Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Heavy Rainbow!
Get it? Get it? Heavy Rain... RainBOW... Heavy Rainbow!
... ... ......my God I must be bored.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Out-Cast: Episode 03
Welcome to our third regular episode of the outcast. This one runs for a bit over two and a half hours and we look in-depth at Yakuza 3 and 4 as well as into other gaming news from around the world.
Download below and please leave us any comments on how we can improve this podcast. Thanks for listening.
Download: Mediafire
Streaming: Blip.tv
Introduction
0:00 Introduction
What you been doing?
01:37 Richard
- Disappearance of Haruhi
- Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations
- Tomb Raider Underworld
- Heavy Rain
- Fist of the North Star Dynasty Warriors
- Shoko-Tan
- Resident Evil 5: Desperate Escape
- Gundam Unicorn
- May'n Consent DVD
- X-Box Live
- Bioshock
- Banjo Kazooie
- Fatal Frame 4
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
- PS1 Archives: Metal Gear Solid/Grandia
- Tomodachi Collection
- Playstation Move
- Hatsune Miku
- Critics and complaints
- Linearity
- Cuts
- Names
- FFXIII and the process of making a game
- More on Linearity!
- The JRPG vs the Western RPG
- Cuts, boycotts, and the history of the series
- Is the west entitled to all Japanese games?
- Name of the game
- New features
- New characters
- Demo play-by-play
- Real to life?
- How was XIII received in Japan?
- Why EoE name change?
- What's with the Asian peace sign?
- How is P3 different from P3 - PSP?
- How was FFXIII's Crystarium System?
- How does Japan compare to the west?
- What was the first song in Out-Cast ep02?
- Do we listen to 1UP podcasts?
- Have we played Dragon Quest IX?
Song list
Butterfly City - Zeebra
Don't Say Lazy - Shokotan (cover)
Encounter - Metal Gear Solid 2
Yakuza kicking yo' a$$!
Yakuza 4 tv cm
Miku Miku ni shite ageru - Hatsune Miku
God knows... - Shokotan (cover)
Monday, March 08, 2010
The Evil L-Word: A Look at Linearity in Gaming
My fellow Gamers, as the moon turns and the long foretold coming the Thirteenth of the Fantasies Final draws nigh, one word has been spat like a curse across the Realm. It is spoken of as the black death upon Gaming's soul, festering away at all the good and leaving not but an untouchable rotted corpse. Like the word “witch,” the mere accusation spreads like wildfire and becomes as to truth amongst our community. And lo doth any hapless victim receive this title for they shall forever be burned within the flames and hatred of their once most faithful of supporters. Yet, I stand here today, in the Grand Hall of the Internet and surrounded by this most fickle of counsels, to defend this “greatest of sins:” Linearity.
At the birth of our Kingdom, we were but a simple people, content to bounce our square balls and gather food from ghost riddled caves. Yet with time came complexity and with complexity, the birth of legends. Who here can forget the tales of the great Fixer-of-Pipes and his battles with the Reptile King? What child does not know of the adventures of the Blue Rodent and his Twin-Tailed companion? Do not forget my fellows, that even in that golden time, linearity was there. For both the Fixer-of-Pipes and the Blue Rodent could not move but right; forever right to victory. Lo! I hear you cry, “but what of the Hero of Hyrule and the Masked Hunter of Men?” Indeed, their legends can be told in many different ways. Yet, even their epics must be told in a certain order, lest they have not obtained the items with which to conquer their trials.
It was only after the stories of Crime Lords of Liberty City that linearity turned as to a poison. The people cried out for more open stories. More tales to be told in a thousand different ways. And so it came to pass that our myths became as unto an open desert, devoid of life and full of not but sand. Yet, even as we hungered for more and more of this “freedom,” the oft cursed linearity continued on in the stories from the Islands of the East. These tales drew all who would listen into the stories. We truly became the Time Traveling Youth and the Lost Soldier with his Giant Sword. And for a while, linearity had a haven and was loved again.
But this too changed with time as all things do. Our people adopted the tellings of the east, combined it with our open stories and a new style was born. No longer were we forced to become as the character in the stories. Nay, we forced the characters in the stories to become as of us. We chose their hair and skin, even their very anatomy. They acted as we wished and the story was forced to change around our actions. And with the Twelfth of the Fantasies Final, even the scribes in the fabled lands of the rising sun began to emulate our styles. Truly there was no place left for linearity... Or so we like to believe.
Even today, as this very counsel condemns linearity, they shout the praises of the most linear of legends. The adventures of Nathan Drake and the tales of the Hair-Witch are applauded, yet simply ignored is the fact of their linearity. As many follow the call into imaginary wars across the world and to the very stars, they too ignore the welcoming embrace of linearity as it directs their beloved legends. “Tis not the same!” Some shall cry. Mayhap that may even be true.
Perhaps it is not linearity in and of itself that causes such scorn among us. Perhaps if linearity is disguised well enough we feel it can simply be ignored as opposed to hated. Yet, cloaked or not, linearity is linearity. I charge you all now to rethink your position on our loyal yet hated friend. You hate unjustly. You hate only to mollify the feelings of your peers. Linearity needs not be in every great legend nor need it be shunned from them all. Linearity is neither good nor evil but rather like unto a knife. It can be used to butter ones bread or slit ones throat. It is all in how it is wielded.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Apple To Intro 'Low Cost' iPhone, June?
Once again, rumors have broken out that Apple's next addition to the iPhone line will be a 'low cost' device designed to widen the gadget's appeal. AppleInsider reports that Katy Huberty, with Morgan Stanley, has claimed that price is the 'biggest barrier' to iPhone adoption. Thus, in June, Apple will launch an 'economically friendly' iPhone that 'potentially' includes new 'gesture-based' technology.
I wouldn't put too much stock in this rumor. People have been expecting a cheap 'iPhone nano' type gadget for a while. Once the iPhone 2010 launches, the 3GS will drop down to $99. What more can Apple do to reduce prices? It's not like the iPhone is more expensive than any other high-end smartphone.
Analysts will be rolling out predictions like this with greater frequency over the next few months. I wouldn't put too much stock in any of them. As a general rule, the devices that Apple actually launches have very little to do with whatever hyped predictions were made for them in the preceding months.
Apple will release its much-anticipated iPad tablet
Can the iPad tablet be as successful as the Apple iPhone?
The iPhone and iPod Touch are the fastest-adopted gadgets in consumer-tech history. Apple hopes that with the iPad tablet, lightning will strike twice.
The iPhone and iPod Touch are the fastest-adopted gadgets in consumer-tech history. Apple hopes that with the iPad tablet, lightning will strike twice.
In about a month, Apple will release its much-anticipated iPad tablet. This new device falls somewhere in between a smart phone and a laptop – small enough to tote around town without exhausting your shoulders, but big enough to feel like you’re reading a magazine instead of staring at a playing card.Many computermakers have dived into the tablet market over the past decade – most landing in a belly flop. Some foresee a similarly soggy future for the iPad. It uses a virtual keyboard instead of real buttons, can’t load every website, and various models cost between $499 and $829.
But Apple has won over skeptics many times before. While slow to catch on, its iPod revolutionized the music industry, almost single-handedly replacing albums with digital tracks. And according to the investment firm Morgan Stanley, the iPhone and iPod Touch are the fastest-adopted gadgets in consumer tech history (see chart).
Maybe Apple’s signature polish can enchant shoppers once again.
Source: csmonitor.com
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Out-Cast: Episode 02
Welcome to our second regular episode of the outcast. This one runs for 3 hours due to our special guest Daniel Feit. Dan also lives in japan is a freelance writer for Wired|GameLife and regularly contributes to Bitmob and his own web-page, Feitclub.com.Download below and please leave us any comments on how we can improve this podcast. Thanks for listening.
Download: Mediafire
Streaming: Blip.tv
Introduction
2:48 Interests in Japan
What you been doing?
5:22 Borderlands and PJM Encore
13:49 Valkyria Chronicles 2
23:42 Heavy Rain
34:07 Gundam Senki
37:19 Fate Stay Night and Haruhi Movies
42:09 Battleship Yamato Expo and Pachinko
46:58 Resident Evil 5 DLC
49:51 100-Man Ton Barabara
54:41 Xenogears
56:51 Miyazaki Movies and Speed Racer
1:01:12 News in japan
- Silent Hill Composer leaves Konami
- God Eater Released
- Final Fantasy XIII comparison screenshots
- Director responds to FFXIII western scores
- God of War III censorship is wanted!?
- Evangelion 2.2 Blu Ray
- Misinformation about Japanese interviews
- Metal Gear Arcade
- Booth Babes and Body Pillows
- Vocaloid Attack!
- Music GunGun and Gaia Attack 4
2:13:57 Mailbag - We Reply to You!
- Demon's Souls in Japan
- White Knight in Japan
- Final Fantasy Versus XIII Impressions
- Playing Final Fantasy XI
- Playing XIII in English
- Getting Jobs in Japan
- Cultural Differences
- How is it in Japan?
Heavy Rain Impressions
For some bizarre reason, Japan got Heavy Rain a whole 5 days before the rest of the world. I’d be very interested to find out the reasoning behind this, but haven’t heard anything as of yet. Despite having a pile of shame as tall as I am and still having the final few hours of FF13 left to polish off, I decided to make Heavy Rain a day 1 purchase. Why? Well, since it was a (purportedly) relatively short adventure game I figured that it would probably be difficult to avoid inadvertently running across spoilers online. Therefore the best course of action would be to get it and play it as quickly as possible. Well, on the first playthrough at least.
So, I placed my order with Amazon Japan (a handy little preorder discount meant that the game came to under $50 with free shipping as well). I admit to having had some doubts over which version of the game to get. For starters, the Japanese version has some...somewhat different cover art. But, looking beyond such superficial reasons, it’s been known for some time that developer Quantic Dream made certain…changes to the game in order to avoid it getting slapped with a Cero Z rating here in Japan. The problem is that no-one knows what these changes are yet. Several online forums have been in melt-down over supposed changes that have yet to be confirmed or denied.
For me though, the pros of the Japanese version outweighed the negatives - $20 cheaper than importing, getting to play it earlier and having the option to play it through in both Japanese and English outweighed the risk of having some breasts cut from the game. If I want breasts I’ll get them from places other than my video games thank you very much. Ahem.
I think I’m currently 5 hrs into the game. Probably. Unfortunately there’s no game clock so it’s difficult to tell. The game also sucks you in in such a way that its really easy to lose track of time. Much like watching a good movie, the hours fly by and the only thing I find myself wanting to do is find out what happens next.
I’ll avoid discussing the plot for fear of spoilers, but will go so far as to say that the events in Heavy Rain so far have had a real sense of emotional weight that is often missing from games. Aerith? Dom’s wife? The first few hours of Ethan’s life and the tragedy that befalls him are on par with both of these. No, no I’d say it surpasses them. There’s a gravitas to the tone of what happens to Ethan, a sense of real consequence and forboding that is reflected in the atmosphere of the game – in both its visual and audio design. I haven’t felt as invested in a character this quickly in quite a while.
The game achieves this (at least partially) by limiting the player. There is no nimble leaping around, no reflex-based action or satisfaction to be had here. As anyone who has tried the demo already knows, the player literally drives the character through the story. Holding down R2 keeps the player moving forward, much like a tank. While I can see the logic behind this control scheme – it allows the developer to lock their camera angles in and tightly control the experience – I don’t agree with it. Since the left stick is still used to change direction, I often find myself turning in directions I don’t need to, and navigating around a crowded room can be quite frustrating. Nothing breaks the illusion more than turning at 90 degree angles and walking repeatedly into desks or walls. The original Resident Evil controls felt more intuitive to me than this. The QTE element of the control scheme, on the other hand, works a lot better than I was expecting. Controller motions usually mimic to some degree the action on screen and feature a generous window of timing even on the normal difficulty setting. As someone who sucks at QTE (as a colleague from my office found out the hard way when we played RE 5 coop – a certain bike and chains scene comes to mind) this is a very welcome element of the control scheme.
Graphically the game is amazing if a little inconsistent at times. Character models are painstakingly detailed as are environments, for the most part. There are some objects in the game (anything with cloth – sheets and towels for example) that seem relatively crude and could have used a little more work, although its completely possible that they just stick out so much because everything else looks so darn good. Character animation can be a little jerky at times and I’ve had a couple of minor framerate stutters. Overall though, the game is a treat for the eyes. First Uncharted 2, then FF13, now Heavy Rain – each a graphical powerhouse yet in totally different ways. I pity the PS3 owner who isn’t gaming on a HD tv.
Audio-wise, music is implemented in some very subtle ways although the voice acting is a mixed bag. Those characters that are done well absolutely nailed it, while others sound like they were phoned in. All in all though there are some impressive performances here and I’m looking forward to sampling the Japanese track for a different take on the characters later on.
At this point though, the most driving element of Heavy Rain (apart from the controls! hehehe) is the story and characters. It feels more like a very interactive movie than a game in any traditional sense of the term. Personally I find that to be a refreshing change, but I wonder what the general Gamestop customer will think of it.
Oh and that cover art … based on what I’ve played so far I’ve changed my opinion of it somewhat. It’s actually quite fitting. But you’ll have to play it yourself to find out why.
Crumbs Under the Kotatsu
-There’s a device called the ARI SYSTEM in Heavy Rain which is utterly cool. I love the way it looks and works!
-I played through the first RE5 DLC ‘Lost in Nightmares’ and was completely blown away. While too short, it is basically RE5 director Jun Takeuchi’s reply to all the criticisms leveled at RE5 for being too much of an action game. Its dark and scary and proves that he can do survival horror in a more traditional manner. I wish they had more dlc planned than just the two that are coming out. I know I’d buy it!
-I spent Sunday with the crew recording the latest episode of the Out-Cast. Featuring an AoU Show report, more End of Eternity, Heavy Rain (no spoilers!) and even some Valkyria Chronicles 2, I hope to get it edited and up within the next day or so, so keep an eye out for it!
So, I placed my order with Amazon Japan (a handy little preorder discount meant that the game came to under $50 with free shipping as well). I admit to having had some doubts over which version of the game to get. For starters, the Japanese version has some...somewhat different cover art. But, looking beyond such superficial reasons, it’s been known for some time that developer Quantic Dream made certain…changes to the game in order to avoid it getting slapped with a Cero Z rating here in Japan. The problem is that no-one knows what these changes are yet. Several online forums have been in melt-down over supposed changes that have yet to be confirmed or denied.
For me though, the pros of the Japanese version outweighed the negatives - $20 cheaper than importing, getting to play it earlier and having the option to play it through in both Japanese and English outweighed the risk of having some breasts cut from the game. If I want breasts I’ll get them from places other than my video games thank you very much. Ahem.
I think I’m currently 5 hrs into the game. Probably. Unfortunately there’s no game clock so it’s difficult to tell. The game also sucks you in in such a way that its really easy to lose track of time. Much like watching a good movie, the hours fly by and the only thing I find myself wanting to do is find out what happens next.
I’ll avoid discussing the plot for fear of spoilers, but will go so far as to say that the events in Heavy Rain so far have had a real sense of emotional weight that is often missing from games. Aerith? Dom’s wife? The first few hours of Ethan’s life and the tragedy that befalls him are on par with both of these. No, no I’d say it surpasses them. There’s a gravitas to the tone of what happens to Ethan, a sense of real consequence and forboding that is reflected in the atmosphere of the game – in both its visual and audio design. I haven’t felt as invested in a character this quickly in quite a while.
The game achieves this (at least partially) by limiting the player. There is no nimble leaping around, no reflex-based action or satisfaction to be had here. As anyone who has tried the demo already knows, the player literally drives the character through the story. Holding down R2 keeps the player moving forward, much like a tank. While I can see the logic behind this control scheme – it allows the developer to lock their camera angles in and tightly control the experience – I don’t agree with it. Since the left stick is still used to change direction, I often find myself turning in directions I don’t need to, and navigating around a crowded room can be quite frustrating. Nothing breaks the illusion more than turning at 90 degree angles and walking repeatedly into desks or walls. The original Resident Evil controls felt more intuitive to me than this. The QTE element of the control scheme, on the other hand, works a lot better than I was expecting. Controller motions usually mimic to some degree the action on screen and feature a generous window of timing even on the normal difficulty setting. As someone who sucks at QTE (as a colleague from my office found out the hard way when we played RE 5 coop – a certain bike and chains scene comes to mind) this is a very welcome element of the control scheme.
Graphically the game is amazing if a little inconsistent at times. Character models are painstakingly detailed as are environments, for the most part. There are some objects in the game (anything with cloth – sheets and towels for example) that seem relatively crude and could have used a little more work, although its completely possible that they just stick out so much because everything else looks so darn good. Character animation can be a little jerky at times and I’ve had a couple of minor framerate stutters. Overall though, the game is a treat for the eyes. First Uncharted 2, then FF13, now Heavy Rain – each a graphical powerhouse yet in totally different ways. I pity the PS3 owner who isn’t gaming on a HD tv.
Audio-wise, music is implemented in some very subtle ways although the voice acting is a mixed bag. Those characters that are done well absolutely nailed it, while others sound like they were phoned in. All in all though there are some impressive performances here and I’m looking forward to sampling the Japanese track for a different take on the characters later on.
At this point though, the most driving element of Heavy Rain (apart from the controls! hehehe) is the story and characters. It feels more like a very interactive movie than a game in any traditional sense of the term. Personally I find that to be a refreshing change, but I wonder what the general Gamestop customer will think of it.
Oh and that cover art … based on what I’ve played so far I’ve changed my opinion of it somewhat. It’s actually quite fitting. But you’ll have to play it yourself to find out why.
Crumbs Under the Kotatsu
-There’s a device called the ARI SYSTEM in Heavy Rain which is utterly cool. I love the way it looks and works!
-I played through the first RE5 DLC ‘Lost in Nightmares’ and was completely blown away. While too short, it is basically RE5 director Jun Takeuchi’s reply to all the criticisms leveled at RE5 for being too much of an action game. Its dark and scary and proves that he can do survival horror in a more traditional manner. I wish they had more dlc planned than just the two that are coming out. I know I’d buy it!
-I spent Sunday with the crew recording the latest episode of the Out-Cast. Featuring an AoU Show report, more End of Eternity, Heavy Rain (no spoilers!) and even some Valkyria Chronicles 2, I hope to get it edited and up within the next day or so, so keep an eye out for it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)