's still not perfect, with reviewers criticizing the game's length and its relative lack of replay value even with all the mini-games and side content. Regardless, it still does impressive sales and is considered one of the Supernova's best games of the year. It's released on September 15, just about a month after the release of Super Mario World 4, and while it's critically and commercially inferior to that game, it avoids being completely overshadowed, and its sales eventually surpass those of Unauthorized by a small margin. It also helps to get people hyped up for Squad Four Protectors, which Nintendo hopes will be one of the Sapphire's biggest games of the year.
     
  • Index

    • Bookmark1995

    Banned
    RySenkari said:
    Super Mario World 4

    Super Mario World 4 is a 2-D sidescrolling platformer for the Game Boy Supernova. The graphical style is quite similar to OTL's New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS, with fully 3-D graphics but a classic Mario gameplay style that's meant to be a modern update of games such as Super Mario World on the SNES and Super Mario World 2 on the SNES-CD. The game sees Mario returning to an unexplored section of Dinosaur Island in order to defeat Bowser and rescue both Yoshi and Princess Peach. Even though Mario's original green Yoshi has been captured, he's able to ride a wide variety of multicolored Yoshis, with Yoshi appearing in most levels of the game (except for ghost houses, fortresses, and castles). These Yoshis all have special powers, similarly to the red, yellow, and blue Yoshis from the original Super Mario World, and Mario can use these powers to reach secret parts of each level and defeat enemies easier. Super Mario World has a total of 180 secret goals to find, spread across a total of 94 levels spread amongst 11 worlds. In other words, this is a truly massive game, with eight regular worlds and three secret worlds to complete. Power-ups in the game include the Fire Flower, the Ice Flower, Mini Mario, the Jet, and the Cape, along with Mega Mario, which functions similarly to the Mega Mushroom power-up in OTL's New Super Mario Bros. The game sees the return of all seven Koopalings, and Bowser Jr. joins the battle as well. Interestingly, each of the Koopalings has their own boss music, which is actually designed to resemble the music of their namesakes: i.e., Larry's boss theme sounds like a U2 song, Lemmy's boss theme sounds like Motorhead, Ludwig's boss theme sounds like classical music, and Morton's boss theme actually slightly resembles the theme song from the old Morton Downey Jr. talk show. The game features a bit of voice acting, with short cutscenes during pivotal moments such as boss confrontations and between-world cinematics. Luigi is playable in the game, though he can't be chosen by a single player until the game is beaten once. Like in the original Super Mario World, some of the secret levels allow Mario to pass from one world to the other, and it is possible to reach and defeat Bowser within about 15 levels if the player knows which secrets to unlock. Super Mario World 4's music is largely a throwback to the previous three Super Mario World games. Composed by Koji Kondo, it consists of a mix of new tracks and remixed tracks, and is actually one of the largest soundtracks for any Mario game to date, with all the unique boss themes and a unique overworld theme for each world.

    The eleven worlds in the game are as follows:

    Dinosaur Village: A grass/beach world, this is a hidden village for Yoshis who have been chased out of their homes by Reznors and Rexes. Just as in the original Super Mario World, Iggy rules this first world from his castle. There are a couple of secret stages here, and even a fortress where Reznor can be battled.

    Milkshake Mountain: A sweet mountain with ice cream hills and milkshake rivers, this place is inhabited by Koopas who frequently stop to drink ice cream, allowing Mario to have an open shot at them. Wendy rules this world from her castle high atop the mountain.

    Vegetable Jungle: A jungle world made of broccoli and carrots, this healthy realm is inhabited by monkey-like creatures and Shy Guys, along with a few dinosaur-like enemies. Ludwig von Koopa rules this world.

    Flambe Volcano: A large volcanic mountain with lots of cave levels, it's unusual to see such a fiery level so early, and Roy Koopa hopes to catch Mario off guard from his castle deep within this mountain.

    Gelatin Magic: A combination between a house of mirrors and a shifting amusement park all resting on a big pile of jello, this realm is one of mystery and trickery, much like the Forest of Illusion from the original Super Mario World. Lemmy is the boss here, and he's enlisted an army of Magikoopas to protect him.

    Pizza Party Plateau: Life is a massive party in this world, which combines rapidly moving platforming stages with strange swamps of sticky cheese. Morton Koopa Jr. broadcasts his Mario-slandering talk show from his palace at the center of this world and has to be taken down.

    Seafood Cruise: This world consists mostly of floating ships over a vast inland sea, and it's from here where Larry plots to prevent Mario from reaching the Valley of Bowser and rescuing Peach and Yoshi. The secret stages consist of a few floating islands Mario can reach if he's clever enough.

    Valley Of Bowser: The only returning world from the original trip to Dinosaur Island, the Valley of Bowser has changed a great deal since the original Super Mario World, and Mario must fight both Bowser Jr. and Bowser here if he wants to save Peach and Yoshi.

    Lost Lands: These hidden realms deep underneath Dinosaur Island are this game's equivalent of the Star Road, and consist of difficult levels that, if beaten and if their secrets are discovered, can be used to access any part of the island.

    Yoshi's Mountain: After the Lost Lands are fully conquered, Mario opens up a secret passageway to Yoshi's Mountain, ancient home of great challenges used to test the fiercest of Yoshis, and this game's equivalent to the Special Zone.

    Champion's Road: Four ultra-tough challenge levels that only open when Mario completes certain challenges: the first one is opened once the Lost Lands are conquered, the second one is opened once Yoshi's Mountain is conquered, the third one is opened once Mario completes every goal in the game (except the last two goals of Champion's Road), and the fourth one is opened once Mario AND Luigi complete every other goal in the game AND find all five Dinosaur Coins in every single level. The fourth and final level of Champion's Road is borderline-Kaizo in difficulty level, with no power-ups or checkpoints and requiring pretty much every trick in Mario's arsenal. Conquering it proves that one truly is a Super Player.

    Super Mario World 4 is released on August 18, 2009. It receives excellent reviews upon its release, and is widely considered to be just about as good as Super Mario World 2, the last true sidescrolling 2-D Mario game (Flip had many sidescrolling segments but was also 3-D in many parts). Reviews praise the huge amount of levels and the wide challenge variation, with Mario newbies able to beat the main game quite easily, but Mario veterans able to get a real challenge from finding all the secret levels and conquering all the worlds. It drives a spike in sales for the Supernova, perhaps the strongest sales spike for the system since the Gen 4 Pokemon games back in 2007. Fans rejoice to see a classic style Mario game, the first in 16 years, and though it lacks the multiplayer aspect of games like OTL's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, it's still great fun to play. It's one of the best handheld games of 2009, and sales are stellar, with the game becoming one of the top selling titles of the holiday season and joining Pokemon LightSun and DarkMoon as one of the best selling Supernova games of all time.
    Click to expand...

    Man this looks like a lot of fun. I would love to travel to this world, just to play this game.
     
    Last edited:

    woweed

    volvocrusher said:
    Like a console Pokemon RPG developed by Naughty Dog while Amy Hennig was lead director.

    Or a good Bioware game. I know we had those IOTL but it's been so long it feels like something as foreign as an Apple game console
    Click to expand...
    Hey, Apple is technically a console maker IOTL. I'm pretty sure the iPhone would technically be the most used gaming platform in the world, if it were officially counted. Not a console, per say, but definitely a platform.
     
    Summer 2009 (Part 11) - The Revolutions Will Be Televised
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    Cyberwar: Netizen X

    Cyberwar: Netizen X is a spinoff game in Psygnosis' hit Cyberwar franchise of FPS titles, exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox 2. The game is a "sidequel", taking place alongside the events of 2008's Cyberwar 3, and covers a different side of that war. It follows a new protagonist, a Power Corps solider named Samuel Redd, as he attempts to track down a hacker who goes by the moniker "Netizen X". Netizen X is not only sabotaging Power Corps facilities, but they also frequently go online and promote anarchy and chaos, and revolution against the established order. Redd is skilled at both combat and hacking, but his skills pale behind X's, and the two begin to establish a rapport over the course of the game as Redd gets closer and closer to tracking X down. Thematically and gameplay wise, Netizen X has some similarities to the recently released Eye In The Sky 2, but is a bit more light-hearted: Eye In The Sky 2's hacker Suleka was an advocate for a strong central authority and her experiences were colored by her PTSD, but Netizen X has a strong sense of humor, albeit a fairly dry one, and is an advocate for chaos and defiance. Netizen X also has a much more bare-bones HUD and less reliance on stealthy fighting (though it still has some stealth sequences, more than a typical Cyberwar game). However, it does feature extensive hacking segments, both in combat and outside of it, with nearly half of the game involving hacking of some kind. The game also involves "social conditioning" segments, in which Redd infiltrates certain places to get people to help him and give up information on the hacker. This extends to dialogue trees, both physical and in the cyber world, in which Redd chats with people and even exchanges e-mails with them. The game's actual FPS combat is fairly similar to that of Cyberwar 3, with futuristic weaponry of both the lethal and non-lethal variety. Non-lethal weaponry tends to play a bigger role in this game, but the player can choose more lethal tactics if they wish (it might limit the information they're able to get, however). The game also has a more extensive melee combat system than its predecessor, but despite the improvements to the melee system, players can actually choose not to fight with melee at all. The game has a wide variety of NPC characters, both friend and foe, with some characters playing both roles depending on Redd's conduct throughout the game. The game's graphics are nearly identical to those in Cyberwar 3 and are still considered top of the line for the Xbox 2. The game's voiceover cast is a bit less notable than the cast of Cyberwar 3, but there are still a few celebrities here and there, with Colin Cunningham as the voice of Samuel Redd, Spencer Grammer as the voice of Julie Skalzeny (Redd's most notable hacker contact), Hank Azaria as the voice of Redd's commanding officer, and Harry Connick Jr. as the voice of a shady CEO who serves as one of the game's primary antagonists and the main target of Netizen X's assaults. Netizen X's voice is disguised by a machine for much of the game, but the same voice actor does play them throughout. The game itself starts with a mission that sees Redd attempting to take down a band of hacker rebels, only for a "miracle" to bail the rebels out at the last moment. Said miracle is followed by a viral video (a literal video spread by a computer virus on nearly everyone's devices) that plays and shows Netizen X's manifesto. Redd is immediately put in charge of tracking Netizen X down, but must do so as growing tensions (caused by the events of Cyberwar 3) begin to overtake the world. Redd has to fight the Power Corps' battles while at the same time tracking down Netizen X, whose hacks are becoming more and more dangerous and notable, and who is starting to gain more and more followers, turning people against the Power Corps. Redd gains a few tentative clues as to X's identity, but is unable to stop them from pulling off a massive hack that cripples the Power Corps' fighting capabilities, weakening them just enough for their opponents (the three superpower nations, America, Russia, and China) to start to gain an advantage in the ongoing war. Meanwhile, a CEO who's been supplying the Power Corps with weapons has also drawn Redd's attention, and after a crucial clue left by X, Redd begins investigating the CEO. As it turns out, the CEO's been dealing weapons to both sides in order to turn a major profit, and wants to weaken the Power Corps enough to start a new world war that he'll profit majorly off of. Redd realizes that Netizen X wasn't trying to start a war by weakening the Power Corps, but was trying to prevent one. However, X is naive and while they're a brilliant computer hacker, they're also clueless about world affairs. Redd knows that he'll need to take both the CEO and Netizen X down, and ultimately uses the CEO to lure Netizen X into a trap. The game's final two missions have Redd launching an all out assault on the CEO's heavily fortified HQ, and then using Netizen X's slipup to track them down using a hack planted by one of Redd's key allies. The final mission is a literal "cyberwar", a hacking showdown that plays out in cyberspace while Redd battles his way through hacked security bots designed to stop him. A crucial aspect of the final mission is that, while Redd can fail, he can't die: the bots can detain him if his health is fully depleted, but the bots are using non-lethal tech. In fact, Netizen X has never directly tried to kill anyone. Redd finally fights his way to X's base of operations... an apartment building. Redd sneaks up to their room and learns that Netizen X is in fact a 15-year-old girl named Lucy (voiced by AJ Michalka). Lucy explains that she didn't want to hurt or kill anyone, but that the Power Corps needed to be stopped before another war started. As Redd begins to scold her, telling her that another war is about to start directly because of her actions, there's an explosion in the building: American soldiers are raiding the building in search of Lucy. Redd holds them off, keeping Lucy close as he does. Finally, Lucy has an opportunity to hack the apartment's wiring to cut off the soldiers, and she takes it, saving both herself and Redd in the process. The two flee, only for more soldiers to appear, blocking their escape. Redd crouches into a defensive position and the screen goes black. The final scene is of a new Netizen X broadcast, revealing that Lucy is alive. She reveals secrets that she gained from the Power Corps, and says that if either the Power Corps or the superpowers rise up in war, she'll reveal even more of their secrets. We then see Lucy herself signing off after the broadcast, holding Redd's data drive and his Power Corps dog tag, smiling as she looks at them both. She then looks over at Redd himself, who is comatose with numerous bandaged wounds, and we see that Lucy is with several of Redd's hacker contacts from throughout the game, including Julie. We don't know how Redd and Lucy escaped or whether Lucy is Redd's ally or if she's just using him to get information as the credits roll. The game then teases one final thing after the credits... the sealed door in the facility from Cyberwar 3, where Tomas and Sara were sealed at the end of that game, is seen to open, but we don't see who comes out.

    Cyberwar: Netizen X receives overwhelming critical acclaim for its gameplay and storyline. It's not quite as highly praised as Cyberwar 3, but is seen as a welcome change of pace and an excellent side title for the series which also sets up the events of Cyberwar 4. Sales are quite brisk for it as well, though they're limited somewhat by the fact that the game lacks a multiplayer mode, with Microsoft not wanting to split the player base for Cyberwar 3 and Netizen X, making the latter game a strictly single player affair. However, the strong critical reviews and hype help Netizen X sell extremely well nonetheless, and though it's not a system pusher for the Xbox 2, it, like the other blockbuster exclusives of the year for the system, keeps it relevant and in the public eye.

    -

    Uprising

    Uprising is a third person shooter title exclusively for the Microsoft Xbox 2. It takes place in a Central American nation in the throes of a revolution, and casts the player as Hidalgo Rodriguez, a freedom fighter and one of the leaders of the rebellion. Uprising, from a gameplay perspective, is somewhat close to OTL's Uncharted games in terms of armed combat, giving the player the ability to aim, shoot, throw grenades (or even toss them back at enemies), and also has an extensive cover system. However, Uprising's most notable gameplay aspect is the ability to kill or spare enemies in battle. Hidalgo's uprising can be as peaceful or as violent as the player chooses, and their choices flavor the game throughout, causing certain characters to side with the player and certain characters to side against them. The game's graphics are also excellent, easily some of the best to date on the Xbox 2, with incredible lighting effects and real time weather that effects combat and movement (for example, Hidalgo can slip in the mud, or will wear out more easily when it's extremely hot). All of these graphical flourishes give the game a very realistic feel, aided by the animation in both cutscenes and combat. Character models move very realistically, and the game's facial animations are also some of the best yet seen in a console video game. The plot itself, however, is fairly generic and full of cliches, with no real twists to speak of. Hidalgo's revolution is against an almost unambiguously evil government, and though the player's actions themselves can determine whether the revolution is benevolent or significantly less so, there's little nuance and subtlety amongst the game's main enemies, almost all of whom are portrayed as being cruel and power hungry. Individual enemy soldiers are often portrayed as being honorable or just doing their job (which is why it's possible to spare them), but the ruling government itself is mostly seen as a completely evil foe. The player's actions largely only effect Hidalgo and his allies, not the enemy themselves. The game's plot also touches on all the typical "rebellion" tropes, including moles/defectors and a moment when the revolution reaches its lowest point but is obviously only there to generate tension in the player. However, despite the cliche-ridden plot, the gameplay remains thrilling throughout, featuring action set pieces (some with QTE, but it's fairly generous), a wide variety of different gun fights that rarely wear out their welcome (unlike the ones in OTL's Uncharted, which can become repetitive after a while), and though the heroes and villains are cliched, they're still fun characters and well voice acted. The game is definitely predictable, but it's never not enjoyable, and the ability to play as a noble pacifist or a brutal bastard who's almost as bad as the government he's overthrowing gives the game a good amount of replay value and player interactivity. Hidalgo is voiced by Christian Lanz, whose performance is widely praised, and Hidalgo himself is considered one of the most memorable characters of the year, both in his good incarnation and in his bad one. Uprising, while not a perfect game by any means, is still quite widely praised by critics, garnering a lot of comparisons to Mystic on the Nintendo Sapphire. It's released exclusively for the Xbox 2 in September 2009, and becomes one of the best selling new games of the month, with strong sales continuing right into the holiday season.

    -

    Jeff Gerstmann: Now the next interesting piece of information about Cyberwar comes to us from an interview that aired on X-Play with the developers of the game, and this is about the ending to Cyberwar: Netizen X. So if you haven't played Netizen X yet, this is a HUGE spoiler and you need to skip ahead in the podcast about... probably about two minutes.

    Ryan Davis: Somebody who just randomly turns this podcast on in the middle of it is going to hear the spoiler and get real pissed off.

    Gerstmann: See, my thing is that if you just pop in in the middle of our podcast, if you don't... if you don't listen from the beginning, you deserve to get things spoiled for you.

    Davis: Yeah, that'll teach you not to just randomly click on podcasts and skip to the middle of them.

    Gerstmann: But anyway, apparently they did another ending to Netizen X. Remember, remember the ending, where you go up to Lucy's apartment...Lucy being Netizen X, by the way, you go up to her apartment and find her, and she's just some teenage girl chilling in her room?

    Davis: Yeah, I wasn't expecting that. I expected her to be like... some guy like us, some fat guy just hanging out... *laughing*

    Gerstmann: *laughing*

    Davis: Just... just hanging out and...! You know, just hanging at his computer or whatever, I didn't expect it to be a 15 year old girl like it was. That was a cool twist.

    Gerstmann: Well, in the original ending, she's not in her room when you first go up there. Turns out, she learned about the facility from the end of Cyberwar 3, and she went there... went there to steal, what was it, like the doomsday program? The one that was gonna... I forget, it was gonna...

    Davis: It was gonna destroy all technology in the world.

    Gerstmann: Right, that thing, the logic bomb!

    Davis: She was going to steal it?

    Gerstmann: She was going to steal it because she saw on the cameras that all the guards were dead and so she went... I guess on her bike or something-

    Davis: I can see why they decided not to do this ending.

    Gerstmann: Yeah, it's stupid as hell. It gets dumber. You were going to follow her to the facility, and... you know how the ending of Cyberwar 3 implies that one of them, either that girl or that guy... Sara or Alvarez, one of them survives and gets out. Well, in this alternate ending, you'd get there, and Lucy, she actually hacked into that room and she would have had one of them, whichever of the two that survived, she'd have them tied up and would be holding them hostage with a fake water pistol.

    Davis: *laughing his ass off*

    Gerstmann: They storyboarded it and everything. They did the voice acting for it.

    Davis: *still laughing* Are you... are you serious?

    Gerstmann: This was the original ending they were gonna go with, yeah.

    Davis: That sounds... that sounds really stupid. So what, like... one of them... like Tomas Alvarez, he's gotta be the one who survived, right?

    Gerstmann: It could've been Sara.

    Davis: Is being held hostage by this... by this 15 year old girl... like that stupid ass movie... you know the one Jim Varney, the guy who played Ernest, the one he was in right before he died of lung cancer?

    Gerstmann: I don't have any clue what you're talking about.

    Davis: He plays the criminal, and he goes up into this treehouse, and these kids catch him...

    Gerstmann: Yeah, that sounds stupid too.

    Davis: I'm glad we got the ending we got even if it confused the hell out of me. I mean, it was a pretty good ending, this girl who caused all this trouble is freaking out as you're dragging her through her apartment taking out soldiers, it's like, "can't hack your way out of this one, huh?" I thought that was suitably dramatic even if I didn't know what was going on at the very end. But you're telling me that the first thing they came up with was this girl taking either a badass hacker soldier or a tragic psycho genius woman hostage and... doing exactly what?

    Gerstmann: Eventually, I guess, the three would have come to some kind of uneasy truce and agreed to work together to stop the coming war. But yeah, they said it was scrapped before it got to the actual animation part.

    Davis: Thank God.

    Gerstmann: Yeah, I'm glad they went with the more dramatic ending. I mean, Netizen X was definitely less serious than Cyberwar 3, but let's not turn it into a kids' comedy movie, right?

    Davis: We dodged a major bullet there.

    Gerstmann: One more thing about Cyberwar, and this is actually from an announcement that Don Mattrick recently made, and this is fairly huge if it's true... is that Microsoft is considering streamlining its gaming operations, including spinning off companies like Psygnosis, the one it bought and the one that makes Cyberwar. If that's true, and this is still a big if because Mattrick only said that Microsoft would be focusing more on internal game operations and would be trimming these companies to cut costs... if that's true, we COULD see games like Cyberwar go multiplatform.

    Davis: I heard that announcement too, and I had trouble believing it at first because isn't that Microsoft's biggest franchise? But then I looked more into the details of it, and this is interesting: Microsoft would still be publisher of these games, but these games wouldn't be Xbox exclusive. Microsoft would get a cut, but companies like Nintendo and Apple could put them on their platforms.

    Gerstmann: And this wouldn't apply to games like The Covenant, but if Psygnosis is spun back off into its own company, it could free up Cyberwar for multiplatform release. And someone directly asked Mattrick at the conference he was speaking at about these exclusive games, and Mattrick said that Microsoft was "moving away" toward exclusive releases in favor of providing what he called "the best possible gaming experience".

    Davis: And I'm thinking: "has he lost his mind"? Cyberwar is THE biggest exclusive franchise Microsoft still has. It sells more copies than The Covenant. Cyberwar 3 is about to sell ten million copies. Cyberwar 3 was the only game that caused a spike in Xbox 2 sales last year. I don't think they'll let Cyberwar go.

    Gerstmann: Well, financially, if they spun off Psygnosis and some of their other sort of development studios, it would trim off some fat, reduce operating costs and allow Microsoft to funnel more money back into games like The Covenant and Techno Angel that presumably would remain exclusive. That's the only reason I could see for them doing this.

    Davis: I can't see them letting Cyberwar go. As much as it might make a little bit of sense, considering where Microsoft is right now, that would be a sign of the end times right there I think.

    Gerstmann: Well, it's funny, but it's been the "end times" for Microsoft ever since Gray Zone flopped, and it's been almost a year without any sign of the Xbox 2 going away. So, who knows, you know, maybe this plan's just crazy enough to work.

    Davis: And maybe they've finally gone crazy.

    -from the September 8, 2009 episode of the Gamespot Podcast With Jeff And Ryan
     
  • Index

    • Nivek

    TheFaultsofAlts said:
    Considering how people IOTL feel about Sonic SatAM when compared to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, this is quite an obvious example.
    Click to expand...
    Jejejej...i don't even knew about sally existence till research for this TL or reading about old sonic media, i watched Adventures of Sonic the hedgehog and even undergroung(those were popular here) but seems she was very popular at least the US fanbase.
     
    Roger Redux

    Roger Redux

    Nivek said:
    Jejejej...i don't even knew about sally existence till research for this TL or reading about old sonic media, i watched Adventures of Sonic the hedgehog and even undergroung(those were popular here) but seems she was very popular at least the US fanbase.
    Click to expand...
    Sonic Underground had real potential.......I think if they'd gotten Crush 40 (or vocalist Johnny Gioelli's other band Hardline) to do the music for it, it could've been great!
     
    Neoteros

    Neoteros

    By the way, a friend of mine just made a version of the music to the first Sonic game's first level... using SNES tunes. Anyone wanna hear it?
     
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