Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

[HeX]

Warren Spector is working on other projects and Disney just hasn't contacted him, that's the biggest butterfly. Disney will buy back Oswald, but may do something else with him....

Alright. Sad to see my favorite video game get butterflied, but that's AH for you. If you ever happen to need any help doing things with Oswald, or just Disney in general, I can give some ideas.

 

[RySenkari]

Alright. Sad to see my favorite video game get butterflied, but that's AH for you. If you ever happen to need any help doing things with Oswald, or just Disney in general, I can give some ideas.

Do you have any ideas for TTL's Kingdom Hearts? We'd be quite interested in those

 

[Nivek]

Alright. Sad to see my favorite video game get butterflied, but that's AH for you. If you ever happen to need any help doing things with Oswald, or just Disney in general, I can give some ideas.

Do you have any ideas for TTL's Kingdom Hearts? We'd be quite interested in those

That would be interesting, send PM to both if you want

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

Warren Spector is working on other projects and Disney just hasn't contacted him, that's the biggest butterfly. Disney will buy back Oswald, but may do something else with him....

Here's hoping Old Rabbithose gets better treatment ITTL. For those of you who don't get the joke, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was one of many cartoon characters who used the rubberhose animation technique of humor.

Do you have any ideas for TTL's Kingdom Hearts? We'd be quite interested in those

How about Mary Poppins as a Summon? She could attack with both ends of her umbrella, with the normal end as a shield or a projectile, and the attached parrot head could seriously bite the Heartless right in the storm clouds. And if this becomes a good enough idea, maybe she could be a prominent Summon in future games.

 

[Unknown]

Does ValuJet Flight 592 still crash ITTL? I only ask because it occurred several years after the PoD, and is butterflyable; OTOH, the conditions that created it are still in place, and something like it was bound to happen...

 

[Garfunkle62]

Making Fiends Web Cartoon To Be Adapted For Television

The slightly-popular web cartoon Making Fiends has just revealed in a website update that its creator, Amy Winfrey, has partnered with Nickelodeon to produce a full series based off the cartoon. The series, started earlier this decade, focuses on the darkly-humorous escapades of a mean, green girl named Vendetta, as she tries to create titular fiends to try and "destroy" a ridiculously happy-go-lucky blue girl named Charlotte. The series creators have confirmed that the TV show will "be a full realization of what the web cartoon was supposed to be," mentioning that characters besides the main duo will have their own personalities fleshed out, among other expansive changes. Making Fiends is planned to debut on Nickelodeon sometime in August of this year.

-from a May 6, 2009 article at Toonzone.net

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After completing her previous web cartoons Muffin Films and Big Bunny, Amy Winfrey started the Making Fiends web cartoon in mid-2004. [1] As the series took shape and drew more and more fans, Amy began selling T-shirts and DVDs in her online Giftshop. Sales were good enough that Amy could make a happy living from her little cartoon.

After the conclusion of the second web season in late 2006, Nickelodeon contacted Amy about possibly bringing Making Fiends to TV. Negotiations began, and within a year the long development period had started. During development, Amy created the third and final web season (episodes 21-30) independently over the course of 2007, and her own giftshop remained open for business.

In early 2008, Nickelodeon began distributing many of the early web episodes on streaming video sites and platforms.

Finally, in late 2008, Nickelodeon told Amy the good news--and some unexpected news! Not only were they officially picking up Making Fiends for television, but they were also doubling down and allowing production of not one, but two seasons of episodes! Amy moved into her office at Nickelodeon in April 2009, and the production has been going ever since...

-taken from the "Nickofiendeon" page on the official Making Fiends website [Based off an actual page on the OTL website.]

[1] The series starts in 2004 instead of 2003, as butterflies ITTL allow Amy to complete all 10 episodes of her previous webseries Big Bunny instead of having to stop at episode 6 as IOTL, among other things.

-

After some more slides of character design and background sneak peaks, we screened two animatics, which are unfinished episodes in storyboard form. The first was a scene from the TV version of "Vegetables," and the second was the full episode animatic for a TV-original episode, "Video Game." Finally, the panel ended with a peek at the opening title sequence for the show.

-taken from "Making Fiends goes to Comic Con 2009!" on the official Making Fiends website [Based off the Comic Con 2007 page on the OTL website.]

-

Being a show about crazy creatures and messed-up monsters, it was only natural that when Making Fiends decided to do a video game-oriented episode, they'd choose to focus on a Pokemon parody. The main plot of this episode (aptly titled "Video Game") involved a monster-collecting game called Punymon finding its way into Clamburg's stores, subsequently causing Charlotte to get addicted to the game (to the point where she tries to put her pet hamster in a ball like in the game). Naturally, she shows off to everyone her Punymon collection (much to Vendetta's chagrin), and even sings a song highly reminiscent of the Pokemon anime's first opening theme as her addiction to the game grows. Soon however, Vendetta discovers the game's more powerful monsters when she gets her own Punymon game, deciding to turn one of the rarer monsters (which bore a striking resemblance to Pokemon Alpha & Omega's Morticloak) into a new fiend for her to try and destroy Charlotte with. The best part of the episode was how this fiend backfired on Vendetta; as the fiend was literally just a Punymon given life, the fiend only wanted to fight other animals instead of destroying Charlotte--and subsequently met its demise when it tried to go up against the infamous giant red kitty.

-from the article "Fifteen Times Cartoons Tried to Catch 'Em All," on Kotaku.com, posted on May 17, 2014

 

[Nintendogamemaster]

Pokemon Sun and Moon

Pokemon Sun and Moon is the sequel to Pokemon Red and Green. It is released in Japan in December 1999, as a launch game for the Game Boy Nova in that country. Its North American release is on June 23, 2000. Like the original games, it comes in two different versions, each with certain Pokemon that cannot be caught in the other game. As the counterpart to OTL's Pokemon Gold and Silver, it has many similarities to those two games, and particularly to the remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver. Due to the graphical capabilities of the Game Boy Nova, Sun and Moon bears a strong graphical resemblance to the OTL Nintendo DS Pokemon titles, and in battle, Pokemon actually can be seen to move somewhat, in a way resembling the battle animations in OTL's Pokemon Black and White. Thus, the game is a massive graphical step up from OTL's games in every conceivable way. In terms of gameplay mechanics, the gameplay improvements from OTL's Gold and Silver, including the Special stat split, night/day mechanics, the new Dark and Steel types, and berries all appear in TTL's game. In addition, a number of improvements from OTL's Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl games also appear, including Pokemon natures and abilities. A notable improvement that does not appear is the addition of physical/special components for moves. All moves in Pokemon Sun and Moon are still either physical or special based on their type, and not a separate component of the move. The game's musical score is considered to be a major improvement as well, due to the enhanced sound capabilities of the Nova, allowing for orchestral songs to appear at certain points in the game. A lyrical theme song for the end credits was considered, but ultimately rejected to save memory space for other game features.

The OTL Gold and Silver featured 100 new Pokemon in addition to the 151 already present in the previous game. Sun and Moon feature 106 new Pokemon (including 7 legendaries as opposed to 6 IOTL), 68 of them either completely the same as OTL Pokemon or very very similar with only slight changes (such as a name change), and 38 new Pokemon that did not appear IOTL.

Some Pokemon that appear in OTL's game that also appear in Sun and Moon include:

-All 9 starter Pokemon (Chikorita, Bayleef, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Quilava, Typhlosion, Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligator (no R removed ITTL))
-Spinarak/Ariados
-Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos
-Hitmontop
-Phanpy/Donphan
-Skateray (OTL Mantine)
-Pichu/Elekid/Magby/Cleffa (but no Igglybuff)
-Kingdra
-Miltank
-Blissey
-Larvitar/Pupitar/Tyranitar
-Entei/Raikou/Suicune
-Ho-Oh/Lugia (though Lugia's role as a version mascot is removed)
-Celebi

Some Pokemon that appear in OTL's game that do not appear in Sun and Moon include:

-Sunkern/Sunflora
-Houndour/Houndoom
-Slugma/Magcargo
-Murkrow
-Unown
-Teddiursa/Ursaring
-Hoppip/Skiploom/Jumpluff

Some of the original to Sun and Moon Pokemon are:

-Tazap (a taser-like Electric/Steel Pokemon)
-Scareprize (a Ghost/Psychic Pokemon that floats around as a sphere of energy before popping out a big scary face to attack)
-Chilpup/Timberg (an Ice-type wolf Pokemon that starts out as a little wolf pup and then evolves into a majestic timberwolf)
-Larvii/Wasping/Hawksis (a three-stage Dark/Bug type tarantula wasp Pokemon, unlike most three-stage Bug evolutions, it evolves at later levels into an absolutely vicious creature, Hawksis is basically a Cazador from New Vegas with a 525 BST: 75/140/65/70/50/125)
-Seamaster (a third stage for the Goldeen line to compliment Kingdra)
-Stagle (Heracross becomes a second stage Pokemon ITTL, Stagle is his pre-evolution)
-Seeding/Leaflette/Bloomarch (A three-stage Grass evolution with a large flower as its final stage, basically replaces the Sunflora/Jumpluff line ITTL)
-Gloombeak/Raveness (a two-stage Dark/Flying line with raven-like Pokemon, essentially replaces Murkrow
-Rivitor/Constructer/Kraftscrap (a three-stage Steel/Fighting line, Rivitor is like a cute little construction worker while Constructer gains metal appendages and Kraftscrap has six arms and can shift its body parts around like a robot, it has very high Attack and Defense)
-Lunalux (the Moon version mascot, a beautiful Psychic/Flying legendary bird Pokemon that shoots moonbeams from its plume and is rivals with Ho-Oh)

Ho-Oh can only be caught in Sun, Lunalux can only be caught in Moon, and Lugia can be caught in both and later becomes the version mascot for Eclipse (Nivek came up with the name for the later third game).

The gym leaders mostly remain the same, with a couple of changes:

Bugsy in Azalea Town is replaced with Josh, a Fighting type Gym Leader, and Chuck in Cianwood is replaced with Uma, a Bug type Gym Leader. Essentially, Fighting and Bug switch places.

The plot of Pokemon Sun and Moon shares much with Gold and Silver, and indeed with most Pokemon games: you start out as a young boy (or girl, in this game you can pick) who gets a starter Pokemon from the professor (Elm, same as OTL) and sets out on a journey to complete the Pokedex, conquer the gyms, and become a Pokemon master. In this game, Team Rocket returns as Team Shrapnel, and their goals are somewhat darker than IOTL's game. After Team Rocket was defeated in Red and Green, they return as Team Shrapnel, though Shrapnel consists of only the most extreme members of the old Team Rocket along with new, hardcore recruits, who stop at nothing to capture powerful Pokemon and in this case, conquer the world at the behest of their new leader, Breaker. As the player progresses on their journey, they encounter Team Shrapnel on numerous occasions, each plan more dastardly than the last. They still attempt to capture Gyarados at the Lake of Rage, and in this case, they succeed despite the player's best efforts, gravely injuring Dragon Master Lance in the process. Other Team Shrapnel plans include the abduction of Gym Leader Whitney (the player has to rescue her before they can fight in Goldenrod Gym), the raiding of a Pokemon Day Care (they try to use Ditto to hatch powerful Pokemon before the player stops them), the poisoning of milk from Moo Moo Farm with a toxin that compels whoever drinks it to give up their Pokemon, and finally, toward the end of the game, the attempted assassination of the Gym Leader Clair via the use of the Shining Gyarados (though in the end, Clair and the player foil this). After Team Shrapnel is defeated in Blackthorne City, Breaker gets away, but this is left unresolved in the main game, as the player must complete their journey. Because of Lance's injury, the final Champion at the end of the Elite Four is Zacharias, an elite trainer who assisted the player in rescuing Whitney and whom the player helped after he injected some of the tainted milk and nearly gave up his prized Tyranitar (whom he's more than happy to use against the player in the final battle). Defeating Zacharias wins the main game, but there's an entire postgame left over...the player must journey to Kanto, just as IOTL Gold and Silver. Here is where the Breaker storyline is resolved once and for all, after Breaker takes over the Cinnabar Island Gym. Giovanni meets him there to try and talk him down, but is severely wounded by Breaker's Hawksis, and the player must defeat him. In the end, Breaker, in a desperate attempt to kill the player and Giovanni, tries to trigger Cinnabar's volcano, but ends up falling in instead in the first on-screen death in the Pokemon game series (ITTL, there will be many more, due to Sony creative's influence on Game Freak gradually leading the series' plotline down a more serious path). The final challenge in this post game is to defeat Red at Mt. Silver, just as in OTL. He's even more powerful and dangerous than in OTL's game, with a level 100 Pikachu that players will need to train seriously to defeat. Finally, after Red is defeated, the game is at last truly beaten, with the only goal remaining being to "catch 'em all"!

Needless to say, the sales of Pokemon Sun and Moon are exceptionally strong. Though the game has a bit of a slower start than Gold and Silver did IOTL (simply due to the fact that fewer people own the new and somewhat expensive Game Boy Nova), the game drives Nova sales in a major way, and the game remains near the top or at the top of the sales charts for the remainder of the year and beyond, eventually selling about as many if not a bit more total copies in North America than Gold and Silver did. Reviews are also very strong for the game, it averages around 9/10 in most review outlets, with particular praise going to the expanded game world, the designs of the new Pokemon, the improvements in graphical presentation and sound quality, and the stronger storyline compared to the original game. Sun and Moon continues the Pokemon craze still sweeping the world, and as of the end of 2000, it shows no signs of slowing down.

-

Tai's Adventures In Johto - Seasons 3 and 4 of the Pokemon Anime

The third season of the Pokemon anime, based on Pokemon Sun and Moon, began airing on Toonami on July 10, 2000. New episodes aired every Friday, while reruns aired the rest of the week (this was necessary for the dub company to be able to keep up, since these episodes started airing in Japan in October 1999). Taking place ten years after the original season based in Kanto, its protagonist was Tai (voiced by Joshua Seth), whose appearance was based on the male protagonist of the game. Unlike Sato, who was energetic and hot-headed, Tai was somewhat cold and aloof, and had difficulty making friends, even with his starter Pokemon Totodile. Tai started out on a somewhat reluctant journey with Totodile, while his rival, the peppy (if somewhat arrogant) Suki (voiced by Melissa Fahn), based on the female protagonist of Sun and Moon, started with a Chikorita and seemed to train circles around her fellow young trainer. Tai's first real friend was Josh (voiced by Ben Diskin and based on the Azalea Town gym leader), who he met early on in his journey and who helped Tai out of a jam when he got himself into a fight with a much tougher and bigger trainer. Unlike Brock, who was a fairly serious character, Josh was a prankster, and it was his ability to make Tai laughed that helped the boy to open up. Later on, Suki would reluctantly join Tai and Josh on their journey after having to rescue the two of them from Team Breaker, though at first Tai resented her and Josh had to frequently break up arguments between the two. As the three progressed through the world, with Tai and Suki both battling their way through gyms (a unique situation for the anime, which wouldn't repeat such a dual-protagonist arrangement until a much later season), Tai had to learn to trust people and gradually open up. The relationship between Tai and Suki became one of the most complex relationships in the anime. The two of them were constantly fighting, though unlike with Ash and Misty, who frequently argued over trivial things, these two had a genuine clash in personality, and occasionally said deeply hurtful things to one another, which, at a certain point, drove Tai away from the team for several episodes just before the Olivine City gym battle. The two seemed to rescue each other a lot as well, which became a point of pride for the one doing the rescuing, though in a later episode they'd encounter a situation where they'd have to bail each other out (the Siege of Goldenrod City episode following the Mahogany gym battle). The villains, Team Shrapnel, were quite vicious, with few comic relief moments for them (though a pair of Team Shrapnel members, Lake and River, were somewhat like Jessie and James and would eventually be redeemed, unlike most of the rest of their gang). Tracker (from The New Land), returned as well, as a main lieutenant of Breaker, who proved to be the main villain of the first season of the Sun and Moon saga. After Breaker was beaten and taken into custody, the Johto tournament began, with Tai and Suki both reaching the semifinals and having to face one another for the right to battle in the finals against Zacharias. Tai defeated Suki when his Feraligator was able to overcome Suki's Meganium's type advantage and defeat it for the first time, but Tai would lose in the finals in a fierce battle. However, this would open the door for a new chapter of Tai's tale when Dragon Master Lance invited the young hero and his friends to Kanto to help him with a special mission. It was at this point that Professor Elm would present Tai with a special "Omega Ball" and ask him to bring it with him to discover the secret of unlocking the Pokemon inside.

The second season of Tai's journey would air on Toonami in 2002. It chronicled Tai and his friends' journey in Kanto, where they would ultimately meet a grown-up Misty, who had been separated from Sato (now voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) for several years and was in desperate need to find him. During Tai's stay in Kanto, he would also have to deal with an escaped Breaker (who was taken down in a 12-episode midseason arc that involved some of the most emotionally charged Pokemon battles in the series, where ultimately Suki was the one to defeat Breaker's Hawksis with her Ampharos, driving him to the act of desperation that led to his demise in the anime). Tai and friends also encountered the reformed Jessie and James on numerous occasions, the two of them had become wacky inventors, though they had about as much luck coming up with inventions legitimately as they did when they were with Team Rocket. He and his friends met Giovanni, Sato's father, who was concerned that Sato is becoming evil like he did. They met and battled Gary in the Viridian City gym, and saw that Gary was now a changed man with a deep caring for his Pokemon, who also desired to see Sato safe and well. Eventually, Tai, Suki, and Josh, along with Brock, Misty, and Gary, ventured to Mt. Silver, where they found that Sato had became an emotionally distant recluse. Tai was reminded of the person he used to be, and was determined to make Sato realize who his true friends are. Sato's Pikachu, though still loyal to Sato and still always at his side, was deeply saddened by how driven Sato had become to catch every Pokemon. Sato revealed that he had caught all of them with the exception of Mewtwo and Mew, and unleashed the three legendary birds on Tai and his friends. Using their Pokemon Feraligator, Meganium, and Typhlosion, Tai, Suki, and Josh managed to overcome Sato's legendary bird Pokemon, forcing him to recall them. Sato then unleashed Pikachu, which took out Feraligator with one mighty Thunderbolt. Misty tried to calm Sato down, but Pikachu, despite its reluctance, took her Pokemon down as well. Sato had come to Mt. Silver to train to become strong enough to capture Mewtwo and Mew, remembering when Mewtwo and Mew's attacks turned him into stone (the original movie is canon here and everybody remembers what took place) and desiring to strengthen his body and mind so as to not allow that to happen again. Misty begged Sato to remember how much all the Pokemon there, even the ones that didn't even know him, expressed emotion that brought him back to life, even Mewtwo and Mew stopped their fighting to help bring him back. Sato was seemingly stirred by this, but he rejected everyone's pleas and went forth to capture Mewtwo and Mew. Scenes of Tai and his friends trying to find Sato are interspersed with scenes of Sato finding Mew, and Mew allowing itself to be captured, cowed by Sato's new strength. Sato then battled Mewtwo, and was able to defeat it, bringing it to its knees just as Tai and the others arrived. Sato ordered Mewtwo to attack Tai, who tried desperately to defend himself with Feraligator. Feraligator took an epic beating, but refused to stay down. Finally, Pikachu stepped in, and was nearly killed by one of Mewtwo's attacks. Shocked by his own friend's sacrifice and left in awe at the fact that so many other people were concerned about him, Sato realized the error of his ways and remembered the trainer he used to be, deeply caring for all of his Pokemon, with Pikachu as his best friend. Sato broke down and begged for forgiveness, letting all of his Pokemon out of his Pokeballs and offering to let them go free. Though the legendary birds were called away, and Mewtwo and Mew, though expressing respect for Sato, had to leave due to other obligations, all of his other Pokemon agreed to stay with him, and Pikachu leapt into his arms for the first time since Sato withdrew from all of his friends. Even Misty forgave him, and Tai realized just how much he himself had grown as a trainer. The final episode of the series was about Tai, Suki, Josh, Sato, Misty, Brock, and Gary discovering the secret of the Omega Ball together when they took it to Ilex Forest and opened it, revealing Celebi With the power to control time, Celebi can grant any wish, and Sato considered asking Celebi to take him back in time so he could relive those lost years when he was away from his friends, but Misty and Brock told him that he has plenty of time to make new memories, and the Pokemon trainers released Celebi into the world to find its own way. Tai returned to his hometown to spend some quality time with his beloved Pokemon, saying goodbye to Josh (who returned to the Azalea Town gym to finally take over for his older brother) and Suki, but only for now, promising to see them again soon.

The fifth season of the anime was another filler season to cover the gap between the Sun and Moon generation and the upcoming generation of Pokemon games. It aired on Toonami in 2003, and brought Tai and friends back for one final series of adventures, but we'll cover that season next time, as it took a rather strange (if still pretty fun and adventurous) turn.

-from "Recollections of the Pokemon Animated Series", an article on Karen's Anime Memories Blog, posted on July 17, 2010

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Pokemon: Master Of Legends is the North American name of Revelation Lugia, the second Pokemon film. It premiered in the United States in theaters on November 3, 2000, and takes place at a vague period of time during the third season (in Japan, the film debuted in February 2000, and Tai's team included a couple of Pokemon he hadn't yet acquired in the anime up to that time, which was intentional in order to tease future episodes). In Master Of Legends, Tai, Suki, and Josh end up shipwrecked after strange weather tosses their boat aground on an island where a strange Pokemon named Slowking (the alternate evolution of Slowpoke introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon live). The three are caught up in a mysterious legend involving the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in great discord after an evil collector tries to capture them (it's not explained why the weather doesn't go haywire after Sato captures them in the actual series, though in the series, there's revealed to be more than one of each legendary bird, so....yeah the movie canon is kinda weird). Eventually, Lugia (revealed to be the master of the legendary birds) shows up, enabling Tai to save the world and fulfill some kind of prophecy that's rather vaguely explained. It's pretty funny to see Suki and Melody (the flute-playing girl who helps Tai save the world) fighting over him, though Suki never actually admits she likes him (she wouldn't in the anime until toward the end of the fourth season). It's a fun movie and arguably even better than the first, though it didn't gross as much as the original film did, opening to around $25 million and grossing a North American total of around $65 million. Still, the animation and music are great and for anyone who wants to see some awesome legendary bird action (and Lugia kicking ass), it's a recommended watch.

-from the topic "Anime Movie Of The Week- Pokemon: Master Of Legends", posted on Gamefaqs.com's Contests Board on February 3, 2007

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Ted Crosley: The bottom line is that Pokemon Sun and Moon makes a TON of improvements to the original. Pretty much every improvement I said the original game needed to make, it made! The graphics: better. The type disparities... mostly better although Dragon types are still too damn strong, thankfully I can chill them out with the badass wolf Pokemon Timberg but they're still too strong. Really the only problem I have with this game is that you still have to trade to catch 'em all, and that's a pain in the ass.

Alex Stansfield: Well, you know my stance on that, it's part of the game's design and come on, man, you've got plenty of people to trade with.

Ted: Most of you guys won't trade with me!

Alex: Because you want an Articuno for a Pidgey! Come on, man!

Ted: They're both birds though! It's a fair trade!

Alex: *shaking his head* I've really got to hand it to Nintendo, they outdid themselves. They even gave you something REALLY fun to do after you beat the game, but I'm not going to spoil it quite yet, wait for a future episode of GameTV to detail all the awesome stuff you get to do after beating the final boss.

Ted: It's not the BEST looking game on the Nova, but it's definitely the biggest, and with 257 Pokemon crammed into this thing, you'll have plenty to do for hours on end.

Alex: I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5, it's one of the best RPGs in what's been a pretty good year for them.

Ted: You know what, I agree. Pokemon Sun and Moon gets a 4.5. It'd get a 5 if I didn't have to trade with you guys to get all the Pokemon.

Alex: Highly recommended game, if you don't have a Game Boy Nova yet, here's your reason to get one!

-excerpted from the June 20, 2000 episode of GameTV

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June 30, 2000

Satoshi Tajiri couldn't have been happier to hear of Pokemon Sun and Moon's success in North America. He'd gotten a phone call from Howard Lincoln just a few days after the game's release, where Lincoln had told him, "we couldn't be selling Game Boy Novas faster if we'd have cut the price in half". What had started as a fascination with catching bugs had turned into a global phenomenon, and had given him the freedom to do whatever he wished in an industry he deeply loved. There would of course be people clamoring for yet another Pokemon game, and he had many ideas for what the third installment would bring, but there were other concerns. Game Freak was getting the opportunity to develop games other than Pokemon, and Tajiri himself had been asked to come to North America to meet with another of Sony's partners in game development, a company that was about to release two of the year's biggest games one after the other.

Tajiri was familiar with Dog Dash, and had enjoyed the time he'd spent playing it when it was recommended to him by a friend. But the man Satoshi Tajiri was about to meet was mainly responsible for another of the company's franchises: Tales Of The Seven Seas.

Tajiri was seated at a table at one of the best restaurants in Santa Monica, with a representative from Sony Entertainment who had arranged the meeting.

"He's running a little late, I'm sorry," the representative said, looking a bit embarrassed. "We're just about to send the new Seven Seas game to stores and there's a lot of work getting ready, I think he's been at another meeting all morning."

"It's all right," said Tajiri, who would normally frown on such tardiness, though in this case, still riding high from the success of Sun and Moon and excited to be meeting another creative professional, he was more than willing to forgive the breach of etiquette. "It's a very busy time for everyone."

Tajiri wasn't kept waiting long. A member of the wait staff was escorting a man to his table. Tajiri recognized him from a picture in Famitsu magazine as one of the most important game developers at Naughty Dog.

"Mr. Tajiri, this is Mark Cerny," said the Sony representative, as Mr. Cerny extended his hand for Tajiri to shake. Tajiri stood up and did so, and smiled graciously.

"It's an absolute pleasure," said Cerny, his smile equally beaming. "Your game is brilliant. I really hope we can work together someday."

I love this I would like to play alternate Sun and Moon on a Game Boy Nova emulator ...Emulators still exist right?

Are Tracker and Breaker based on a canon character? Im assuming Lake and River would be the IITL counterparts to Sham and Carl from OTL´s manga (Except more incompetent)

So, the E4 seems to be different with Zacharias taking the 4th slot, and Kris/Suki seems to be sightly meaner, but at least not as much as Silver from OTL (Whom is banished due to Giovanni´s son being someone else)

I wonder if Mark Cerny meeting Taijiri means something...

 

[Nintendogamemaster]

"You can't be an assassin if your emotions overwhelm you. You must be willing to do anything to complete your mission. The best ones even start to enjoy what they do."
-Sadira, Blackheart

Blackheart

Blackheart is a stealth/action game developed by Ubisoft for the Ultra Nintendo. Its main character is a female assassin named Sadira Blackheart (though Blackheart isn't her real last name, it's one Sadira gave herself after realizing her coldhearted nature). Sadira herself, while a coldhearted assassin who doesn't mind killing (and in fact, even enjoys some aspects of it), can be rather witty at times and even a bit playful, making cheeky comments toward defeated foes (she's not over the top cheeky like Bayonetta, it's more of a dry wit). Sadira works under the employ of various black ops government organizations to provide a "permanent" solution to dangerous people like crime bosses, terrorists, and even heads of enemy states, by killing them. In order to achieve her missions, Sadira uses a variety of tactics, both lethal and non-lethal, though she always kills her target. The game itself is divided into a series of levels, where Sadira is given various tasks to complete in furtherance of her mission. The gameplay is a sort of proto-Splinter Cell, with elements of games like Metal Gear Solid and even Bayonetta mixed in. As a stealth game, completing missions without being noticed is important, though the game uses a sort of "carrot" rather than "stick" approach to stealth: rather than punishing players for failing to maintain stealth, they are rewarded for being sneaky through damage bonuses, special moves, and even bonus scenes/lines for completing tasks in a stealthy way. Sadira prefers to attack with ranged weapons such as sniper rifles and tranquilizer guns, but isn't afraid to get up close and personal, and has a variety of melee moves to dispatch enemies with (the melee combat aspect of the game is highly praised, even though a skilled player won't need to use melee often). Though she must kill her targets, she can choose to spare the lives of others such as guards and others who interfere with her mission. There's not a lot of open-world type roaming in the game, levels are relatively compact, though there are opportunities to go somewhat off the beaten path and take alternate routes to your goals. The game's voice cast is made up of mostly unknowns, including the main character Sadira: Ubisoft put a lot of money into the game's graphics, and decided to skimp on voice acting. Despite this, the voice acting itself is decently received, with particular praise going to Sadira's voice actress.

The plot of the game is that Sadira has been hired by a very reluctant Interpol to assassinate a criminal overlord named Federov who has gotten his hands on nuclear material and is attempting to find a buyer. Sadira must first track Federov down by hunting down his contacts and associates, killing those who are too dangerous and intimidating others for information. Along the way, Sadira crosses paths multiple times with a woman codenamed Messiah, an ex-special agent gone rogue, who is now Federov's primary bodyguard. Sadira goes all over the world in her hunt for Federov, clashing with Messiah and dodging numerous assassination attempts on her own life as she uncovers more of Federov's evil deeds. Ultimately, Sadira discovers that Federov is trying to sell the material to a man known as the Vindicator, who is attempting to start World War III by bombing numerous cities around the world. Sadira also learns that Messiah is a double-agent who was trying to prevent Federov from selling the nuclear material to a rogue nation, and only serving as his "bodyguard" to keep an eye on his activities. However, Messiah was also given a second mission by her handlers, which is to kill Sadira. Eventually, Sadira kills Federov, tracks down the Vindicator, and has one more battle with Messiah (which she wins, but instead of killing Messiah, she spares her and leaves her in a rather humiliating position). Sadira then kills the Vindicator, preventing nuclear armageddon. She's completed her mission, but as she returns home, we see that Messiah has escaped and is now harboring an extremely deadly grudge against Sadira, setting up a plot thread for the sequel.

Released on August 7, 2000, Blackheart had received a lot of hype prior to its release, with favorable previews in magazines and on the internet. It won several awards at E3, and with the hype mounting, Ubisoft gave the game a substantial promotional push leading up to its release. The game itself didn't disappoint: it won high praise for its gameplay, characters, and storyline, making it one of the best reviewed titles of the year. The excellent reviews and strong promotion drove plenty of sales for the game, and it became one of the Ultra Nintendo's biggest hits of the summer and the beginning of a major franchise for Ubisoft.

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"I enlisted because there were people somewhere in the world who needed my help. Even if I'm the only one fighting, I've gotta help whoever I can."
-Kenneth Perch, Valor

Valor

Naughty Dog's second major Ultra Nintendo game of summer 2000, and its first really serious (and M-rated) game, Valor is a war game in the vein of such games as Battlefield and Medal of Honor, though it differs from those games in that it features a third-person perspective and a great deal of exploration (in the vein of Naughty Dog's epic games from OTL like Uncharted and The Last Of Us). It takes place during World War II, in the days immediately following the D-Day invasion. Kenneth "Ken" Perch is a paratrooper who finds himself separated from his unit, and ends up having to liberate a small French village from a brutal SS commandant. The game takes inspiration from Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, and Naughty Dog put a great deal of time and effort into producing a serious but entertaining World War II game. The combat interface is somewhat similar to OTL's Uncharted titles, in that Ken can take cover, shoot at enemies from distance (using the right control stick for aiming), or sneak up on them for melee attacks. He can even use grenades to take out groups of enemies from afar.

Over the course of the game, Ken undertakes various missions to defend the village from the Nazi soldiers. He spies on their encampments, he lures them out of the village, he sets booby traps for them, he rescues villagers who are being punished by the occupiers, etc. He ultimately becomes a one-man army, though it's clear that Ken is just biding time for the rest of his unit to arrive, and a major plot point of the game is Ken looking for his unit so that he'll have backup to help him take out the Nazis.

The game makes a point of developing Ken's relationships with numerous villagers. It gives him a love interest in a young French widow named Marguerite, whose husband was killed during the initial Nazi invasion in 1940. Ken also befriends a kindly old couple over the course of the game, and also befriends a young boy who reminds him of his younger brother back home. These relationships give Ken a reason to defend the village for more than just an "it's war and I have to kill Nazis" justification, he comes to care about these people like a second family, and whenever any of them is killed (and several of the villagers do die over the course of the story, including the young boy and the old couple), the player truly feels Ken's pain.

Ultimately, Ken's deeds earn him notoriety within the Nazi ranks, and the SS commandant finally sends a crack team of elite troops after Ken, pinning him down with a wounded Marguerite in an old ruin. When all seems lost, the remainder of Ken's unit comes to his rescue, and the final level of the game is an epic battle between Ken's squad and the elite Nazi troops, with Ken and the commandant having a final showdown in an underground bunker. Ken and his squad liberate the village, and Marguerite recovers from her wounds. She begs Ken to stay with her, but he tells her that he's needed with his squad, and that he'll come back once Germany is defeated and France is free. He reunites with Marguerite in the streets of Paris on V-E Day, and asks her to marry him, which she accepts.

Valor is released on August 21, 2000. Its excellent graphics and gameplay and its compelling (and at times heartrending) story earn it excellent reviews that surpass even those for Tales Of The Seven Seas: The Victorian Legacy. It becomes one of the company's biggest hits to date, ultimately selling more than four million total copies to become one of 2000's biggest hits and setting a new standard for war-based video games, surpassing even the praise and sales received by Medal of Honor.

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This Naughty Dog Can Bark

With two of the summer's biggest games under its belt, Naughty Dog is a rising power in the video game industry. Tales Of The Seven Seas: The Victorian Legacy and Valor have already sold a million copies between them, and with excellent reviews for both, they should remain top-selling games for the rest of the year.

But what lies in Naughty Dog's future? Right now, development is in progress on Dog Dash 4, the latest game in the company's hit platformer franchise that's moved more than five million units worldwide. Dog Dash 4 is set for release next spring, and it's going to introduce a new character to Clark and Woofle's world: Jonjo, a mysterious magician who meets the heroes as they journey to a huge tropical island. It's unclear whether Jonjo is friend or foe, and Naughty Dog is keeping tight-lipped on the game, though they've shown off plenty of screenshots detailing the amazing new graphics of the game's tropical locale. Another big project on the way for the company is a platformer title known as Goblins, taking place in a massive underground world. The company is being even more secretive about this game, but promises to reveal more about it by the end of this year.

Then there's Team ND Racing, a kart-racing title in the vein of the famous Mario Kart games. Featuring characters from Dog Dash, Tales Of The Seven Seas, and Crash Bandicoot, it sends them zipping along a variety of fun and zany tracks, giving them weapons to blast one another off the road. So far, 16 playable characters have been revealed, and Naughty Dog is teasing more than 20 available for the finished game. Speaking of Crash Bandicoot, though Naughty Dog has no current plans to make more console games for this current franchise, a port of the original Ultra Nintendo title will be released next year for the Game Boy Nova, with more handheld titles promised if the game sells well. There's also a Tales Of The Seven Seas port in the works for the Nova, and possibly a Team ND Racing port down the road.

When asked if Naughty Dog, which works closely with Sony but is not owned by the company, has plans to release any games for the upcoming Sega Katana system, Andy Gavin stated: "We are proud of our association with Sony and with Nintendo, whose quality game consoles have been the perfect platform for our games to flourish. We have no plans to make any games for Sega's systems at this time." For now, Naughty Dog's games remain exclusive to the Ultra Nintendo, and will be a valuable arrow in Nintendo's quiver once the new generation Sega system is released.

-from an article posted on Gamespot.com on September 16, 2000

Does Team ND Racing has Oxide as a villain like OTL CTR? :O

 

[RySenkari]

...Emulators still exist right?

They do.

Are Tracker and Breaker based on a canon character? Im assuming Lake and River would be the IITL counterparts to Sham and Carl from OTL´s manga (Except more incompetent)

Tracker and Breaker aren't, and Lake and River weren't meant to be like Sham and Carl, but fill a somewhat similar role.

I wonder if Mark Cerny meeting Taijiri means something...

You'll see...

Does Team ND Racing has Oxide as a villain like OTL CTR? :O

It doesn't, since it doesn't focus on Crash like OTL's game.

 

[Nintendogamemaster]

I know I've discussed Undertale with some people before. There's an awful lot of butterflies between now and then that could jeopardize it. I imagine Toby Fox still plays RPGs and is inspired by them, but the RPGs that inspire him ITTL may be very different. He may end up working in an official capacity for a game company by TTL 2016. So Undertale's existence is still up in the air.

Or
1) He gets hired to make the new Earthbound game
2) Due to how updated the technology is in the present, Undertale doesnt exists but Deltarune exists earlier (He said he was planning Deltarune before Undertale, but he wanted to know if he could make a game on his own first, hence why he made UT)
3) A mix of those two, Deltarune becomes the new Earthbound game.

 

[Nivek]

Or
1) He gets hired to make the new Earthbound game
2) Due to how updated the technology is in the present, Undertale doesnt exists but Deltarune exists earlier (He said he was planning Deltarune before Undertale, but he wanted to know if he could make a game on his own first, hence why he made UT)
3) A mix of those two, Deltarune becomes the new Earthbound game.

If homestuck not exist, them undertale neither. Still dunno weve 4 years to figure it out.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

Since we haven't reached 2010 yet. I was wondering if you fellas would be willing to accept my idea for Thomas the Tank Engine during the CGI era.

I can detail this more in a conversation if you want to hear. That or I'll start one anyway.

 

[RySenkari]

Since we haven't reached 2010 yet. I was wondering if you fellas would be willing to accept my idea for Thomas the Tank Engine during the CGI era.

I can detail this more in a conversation if you want to hear. That or I'll start one anyway.

I think your ideas for Thomas would work, we're not planning to do too much with him so I think whatever you have planned will be fine.

No update today, still worn out from Christmas yesterday so I'll try to continue tomorrow.

 

[CaseMonster]

No update today, still worn out from Christmas yesterday so I'll try to continue tomorrow.

Don't feel obligated to update if you want to enjoy yourself for the holidays. It's Christmas after all

 

[Nintendogamemaster]

If homestuck not exist, them undertale neither. Still dunno weve 4 years to figure it out.

Or Deltarune

https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/1057988038914138114

Then again Earthbound exists in both timelines, though on this one as Earthbound 2

 

[Deleted member 100251]

Or Deltarune

https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/1057988038914138114

Then again Earthbound exists in both timelines, though on this one as Earthbound 2

Yea, I agree. I feel like while Homestuck was influential. Earthbound was more. (The games, especially, Deltarune are way more part Earthbound than Homestuck)

 

[Nivek]

Yea, I agree. I feel like while Homestuck was influential. Earthbound was more. (The games, especially, Deltarune are way more part Earthbound than Homestuck)

Yeah but i saw undertale and deltarune i don't think earthbound( i never knew of that hack even was a lurker of eb central) but homestuck, the artstyle, the meta fictional humour, all this homestuck as hell feels like Hoosier videogame more any official one,we could get a far different product if that was pure EB inspired....

 

[HonestAbe1809]

A game with Undertale's basic premise, that of a turn-based RPG that discourages the traditional "kill everything that moves" gameplay, could still be made. Especially with the entire Mother trilogy being localized instead of just the second one.

 

[CaseMonster]

A game with Undertale's basic premise, that of a turn-based RPG that discourages the traditional "kill everything that moves" gameplay, could still be made. Especially with the entire Mother trilogy being localized instead of just the second one.

The problem with that is the Mother series isn't the cult legend it is IOTL. It's seen more in the vein of Lufia or Breath of Fire as a solid series that lacked what made FF the iconic franchise it is today. It's not really a series that would inspire something similar to Undertale.

 

[HonestAbe1809]

Also, I'm bringing back my Game Over counterpart:

Anyone else feel depressed reading about the fate of TTL's Blockbuster? They went from the kings of the movie rental business to having one single location in Oregon. I do give Ry credit for making it plausible that they wouldn't get into streaming by having this "Netflix" be financially struggling for the first few years of its existence instead of being amazing from the get-go. It just makes me wonder what I'd be doing without regular trips to my local Blockbuster to rent a movie.

Can anyone else tell me what they think of the current state of TTL's DCEU? I guess it's a slight improvement to have Aquaman be so bad it's good instead of a repeat of either Justice League or BvS. I'm tentatively holding out hope for Shazam, and while a Batman-less Joker movie feels wrong it also doesn't feel like it's repeating the mistakes of the past.