ITTL's Golden Goal, I suspect.
Which Canadian broadcaster got the rights to Vancouver 2010? Because the call would be very different if its not CTV....
Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium
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Which Canadian broadcaster got the rights to Vancouver 2010? Because the call would be very different if its not CTV....
Speaking of the haiti earthquake, does this incident still happen?
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/329065-bubb-the-love-sponge-vs-awesome-kong
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/329065-bubb-the-love-sponge-vs-awesome-kong
AeroTheZealousOne
Monthly Donor
Ooh, they get their Olympics four years early! (Or in Game Over, we get them four years late.)
At least Venezuela is on a path to avoiding a number of their OTL hardships in the 2010s, but only time will tell. I might comment further but knowing current politics and the mess it is... Uh, yeah no.
Alternate Occupy movement soon?
Keep it all up, as always!
Winter 2010 (Part 10) - More Big Sapphire Exclusives, Is The Hype For Real?
Molten
Molten is an FPS developed by Crytek, the company responsible for the PC hit Crysis and the two Far Cry games. Molten is intended to be a Sapphire exclusive that pushes the system to its graphical limits, and features a large, open world, similar to other Crytek titles. Its protagonist is a soldier who must rescue the rest of his squadron from a terrorist overlord, but after he rescues his team, they learn that things aren't everything they seem, and must escape amidst a furious volcanic event. The game combines realistic military shooting mechanics with elements of sci-fi shooters, with much of the sci-fi elements coming in after the big plot twist. The game also forces the player to carefully regulate the protagonist's heat level, as they'll be around volcanic lava for a decent portion of the game and it's quite easy for them to overheat, requiring the use of protective armor and shelter to avoid the worst of the volcano's fury. The game features a wide array of destructible environments, which play a big part in both combat and exploration, forcing the player to react quickly and think on their toes in most situations. The game itself takes place primarily across six islands, though only four of them play a major role in the game. Every single island contains some level of volcanic activity, with the largest volcano being on the biggest island and having a massive factory complex built into it. The player will spend much of the first half of the game rescuing their five squadmates from various predicaments, with the terrorists playing the role of typical villains, shooting at the protagonist and generally trying to impede his progress. Once a squadmate is rescued, they don't have to be protected, so the game never takes on any kind of escort elements. Indeed, the game almost plays like a Metroid-vania esque title, or even modern OTL Doom, with a lot of backtracking and the collecting of weapons and items to increase the player's capabilities. The protagonist is referred to as Captain, but he isn't actually named until midway through the story, when he's referred to by his last name of Beech. Beech and his squad were given a mission to take out terrorists on these volcanic islands, but their mission was sabotaged and they were all captured, with Beech managing to escape and make his way onto a small island where the game's tutorial takes place. Eventually, Beech finds his way to a nearby, larger island and begins rescuing his comrades one by one, with each rescue revealing more of the story. Eventually, Beech saves all of his comrades but one, a woman named Lia, who is being held captive on the biggest island inside a factory carved into the volcano. When Beech goes to rescue Lia, the game's main plot twist is revealed: the volcanic islands are actually a futuristic geothermal energy plant, and Beech is actually a mercenary sent by a corporation to take the plant, with the soldiers being Beech's unwitting accomplices. The so-called terrorists are actually scientists, whose activities, while unethical, are fully sanctioned by a rival corporation. Beech's squadmates, with the exception of Lia, all abandon him and want to get off the islands, but Beech feels compelled to complete his mission, and Lia feels compelled to help him. The second half of the game sees Beech and Lia trying to seize a piece of technology that powers the plant, but accidentally causing the whole plant to go haywire, triggering a catastrophic volcanic eruption that will cause a megatsunami if not contained. Eventually, Beech's squadmates return to help him, not for Beech's sake, but to prevent the disaster. Beech's corporation comes in to seize the plant, but Beech turns on them with the help of Lia and his soldiers, and the final missions of the game are primarily concerned with stopping them and stopping the disaster. Beech manages to kill the evil CEO of his corporation and stop the tsunami, but is fatally wounded in the process, and all of his squadmates except for Lia and one other have also been killed. Lia promises to get the truth of what happened to the right people and stop similar calamities from happening, and the ending of the game shows a dying Beech watching Lia and her escort leave the islands via helicopter as they are slowly overrun with lava.
Molten is extremely well reviewed by critics, who heavily praise both the graphics and gameplay, calling it Crytek's best work since Crysis and probably the Sapphire's best looking game to date. It's still an FPS at its heart, but with its exceptional production values and unique gameplay, it earns a place amongst the best console FPS games. Its multiplayer is also highly praised, and while it doesn't quite become the most popular multiplayer online FPS on the Sapphire, it remains quite popular in this capacity for years to come. It's released in February 2010, and becomes the best selling new game of the month, making it a bigger hit than the disappointing Far Cry 2 and reestablishing Crytek as one of the leaders in the genre. The company would set out to make Far Cry 3 on the success of Molten, using ideas garnered from it to make their new game the best it can possibly be.
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Arcadia
Arcadia is a 3-D action/adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo exclusively for the Nintendo Sapphire. The game is both a tribute to and a revival of classic arcade games, featuring gameplay reminiscent of classic space shooters and action titles, and featuring elements key to those classic arcade games. Arcadia can be played either as a single player experience with three AI companions, or as a multiplayer experience for 2-4 human players, all playing locally (Arcadia does have an online component, but only competitive, not co-op). Arcadia tells the story of four arcade gamers, two men and two women, called to defend the world of Arcadia from the invasion of the evil space warlord Gargaxanon, a composite of classic arcade villains but most similar to Sinistar. Everything done in Arcadia, from collecting items to killing enemies to discovering new locations, earns points that can be spent on upgrades, either temporary or permanent, from a store that upgrades its inventory every time the player progresses a little bit. Arcadia is a very light hearted game, full of tongue in cheek moments and humor, and though it has a few serious scenes, it's mostly a humorous game, with four genre savvy protagonists constantly pointing out the different tropes and cliches in the game. The four protagonists are as follows:
Tommy: A stereotypical arcade nerd, he geeks out about everything and is the most enthusiastic about getting sucked into a video game world, though when push comes to shove he's a bit incompetent. He's voiced by Jerry Trainor.
Peter: Somewhat more cautious than Tommy, Peter is an arcade expert, but just wants to go home and is constantly pointing out how dangerous everything is. He's voiced by Khary Payton.
Zee: Zee styles herself as somewhat of a badass, and is quite confident in her own abilities, but this confidence hides some deep insecurities about herself, and her vulnerable side quickly comes out after things get intense. She's voiced by Stephanie Lemelin.
Rikki: Rikki is a technical genius and intensely curious about the details of the world the group finds itself in. She's the happiest and perkiest of the group, and has a hidden violent side when fighting enemies. She's voiced by Riki Lindhome, and the developers named the character after her.
Gargaxanon is voiced by Frank Welker, using something very similar to his Megatron voice (another old school homage). Arcadia, typical of an arcade game, is chock full of bosses, with each of the game's nine "mega worlds" having its own big boss, and then mini-bosses galore fought throughout the game's worlds. The player can pick any of the protagonists for any level, and can switch between them freely at the shop hubs located throughout each world in numerous different places. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, but can also utilize most of the game's weaponry, so it doesn't make a huge difference which one the player selects, the game is just as difficult with any of the four. The game's graphics, while not hugely technically impressive, use a lot of neat effects to properly simulate an old school arcade game transported into the modern world, giving it a surreal, fantastical look, with each of the "mega worlds" all having their own visual feel.
The game's plot begins with the four protagonists competing together as a team at their local arcade in a team competition. Immediately after they win, they find themselves transported into a virtual metropolis, where they are greeted by an elaborately dressed man who tells them that they were brought here for their "mad skills" and that they'll get to go home as soon as they help repel Gargaxanon's alien army, which immediately begins attacking the city. The game proceeds from there, with the four fighting their way through the city and repelling an invasion, and then journeying to numerous other worlds, including a medieval fantasy castle world invoking the classic game Adventure, a forested world that features elements from games like Centipede, a suburban town with tributes to Paperboy and Tapper, and even a giant maze with elements of Pac-Man. Nintendo and Retro collaborated with numerous other game companies to allow elements of certain arcade games into this one, and of course we get a massive tribute to Donkey Kong in there as well, even the return of Stanley the Bugman, who helps the four heroes defeat Donkey Kong once and for all in a late game segment. Finally, the heroes battle their way through space to Gargaxanon's lair, with more tributes to games like Asteroids and Galaga contained within. They at last reach Gargaxanon, defeating him and saving the day, only for the elaborately dressed man to reveal that he has no plans to let the heroes go, as they're needed to defeat more enemies who will inevitably show up. This leads to the final battle, in which the heroes challenge the residents of Arcadia to a massive gauntlet challenge for their freedom. After conquering this final gauntlet, they literally smash out of an arcade machine back into the arcade where they were before the events of the game.
Having been massively hyped for nearly two years, Arcadia largely lives up to the hype, scoring excellent reviews and proving quite popular amongst both fans and critics. It's released into a crowded March 2010, and though it doesn't top the month in sales, it's one of the month's top selling games, and proves to have excellent sales staying power, ultimately selling several million copies. It's not QUITE the revolutionary action game it was hyped up to be, but it's still a major success, probably Retro's biggest hit to date.
Molten is an FPS developed by Crytek, the company responsible for the PC hit Crysis and the two Far Cry games. Molten is intended to be a Sapphire exclusive that pushes the system to its graphical limits, and features a large, open world, similar to other Crytek titles. Its protagonist is a soldier who must rescue the rest of his squadron from a terrorist overlord, but after he rescues his team, they learn that things aren't everything they seem, and must escape amidst a furious volcanic event. The game combines realistic military shooting mechanics with elements of sci-fi shooters, with much of the sci-fi elements coming in after the big plot twist. The game also forces the player to carefully regulate the protagonist's heat level, as they'll be around volcanic lava for a decent portion of the game and it's quite easy for them to overheat, requiring the use of protective armor and shelter to avoid the worst of the volcano's fury. The game features a wide array of destructible environments, which play a big part in both combat and exploration, forcing the player to react quickly and think on their toes in most situations. The game itself takes place primarily across six islands, though only four of them play a major role in the game. Every single island contains some level of volcanic activity, with the largest volcano being on the biggest island and having a massive factory complex built into it. The player will spend much of the first half of the game rescuing their five squadmates from various predicaments, with the terrorists playing the role of typical villains, shooting at the protagonist and generally trying to impede his progress. Once a squadmate is rescued, they don't have to be protected, so the game never takes on any kind of escort elements. Indeed, the game almost plays like a Metroid-vania esque title, or even modern OTL Doom, with a lot of backtracking and the collecting of weapons and items to increase the player's capabilities. The protagonist is referred to as Captain, but he isn't actually named until midway through the story, when he's referred to by his last name of Beech. Beech and his squad were given a mission to take out terrorists on these volcanic islands, but their mission was sabotaged and they were all captured, with Beech managing to escape and make his way onto a small island where the game's tutorial takes place. Eventually, Beech finds his way to a nearby, larger island and begins rescuing his comrades one by one, with each rescue revealing more of the story. Eventually, Beech saves all of his comrades but one, a woman named Lia, who is being held captive on the biggest island inside a factory carved into the volcano. When Beech goes to rescue Lia, the game's main plot twist is revealed: the volcanic islands are actually a futuristic geothermal energy plant, and Beech is actually a mercenary sent by a corporation to take the plant, with the soldiers being Beech's unwitting accomplices. The so-called terrorists are actually scientists, whose activities, while unethical, are fully sanctioned by a rival corporation. Beech's squadmates, with the exception of Lia, all abandon him and want to get off the islands, but Beech feels compelled to complete his mission, and Lia feels compelled to help him. The second half of the game sees Beech and Lia trying to seize a piece of technology that powers the plant, but accidentally causing the whole plant to go haywire, triggering a catastrophic volcanic eruption that will cause a megatsunami if not contained. Eventually, Beech's squadmates return to help him, not for Beech's sake, but to prevent the disaster. Beech's corporation comes in to seize the plant, but Beech turns on them with the help of Lia and his soldiers, and the final missions of the game are primarily concerned with stopping them and stopping the disaster. Beech manages to kill the evil CEO of his corporation and stop the tsunami, but is fatally wounded in the process, and all of his squadmates except for Lia and one other have also been killed. Lia promises to get the truth of what happened to the right people and stop similar calamities from happening, and the ending of the game shows a dying Beech watching Lia and her escort leave the islands via helicopter as they are slowly overrun with lava.
Molten is extremely well reviewed by critics, who heavily praise both the graphics and gameplay, calling it Crytek's best work since Crysis and probably the Sapphire's best looking game to date. It's still an FPS at its heart, but with its exceptional production values and unique gameplay, it earns a place amongst the best console FPS games. Its multiplayer is also highly praised, and while it doesn't quite become the most popular multiplayer online FPS on the Sapphire, it remains quite popular in this capacity for years to come. It's released in February 2010, and becomes the best selling new game of the month, making it a bigger hit than the disappointing Far Cry 2 and reestablishing Crytek as one of the leaders in the genre. The company would set out to make Far Cry 3 on the success of Molten, using ideas garnered from it to make their new game the best it can possibly be.
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Arcadia
Arcadia is a 3-D action/adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo exclusively for the Nintendo Sapphire. The game is both a tribute to and a revival of classic arcade games, featuring gameplay reminiscent of classic space shooters and action titles, and featuring elements key to those classic arcade games. Arcadia can be played either as a single player experience with three AI companions, or as a multiplayer experience for 2-4 human players, all playing locally (Arcadia does have an online component, but only competitive, not co-op). Arcadia tells the story of four arcade gamers, two men and two women, called to defend the world of Arcadia from the invasion of the evil space warlord Gargaxanon, a composite of classic arcade villains but most similar to Sinistar. Everything done in Arcadia, from collecting items to killing enemies to discovering new locations, earns points that can be spent on upgrades, either temporary or permanent, from a store that upgrades its inventory every time the player progresses a little bit. Arcadia is a very light hearted game, full of tongue in cheek moments and humor, and though it has a few serious scenes, it's mostly a humorous game, with four genre savvy protagonists constantly pointing out the different tropes and cliches in the game. The four protagonists are as follows:
Tommy: A stereotypical arcade nerd, he geeks out about everything and is the most enthusiastic about getting sucked into a video game world, though when push comes to shove he's a bit incompetent. He's voiced by Jerry Trainor.
Peter: Somewhat more cautious than Tommy, Peter is an arcade expert, but just wants to go home and is constantly pointing out how dangerous everything is. He's voiced by Khary Payton.
Zee: Zee styles herself as somewhat of a badass, and is quite confident in her own abilities, but this confidence hides some deep insecurities about herself, and her vulnerable side quickly comes out after things get intense. She's voiced by Stephanie Lemelin.
Rikki: Rikki is a technical genius and intensely curious about the details of the world the group finds itself in. She's the happiest and perkiest of the group, and has a hidden violent side when fighting enemies. She's voiced by Riki Lindhome, and the developers named the character after her.
Gargaxanon is voiced by Frank Welker, using something very similar to his Megatron voice (another old school homage). Arcadia, typical of an arcade game, is chock full of bosses, with each of the game's nine "mega worlds" having its own big boss, and then mini-bosses galore fought throughout the game's worlds. The player can pick any of the protagonists for any level, and can switch between them freely at the shop hubs located throughout each world in numerous different places. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, but can also utilize most of the game's weaponry, so it doesn't make a huge difference which one the player selects, the game is just as difficult with any of the four. The game's graphics, while not hugely technically impressive, use a lot of neat effects to properly simulate an old school arcade game transported into the modern world, giving it a surreal, fantastical look, with each of the "mega worlds" all having their own visual feel.
The game's plot begins with the four protagonists competing together as a team at their local arcade in a team competition. Immediately after they win, they find themselves transported into a virtual metropolis, where they are greeted by an elaborately dressed man who tells them that they were brought here for their "mad skills" and that they'll get to go home as soon as they help repel Gargaxanon's alien army, which immediately begins attacking the city. The game proceeds from there, with the four fighting their way through the city and repelling an invasion, and then journeying to numerous other worlds, including a medieval fantasy castle world invoking the classic game Adventure, a forested world that features elements from games like Centipede, a suburban town with tributes to Paperboy and Tapper, and even a giant maze with elements of Pac-Man. Nintendo and Retro collaborated with numerous other game companies to allow elements of certain arcade games into this one, and of course we get a massive tribute to Donkey Kong in there as well, even the return of Stanley the Bugman, who helps the four heroes defeat Donkey Kong once and for all in a late game segment. Finally, the heroes battle their way through space to Gargaxanon's lair, with more tributes to games like Asteroids and Galaga contained within. They at last reach Gargaxanon, defeating him and saving the day, only for the elaborately dressed man to reveal that he has no plans to let the heroes go, as they're needed to defeat more enemies who will inevitably show up. This leads to the final battle, in which the heroes challenge the residents of Arcadia to a massive gauntlet challenge for their freedom. After conquering this final gauntlet, they literally smash out of an arcade machine back into the arcade where they were before the events of the game.
Having been massively hyped for nearly two years, Arcadia largely lives up to the hype, scoring excellent reviews and proving quite popular amongst both fans and critics. It's released into a crowded March 2010, and though it doesn't top the month in sales, it's one of the month's top selling games, and proves to have excellent sales staying power, ultimately selling several million copies. It's not QUITE the revolutionary action game it was hyped up to be, but it's still a major success, probably Retro's biggest hit to date.
Winter 2010 (Part 11) - Destined
Destined
Destined is a video game produced by Acclaim, and the centerpiece of a massive multimedia franchise encompassing the game, a comic line, a TV show, and tie-in merchandise spread out over the first half of the 2010s. The game is an action title that follows six teenage heroes, each of whom discovers that they have superpowers, and who decide to come together to battle evil despite their personal issues and despite the difficulty they have in bringing their powers under control. The game itself combines a structured (but slightly open world) action game with combat somewhat similar to the Mortal Kombat fighting style (but less bloody and violent), and marries all of that to a narrative that gives each of the game's six main characters time to shine. The player will need to get familiar with all six main characters, each of whom is the focus of one of the game's main chapters. The player will usually be fighting alongside at least one other hero, and it's important to coordinate attacks and protect the hero or heroes fighting alongside you (even though you don't usually get a game over when you let your hero partner die, their help in combat is invaluable). In addition to combat, the player will sometimes need to complete other objectives using their character's powers, and this can be difficult to do at first, as the game will initially throw players into the deep end without a tutorial in order to give them a feel of what it's like to not have complete control. This serves more as a narrative function than something used to artificially increase difficulty, and after a couple of trial and error moments, the narrative will then give the player more instruction and control. This game isn't open-ended in the same way that Spider-Man: Over The Edge is, it's not a sandbox game, and while it does give the player some freedom (usually for one or two short segments per chapter), it does have an extremely tight narrative. Each character is capable of basic melee strikes and a small set of shared moves, but for the most part, the characters all have a unique set of powers and each one of them controls somewhat differently, requiring different strategies and skillsets for each one. Some characters can fly, but not all. Some characters are faster or stronger than others, and so each chapter is almost like relearning a brand new game, but it does give the player time to decide which character they're best with.
The six main protagonists of the game are:
Matt: The primary protagonist of the game, or at least the first of the six heroes that the player gets to control, Matt has the ability to utilize electricity, with a power set fairly close to the protagonist of OTL's Infamous games. He can even travel on electrical power lines once he gains enough control of his powers. He's voiced by Drake Bell.
Sarah: Sarah has the ability of precognition, enabling her to see things a few seconds before they happen. Combined with her super speed, this gives her the ability to dodge and react to just about anything, though she is a bit fragile in combat. Sarah is voiced by Kelsey Lansdowne.
Brazer: Brazer is the “brute strength” fighter of the bunch, with the ability to light himself on fire and strike with powerful fists, as well as lift things and throw them really far. He can throw fireballs as well, giving players a wide variety of unique attacks to use with him. He's voiced by Troy Baker.
Canopa: Canopa has the ability to turn into a bat and shoot sonic waves at people. She can also shoot sonic waves when she's not in her bat form, so her powers have dual utility and enable her to shake things apart as well. She's voiced by Sara Tomko.
Jillian: Jillian is a cheerleader turned superheroine who has the ability to manipulate matter and transform the state of objects. She initially has the most trouble controlling her powers at first, causing problems for the team (her powers are also the toughest for the player to get used to), but she eventually becomes a valuable fighter once she gains confidence. She's voiced by Nathalie Kelley.
Arty: Arty is gifted with telepathy and telekinesis, enabling him to move objects with his mind and manipulate the minds of others. His wide ranging psychic powers make him quite useful but also quite intimidating, even to the members of his team. He's voiced by Crawford Wilson.
Destined features a graphical style that's not quite realistic, giving the characters somewhat of a comic-book feel, but still presenting everything in superb detail, making it probably Acclaim's best looking game to date. The game actually releases about six months after a tie-in comic that sort of introduces each of the characters and their superpowers, but reading it isn't necessary to understand the game. However, Acclaim does make the first issue of the comic available with the game's $79.99 special edition (along with a t-shirt, a mini art-book, and a steelbook). The game is divided into seven chapters, with the first six chapters having you play solo as one of the six main heroes (the chapters are all in order, so you can't choose which one to do first). Even though only one hero is playable in each of the first six chapters, the other heroes do make occasional cameo appearances in each other's chapters, so the player does get to see the characters and their friendship developing throughout the game. The final chapter, in which all the heroes come together, has one last segment in which the player is required to play a little bit with each of the heroes, which helps to decide whose playstyle they might prefer.
Destined begins with chapter 1, Matt's chapter, and by now, all six of the heroes already have their superpowers, but none of them have gotten the hang of them, and each of the heroes is dealing with problems in their personal lives caused by their powers, with Matt struggling to control his electrical abilities. The events of the game kick off properly after Matt saves his crush, the cheerleader Jillian, from a mugger, and eventually discovers that she too has powers after he gets in trouble for accidentally shocking someone. This chapter also introduces both Sarah and Brazer, and also the game's primary antagonist, another teenage boy named Rob, although for the moment Rob is Matt's friend and tries to help him. The chapter ends with Matt forced to flee from government agents after another incident with his electrical powers. Control then shifts to Sarah, who initially uses her powers to stop a bank robbery and save a bunch of people from a fire (that Brazer inadvertently caused). We get a glimpse of Canopa for the first time in this chapter, and also Arty, who we are set up to believe might be the game's villain after he uses his telepathy to mind control some people into helping him steal something. Sarah and Arty eventually get into a fight in which she survives by dodging the things he throws at her, and we also see another glimpse of Rob, who is able to create pocket dimensions, and who pulls Arty through one as the chapter ends. The next chapter is Chapter 3, which starts with Brazer on the run after accidentally starting a fire. He hooks up with Canopa, who helps him escape, and also with Jillian, who is unable to get her own powers under control. The three are attacked by some kind of robotic creature, and are ultimately saved when Matt arrives and helps to short it out. The four realize that some kind of evil conspiracy is going on, but aren't sure what or how to stop it or even to bring their powers under control, and the four eventually are forced to part. Canopa's chapter is next, and it takes a bit of a dive into the surreal, as she spends some time journeying with Sarah, and then finds Arty and Rob. Canopa is the only one amongst them who is suspicious of Rob's intentions, but Arty thinks Rob is helping him, and Sarah thinks that Rob can help them all learn to control their powers. The chapter ends with a massive disaster breaking out in the city, seemingly caused by Jillian, who is being attacked by mysterious creatures and government soldiers. Canopa saves Jillian's life but is knocked unconscious, and Chapter 5 begins with Jillian bringing Canopa to safety, then reuniting with Matt and Sarah. There's a bit of a love triangle plot going on here, but it's mostly window dressing to the main plot, which concerns the heroes learning of another group of heroes being brought together by Rob. Jillian doesn't trust Rob (as she trusts Canopa's judgment), but Matt and Sarah aren't sure what to believe. They manage to find Brazer, who is battling a pair of superpowered assailants, and after helping him, learn from Brazer that Rob isn't entirely on the level. Ultimately, Rob has been setting up a plan to take over the city with the help of recruited superheroes, and using his pocket dimension to trap those who try to oppose him. A massive battle breaks out between Matt, Sarah, Brazer, Jillian, and Rob's helpers and robot horde. Jillian manages to get her powers somewhat under control, surprising Rob and taking out two of his most powerful soldiers, only for Arty to stop her with his own power. Arty is convinced to turn on Rob, but he is pulled into Rob's pocket dimension along with Matt. Chapter 6 has Arty forced to master his powers in order to escape Rob's psychic prison and also to save Matt. Arty manages to break out, only to learn that Canopa is in danger. He and Matt go to rescue her, only to find that Rob has already arrived and is planning to kill her. Arty uses his psychic powers to break Rob's hold over Canopa, and she sonic blasts him into his own pocket dimension, seemingly defeating him. The six heroes unite, only to realize that Rob's activities have brought all the supers to the attention of the authorities, who have issued a kill order for all superpowered individuals. Chapter 7 begins with the heroes each evading government agents in their own way, then coming together to decide what to do, only for Rob to break out of the dimension he was trapped in. His time being trapped has broken his mind, and now he seeks to suck the entire world into a massive abyss. The superheroes unite their powers to stop him in a spectacular battle between time and space, and eventually Rob is defeated once and for all. Upon witnessing the heroics of the superpowered team, the government agrees to drop their kill order, but the superheroes must register with the government and only use their powers when called upon to do so. The heroes agree to this, having been exhausted from their adventure, but the six decide to meet in secret to train together, just in case they have to go it alone someday.
Destined is one of the most hyped titles Acclaim has ever released, and the comic, which came out in 2009, only helps to build the hype. The game is released for the Sapphire, iTwin, and Xbox 2, becoming one of March 2010's top selling games amidst very strong reviews that praise both the characters and gameplay. In addition to the game, a TV-14 animated series is released on Adult Swim in the fall of 2010, following the events of the game and depicting the characters' activities as an official superhero team sanctioned by the government, depicting not just their heroic battles, but their trials and tribulations as young adults as well (and, like other shows of this type, shipping becomes quite popular in this fandom). The show is somewhat of a more mature Young Justice type show, with the voice actors from the game all reprising their roles. As Acclaim's first IP intended from the beginning to be a multimedia crossover franchise, it succeeds decently well in all aspects, from the comic to the games to the show. It's not a mega-hit IP like some of the super popular Marvel or DC properties, but apart from Mortal Kombat, Destined is probably the company's second most popular IP, surpassing even the mighty Turok. It's the biggest example yet of a game company using its holdings in all forms of media to create a crossover franchise, and it won't be the last.
Destined is a video game produced by Acclaim, and the centerpiece of a massive multimedia franchise encompassing the game, a comic line, a TV show, and tie-in merchandise spread out over the first half of the 2010s. The game is an action title that follows six teenage heroes, each of whom discovers that they have superpowers, and who decide to come together to battle evil despite their personal issues and despite the difficulty they have in bringing their powers under control. The game itself combines a structured (but slightly open world) action game with combat somewhat similar to the Mortal Kombat fighting style (but less bloody and violent), and marries all of that to a narrative that gives each of the game's six main characters time to shine. The player will need to get familiar with all six main characters, each of whom is the focus of one of the game's main chapters. The player will usually be fighting alongside at least one other hero, and it's important to coordinate attacks and protect the hero or heroes fighting alongside you (even though you don't usually get a game over when you let your hero partner die, their help in combat is invaluable). In addition to combat, the player will sometimes need to complete other objectives using their character's powers, and this can be difficult to do at first, as the game will initially throw players into the deep end without a tutorial in order to give them a feel of what it's like to not have complete control. This serves more as a narrative function than something used to artificially increase difficulty, and after a couple of trial and error moments, the narrative will then give the player more instruction and control. This game isn't open-ended in the same way that Spider-Man: Over The Edge is, it's not a sandbox game, and while it does give the player some freedom (usually for one or two short segments per chapter), it does have an extremely tight narrative. Each character is capable of basic melee strikes and a small set of shared moves, but for the most part, the characters all have a unique set of powers and each one of them controls somewhat differently, requiring different strategies and skillsets for each one. Some characters can fly, but not all. Some characters are faster or stronger than others, and so each chapter is almost like relearning a brand new game, but it does give the player time to decide which character they're best with.
The six main protagonists of the game are:
Matt: The primary protagonist of the game, or at least the first of the six heroes that the player gets to control, Matt has the ability to utilize electricity, with a power set fairly close to the protagonist of OTL's Infamous games. He can even travel on electrical power lines once he gains enough control of his powers. He's voiced by Drake Bell.
Sarah: Sarah has the ability of precognition, enabling her to see things a few seconds before they happen. Combined with her super speed, this gives her the ability to dodge and react to just about anything, though she is a bit fragile in combat. Sarah is voiced by Kelsey Lansdowne.
Brazer: Brazer is the “brute strength” fighter of the bunch, with the ability to light himself on fire and strike with powerful fists, as well as lift things and throw them really far. He can throw fireballs as well, giving players a wide variety of unique attacks to use with him. He's voiced by Troy Baker.
Canopa: Canopa has the ability to turn into a bat and shoot sonic waves at people. She can also shoot sonic waves when she's not in her bat form, so her powers have dual utility and enable her to shake things apart as well. She's voiced by Sara Tomko.
Jillian: Jillian is a cheerleader turned superheroine who has the ability to manipulate matter and transform the state of objects. She initially has the most trouble controlling her powers at first, causing problems for the team (her powers are also the toughest for the player to get used to), but she eventually becomes a valuable fighter once she gains confidence. She's voiced by Nathalie Kelley.
Arty: Arty is gifted with telepathy and telekinesis, enabling him to move objects with his mind and manipulate the minds of others. His wide ranging psychic powers make him quite useful but also quite intimidating, even to the members of his team. He's voiced by Crawford Wilson.
Destined features a graphical style that's not quite realistic, giving the characters somewhat of a comic-book feel, but still presenting everything in superb detail, making it probably Acclaim's best looking game to date. The game actually releases about six months after a tie-in comic that sort of introduces each of the characters and their superpowers, but reading it isn't necessary to understand the game. However, Acclaim does make the first issue of the comic available with the game's $79.99 special edition (along with a t-shirt, a mini art-book, and a steelbook). The game is divided into seven chapters, with the first six chapters having you play solo as one of the six main heroes (the chapters are all in order, so you can't choose which one to do first). Even though only one hero is playable in each of the first six chapters, the other heroes do make occasional cameo appearances in each other's chapters, so the player does get to see the characters and their friendship developing throughout the game. The final chapter, in which all the heroes come together, has one last segment in which the player is required to play a little bit with each of the heroes, which helps to decide whose playstyle they might prefer.
Destined begins with chapter 1, Matt's chapter, and by now, all six of the heroes already have their superpowers, but none of them have gotten the hang of them, and each of the heroes is dealing with problems in their personal lives caused by their powers, with Matt struggling to control his electrical abilities. The events of the game kick off properly after Matt saves his crush, the cheerleader Jillian, from a mugger, and eventually discovers that she too has powers after he gets in trouble for accidentally shocking someone. This chapter also introduces both Sarah and Brazer, and also the game's primary antagonist, another teenage boy named Rob, although for the moment Rob is Matt's friend and tries to help him. The chapter ends with Matt forced to flee from government agents after another incident with his electrical powers. Control then shifts to Sarah, who initially uses her powers to stop a bank robbery and save a bunch of people from a fire (that Brazer inadvertently caused). We get a glimpse of Canopa for the first time in this chapter, and also Arty, who we are set up to believe might be the game's villain after he uses his telepathy to mind control some people into helping him steal something. Sarah and Arty eventually get into a fight in which she survives by dodging the things he throws at her, and we also see another glimpse of Rob, who is able to create pocket dimensions, and who pulls Arty through one as the chapter ends. The next chapter is Chapter 3, which starts with Brazer on the run after accidentally starting a fire. He hooks up with Canopa, who helps him escape, and also with Jillian, who is unable to get her own powers under control. The three are attacked by some kind of robotic creature, and are ultimately saved when Matt arrives and helps to short it out. The four realize that some kind of evil conspiracy is going on, but aren't sure what or how to stop it or even to bring their powers under control, and the four eventually are forced to part. Canopa's chapter is next, and it takes a bit of a dive into the surreal, as she spends some time journeying with Sarah, and then finds Arty and Rob. Canopa is the only one amongst them who is suspicious of Rob's intentions, but Arty thinks Rob is helping him, and Sarah thinks that Rob can help them all learn to control their powers. The chapter ends with a massive disaster breaking out in the city, seemingly caused by Jillian, who is being attacked by mysterious creatures and government soldiers. Canopa saves Jillian's life but is knocked unconscious, and Chapter 5 begins with Jillian bringing Canopa to safety, then reuniting with Matt and Sarah. There's a bit of a love triangle plot going on here, but it's mostly window dressing to the main plot, which concerns the heroes learning of another group of heroes being brought together by Rob. Jillian doesn't trust Rob (as she trusts Canopa's judgment), but Matt and Sarah aren't sure what to believe. They manage to find Brazer, who is battling a pair of superpowered assailants, and after helping him, learn from Brazer that Rob isn't entirely on the level. Ultimately, Rob has been setting up a plan to take over the city with the help of recruited superheroes, and using his pocket dimension to trap those who try to oppose him. A massive battle breaks out between Matt, Sarah, Brazer, Jillian, and Rob's helpers and robot horde. Jillian manages to get her powers somewhat under control, surprising Rob and taking out two of his most powerful soldiers, only for Arty to stop her with his own power. Arty is convinced to turn on Rob, but he is pulled into Rob's pocket dimension along with Matt. Chapter 6 has Arty forced to master his powers in order to escape Rob's psychic prison and also to save Matt. Arty manages to break out, only to learn that Canopa is in danger. He and Matt go to rescue her, only to find that Rob has already arrived and is planning to kill her. Arty uses his psychic powers to break Rob's hold over Canopa, and she sonic blasts him into his own pocket dimension, seemingly defeating him. The six heroes unite, only to realize that Rob's activities have brought all the supers to the attention of the authorities, who have issued a kill order for all superpowered individuals. Chapter 7 begins with the heroes each evading government agents in their own way, then coming together to decide what to do, only for Rob to break out of the dimension he was trapped in. His time being trapped has broken his mind, and now he seeks to suck the entire world into a massive abyss. The superheroes unite their powers to stop him in a spectacular battle between time and space, and eventually Rob is defeated once and for all. Upon witnessing the heroics of the superpowered team, the government agrees to drop their kill order, but the superheroes must register with the government and only use their powers when called upon to do so. The heroes agree to this, having been exhausted from their adventure, but the six decide to meet in secret to train together, just in case they have to go it alone someday.
Destined is one of the most hyped titles Acclaim has ever released, and the comic, which came out in 2009, only helps to build the hype. The game is released for the Sapphire, iTwin, and Xbox 2, becoming one of March 2010's top selling games amidst very strong reviews that praise both the characters and gameplay. In addition to the game, a TV-14 animated series is released on Adult Swim in the fall of 2010, following the events of the game and depicting the characters' activities as an official superhero team sanctioned by the government, depicting not just their heroic battles, but their trials and tribulations as young adults as well (and, like other shows of this type, shipping becomes quite popular in this fandom). The show is somewhat of a more mature Young Justice type show, with the voice actors from the game all reprising their roles. As Acclaim's first IP intended from the beginning to be a multimedia crossover franchise, it succeeds decently well in all aspects, from the comic to the games to the show. It's not a mega-hit IP like some of the super popular Marvel or DC properties, but apart from Mortal Kombat, Destined is probably the company's second most popular IP, surpassing even the mighty Turok. It's the biggest example yet of a game company using its holdings in all forms of media to create a crossover franchise, and it won't be the last.
@RySenkari, can I put up my first Disney Parks post now? (It's in PM if you want to look it over first.)
A Disney Parks Retrospective, Part One: Discovering the Future
"I can't tell you just how happy I am that this, that Discovery Bay is finally realized. We here at Walt Disney Imagineering have been churning out concept art and models for almost two decades now... had The Island at the Top of the World not been such a flop back in '77, this land would've been here then. But, I mean, it's here now, and it's all thanks to good old Mike Eisner. I can only see good things to come from here."
-Tony Baxter in a 1995 interview on the opening of Discovery Bay at Disneyland
Ever since the death of Walt Disney in 1966, his company struggled to find their footing with their chief creative mind gone. In the 1970s and early 80s, they floundered, with mediocre films like 1973's Robin Hood and 1981's The Fox and the Hound not doing much to help their reputation, especially as rival studios like Don Bluth's stepped up to the plate and hit a few home runs with The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, and The Land Before Time.
So when Michael Eisner stepped in as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company, the world watched in bated breath. The first few years went horribly, most notably with the outstanding flop that was 1985's The Black Cauldron, but soon, Eisner helped the company find its ground with the Disney Renaissance and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King. With all these excess funds flowing into the pockets of the House of Mouse, it only seemed natural to turn it towards their other, possibly even more famous division: the Disney Parks.
The first item on the list was the grand opening of Euro Disneyland, just outside of Paris, France in 1992. Eisner and Disney had set their expectations very, very low, understanding that the French weren't as accepting of American culture as the Japanese were. The company had even toned down its policies on their Cast Members' outward appearances, as their normal standards concerning things like facial hair were actually illegal to prohibit in France.
Luckily, the park managed to burst all expectations, causing massive traffic jams all over the region as as many as half a million people made their way to Euro Disneyland. This was mostly due to the fact that Disney themselves had projected a low turnout, leading to most major news outlets of the region not bothering to warn drivers of the possibility of massive congestion. Nevertheless, Euro Disneyland was a teriffic success for the company, and made Eisner comfortable with greenlighting Tony Baxter's big idea: Discovery Bay.
Euro Disneyland most notably departed from the standard "castle park" style with their steampunkversion of Tomorrowland, named Discoveryland, based on the works of famed European writers like Jules Verne. This was not only to appeal to their Parisian audience, but also as a "dry run," of sorts, for Baxter's own vision of a fully-fledged Discovery Bay still coming to Disneyland in Anaheim.
And so, on March 24, 1995, the ninetieth anniversary of Jules Verne's death, Discovery Bay finally opened to all around acclaim for its deep, immersive theming and incredible detail. It was the first new land opened at the park since 1988's Critter Country (or, really, since 1972's Bear Country, as its successor is really just a glorified reskin). It cemented Tony Baxter as one of the last truly great Disney Imagineers, and led to his ascension as the head of WDI as a whole.
But Disney wasn't done with steampunk yet, because in 1997, something out of this world would touch down in Euro Disneyland...
--Disney After Walt: How Michael Eisner Saved the Mouse, themouseterpiece.net, November 2018
Overall, the land's theming is appropriate for its close proximity to Big Thunder Mountain, with gorgeous rock features streaked with gold veins and diamond deposits. The buildings are something of a fusion of Victorian Era San Francisco and traditional steampunk elements like bronze piping and tubing.
The first attraction able to be spotted is two parts of a whole, but both take place inside the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The actual ride present is a guided tour through the depths by Captain Nemo himself, using smaller ride vehicles very similar to that of Star Tours in Tomorrowland, although this ride is exclusively one experience, with no branching paths, ending with a surprising attack on the sub by a giant squid. The other segment of the Nautilus is the Grand Salon, a fine dining experience that takes place under the lagoon the Nautilus model appears to be floating in.
Next, the path leads to the actual city of Discovery Bay, home to a new port of call for the Sailing Ship Columbia. The first sight is a massive hangar with the Hyperion Airship from 1977's The Island at the Top of the World sticking out of the open doors. Due to the lack of space and the flop of the actual movie it's based on, however, the original ride planned for this has been removed, replaced by a restaurant named Professor Marvel's Gallery of Wonders. It's similar to the original concept of the Enchanted Tiki Room with a "dinner-and-a-show" vibe as an actor portraying Marvel shows off his latest inventions and his wisecracking audio-animatronic pal Figment the Dragon (yes, that Figment) makes fun of them, all while underneath most of the Hyperion.
Nearby is the Fireworks Factory. This ride is pretty straightforward, basically a steampunk version of Toy Story Mania where guests shoot fireworks at passing targets inside the Laod Bhang Fireworks Factory, encouraged to beat their family and friends' high scores.
The final ride located in Discovery Bay is the Spark Gap Loop roller coaster. As the name implies, this is a looping magnetic roller coaster, with a grand total of two inversions--one loop and one corkscrew. It quickly became the most popular ride of the new land, and rivals the various mountains of the Matterhorn, space, splash, and thunder varieties as the favorite thrill ride at Walt Disney's Original Magic Kingdom.
-Tony Baxter in a 1995 interview on the opening of Discovery Bay at Disneyland
--------------------------------
Ever since the death of Walt Disney in 1966, his company struggled to find their footing with their chief creative mind gone. In the 1970s and early 80s, they floundered, with mediocre films like 1973's Robin Hood and 1981's The Fox and the Hound not doing much to help their reputation, especially as rival studios like Don Bluth's stepped up to the plate and hit a few home runs with The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, and The Land Before Time.
So when Michael Eisner stepped in as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company, the world watched in bated breath. The first few years went horribly, most notably with the outstanding flop that was 1985's The Black Cauldron, but soon, Eisner helped the company find its ground with the Disney Renaissance and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King. With all these excess funds flowing into the pockets of the House of Mouse, it only seemed natural to turn it towards their other, possibly even more famous division: the Disney Parks.
The first item on the list was the grand opening of Euro Disneyland, just outside of Paris, France in 1992. Eisner and Disney had set their expectations very, very low, understanding that the French weren't as accepting of American culture as the Japanese were. The company had even toned down its policies on their Cast Members' outward appearances, as their normal standards concerning things like facial hair were actually illegal to prohibit in France.
Luckily, the park managed to burst all expectations, causing massive traffic jams all over the region as as many as half a million people made their way to Euro Disneyland. This was mostly due to the fact that Disney themselves had projected a low turnout, leading to most major news outlets of the region not bothering to warn drivers of the possibility of massive congestion. Nevertheless, Euro Disneyland was a teriffic success for the company, and made Eisner comfortable with greenlighting Tony Baxter's big idea: Discovery Bay.
Euro Disneyland most notably departed from the standard "castle park" style with their steampunkversion of Tomorrowland, named Discoveryland, based on the works of famed European writers like Jules Verne. This was not only to appeal to their Parisian audience, but also as a "dry run," of sorts, for Baxter's own vision of a fully-fledged Discovery Bay still coming to Disneyland in Anaheim.
And so, on March 24, 1995, the ninetieth anniversary of Jules Verne's death, Discovery Bay finally opened to all around acclaim for its deep, immersive theming and incredible detail. It was the first new land opened at the park since 1988's Critter Country (or, really, since 1972's Bear Country, as its successor is really just a glorified reskin). It cemented Tony Baxter as one of the last truly great Disney Imagineers, and led to his ascension as the head of WDI as a whole.
But Disney wasn't done with steampunk yet, because in 1997, something out of this world would touch down in Euro Disneyland...
--Disney After Walt: How Michael Eisner Saved the Mouse, themouseterpiece.net, November 2018
--------------------------------
Discovery Bay sits nestled between Frontierland and Fantasyland, just north of Big Thunder Mountain, and can be seen as the themed "bridge" between the American Wild West and a fantastical kingdom of magic. It lies on the land that IOTL is having Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge constructed on it, which is just about the last bit of Disneyland that is large enough to warrant a new themed land. Guests enter by crossing an extension of the Rivers of America by bridge, and step into the world of steampunk.
Overall, the land's theming is appropriate for its close proximity to Big Thunder Mountain, with gorgeous rock features streaked with gold veins and diamond deposits. The buildings are something of a fusion of Victorian Era San Francisco and traditional steampunk elements like bronze piping and tubing.
The first attraction able to be spotted is two parts of a whole, but both take place inside the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The actual ride present is a guided tour through the depths by Captain Nemo himself, using smaller ride vehicles very similar to that of Star Tours in Tomorrowland, although this ride is exclusively one experience, with no branching paths, ending with a surprising attack on the sub by a giant squid. The other segment of the Nautilus is the Grand Salon, a fine dining experience that takes place under the lagoon the Nautilus model appears to be floating in.
Next, the path leads to the actual city of Discovery Bay, home to a new port of call for the Sailing Ship Columbia. The first sight is a massive hangar with the Hyperion Airship from 1977's The Island at the Top of the World sticking out of the open doors. Due to the lack of space and the flop of the actual movie it's based on, however, the original ride planned for this has been removed, replaced by a restaurant named Professor Marvel's Gallery of Wonders. It's similar to the original concept of the Enchanted Tiki Room with a "dinner-and-a-show" vibe as an actor portraying Marvel shows off his latest inventions and his wisecracking audio-animatronic pal Figment the Dragon (yes, that Figment) makes fun of them, all while underneath most of the Hyperion.
Nearby is the Fireworks Factory. This ride is pretty straightforward, basically a steampunk version of Toy Story Mania where guests shoot fireworks at passing targets inside the Laod Bhang Fireworks Factory, encouraged to beat their family and friends' high scores.
The final ride located in Discovery Bay is the Spark Gap Loop roller coaster. As the name implies, this is a looping magnetic roller coaster, with a grand total of two inversions--one loop and one corkscrew. It quickly became the most popular ride of the new land, and rivals the various mountains of the Matterhorn, space, splash, and thunder varieties as the favorite thrill ride at Walt Disney's Original Magic Kingdom.
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This is a bit of a spoiler, but one of the most crucial differences between his timeline and the real world is that Walt gets heavily invested in the gaming industry. Yes, the same Walt that was okay with television as a new medium of entertainment IOTL. So yeah, that's just one of the many things covered in his timeline.
Of course, the main focus of the TL is on Disney as a whole, so I'm trying to balance it as a trifecta of movies, theme parks, and video games.
Discuss hex tl in his thread.
Bumping revelant post: https://twitter.com/toadforsmash/st...iframe/2/twitter.min.html#1097880598042025984
Winter 2010 (Part 12) - The Rest Of The Games
(Here are the rest of the notable games from January 2010 to March 2010!)
Nintendo Sapphire:
Deathsmiles
An intense, gothic-themed bullet hell shooter, Deathsmiles is released in North America for the Sapphire about a year and a half after its original Japanese release for the Nintendo Wave, so the version North America gets is an updated HD version featuring more levels and anime cutscenes. It features the same gameplay as OTL's title, but a slightly different plotline featuring a gray-skinned vampire girl. Other than that, it plays identically to OTL's game and has a similar critical reception, quite positive and enough to help make the game somewhat of a minor niche hit.
Antarctica: 2100
The latest installment of the Nintendo-exclusive sci-fi FPS series and the second to be released on the Nintendo Sapphire, Antarctica: 2100 takes place several decades after Dark Blue, after a worldwide nuclear war caused most of the world, including Antarctica itself, to become an irradiated hellscape. Antarctica was hit with hundreds of nuclear bombs, cracking the ice shelf and opening up massive, radiation-plagued valleys in which soldiers wearing special suits battle it out for the valuable mineral resources underneath, which are key to reviving the world's industrial civilization. The irradiated valleys make for fierce, close-quarter shootouts taking place in caves amidst horrific ice falls, and radiation is a constant threat, making strategy of utmost importance. The player must have the right gear and guns for their situation, requiring exploration through the dense caves, giving this game a more open-ended mission approach than previous titles. It's definitely a departure from previous games, but the formula makes for one of the more unique FPS games in recent memory, and reviews and sales are both quite good.
Block Party: Too Much Fun!
This revival of the classic SNES-CD party game intended for older players gets a new lease on life for a new generation. It essentially plays like Mario Party meets You Don't Know Jack, a combination of trivia questions, tricky mini-games, and an irreverent host makes this one of the most unique party games of its generation, though it doesn't quite catch on like the original did, and many critics lament the fact that this game isn't on the iTwin. Still, reviews are solid and it does score a decent amount of sales, but it's not the hit its creators were expecting.
Deadly Premonition
Another game from OTL, Deadly Premonition was, like OTL, originally intended as a sixth generation game with a different title, but developers encountered much of the same issues as OTL's game did and they had to remake it from the ground up for the Nintendo Sapphire instead. Like OTL, it's an open world survival horror game featuring an FBI agent hunting down a serial killer, though in TTL's game, the FBI agent is a woman, and the town she's exploring is more of a tourist trap town rather than a rural town, giving this game a sort of Mackinac Nightmare type of feel to it. It does avoid the OTL game's technical issues, and is a decent enough horror game, but the comparisons to Mackinac (and also to The Yakimauga Horror, another game released around the same time with a similar premise) do hurt its sales somewhat.
Abyss: From The Depths Of The Ocean
Abyss is a seafaring game in which you're a 19th century pirate crew hunting the ocean for terrifying creatures of the deep. The game features some Jules Verne-esque anachronistic steampunk technology, making it almost Bioshock-esque in its execution when it's not an excellent sailing simulator. The creatures are somewhat rare, but when they do show up they're pretty spectacular, though technical issues (the game had a fairly low budget for its ambitious scope) hold it back somewhat. Abyss garners excellent reviews for its gameplay and characters (a mix of men and women each with their own quirks and abilities), but sales are somewhat poor thanks to the slightly underwhelming graphics and lack of marketing. It gets somewhat of a Shadow Of The Colossus-esque cult reputation in subsequent years, with sales eventually catching up to the game's outstanding reception, but it takes a long time and by the time the game is vindicated commercially, the studio has been absorbed into a larger one.
Star Tropics: Incursion Of Realities
The first Star Tropics game to grace the Sapphire, Incursion of Realities retains the familiar adventure/puzzle format of previous 3-D Star Tropics games, but features more emphasis on differing styles of gameplay, to reflect the various realities visited in the game itself. The game takes place some time after Mike Jones and his friends returned from the alternate reality inhabited by the mysterious queen Culex. Despite the tesseract from the previous game being sealed, passing through it caused reality itself to begin twisting and breaking, forcing Mike and his friends to visit these tears in reality and repair them, lest the world itself collapse and everything is destroyed. This game features more dungeon variety than any previous Star Tropics game, and though the basic gameplay remains the same (explore a dungeon, use Mike's various tools to solve puzzles), each of the eight alternate realities that Mike and his friends visits plays by its own set of rules, forcing the player to re-learn a few things in every dimension they visit. Mike's friends Marion and Tosh, along with his uncle Dr. Jones, all have their various roles to play, with Culex returning from Ocean Across Tomorrow (about halfway through the game), and a new character, a mysterious explorer from the past named Hirschberg, also appearing and helping Mike and friends solve the various puzzles. The game's primary antagonist is a dark figure from a destroyed future. Wearing a cloak and shrouded in mystery, this figure appears repeatedly to antagonize Mike and his friends, and Mike doesn't learn until most of the way through the game that the mysterious figure is actually himself, from far into the future, from a universe in which Mike isn't able to succeed. Called Antimike, this villain tries to destroy Mike's world in order to restore his own, and despite warnings from Culex that his plan will fail, Antimike persists in his evil deeds, ultimately causing most of reality to be sucked into a mysterious breach that forms the game's final dungeon. In the end, Mike defeats his future self, while Culex seemingly sacrifices herself to destroy Antimike for good. However, Mike is able to pull Culex back just in time, saving her from being annihilated as reality is restored to normal. It's revealed that Culex and Antimike had actually been cooperating before the events of the game began, with Culex hoping she could restore Antimike's world, but failing to do so. In the end, Mike and his friends return home, and Culex decides to abdicate her throne and explore Mike's world on her own, inspired by his example to become a great explorer (the game also pretty much settles the shipping dispute by having Mike and Marion confirm their relationship)
Star Tropics: Incursion Of Realities is a big, bold, beautiful game hampered by inconsistent gameplay and a somewhat messy plot. Review scores are somewhat lacking, averaging in the 7/10 range, and most critics and fans consider the game a major disappointment. It's intended to be Nintendo's big first party release of the first quarter of 2010, but ends up selling poorly, especially in North America, and being overshadowed by other Sapphire exclusives.
Apple iTwin:
Battleborn Resurrection
Treasure returns to develop another installment of their niche hit railshooter series exclusively for the Apple iTwin. Maintaining the familiar railshooter gameplay, the game is designed to take advantage of the iTwin motion controls in a big way, allowing for a unique “dual wielding” system as the player blitzes through fast paced levels and bosses. It's significantly easier than Conflux was (a game which got widespread complaints about its difficulty), but some critics believed the difficulty went too far in the other direction, calling it too easy (though the optional challenges, based on games like Panzer Dragoon and Fullmetal Alchemist, are still wickedly hard). It's generally considered a solid shooter, easily averaging in the high 7s/low 8s, and manages to score strong sales in Japan, though sales in the States are quite a bit worse.
Calypso
Calypso is a motion-based rhythm game, an attempt to bring back the Samba De Amigo style of gameplay with Caribbean-style reggae. This game has the involvement of Rihanna, featuring a number of her songs, and also includes a unique accessory, the Drum Shaker, a pair of handheld drum instruments. Coming at a time when music games are beginning to fall out of favor, this game achieves strong reviews, but can't quite get there in terms of sales, and Apple declines to make another one.
Dead Rising 3
Released just 18 months after the previous game, Dead Rising 3 is somewhat of an “expansion pack sequel” to Dead Rising 2, with similar gameplay and keeping Frank West as the protagonist (this is confirmed to be the last game in which he serves as the protagonist). It sees Frank learning of a government conspiracy to manufacture and sell Zombrex to favored individuals, headed by a corrupt scientist and a mysterious contractor. Frank must work with Isabella, who returns from Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2, to unravel this conspiracy, but ultimately learns that Isabella is a part of it, the corrupt scientist behind it all, and must come to grips with saving her life at the cost of Alexis' daughter at the end of the previous game (though as it turns out, Alexis' daughter is alive and would become the protagonist of Dead Rising 4). Dead Rising 3 is significantly shorter and more linear than the previous game, but features some truly intense zombie fights and tricky puzzles as Frank navigates a series of three areas: an abandoned sports arena/entertainment complex, an abandoned university, and finally, a government lab. In the end, Frank destroys the lab with Isabella still inside, destroying what seems to be the government's entire supply of Zombrex and wiping out the conspiracy. However, as we find out later on, Frank left a few loose ends, and those loose ends will start the zombie apocalypse all over again. While Dead Rising 3 is seen by many to be too rushed and too short, it's still a fun game, even if the main campaign can be beaten in 4-6 hours (and much less by speedrunners). The gameplay and storyline save it somewhat, and sales are quite good. It would ultimately be the last Dead Rising game for the iTwin, with Capcom taking a lot more time to work on the next one (which would be more like OTL's Dead Rising 3).
Fish And Fisherman
A quirky little Japanese platforming adventure game about a magical fish and the young man who catches him, then the two go on an adventure together to save other fish from an evil fisherman and his evil pet shark. This game is actually quite fun, full of whimsical music, and it's definitely not a traditional platformer, with lots of water-based levels but also some Okami-esque combat and puzzle sequences. The fish and fisherman both get a succession of special powers that they use to battle enemies and progress through the world, and its artstyle is very cartoony, almost chibi-esque. Thanks to very good reviews and good sales, this game launches a franchise, and while it's more popular in Japan than in the West, it's decently popular in the West as well.
Phantasy Star Generations
The third of the Phantasy Star remake series, this is a full remake of Phantasy Star III, with a modern graphical style but classic turn-based gameplay (with the requisite modern quality of life improvements including more generous saving and dungeon pacing, along with a modern interface). Both the previous remakes were quite well reviewed and successful in terms of sales, and so is this one. Apple is already hard at work on a remake of Phantasy Star IV, which is scheduled to be the last and is expected to be released on the iTwin sometime in 2012 or 2013.
Arc Rise Fantasia
The cult hit Wii RPG from IOTL is released on the iTwin ITTL, and has significantly better graphics and slightly updated gameplay from OTL's game, with a nearly identical plot to IOTL. It also features music by Yasunori Mitsuda, his first non-Nintendo project ITTL (like IOTL, he's no longer contracted to Squaresoft, but still does do work for them as well as for other RPGs). Arc Rise Fantasia is much more of a commercial success ITTL, thanks to Apple positioning it as one of the big iTwin JRPGs of the year. Even in North America, the game performs decently, while in Japan it becomes a big hit and one of the best selling iTwin games of the year.
RoboLab
RoboLab is an action/party game in which players build their own robots out of a variety of materials and then “test” them in a series of fun minigames and challenges, including races, combat, puzzles, and sports. This game actually ties in with the Rover series somewhat, and has Lydia from that series serve as the “host” of the game. The robot building interface makes it quite easy for players to build functional robots very quickly with both motion controls and traditional controls, and players can even have four people building at once, allowing everyone to see what's being built. A fun game for families, but isn't a huge hit amongst more hardcore players.
Microsoft Xbox 2:
Shotty
Shotty is a third-person action shooter for the Xbox 2, featuring a trenchcoated protagonist named Paul who goes around killing criminals with his shotgun. Best described as a “hack and blast”, the game features fast-paced, combo-based combat in which Paul can use his shotgun to either bludgeon or shoot his enemies. He doesn't have any other gun, but the shotgun can be equipped with mods to change the type of shot fired or the blunt attachment on the weapon that Paul can use for melee. The combo system is based entirely around racking up as many kills as possible, and Paul can unleash some truly devastating attacks with his shotgun, killing dozens of enemies at once with certain kinds of fire. The game's plot centers around Paul, a disgruntled citizen of Fallen City, becoming homicidal after his girlfriend is murdered by a mafia boss. He starts out his criminal career by walking right into the mafia boss' headquarters and shooting him and all of his henchmen with a shotgun, then decides to clean up crime by vowing to kill every criminal in the city. While the plot is simplistic as can be (and is pretty much just an excuse for a protagonist to kill as many people with a shotgun as possible), the game itself is actually decent fun, thanks to the ease of using Paul's shotgun and the surprising variety of attacks he can do with it. Considered a decent action title, Shotty scores good reviews but isn't quite the commercial hit it was expected to be.
Game Boy Supernova:
Wreckers
Wreckers is a demolition derby type game with elements of Blast Corps and Twisted Metal, involving construction vehicles. It features a more cartoony artstyle than other games in its genre, with most of its violence being slapstick and the main characters not being too edgy or evil. This game actually becomes fairly popular with families due to its kid-friendly aesthetic, making it a surprise hit despite only mediocre reviews, and would later get a mobile spinoff.
Gravity Crash
The arcade-style space shooter from OTL comes to the Supernova as a digital exclusive download title, becoming one of the more popular digital titles to date on the Supernova, and really starting a push for arcade-style digital games on that system that would last even slightly after the release of the Supernova's successor.
Kobaltia
Kobaltia is an Enix-developed SRPG with elements of games like Valkyrie Chronicles, it has a battle system that combines elements of RTS titles and tactical games. It has somewhat of a fantasy aesthetic to it, featuring bows and magic as the primary projectiles rather than guns, and has the same anime-style fleshed out characters that games like Valkyrie Chronicles have. The main plot revolves around the discovery of a mysterious new realm and a war between three rival nations to claim it. The game is quite well reviewed, but not a big seller, though it sells just enough in Japan to get a follow-up game.
Triple Orb: Live!
The fifth Triple Orb game and the last to be Nintendo exclusive, Capcom's sidescrolling action series continues with this game which revolves around the camerawoman/turned heroine Tezuka who is now the primary protagonist, though hero Tri is also playable. The game features a new “live action camera” mechanic in which Tezuka is reporting on her own heroics live for her viewers to see, and audience members can respond in real time to give buffs and even interfere with the action. Other than that, it's the same style of gameplay, with rapid-fire mixing and matching of various orbs to grant superpowers in battle. It's definitely the weirdest game in the series to date, and while reviews aren't quite as good as those for Triple Orb: Revolution, they're still solid and the game is a marginal hit.
iPod Play:
Skylein Tactics
An SRPG spinoff of the Lords Of Skylein RPG series, featuring a new set of characters but similar themes and language, and featuring sky-based combat in a tactical setting which is somewhat unique for the genre. Hardcore fans of the original Skylein games love this one, as it's a very well made SRPG with great music and graphics, and one of the best SRPGs of the year. While mainstream gamers don't buy it for the most part, it's a minor success among RPG fans and hardcore SRPG enthusiasts, and does well enough in Japan to turn a profit.
Deva Station 3
The third title in the popular anime shoujo action series, Deva Station 3 sees four new Devas join the sixteen existing Devas, giving the player 20 characters in all to utilize as they battle the forces of evil and protect the city. The biggest change from previous games is the addition of an augmented reality feature that allows players to take their iPod Play along with them and randomly generate enemies and loot based on their surroundings. Though the Devas can still build friendships with one another, the System120 relationship mechanic from the previous game has been scrapped in favor of a more generic system for building friendships and stats. This reduces the complexity of the game somewhat, allowing for more side missions with the relationship missions done away with. There's also an improved combat system over the previous game's, with each of the four new Devas having unique new battle mechanics and interactions with the other girls. Deva Station 3 has a slightly lower budget than the previous game, and about half of the voice actors, including Tara Strong and Cree Summer, have been replaced with slightly cheaper talent, with North American fans reacting mostly unfavorably. Overall, Deva Station 3 does see decent reviews, but it doesn't quite have the critical or commercial reception of the first two. Development for the next games in the series now shifts to the iPod Play's successor and the iPhone, with Apple planning a different game for each.
Scheherazade
An anime-styled RPG loosely based on the classic literary character, retelling the Arabian Nights stories from her perspective and embellishing them with original material. Scheherazade gains up to nine different companions over the course of the game as she journeys through a myriad of stories and realms to win her freedom. A highly regarded handheld RPG, it's definitely not a commercial success but is one of the last great iPod Play RPG exclusives.
Multiplatform:
Battlement
Battlement is a space-based FPS in which the protagonist is an underestimated soldier who must raid an alien planet to save his colony from destruction. The game's protagonist is a bit less confident and talkative than others in the genre but the game itself is still a fairly typical FPS, hoping to use the uniqueness of its main character to cover up the mostly generic shooting and action. The game is developed by Kaos Studios for THQ, which gets it some hype but it's nothing to get too excited about and the game gets mediocre reviews and sales.
Grim Little Princesses
The fourth game in the Grim Little Girls series of RPG/simulation titles (Grim Little Girls 2 was a Supernova exclusive, and Grim Little Storybook Girls, considered a gaiden game to the original rather than being considered Grim Little Girls 3, came out shortly after and landed on both consoles and the Supernova), Grim Little Princesses takes elements from both 2 and Storybook Girls to create a true next-gen sequel that comes to the Sapphire and iTwin but also gets a Supernova port. The game scales down the number of girls that can be raised to 20, and they're all princesses, though as the title would imply, all of them have some kind of horror-based theming to them. The game also allows full 3-D movement for the first time, ditching the menu-based interface of previous games for an approach where the player character can actually wander around and interact with things and also take control of the girls for minigames and missions. This game sees somewhat of a downgrade in dubbing quality, with the voice cast consisting entirely of actors known for anime dubbing and none of the major LA-based actors of previous games. It gets decent reviews, and like previous games in the series, is a cult hit, albeit a minor one.
Liberty 3: Moment Of Truth
The third game in the Liberty series of FPS titles about an invasion of America by the Red Army, Liberty 3 sees a grand conclusion to the war, as the rebellion is finally able to turn the tide on the Soviets in a series of spectacular battles. The main crux of the game revolves around pushing the Russians out before their fanatical leader can launch a nuclear strike, and a subplot has the rebels linking up with and helping a Soviet faction that wants to pull out of America and end the war. The game features smart level design and improved shooting mechanics, with a likable cast of new characters on both sides of the conflict. It's seen as one of the most surprising sequels in recent memory, trapped in development hell for a year or two but ultimately completed into a great game and one of the most successful FPS titles of the beginning of the year. It comes to the Sapphire and Xbox 2 and is highly praised for its graphics, storyline, and exciting multiplayer mode, and ultimately wraps up its trilogy in worthy fashion. Its developers would move on to create a successor series with a different premise but with similar gameplay mechanics.
Limbo
OTL's creepy puzzle platformer that features an unsettling, silhouetted graphical style comes to the iTwin and iPod Play/iPhone digital store as an Apple exclusive in January 2010. It features a similar storyline and gameplay to OTL's title and would become another digital hit for Apple, succeeding both commercially and critically and leading to the creation of similar games for Apple's digital store down the road.
Ace Combat 6: Sacrifice
Namco brings Ace Combat 6 to the Sapphire and iTwin in February 2010. The first fully HD game in the series (Ace Combat 5 did have an iTwin version, but was just an upgraded port of a Wave game), Ace Combat 6 tells the story of a brave group of young pilots who, as the title of the game implies, fight bravely but largely meet tragic ends against an overwhelming force led by a cruel but sensible warlord who simply fights to defend his industrialized empire against the encroachment of the rest of the world, and is depicted sympathetically despite the numerous cruel and ruthless acts he commits over the course of the game (including murdering four very likable main characters). The most tragic and melancholy of the Ace Combat games to date, Ace Combat 6 is also incredibly beautiful graphically, and improves significantly on the gameplay of Ace Combat 5 (though it's not quite as highly praised as Ace Combat 4). The game is a massive hit in Japan, but somewhat less so in North America, doing okay on the Sapphire and iTwin but not becoming a hit like some of the earlier games did.
Amanaria
A new RPG from Game Arts, this game is released on the Sapphire and iTwin. Like previous Game Arts titles, it features an anime-styled protagonist and plenty of magic and whimsy, though it tries to set itself apart from other franchises like Lunar by being more of an action RPG and swerving a lot of classic genre tropes. The game takes place in a small kingdom where scientific pursuit is quite noble and which has discovered a lot of technology, but comes under attack from a powerful magical kingdom with a more medieval level of technology (a sort of reversal of the usual trope in which the scientifically advanced kingdom is the antagonist). The protagonist, a young man named Johra, must collect five magical gems in order to complete a great battle machine to fight back against the rival kingdom, but along the way, learns of the noble motives of the empire that seeks to destroy his homeland, and must decide if he's truly doing the right thing. Amanaria isn't a great game (its combat system is a bit too simplistic, and its characters are somewhat generic), but certainly not a bad one, it scores solid reviews and is a best seller in Japan, while doing mediocre in the States.
Blur
Like IOTL, Blur is an arcade-styled racing game which features fast, futuristic tracks and plenty of firepower. It's released on the Sapphire and the iTwin, but even though an Xbox 2 version is planned, it's ultimately scrapped. The game also gets a budget pricing strategy to help it compete with more popular titles like Gran Turismo. The strategy works somewhat, the game's lower price and good reviews help it become a profitable seller, but it doesn't get too much recognition and would be overshadowed by other racing games released shortly before and after.
Load: Armed And Ready
Load: Armed And Ready is an FPS game and a reboot of the popular FPS series from the 2000s, which featured intense, violent action with some tongue in cheek moments. Armed And Ready hopes to capture the spirit of those earlier games, with an intense, edgy protagonist named Brick Donaldson who's sent into an unnamed country to battle armed terrorists and rescue a United Nations medical team, including a beautiful doctor who serves as the game's “damsel in distress”. While Armed And Ready is a fairly old-school, cliché ridden game, it also takes itself somewhat seriously, with dramatic moments throughout and a protagonist that never mugs for the camera or cracks any out of place jokes. Despite the game having somewhat of an identity crisis as to what it wants to be, it still largely “works” thanks to great graphics and some truly great shooting gameplay, including an excellent cover system and some surprisingly good stealth. The game never descends into Duke Nukem-style self parody, but savvy players will still know where to laugh. It's ultimately a marginal commercial and critical success, and while it doesn't quite match the success of the first couple games in the series, it's one of February 2010's most popular new releases.
Momo's Tale: Let's Roll!
A 3-D platforming game in which you control a Furby-like animal protagonist who rolls around in a ball. The game combines Mario-style platforming elements with Monkey Ball-style gameplay to create a smooth and fun experience with just the right amount of challenge, and also features some truly unique and creative boss fights, some of which feature wide open arenas and others which take place in narrow mazes perfect for precision rolling. The game is released on the Sapphire and iTwin, and while not much is expected from it before its release, reviews acknowledge just how fun the game is, scoring it quite highly. Sales don't quite match up with the critical love, but it would be a popular budget title in the months and years after its release.
N-Gine: Full Control Racing
N-Gine: Full Control Racing is a racing game that tries to do everything at once: a robust simulation game, an arcade-style rally title, all while featuring a robust career mode with elements of the Need For Speed series. The game has a wide selection of cars, but where it really shines is its customization options that allow the player to take cars and their components apart, right down to the engine as they try to modify their vehicles into the perfect racer. While certainly an ambitious title, it's more of a jack of all trades and a master of none: it's not as complete and thorough a sim as the Gran Turismo series, it's not as white-knuckle intense as the Rally games, and it's not quite as fun to play a career in as Need For Speed. Still, sales are quite good, exceeding those of Blur and making it one of the year's best racing titles on all three major consoles.
Reliksgard
A semi-3D dungeon crawling action adventure by Enix, Reliksgard tells the story of an ancient order of dragon warriors whose civilization was mysteriously wiped out, and the young adventurer who must find their treasures to prevent his own civilization from meeting the same fate. The game has the graphical style and gameplay of Revolution Alpha, but with a slightly more old-school look and feel, not quite a fully 3D console-style adventure but rather a game halfway between an Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma-style game and a fully 3D adventure (almost giving it an appearance like OTL's Granstream Saga, or an Alundra-esque game. Loot is a big part of this title, the player can stumble upon plenty of equipment in dungeons that they can use to upgrade their character on the fly, improve to make it better, or scrap it for parts which can be used to craft more equipment. It's not quite as big a lootfest as Diablo, but it's certainly got more loot than any Enix action RPG thus far. The game has a small amount of voice acting, mostly in cutscenes between dungeons, with the main character speaking in both dialogue and narration and a few major NPCs also having a decent amount of lines. It's a handheld game, released on the Supernova and iPod Play, and proves to be a major critical success, a major hit in Japan, and a minor hit in the States, making it Enix's best handheld game made up to this point.
Bone Rattlers
A wild motorcycle racing game for the Sapphire and iTwin in which the player rides skeletal motorcycles piloted by skeletons and other horror characters. It's quite a good game, and tosses out realism for fun, with plenty of weapons and stage hazards to keep players on their toes. Not a huge seller, but definitely profitable and well reviewed.
Dark Void
An intense shooter taking place mostly in the air with players piloting hover-powered suits to battle an alien invasion, Dark Void has lots of similarities to OTL's game, but is somewhat improved upon OTL's title due to lessons the developers learned from games such as the Techno Angel and Aquila franchises both of which helped to pioneer midair and technical-based shooter combat. This eliminated a lot of the problems that OTL's game had with troublesome midair combat and glitches, enabling it to be a solid, fun game that capitalizes on its excellent production values and becomes somewhat of a sci-fi gem, though it, like OTL's game, still fails to be a blockbuster. Reviews average in the 7.5/10 range, and though it would fade into obscurity shortly after its release, it's definitely more of a cult classic than OTL's game had a chance to be.
Just Cause 2
Published by Eidos Interactive (which, unlike IOTL, still exists as a separate company and hasn't merged with Square), it's the sequel to 2006's slightly underappreciated open world shooter title in which the player is a mercenary who enacts regime change on a tropical island. Just Cause 2 sees that same mercenary now operating in a larger South American nation, battling communist forces in service of a right-wing dictator under the auspices of the CIA (drawing parallels to similar historical operations in the 70s and 80s). Like in OTL's game, the player must complete side missions in order to win the dictator's favor and garner more of their aid, but can also secretly play both sides against one another to help the protagonist's own mercenary company, enabling more expensive operations with deadlier weapons and vehicles. Like OTL's game, Just Cause 2 hammers out a lot of the gameplay problems of the original, making it a significantly better game both commercially and critically. It's not quite the hit that OTL's game was, with reviews hovering in the low 8s, and does most of its sales in Europe, with North American sales lagging behind some of the month's bigger games. It's definitely not the 6 million selling game that it was IOTL, but it's also not a complete bust either. It also doesn't receive an Xbox version, but does great business on both the Sapphire and the iTwin, with the iTwin version utilizing motion controls to great effect, and both versions allowing for online co-op missions as well. It's a game that gets somewhat lost in the shuffle, but definitely succeeds from a financial perspective, and keeps Eidos profitable and independent for the time being.
Magicka: The World Above
An adventure title released by Ubisoft for the Apple iTwin, this game would later be ported to the Supernova and iPod Play, but is an iTwin game first and foremost, taking decent advantage of that system's hardware. While the game continues its core gameplay premise, featuring a young apprentice magician who must learn progressively stronger spells to survive in a world full of mystery and danger, it does take a different thematic approach, centering on a young boy who is raised underground and taught basic magic, but who is also carefully prepared to rise to the surface someday to find his family, which went missing when he was still a baby. The game spends about 1/4th of the main story setting up this character's escape from the underground, then gives the player a massive world to explore, mostly freely and at their leisure, for the last ¾ of the game, making it the most open-world, free wheeling Magicka experience to date. The gameplay itself, however, is somewhat basic, lagging behind the game's scope, and only the optional iTwin motion controls allow for a sense of immersion or uniqueness. The World Above gets only marginally good reviews, and Ubisoft finally realizes that the series, which started off with a hit in the late 1990s, has probably run its course, though the company would try one last time to push the brand with a mobile-based card game.
Sanguine Spirits
An RPG involving a robust monster capture and accessory system in which the player captures various spirits in order to fuse into gathered equipment, this game sees release on the Sapphire and the iTwin and is fairly backward in terms of graphics for a seventh generation game, with a graphical interface that wouldn't be out of place on the Wave or Katana. The innovative and addictive gameplay do save it from a critical standpoint, but it's never anything more than a niche game, selling poorly even in Japan.
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Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):
January 2010:
1. Downhill 2 (Apple iTwin)
2. Liberty 3 (Nintendo Sapphire)
3. Sin Wagon (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Sin Wagon (Apple iTwin)
5. Liberty 3 (Microsoft Xbox 2)
February 2010:
1. Molten (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. Dead Rising 3 (Apple iTwin)
3. Load: Armed And Ready (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Load: Armed And Ready (Microsoft Xbox 2)
5. Antarctica: 2100 (Nintendo Sapphire)
March 2010:
1. Spider-Man: Over The Edge (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. The Conduit 2 (Apple iTwin)
3. Destined (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Arcadia (Nintendo Sapphire)
5. Guardian (Apple iTwin)
Nintendo Sapphire:
Deathsmiles
An intense, gothic-themed bullet hell shooter, Deathsmiles is released in North America for the Sapphire about a year and a half after its original Japanese release for the Nintendo Wave, so the version North America gets is an updated HD version featuring more levels and anime cutscenes. It features the same gameplay as OTL's title, but a slightly different plotline featuring a gray-skinned vampire girl. Other than that, it plays identically to OTL's game and has a similar critical reception, quite positive and enough to help make the game somewhat of a minor niche hit.
Antarctica: 2100
The latest installment of the Nintendo-exclusive sci-fi FPS series and the second to be released on the Nintendo Sapphire, Antarctica: 2100 takes place several decades after Dark Blue, after a worldwide nuclear war caused most of the world, including Antarctica itself, to become an irradiated hellscape. Antarctica was hit with hundreds of nuclear bombs, cracking the ice shelf and opening up massive, radiation-plagued valleys in which soldiers wearing special suits battle it out for the valuable mineral resources underneath, which are key to reviving the world's industrial civilization. The irradiated valleys make for fierce, close-quarter shootouts taking place in caves amidst horrific ice falls, and radiation is a constant threat, making strategy of utmost importance. The player must have the right gear and guns for their situation, requiring exploration through the dense caves, giving this game a more open-ended mission approach than previous titles. It's definitely a departure from previous games, but the formula makes for one of the more unique FPS games in recent memory, and reviews and sales are both quite good.
Block Party: Too Much Fun!
This revival of the classic SNES-CD party game intended for older players gets a new lease on life for a new generation. It essentially plays like Mario Party meets You Don't Know Jack, a combination of trivia questions, tricky mini-games, and an irreverent host makes this one of the most unique party games of its generation, though it doesn't quite catch on like the original did, and many critics lament the fact that this game isn't on the iTwin. Still, reviews are solid and it does score a decent amount of sales, but it's not the hit its creators were expecting.
Deadly Premonition
Another game from OTL, Deadly Premonition was, like OTL, originally intended as a sixth generation game with a different title, but developers encountered much of the same issues as OTL's game did and they had to remake it from the ground up for the Nintendo Sapphire instead. Like OTL, it's an open world survival horror game featuring an FBI agent hunting down a serial killer, though in TTL's game, the FBI agent is a woman, and the town she's exploring is more of a tourist trap town rather than a rural town, giving this game a sort of Mackinac Nightmare type of feel to it. It does avoid the OTL game's technical issues, and is a decent enough horror game, but the comparisons to Mackinac (and also to The Yakimauga Horror, another game released around the same time with a similar premise) do hurt its sales somewhat.
Abyss: From The Depths Of The Ocean
Abyss is a seafaring game in which you're a 19th century pirate crew hunting the ocean for terrifying creatures of the deep. The game features some Jules Verne-esque anachronistic steampunk technology, making it almost Bioshock-esque in its execution when it's not an excellent sailing simulator. The creatures are somewhat rare, but when they do show up they're pretty spectacular, though technical issues (the game had a fairly low budget for its ambitious scope) hold it back somewhat. Abyss garners excellent reviews for its gameplay and characters (a mix of men and women each with their own quirks and abilities), but sales are somewhat poor thanks to the slightly underwhelming graphics and lack of marketing. It gets somewhat of a Shadow Of The Colossus-esque cult reputation in subsequent years, with sales eventually catching up to the game's outstanding reception, but it takes a long time and by the time the game is vindicated commercially, the studio has been absorbed into a larger one.
Star Tropics: Incursion Of Realities
The first Star Tropics game to grace the Sapphire, Incursion of Realities retains the familiar adventure/puzzle format of previous 3-D Star Tropics games, but features more emphasis on differing styles of gameplay, to reflect the various realities visited in the game itself. The game takes place some time after Mike Jones and his friends returned from the alternate reality inhabited by the mysterious queen Culex. Despite the tesseract from the previous game being sealed, passing through it caused reality itself to begin twisting and breaking, forcing Mike and his friends to visit these tears in reality and repair them, lest the world itself collapse and everything is destroyed. This game features more dungeon variety than any previous Star Tropics game, and though the basic gameplay remains the same (explore a dungeon, use Mike's various tools to solve puzzles), each of the eight alternate realities that Mike and his friends visits plays by its own set of rules, forcing the player to re-learn a few things in every dimension they visit. Mike's friends Marion and Tosh, along with his uncle Dr. Jones, all have their various roles to play, with Culex returning from Ocean Across Tomorrow (about halfway through the game), and a new character, a mysterious explorer from the past named Hirschberg, also appearing and helping Mike and friends solve the various puzzles. The game's primary antagonist is a dark figure from a destroyed future. Wearing a cloak and shrouded in mystery, this figure appears repeatedly to antagonize Mike and his friends, and Mike doesn't learn until most of the way through the game that the mysterious figure is actually himself, from far into the future, from a universe in which Mike isn't able to succeed. Called Antimike, this villain tries to destroy Mike's world in order to restore his own, and despite warnings from Culex that his plan will fail, Antimike persists in his evil deeds, ultimately causing most of reality to be sucked into a mysterious breach that forms the game's final dungeon. In the end, Mike defeats his future self, while Culex seemingly sacrifices herself to destroy Antimike for good. However, Mike is able to pull Culex back just in time, saving her from being annihilated as reality is restored to normal. It's revealed that Culex and Antimike had actually been cooperating before the events of the game began, with Culex hoping she could restore Antimike's world, but failing to do so. In the end, Mike and his friends return home, and Culex decides to abdicate her throne and explore Mike's world on her own, inspired by his example to become a great explorer (the game also pretty much settles the shipping dispute by having Mike and Marion confirm their relationship)
Star Tropics: Incursion Of Realities is a big, bold, beautiful game hampered by inconsistent gameplay and a somewhat messy plot. Review scores are somewhat lacking, averaging in the 7/10 range, and most critics and fans consider the game a major disappointment. It's intended to be Nintendo's big first party release of the first quarter of 2010, but ends up selling poorly, especially in North America, and being overshadowed by other Sapphire exclusives.
Apple iTwin:
Battleborn Resurrection
Treasure returns to develop another installment of their niche hit railshooter series exclusively for the Apple iTwin. Maintaining the familiar railshooter gameplay, the game is designed to take advantage of the iTwin motion controls in a big way, allowing for a unique “dual wielding” system as the player blitzes through fast paced levels and bosses. It's significantly easier than Conflux was (a game which got widespread complaints about its difficulty), but some critics believed the difficulty went too far in the other direction, calling it too easy (though the optional challenges, based on games like Panzer Dragoon and Fullmetal Alchemist, are still wickedly hard). It's generally considered a solid shooter, easily averaging in the high 7s/low 8s, and manages to score strong sales in Japan, though sales in the States are quite a bit worse.
Calypso
Calypso is a motion-based rhythm game, an attempt to bring back the Samba De Amigo style of gameplay with Caribbean-style reggae. This game has the involvement of Rihanna, featuring a number of her songs, and also includes a unique accessory, the Drum Shaker, a pair of handheld drum instruments. Coming at a time when music games are beginning to fall out of favor, this game achieves strong reviews, but can't quite get there in terms of sales, and Apple declines to make another one.
Dead Rising 3
Released just 18 months after the previous game, Dead Rising 3 is somewhat of an “expansion pack sequel” to Dead Rising 2, with similar gameplay and keeping Frank West as the protagonist (this is confirmed to be the last game in which he serves as the protagonist). It sees Frank learning of a government conspiracy to manufacture and sell Zombrex to favored individuals, headed by a corrupt scientist and a mysterious contractor. Frank must work with Isabella, who returns from Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2, to unravel this conspiracy, but ultimately learns that Isabella is a part of it, the corrupt scientist behind it all, and must come to grips with saving her life at the cost of Alexis' daughter at the end of the previous game (though as it turns out, Alexis' daughter is alive and would become the protagonist of Dead Rising 4). Dead Rising 3 is significantly shorter and more linear than the previous game, but features some truly intense zombie fights and tricky puzzles as Frank navigates a series of three areas: an abandoned sports arena/entertainment complex, an abandoned university, and finally, a government lab. In the end, Frank destroys the lab with Isabella still inside, destroying what seems to be the government's entire supply of Zombrex and wiping out the conspiracy. However, as we find out later on, Frank left a few loose ends, and those loose ends will start the zombie apocalypse all over again. While Dead Rising 3 is seen by many to be too rushed and too short, it's still a fun game, even if the main campaign can be beaten in 4-6 hours (and much less by speedrunners). The gameplay and storyline save it somewhat, and sales are quite good. It would ultimately be the last Dead Rising game for the iTwin, with Capcom taking a lot more time to work on the next one (which would be more like OTL's Dead Rising 3).
Fish And Fisherman
A quirky little Japanese platforming adventure game about a magical fish and the young man who catches him, then the two go on an adventure together to save other fish from an evil fisherman and his evil pet shark. This game is actually quite fun, full of whimsical music, and it's definitely not a traditional platformer, with lots of water-based levels but also some Okami-esque combat and puzzle sequences. The fish and fisherman both get a succession of special powers that they use to battle enemies and progress through the world, and its artstyle is very cartoony, almost chibi-esque. Thanks to very good reviews and good sales, this game launches a franchise, and while it's more popular in Japan than in the West, it's decently popular in the West as well.
Phantasy Star Generations
The third of the Phantasy Star remake series, this is a full remake of Phantasy Star III, with a modern graphical style but classic turn-based gameplay (with the requisite modern quality of life improvements including more generous saving and dungeon pacing, along with a modern interface). Both the previous remakes were quite well reviewed and successful in terms of sales, and so is this one. Apple is already hard at work on a remake of Phantasy Star IV, which is scheduled to be the last and is expected to be released on the iTwin sometime in 2012 or 2013.
Arc Rise Fantasia
The cult hit Wii RPG from IOTL is released on the iTwin ITTL, and has significantly better graphics and slightly updated gameplay from OTL's game, with a nearly identical plot to IOTL. It also features music by Yasunori Mitsuda, his first non-Nintendo project ITTL (like IOTL, he's no longer contracted to Squaresoft, but still does do work for them as well as for other RPGs). Arc Rise Fantasia is much more of a commercial success ITTL, thanks to Apple positioning it as one of the big iTwin JRPGs of the year. Even in North America, the game performs decently, while in Japan it becomes a big hit and one of the best selling iTwin games of the year.
RoboLab
RoboLab is an action/party game in which players build their own robots out of a variety of materials and then “test” them in a series of fun minigames and challenges, including races, combat, puzzles, and sports. This game actually ties in with the Rover series somewhat, and has Lydia from that series serve as the “host” of the game. The robot building interface makes it quite easy for players to build functional robots very quickly with both motion controls and traditional controls, and players can even have four people building at once, allowing everyone to see what's being built. A fun game for families, but isn't a huge hit amongst more hardcore players.
Microsoft Xbox 2:
Shotty
Shotty is a third-person action shooter for the Xbox 2, featuring a trenchcoated protagonist named Paul who goes around killing criminals with his shotgun. Best described as a “hack and blast”, the game features fast-paced, combo-based combat in which Paul can use his shotgun to either bludgeon or shoot his enemies. He doesn't have any other gun, but the shotgun can be equipped with mods to change the type of shot fired or the blunt attachment on the weapon that Paul can use for melee. The combo system is based entirely around racking up as many kills as possible, and Paul can unleash some truly devastating attacks with his shotgun, killing dozens of enemies at once with certain kinds of fire. The game's plot centers around Paul, a disgruntled citizen of Fallen City, becoming homicidal after his girlfriend is murdered by a mafia boss. He starts out his criminal career by walking right into the mafia boss' headquarters and shooting him and all of his henchmen with a shotgun, then decides to clean up crime by vowing to kill every criminal in the city. While the plot is simplistic as can be (and is pretty much just an excuse for a protagonist to kill as many people with a shotgun as possible), the game itself is actually decent fun, thanks to the ease of using Paul's shotgun and the surprising variety of attacks he can do with it. Considered a decent action title, Shotty scores good reviews but isn't quite the commercial hit it was expected to be.
Game Boy Supernova:
Wreckers
Wreckers is a demolition derby type game with elements of Blast Corps and Twisted Metal, involving construction vehicles. It features a more cartoony artstyle than other games in its genre, with most of its violence being slapstick and the main characters not being too edgy or evil. This game actually becomes fairly popular with families due to its kid-friendly aesthetic, making it a surprise hit despite only mediocre reviews, and would later get a mobile spinoff.
Gravity Crash
The arcade-style space shooter from OTL comes to the Supernova as a digital exclusive download title, becoming one of the more popular digital titles to date on the Supernova, and really starting a push for arcade-style digital games on that system that would last even slightly after the release of the Supernova's successor.
Kobaltia
Kobaltia is an Enix-developed SRPG with elements of games like Valkyrie Chronicles, it has a battle system that combines elements of RTS titles and tactical games. It has somewhat of a fantasy aesthetic to it, featuring bows and magic as the primary projectiles rather than guns, and has the same anime-style fleshed out characters that games like Valkyrie Chronicles have. The main plot revolves around the discovery of a mysterious new realm and a war between three rival nations to claim it. The game is quite well reviewed, but not a big seller, though it sells just enough in Japan to get a follow-up game.
Triple Orb: Live!
The fifth Triple Orb game and the last to be Nintendo exclusive, Capcom's sidescrolling action series continues with this game which revolves around the camerawoman/turned heroine Tezuka who is now the primary protagonist, though hero Tri is also playable. The game features a new “live action camera” mechanic in which Tezuka is reporting on her own heroics live for her viewers to see, and audience members can respond in real time to give buffs and even interfere with the action. Other than that, it's the same style of gameplay, with rapid-fire mixing and matching of various orbs to grant superpowers in battle. It's definitely the weirdest game in the series to date, and while reviews aren't quite as good as those for Triple Orb: Revolution, they're still solid and the game is a marginal hit.
iPod Play:
Skylein Tactics
An SRPG spinoff of the Lords Of Skylein RPG series, featuring a new set of characters but similar themes and language, and featuring sky-based combat in a tactical setting which is somewhat unique for the genre. Hardcore fans of the original Skylein games love this one, as it's a very well made SRPG with great music and graphics, and one of the best SRPGs of the year. While mainstream gamers don't buy it for the most part, it's a minor success among RPG fans and hardcore SRPG enthusiasts, and does well enough in Japan to turn a profit.
Deva Station 3
The third title in the popular anime shoujo action series, Deva Station 3 sees four new Devas join the sixteen existing Devas, giving the player 20 characters in all to utilize as they battle the forces of evil and protect the city. The biggest change from previous games is the addition of an augmented reality feature that allows players to take their iPod Play along with them and randomly generate enemies and loot based on their surroundings. Though the Devas can still build friendships with one another, the System120 relationship mechanic from the previous game has been scrapped in favor of a more generic system for building friendships and stats. This reduces the complexity of the game somewhat, allowing for more side missions with the relationship missions done away with. There's also an improved combat system over the previous game's, with each of the four new Devas having unique new battle mechanics and interactions with the other girls. Deva Station 3 has a slightly lower budget than the previous game, and about half of the voice actors, including Tara Strong and Cree Summer, have been replaced with slightly cheaper talent, with North American fans reacting mostly unfavorably. Overall, Deva Station 3 does see decent reviews, but it doesn't quite have the critical or commercial reception of the first two. Development for the next games in the series now shifts to the iPod Play's successor and the iPhone, with Apple planning a different game for each.
Scheherazade
An anime-styled RPG loosely based on the classic literary character, retelling the Arabian Nights stories from her perspective and embellishing them with original material. Scheherazade gains up to nine different companions over the course of the game as she journeys through a myriad of stories and realms to win her freedom. A highly regarded handheld RPG, it's definitely not a commercial success but is one of the last great iPod Play RPG exclusives.
Multiplatform:
Battlement
Battlement is a space-based FPS in which the protagonist is an underestimated soldier who must raid an alien planet to save his colony from destruction. The game's protagonist is a bit less confident and talkative than others in the genre but the game itself is still a fairly typical FPS, hoping to use the uniqueness of its main character to cover up the mostly generic shooting and action. The game is developed by Kaos Studios for THQ, which gets it some hype but it's nothing to get too excited about and the game gets mediocre reviews and sales.
Grim Little Princesses
The fourth game in the Grim Little Girls series of RPG/simulation titles (Grim Little Girls 2 was a Supernova exclusive, and Grim Little Storybook Girls, considered a gaiden game to the original rather than being considered Grim Little Girls 3, came out shortly after and landed on both consoles and the Supernova), Grim Little Princesses takes elements from both 2 and Storybook Girls to create a true next-gen sequel that comes to the Sapphire and iTwin but also gets a Supernova port. The game scales down the number of girls that can be raised to 20, and they're all princesses, though as the title would imply, all of them have some kind of horror-based theming to them. The game also allows full 3-D movement for the first time, ditching the menu-based interface of previous games for an approach where the player character can actually wander around and interact with things and also take control of the girls for minigames and missions. This game sees somewhat of a downgrade in dubbing quality, with the voice cast consisting entirely of actors known for anime dubbing and none of the major LA-based actors of previous games. It gets decent reviews, and like previous games in the series, is a cult hit, albeit a minor one.
Liberty 3: Moment Of Truth
The third game in the Liberty series of FPS titles about an invasion of America by the Red Army, Liberty 3 sees a grand conclusion to the war, as the rebellion is finally able to turn the tide on the Soviets in a series of spectacular battles. The main crux of the game revolves around pushing the Russians out before their fanatical leader can launch a nuclear strike, and a subplot has the rebels linking up with and helping a Soviet faction that wants to pull out of America and end the war. The game features smart level design and improved shooting mechanics, with a likable cast of new characters on both sides of the conflict. It's seen as one of the most surprising sequels in recent memory, trapped in development hell for a year or two but ultimately completed into a great game and one of the most successful FPS titles of the beginning of the year. It comes to the Sapphire and Xbox 2 and is highly praised for its graphics, storyline, and exciting multiplayer mode, and ultimately wraps up its trilogy in worthy fashion. Its developers would move on to create a successor series with a different premise but with similar gameplay mechanics.
Limbo
OTL's creepy puzzle platformer that features an unsettling, silhouetted graphical style comes to the iTwin and iPod Play/iPhone digital store as an Apple exclusive in January 2010. It features a similar storyline and gameplay to OTL's title and would become another digital hit for Apple, succeeding both commercially and critically and leading to the creation of similar games for Apple's digital store down the road.
Ace Combat 6: Sacrifice
Namco brings Ace Combat 6 to the Sapphire and iTwin in February 2010. The first fully HD game in the series (Ace Combat 5 did have an iTwin version, but was just an upgraded port of a Wave game), Ace Combat 6 tells the story of a brave group of young pilots who, as the title of the game implies, fight bravely but largely meet tragic ends against an overwhelming force led by a cruel but sensible warlord who simply fights to defend his industrialized empire against the encroachment of the rest of the world, and is depicted sympathetically despite the numerous cruel and ruthless acts he commits over the course of the game (including murdering four very likable main characters). The most tragic and melancholy of the Ace Combat games to date, Ace Combat 6 is also incredibly beautiful graphically, and improves significantly on the gameplay of Ace Combat 5 (though it's not quite as highly praised as Ace Combat 4). The game is a massive hit in Japan, but somewhat less so in North America, doing okay on the Sapphire and iTwin but not becoming a hit like some of the earlier games did.
Amanaria
A new RPG from Game Arts, this game is released on the Sapphire and iTwin. Like previous Game Arts titles, it features an anime-styled protagonist and plenty of magic and whimsy, though it tries to set itself apart from other franchises like Lunar by being more of an action RPG and swerving a lot of classic genre tropes. The game takes place in a small kingdom where scientific pursuit is quite noble and which has discovered a lot of technology, but comes under attack from a powerful magical kingdom with a more medieval level of technology (a sort of reversal of the usual trope in which the scientifically advanced kingdom is the antagonist). The protagonist, a young man named Johra, must collect five magical gems in order to complete a great battle machine to fight back against the rival kingdom, but along the way, learns of the noble motives of the empire that seeks to destroy his homeland, and must decide if he's truly doing the right thing. Amanaria isn't a great game (its combat system is a bit too simplistic, and its characters are somewhat generic), but certainly not a bad one, it scores solid reviews and is a best seller in Japan, while doing mediocre in the States.
Blur
Like IOTL, Blur is an arcade-styled racing game which features fast, futuristic tracks and plenty of firepower. It's released on the Sapphire and the iTwin, but even though an Xbox 2 version is planned, it's ultimately scrapped. The game also gets a budget pricing strategy to help it compete with more popular titles like Gran Turismo. The strategy works somewhat, the game's lower price and good reviews help it become a profitable seller, but it doesn't get too much recognition and would be overshadowed by other racing games released shortly before and after.
Load: Armed And Ready
Load: Armed And Ready is an FPS game and a reboot of the popular FPS series from the 2000s, which featured intense, violent action with some tongue in cheek moments. Armed And Ready hopes to capture the spirit of those earlier games, with an intense, edgy protagonist named Brick Donaldson who's sent into an unnamed country to battle armed terrorists and rescue a United Nations medical team, including a beautiful doctor who serves as the game's “damsel in distress”. While Armed And Ready is a fairly old-school, cliché ridden game, it also takes itself somewhat seriously, with dramatic moments throughout and a protagonist that never mugs for the camera or cracks any out of place jokes. Despite the game having somewhat of an identity crisis as to what it wants to be, it still largely “works” thanks to great graphics and some truly great shooting gameplay, including an excellent cover system and some surprisingly good stealth. The game never descends into Duke Nukem-style self parody, but savvy players will still know where to laugh. It's ultimately a marginal commercial and critical success, and while it doesn't quite match the success of the first couple games in the series, it's one of February 2010's most popular new releases.
Momo's Tale: Let's Roll!
A 3-D platforming game in which you control a Furby-like animal protagonist who rolls around in a ball. The game combines Mario-style platforming elements with Monkey Ball-style gameplay to create a smooth and fun experience with just the right amount of challenge, and also features some truly unique and creative boss fights, some of which feature wide open arenas and others which take place in narrow mazes perfect for precision rolling. The game is released on the Sapphire and iTwin, and while not much is expected from it before its release, reviews acknowledge just how fun the game is, scoring it quite highly. Sales don't quite match up with the critical love, but it would be a popular budget title in the months and years after its release.
N-Gine: Full Control Racing
N-Gine: Full Control Racing is a racing game that tries to do everything at once: a robust simulation game, an arcade-style rally title, all while featuring a robust career mode with elements of the Need For Speed series. The game has a wide selection of cars, but where it really shines is its customization options that allow the player to take cars and their components apart, right down to the engine as they try to modify their vehicles into the perfect racer. While certainly an ambitious title, it's more of a jack of all trades and a master of none: it's not as complete and thorough a sim as the Gran Turismo series, it's not as white-knuckle intense as the Rally games, and it's not quite as fun to play a career in as Need For Speed. Still, sales are quite good, exceeding those of Blur and making it one of the year's best racing titles on all three major consoles.
Reliksgard
A semi-3D dungeon crawling action adventure by Enix, Reliksgard tells the story of an ancient order of dragon warriors whose civilization was mysteriously wiped out, and the young adventurer who must find their treasures to prevent his own civilization from meeting the same fate. The game has the graphical style and gameplay of Revolution Alpha, but with a slightly more old-school look and feel, not quite a fully 3D console-style adventure but rather a game halfway between an Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma-style game and a fully 3D adventure (almost giving it an appearance like OTL's Granstream Saga, or an Alundra-esque game. Loot is a big part of this title, the player can stumble upon plenty of equipment in dungeons that they can use to upgrade their character on the fly, improve to make it better, or scrap it for parts which can be used to craft more equipment. It's not quite as big a lootfest as Diablo, but it's certainly got more loot than any Enix action RPG thus far. The game has a small amount of voice acting, mostly in cutscenes between dungeons, with the main character speaking in both dialogue and narration and a few major NPCs also having a decent amount of lines. It's a handheld game, released on the Supernova and iPod Play, and proves to be a major critical success, a major hit in Japan, and a minor hit in the States, making it Enix's best handheld game made up to this point.
Bone Rattlers
A wild motorcycle racing game for the Sapphire and iTwin in which the player rides skeletal motorcycles piloted by skeletons and other horror characters. It's quite a good game, and tosses out realism for fun, with plenty of weapons and stage hazards to keep players on their toes. Not a huge seller, but definitely profitable and well reviewed.
Dark Void
An intense shooter taking place mostly in the air with players piloting hover-powered suits to battle an alien invasion, Dark Void has lots of similarities to OTL's game, but is somewhat improved upon OTL's title due to lessons the developers learned from games such as the Techno Angel and Aquila franchises both of which helped to pioneer midair and technical-based shooter combat. This eliminated a lot of the problems that OTL's game had with troublesome midair combat and glitches, enabling it to be a solid, fun game that capitalizes on its excellent production values and becomes somewhat of a sci-fi gem, though it, like OTL's game, still fails to be a blockbuster. Reviews average in the 7.5/10 range, and though it would fade into obscurity shortly after its release, it's definitely more of a cult classic than OTL's game had a chance to be.
Just Cause 2
Published by Eidos Interactive (which, unlike IOTL, still exists as a separate company and hasn't merged with Square), it's the sequel to 2006's slightly underappreciated open world shooter title in which the player is a mercenary who enacts regime change on a tropical island. Just Cause 2 sees that same mercenary now operating in a larger South American nation, battling communist forces in service of a right-wing dictator under the auspices of the CIA (drawing parallels to similar historical operations in the 70s and 80s). Like in OTL's game, the player must complete side missions in order to win the dictator's favor and garner more of their aid, but can also secretly play both sides against one another to help the protagonist's own mercenary company, enabling more expensive operations with deadlier weapons and vehicles. Like OTL's game, Just Cause 2 hammers out a lot of the gameplay problems of the original, making it a significantly better game both commercially and critically. It's not quite the hit that OTL's game was, with reviews hovering in the low 8s, and does most of its sales in Europe, with North American sales lagging behind some of the month's bigger games. It's definitely not the 6 million selling game that it was IOTL, but it's also not a complete bust either. It also doesn't receive an Xbox version, but does great business on both the Sapphire and the iTwin, with the iTwin version utilizing motion controls to great effect, and both versions allowing for online co-op missions as well. It's a game that gets somewhat lost in the shuffle, but definitely succeeds from a financial perspective, and keeps Eidos profitable and independent for the time being.
Magicka: The World Above
An adventure title released by Ubisoft for the Apple iTwin, this game would later be ported to the Supernova and iPod Play, but is an iTwin game first and foremost, taking decent advantage of that system's hardware. While the game continues its core gameplay premise, featuring a young apprentice magician who must learn progressively stronger spells to survive in a world full of mystery and danger, it does take a different thematic approach, centering on a young boy who is raised underground and taught basic magic, but who is also carefully prepared to rise to the surface someday to find his family, which went missing when he was still a baby. The game spends about 1/4th of the main story setting up this character's escape from the underground, then gives the player a massive world to explore, mostly freely and at their leisure, for the last ¾ of the game, making it the most open-world, free wheeling Magicka experience to date. The gameplay itself, however, is somewhat basic, lagging behind the game's scope, and only the optional iTwin motion controls allow for a sense of immersion or uniqueness. The World Above gets only marginally good reviews, and Ubisoft finally realizes that the series, which started off with a hit in the late 1990s, has probably run its course, though the company would try one last time to push the brand with a mobile-based card game.
Sanguine Spirits
An RPG involving a robust monster capture and accessory system in which the player captures various spirits in order to fuse into gathered equipment, this game sees release on the Sapphire and the iTwin and is fairly backward in terms of graphics for a seventh generation game, with a graphical interface that wouldn't be out of place on the Wave or Katana. The innovative and addictive gameplay do save it from a critical standpoint, but it's never anything more than a niche game, selling poorly even in Japan.
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Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):
January 2010:
1. Downhill 2 (Apple iTwin)
2. Liberty 3 (Nintendo Sapphire)
3. Sin Wagon (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Sin Wagon (Apple iTwin)
5. Liberty 3 (Microsoft Xbox 2)
February 2010:
1. Molten (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. Dead Rising 3 (Apple iTwin)
3. Load: Armed And Ready (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Load: Armed And Ready (Microsoft Xbox 2)
5. Antarctica: 2100 (Nintendo Sapphire)
March 2010:
1. Spider-Man: Over The Edge (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. The Conduit 2 (Apple iTwin)
3. Destined (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Arcadia (Nintendo Sapphire)
5. Guardian (Apple iTwin)
Can we expect to see some TV lineups soon?
I have some ideas for what we could air with TTTE on Cartoon Network.
I have some ideas for what we could air with TTTE on Cartoon Network.
We've the general TV update in spring season, so share us your ideas via PM and if approved might land in that timeframe
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