Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

[RySenkari]

Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven

Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven is a stealth action title for the Nintendo Sapphire and the Apple iTwin. The first game in the series to be released on an Apple console, it's a growing sign of Apple's continued popularity in Japan and Konami's desire to develop games for the iTwin. Outer Heaven is a prequel to the Metal Gear series, taking place in 1997, between the events of the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2. After the events of the original Metal Gear, in which Solid Snake defeats Big Boss and seemingly destroys Outer Heaven, he learns that he merely destroyed a prototype of the compound, and that the true Outer Heaven is much bigger and is being prepped as a base of operations for Big Boss to take control over the world. The game plays much like the earlier Metal Gear Peace, with similar graphics and gameplay mechanics, but does have a few new features that enhance the combat and allow Snake to collect more items, which can be used in more consequential ways. Due to the larger size of the Outer Heaven compound, Snake's infiltration missions each play out differently as he makes his way into different types of facilities and engages with different types of foes. Camouflage is of lesser importance in this game than in previous titles, and instead, Snake can equip outfits with different abilities to enhance his combat, movement, and even interrogation skills. Interrogation gains more importance in this game, as Snake is able to glean information and even take important items, such as keycards, with the right interrogation techniques. As Snake moves through Outer Heaven, his actions will impact how enemies talk about and react to him, with enemies potentially acting differently late in the game based on actions Snake performs very early in the game. Even killing certain people or leaving others alive will have an impact. A completely pacifistic Snake, who kills no one, will gain the respect of some crucial characters late in the game, though it will also hamper his ability to interrogate some enemies who won't fear being killed by a Snake who hasn't killed anyone. The game retains the same high presentation quality as all previous Metal Gear Solid games, with David Hayter reprising his role as Snake (and as Big Boss), Paul Eiding as the voice of Roy Campbell, and other longtime series voice actors returning to reprise various roles.

The game's plot contains many allusions to both original Metal Gear games, with Gray Fox and Gustava making prominent appearances (though Snake does not confront Gray Fox directly in this game, as that won't happen until Metal Gear 2), and Roy Campbell featuring somewhat prominently as well. The plot sees Snake almost entirely within the confines of Outer Heaven, a sort of hybrid city/military base camp within the Amazon jungle. Many, many soldiers appear serving Big Boss, with most of them having noble motives for serving under him. Unlike other Metal Gear Solid titles, known for their fantastical bosses and outlandish characters, this game features grounded, down to earth opponents for Snake to face, with most of the bosses being run of the mill soldier types simply determined to help Big Boss achieve his dream of a soldier's paradise. These include Jonathan Hayes, a former Medal of Honor winner who believes the government disrespected his deceased squadmates, Mariana Sulznarr, a decorated sniper who was sexually assaulted by her commanding officer, and Loman DeGreen, a pilot who was shot down over hostile territory because his government sold him out to the enemy. Each of these soldiers has an axe to grind and each of them has been given a home and a duty by Big Boss, making them all formidable foes that Snake is reluctant to battle, since he himself is a soldier and sympathizes with each of them. Outer Heaven, more than any other game in the series, sees Snake truly ruminating on what it means to be a soldier and whether or not Big Boss is doing the right thing. He knows that Big Boss plans to kill millions of people in the wars he aims to start, and knows that his mission requires him to take Big Boss out, but often doubts himself during the course of the game. Outer Heaven consists of five substantial buildings that must be fully explored and fifteen other buildings, some of which are only partially explored and others don't have to be explored at all (but can be looted for items and information). As Snake works his way to Big Boss' HQ, he picks up as much information as he can about Big Boss' motivations, while battling soldiers every step of the way. A few of the people he meets will help him, and there are prisoners who have to be freed, but for the most part, Snake is on his own. Eventually, Snake does track down and confront Big Boss, but the battle is inconclusive, and ultimately only a third of the way through the game. Snake is captured at the end of this exchange, and a prison escape ensues. During this time, Big Boss tries to get Snake to understand his point of view, and some seeds are planted for Big Boss' eventual return in Metal Gear Solid III. However, despite the persuasive arguments Big Boss makes, Snake is determined to complete the mission. He finds the last part of Outer Heaven left unexplored, a secret underground weapons depot, and makes his way through the facility, discovering a new Metal Gear under construction. In a twist on the typical final boss formula, Snake ends up piloting the unfinished Metal Gear to battle Big Boss, first in an attack helicopter, and then by himself. During the final battle, as Snake hurts Big Boss, there are cutscenes in which Big Boss damages the Metal Gear, to the point where Snake is eventually forced to bail out. He battles Big Boss in hand to hand combat, and even after the player depletes Big Boss' lifebar, Snake is defeated. However, during this final battle, Snake managed to dismantle the weapon Big Boss intended to use to wage war, and Big Boss, despite having defeated Snake, is forced to retreat as Outer Heaven once again goes up in flames. A badly injured Snake staggers out of Outer Heaven, collapsing before being evacuated by Campbell. Big Boss has escaped, but Snake did manage to foil his plan, at least for now, and scenes during the ending both bridge the game between this game and Metal Gear 2, but also plant crucial clues as to the next game in the series, Metal Gear Solid III, the one that will finish the saga. In fact, the game's secret ending goes so far as to reveal the title of that game: Metal Gear Solid III: Angels Fall (which is unfortunately leaked on the internet a few days before release by people who managed to snag early copies).

Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven is highly praised by reviewers for capturing the feel of the old Metal Gear games while also incorporating elements of the new ones. The game tells a crucial part of both Solid Snake and Big Boss' stories and bridges a crucial gap in the series timeline. Its launch on the iTwin is met with great sales success, but ultimately the game sells even more on the Nintendo Sapphire, and would become one of the biggest hits of the summer on both consoles. Its success on the iTwin ultimately leads to the porting of Metal Gear 1+2, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear War, Metal Gear Solid II, and Metal Gear Peace to the iTwin over the next couple of years, and of course, Metal Gear Solid III would be released on the console as well. While Kojima was hard at work on Metal Gear Solid III and on the next-gen Silent Hill title, his other project, a collaboration with Masahiro Sakurai on a Sapphire-exclusive project, had stalled. Work still continued on that project, but had slowed to a crawl. Still, Kojima hoped to show some progress on the game at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. His relationship with Konami, while at times tumultuous, hadn't quite soured to the point that it had IOTL at this time. Still, the stress of three ongoing major game projects was taking its toll on Kojima, and he hoped that concluding the Metal Gear saga with his upcoming MGSIII would allow him to get the rest that he needed.

 

[RySenkari]

Nintendo Sapphire:

Psychonauts 3

Psychonauts 3 is an adventure game that continues from the events of the first two titles, but features a somewhat more focused story. Raz returns as the game's protagonist, but without Emila or Lili in tow. Instead, he finds himself in a city, where the Psychonauts have been assigned to battle a group of corporate-funded psychic soldiers who have infiltrated various businesses and government offices. The city setting leads to plenty of opportunities for destruction, as Raz communicates with his fellow Psychonauts and an AI system named Brax to retake the city from these psychic soldiers. Some of the game's action takes place in the mountains and forests surrounding the city, and this game is slightly bigger and longer than Psychonauts 2, while featuring some unique but detailed HD graphics and a wide array of new moves that give the game almost an OTL Gravity Rush feel. Psychonauts 3 is considered one of the Sapphire's best exclusives of the year, with strong reviews and decent sales, but isn't quite a blockbuster.

Lash Out 3

The third game in David Jaffe's popular action/adventure series, Lash Out 3 brings the action to the HD generation for the first time ever, expanding Lash's moveset and what he can do with his twin whips. He's no longer able to turn them into blunt weapons, but he can turn them into ribbons, chains, cables, and a variety of other whip-like tools to use as weapons or instruments to move along easier. Lash retains the ability to use followers, with seven total followers able to be obtained over the course of the game. Lash Out 3 is also a bit more light-hearted than its predecessor, though it's still a fairly dark, intense, and serious game. The plot continues from the previous title, with Lash still travelling from planet to planet, using its powers to free the oppressed and battle evil. He's been doing this for several years since Laika's death, and he's looking to finally settle down, having become tired in his struggles. He also can't stop seeing Laika in his mind, as a fragment of her soul remains trapped within him, influencing his actions. He learns that something has been communing with the part of his mind that contains Laika, and goes to seek it out, encountering a mechanized planet controlled by a powerful AI named Unisys. Unisys is attempting to find a warrior to carry out its bidding, as the planet itself has been devoid of life and the AI is unable to act on its desires to spread its civilization outward. It first attempts to trap Lash, but Lash manages to evade the traps, and learns of the civilization that escaped Unisys and left the planet, now locked in the middle of an interstellar war with a more powerful civilization. As Lash works to fight their war, Unisys begins communicating with him through Laika, eventually leading to Lash unwittingly doing Unisys' bidding as Laika finally manages to carve out an independent fragment of Lash's mind. Unisys takes control of the aggressor civilization in an attempt to destroy the civilization that abandoned it, and ultimately Lash must return to Unisys' planet and destroy it with Laika helping him to remain independent of Unisys' influence. With Unisys destroyed, the planet is free to house its old civilization once again, and Lash settles down there, while Laika remains dormant within his mind, now an independent spirit but still trapped within Lash and wondering if she should stay in his mind or try and find a body to roam the world once again, even knowing all the trouble she caused before.

Lash Out 3 is a commercial success when it's released in June 2010, but reviews aren't quite up to the level of the two Wave titles. It still remains one of Sony's most popular franchises, and another title is expected to be released for the Sapphire before the end of its lifespan.

Apple iTwin:

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love is the localization of an early iTwin game that came out in Japan in 2007 but wasn't localized for North America until 2010, similar to OTL's title of the same name (which had a five year localization gap). The game combines tactical combat with a romance/exploration title, featuring a wide variety of beautiful mech pilots and the man who tries to win their hearts while recruiting them to his team. TTL's game takes place in modern Tokyo (OTL's game took place in the 1920s), and features a much more shiny, sci-fi, magical girl aesthetic than OTL's title, pushing for mainstream audiences (which succeeded in Japan, as the game sold quite well there). One of the major “anime RPGs” released for the iTwin in 2010, it sells decently among niche players but isn't a very notable game otherwise.

Panzer Dragoon Arena

This spinoff of the Panzer Dragoon series takes the franchise somewhat back to its rail shooter roots, eschewing the RPG elements of Zeta (save for a few small things such as combat damage numbers) and putting players inside a series of arenas to do battle on heavily armed flying dragons. The game retains the familiar aerial combat of its predecessors, while adding in a few elements to better convey the game's “arena” setting and make the combat more suitable for 1v1 and 4-player play. The game has a campaign mode that allows players to win equipment and power-ups for their dragons (which can be raised and customized, rather than the game presenting you with a dragon and sticking to that single creature), and also boasts an extensive multiplayer combat mode in which custom loadouts can be selected, along with arena type and terrain. The plotline of the campaign revolves around the protagonist (who can be customized and can be male or female) trying to become the Panzer Champion while also defeating a rival character who is gathering a set of ancient stones to gain ultimate power. It's more of an excuse plot than anything, but does feature full cutscenes and voice acting, and takes about 5-10 hours to complete. For fans of Panzer Dragoon Zeta, this game proves to be an excellent title that takes the franchise into full multiplayer combat. It's a fun competitive title with a strong online scene, though it doesn't have quite the popularity to become an e-sport. Reviews and sales are both strong, though not on Zeta's level, and the game manages to turn a healthy profit, putting the series back in the public eye on the eve of the Phanta announcement.

The Nihilist: Awakening

A WRPG-style adventure game with a very dark aesthetic, this game pushes the iTwin hard in terms of graphical scale and scope. The Nihilist takes place in an ancient realm where an ancient magical plague has devastated the land. The protagonist is a sorcerer in training who can manipulate this “plague energy” and turn it on his enemies, but is unable (or perhaps unwilling) to manipulate it for good. A cross between straight-RPG and Zelda-like gameplay, The Nihilist allows the player to visit up to six dungeons, but they're only required to visit four, and would only want to visit the others to collect treasure and level up. A very ambitious game, designed by one of Steve Jobs' recruited development teams, this game becomes somewhat of a hyped release for the iTwin as another major mature style title. However, it ends up being merely mediocre, a disappointment both commercially and critically. Its combat is repetitive, its dungeons uninspired, and its world is seen as being too small, making it easy to complete with not enough incentive to complete sidequests. The game's failure doesn't scare Apple away from these types of games but it does make them more cautious in the future.

Microsoft Xbox 2:

Soldier Monday

Soldier Monday is a tongue-in-cheek FPS about a space marine who has gotten sick of his job and goes rogue to destroy the aliens by himself. It's not irreverent or offensive in the same way as Duke Nukem is, rather, it's almost a version of Doom if Doomguy was actually Deadpool. Despite the game's status as a parody, it features some excellent stage design, with complex (but not confusing) levels and some of the best FPS gameplay in recent memory, with fluid controls, a simple dodging and cover system, and some really creative and fun weapons. Notable for giving the player lots of ammo and not forcing them to use a pistol all the time to conserve bullets. Soldier Monday features some of the best graphics and gameplay yet seen on the Xbox 2, and is also seen as a brilliant deconstruction of a genre at the height of its powers. The game is almost a kind of FU from one of Microsoft's second party studios to the rest of the industry, and achieves a decent amount of commercial success, though it won't see very strong sales immediately.

Say Cheese!

Say Cheese! is a quirky mascot platformer starring an obese mouse named Cheddy as the protagonist, whose primary goal is to steal cheese on a strange planet populated by weird purple aliens. The game is as silly as it sounds, full of slapstick cartoon violence as Cheddy does the best he can to take the cheese without the aliens killing him. Cheddy can't fight a whole bunch of aliens at once, so the player is forced to use stealth and be quick, and only engage one or two aliens at a time. Later, when Cheddy finds some weapons, he can kill more, and the goal is to gather a certain amount of cheese in each world and move on. The game is released at a budget price ($29.99) in an effort to lure more players in, but despite decent (mid to high 7s) review scores, the game just doesn't click with intended audiences. The families that this game is aimed at have largely moved on from the Xbox 2, and the game doesn't find many older players willing to give it a chance.

Game Boy Supernova:

Dr. Mario

A modern remake of Nintendo's classic puzzler series, Dr. Mario features the traditional series formula but mixes things up with updated graphics, new challenge modes, and online play. There is a basic storyline in adventure mode with some very short cutscenes, but most players ignore that, preferring the challenges and the online mode. The game gets a strong critical reception and decent, but not great, sales.

Metal Slug Revival

A follow-up to last year's Metal Slug NEO, Metal Slug Revival is an enhanced remake of the original Metal Slug with updated gameplay and added levels, exclusive to the Supernova and given a $19.99 budget price. For fans of Metal Slug NEO, it's a fun experience, with some fans preferring Revival to that game, but others wishing that SNK had devoted time instead to a second new game.

Battletoads: Fight And Dark

Another action beat 'em up from Rare, this game sees the return of the Dark Queen, who seeks to take down the Battletoads once and for all. This game has less emphasis on platforming and more on combat, and while it's a bit less difficult than the more platforming-oriented games, it still packs plenty of challenge, featuring tough bosses and fierce enemies, with a combo system that takes a bit of practice to master. The game features a total of 16 levels, each with unique challenges and enemies, with numerous cutscenes interspersed between the action. The finale sees an epic battle against the Dark Queen, who, after being defeated once, drops the magic in favor of a more melee-oriented combat style, making the final battle somewhat of a DBZ-esque clash and one of the series' more memorable boss fights. Fight And Dark gets good reviews, but isn't quite the sales success that the TMNT crossover was.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: The Rivalry Returns

The latest game in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series introduces some exciting new elements to the ongoing puzzler series, including some platforming segments connecting individual levels. This introduces more of a Super Mario Bros.-esque element to the game, combining the best of both the SMB and Donkey Kong gameplay styles and throwing in some fun boss fights for good measure. In the wake of the success of Super Mario World 4, this mixed style of platforming/puzzle gameplay is a welcome addition to the series, helping it to achieve success amongst critics and fans alike, and it becomes the best selling Mario vs. Donkey Kong game to date.

(Authors' Note: The following idea was given to us by the reader HonestAbe1809!)
Teen Invader

Teen Invader is an action/shooter/visual novel title with anime aesthetics, about a young high school boy named Roto who is secretly a human-sized mech piloted by a crew of stranded, miniature, vaguely humanoid aliens. The game takes place at Roto's high school and flashes back and forth between Roto and his friends and the alien crew as they try to survive high school while finding a way back home. The game features a mix of beat 'em up and shooter combat as Roto is eventually forced to battle against an invasion from the rest of their species, after discovering that they were supposed to be the scouting party for an invasion. These aliens have high school student mechs of their own, so Roto isn't sure who he can trust and who he must fight, and the situation eventually descends into a massive anime-esque battle in the streets of the city, where Roto fights alongside his friends to defend his new adopted home. With plenty of anime cutscenes, a big cast of likable characters (both human and alien), and plenty of quirky humor, the game becomes a major cult classic amongst anime fans and hardcore Supernova players, though it's not really a major commercial success in North America or Japan.

The Eternal Path

The latest game in Nihon Falcom's Kiseki series, The Eternal Path (renamed from The Legend Of Heroes: The Trail That Leads To Forever), is essentially TTL's version of The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky, and though the game enjoys some similar mechanics and pacing, it has a vastly different plot from OTL's title, with the Legend Of Heroes series having gone vastly differently ITTL. The game features the Craft system from OTL's Trails In The Sky, and also has a guild system, but the guild system doesn't have as much importance to this game's main plot, and is instead more of an elaborate sidequest with different tiers and types of missions. The game itself centers around a war between two mighty kingdoms, the Floret kingdom led by a beautiful but bloodthirsty princess named Lania and the Accro kingdom, led by a grizzled old mountain chief. The primary protagonist is a young woman named Centuria, who encounters the mountain chief's grandson near death after an attempted assassination of the leader of Floret. Centuria nurses the young man back to health, and learns his name, Seth. Seth is determined to take down Floret's leader to save his kingdom, but Centuria has a special connection to Floret's ruler and refuses to allow him to kill her. The two share an unbreakable magical bond by virtue of being childhood friends, and if she is killed, Centuria dies as well. However, she does not share this secret with Seth, and eventually, Centuria and Seth fall in love with each other. Soon after, Seth learns Centuria's secret. Around the same time, Seth's beloved grandfather is killed by Lania, and Seth is made the new chief of Accro just as Floret is launching the final invasion push. Seth and Centuria's mutual dilemmas all come to a head as the two search for a way to restore the peace with the help of numerous allies on both sides. Centuria learns the reason for Lania's bloodlust and tries to save her from the evil advisor who has been manipulating her. In the end, Lania is murdered by her advisor just as Centuria was starting to get through to her. However, in a last act of redemption, Lania severs the bond between Centuria and herself, which causes Centuria to be put in a coma rather than be killed. Seth finds a way to wake Centuria, and they defeat the evil advisor and the monster he has summoned to restore a measure of peace, though the war is implied to not yet be over as the game ends. The Eternal Path is considered one of the better Supernova RPGs of the year. It was released in North America two years after a successful 2008 release in Japan, and generally gets slightly better critical and commercial treatment than OTL's Trails In The Sky. Like that game, The Eternal Path would spawn numerous sequels, and the Kiseki series would enjoy some measure of success in the West throughout the 2010s.

iPod Play:

Harvest Moon: Charm School

A spinoff of the main Harvest Moon series, Harvest Moon: Charm School takes place partially in an academy for young ladies, but it also features a massive estate farm in which the typical farming activities can be performed. The protagonist is a young woman who is given the job of tending to the farm so that she can keep attending the school, which would normally be too expensive for her. The player is given several different goals to accomplish, and the game itself is timed, so the player must make sure they hit all their goals before passing certain dates on the calendar. It's definitely a bit more complex than the usual Harvest Moon title, but maintains the series' charm and anime aesthetic, and is a decently popular game.

Soul Eclipse

A collectible card game exclusive to the iPhone and iPod Play, Soul Eclipse is Apple's attempt to create a digital collectible card game. Quite successful initially, it sells a lot of packs and launches somewhat of a following, though it's not nearly what Hearthstone was IOTL. It would achieve most of its popularity on the iOS platform, and while it never becomes a major e-sport, it does make a decent amount of money for Apple.

Multiplatform:

DC Ultimate Rivals

A next-gen fighting game based on the DC Comics characters, and the third in the series (after the two Super Clash games), DC Ultimate Rivals is a game that focuses heavily on rivalries, cutting some characters from Super Clash 2, but adding a few more, such as Lobo. The game also introduces DLC to the series, though it's not quite as extensive as Marvel vs. Capcom 3, with only four DLC characters. It's a decently praised game, with great graphics and a decent fighting system, but isn't as successful as MvC 3 despite being released on both the Sapphire and iTwin (it skips the Xbox 2, like a lot of games around this time are doing).

Extraction 3

The third game in the Extraction series of FPS titles, and the first for the HD consoles, Extraction 3 introduces an entirely new set of characters and revamps the plot, but continues the series' basic gameplay premise (a focus on missions where the player has to be extracted from hostile territory). This game focuses on the British special agent Samuel Lark, who is attempting to rescue a captured agent from a terrorist stronghold. However, after rescuing her, she is suspected of harboring sympathy for the enemy, and Lark must decide whether to trust her or help imprison her as he chases the remaining terrorists all over the world. The game features a mix of exotic missions, innovative gadgets, and intuitive stealth, and is generally seen as being a better game than its predecessor, due to the increased development time. It's still not as highly acclaimed as the series' first title, but it does help to revive the property overall.

Plush Factory

A handheld simulation title in which you run a factory that makes toy plushes. Has some “cookie clicker” mechanics to it but is deeper and lets players design their own toys. One of the more addictive games in recent memory and a surprise hit, eventually becoming a million seller and spawning a line of plush toys and a Build-A-Bear Workshop tie-in.

Quiet As The Leaf

An Onimusha-style hack and slasher taking place in an ancient forest in late 19th century Japan in an era of modernization. The game's protagonist is a samurai holdout attempting to assassinate a corrupt warlord and his subordinates, and not only does the game feature some difficult but rewarding combat, but also some interesting historical content as well, even if it does take liberties with historical accuracy in the name of being fun and cool. A very well made game and one of the best hack and slashers of the year, it's not quite as commercially successful as it is critically but is still a success after its release for the Sapphire and iTwin.

Tom Clancy's Delta Force: Precision Team

A spinoff of Ubisoft's acclaimed shooter series, Precision Team is a shorter, more tightly plotted game focused heavily on squad-based play. It features an elite team of soldiers who go in and perform raids on fortified compounds all over the world. Released less than a year after the last Delta Force game, it's intended as somewhat of a supplemental title, but its release at a full retail price does antagonize some players. While the single player campaign is sufficient, if a bit short, it's intended as a multiplayer rival to SOCOM, and for the most part it actually does fairly well, differentiating its gameplay from that series while offering up some unique missions and not being burdened by the need for the game to have an epic, cinematic plot. Averages in the 8/10 range upon its release on all three major consoles, and while it doesn't sell great right away, once the price comes down (rather quickly), it sells a lot better.

Grappelina

A very interesting 2-D platforming game featuring a heroine who wields dual grappling hooks and swings almost effortlessly across very long distances. The game has a fun, somewhat hyper-energetic style of play, and features some cutesy voice acting and fun animation. One of the better reviewed handheld platformers of the year, it sells decently on the Supernova and iPod Play, and does well enough to spawn a sequel.

Legacy Of Kain: Fate's Instrument

The followup to 2008's Legacy Of Kain: Dhampir, Fate's Instrument once again features the half-vampire, half-human protagonist Silan, now forced to serve as the pawn of the vampire Kain as Nosgoth is once again roiled in battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The player controls Silan, but for most of the game, is forced to carry out Kain's will, even as she personally fights for her own freedom against Kain's machinations. Meanwhile, Silan is constantly pursued by the vampire hunter Esma, who has raised up an army to slaughter Kain and all those who serve him. A major theme of the game, as is par for the series as a whole, is the struggle between fate and free will. Silan is constantly reminded that she has no free will, while Esma is presumably fully able to exert her own free will. However, in a major turn of the plot about two thirds of the way through the game, the player learns that it is Esma, not Silan, who is carrying out Kain's bidding, and even though Kain's soul is in Silan's body, Silan has been fully in control of her own actions the entire time, while subtly guiding the human armies of Nosgoth to where Kain wishes them to be. The game ends with a final climactic battle between Silan and Esma, which ultimately leads to Silan suffering a seemingly fatal wound, forcing Kain to manifest himself in the physical world. Esma clashes with Kain only to be mortally wounded, and Kain leaves to take his place as ruler of Nosgoth. The mortally wounded Silan and Esma, despite their hatred for one another, both acknowledge that Kain is the bigger threat, and as they die next to one another, their souls merge with their weapons (both of them wield an incomplete version of Soul Reaver), bringing Soul Reaver back to full strength and allowing both women to co-exist in the same body as a being between life and death and free will and fate. This new being, known as Silesma, takes up the Soul Reaver and goes forth to gather energy from the remaining vampires of Nosgoth to rise against Kain and defeat him once and for all. Fate's Instrument is praised for its combat and plot, but it's somewhat short and doesn't innovate very much from a gameplay perspective, taking most of its gameplay from Dhampir. It's a solid game that sets up well for what will presumably be the final Legacy Of Kain title, but its sales don't quite stand up to those of its predecessor.

Rise A Knight: Majesty

A spinoff title in the Rise A Knight series, and THQ's follow-up to Rise A Knight III, Rise A Knight: Majesty features similar gameplay but a somewhat smaller scope, telling the tale of a king whose kingdom is besieged from all sides, and who must once again embrace his knighthood if he is to save his kingdom. The game starts the player out as a king, and has some simulation elements to help the player better defend their kingdom, including the building of fortifications and the ability to conquer neighboring territory. The player can improve their relationship with some neighboring kingdoms, usually at the expense of antagonizing others, and can also find and marry a queen (the player starts out widowed, their queen having been killed in a battle a year before). The game's main antagonist is a rival monarch who is leading an alliance of kingdoms against the protagonist, and before he can be rooted out and taken down, the player must fight their way out of the siege and form at least one alliance to peel off the rival king's support. The game is less combat focused and more diplomacy focused than other Rise A Knight games, with side quests and optional missions forming a major part of gameplay. Majesty also features less celebrity voice acting, in an attempt to lower development costs and enable THQ to put out such an epic game so soon after Rise A Knight III. The game is considered mostly a success, with scores in the mid to high 8s and a good reception amongst series fans, and sells several million copies overall. It's a decent way to keep fans playing until Rise A Knight IV can be released, and for the most part is another big hit in this popular WRPG franchise.

Soul Calibur IV

The latest title in Namco's acclaimed fighting game series is the first released entirely for the HD lineup of consoles, and features major graphical improvements and some gameplay enhancements while being a true next generation fighting experience. For the most part, the core Soul Calibur gameplay remains intact, and with 32 characters, the game enjoys the biggest roster in the series to date, and that's not counting the game's DLC and guest characters. There's no system-exclusive guests in this game, but it does bring in characters including King Arthur (from the recent movies) and in a very surprising and welcome crossover, Latham, Cass, and Fleshtear from the Necrocracy games. Soul Calibur IV is quite well received, but isn't as big of a commercial success as the second or third games, and is seen as a bit of a low point for the series.

Steeped In Blood

A very violent hack and slash title for the handhelds, Steeped In Blood, which features an outbreak of vampiric zombies in a medieval setting, is notable for both its brutality and the number of creatures it can fit on screen. It's certainly a fun and well made game, but it's nothing that hasn't been done on the consoles before. Still, it pushes a lot of technological boundaries on the Supernova and iPod Play, and achieves a lot of popularity for that purpose alone.

Turok: Prehistoric Conqueror

Acclaim's latest Turok title continues the story from The Unending War, and sees Tal'Set, once again joined by his sister Danielle, returning to a time and place known as the Primal World in order to find a series of artifacts that will enable them to construct a weapon in the present day that will fend off an invasion of cosmic horrors from beyond the stars. When the two arrive, they realize that the Primal World is already overrun by an army of well-armed futuristic mercenaries, and the two are captured and separated from one another, forcing them to battle their way out. There's MUCH less melee combat in this game, the focus is back on guns, guns, and more guns, with nearly 100 total firearms in this game, ranging from a simple bow and arrow to a gun with the power to destroy a star, there's all kinds of ludicrous firepower that can be wielded in both the campaign and the multiplayer mode, which allows players to battle it out either locally or online. The game's main villain, a would-be dictator named Karnikov, actually escapes at the end of the game, which is somewhat of a cliffhanger: Tal'Set and Danielle complete their weapon, but the cosmic invasion has already begun, with Karnikov hoping to take control of one of the cosmic horrors as Tal'Set and Danielle return to defend their world in the present. Prehistoric Conqueror is considered to be a slightly better game than The Unending War, but sales are disappointing, probably the worst ever for a Turok game. Acclaim still plans to finish the series, but puts more of their focus on Destined and their fighting and comic franchises going forward, while Turok will be quietly finished and then put on the backburner.

American Rally 2

The latest Rally game is a sequel to the acclaimed American Rally and once again takes place all across the United States with a wide variety of different tracks and cars. There's not too much to say about this one, the familiar gameplay that made the last few games in the series so popular is still present, and the game gets strong reviews and sales, having become a consistent, annualized racing series for all three consoles.

Batman: Gotham Midnight

A fully 3-D Batman game released for the Supernova and the iPhone (but not the iPod Play), Gotham Midnight is an attempt to bring the free-roaming, 3-D gameplay of 2009's acclaimed Gotham Stories to the handhelds, and it mostly succeeds, featuring a story about Batman battling it out against a group of criminals led by Harley Quinn while also solving minor crimes around Gotham. The player can roam the city busting criminals and solving crimes, or they can solve the game's primary mystery to figure out why Harley Quinn is working on her own and who might be pulling her strings. The game features a slightly more serious Harley, and gives a good exploration of her character, while also developing her minions fairly well also. In general, the game looks VERY good for a handheld title, and gets solid reviews, but not a whole lot of sales despite its quality, and is ultimately considered a forgettable game.

(Authors' Note: The following idea was given to us by the reader HonestAbe1809!)
Killing Field

A horror/mystery/third person shooter title, Killing Field takes place in a world in which ghosts have suddenly come into existence, and every person who has ever died returns to Earth as a spirit. While a few spirits are friendly, those who have suffered violent deaths are out for revenge, not just against the person who killed them but against humanity in general. The ghosts can only be vanquished with special spectral bullets, which are in short supply. The protagonist is a man who enters the abandoned city of Chicago, now haunted by millions of ghosts, in search of a friend who has gone missing there. The player is given the option to rescue the living who have been left behind, but the game mostly revolves around navigating the city, searching for clues, getting help from whatever friendly ghosts still remain, and finding the protagonist's friend. Navigating the city is similar to an adventure game, in which areas are cleared out and opened up as the player makes their way through, finding deadlier and angrier ghosts in the process. The game is full of horrifying, haunting visuals and flashback sequences in which the player learns how the ghost epidemic started and how some of these ghosts were killed. Killing Field receives a lot of critical praise for its innovative plot and concept, though the combat is seen as being a bit weak compared to similar third person shooters. It's not the most successful shooter, but it's fondly remembered by those who play it as a truly unique and terrifying concept title.

Split/Second

Similar to OTL's title, Split/Second is a racing game taking place in the context of a reality show, with highly destructible environments and spectacular crashes and explosions. The game combines tropes from normal racing games with those of car combat titles to create a memorable and fun racing experience for all three major consoles, and achieves the most success on the iTwin, where its unique motion controls and the game's added advertising on that console makes it more of a success than on its more technologically advanced counterparts.

-

Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):

April 2010:

1. Kingdom Quest 3 (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. Tom Clancy's Delta Force: Precision Team (Nintendo Sapphire)
3. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Apple iTwin)
4. DC Ultimate Rivals (Nintendo Sapphire)
5. Worlds With Wings (Nintendo Sapphire)

May 2010:

1. Mariokart Crown (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. Rise A Knight: Majesty (Nintendo Sapphire)
3. Grand Theft Auto: Back Of Beyond (Game Boy Supernova)
4. Rise A Knight: Majesty (Apple iTwin)
5. Hidden (Nintendo Sapphire)

June 2010:

1. Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven (Nintendo Sapphire)
2. Metal Gear Solid: Outer Heaven (Apple iTwin)
3. Lash Out 3 (Nintendo Sapphire)
4. Silent Hill: End Times (Nintendo Sapphire)
5. American Rally 2 (Nintendo Sapphire)

 

[rick007]

The Amazing Race: Season 17: Race til you drop.

Compared to the previous two seasons, this one was significantly better. Though that's not saying much. Still there were some changes that were hoped to make the race better. The first was the Express Pass. This is a single use item that let the winner of the first leg bypass any task prior to Leg #8. This would be used in one way or another over the years since. The other one was the Double U-Turn. It's just like a regular U-Turn except two teams can use it.

This season was cast in February and March 2010 and filmed between May and June 2010.

The Cast

Brook and Claire: Host on the Home Shopping Channel and friends. These two were a study in contrasts: Brook is high energy, Claire is....I don't want to say mundane but is definitely not as high energy as Brook.

Michael and Kevin: Father and son. Kevin is famous as KevJumba. They are fun, in a way, but I'm not in a hurry to see Kevin's YouTube videos.

Nat and Kat: Friends and doctors. They are extremely polite, I don't think I saw them get into a fight once on the race.

Andie and Jenna: Birth mother and daughter. They are trying to reconnect after Jenna found Andie, after she was given up for adoption.

Chad and Stephanie: Newly dating couple. They argued, though it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Still they were a good team.

Nick and Vicki: Dating couple. They argued a lot more than Chad and Stephanie. It's a wonder they made it as far as they did.

Jill and Thomas: Dating Couple. They were the best of the dating couples this season.

Katie and Rachel: Friends and volleyball teammates. They were the nastiest of all the teams this season and it manifested in the way they played.

Gary and Mallory: Father and daughter. Mallory was Miss Kentucky 2009. They were one of the nicer teams of the season.

Connor and Jonathan: Ivy League A Cappella Singers and friends. Many people find these two annoying but I don't mind them as much.

Ron and Tony: Friends and theatre aficionados. They were good for the time they were on.

The Race

Leg #1: "It's not called The Amazing Race for nothing."

Original Air Date: September 26, 2010.

Starting at the Eastern Point Yacht Club in Gloucester, Massachusetts, teams get $152 and instructions to head to London, England. On arrival, teams have to go to Stonehenge and solve a riddle that takes them to Eastnor Castle. Once there, teams have to participate in what I think was supposed to be a Detour halve but is not described as such. In short, they have to climb a wall of the castle on a ladder, while peasants taunt them and pour dirty water on them.

Then they have to take a flag and use a round boat called a coracle to take it to the other side of the moat. After giving the flag to a knight, they get the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to use a giant slingshot to knock a suit of armor 50 feet away over with a watermelon. This leads to something that CBS leaked, and subsequently went viral. Claire, working the slingshot, got hit full force in the face with the watermelon after it failed to launch. She was fine, if momentarily stunned. Anyway, after completing the Roadblock teams search the grounds for the next Pit Stop.

1. Brook and Claire 10:58 A.M. Won the Express Pass

2. Jill and Thomas 10:59 A.M.

3. Nat and Kat 11:03 A.M.

4. Katie and Rachel 11:15 A.M.

5. Connor and Jonathan 11:50 A.M.

6. Gary and Mallory 12:14 P.M.

7. Michael and Kevin 12:30 P.M.

8. Andie and Jenna 12:43 P.M.

9. Chad and Stephanie 1:01 P.M.

10. Ron and Tony 1:05 P.M.

11. Nick and Vicki 1:17 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #2: "If you have to go out, go out in style."

Original Air Date: October 3, 2010.

Getting $200, teams are told to fly to Accra, Ghana. Once there, teams have to Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. After that, teams have to get to Makola Market, where they get the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to make 15 Ghanaian Cedi (approximately $10 US at the time) selling sunglasses. They can't sell the sunglasses for less than 3 Ghanaian Cedi each.

Then teams have to make their way to Peace Motor Spare Parts where they find the Detour: Tune In or Check Out. In Tune In, teams have to pick up a television antenna from Adom Electronics and deliver it to a specific address. They then have to put it together and get a good signal they will get their next clue. In Check Out, teams have to go to Emmanuel's Woodshop, pick up a fantasy coffin (essentially a coffin shaped like a chicken or a car or a rocket ship) and take it across town to a coffin showroom. Then teams go to the Pit Stop: Kaneshie Market.

1. Katie and Rachel 10:15 A.M. Won a trip for two to Hawaii.

2. Brook and Claire 10:20 A.M.

3. Gary and Mallory 10:22 A.M.

4. Jill and Thomas 10:43 A.M.

5. Nat and Kat 10:59 A.M.

6. Chad and Stephanie 11:14 A.M.

7. Michael and Kevin 11:36 A.M.

8. Connor and Jonathan 12:00 P.M.

9. Andie and Jenna 12:14 P.M.

10. Ron and Tony 12:22 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #3: "In Phil We Trust."

Original Air Date: October 10, 2010.

Getting $250, teams have to go to the Akotoku Boxing Academy. There teams run into the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to learn a boxing routine: taping their hands properly, punching a speed bag and jump rope for 60 seconds. Then teams go to the Supply Depot in Dodowa, where they have to pick up supplies for a local school and deliver them. Then they have to go to a geography class, where they have to locate Ghana on a map.

After that teams get the Detour: Bicycle Parts or Language Arts. In Bicycle Parts, teams have to use a stick to roll a bicycle wheel the length of a soccer field and back, without touching it with their hands or letting it fall. In Language Arts, teams have to choose a proverb with eight Adinkra symbols and, using a decipher key on a nearby wall, locate the symbols a word search like puzzle. Teams then go to the Pit Stop: The home of Awume Ntso.

1. Gary and Mallory 2:11 P.M. Won $5,000 each.

2. Connor and Jonathan 2:13 P.M.

3. Brooke and Claire 2:35 P.M.

4. Andie and Jenna 2:59 P.M.

5. Chad and Stephanie 3:15 P.M.

6. Jill and Thomas 3:20 P.M.

7. Nat and Kat 3:44 P.M.

8. Michael and Kevin 4:01 P.M.

9. Katie and Rachel 4:11 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.

Leg #4: "I've sat through worse."

Original Air Date: October 17, 2010.

After receiving $190, teams fly to Kiruna, Sweden. Once there, teams have to make their way to the Ice Hotel, where teams have to chisel their next clue (written entirely in Swedish) out of a block of ice. It is here that Katie and Rachel face their Speedbump. In this Speedbump, they have sit on chairs made of ice for 10 minutes straight. Then they can join the other teams at Fjellborg's Lodge for the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to choose a sled dog team, hitch it to a summer training sled, then take it around a course, picking up five flags. The flags are traded for furs which are traded at the start for the next clue. If they miss a flag, then they have to take one penalty lap for each missed flag.

Teams then head to the Vassijaure Train Station, where they find the Detour: Sleds or Beds. In Sleds, teams have to use TechSleds to navigate a course in 1 min. 58 secs. or less. Failure results in a reset. In Beds, teams have to build a traditional Sami dwelling called a goahti. Once built to satisfaction, teams get the next clue. Then teams head to the Pit Stop: A spot on the Swedish-Norwegian border.

1. Nat and Kat 3:15 P.M. Won a trip for two to Belize

2. Brooke and Claire 3:28 P.M.

3. Michael and Kevin 3:44 P.M.

4. Gary and Mallory 4:00 P.M.

5. Chad and Stephanie 4:11 P.M.

6. Connor and Jonathan 4:19 P.M.

7. Jill and Thomas 4:25 P.M.

8. Katie and Rachel 4:39 P.M.

9. Andie and Jenna 5:01 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #5: "Not on your life!"

Original Air Date: October 24, 2010.

Getting $250, teams are told to Narvik, Norway, which is above the Arctic Circle. Once there, teams have to ride a gondola to the top of Fagernasfjellet Mountain to get their next clue. With it is the Fast Forward. In this Fast Forward, both team members have to go to a restaurant in Vidrek and eat smalahove, a dish made with a boiled sheep's head. Nat and Kat take it, though reluctantly on Nat's part as she is a vegetarian. The other teams head to Skjomen Bridge, where the Roadblock is. This Roadblock requires one team member rappel down the bridge, then signaling one of two boats for the next clue. After getting clue they use an ascender to get back to the top of the bridge.

After this, teams head to Harvika in Sandtorg, Troms where they find the Detour: Bike or Boat. In Bike, teams pick a bike, ride along a course to a sign. Here they have to find and memorize a combination in the same color as their bike, ride bake to the beginning of the course and use the combination to get their next clue. In Boat, teams, using a map for reference, must navigate a boat to a specific location. There they pick up two cod and a chainsaw and deliver them to a summer lodge. After that, teams head to the Pit Stop: Ankenes Marina.

1. Nat and Kat 1:02 P.M. Won a trip for two to Costa Rica

2. Gary and Mallory 1:27 P.M.

3. Brook and Claire 1:55 P.M.

4. Katie and Rachel 2:15 P.M.

5. Connor and Jonathan 2:59 P.M.

6. Jill and Thomas 3:15 P.M.

7. Michael and Kevin 3:33 P.M.

8. Chad and Stephanie 4:01 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #6: "I'm not old enough to be a babushka!"

Original Air Date: October 31, 2010.

Receiving $200, teams are told to go by train to Uppsala, taxi to Stockholm, then fly to Saint Petersburg, Russia. On arrival, teams have to go to the Rostral Columns on Vasilievsky Island, where they find the Detour: Classical Music or Classical Cinema. In Classical Music, teams have to go to Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace and listen to three compositions (Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Tchaikovsky's Troika) on three different Gramophones. Then they have to enter a music hall where pianists are playing several different compositions, take a copy of the sheet music from the pianists playing them and bring them, in the correct order to the judge. In Classical Cinema, teams have to Lenfilm and search through hundreds of filmstrips for one matching the film being played in the room, Sergei Eisenstein's October.

Depending on the Detour teams completed, they get their next clue on a record or in a film canister. It's a picture of Palace Square. From there teams have to go to the Neighborhood Store in Alexandrovskaya. There teams face a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to dress up like a babushka, pick up a sack of 50 potatoes, then fill a wheelbarrow full of manure. After planting the potatoes, teams get the clue to the Pit Stop: Alexander Garden overlooking St. Isaac's Cathedral.

1. Brook and Claire 2:10 P.M. Won a trip for two to Sao Paolo, Brazil

2. Gary and Mallory 2:15 P.M.

3. Nat and Kat 2:29 P.M.

4. Rachel and Katie 2:48 P.M.

5. Jill and Thomas 3:03 P.M.

6. Michael and Kevin 3:12 P.M.

7. Connor and Jonathan 3:46 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.

Leg #7: "I want to join the circus, it's where I belong."

Original Air Date: November 7, 2010.

After getting $230, teams are told to go to the Atovo Circus, where they run into the Detour: Circus Band or Circus Clown. In Circus Band, teams have to learn how to play Kalinka on the accordion. Once they play it correctly, they will get their next clue. In Circus Clown, teams have learn plate spinning and get 10 plates spinning at the same time without any of them falling over. Before I go on, I should mention that there is no Speedbump this leg. The reason is the judge at the Classical Music Detour in the last leg, wasn't very good at his job and told several teams they were wrong when they were right. Long story short (too late), the Speedbump for this leg was waived. Don't know what it was though.

In any event, teams now have to follow a series of clues that will lead them to the Peter and Paul Fortress. In the gorodki courts teams find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to knock down three gorodki pin formations (gorodki is like bowling) before all the pins are reset. Then teams go to the Pit Stop: On the Battlements of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

1. Nat and Kat 3:21 P.M. Won $5,000 each.

2. Brook and Claire 3:40 P.M.

3. Gary and Mallory 4:00 P.M.

4. Jill and Thomas 4:16 P.M.

5. Rachel and Katie 4:29 P.M.

6. Michael and Kevin 4:59 P.M.

7. Connor and Jonathan 5:02 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #8: "Rock the souq!"

Original Air Date: November 14, 2010.

Receiving $135, teams have to fly to Muscat, Oman. On arrival, teams have to make their way to Burj Al Mubkharah, where they pick up silver ingots telling them when they leave the next morning. Teams then have to dive themselves to Jebel Shams, where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to rappel down 500 feet and search through hundreds of oil lamps for one with Aladdin's magic ring inside. Then teams have to go to Stack of Books in Nizwa for the Detour: Water Table or Wedding Table.

In Water Table, teams have to pump water from a well into a water truck and drive it to their specific house in the neighborhood of Aswat Al Eid. In Wedding Table, teams have to travel to a nearby market, pick 25 chickens and other ingredients, prepare a dish called maqbous and serve it to a bride and groom. Teams then have to go to the Muttrah Souq, where they have to pick up frankincense from a vendor and deliver it to "Ali Baba". Then it's off to the Pit Stop: Al Alam Palace.

1. Jill and Thomas 4:10 P.M. Won a trip for two to Belize

2. Rachel and Katie 4:22 P.M.

3. Nat and Kat 4:35 P.M.

4. Brook and Claire 5:11 P.M.

5. Gary and Mallory 5:24 P.M.

6. Michael and Kevin 5:42 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #9: "There are a lot of nuts and bullets."

Original Air Date: November 21, 2010.

Getting $80, teams have to fly to Dhaka, Bangladesh. On arrival, teams have to get to Sundarban Square Market, where they have to find the marked sugarcane stall. Here teams have to press some cane for its juice and one team member has to drink it. Then teams have to get to Dhaka Harbor where they find the Detour: Balanced Meal or Balanced Bricks. In Balanced Meal, teams have to pick up 30 Tiffin carriers and transport them by boat to a bigger boat and then take 10 empty carriers back. In Balanced Bricks, teams have to get 100 bricks and transport them, on their heads, to a local shop without breaking any.

Teams then head to Sadarghat, where the Double U-Turn awaits. Brook and Claire U-Turn Rachel and Katie, while Rachel and Katie U-Turn Gary and Mallory. Teams then get to Nazira Bazaar by cycle rickshaw where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to correctly assemble a cycle rickshaw. Once they do they get the clue to the Pit Stop: Lalbagh Fort.

1. Nat and Kat 2:22 P.M. Won a $15,000 Discover card.

2. Brook and Claire 2:23 P.M.

3. Jill and Thomas 2:45 P.M.

4. Rachel and Katie 3:37 P.M.

5. Gary and Mallory 4:16 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #10: "I'm going to be sick!"

Original Air Date: November 28, 2010.

Receiving $140, teams fly to Hong Kong, China. Once there, teams have to make their way, by train and ferry to Cheung Chau and then head to Cheung Po Caves where they will find their next clue in one of the chambers. Then they have to go to Kowloon and find the Majesty Chinese Restaurant where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to find one of five pieces of fake food amongst thousands of real food, with chopsticks. Any real food they pick up they have to eat.

After that they have to find the Avenue of the Stars and find the statue of Bruce Lee. Here teams find the Detour: Ding Ding or Sampan. In Ding Ding, teams have to ride the Hong Kong Tramway, known locally as Ding Ding, and look for three signs that will have the Pit Stop written on it. In Sampan, teams have to go to Jumbo Kingdoms dock, take a pair of budgerigars in a birdcage and transport it to a boat with the same registration number as the number on their bird cage. Then they go to the Pit Stop: Statue Square.

1. Jill and Thomas 4:15 P.M. Won a trip for two to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2. Nat and Kat 4:30 P.M.

3. Brook and Claire 5:03 P.M.

4. Rachel and Katie 5:56 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.

Leg #11: "I'm surrounded by ninjas!"

Original Air Date: December 5, 2010.

Getting $78, teams have to fly to Seoul, South Korea. On arrival, teams have to get to Seung-il Bridge, near the North Korean border. There they participate in a white water rapid trip down the Hantan River, then take a jeep to Camp Casey. Here Rachel and Katie have to do their Speedbump: clean an M109 Self-Propelled Howitzer to join the other teams at the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to pick a headband and search among 200 soldiers practicing taekwondo to find the one wearing the matching one. Teams then have to travel by train to the Seoul World Cup Stadium, where they find the Detour: Full Throttle or Full Bottle.

In both Detour options, teams have to either travel by foot or subway to either location. In Full Throttle, teams have to go to the Mok-dong Ice Rink, put on short track speed skating outfits and complete a two person skating relay of the entire rink. In Full Bottle, teams have to go to Namdaemun Market, put on delivery uniforms and deliver six large glass jars of ginseng roots to a holistic wellness store without breaking any of them. Then they each have to drink an entire bottle of ginseng tonic to get their next clue. Then teams have to go to Yeouido Hangang Park and find the airplane statue. Then they get to the Pit Stop: The Temple of Heaven.

1. Brook and Claire 4:05 P.M. Won a trip for two to Iguaçu Falls, Argentina.

2. Jill and Thomas 4:16 P.M.

3. Rachel and Katie 4:33 P.M.

4. Nat and Kat 5:01 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #12: "The Final Stretch!"

Original Air Date: December 12, 2010.

After getting $300, teams are told to fly to Los Angeles, California. Once there, they have to get to Port J at the Port of Long Beach. Here they have to take an elevator to the top of one of the gantry cranes and tandem bungee swing over the water (I suspect this was a part of a Detour). Then teams take a helicopter ride to the Rose Bowl. Here the teams get the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to decorate three section of the theme float for the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Teams are then given three riddles: 1. I am Sancho Panza's master 2. I am the place to hear The Symphony in the Glen 3. Monroe's Year of the Itch. This leads to Quixote Studios in Griffith Park-Studio 7. Here they get the final task, hosted by former game show host Bob Eubanks: out of 48 people on 48 different video screens, find the 11 that served as Pit Stop greeters for this race. After getting them in order, teams go to the finish line: Greystone Mansion.

1. Brook and Claire WIN.

2. Rachel and Katie PLACE.

3. Jill and Thomas SHOW.

The Review.

After two seasons with low ratings, and low excitement it must be said, this season was a welcome return to form. Good racers, great course design and a lot of humorous moments. If there is one thing I had to quibble with is that there were no real big aha moments in the finale. You knew who was going to win in the last 20 minutes. Still my number six race.

-Globetrotting: An Amazing Race Blog by R. C. Anderson on the website Reality Rewind, December 26, 2016.

 

[HeX]

"Welcome, one and all, to a new kingdom. A kingdom we enter to share at the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn. A place where creatures roam, big and small, real and imagined, side-by-side. A world where adventure and discovery lie just around the corner. A realm the largest of elephants, and the smallest of insects, can call home. Now come, step inside, and become a part of the Circle of Life."
--Michael Eisner, from the Earth Day 1998 dedication speech to Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World

"There came a time when his great curiosity lead him from the world of fantasy to the realm of fact. He produced a film with the title "Seal Island", and since it was a true story, he decided to call it a "True-Life Adventure". It won an Academy Award, and with that, Walt was off into a whole new domain: the world of nature."
--Narration from 1975's The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures

"It's the circle of life!
And it moves us all...
Through despair and hope...
Through faith and love...

Till we find our place...
On the path unwinding...
In the circle--
The circle of life!"
--From the song "The Circle of Life", from 1994's The Lion King

"I have a great love of animals and laughter."
--Walt Disney

--------------------------------
​

In 1998, the Walt Disney Company opened their first new theme park at Walt Disney World in nine long years. But, unlike at the dawn of the decade, when Disney was just on the rise and Disney-MGM Studios was a cheap ripoff of Universal's planned Florida park, the House of Mouse was now uncontested in the field of theme park design. Through the sheer amount of money that flowed into Michael Eisner's pockets because of the runaway success of Euro Disneyland, Animal Kingdom would quickly become the new favorite park in Orlando.

Opening rather fittingly on Earth Day of 1998, Disney's new park was all about wildlife, the wilderness, and the great outdoors. The company's fascination with animals can be traced back to Walt Disney's earliest sketches of horses back in Marceline, Missouri, and over the years it had snowballed into something truly magnificent.

Animal Kingdom was the latest in Walt Disney Imagineering's long line of successes. It was by far the largest Disney Park ever constructed, taking up over four hundred acres of Florida swampland transformed into the savannahs of Africa and the mountains of Asia. Unlike our past entries in this series, we will be exploring every land that has ever been at Animal Kingdom, though none have ever left after coming into the fold.

Guests enter through the turnstiles into the placid Oasis. There are no whirring rides here, or wild beasts. Just peace and quiet, hard to find in a Disney Park. Fun fact, the benches and trash cans are all constructed of recycled materials. While this practice has since spread to the rest of Walt Disney World, it began here.

Moving past this area and across the bridge over Discovery River is the "hub" of the park, the Safari Village. There is only one major fixture here, but it's the focal point of the whole park: the Tree of Life. Standing at an imposing 150 feet, the tree is in fact manmade, as evidenced by the hand-sculpted trunk with 325 carvings of living and extinct animals embedded into it. Inside of the Tree of Life is the new design of the classic Circle-Vision 360° theater (unlike previous models, this new 1998 one uses one seamless wraparound screen). This theater has only ever shown one film, the eleven-minute True-Life Adventure Documentary, which depicts life around the world for a variety of wild animals. (Another tidbit of little-known knowledge, there was talk at some point of renaming this area Discovery Island, but that was deemed too confusing with there being both Discovery Bay and another Discovery Island, both of which are still in operation today.) From the the Safari Village, guests can take paths to the other areas of the park, usually beginning with...

Beastly Kingdom is far and away one of the greatest lands to ever grace a Disney theme park. It keeps true to the promise of the park and is dedicated to the mythical beasts of legend, the unicorns and dragons of ancient lore. There are only two major attractions: Dragon's Tower, and the Quest for the Unicorn. The former is a high-octane, heart-pounding inverted roller coaster with two loops. Its cars are designed to have the appearance of bats, and it's in these that guests take flight and traverse a collapsing castle as a massive dragon (who shows up in the ride in the form of some of the largest audio-animatronics constructed by Disney) hunts them down. The latter is a large hedge maze, at its center a beautiful sanctuary with a unicorn animatronic atop a cliff, looking over the shady, secluded area. While lacking in attractions overall, the sheer amount of detail put into the section makes it excusable.

Going around clockwise, the next land is Africa. It is set in the fictional east African port village of Harambe, which gets its name from the equally fictional Harambe Wildlife Preserve, the location of the land's main attraction, the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Guests ride open-sided safari trucks and go on a tour of the savannah, passing lions, gazelle, flamingo, and all sorts of other animals as they attempt to track down a band of elephant poachers who are illegally taking the ivory tusks of their kills. Near this ride is the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, a walk-through attraction where guests can discover even more creatures of the Dark Continent. Finally, the last exhibition in Harambe is the stage show "The Festival of the Lion King," based on 1994's smash hit The Lion King.

The next land is the only one not connected to the Safari Village, Rafiki's Planet Watch. From Africa, guests climb aboard the Wildlife Express Train and arrive at a three-part complex. Habitat Habit! is a learning center dedicated to teaching park guests how to care for animals that live around them, exemplified by their exhibit on the endangered cotton-top tamarins. The Conservation Station is easily the most popular part of Planet Watch, giving people an inside look at Animal Kingdom's veternarian practices and showcasing the conservation efforts of the Walt Disney Company, who has since turned from being one of the largest trash producers in Florida to one of the largest recyclers. Lastly, there is the Affection Section, a petting zoo featuring domesticated animals.

Just east of Africa is the Lost World, a land dedicated to extinct creatures of ages gone by. This region of the park is unique in the fact that it has two separate theming structures: the first is that of a modern-day archaeological dig site and the nearby Dino Institute, while the other is the world of the last Ice Age. In the dig site there are three rides: the Excavator, another roller coaster taking guests on a high-speed ride in and out of old dino bones; the Dig Site, a children's play area; and Countdown to Extinction, a thrilling EMV trip back in time to save a baby dinosaur and bring it back to the present while under siege by T. Rexes and a meteor shower. A ways away, in the Ice Age section, lies one of Animal Kingdom's two mountains. Named Snowpeak Falls, this flume ride takes guests on a journey through the freezing peaks of the Ural Mountains several thousand years ago, past sabretooth tigers, wooly mammoths, and cavemen huddled around fires, leading up to a big, sixty-two foot, forty-eight degree drop into the iceberg-ridden waters below. Nearby, there is a fully-explorable, period-appropriate human village.

Just around the bend of the river is Asia. This was Animal Kingdom's first major expansion (added in 1999), followed by the Lost World (2002) and Amazonia (2007), and it injected new life into the park with its beautiful rendition of the fictional kingdom of Anandapur, based mostly on Nepal, Tibet, India, and Mongolia. Asia is the thrill section of the park, starring Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, a coaster exploring the Himalayas and the mythical yeti, and . Of course, Asia isn't just limited to thrills and spills, perfectly shown by the Maharajah Jungle Trek, which takes guests on a tour of ancient ruins-turned-wildlife preserve.

The final land at Animal Kingdom is Amazonia, the newest addition to the park. This land explores the Amazon Jungle of South America, beginning in the fictional village of Exótico at the mouth of the great river. The biggest attraction here is the Amazon River Rapids, a river rapids flume ride that you will get wet on and explores the tropical rainforest and its lush wildlife while on a quest to take down illegal loggers threatening to set the whole jungle ablaze. A nearby aviary also lets guests look in on the life of creatures at the jungle's canopy, while an indoor area opens the door to the life of the creatures on the dark forest floor.

Animal Kingdom, as well as the nearby new hotel of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, were instant successes. It is Disney's third most popular park, briefly holding the second spot on that list before Epcot retook it after its refurbishment and expansions of 2006-2008. But in just three short years, the world's eyes would shift from the East Coast to the West Coast for Disney's next grand opening...

--Disney After Walt: How Michael Eisner Saved the Mouse Part Three, themouseterpiece.net, December 2018

 

[RySenkari]

The Covenant 4

The Covenant 4 is the fourth mainline game in the Microsoft-exclusive Covenant series, and the second for the Xbox 2. It continues directly from the events established in The Covenant 3, telling the story of Master Chief and of humanity's struggle to survive in a hostile universe. The Covenant 4 changes many of the gameplay mechanics established in The Covenant 3, partially in response to the poor critical and fan response to that game. A number of elements introduced in that title, including character upgrades, a more melee-based combat system, and quick time events, are gone from The Covenant 4, which returns the focus of the series to a more action-based third person style of gameplay. The main gameplay shift in this game is the switch from one playable character to five. Master Chief returns, but is the final playable character introduced in the game, with the player only getting to control him starting about a third of the way through. The other playable characters are:

Lieutenant Welk: A human space Marine with some similarities to Master Chief, Welk is more of a specialist, able to use computer hacking abilities and to control a small combat drone in addition to his rifle. Welk has been lost in space for some time and has lost his memory, and though he starts out with a normal combat kit, he later gains access to superhuman strength via a mysterious entity.
Ariyala: A female Krisilian tasked with fulfilling the altered prophecy, Ariyala is able to use kinetic energy against her foes and can also teleport limited distances.
Bokkal: An amphibious alien who is able to utilize modified aquatic weaponry and also able to swim the deepest oceans in the universe, Bokkal does much of his fighting in the water or near it.
Skarlex: A rock being able to manipulate his physical shape with special energy, Skarlex uses both physical attacks and heavy weaponry in combat and can also survive harsh environments.

These four characters are each given their own introductory chapters and then second segments to introduce them to the player before Master Chief makes his introduction, with each of them having a critical role to play in the future of the galaxy. Levels are heavily exploration-based, with the player given a direction where to go but allowed to find their destination organically, utilizing subtle hints and cues. While each of them spends much of the first part of the game alone, once they begin to meet each other (and Master Chief), things become more squad based, with armies of numerous civilizations lending a hand to help the heroes defeat the newest threat to the universe. Master Chief will be the character most used throughout the second half of the game, but the player is given opportunities to switch between the heroes for certain tasks, with some missions allowing the player to choose which character or set of characters to control, and allowing some missions to be played from multiple angles.

The Covenant 4 also features a completely revamped multiplayer mode which has a heavy focus on team play. Players can pick their loadout of weaponry but can also choose a special power, enhancing their abilities in multiplayer and allowing for much deeper strategy. While the game's centerpiece is a 40 vs. 40 army battle mode, most players elect for traditional team deathmatch using the new loadouts and stages. The addition of special powers makes the multiplayer of The Covenant 4 quite unique in its genre, and it becomes one of the Xbox 2's most popular multiplayer titles.

The Covenant 4 begins with Welk awakening on a deserted planet, foraging for food as he clings to old recordings from Earth that are subtle clues to his identity. He is being hunted by mysterious but sentient beings native to the planet, and even as he evades and defeats them, he wonders what his purpose is and why he is being called the Reclaimer. We next go to Bokkal, whose planet of aquatic beings is locked in a war with a technologically advanced race. Bokkal leads his squad to victory, and he too is called the Reclaimer. Skarlex is then shown protecting his ancient village from an alien incursion, with the "aliens" actually resembling humans. Skarlex defeats them and his group captures one, who calls Skarlex the Reclaimer as he is taken away. We then see Ariyala being hunted by the same humanoid aliens from before. She battles her way to a Krisilian rune, the same one that displayed the prophecy from the end of The Covenant 3. Ariyala reads something troubling, then hijacks one of the alien ships and follows their fleet to a mysterious location. The next segment of the game focuses on Bokkal and Skarlex's worlds, and how information gleaned from the human captured on Skarlex's planet gives a cryptic hint as to Master Chief's role in all of this, but also leads to Bokkal and Skarlex eventually meeting to witness a battle between the humanoid invaders of Skarlex's world and the alien creatures who had been invading Bokkal's. Bokkal and Skarlex are then telepathically connected by Ariyala, who seems quite angry with both of them for some reason but asks them to meet her on a planet she's headed to. We then go back to Welk, who gains his first superhuman powers and uses them to battle back an invasion of humans, only for Ariyala to contain him with her psychic powers. She threatens to kill Welk, but he breaks free of her control, and Ariyala is left battling the humans herself until uniting with Bokkal and Skarlex. While the three of them battle a massive invasion force, Welk flees until he encounters another ancient Krisilian relic. All hell breaks loose as the planet itself seems to come alive to kill Welk, only for Master Chief to show up and save the day. Master Chief then helps evacuate Bokkal, Skarlex, and Ariyala. Ariyala proclaims Master Chief as the true Reclaimer, but that the prophecy was altered. Humanity was set to spread through the galaxy as a race of peacemakers, but the prophecy was altered so that mankind is now set to conquer the galaxy, and they were the ones invading Skarlex's world and also attempting to kill Ariyala, while Bokkal's world was being invaded by the Endlanders, a powerful galaxy-conquering race whose territory has been stirred up by the human incursion. Master Chief proclaims humanity's innocence in all of this, but Ariyala says that the humans invading the galaxy are from the future, beings brought forth by a tear in space, the same tear in space that brought Ariyala, a Krisilian, from the distant past, and brought Welk from a distant future where humanity was destroyed in its conquests and Welk was kept alive by an unknown entity. In Welk's time, he's the last human remaining. In order to save the universe and stop the war from tearing everything apart, Master Chief and the other four heroes must reach the five Nodepoints of the universe and activate ancient Krisilian artifacts that will close the rift, sending the conquering humans back to their own doomed universe, while Ariyala will negotiate with the Endlanders to prevent them from overrunning the remainder of the universe and threatening Master Chief's humanity. In order to reach these Nodepoints, Master Chief and the other heroes must make their way through various human and Endlander blockades to reach the planets where these Nodepoints are embedded. This requires the team using various hyperspace warps, fighting together against the humans and the Endlanders, before finally splitting up to activate each Nodepoint simultaneously. Meanwhile, the mysterious entity keeping Welk alive is taking on a more malicious nature, and we learn that this entity is actually a Covenant deity known as Veritas, which had been using the humanity of the alternate future to carry out the Covenant's goals (thus, in a way, turning humanity into a new Covenant). When it comes time to activate the Nodepoints, Veritas, acting through Welk, sabotages the process, and instead of sending the evil humans back to their doomed future, instead destroys the entire Endlander civilization in a massive "stable Higgs field" effect. Veritas then turns the entire human-Covenant army on Bokkal and Skarlex's worlds, threatening to conquer them, while Ariyala is put in a comatose state via energy backlash. Master Chief aids Bokkal and Skarlex in the defense of their worlds, while Ariyala is able to psychically penetrate the barrier put up around Welk's mind, attempting to free him from Veritas' control. Meanwhile, Master Chief rallies his own Earth and its allies against the human-Covenant army, but the battle looks to be an impossible one. After a mission in which Ariyala and Welk battle Covenant soldiers in a sort of "mindscape" environment, the two return to the physical universe, with Welk freed of Veritas' influence and able to weaken the human-Covenant army enough to allow Master Chief's forces to break through. The climactic battle takes place on the Moon, with Master Chief leading the fight against Veritas (which, unable to use Welk's body anymore, possesses a giant human-Covenant mech and uses it as a physical avatar). Each of the four supporting heroes plays a part in the final battle, with the player switching to each of them during a certain segment of the fight, but the final blow is dealt by Master Chief, who finishes Veritas off, destroying the very last trace of the Covenant in the universe. With Veritas' control broken over the human-Covenant army, they become a time-space anomaly, and fade from the universe. Welk also fades away, having lost his connection to the physical universe upon Veritas' death, but Master Chief promises a memorial to him. Ariyala, her purpose now fulfilled, also fades away with the repair of the space-time rift, but before she fades completely, tells Master Chief, Bokkal, and Skarlex that they are all worthy of the title of Reclaimer. The two heroes, Bokkal and Skarlex, return to their worlds to help rebuild after the war, while Master Chief promises to remain a soldier in defense of humanity as it continues its peaceful expansion into the universe.

The Covenant 4, with its gorgeous graphics, well developed heroes, and vastly improved gameplay, along with its fun and addictive multiplayer mode, is considered a far better game than The Covenant 3 and a desperately needed return to form for the series. Reviews for the game are outstanding, proclaiming it one of 2010's best titles, and sales are extremely good, with double the first week sales of The Covenant 3 and vastly improved second and third week sales as well. Considered the first bona fide megahit for the Xbox 2 since Cyberwar 3, the game outperforms expectations and kicks up renewed interest in the series, including tie-in media and perhaps the possibility of spinoff games, both ending the series' current arc and laying the groundwork for the next. While the game might not save Microsoft as a console maker, it absolutely preserves The Covenant as one of the most important franchises in gaming, setting a tone for the series going forth into the 2010s.

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"The Covenant 4 has given the Xbox 2 its first legitimate sales spike in almost two years, with console sales in July 2010 showing a 100% increase over the previous month. Indeed, July 2010 marks the first month that the Xbox 2 has been the top selling game console since 2008 and the release of Cyberwar 3, and the game's release has also led to an uptick in pre-orders for the upcoming Microsoft Phone. Spikes in Xbox Live activity and subscriptions have also been noted, making the game perhaps the Xbox 2's first true killer app of this generation. The Covenant 4 is leading Game of the Year discussions, and though few other Xbox 2 exclusives are noted as being in the pipeline, the increase in Xbox 2 sales and interest in the console in general could mean good things for those who hope to potentially see an Xbox 3. Microsoft has noted increased sales overall in 2010, due to the success of the Windows 7 operating system and the improving economy in general, with stock prices on the rise. While we're not likely to hear any announcement of a potential Xbox 2 successor until next year, The Covenant 4 might just be the game that makes it even remotely feasible that Microsoft's run as a gaming hardware maker will continue."
-from an article on Kotaku.com, posted on August 21, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

American Sailor Moon fans have something to be excited about, nearly a decade after the finale of Sailor Stars aired on Toonami. The fun begins with a pair of video games which came out last year in Japan and just made their way to American shores, though you'll have to be an Apple gamer to enjoy either one of them.

The first of the games, Sailor Moon: Tokyo Story, is an RPG and a psuedo-sequel to Sailor Moon: Another Story, which came out for the SNES-CD (its Ultra Nintendo remake was then brought to North America in 1999). Tokyo Story takes place after the end of Sailor Stars, and features a powerful new villain: Oblivion, the Eraser of Fate. Oblivion seeks to rewrite the history of the universe, past, present, and future, and Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians must spring into action. In addition to the standard RPG tropes of leveling up and battling enemies, the game also contains a life-sim component in which Usagi and friends must befriend and benefit the lives of others, which will grant them allies for the battles ahead, sort of the game's version of side questing. Tokyo Story features a 3-D graphical style new to the Sailor Moon series, but which looks quite good on the iTwin, and also features some minigames that make use of the system's motion controls. While not the most epic RPG on the market (it can be beaten in around 15-20 hours by the average player) it has plenty to do and it's a lovely homage to the series for Sailor Moon fans everywhere.

The second of the games, Sailor Moon: Rhythm Guardians! is a musical title for the iPod Play and the iPhone. The game has a dual control scheme, with button commands for the classic iPod Play, and touch controls for the newer touch models and the iPhone version. The game itself features colorful music videos of the Sailor Guardians and other characters dancing to the beat of hit songs from the series as well as contemporary Japanese pop songs. It's a fun little musical title, but intended for die-hard Sailor Moon fans only. Rhythm Guardians! almost didn't make it to North America, but with the growing success of the iPhone, the game was released mostly to bolster the iPhone's line-up of licensed games, with the classic iPod Play version being localized as a bit of an afterthought.

Those fans who don't have Apple consoles shouldn't fret: there may yet be more Sailor Moon on the way, including a brand new animated series which is rumored to be either a re-imagining of the original series that sticks closer to the classic manga, or the long-rumored Sailor Moon X series that takes place after the end of Sailor Stars. Naoko Takeuchi has expressed her desire to re-do the series, but she's also expressed interest to "continue the story" of the classic anime, so it's likely we'll get an announcement one way or the other sometime next year. In addition, an American production company is also considering a live-action film adaptation of Sailor Moon. This project has also been rumored for more than a decade, with such names as Geena Davis and Kirsten Dunst attached to the project during the 90s, but this time it seems like the real deal, with Lionsgate rumored to be developing the project with a release date of either 2012 or 2013. With properties such as Metroid and Jem getting live-action adaptations in the next two years (Metroid next year and Jem in 2012), it seems like a golden time for live-action adaptations, and we can only hope that all of these upcoming projects live up to the originals!

-from the August 2010 issue of Wizard magazine

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Thomas The Tank Engine Pulling Cartoon Network's "Brit Block" To Early Success

Cartoon Network has continued to lean heavily on acquisitions during the past two years, importing shows from other countries while slowing down on developing original content, which tends to be significantly more expensive. This has allowed the network to air programs that might not necessarily pull in the same kinds of ratings its original programming would need to be profitable, and while Japanese animation and Canadian cartoons were the first to achieve success on Cartoon Network, the channel has gotten a surprisingly warm reception for its morning block of British shows, which airs from 7:00 AM-9:00 AM on weekdays and also during weekend afternoons. Not necessarily a "preschool" block like Nick Jr. on Nickelodeon and Disney Junior on the Disney Channel, the shows instead can be watched by a wide variety of young audiences, ranging from preschoolers to pre-teens, with all four shows being British in origin. The CGI reboot of Thomas The Tank Engine has been the highest rated show on the block, and has helped its fellow shows achieve significant success, with its strong production values and use of celebrity voice actors from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The show has proven to be a major success with preschool audiences, becoming the most popular show in the 2-7 demographic, the first time a Cartoon Network show has achieved such a distinction. The show's ratings have topped those of Nickelodeon's longtime hit Dora The Explorer, and have also soundly beaten The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Junior, though all three shows have achieved major ratings success for their respective networks. The other shows on Cartoon Network's British block skew slightly older, but have also achieved ratings success in the 2-7 demographic, with weekend re-airings scoring decent ratings amongst 6-11 year olds who were attending school during their original morning airings. The shows include Sally Bollywood, a joint English-Australian production about a young girl of Indian descent who forms a detective agency with her best friend, Little Ladies, a contemporary re-imagining of the classic novel Little Women with four sisters who attend a boarding school together, and Power Squad, an action/comedy series about a group of teenage superheroes. While none of these shows have achieved the same level of success as Thomas, they've all gotten good enough ratings that Cartoon Network has already announced plans to air second seasons of each of them starting in 2011. While Cartoon Network has announced plans to resume premieres of original shows starting in the fall of 2010, it's likely that international acquisitions will continue to play a major role in the channel's schedule well into the decade.

-from a July 26, 2010 article on Toonzone.net

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The current state of the major kids' cable networks as of summer 2010:

Cartoon Network: Cartoon Network continues its success into the next decade with a wide variety of popular shows, though currently, most of their popular shows have been acquired from other countries, either anime shows such as Hanakotoba or Naruto, or British acquisitions such as Thomas The Tank Engine. Of Cartoon Network's original shows, only The Exchange continues to be significantly successful, with much of their other shows, including Lauren Faust's Playthings, largely fading into obscurity. However, that's set to change starting in 2010: the network will begin airing Hero Quest, a sort of re-tooling of Pendleton Ward's Adventure Time pilot (same humor, but more game references and a bit less random and strange), along with Mirror Glades, a horror-lite absurdist comedy about a mysterious suburban city inhabited by a ghost girl. The Legend Of Korra, a 24-episode follow-up to Avatar: The Last Airbender, would begin airing in the fall of 2011. The network also announced a new development deal for shows based on DC Comics characters, as a sort of rival to Fox Family's slate of Marvel cartoons. Cartoon Network's "new generation" of originals would be a mix of action and comedy, and would be a showcase for young animators and writers to demonstrate their skills, with many of them having grown up on the shows and games of the 1990s. Toonami, which continued to air faithfully for four hours on Saturday nights (with a brand new Model 4 TOM at the helm), continued to show a rotation of new and classic anime, with a couple of American action toons tossed in. The ratings had dipped just a bit over the years, but not enough to cancel the block, and Toonami remained a sort of "lead in" to Saturday night's action-based Adult Swim block, giving anime and action cartoon lovers seven hours of entertainment on Saturday nights. Of the four major kids' networks, Cartoon Network had seen the least amount of change over the past two years, and it liked it that way.

Nickelodeon: Nickelodeon is slowly but surely returning to production of live action comedies, and its first since the Dan Schneider scandal is a doozy: the return of Fifteen, which was a groundbreaking early 1990s show for the network now re-imagined for a new generation. It's a joint American/Canadian production, and helmed by a female showrunner/director who might actually be more notable for her acting career: Alyson Court, known mostly to her fans as the voice of Lydia on the Beetlejuice cartoon and Claire Redfield in Resident Evil 2, helms the Fifteen reboot, which is set to debut in the fall of 2010. The network is also set to debut Life At Kaboom Studios, a comedy about a teenage boy who finds himself interning at his favorite television network and dealing with all the wacky things that happen there. It's actually a sort of self-deprecating riff on Nickelodeon itself, almost what 30 Rock was to NBC IOTL. Nickelodeon will also debut a live-action puppet comedy helmed by Marc Weiner, who produced Weinerville for the network in the 1990s. The show, set to debut in early 2011, is a slightly more "mature" show than Weinerville was, nixing the cartoons and aiming for an audience of 9-14 year olds, particularly those who are fans of the work of comedians such as Jeff Dunham. In addition to these new live action shows which Nick is hoping will fill the Dan Schneider void, the network is hoping to push a new generation of Nicktoons to take the place of the venerable Rocket Power, which is set to air its last episodes sometime during the 2011-12 season. Class Clowns and Sarah, Witch Of Westfalls continue to be successful, but Nick is hoping to flank them with a few new shows, including Mr. Cuddle Bear, a show about a giant teddy bear who annoys all the other creatures in town, and Under The Bridge, about a family of trolls (and a the human girl raised by them). Both shows have seen decent early ratings, joining Making Fiends as three of the more offbeat shows on children's television during this time. Nickelodeon is starting to recover from the Schneider scandal, and if any one of the aforementioned shows breaks out to become a big hit, it could end up even better than it was before the scandal broke.

The Disney Channel: With the departures of Rock Out and The Smart Squad, Disney is looking for its next big live action hit, and has been in somewhat of a slump. Its new animated shows have mostly fizzled, while it's failed to launch a major live action hit over the past couple of years. Disney is hoping their new "it girl", Alyson Stoner, will break out and become a star, betting heavily that Gamer Girl, a series which stars Stoner as a teenage girl hoping to make it big in the world of competitive video games, will be a success when it debuts in the fall of 2010. Interestingly enough, she's already cut her teeth voice acting for video games such as Fairytale 3, so her name might indeed have some gamer cred already attached to it. Disney has actually slowed down somewhat on launching musical careers for its stars, with Rock Out's Elle Schneider already announcing that she plans to join another record label once her Disney deal expires in 2011. Disney is instead continuing to lean on its animated properties, using Animagic to launch new cartoons almost every year. Disney has cut back on anime acquisitions and is pouring money into original animated content, both action and comedy, in the hopes of coming up with a hit as big as the ones on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. While the network has mainly been focused on original concepts, such as Melusine, a re-telling of the classic mythological tale about a girl who grows up in a lake outside a town but decides to become a human and live a normal life there (a more sarcastic retelling of Disney's own The Little Mermaid), the network is also looking to take advantage of its classic IP, including a new Mickey Mouse adventure show, and maybe even a show about the Disney Princesses going on adventures together, though the Disney Princess idea is in a very early stage and has met opposition from within the company.

Fox Family: Welcome To Riverdale, now entering its third season, is the biggest hit children's show on TV, comparable to OTL shows such as Hannah Montana and iCarly at their heights. It's made legitimate stars out of Josh Hutcherson, Meaghan Jette Martin, and Elizabeth Gillies, and is now seeing numerous major guest stars as well. The show has been a ratings dynamo for Fox Family, helping to make the network the #3 kids' network on TV, topping the slumping Disney Channel (and it's knocking on the doors of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network to be #1), and has also caused sales of the classic Archie Comics to skyrocket. It's also caused what could end up being a landmark lawsuit for IP rights, after a major Welcome To Riverdale fanfiction writer refused to comply with a cease-or-desist letter from Archie Comics (which bans all fanfiction of its properties) and was then sued for more than $400,000. The lawsuit is churning its way through the courts, being appealed higher and higher, and could end up in front of the Supreme Court as early as 2011. All Riverdale matters aside, Fox Family has also continued to see success from its Marvel-based IPs and its other animated shows, while also airing a series of made-for-TV movies that have proven more successful and mature than those pioneered by the Disney Channel. Fox Family has proven a major moneymaker for 20th Century Fox, and is now airing Simpsons and King Of The Hill reruns on the network in the 10:00 to midnight hour, getting major successes from those as well. Fox Family has been perhaps the biggest cable success story of the 21st Century, the story of a network rising like a phoenix from the ashes of mediocrity, starting with retools and reruns in the late 90s and now emerging as one of the top rated cable networks overall. Fox Family's future looks incredibly bright, but eventually it will need another major live action hit to replace Welcome To Riverdale (though it probably won't need one of those for several more years yet).

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Here are the ten most popular currently running kids' shows as of July 2010. This isn't in terms of absolute ratings, but a combination of ratings, reviews, and cultural relevance:

1. Welcome To Riverdale
2. Thomas The Tank Engine
3. Naruto
4. Class Clowns
5. Spider-Man: Evolved
6. Hanakotoba
7. Rocket Power
8. The Exchange
9. Mutations United
10. Melusine

 

[Garfunkle62]

Season 2 of Making Fiends Confirmed To Be Its Last

Nickelodeon has confirmed that Season 2 of Making Fiends will be the show's last season, and that Amy Winfrey currently has no plans to renew the series for any further episodes. We reached out to Amy for comment, and she had this to say: "While I've greatly enjoyed my time working on Fiends, I don't want to rely on the series forever. I've been able to learn a lot from being able to help produce a full TV show, and this show's been the stepping stone I've needed to really get my name out in the animation industry. However, I couldn't have done it alone. Thank you Nickelodeon for giving me the opportunity to put my work onto televisions everywhere, thank you to all the fiendish fans who've supported this show, and a big, big thank you to Aglaia Mortcheva and Peter Merryman for helping me with this series since the very beginning, all the way back in 2004. I hope to create and work on even bigger projects in the future! And don't worry, dedicated Making Fiends fans--the series finale is sure to please!"

Making Fiends is currently broadcasting the beginning of its second and final season on Nickelodeon, and is scheduled to air its final episodes in October, just in time for Halloween.

-taken from a June 24, 2010 article on Toonzone.net

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"One of Making Fiends's most complex episodes was the 'Origins' episode, which served as Season 1's finale. The episode was presented in three parts, each of which detailed the backstories of Charlotte and Vendetta. The first part explained Vendetta's origins, showing how she used to be a lonely outcast in the formerly-bright town of Clamburg, and then detailing the events that lead up to her creating her first fiend (the giant red kitty) and turning into the fiend-making tyrant she's known as today. The second part focused on Charlotte's origins, explaining how, at an early age, she was seperated from her mother and father (whose moon expedition would begin recieving focus near the end of Season 2), and how she came to live with her grandmother, Charlene. The third and final part detailed the events that lead up to the show's very first episode, showing how Vendetta's rise into power affected the daily lives of Clamburg's citizens, and explaining why Charlotte and her grandmother moved out of Vermont and into Clamburg. Although the characters of Charlotte and Vendetta didn't need to have much complexity for the show to be enjoyable, the episode gave them both sympathetic qualities and a layer of depth that many followers of the show enjoyed. It also put the premise of the cult classic series into a completely new perspective, of which would be explored a bit further over the course of the show's second and final season."

-excerpt from the YouTube video "Bleeding Orange: An Analysis of Nickelodeon's Post-Schneider Shows (Part 3)", uploaded on August 28, 2017

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"Sure, the emotional finale the Making Fiends TV series had (where Charlotte finally reunited with her long-lost parents--after getting legitimately furious when she mistakenly believed Vendetta's kaiju-esque fiend had accidentally killed her pet hamster) was pretty damn good, it'll never beat the hilarity that was the third and final season the Making Fiends Web series had. Between Vendetta slowly losing it as her schemes on the boat and in Coldburg kept failing, Charlotte's stupidly-amusing wintertime antics in Coldburg, and the romantic subplot between the now-jobless Mr. Milk and Ms. Minty, it was obvious Amy Winfrey wanted the Web series to go out with a gut-busting bang. Nowhere was this intent more clear than the thirtieth and final episode, 'Fiend Friend.' Vendetta, now abandoned by all of her fiends, gets so desperate trying to kill Charlotte, that her last resort simply involves tricking Charlotte into falling inside a cauldron full of Fiend Mix so she'd disintegrate. In an ironic and cruel twist of fate, Charlotte emerges back out of the cauldron, unharmed and now a fiend herself. The best part, however, was the ending; Using the situation to her advantage, Vendetta tricks Charlotte (now a monstrously-cute fiend) into destroying everyone in Coldburg for her, saying that she'd finally be her friend if she did so. Gullible as ever, Charlotte unquestioningly accepts this offer and haphazardly runs off to do her duty. The episode's very last scene was cruel, yet hilarious too--just as Mr. Milk and Ms. Minty are finally about to share a kiss, the fiend-ified Charlotte sneaks up on them and lets out her signature cutesy giggle, with the ex-teachers' ensuing screams being the last thing heard as the episode cuts to black. I remember giggling like an idiot during the credits, as it depicted scenes of the fiend-ified Charlotte terrorizing the other kids and residents, all the while still having her trademark happy-go-lucky expression in spite of her carnage. The Making Fiends TV show was pretty good in its own right, but I'll always prefer its web series incarnation--no matter how many times I rewatch the web episodes, I still find myself grinning from ear to ear afterwards."

-excerpted from a October 31, 2016 entry on the blog "Old Grounds: A Look Back at Flash Cartoons"

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"Of course, I can't talk about the Season 1 finale, and then just skip over the Season 2 finale. Unlike the darkly-humorous ending the Making Fiends web cartoon did, the TV show's finale went for more of a grand sendoff for this little series. Like the 'Origins' episode, the series finale was one full story split into three parts, instead of being three unconnected stories.

At first, the episode appears to use a similar plot to Episode 20 of the webseries (Vendetta steals Charlotte's pet hamster, Buttons), but instead of trying to turn the hamster into a fiend, Vendetta decides to change her plans when she finds out that Charlotte and her grandmother have briefly gone out of town. Locking up Charlotte's hamster in a cage for future use, Vendetta uses the rest of her Fiend Mix supplies to instead create a kaiju-esque fiend to destroy Charlotte's house while it's vacant. When Charlotte returns to see her house in ruins, at first she's expectedly unfazed by what's happened, and instead giddily treats the wreckage like a new playground. However, things take an unexpected turn when Charlotte tries to find Buttons within her destroyed home (her other pet, a scissor fiend she previously tamed, is shown to have survived the house's destruction). When she comes across Buttons's destroyed hamster cage, Charlotte slowly comes to an (ultimately false) conclusion, one that she doesn't know how to fully come to terms with; her beloved pet hamster is gone. This moment in the finale is especially notable for how Charlotte reacts to this situation--she doesn't begin bawling or throwing a tantrum or having any other kind of histronics, and instead goes up to her grandmother and silently sobs in her shoulder. This upsettingly-quiet display, showing how Charlotte's truly heartbroken, causes Vendetta to feel oddly hollow despite finally reigning victorious over her nemesis.

Vendetta (reluctantly) talks to her shrunken parents about her inexplicable disatisfication, and it's through this talk that she eventually understands both what she has done, and why she's in this whole situation to begin with; Vendetta learned how to make fiends so she wouldn't be lonely, but by using them to get revenge on the people who rejected her, she only ended up isolating herself even further from society, and now her actions had driven away the only person who actually wanted to be friends with her. Vendetta storms off to her bedroom, overwhelmed by new feelings of regret and remorse. Eventually, she finishes reflecting on her decisions, and resolves to end her tyrannic lifestyle and make amends with the citizens of Clamburg. Starting things off by unshrinking her parents, Vendetta uses her fiends not to destroy the town, but instead to try and restore it to its former glory. The townspeople themselves are confused (and a bit wary) at first, but soon they realize that Vendetta is genuinely remorseful, and they all resolve to help her fix the town. Eventually, after the town is fully rebuilt and restored, Vendetta makes the tough decision to release all of her fiends and let them roam free in the wild, with the only fiend she keeps being her giant hamster, Grudge.

However, things aren't as bright and optimistic for poor, distraught Charlotte. While she's left alone on the school playground as her grandmother tries to find a new home to live in, Charlotte reflects on her time in Clamburg. Re-evaluating her relationship with Vendetta is what causes Charlotte's overwhelming emotions of sadness to slowly turn into emotions completely new to her--emotions of anger, hatred, revenge. Indeed, Charlotte decides to get even, and confronts Vendetta just after the fiends are emancipated into the wild. Starting off by launching into a aggressive and slightly-nonsensical rant, Charlotte then chases Vendetta around town. Although Charlotte is able to catch up with Vendetta, she stops herself from getting violent, as she notices that everyone gathered around her is absolutely terrified over how she's acting, including her own grandmother. Taking her hands off of Vendetta, Charlotte hangs her head in shame over how she's acted, and dejectedly begins walking off after saying how she just wanted to make a friend, but only ended up making enemies. Out of sympathy for her situation, Vendetta quickly stops Charlotte, revealing that Buttons never died--she had her pet hamster in a cage the whole time. As she's given her hamster back, Charlotte's gloom quickly turns back to her trademark happiness, overjoyed to see that her hamster was safe and sound all along. Forgiving each other, Charlotte and Vendetta share a genuine hug for the first time--only to be interrupted by the sound of a rocket ship landing nearby.

As everyone goes out to the rocket ship's landing site, the finale's biggest reveal takes place as the door of the ship opens; Charlotte's long-lost parents emerge out of the rocket ship (finally returning home after finishing their Moon mission in the previous episode), who embrace their daughter in a tearful reunion. As the episode reaches its closure, Charlotte and (after a bit of encouragement) Vendetta sing the final song in the show together as the citizens of Clamburg enjoy their rebuilt, colorful-as-ever town. The last shot of the series shows both Charlotte and Vendetta's families taking a group picture together, with the infamous giant red kitty hungrily sneaking up on all of them.

Even as someone who didn't follow Making Fiends much when it was airing on Nickelodeon, watching both this and the 'Origins' episode showed to me that when Amy and her team wanted to tell a serious story, they made sure to give it their all. According to interviews, Amy wanted the show to end with a bang, no matter how popular or unpopular it was by the end of the series, and I definitely believe that this finale pulled out all the stops that a cartoon like this could offer. Seeing what were initially one-note characters grow over the course of these 32 episodes and 92 segments was definitely a sight to behold, though I'm personally glad the creators managed to strike a balance between the playfully-dark humor the show's famous for, and the more serious moments the show also had to offer. In the end, although Making Fiends certainly isn't without its flaws, it's well-deserving of being called a 'cult classic,' and in my opinion, it's very much one of the better things to come out following the Dan Schnieder scandal. Pat yourself on the back, Amy Winfrey, you've done a good job."

-excerpted from "Bleeding Orange: An Analysis of Nickelodeon's Post-Schneider Shows (Part 3)", uploaded on August 28, 2017

 

[RySenkari]

As the Japanese animation industry entered a brand new decade, many of the trends and tropes that had been established at the start of the century had faded from the scene. An industry that had once seen action-packed series aimed at younger audiences dominate the ratings had transformed into one that now favored heavy character development and eschewed action and combat, at least to some extent. While there was still a place for the supernatural, and still a place for shonen series like Naruto (which, at least in Japan, had launched its Shippuden follow-up series) and shoujo series like Hanakotoba (which itself had shied largely away from combat and dramatic fighting and more toward a slice-of-life format with serialized elements, with fighting only taking place during the climax of dramatic story arcs), most of the successful shows within Japan, and the ones that achieved success outside of it, were heavily character focused, following long friendship and romance arcs while shoving conflict to the backburner. Amongst shorter format (13 and 26 episode series), the most critically successful shows tended to be character studies, focused on one character or the relationship between several characters. There was a fairly even split between happy, light-hearted shows and tragic, dramatic shows, and of course plenty of shows that mixed the two. Long-running shows such as One Piece, Doraemon, Pokemon, and Detective Conan all survived and thrived, though they themselves sometimes changed to reflect the trends in the industry. Doraemon saw the least amount of change, largely surviving as it had for the past few decades, but Detective Conan stepped up its drama significantly by introducing a number of new characters, both young and old, to interact with Conan and provide greater context to the mysteries he solves.

Among the most popular shows at the turn of the decade and those introduced in 2010 are:

Living Martian Miracle: A series now currently in its second 26-episode season, Living Martian Miracle is a series about a mysterious green-skinned Martian queen named Ruby who discovers the Pathfinder probe and begins communicating with Earth scientists before coming to the planet herself. Ruby claims to be the queen of a thriving, technologically advanced civilization, but was found living on the deserted red planet with no sign of any other lifeforms. Ruby does not remember her past, but possesses mysterious powers and a strange psychic link to someone she claims to be from her civilization. She begins interacting with a Tokyo college student working with a space exploration organization, who begins to interact with Ruby after his professor is tasked with learning who and what she really is. Ruby is unique amongst "fish out of water" protagonists in that she is quiet but not naive or shy, unfamiliar with Earth customs but not ignorant of them (she's a quick learner), and also possesses realistic and very human-like flaws. The main conflict of the series concerns a conspiracy to use Ruby to connect with her home civilization so that the space organization can steal its technology, with the professor perhaps at the core of it all. Living Martian Miracle launched in 2009 and was one of the year's most popular anime series in Japan, and a number of American companies are vying for the localization rights.

Jackcipher: A technologically-based horror series, Jackcipher revolves around the life and times of a "cyber detective" tasked with investigating hackers and misuse of technology. While the series bears some similarities with Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the horror elements make it fairly unique and give it a deeply cynical tone, with all of the horror presented being based in current technological reality. This has caused some comparisons with live-action surrealist classics like The Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks, and though only 26 episodes have been made, there are plans to revive the show as a series of OVA specials.

Shoujoboy: A show about a boy who has mysteriously acquired Sailor Moon-esque powers, the series explores gender roles in a comedic but not entirely ludicrous way. The boy has trouble controlling his powers, sometimes with very unfortunate results, and has come to see them as somewhat of a curse, even as his best friends try to reassure him about how cool his powers really are. The series has even garnered somewhat of a yaoi fandom, with a slight implication that one of the boy's friends has a crush on him. The series has been described as both a deconstruction of the magical girl genre and an affectionate homage, and has been somewhat embraced by the LGBT community on both sides of the Pacific. While no networks currently plan to air the show in North America, Funimation has already secured the rights to a localization.

Murasakino: A 13-episode series about a depressed young girl and her friendship with an elderly hibakusha at a lakeside resort, Murasakino is a character study on depression, alienation, and the way that elders are treated in their communities. The series delves into the fantastical, depicting the elaborate daydreams of the two characters as they relate their struggles with one another, with both characters shown to be in some degree of mortal danger (the girl is suicidal and the elderly woman is suffering from advanced cancer). The series isn't entirely a sobfest, with moments of happiness and inspiration sprinkled throughout, and the message conveyed throughout the series is one of hope, even in the bleakest of circumstances. The show has won numerous awards, and while it hasn't been a significant ratings hit, it's being lauded throughout Japan as one of the best anime shows of 2010, airing during the first three months of the year. Murasakino is expected to receive a premium Blu-Ray/DVD release in North America, where it's currently being localized.

Student Blues: An ongoing series that began in mid-2009 and is currently scheduled for at least 65 episodes, Student Blues is a story without a central protagonist, chronicling life at a Japanese high school full of realistic and highly interesting characters. It's another series that turns tropes on its head (the head of the student council is an insecure and nerdy girl, the teacher you'd expect to be a massive perv... is, but not toward his young students, but toward his plain-looking wife, who he constantly fantasizes about during school hours and can't wait to get home to her, while she returns the affection lovingly but is always amazed that such a handsome guy is so over the moon for her), and takes the "slice of life" format to strange extremes, with events that should be major arcs resolving themselves in the span of a single episode, while some of the most mundane things become multi-episode storylines. The show has a mostly happy tone, though it occasionally throws in a serious moment. Fans of the show love all the twists and turns it throws out, praising the show's humor and its cast of lovable characters, and the show, despite not being due to reach Toonami until fall 2010, has already spawned tons of fanfiction and fanart all over the world. It's one of the most successful shows of the 2009-10 season, despite not featuring hardly anything in the way of action. It's compared somewhat to Azumanga Daioh, though its wackiness and cuteness is quite a bit toned down compared to that show, and its cast consists of boys and girls equally rather than mostly girls. The show looks to continue its run for the foreseeable future, and may well become one of the most popular anime series of the 2010s.

These are just five of the most notable new anime series, there are many more that have achieved success in this new environment of character-based comedy and drama. While many American animated shows are leaning toward action, anime is pushing toward establishing popular characters and the relationships between them, and the trend is expected to continue. The anime craze has died down somewhat on North American television, but with streaming services starting to become more popular and home media becoming cheaper and more accessible to even casual anime fans, anime will continue to reach a worldwide audience no matter what the current trends.

 

[RySenkari]

Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol is a spy-themed action RPG published by Apple exclusively for the iTwin. The game was initially conceived by Obsidian just before their acquisition by Microsoft, but upon the acquisition of the company, the team that had been contracted by Apple to make the game left the company to continue work on the game with a new studio (since Apple, not Obsidian, held the IP rights to the game). This new studio, which brought in developers from Apple's other game studios, worked on the game for the next three years, and the result is a faster-paced and less buggy game than IOTL's, though it shares many of the same plot points and the same protagonist as OTL's game, Michael Thorton. Without the influence of 24 ITTL (which only lasted two seasons), Thorton is a bit less aggressive than OTL's character by default, though the player can still choose to play him aggressively. Combat is like that of a typical third person shooter, but with RPG elements common to games such as OTL's Borderlands or The Division (onscreen damage numbers, and some loot dropped by enemies). The RPG elements also come into play during dialogue and cutscenes, in which the player can choose Michael's actions during a certain scenario, or even the attitude he has when speaking with a friend or foe. These choices can influence certain characters' attitudes toward Michael, and can also influence his stat growth in certain social areas and his relationships with certain characters, including three potential love interests he's able to interact with, who can either live or die depending on Michael's actions. Apple gave the developers more money to work with than Sega did IOTL, allowing more elaborate sequences and more polish to be added to the game. Michael is still designed to be a very malleable character, whose actions and demeanor depend almost entirely on the gameplay style of the player, but it is somewhat easier to play Michael as a do-gooder ITTL, with a more defined sense of justice and a moral code, allowing the player to take "by the book" actions and still have fun with the game and achieve a good ending. Conversely, it's also possible to play Michael as a renegade who breaks many rules, kills without remorse, compromises his morals constantly, and also achieve a good ending. The game has more than a dozen major side characters, most of whom are well developed (though depending on Michael's path through the game, some characters will get a lot more development than others). The game's plot, as mentioned before, is similar to OTL's, with Michael Thorton working as a member of Alpha Protocol, a top secret spy organization that works outside of the oversight of the United States government to accomplish tasks too ethically ambiguous for the government to take on. Michael finds himself caught in an international web of intrigue, espionage, and betrayal, given the option to remain with Alpha Protocol to accomplish the mission he's given, go rogue and aid the enemy, or anything in between, operating on one side of the law or both. Throughout the game, his relationships with other characters become much more important. While each of the three love interest characters (including fellow Alpha Protocol operative Jinming, ruthless spy assassin Tatiana, or surfer girl civilian Maya) are tied to major segments of the game, Michael can go the whole game barely interacting with any of them and keeping romance out of his story, it's entirely up to the player. Ultimately, the main plot revolves around a massive conspiracy in which Alpha Protocol is heavily involved with financing terrorist activity around the globe. Michael can either remain with the organization and collaborate in the activity, take over and reform the organization, leave the organization to its own devices and carry out his own agenda (good or bad), or battle and bring Alpha Protocol down. The end of the game sees Michael either retiring to his safe house, driving away in a car, or (in very few of the endings) dead, having sacrificed himself for one reason or another. Anything but the "dead Michael" ending leaves things open for a sequel, and it's implied that the player's actions in this game may well carry over to that one.

Alpha Protocol is released exclusively to the iTwin in early July 2010. With improved graphics, gameplay, and storytelling from OTL's title, Alpha Protocol gets excellent reviews, far better than the reviews the game got IOTL, largely attributed to the help from Apple's developmental studios. The game is hyped as one of the major iTwin titles of the year, and it very much lives up to that hype, averaging around a 9/10 with reviews and proving to be one of the year's most commercially successful games. It continues Apple's reputation for excellent mature games, and also becomes known as one of the best RPGs on the system, helping to fill out the iTwin's growing lineup of outstanding RPGs, both western and Japanese style. A sequel would go into production soon after the release of this game, but while the development team would focus on an iTwin sequel, the first development kits for the iTwin's successor were just starting to find their way into the hands of development studios, and it becomes increasingly tempting for the team to work on a game for a potential next gen console...

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E.O.N. 01: Cybercrimes Unit

Developed by Angel Studios and published by Ubisoft in collaboration with Apple, E.O.N. 01: Cybercrimes Unit is a hack and slash shooter with similarities to games such as Oni and Vanquish. The game features a team of elite soldiers/hackers who track down the terrorists of the future: super smart and well armed gangs of criminals whose goal is to take down vital infrastructure to extort funds from victimized governments. The elite teams in E.O.N. move and strike with military precision, shooting enemies down quickly and moving on to the next task. The game's protagonist is Victor, one of the newest members of the unit, who was mostly recruited for his hacking and who is still learning the ropes of combat and battle, though he's a quick learner and becoming quite good at taking enemies down. Gameplay consists of short segments in which the player is usually required to take out all enemies or reach a certain point, and guns can be swapped out quickly on the fly. The guns range from a simple pistol to a powerful rocket launcher, with plenty of other types of weaponry inbetween, and melee combat also playing a big role. Victor can hack into enemies using the cybertech in his battle suit, jamming their weapons from afar or even destroying elements of the environment to drop on them. During combat, other characters will be communicating with Victor, letting him know if they've got his back or if they need help, and Victor can choose to move to their position to protect them or let them keep fighting on their own. The game's plot involves a powerful organization named Scorpitech, a corporation that was blacklisted for various financial crimes which has used its money to become the world's deadliest terrorist backer. Scorpitech employs an army of cyber soldiers to enforce its will, and also secretly funds a number of groups that don't even know they're being bankrolled by it. Victor must take down Scorpitech, though after he learns that his estranged older brother leads the organization, he becomes morally conflicted about taking down his own family.

Remembered as a technically pretty and somewhat fun but also somewhat repetitive and predictable game, E.O.N. 01 is released a couple of weeks after Alpha Protocol, and Apple gives it a similar level of hype, but compared to that game it's mostly underwhelming, with only decent critical scores and fan reception. It does get compared to Duality, but not really in a good way, and despite its polished graphics and high production values, it becomes one of the more forgettable iTwin exclusives of the year. It has its fans, but unlike Alpha Protocol, it doesn't become a hit IP for Apple.

 

[RySenkari]

Encounter: Last Stand

Encounter: Last Stand is a sci-fi FPS and the fourth game in the Encounter series, taking place after the events of Encounter: Time Wars. It's somewhat of a retelling of the 2003 FPS Encounter, as the time travel in Time Wars prevented the events of the first three games from "actually" taking place, but now with a more powerful and aggressive Blight army set to invade a completely defenseless Earth. The game has a more simplified control scheme than Time Wars, since it takes place entirely in one era, so it features modern and futuristic weaponry rather than historic guns. The game also features, for the most part, fully experienced combatants, and so the "learning" curve built into the previous games has been completely smoothed out. With that said, the game still features several new gameplay mechanics for the player to learn, including a revamped stealth system and also a new "memory imprint" system in which characters can glean the memories of other characters from alternate timelines, which both opens up new areas of the game (via learning the codes and security clearances of that character) and also allows the player to temporarily acquire new skills, which are stored in a timed "skill bank" and for the most part, give players superhuman abilities temporarily. The game features three main protagonists: the initial protagonist, John Clovitz, descendant of Henry Clovitz, the protagonist of Time Wars: Elizabeth, the protagonist of Encounter 2 who becomes a soldier in Last Stand after re-acquiring her memories from the alternate timeline, and finally, Octan, a reformed Blight soldier with the ability to use Blight weaponry. These three characters each have their own distinct skills and abilities, with John only able to use human weaponry, Octan only able to use Blight weaponry, and Elizabeth able to utilize both (but unable to use certain memory imprint abilities that the other two heroes can). The player never gets to choose between them, John is available for about 50 percent of the game (including the first and last missions), Elizabeth is used for about 30 percent, and Octan is used for about 20 percent, mostly space infiltration missions and part of one of the final two missions. Last Stand features slightly improved graphics over Time Wars, with a lesser variety in environments but slightly larger and more complex levels overall, with more "maze like" levels than any other game in the series. Elizabeth, who was voiced by Eliza Dushu in Encounter 2, has been recast, and in Last Stand is voiced by Courtenay Taylor, while the game's other major characters, including John and Octan, are voiced by career voiceover artists rather than celebrities (as EA wanted to devote more of the game's budget to big graphical set pieces rather than the casting budget).

The game begins with Elizabeth attending her college classes, only for an emergency to occur on campus as the Blight warships penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and attack. Before Elizabeth can rush out into the open, she is shielded by John, who tells her to follow him if she wants to live, and the game begins with John battling Blight infantry with powerful automatic weapons as he shelters Elizabeth with chaos erupting around them. Once the two are in a peaceful area, John tells Elizabeth that she doesn't remember, but in an alternate timeline, she battled these same aliens and defeated them, and that in that timeline, her family died fighting to protect the Earth. John also tells of how his great grandfather Henry trained the whole family to fight the Blight in case they ever come back. Elizabeth reluctantly believes John, and fearing for her family's lives, wants to go check on them. John doesn't want to take her, instead wanting to go to a government facility to rendezvous with a scientist who knows about the Blight as well, but Elizabeth insists and John is forced to go with her. Upon arrival, the Blight attack Elizabeth's family's neighborhood. Eventually, Elizabeth's parents and brother are cornered, and John is put out of commission. Elizabeth suddenly has a flashback as her mind activates memories from her alternate self, allowing her to relearn her combat instincts. She steals a Blight soldier's weapon and the player takes over as Elizabeth destroys the Blight squadron and saves her family. She then takes her family and the injured John and puts them in a van, driving to the government facility. The army is scrambling to battle back the Blight, but they're much more powerful than they've ever been, and Earth could be overrun in less than 48 hours. However, John knows that humans have been able to steal some alien weaponry because of a secret government project, and John and Elizabeth use those weapons to battle back the aliens invading the facility, with the help of a defector, Octan. Octan, who has also had memories of an alternate timeline, tells John and Elizabeth that the key to destroying the Blight is to somehow contact Syforia, whose essence (the Matriarch and Gloria) is scattered across space and time, with the Teos Matriarch having died thousands of years ago and Gloria trapped in a future that will never come to be. The government scientist says that it may be possible to bring both the Matriarch and Gloria to Earth via the use of the Fermilab particle accelerator, which has been greatly enhanced due to the work of the secret government project kickstarted by Henry and the scientists he warned about the Blight back in 1918. However, the Blight knows of this accelerator and is now bringing their troops down to bear on it, leading to a massive setpiece level (the Battle of Chicago) and then a battle in the Fermilab facilities themselves. During this time, we learn that the Blight warlord, Argothon, is the alien warlord who opened up the time portal who was contacted at the end of Encounter 2 and then led the invasion of Earth in Time Wars. Argothon also knows of the various time paradoxes that have led to the events of Last Stand, as he was a lowly soldier in the alternate timeline, captured, experimented on, and tortured by human super soldiers led by the Teos Matriarch. Argothon's mind has been implanted with those memories, and he seeks revenge for an alternate version of himself that technically never existed, but that imprinted on his mind all the same. After Fermilab is secured by John, Elizabeth, and Octan, the particle accelerator is used to bring back Gloria, but the Matriarch doesn't appear on Earth, but instead appears on the Teos homeworld. The heroes realize they'll need to hijack a Blight warship to retrieve the Matriarch, and eventually they accomplish just that, returning to the Teos homeworld, where the Matriarch has awoken amidst the ruins of the Teos civilization. She refuses to help John, Elizabeth, or Octan, and threatens to kill them until Gloria convinces her to help, and causes the Matriarch to have a memory imprint moment that allows her to remember her relationship with Gloria in all the different timelines and the stable time loop. Gloria willingly allows the Matriarch to assimilate her, re-awakening Syforia, who agrees to save Earth from the Blight invasion. Syforia and the heroes return to Earth, which is about to be fully conquered by the Blight. Syforia assembles a Teos superweapon that decimates the Blight's numbers, allowing the human armies to fight their way back, but it ultimately comes down to John and Elizabeth fighting their way through the last hordes of Blight soldiers to reach Argothon. John and Elizabeth try to reason with Argothon, but Argothon is too far gone, killing Syforia and beating Octan nearly to death, then wounding Elizabeth as well. John battles Argothon's elite troops and then finally kills Argothon to defeat the Blight for good and save humanity. While Earth is devastated and hundreds of millions of humans have died, the Blight have been truly defeated and the threat to humanity is over. Octan succumbs to his wounds and is given a hero's burial, Syforia is returned to have her ashes scattered amongst the ruins of her civilization, and it's implied that John and Elizabeth begin dating as they help work to rebuild human civilization.

Encounter: Last Stand gets highly positive reviews at the time of its release for the Sapphire, iTwin, and Xbox 2 in July 2010. The memory imprint system is considered a welcome addition to the game's otherwise fairly straight-forward FPS fighting, and the plot, while confusing at times, does feature plenty of big moments and character payoffs. It's received about as well as Time Wars, and sales slightly exceed those of that game, making it one of the best selling games of summer 2010. It even benefits slightly from the Xbox 2 sales bump, becoming one of the top games bought alongside new Xbox 2s at that time. While the technical inadequacies of the iTwin are definitely evident in that system's version of the game, it's still positively received on that system, even if the Sapphire version remains the best one. This definitely isn't the end of the Encounter series, but the developers plan to launch a brand new story arc when the series returns on the eighth gen consoles.

 

[RySenkari]

Chris Benoit's tragic self-inflicted death in 2007 led to a time of deep soul-searching for the WWE. Benoit had been amongst the top wrestlers in the company at the time of his suicide, in the middle of a feud with Christopher Daniels that had seen the two wrestle a series of outstanding matches during the first half of 2007, and Benoit's sudden death was a shock to both hardcore and casual wrestling fans alike. The revelation that Benoit had been suffering from what is now known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, was an even bigger shock, both to the world of wrestling and to the professional sports world, during a time when head injuries were starting to be examined as a major cause of post-career health issues. After Benoit's brain was studied by a team of doctors, they came to the conclusion that the hundreds, perhaps thousands of chair shots Benoit had taken throughout his career had caused him severe, long-lasting brain trauma that had caused him to experience hallucinations and mood swings, and had conclusively led to his death. Benoit's death led to an immediate ban on chair shots to the head, but more would need to be done. In the meantime, the WWE was taking a major public relations hit, despite the excellent quality of the wrestling going on at the time. The WWE was still split between two brands, Raw and Smackdown (a third brand, ECW, was proposed but ultimately scrapped before being created, though a series of ECW pay-per-views from 2006 to 2009 would all be positively received), and there were numerous excellent performers on both shows. At the time of Benoit's death in mid-2007, the top stars on Raw were John Cena, Mr. Kennedy, Triple H, Batista, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Christian, and MVP, while on Smackdown, the top stars were Bobby Lashley, Muhammad Hassan, Rob Van Dam, Big Show, Billy Kidman, Edge, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels. The company had lost a few stars, most notably Chris Jericho and Booker T, to the rival promotion TNA, but for the most part, the roster was stacked and there were plenty of opportunities for stars both young and old. The company also had an excellent women's division on both shows, with Trish Stratus and Lita sharing the spotlight with stars like Mickie James and recent promising Diva Search champion Miyuki on Raw, and Melina, Kharma, Beth Phoenix, and Michelle McCool trading the women's title on Smackdown. While the controversy roiled outside the ring, the wrestlers themselves had excellent matches inside of it throughout the latter half of 2007. Though there were some calls to tone down the "ruthless aggression" that had been the WWE's trademark style since the end of the Attitude Era back in 2002, for the most part the content remained firmly in TV-14 territory. With Linda McMahon's political ambitions destroyed by the Benoit scandal (even with Jon Huntsman taking office, McMahon would find it difficult to attempt a political comeback), Vince decided that toning down blows to the head would be enough to make the controversy die down, and the sex and violence that characterized the past decade of the WWE would continue, at least for the time being.

In the meantime, the TNA would take a somewhat different approach, seeing an opportunity created by the controversy swirling around Vince's WWE at the time. The company, started by Jeff Jarrett and his brother, had long been seen as a somewhat edgier alternative to the WWE, but with the WWE's edgy approach becoming more controversial, a niche had carved itself out in the American wrestling business. Enter Mark Cuban, who had been friends with Vince McMahon but had become somewhat disillusioned by McMahon's response to the Benoit scandal. At the time, TNA had been marginally successful, but despite being able to compete on some level with the WWE, and despite having wrestlers like Booker T and Chris Jericho on the roster, the league was in increasingly dire financial straits and its acquisition cost had dropped significantly. Cuban decided to purchase TNA, and after doing so, he spent much of 2008 reorganizing the brand to be a more family-friendly one, with wrestling as the main focus and attitude and extravagant storylines somewhat pared down. He also brought other wrestlers in, such as Diamond Dallas Page, Sting, and Hulk Hogan, along with a few promising young talents such as CM Punk, to put on entertaining matches and to give the new federation serious name recognition. He would eventually change the name of the federation itself, from TNA to TAW (Totally Awesome Wrestling), to further the brand's "family friendly" reputation. With younger fans and their families increasingly alienated from the WWE, TAW would pick these fans up, and an eventual TV deal with Fox Family in early 2009 would cement TAW as a serious rival to the WWE for their younger viewership. However, Raw and Smackdown remained strong in the ratings, and a series of exciting matches and feuds throughout 2008 would help fans to somewhat forget about the Benoit scandal. The top feud of 2008 saw John Cena and Mr. Kennedy in a series of dramatic wars of words and fierce matches. With Cena playing the face and Kennedy playing the heel, the two would trade the title back and forth amongst them at least twice, while other wrestlers such as MVP, Batista, and Christian played occasional spoiler. Meanwhile, Stone Cold and Kurt Angle revived their old feuds after both of them sustained kayfabe injuries (to cover for real rest and recovery time for both of them) and were named co-general managers of Raw, with each of them wanting to run the show in their own way. Angle ran the show in a professional manner, with a business suit and frequent punishments of unruly, fan favorite wrestlers, while Stone Cold, as he liked to do, caused chaos and had a more anarchic approach to management. Stone Cold vs. Kurt Angle wasn't quite Stone Cold vs. Vince, but it was still an intense rivalry that got fans heavily involved. Meanwhile, Triple H also challenged frequently for the World Heavyweight Title, playing foil to Cena when Mr. Kennedy was feuding with the likes of Batista. However, a quadriceps injury to Triple H in the middle of 2008 (similar to the one he suffered in 2001 IOTL) would keep him out of action for the remainder of the year. On Smackdown, Bobby Lashley had risen to become the top face, alongside Samoa Joe. Muhammad Hassan (who had toned down his anti-American rhetoric in favor of a more "sophisticated asshole" approach to heeldom) was still the top heel, but Edge was right there alongside him, and there were other occasional heel challengers, including an excellent feud between Samoa Joe and a resurgent Owen Hart that would lead to a five-star match at that year's Armageddon. Going into 2009, the major title holders were Mr. Kennedy holding the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw and Samoa Joe holding the WWE Championship on Smackdown.

2009's Royal Rumble would be a major turning point for the WWE, when it would finally start to turn the corner from the Benoit tragedy just as TAW was looking like it might be the first company to seriously challenge the WWE's supremacy since WCW. Mr. Kennedy retained his title on the Raw side, while Samoa Joe was the victim of a major screwjob that saw Robert Roode, who had debuted in the WWE toward the end of 2007 and slowly emerge as a major heel title contender throughout 2008, win the title with a rollup after major interference from three different heel wrestlers. Samoa Joe was given a chance to enter the Rumble and win a rematch at Wrestlemania, but he would have to do it from the #1 position. He did, and the #2 wrestler was a returning Stone Cold, drawing massive cheers from the crowd. Samoa Joe and Stone Cold, who'd never wrestled one on one before, battled it out for more than a minute before the #3 wrestler arrived. The two easily tossed him out, then tossed out #4, #5, #6, and #7 as they arrived, all the while beating the hell out of each other. Finally, at #8, the first truly consequential wrestler of the rumble, Christian, arrived, and neither man was able to toss him out before #9, Kofi Kingston, came to the ring. Samoa Joe and Stone Cold remained in the ring, battling it out with each other and the entering wrestlers, until finally, Big Show arrived at #24 and tossed out Samoa Joe. Stone Cold, however, remained in the ring, and would do so all the way until #30. At that point, Stone Cold, Big Show, John Cena, Kurt Angle (who also returned in this Royal Rumble as a wrestler), MVP, and a then-rookie Wade Bennett (known OTL as Wade Barrett) were in the ring awaiting the 30th wrestler. The countdown ended, the buzzer went off, and then... "IF YA SMELLLLL....." After a five year absence to film Hollywood movies, The Rock had finally come back to the WWE (at least for a few months). The Rock began kicking ass and taking names, tossing MVP and then Wade Bennett out of the ring before focusing in on Stone Cold. When Kurt Angle tried to help, The Rock tossed him out as well. This left Big Show and Cena to go at it while Stone Cold and The Rock beat the hell out of each other like it was 1999. Eventually, The Rock managed to toss Austin out of the ring, while Cena was able to throw out the Big Show. This left Cena and the Rock alone in the ring, and the two of them brawled for a while before Austin screwed the Rock by pulling down the ring ropes and sending him tumbling over. Cena would win a title shot at Wrestlemania, while Austin and the Rock continued to brawl as the Royal Rumble credits rolled. Wrestlemania XXV would see an excellent card, including Cena vs. Roode (Cena would forego continuing his feud with Kennedy in order to jump to Smackdown and take on Roode, who had been insulting Cena for the past several months), Mr. Kennedy vs. The Undertaker, Muhammad Hassan vs. Shawn Michaels, Samoa Joe vs. Big Show, and one last battle for the ages between Stone Cold and the Rock, in which The Rock would get a victory against Stone Cold and would spend a few months feuding with the biggest faces on Raw and Smackdown until an epic showdown at Summerslam with John Cena. Cena would beat Roode to win the WWE Championship, Undertaker would beat Kennedy to set up one last long title reign, Hassan would brutally defeat Michaels, seemingly retiring him and re-establishing himself as the biggest heel in the federation, and Samoa Joe would defeat the Big Show with an epic powerslam that would be replayed many, many times in Wrestlemania highlights for years to come. While 2009 would be one of the best years in WWE history (with a sole tragic exception), TAW would also have a fantastic year, bringing in the man who would ultimately become the face of the company: Bryan Danielson, who would work as both a beloved face and a dastardly heel over a TAW career that would span more than a decade. Feuding with every star on the roster at one point or another, Danielson would bring his everyman charisma and entertaining brawling style to TAW, giving the federation the superstar it needed to hold its own with the WWE. While TAW would never completely overtake the WWE, and would eventually begin to go into a slow decline toward the end of the 2010s, the federation now had the platform and stars it needed to succeed at the highest level of the industry.

The WWE, meanwhile, would begin to clean up its act somewhat, especially as far as the "T+A" aspect of the company went: less sexualization of the women wrestlers (eventually leading to the name "Divas" being dropped entirely), less homophobic jokes, and less innuendo in general. However, Raw and Smackdown would remain TV-14, with continued violent and bloody matches (though most of the bloodiest matches would be saved for pay-per-view). Unprotected head shots remained mercifully banned, but blading and so-called "sick bumps" remained relatively common in high-stakes matches. However, this violence would take a tragic toll on one particularly beloved wrestler: Kurt Angle, the former Olympic champion who'd been a staple of the company throughout the decade, feuding with the company's biggest stars and winning numerous title belts, would succumb to a painkiller addiction, and was found dead in his home on June 25, 2009, of an acute overdose of several drugs. The death of Kurt Angle, the third major WWE superstar to die in four years, was another huge shock for the company and its fans, and the fact that he died in a similar manner to Eddie Guerrero was another sign that the company needed to stiffen up its drug policy. The policy had been tightened in the wake of Eddie Guerrero's death, but wrestlers still continued to abuse painkillers, and the company policy was lax toward its major stars. These loopholes in the policy would be tightened severely in the aftermath of Angle's death. Superstar schedules would be lightened somewhat, with major stars given more rest time after wrestling big matches, and drug testing both strict and mandatory. The public response to Angle's death wasn't as severe as the response to Benoit's, and fans seemed satisfied with the changes to the drug policy, even when it led to suspensions of major talent (such as Mr. Kennedy in the fall of 2009). Slowly but surely, the WWE was cleaning up its act, though TAW would still be known as the more family friendly company in 2010 and beyond, leading to things such as crossovers with Marvel and even memorable cameos on shows such as Welcome To Riverdale. At the end of the decade, the WWE was as popular as it had ever been, and as longtime legends such as Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and the Undertaker prepared to make their exits, new superstars would rise to try and fill their shoes.

 

[RySenkari]

Dog Dash High-Def

Dog Dash High-Def is the seventh game in the Dog Dash series and the series' first 3-D title since Dog Dash 5 all the way back in 2003 for the Ultra Nintendo. Developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony, it's a traditional 3-D platformer with some adventure elements, and it takes the series in somewhat of a darker turn (not quite as dark as the Jak series became, but certainly not as cartoonish as previous games in the series). Like previous games in the series, it features the boy hero Clark (who's now a teenager of about 14) and his faithful dog companion Woofle, with a cast of mostly new but also a few returning characters, most notably the dragon girl Selkie (who plays a much larger role in this game after only a cameo appearance in the last two titles). The game focuses on the clash between modernity and nature, which is ironic since Clark and Woofle come from the modern normal human world. They're out to protect a sort of interdimensional refuge for animals and their friends from the incursion of an evil person who utilizes television and technology as his weapons, giving the game its "High Def" title, as Clark and Woofle must battle their way through a series of worlds impacted by technology. Unlike other parody games, such as Commander Keen and Kingdom Quest's 80s DLC, which spoof specific television tropes and shows, Dog Dash High-Def doesn't pick on any show or genre or trope in particular, instead using television as a motif rather than an object of ridicule. This sort of gives the game a similar thematic tone to OTL's Mother 3, in which Porky's army used television to invade and conquer the formerly peaceful land of Tazmily. It's not quite that serious or that sad, but it's probably the most serious game in the series to date. Clark and Woofle now have a greatly expanded repertoire of moves: Clark is now able to fight on his own, completely independent from Woofle, decked out in combat armor and wielding a bo staff and some serious karate moves. Woofle can now swallow enemies and spit them back out to use as projectiles, and the player is able to fight either with Clark (with Woofle as an AI ally) or with Clark riding Woofle, controlling both of their moves at once. Selkie is a frequent supporting ally and can be comboed with, but can't be controlled, and there are other new allies in the game as well to fight alongside the player in certain levels. There's no more collecting to advance in this game, instead, the player is tasked with a series of objectives to complete, and once those are completed, the player usually gains access to a second part of the world, where they'll complete more objectives or battle a boss. The game has eight chapters in all and has a fairly linear sense of progression, though the player can revisit areas they've already beaten to collect optional items or power-ups. Power-ups can be collected to raise the player's health bar or stamina or learn new moves, so there's value to replaying certain worlds over again. The game's graphics have been optimized for the Sapphire, and while the game isn't as mind-blowing as Mystic, it's certainly one of the console's better looking platformers, with bright and colorful characters and worlds. Clark has once again been recast, and is voiced by Vincent Martella (using somewhat the same voice he used for Hope in Final Fantasy XIII IOTL). Selkie is once again voiced by Ashley Johnson, while the game's main villain, the Archivist, is voiced by John DiMaggio.

The game begins with Selkie visiting Clark and Woofle and inviting them to a magical nature preserve that she's helped to put together, with refugees and endangered species from all over the multiverse. Clark thinks the nature preserve is a bit boring, and Selkie scolds him for it, leading to somewhat of a rift between the two when suddenly the world is attacked by a man who appears on a giant floating television screen: the Archivist, who's come to film a nature show on this world, and brings in a "film crew" (more like a private army) to make that show. The crew begins capturing animals left and right, and Clark and Selkie are separated after Woofle is taken. Clark ends up on his own, and has to fight his way back to Woofle, picking up some new skills along the way. The first world of the game involves getting Woofle back, and the first major boss fight is the first fight in the game in which Clark and Woofle are together again. The second world starts with an introduction to Woofle's new skills as Clark looks around for Selkie. He eventually finds her leading the rebellion against the Archivist's film crew. She saves Clark from being attacked but still hasn't quite forgiven him. Eventually, she gets captured, and Clark goes to try and save her, expecting her to forgive him when he does, but Selkie breaks out on her own and wreaks havoc on some bad guys before helping Clark fight the second major boss. Selkie and Clark eventually patch things up as they navigate the game's third world, a maze of TV screens that show various moments from Clark and Selkie's pasts, including their budding relationship. The two are separated again just before Clark and Woofle take on the game's third major boss, and in the fourth world, Clark makes a few important friends, including a mysterious humanoid leaf creature named Green, Isla the Intern Girl (an intern for the Archivist who's sick of being bossed around), and a talking bear named Rogers, who mauls things left and right but is very polite about it. As Clark and his friends battle on, they see the various lands becoming more and more engulfed by the Archivist's TV technology, and the refugees and creatures becoming more and more enthralled, willing to do anything to help the Archivist's TV ratings, having become beaten down by the tyranny of his armies. The eighth world is a massive city that mirrors the city where Clark lives, and Clark realizes that the Archivist is actually an old TV host that Clark used to admire as a little kid, who went crazy after his show was canceled. Clark and his friends fight their way through this city, with each of the supporting characters getting their moment to shine. Eventually, the final confrontation is at hand, with Clark, Woofle, and Selkie battling the Archivist for control of the world. Clark tries to reason with the Archivist, but his pleas are rejected, and Selkie seemingly sacrifices herself to destroy the Archivist when Clark is nearly hypnotized by him. This gives Clark and Woofle the resolve to defeat him in an epic final boss battle. In the end, Selkie is hurt but alive, and she and Clark share a quick smooch to imply that these two might actually have a thing for each other. Clark promises to be more respectful of nature from now on, and he decides to spend more time with Selkie and Woofle in the nature preserve instead of going home right away like he wanted to. The game has a fun, happy ending, and implies that Clark and his dog will continue to go on many more adventures in the future.

Dog Dash High-Def is released in August 2010. It's a fairly standard platformer, but does do a lot of things new to the series, and has a more epic feel than most other platformers of its time. This helps it to get highly positive ratings, and it becomes the most critically and commercially successful game in the series since Dog Dash 3. Clark and Woofle cement their place as worthy characters in Naughty Dog's lineup, with Woofle justifying his continued place in Smash. The game becomes one of the better selling exclusives of the year for the Sapphire, and also tops its rival on the iTwin, Corona and Rouge, in both sales and critical reception. Dog Dash is definitely "back", but even so, it's clear that Naughty Dog has changed somewhat since their last proper Dog Dash platformer title, and there may not be room in the future for the series to continue unless the company experiences some significant changes.

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"Before assuming his new position at Nintendo, Mark Cerny will oversee the establishment of a second Naughty Dog development studio which will focus on titles such as Dog Dash and other games, including a brand new 'family' IP and an upcoming Pokemon title (not Legend Quest, but another one). Nintendo and Sony announced Cerny's new position in a joint statement, in which Sony praised the director for overseeing the growth of Naughty Dog into one of the game industry's most respected software developers, and in which Nintendo expressed high hopes that Cerny will head up the company's American development side with the same creative zeal he brought to franchises such as Tales Of The Seven Seas and Dog Dash. Cerny's title at Nintendo will be Executive VP Of Creative Development, and this position will make him the director of the company's Treehouse studio, which will oversee games for existing Nintendo properties while focusing on the development of new ones. In the meantime, Cerny will help with establishing Naughty Dog North, headquartered out of San Francisco, while Naughty Dog Mothership, located in Los Angeles, will focus on 'cinematic' properties such as Tales Of The Seven Seas and Mystic."

-from an article on Gamespot.com, posted on September 1, 2010

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Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon is shaping up to be not just Naughty Dog's most significant project ever, but perhaps one of the most significant games of its generation: a cinematic, character-driven title with open world elements and non-linearity. Whereas Mystic was completely storyline driven, guiding the player from place to place and establishing a clear, defined story with its own pacing, Horizon will allow the player to set the story's pace, what quests to undertake, and what characters to focus on, presenting a true "choose your own adventure" take on its story and introducing the element of replayability. The last game in the series to attempt such an approach was 2000's The Victorian Legacy, which at the time divided longtime series fans but has since gained a reputation as probably the best game in the series and an effort that the company has struggled to match ever since, with a series of games on the Wave that stumbled out of the gate and failed to establish the same emotional character moments as the first three titles.

However, The Victorian Legacy was fully rendered, its performances acted from inside a booth and behind a microphone. It was still a video game, though it featured some of the best animation the Ultra Nintendo could pull off. Horizon is fully motion-captured, and will feature more than twice as much mo-cap footage as Mystic did, with nearly three times the production costs. It's a massive gamble, not just for Naughty Dog, but for Nintendo and Sony, to throw this much money and time at an IP that hasn't been at its best in over a decade, rather than on a new project or on Mystic 2 (which is also in production, aiming for a 2012 release, and also features full motion capture, though its production costs won't be nearly as much as Horizon). If it succeeds, it will probably be the best selling game in the series and a front-runner for 2011's Game of the Year, a field already filling up with such titles as Land Of Enchantment, Brotherhood Of The Hidden Eye, Valdoza, and rumored open-world RPGs such as Elder Scrolls V and Ultima XI. Naughty Dog is taking a major gamble, filming a massive amount of motion capture footage that most people won't even see half of on their first playthrough. They're gambling that people who have stuck with the series for the last 15 years will be hungry for more, that people who left the series after The Victorian Legacy will come back for a game that looks like nothing they've ever played before, and that people who have never picked up a Tales Of The Seven Seas game will jump on board for this one. Every single teaser and snippet of gameplay footage looks beautiful. The game was a hit at E3 2010, finishing narrowly behind Necrocracy 2 for the coveted Best In Show award, and wowing every single person who got to play the game's two demo missions. It looks like it's going to be a hit. But if it fails, Naughty Dog Mothership may well crashland on the launch pad, potentially sinking the whole company with it. Nintendo and Sony would probably be able to write off the losses, but their trust in Naughty Dog would be shattered, and those rumors about Naughty Dog North potentially being tapped to develop a mainline Pokemon game would remain just that, rumors.

And yet, every single bit of footage of Horizon makes us want to play it even more. Every story about how much work the actors are putting in, every bit of information about how hard the devs are working, everything we've heard about this game makes it sound like it could be the biggest hit that Naughty Dog, a company known for making hit after hit after hit, has ever produced. The original Tales Of The Seven Seas roared onto the scene in the fall of 1995, even stealing some of the Killer Instinct SNES-CD port's thunder upon its release, and memorably feuding with Power Rangers at Halloween that year to give us pirates vs. ninjas in the streets.

Now, it would be just as surprising to see Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon fail.

Few games have looked so good so early on with so much riding on them to succeed.

-from a September 10, 2010 article on Games Over Matter

 

[RySenkari]

Resident Evil: Dual Descent

Resident Evil: Dual Descent is a survival horror game exclusive to the Apple iTwin. The game is more action-oriented than previous games in the series, featuring an almost arcade like control scheme that's built for the iTwin's dual controllers, with both Jill Valentine and her partner Aden able to be controlled simultaneously by one player or two working together. The game begins with the two awakening in an underground prison cell, and slowly realizing that the entire prison has been overrun with zombies. The two of them must work together to escape, and there are plenty of places in which Jill and Aden must directly cooperate, including switch puzzles, climbing on top of one another, and activating computer terminals simultaneously. The game features a dynamic camera that can be switched from a split-screen view to a single perspective depending on how far the two characters are away from one another, and there are plenty of ways that Jill and Aden can interact, both when they're together and when they're apart. Ammunition and weapons are fairly plentiful in this game, lending to its arcade-style gameplay, but there are also segments in which the two must endure stretches of ammo starvation, which serves to ramp up the tension considerably. The game is broken into the modern chapter-act structure of Resident Evil titles, featuring five chapters in all with 13 acts spread across them, with areas paced to allow players to take a breather during certain long stretches of action. The controls are actually optimized to allow one player to control both Jill and Aden at the same time, in much the same way that Sonic Duo allowed players to control Sonic and Tails without losing their ability to accurately control both of them. This is accomplished through key triggers that allow certain actions to be mapped to certain buttons and simplified, with simplified aiming also taking effect when players are controlling both characters. This effect can be toned down or even eliminated entirely via menu sliders for a challenge, but it's most fun to play the game as intended, with combat aided by the controls but not made trivially easy. Of course, when two players are controlling Jill and Aden, the game toughens up to compensate, controlling more like a traditional Resident Evil game, closest to OTL's Resident Evil 5. The game's plot is fairly simplistic compared to some of the other contemporary games, but does feature a major twist about halfway through in which the villain, who turns out to be a rogue ex-S.T.A.R.S. chief, is attempting to cultivate a new generation of agents by pitting Jill and Aden against one another. The game seems to imply that only one of the two can survive, but Jill and Aden continue to work together to escape the prison and prevent the zombies from spreading beyond it. Eventually, the two battle the chief together, but Aden is infected, and begins to mutate. He begs Jill to finish him, and the player is treated to a unique final boss battle whose outcome can change depending on the control scheme. If it's one player, that player must have Jill fight with one hand while trying to hold back Aden's infection with the other. If he mutates entirely, he'll automatically kill Jill. If two players are playing, one will control Jill and the other, as Aden, has a choice to make: try to let Jill win, or fight back with all their might? If the Aden player is too lax, Aden's infection will win out and it's game over for both of them. If Aden's controller fights a good fight but Jill defeats them, the normal ending is received. However, Aden's player can also maintain control and kill Jill at the same time. If this happens, a special "Aden wins" ending is received in which Aden is alive, Jill is dead, and Aden, able to control his infection, becomes a mutant mercenary. However, in both single and two player mode, there's a fourth option: at a late point in the game, the player is given the opportunity to concoct a special serum. This serum is not missable, the player can go back and gather the ingredients for it at any time. If they do so, and Jill "wins" the final battle, she'll administer the serum to Aden and save his life, curing the infection and leading to the game's true ending.

Resident Evil: Dual Descent, while not quite as popular as a main entry game, is still seen as a decent side game for the Resident Evil series as the first Apple-exclusive console title. It's especially fun to play with two players, as the single player control scheme isn't quite as polished as the one in Sonic Duo. Ultimately, the game becomes a financial success, and continues Capcom's streak of successful games on the iTwin.

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Mega Man Next 4

Mega Man Next 4, released little more than a year after Mega Man Next 3, continues the trend of Apple exclusive Mega Man games, and in an effort to be different while also trying to get the game out on time, strips down the formula somewhat, back to the basics of the first two Next titles. Gone is Mega Man's flight ability, replaced with a temporary hover, and much of the melee attacks are also gone, replaced by a slightly larger variety of ranged blaster attacks. This game sees Mega Man battling it out against a gang of robotic kidnappers who have snatched up the heads of destroyed robots and are attaching them to powerful weapon bodies. These kidnappers call themselves the "Scrapper's Army", but rather than being the bold revolutionaries they claim to be, they're mostly just scavengers taking advantage of previous battles. The Scrapper's Army is actually led by an orphaned boy genius named Lee Nemmy, who wants to punish the robots who killed his parents by using their parts to destroy other robots. The game features tons of callbacks to previous enemies from all over the Mega Man multiverse, with knowledgeable fans able to spot parts from dozens of previous bosses being used to build the new ones. The robots in the Scrapper's Army claim to be Lee's friends, but Mega Man eventually sees them as a gang of lowlifes just using the boy to fight their battles for them. Scrapper's Army is led by a militant gangster named Remix who acts like he's Lee's big brother, but in actuality Remix is a scumbag who is taking advantage of the gifted genius boy's grief. Eventually, Mega Man defeats the robotic amalgamations and fights his way through the Scrapper's Army, and the final battle is fought between Mega Man and Remix, who gets Lee to help him by shooting at Mega Man from a shielded area. Eventually, Mega Man "defeats" Remix, but Remix is able to fight back and is about to destroy him when suddenly Lee, who has had a change of heart over the latter part of the game, removes a vital part from Remix, deactivating him. Mega Man promises to find Lee a home, and manages to find a loving scientist couple who take him in. Mega Man Next 4, like 3, is seen as a bit of a rehash of previous games, but the storyline does have a fair bit of heart to it, redeeming the game somewhat. It would get mostly favorable critical scores, in the high 7s, but sales would decline from the last game.

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Mega Man Melody

An iPod Play/iPhone exclusive spinoff of Mega Man Next 2, Mega Man Melody follows the robotic girl Melody and her catlike robot pal Harmony as they keep the peace outside of the cities. Mega Man Melody plays like a traditional Mega Man sidescroller, without the 3-D exploration elements of the Next games, but there are a number of unique gameplay quirks, including the interactions between Melody and Harmony, Melody's ability to use her long hair as a whip/ribbon-like appendage, and Melody's use of gadgets acquired from enemies rather than weapons (her main weapon is her versatile arm cannon, which can have numerous uses depending on the control input. The game features biological creatures enhanced by robot parts and has more of a "back to nature" feel, with most levels taking place in some kind of natural area such as the forest or the jungle. The game's villain is Dr. Krieg, a mad scientist attempting to turn beasts into robots, and Melody has to stop him, lest he wreck the planet's biosphere. It's definitely a fun sidescroller and an intriguing take on the classic Mega Man series, and Melody is a fun protagonist, but the game itself doesn't do too many things all that different from other Mega Man platformers, and the game would ultimately get only decent scores from reviewers, right around the 7/10 mark. The game would be one of the best selling iPod Play and iPhone titles of the year, mostly based on name recognition, and these strong sales would help Melody to remain one of the most prominent heroes in the franchise, appearing in both mainline titles and spinoffs from that point forward.

 

[RySenkari]

Twisted Metal Chaos II

The sequel to 2008's critical and commercial hit Twisted Metal Chaos, Twisted Metal Chaos II brings much of the same: high definition vehicular carnage across a wide variety of urban battlegrounds, in which twisted characters battle it out with a wide array of weaponry in both single player and online modes. The developers who worked on the game ultimately decided that if it's not broke, don't fix it, and thus Chaos II makes only incremental improvements on its predecessor. Instead, where the sequel improves is its storyline: rather than focus on multiple characters, like in the original Chaos, Twisted Metal Chaos II has only one storyline mode, where the player controls Sweet Tooth as he battles both rival racers and his own twisted family in a deep examination of the character, his history, and his relationship to other characters in the game. The game is even more violent and gritty than its predecessor, with Sweet Tooth (real name Needles Kane) stopping at nothing to gain his twisted desires and cause mayhem and suffering. The main "antagonist" of the game is Needles' daughter Sophie, now a young woman and, as IOTL, the only survivor of her father's murderous rampage when she was a young girl. She is trying her best to stop Sweet Tooth's maniacal rampage, though she too has a barely contained dark side, and the only reason she doesn't go full serial killer like him is as an "eff you" to her father (since she hates him so much, she doesn't want to be like him). She's sort of like Dexter Morgan, channeling her murderous urges into aggressive energy, and turning all her sadism and violent rage against her father while assisting the other characters who try to stop him. In this game, Needles is working for Grudge (Grudge is the mysterious entity who plays the same role that Calypso played IOTL as the all-powerful tournament sponsor, ITTL, they call him Grudge instead, but would later use the Calypso name for the princess from Kingdom Quest). Grudge promises to make Needles powerful enough to kill anyone he wants if Needles is able to win the Twisted Metal tournament, and in the meantime, he's prohibited from acting violently against anyone except the other contestants. With its more focused storyline, Chaos II's campaign mode is able to be longer and more epic than that of its predecessor, with a wider variety of missions and environments. There are few memorable new characters in this game, which, again, chooses to focus more on already existing characters and plotlines. The online mode is back, with most of the same modes from OTL's online, but a few new ones, including an interesting mode called Split Personality in which the player is able to switch car loudouts quickly in mid-battle, and another mode called The Immortals in which players' cars are indestructible, and the winner is the one who scores the most points by inflicting a combination of direct weapon hits and environmental destruction. The battle royale mode is back, with support for up to 48 players, and there's also "Sweet Tooth's Rampage" mode in which one player is an immortal Sweet Tooth who must hunt down and destroy 47 other drivers before the timer expires.

Twisted Metal Chaos II receives mostly favorable reviews. While it doesn't innovate too much on the classic Twisted Metal formula, its storyline is highly praised (though it is somewhat controversial for some of its darker scenes). Longtime series fans respond favorably to the focus on Sweet Tooth, and the game also heavily hypes his appearance in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Unleashed. It's likely that there will be a third game to finish off the Sapphire Twisted Metal trilogy, which has been one of the most successful IPs on the system and one of Sony's most popular gaming franchises overall.

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New Sony Phone Won't Play First Party Nintendo Games, Will Play Ultra Nintendo And Wave Titles

We now have the first official information about the upcoming Playphone, Sony's rumored game-focused phone that is expected to launch early next year. The Playphone was expected to be announced at next month's Tokyo Game Show, but after information about the phone's specs and the first wave of downloadable games leaked to a Japanese gaming website, Sony has released a bit more information about the phone to clear up rumors prior to the phone's official unveiling. The Playphone is intended to compete with the iPhone and the upcoming Microsoft Phone, but unlike those devices, the Playphone won't feature any exclusive mobile titles. Instead, the phone will feature emulated content from Sony's past gaming library, essentially the systems on which it collaborated with Nintendo. These include the Ultra Nintendo and Wave, but curiously not the SNES-CD as of yet. In addition, the Playphone won't have any first-party Nintendo titles available, so don't expect to play any Mario or Zelda. Instead, the Playphone will feature a modified version of Nintendo's online game store, and will feature such games as Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Ballistic Limit 2, and Beyond Good And Evil. The phone will have a form factor similar to the original iPod Play, with a fold-out game controller that can be used while the device is held lengthwise. The Playphone will also have ports of Android mobile titles, including hit games such as Choppers and Carmen Sandiego, though, as mentioned before, it won't feature any exclusive mobile titles. It also won't be able to remotely connect with any Nintendo systems in the same way that the iPhone can connect with the iTwin, but it might have that functionality in the near future, and Sony has announced that owners of the phone can sync up their phone library with their Sapphire and Supernova digital libraries, so that any games they've purchased on those stores can be downloaded on the Playphone for free (if they're available on the Playphone store).

We've heard rumors of a potential Nintendo phone as early as 2008, but on the few occasions that Nintendo has responded to those rumors, the company has denied that any such phone is in the works. The company has expressed a willingness to release some of their first party games on Sony-branded phones, but so far no such announcements have been made. Nintendo remains primarily a game company, continuing to work with Sony to produce hardware while focusing heavily on its first party software properties. If we do see a Nintendo phone in the future, it will likely be a collaboration with Sony as well, and the promise of Nintendo first party franchises, or even some day, exclusives, could be a big factor in pushing sales of Sony phones. Nintendo's avoidance of the mobile market at this time seems like less of an actual aversion to mobile phone technology and more of a desire to wait for either the right time or the right device. If the Sony Playphone is a success, it may indeed become the "right device", and we could yet see games like Super Mario Dimensions or The Legend Of Zelda: Hero Eternal on the phone someday. For now, Playphone buyers will have to settle for Twisted Metal and Thrillseekers, but that might still be enough to make it one of next year's most popular new phones.

-from a September 2, 2010 article on Kotaku

 

[RySenkari]

Third Drive

Third Drive is a third-person shooter title developed by Squaresoft exclusively for the Nintendo Sapphire. The game has similarities with OTL's Nier and Final Fantasy Type-0 in terms of cinematic presentation and gameplay mechanics (many of the people who worked on those games IOTL work on Third Drive ITTL), incorporating a few RPG elements but mostly playing like a somewhat fast-paced shooter title. The game has a cyberpunk theme, taking place in a city not all that dissimilar to Midgar, and its protagonist, Thracen, is both a soldier and a magically-gifted superhuman, able to use his gifts to enhance his combat abilities, giving him a sort of Matrix-esque skillset. The game's levels are a series of "set pieces" with more strategic fighting than the typical shooter, with the player encouraged to find cover, pick their moment to strike, and then maneuver Thracen to an advantageous position while also conserving his power meters for the right moment. It's easier to aim on enemies, though aiming doesn't involve any sort of lock-on. Instead, it's more forgiving than it would be in a typical third person shooter, with the player able to use their abilities to get easier shots and sometimes even combo. Thracen has an HP meter, an AP meter (to spend on abilities), and then a Drive meter, in which Thracen can build up energy to transform, first into Second Drive mode, which unlocks certain superhuman skills, and then Third Drive mode which makes him fully superhuman, sort of like a "Limit Break" type of mode in which the player can heal Thracen, shield him completely, fly around the arena, or use area-of-effect attacks to clear out massive amounts of enemies or do extra damage to a boss. The game features slick, high-definition graphics that are on par with the best of Squaresoft's current titles, looking every bit like an expensive AAA-game, though it's not as expensive as Final Fantasy XII was to make due to the smaller scope of the world. As for the game's plot, the protagonist Thracen is an enhanced combat soldier who escaped from a government facility with the help of a mysterious man working for Sydonia, the corporation that controls the city where the game primarily takes place. Thracen is tasked by this mysterious man (whose name is Facil) with a variety of deeds, most of them having to do with interfering with Sydonia's operations (the man is working to dismantle Sydonia from within). Meanwhile, Thracen also works with Rose, a brash young woman and the game's primary love interest, who openly rebels against Sydonia and who doesn't know about Thracen's shady past. The game has Thracen initially fighting Sydonia, but then he must battle against members of a cloaked group that is attempting to cause chaos in the city. Thracen's rescuer Facil ultimately turns out to be the leader of this group, and he reveals that Thracen is a living weapon whose ability to utilize Third Drive makes him the most powerful thing in the world, and that Facil wants that power for himself by tearing it out of Thracen. Rose helps save Thracen from Facil, but at the cost of her own life, and soon after Rose's sacrifice, Facil gains Third Drive powers of his own, eventually leading to a climactic battle between Thracen and Facil in the skies above the city. Thracen defeats Facil and decides to leave the city, isolating himself from everyone so that no one can use his power.

Third Drive is considered one of the year's most innovative shooters, and becomes a commercial and critical success for Squaresoft, one of their best games so far this generation. Visually gorgeous and really fun to play, the only complaint most people have about the game is that it's too short, but it does have some measure of replayability due to the scoring system that gives the player a ranking for each segment they play. It's not as big a hit as Final Fantasy XII, but it wasn't expected to be, and even though Square doesn't plan to do a sequel initially, one might be in the cards for the Sapphire's successor sometime down the road.

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Miracle Of Mana

Miracle Of Mana is an action-RPG developed by Squaresoft, the latest mainline game in the Mana series and the first since the original Seiken Densetsu to feature one single playable protagonist. The game is much like previous Mana titles, with the player wielding weapons and magic in real time in a world governed by the magical force known as Mana. There are two major new gameplay mechanics in this game: the first is the "companion" system, in which in lieu of party members, the protagonist will be able to fight alongside up to fourteen companions in battle. A few are temporary, a few are evergreen, and all of them grant special powers and stat buffs (or debuffs in a few cases) in battle, and can fight in some capacity alongside the protagonist but can't be leveled up or given new equipment. The protagonist has no defined name in game, and can be male or female, with the player naming them and customizing some of their stats at the beginning of the game. The second major new mechanic is a town-building system in which the protagonist will be asked to help populate and construct eight different towns over the course of the game (there are a few other towns and cities that are already built). These towns are each based on one of the elements of Mana (water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, moon, tree) and how the player chooses to develop them has somewhat of an impact on the shape of the world (build up the water town a lot and lakes and rivers expand, build up the wind town a lot and the whole world can be fueled on wind tower, build up the darkness town a lot and the world is covered in twilight, etc.). Developing these towns helps to accomplish the "miracle" alluded to in the name of the game, the growth of the Mana Tree from a single seed that has seemingly lost its life. Restoring the towns helps to restore Mana, but the game's primary antagonist, King Grendel, does not wish to see Mana bloom, instead wanting to rule the world with his armies and his strength. As the protagonist develops towns, more of the game's main quests and side quests are opened up, and the game itself has by far the most sidequests of any Mana title (more than all the other previous titles put together). Visually, the game has a more "artistic" style to it, it's not built like a AAA title in the same way Reverie Of Mana was, the game has a storybook quality to it and doesn't quite have the epic feel of previous games in the series, but is more light-hearted and non-linear. Cinematically, the game doesn't have as many cutscenes, and not as much voice acting either. It seems like a step back from Reverie, but plays so much differently from other Mana games that it does have a valid claim to being the most original title in the series. The plot itself is fairly simple: build up the towns, restore Mana, complete quests, level up, and finally defeat King Grendel before he can burn the sapling Mana Tree down.

Overall, Miracle Of Mana is a commercial success, but mostly in Japan, with North American sales not quite matching up to those achieved by Reverie. The game's reviews average in the low-8s, with critics praising the game's whimsical artstyle and freedom, but also somewhat hostile to the simple story and lack of cinematic depth. It's definitely different, but most Mana fans enjoy it, and it's a solid entry in the series, preserving the Mana brand's reputation and keeping it one of Squaresoft's most beloved IPs. We'll probably get another Mana game down the road, but it might be a while, as Squaresoft is focusing mostly on Final Fantasy XII and developing new franchises and experimenting in new genres as of the end of 2010.

 

[RySenkari]

January 2: “You Won't Believe” by 2NE1
January 9: “You Won't Believe” by 2NE1
January 16: “You Won't Believe” by 2NE1
January 23: “See Thru” by Koyumi Shade
January 30: “Whackjob” by Taio Cruz
February 6: “Whackjob” by Taio Cruz
February 13: “Whackjob” by Taio Cruz
February 20: “Over U” by Hikaru Utada
February 27: “Over U” by Hikaru Utada
March 6: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
March 13: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
March 20: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
March 27: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
April 3: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
April 10: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
April 17: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
April 24: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
May 1: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
May 8: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
May 15: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
May 22: “Do My Own Thing” by Genesis Rodriguez
May 29: “Airplanes” by B.O.B. ft. Hayley Williams
June 5: “Base” by Usher
June 12: “Base” by Usher
June 19: “Airplanes” by B.O.B. ft. Hayley Williams
June 26: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
July 3: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
July 10: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
July 17: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
July 24: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
July 31: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
August 7: “No No No (Just So You Know)” by Chloe Wang
August 14: “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz
August 21: “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz
August 28: “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz
September 4: “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz
September 11: “Daisuki” by Itori Sakagoma ft. Pharrell Williams
September 18: “Daisuki” by Itori Sakagoma ft. Pharrell Williams
September 25: “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry
October 2: “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry
October 9: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
October 16: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
October 23: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
October 30: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
November 6: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
November 13: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
November 20: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
November 27: “Heartride” by Wonder Girls
December 4: “Raise Your Glass” by Pink
December 11: “Raise Your Glass” by Pink
December 18: “It Wasn't A Party (Until I Saw You)” by Taio Cruz ft. Genesis Rodriguez
December 25: “Say It's Us” by Pharrell Williams ft. Ayumi Hamasaki

 

[RySenkari]

July 30, 2010

The Microsoft Phone is launched in North America and Europe, with a Japanese launch scheduled for mid-August. The phone has two different versions, a 16GB version and a 32GB version, retailing unlocked for $399 and $499 respectively, though the phone can also be purchased with a carrier contract for cheaper (Microsoft has deals with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and Nextel to sell the phone). The phone's design is slightly bulkier than that of the current iPhone models, and comes standard with a slide-out gamepad for playing Xbox and other titles. The phone features both Xbox and Android games, and originally branded Microsoft Mobile titles as well, and runs off an operating system that blends Windows aesthetics with Android (Microsoft didn't develop a Windows operating system for the phone, instead choosing to adapt the Android system as per their current deal with Google). The phone is comparable to the original Samsung Galaxy phone in overall power, able to run virtually all games and apps that phone is capable of running, with some power diverted away from the operating system and toward running certain games. The phone is capable of downloading and playing original Xbox games natively, while also being capable of streaming some (but not all) Xbox 2 titles over either a wi-fi or 4G connection (as of 2010, it's more practical to stream on wi-fi, with mobile network streaming being both slow and data intensive).

The phone is part of Microsoft's overall strategy to allow players to take their Xbox games anywhere. It's intended both as a sort of "Xbox handheld" and also as a way to promote the Xbox brand and its games, in preparation for a potential Xbox 2 successor console. Most of the phone's advertising revolves not around the phone's non-gaming capabilities, but around the fact that it plays Xbox and Xbox 2 games, and this creates for a fairly unique marketing campaign. The phone's promotion generates a decent amount of buzz, more than practically any phone since the original iPhone, and does manage to overshadow the launches of numerous other phone models being released that year from companies such as Motorola and Nokia. The phone is considered a sales success upon its launch, but doesn't sell quite as well as Microsoft expected it to. The numbers are underwhelming, but more a "meh" kind of underwhelming rather than a complete disaster. The fact that the phone can stream The Covenant 4, allowing people with good home wi-fi connections to play the game literally anywhere (at least the single player campaign, there's too much lag for multiplayer) is enough of a selling point that phone sales remain strong for weeks and months after its initial launch.

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The Microsoft Phone is an intriguing experiment: can a flagship gaming-focused phone be successful, and can it succeed not just as a handheld gaming device, but as a smartphone? Let's get something clear right off the bat: if you're buying the Microsoft Phone just as a handheld gaming device, you're looking at a minimum $400 investment, which is $150 more than it is to buy an Xbox 2, just to buy something that you can play Xbox 2 games on if you have a good internet connection (i.e. your Xbox 2 is hooked via an ethernet cable directly to the wall or you pay another $400 for an excellent router). And yet, as a smartphone itself, it's a good smartphone. It's certainly on par with the Samsung Galaxy, and even able to hold its own with the iPhone 4. It has its own suite of apps, including an excellent mobile version of Microsoft Office. It surfs the web quickly and cleanly, it comes with a good security app, and its minimalist menus practically zip by when you scroll through them. If you're looking for a new smartphone to get on contract, you could certainly do a lot worse than the Microsoft Phone, and it is cheaper by far than the iPhone 4, especially when you get it on contract. No, you're not really getting good exclusive games for it (yet) like you do with the iPhone, which plays every single iPod Play game. You're getting games that you can also get for console, and, this is important: you're not getting all of them, or even half. At launch, it can download and play about 15% of the Xbox library, and can stream just 21 Xbox 2 titles. Yes, most of those are good, and one of those is The Covenant 4, but if you're looking for a lineup that even comes close to what you're getting on the iPhone, you're just not getting it. Again, yet.

It's been a tough last three or four years for Xbox owners, but things are potentially looking up, and the Microsoft Phone is a promising device. Microsoft is certainly playing "follow the leader" with Apple, but Apple did the same thing with Nintendo and look where that's gotten them. The Microsoft Phone is a good, if spectacularly expensive, gaming device and a great smartphone. Ironically, it's better for casual smartphone users than it is for gamers, and yet I imagine gamers will be the ones buying a lot more of them next week when the phone is released. That's okay. If having the gamers on board encourages Microsoft to do better by them with this phone, I'm all for it. Maybe someday, you'll be able to play every Xbox game on here. Until then, I can't recommend this phone, but I hope I can recommend it eventually.

-from Alex Stansfield's review of the Microsoft Phone on Games Over Matter, posted on July 25, 2010

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"As Microsoft's new phone gains in popularity, Google looks poised to use its Android platform as a stepping stone into the world of gaming as well. Ironically, Microsoft's new phone has emerged as a major competitor to Samsung's Galaxy, a phone backed heavily by Google, which has also helped to cultivate the gaming capabilities of Microsoft's venture. It may seem that Google is competing with itself, but in reality, the company may in fact be cleverly positioning itself to be a major player in not just the mobile gaming market, but in the next home console generation.

It's no secret that Google has been pushing its Android operating system as a gaming platform ever since its original launch. However, Google's sights are set not just on the mobile market. The company has been working with several other technology companies in hopes of creating a new gaming platform, funding numerous start-up companies and electronics makers as it prepares to launch a set-top TV box that could be released as early as next year. At the same time that Google cozies up to Microsoft, the company has also been working closely with Samsung, making its Galaxy phone the premiere Android mobile device. Google has expanded rapidly since its humble origins in the late 90s, and now the company is making moves to take a giant leap in the industry, perhaps with the backing of two of the world's biggest electronics companies. Could we see the Xbox 3 powered by Android? Could we see the newest Google platform, the Samsung Galaxy Home? Could we a Google-powered Steam Machine? Could we see a $99 set-top box that plays a variety of Android and exclusive original titles?

Or could we see a combination of these ideas?

Or all of them?

Or is Google just throwing expensive mudpies at the wall to see what sticks?"

-quoted from an article on Breakingtech.com, posted on August 19, 2010

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Apple Working On Next Gen iPhone For Its Next Gen Gaming Handheld?

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, the device has been compatible with every single iPod Play game ever released. That has been one of the iPhone's main selling points, and it's been why sales of the iPod Play have dropped sharply since the iPhone's launch. We're expecting the release of the iPod Play's successor sometime in 2011, and once that device comes out, its games almost certainly won't be compatible with any current iPhone models. While the new Apple gaming handheld is expected to be a distinct device from the iPhone, there is a rumor that a future iPhone model, either the iPhone 5, iPhone 6, or some other branded model, will have compatibility of some time with the successor handheld's games. The iPhone's popularity has come in large part because of its capabilities as a gaming device, and no matter how good the new Apple handheld is, there are many iPhone owners who simply won't spring for it, citing cost as a likely prohibiting factor. Now, Steve Jobs has recently stated in an interview that it "wasn't out of the question" that there could be a new iPhone that will have compatibility with the iPod Play's successor.

"It's something we're looking into," said Jobs. "Even though we plan for the new handheld to be distinct from the iPod and iPhone lines, we also want those who like to have an all-in-one device to be able to still have that option. We'd be leaning toward a side model, not something in the current iPhone line, but something with an alternate branding and it would of course have to be released at a slight price premium."

The new phone could end up being the most expensive smartphone ever released, but iPhone owners are used to shelling out big bucks for their devices, and to be able to save money on purchasing both the latest iPhone and the latest iPod Play by purchasing an all-in-one device is a deal that many in the Apple ecosystem will find too tempting to pass up.

While no announcement on the new Apple handheld was made at E3, there are rumors that an announcement could be forthcoming as soon as the 2010 Tokyo Game Show this October, and almost certainly at the annual Apple Special Event, scheduled for next January.

-from a September 2, 2010 article on Kotaku

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RPGs, both single-player and multiplayer, have become the fastest-growing genre of mobile games. From simple point and click adventure quests to sprawling epics that wouldn't be out of place on the Supernova or iPod Play, RPGs are everywhere on mobile, and have made a major splash as the race for the year's top mobile game heats up. Here are five of the most popular mobile RPG titles released this past year, and just from this list, you can see how big the market for mobile RPGs has grown.

Soma Chaser: An epic turn-based game for both iOS and Android, Soma Chaser is a single-player, turn based quest with elements of action titles. It stars a young man named Gray as he journeys to hunt down the six Somas, spirits of martyrs slain in an ancient war. Along the way, he meets a variety of allies, up to 30 in all, who join the party based on the player's actions throughout the game. Featuring amazing graphics and an addictive battle system featuring touch controls and timed hits, it's a game that's only possible on mobile, and for ten bucks with no DLC to speak of, it's also one of the best value games of the year.

Phantasy Star: Angels Of The Remnant: The first of two iOS exclusives on the list, this is a turn-based strategy game based on the classic Sega IP. Taking place on a dying world, Angels Of The Remnant has the player waging an interstellar war for control of a powerful resource, fighting a series of difficult battles. The game is comparable to Fire Emblem in its gameplay and thematics, and the first chapter is free, with the other four chapters priced at $4.99 each.

Zekira Orba: Another iOS exclusive and another strategy RPG, this game features an amnesiac witch out to discover her destiny by battling her way through hostile towns in search of whatever treasure she can find. While this game is probably the shortest of the five RPGs on this list, it's also one of the best bargains, at just $7.99, and features a very deep protagonist and some beautiful original artwork.

Chaos Rings: Published by Enix and exclusive to Android, it's the company's first foray into the mobile market, and is a more traditional dungeon crawling styled RPG, featuring a two person party. The game has an arena format and is broken down into bite-sized battle and dungeon segments, making it convenient for mobile gameplay. The game features excellent production values, boasting outstanding graphics (which limits the game to mostly top-tier Android phones such as the Galaxy or the new Microsoft Phone) and more voice acting than any other game on this list. It's big and flashy, but is also kind of pricey: it costs more than 30 dollars to purchase all the game's content, making it the most expensive title of the five.

Magical Gem World: A cutesy-MMORPG from Korea, Magical Gem World is free to play, but like most MMOs, it'll cost you to keep playing. However, unlike a lot of other recent MMORPGs, the cost mechanic is fairly forgiving, and you can play on about half of the game's levels fully free of charge, having plenty of fun interacting with other players and grinding low level mobs. The free part of the game acts almost like an extended demo/training mode, and for those who truly enjoy the game and want to buy their way to the top tiers, it's not too expensive to buy a decent enough set of gear to be able to compete on most of the upper-tier levels. The graphics are simplistic but adorable, and the game frequently runs cross-promotions with other properties, both Eastern and Western. It's not quite as big as Fairycross, yet, but it's significantly cheaper to have fun with.

-from an article on RPGamer.net, posted on September 8, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

The Life And Death Of A Mother

The Life And Death Of A Mother is an open world action game exclusive to the Apple iTwin and the sequel to 2007's The Life And Death Of A Renegade, featuring Eleanor, the mother of three young children, as the protagonist. The game, like its predecessor, takes place in an America that has become an apocalyptic wasteland, and Eleanor must ride the wastes on her motorcycle, doing whatever she has to to provide for her children. Unlike the previous game's protagonist, Quinn, who had somewhat of a moral code and tried to avoid committing crimes and killing innocent people, Eleanor's only moral code is to protect her children by any means necessary. To that end, she's become a ruthless killer, willing to rob and murder even for a single scrap of food. This has attracted a great deal of attention to Eleanor, and she's being hunted by both a ruthless bounty hunter named Skell and a gang of equally vicious criminals called the Endless Nation, who seek to avenge the deaths of some of their fellow gang members who Eleanor killed. Even though Eleanor is a murderer, she doesn't go looking specifically for trouble, and while cold, she can be pleasant if her kids aren't starving and she's just passing through an area. She doesn't enjoy committing violence, her ultimate goal is to settle down somewhere with her kids and live in peace, but the reality of the wasteland makes that seem like nothing but a dream. The gameplay is a bit more stealth focused than the previous game, Eleanor has less health than Quinn did, and thus needs to sneak around more. She does have access to an equal repertoire of weapons, but isn't quite as physically strong, so in order to kill enemies with her bare hands, she'll usually need to get the jump on them or have a blunt or bladed weapon. Eleanor can also mix items up to make more items, or combine weapons, somewhat like Resident Evil or OTL's The Last Of Us. She has a skill progression system that will enable her to improve her health, stealth abilities, or her physical strength (she can eventually become good at fighting physically if she gets into enough fights). Interestingly, while Eleanor's children accompany her for much of the game, the game itself isn't an escort mission, as the kids can't be harmed or killed. However, they can become somewhat of a burden to Eleanor if they get scared enough, as they'll start to scream and make noise that can attract enemies, making stealth more difficult. Eleanor can give the children a place to hide, but the player must find a suitable one. The kids are good enough at hiding that once Eleanor finds a hiding place for them, they'll stay hidden, however, Eleanor won't stray too far from her kids, so the player must be careful to find a hiding place close to the action, and move the kids if they'll be too far away. The two older kids (the 9 year old girl, Ashley, and the 7 year old boy, Kevin) can actually help fight bad guys, with Ashley especially able to assist in the form of eye gouges and groin strikes to certain enemies. The game's presentation is improved over the previous game, as the game is positioned as one of the iTwin's big tentpole titles for the year. The voice actress for Eleanor (a lesser known voice actress unrecognizable IOTL) returns from the previous game, while the three kids are all played by child actors original TTL. Other supporting characters are also played mostly by unknowns, with a couple of slightly recognizable names amongst supporting characters, but no celebrities (unlike the last game, which starred Michael Madsen).

The Life And Death Of A Mother takes place a year after the previous game, and sees Eleanor and her kids still struggling to scrounge out a life in the American wasteland, with Eleanor having hardened considerably from the person she was in the previous game, becoming a ruthless killer to provide for her children and living a nomadic life, riding on her motorcycle from town to town, taking what she can, and then leaving. This has attracted the attention of bounty hunters and criminal gangs alike, and Eleanor starts to get the feeling she won't be able to continue this life forever. She learns of a paradise town out in the wastes that she may be able to settle down in, but her cynicism tells her that this town is a myth, and she doesn't want to bet her kids' lives on a myth. However, Skell the bounty hunter is getting closer and closer, with Eleanor suffering a bad shoulder wound in an encounter with him. As she struggles to recover, her oldest daughter, Ashley, leads the other two kids out into the wastes. This nearly gets the kids killed, and Ashley is about to kill a criminal in self-defense when Eleanor arrives and kills him herself. She realizes that even though she willingly lets her kids watch the violence she commits, allowing them to become violent like her is the line she won't cross, and she decides to seek out this mysterious paradise town in the hopes of protecting her children from becoming killers like her. As she gets closer to the paradise town, she starts to come up against members of the Endless Nation, as well as agents of the Phoenix Authority, the villainous group from the previous game. She also has numerous close encounters with Skell, but she does manage to get the best of him once or twice. She also begins to meet with various ally characters, in particular Shana, a young African-American woman about the same age as Eleanor, but who is unable to have children. The two become close allies, helping each other out of jams, while Eleanor's kids, particularly Ashley, also bond with her. The game seems to be setting Shana up to secretly be a member of the Phoenix Authority or Endless Nation, but surprisingly, it actually doesn't go that route: Shana's intentions are true, she's just someone trying to survive in the wastes like Eleanor, and she remains a close friend throughout the remainder of the game. Like in the previous game, death seems to hang over the protagonist, with numerous indications that Eleanor, like Quinn, isn't long for this world. She seems to have a death wish, at the same time that she fights to protect her children. During a late-game mission, she's ambushed and captured by the Endless Nation, who torture her for information on a resource stockpile that Shana has been protecting. Eleanor refuses to break, and eventually, she escapes and kills most of the Endless Nation members, before burning their hideout to the ground. However, the encounter leaves her physically and emotionally scarred, and by the time she makes it back to her children, she collapses in despair. She realizes that she can no longer protect her children like she did before, at the same time that the Phoenix Authority targets the resource stockpile, which is being redirected to the paradise town. After a final confrontation with Skell in which her daughter Ashley is used as bait, Eleanor reluctantly leaves her children with Shana so that she can help stop the Phoenix Authority from taking the stockpile. This leads to the game's final battle, and a last stand in which Eleanor takes on the Authority's best assassins by herself, becoming riddled with bullets but saving the stockpile and preserving the paradise town, which she herself has not yet reached and now will never get to. Eleanor closes her eyes and falls to her knees one last time, knowing her children will be safe with Shana in the paradise town but begging them to forgive her. Then... Eleanor wakes up, in a decent bed, in a town that isn't a complete wreck... the paradise town. She's covered in bandages and missing an eye, but she's alive. Shana tells Eleanor that she died for 23 minutes before the doctors were able to restart her heart, and Shana reveals that she herself is a doctor, one of the best doctors in the paradise town. After making sure that Eleanor's brain is working properly, Shana lets Eleanor's kids in to see her. Shana tells Eleanor that there are other paradise towns, and that they communicate and trade with one another in a chain called the Oasis Network. Slowly, but surely, civilization is going to be brought back to the wastes. Eleanor, happy to be safe but also ashamed of what she's done, begins sobbing, and she embraces her children tightly as Shana decides to leave the family to be alone.

The Life And Death Of A Mother gets excellent reviews at the time of its release, comparable to those for The Life And Death Of A Renegade, with the game's strong protagonist receiving much of the praise, along with the strong supporting cast. The game's tone, bleak throughout but with a hopeful ending, is also praised, as it too leaves things open for future games in the series. The game is released on September 7, 2010, and sales are initially stronger than those for The Life And Death Of A Renegade, making it one of the iTwin's most successful exclusives of the year.

 

[RySenkari]

Bully 2

Bully 2 is a sandbox game developed by Rockstar and published by Take Two Interactive. It's the sequel to 2006's Bully, and, like that game, takes place in a private school setting. This time around, the protagonist (who can be male or female, and whose name is Sam regardless of gender choice) is attending Lakeshore Academy. Unlike Bullworth, which was an academy full of troubled kids and miscreants, Lakeshore has a more positive reputation, and students are, for the most part, well behaved... but this is only skin deep. Underneath, Lakeshore's students are far more vicious and conniving, and Sam will have to spend a great deal of effort surviving class AND dealing with the cliques and bullies this time around. Bully 2 is in full HD, designed for the Sapphire, Xbox 2, and iTwin from the very start, with graphics similar to Grand Theft Auto II in detail. Character animations, backgrounds, and lighting effects are all significantly improved, and the game also runs smoother, with less glitches. There is a caveat to this: Lakeshore Academy and its surrounding environs (a lakeside resort town) are a BIT smaller in size than Bullworth in the original game. However, there's lots more to do, both in terms of minigames and also in terms of missions and social skills. Sam doesn't have a defined love interest in the game, and can date both boys and girls regardless of gender (though the same-sex romance option is only available with certain partners and not with everyone). That said, male Sam and female Sam are slightly different characters, with some different friends and also a few exclusive missions. Sam can acquire different costumes and hairstyles over the course of the game, and this will effect standing with different cliques and even which areas Sam is welcome to visit. The town itself becomes available earlier than the town in the original Bully, with Sam able to hit the beach and even participate in surfing minigames. Like in the original Bully, misbehavior can be punished if Sam is caught by school officials or police, with boring punishment minigames usually being the result. There's no single major "friend" like Ricky in the original game, with the player having more freedom to determine which of the school's students become their friend or their enemy. There is one major villain who's an antagonist in both male and female Sam's stories and of the game overall: Claire, a vicious, spiteful, beautiful, but also cruel cheerleader, is the game's primary antagonist no matter what actions the player takes. Male Sam can briefly date her, and female Sam can briefly befriend her, but Claire becomes an enemy to Sam regardless. The friendship/dating simulation aspect of the game is a major component this time around, with many sidequests revolving around this mechanic. However, the familiar GTA-style gameplay of Bully is completely intact, with many new mechanics migrating over from Grand Theft Auto II. Those who just want to roam the halls of Lakeshore causing mayhem won't be disappointed, as there's plenty of opportunities for players to cause trouble and have fun. The storyline isn't quite so heavy-handed as the original Bully: without the autistic character angle, the game's writers aren't quite so interested in the game having an inspirational story, and instead, the game is a sharp and oftentimes biting satire of school life and also of class (not school classes, but financial classes). With Lakeshore having many more rich students than Bullworth, the game doesn't hold back on its portrayal of them, especially in the current economic client. Especially with Claire, the game's general message is that money corrupts, and even with the "nice" characters, many of them are vapid and shallow and engrossed in their creature comforts. Sam will eventually have the option to befriend some of the lower-class teenage resort workers, who are generally portrayed as being nicer and more down to earth than the richer students (though this isn't a rule). In general, Bully 2's voice cast is fairly obscure, like the cast of the original. There are a few marginally known actors in the game (Dana Davis plays the voice of female Sam, and JoAnna Garcia plays the voice of Claire), but the voice acting budget isn't nearly as big as it is for a game like Grand Theft Auto II, or especially Crime Stories.

The game begins with Sam reluctantly arriving at Lakeshore Academy after their parents paid a massive amount of money to get them enrolled. Sam is fairly unpopular to begin with, but depending on the player's actions, Sam can make a few fast friends after a day or two. Male Sam's roommate is Henry, the son of a rich tech mogul who's pretty good with technology himself, while female Sam's roommate is Lana, a somewhat stereotypical preppy girl who's obsessed with makeup and fashion. Usually, Sam's roommate will end up being a fairly close ally to the player unless they really mess things up with them, and will be the source of numerous main and side missions throughout the game. The game is divided into four major chapters, with chapter one being a sort of "get acquainted" chapter in which the player will meet most of the game's most important characters, including Claire, and will begin to form a reputation at Lakeshore Academy. Chapter 2 opens up the town of Lakeshore itself, and the chapter's missions will build up to a massive beach party that the player is tasked with either helping to set up, or helping to ruin. Either way, at the end of the chapter, Claire causes the beach party to be ruined, Sam is blamed for it, and most of Sam's friends abandon them except for a close few. Chapter 3 revolves around Sam's attempt to get revenge on Claire by setting up an elaborate prank, but first, Claire's clique (and possibly her boyfriend) will have to be dealt with first in a series of main missions, with plenty of optional side missions mostly devoted to helping Sam build their reputation back up. During this time, we find out a lot about Claire's backstory, but she really doesn't have very much of a sympathetic story at all, she's a cruel person who wants to achieve fame and fortune by stepping all over others, and even though her parents are bad, she's even worse than them (and has learned to manipulate them). At the end of Chapter 3, Sam's prank works... somewhat. Claire is humiliated but absolutely not defeated, and the end of the chapter implies that Claire has killed a beloved teacher at the school, Mr. Langstrom (one of the few decent teachers at Lakeshore, who Claire killed because he flunked her and also because he planned to blow the whistle on ethical violations committed by Claire's parents' company). Chapter 4 starts out with Sam at their lowest point, but eventually Sam learns about Mr. Langstrom's murder, and the goal of Chapter 4 and ultimately the goal of the game is to expose Claire's crimes. The final mission starts with Sam captured by Claire, but they're sprung loose by a friend/love interest (or in the rare case where the player has neither, they have to play an elaborate and difficult timed minigame to get free). The final mission requires numerous steps to prove Claire is the culprit and to bust her for the murder, but eventually Claire is caught red handed after inadvertently publicly confessing her crimes. Sam is hailed as a hero, if Sam has a love interest, the ending will feature a brief romantic scene (and if Sam has enough friends, the ending will also feature a fun party), and Claire is hauled off to jail, though some ending dialogue implies that because Claire's parents will hire a team of expensive lawyers, she'll get off with a slap on the wrist (another bit of dark satire from Rockstar).

Bully 2 is released in August 2010, to excellent reviews that don't quite match up to the first game but are still some of the best of the year. The graphics, gameplay, and storyline are all praised, and the game continues the series' reputation as one of Rockstar's top properties. Sales are quite good as well, the game isn't a blockbuster but it's definitely a financial success, and surprisingly, sales are slightly better on the iTwin than on the Sapphire, thanks to the iTwin's motion controls and the popularity of the console. The game sells decently on the Xbox 2, but not nearly as much as on the other two consoles. Rockstar plans to continue the series, but with most of their efforts currently going toward Valdoza, Grand Theft Auto III, and the Crime Stories series, the next Bully game probably won't be seen for several more years.

 

[RySenkari]

Blackheart: Contract

The sixth mainline game in the Blackheart series, Blackheart: Contract is the follow-up to Blackheart Villainous, and chronicles Sadira and Messiah's efforts to defeat a group of assassins hired to kill them by the arch-assassin known as Apex. In contrast with previous games in the series, Contract eschews stealth to a much greater extent, focusing more heavily on action and combat. In addition, the game no longer lets you choose between dual protagonists Sadira and Messiah. Instead, the game will switch between them from time to time, following both of their stories as they weave together. This does allow for a longer overall narrative than Villainous (which had to support both Sadira and Messiah's points of view for the same quest), and also allows the player to become equally skilled with both characters' playstyles. As events in the series have progressed, Sadira and Messiah's skillsets have evolved and have somewhat converged: Messiah's empathic abilities have dulled significantly since the events of Villainous, to the point where harming enemies does not cause her to feel their pain and flinch like how it did in that game. Instead, Messiah's empathic abilities have transferred onto Sadira: Messiah now primarily feels Sadira's pain and can even glean her emotions. Meanwhile, Sadira's sadism and ruthlessness have also dulled, largely as a result of her partnership with Messiah. The two are now pretty much dating, though both of them still refuse to acknowledge their relationship with one another. Sadira has also come to terms with her own psychosis and other mental disorders, and is actually seeking treatment for them, as relayed via small flashback segments interspersed between story scenes. Sadira still employs a more wild, berserker style of combat, with unfocused blows and less aim, though she's able to strike more quickly and she can still intimidate foes more than Messiah can. Messiah, on the other hand, can strike and shoot with more precision, but is slower in combat. Sadira's skill meter allows her to mitigate this by becoming more accurate with powerful, brutal strikes, while Messiah's skill meter improves her speed without dulling her aim. Time and time again, the game emphasizes the strange, symbiotic relationship between these two women and how they've come to love each other even as part of them hate each other, and how they have also come to hate themselves for loving each other. When the two are in combat together, the game activates quicktime events and combo strikes for the both of them, allowing the player to utilize the partner of the character they're currently controlling to enhance their own battle capabilities. The game itself has a heavy emphasis on “assassin battles”, 24 different hired killers, along with Apex himself, that must be fought during the course of the game. Some of these fights happen completely out of nowhere, while some are built up to. Some of the assassins are fought more than once, most are killed the first time. Some are fought alone, some are fought together. While the game's locations have become somewhat more linear to accommodate this (there's little Blackheart 4 style free roaming), the game's pacing is somewhat more smooth and the levels are finely tuned to the strengths and weaknesses of Sadira and Messiah. Contract features improved graphics over Villainous, mostly in character animation and lighting effects, and most of the major voice actors from previous games return, including Lana Parrilla as Sadira, Grey Delisle as Messiah, Giancarlo Esposito as Apex (the primary antagonist), and Zoe McLellan as Christine.

The game begins with Sadira doing battle with one of the assassins straight out of the gate, after which the game cuts to an opening credits montage which shows Sadira and Messiah battling some of the first of Apex's assassins, defending their allies, and forging a closer relationship between each other. The game itself then begins in earnest, with Sadira and Messiah gathering info on one of Apex's assassins even as another one is hunting the two of them. Meanwhile, we also see that Apex's top assassin Christine still wants revenge on Messiah for injuring one of her eyes, and as Sadira dodges one assassin, Messiah dodges Christine. The game's second assassin battle features Sadira against a skillful gunner sporting a massive pistol, who can take her out in just a few shots. However, he's slow, and Sadira's quick, powerful attacks should make short work of him. Messiah manages to hunt down another assassin, but she must battle this one while Christine attacks her as well. Messiah takes out the assassin and battles Christine in a ferocious duel that ends when Sadira shows up and Christine escapes. Slowly but surely, Sadira and Messiah start to gather more and more information on Apex and the assassins as they continue to dismantle his network. There's no real overarching threat to the world in this game: instead, the threat is entirely personal: Apex's assassins are out to kill Sadira, Messiah, and their closest friends, and the two women must take out his entire assassination squad before that happens. The assassin fights each have their own special gimmick, ranging from simple things like different styles of combat arenas and weapon loadouts, to things such as interface screws and plot interruptions. The developers were somewhat inspired by the boss fights in the Metal Gear Solid series, and they really go all out in giving each assassin their own distinct personality and fighting style. While many assassins are evil people who the player will delight in taking down, some are professionals just doing their jobs with no hard feelings, and still others are highly sympathetic. Sadira and Messiah both have their own ways of interacting with the assassins, and each fight has an impact on the growing personal turmoil between the two women: Sadira finds herself wondering if her line of work is truly fulfilling anymore, while Messiah finds herself torn between a life with Sadira and a life of peace, and starts to blame Sadira for the fact that she and her friends (including Joseph and Kasey from previous games) are in danger. As the assassins get more dangerous, things get more personal, and Sadira and Messiah grow both closer (their physical intimacy gets incredibly intense as the game progresses, it's clear that they love each other and have grown dependent on each other) and further apart (both of them still get furious with each other on occasion, cursing each other out and threatening each other). By the time Messiah's friend Joseph is executed by Apex about two-thirds of the way through the game, she fully realizes how toxic her relationship with Sadira is. Indeed, the game takes pains to realistically depict an actual toxic relationship, a mutually toxic one (Messiah hurts Sadira just as much as Sadira hurts her, not physically but definitely emotionally). The relationship angst is portrayed very subtly, the game doesn't spend much time ruminating on it and instead trusts the player to read between the lines, while guiding the plot to its climax as Apex's organization is slowly picked apart by the two incredibly skilled women. The final stretch of the game sees Apex using his underworld contacts to sabotage the connections that Sadira and Messiah have with their various allies, with most of their friends ending up either dead, captured, injured, arrested, or scared off in some manner, forcing the two to once again depend on the only people they can: each other. They agree to take down Apex in one final grand mission, storming his compound and battling him together. The final battle with Apex has the player alternating between Sadira and Messiah for various segments of the fight, before one final glorious segment has the switch happening literally every few seconds until the two deal the final blow together. After Apex is killed, Sadira and Messiah embrace passionately, and the two seem to finally be coming to terms with how terrible they've been to each other, but they agree to work things out between them. However, just as it seems the game is ending, Messiah is shot by Christine and seemingly killed. Sadira hunts down Christine and the two have a very emotional final battle. The battle is every bit as difficult as the Apex fight, but shorter and much simpler. It ends with Sadira not killing Christine, but blinding her by destroying her other eye. Sadira plans to leave Christine like that to make her suffer, but Christine doesn't freak out or surrender. Instead, she calmly stands and aims her sniper rifle at Sadira, who realizes, almost too late, that Apex actually anticipated this might happen and trained Christine to be able to fight while blind. A split-second before Christine fires, Sadira, without even turning back around, stands and fires a fatal shot between Christine's eyes, finishing her. Sadira then returns to Messiah's side and realizes she's alive, and takes her back home to help her recover. However, when Sadira wakes up, she's tied up and Messiah is gone, and there's a phone on her chest with instructions to play a video. Sadira frees herself and plays it, and as the video plays a recording of Messiah talking, we see a flashback of her leaving. Messiah has decided that she can't work with Sadira anymore, that even though she does love her, she doesn't want this life anymore and doesn't want to be in a relationship with someone who has changed her so much for the worse. Sadira throws a furious, emotional tantrum after realizing that Messiah has left her, then seems to realize that everything Messiah said in the video was right, then we see Sadira resuming her life as a coldblooded assassin, killing for money without any sympathy for her victims and enjoying every moment of it. Messiah has resumed her old life as a bodyguard, and the ending seems to imply that with Sadira killing people and Messiah protecting them, their paths will inevitably cross at some point.

Blackheart: Contract is released on the Sapphire, Xbox 2, and iTwin to highly positive reviews, slightly better than the reviews received by Blackheart Villainous, averaging solidly in the low 9s. The reviews praised the separate controls for Sadira and Messiah, the creativity of the boss fights, and the realistic, if still somewhat over the top, portrayal of their relationship. The game went truly all in on the two of them, only to break them up while showing how bad they are for each other, subverting fan expectations and drawing a mixed reaction from much of the fandom, though the game's quality is undeniable. Sales, while not quite as brisk as Villainous, were still extremely good: over a million in the game's first week, with strong sales throughout the rest of the year on all three systems.

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Blackheart: A Cold Beginning

Blackheart: A Cold Beginning is a stealth/shooter title for the Supernova and iPod Play. The game has a similar format to previous titles in the series (it plays a lot like Blackheart 3 with the quality of life enhancements of more recent titles) and tells the story of Sadira Blackheart and how she originally became an assassin. The game plays much like other contemporary third person shooters, and looks quite good for a handheld game, almost indistinguishable from something that might be played on the Nintendo Wave. The game introduces Sadira's mentor, a man named Nobu, who taught Sadira how to suppress her emotions and kill without sympathy or fear. The main storyline of the game has Sadira working for Nobu, the head of a Japanese corporation, to assassinate his corporate rivals, one of whom has ties to the Yakuza (who become frequent enemies of Sadira in this game). Messiah is nowhere to be found in this game, though a Jillian Zobrist (Messiah's older sister) is mentioned on numerous occasions. The game's plot takes a major turn when Nobu betrays Sadira, hiring another assassin to take her down, and once Sadira catches wind of her mentor's betrayal, the student must become the master as she tracks him to a remote part of Japan to finish him off. Throughout the game, there are allusions to some of Sadira's enemies and allies from the original Blackheart, while her personality, a calm but somewhat anxious killer, is slowly developed into the cold person she currently is (it's implied that Nobu's betrayal played a big part in this, as Sadira learned that she can't trust anyone and thus learned never to form emotional attachments, a rule we know she'll eventually break with Messiah). Eventually, Sadira tracks Nobu down and defeats him, and surprisingly, he begins to beg for his life as Sadira gets ready to kill him. She coldly dispatches him, and learns that Nobu was ready to kill her if she had shown even a moment's hesitation, realizing that begging was in fact his final test for her. The game ends with Sadira having become the ruthless assassin we all know and love, and while the game doesn't directly set up the events of the original Blackheart, it does let everyone know how she became the person she is in that game. A Cold Beginning gets strong reviews from critics, but Messiah: Crisis Tear remains the gold standard for the series' handheld installments. Sales are quite good initially, mostly due to the fact that it gets promoted alongside Contract, but they do trail off fairly soon afterwards, and don't remain nearly as strong in the following months.

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“It seems that Blackheart, one of Ubisoft's flagship IPs, is set to join the ranks of 'annualized' games occupied by franchises such as Call of Duty and Ubisoft's own Assassin's Creed. The company has announced that it's already working on the next game in the series, and though it hasn't yet been officially announced, it's all but certain to be releasing next year. An annualized approach to Blackheart seems like a strange one: despite the series' financial success, the epic single player nature of the plot doesn't seem to lend itself well to a rapid-fire turnaround, with Assassin's Creed justifying its yearly releases through the carrying over of assets from one game to the next. Annualization is becoming a trend amongst major game franchises, and while it does keep them at the forefront of the industry, and keeps the profits flowing, it can also lead to burnout amongst both developers and fans, who tire of seeing the same old game trotted out year after year. We'll find out if that fate befalls Blackheart, with our first clue coming with the announcement of the series' 2011 installment, liking coming at or before next February's MTV Video Game Awards.”

-from Blargo's News In Brief article for September 17, 2010