Author Archives: Steven

About Steven

Editor-In-Chief of The Wired Fish since 2010. Suggestions, praise, and hate mail can be sent to steven@thewiredfishnetwork.com

Vanillaware Announces Dragon’s Crown, Challenges Chun-Li’s Thighs

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During the trailer Sony showed of the PSVita (Will call PSV since I’m lazy), There was a barrage of games on display. At one point, there was one game that popped up that had made me do a double-take on the liveblog (you can see at 9:56). I was right in assuming that it was a Vanillaware game, but Grand Knights History it is not. The game is called Dragon’s Crown, and will be released around Spring 2012 for the PS3 and PSV. Judging from the title, it almost sounds like a sequel to the SEGA Saturn game Princess Crown, to which certain employees worked on before forming Vanillaware. But it seems to really be similar in name alone, as the tone for Dragon’s Crown is a vastly different than that of Princess Crown.

Vanillaware launched its official website for Dragon’s Crown. Hit the jump for the trailer and official website. And if you’re looking for the aforementioned thighs, here you go.

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Nintendo Press Conference (Starts at 12PM)

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Nintendo had a pretty good year last year. Probably one of their best for their Wii and DS. And now, the 3DS is out in the wild. So far, the 3DS launch wasn’t really making the handheld fly off the shelves, and the launch lineup wasn’t really something to write home about. But there are still games to be released on the system in the coming months. With Wii sales slowly starting to fade away, we really know almost nothing for what the future holds for the Wii. Maybe Nintendo will announce that those Japanese (and European, in Xenoblade’s case) exclusives are coming to the US? And what of Project Cafe? What exactly is this thing? Well, stay tuned.

Nintendo’s Press Conference begins at 12PM EST (9AM PST). Once the conference is underway, click the link below to launch the liveblog.

Nintendo Press Conference

The Wii: A Tale of Innovation, Apathy, and (Corporate) Stupidity ~ Part 3

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With the dawn of a new Nintendo E3 conference upon us, I thought this would be a good time as ever to round out this short series of articles. Now, in the other two parts I talked about the things that Nintendo and third parties did wrong. Well, now turn to the flip side of the coin and talk about what went right with the Wii. It goes without saying that as much as Nintendo and third parties frustrate me in certain aspects, I still like my Wii more than my PS3. With that said, let’s take a look at what the Wii did right. Continue reading →

Sony Press Conference LiveBlog (Starts at 8PM)

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Things seemed to have been going all fine and Dandy for Sony and their PS3 and PSP. But then the shit hit the fan when PSN suffered a major hack attack, shutting it down for almost a whole month. But now, things are back to normal (hopefully). But, does anyone remember what Sony was planning to do for E3? To be honest, I forgot since the PSN stuff was the talk of the town. Regardless, we expect the usual things Sony will show. We should be seeing some Infamous 2, Twisted Metal, and Move action to go along with this conference. Hopefully after today, we can really put this PSN stuff behind us and focus on the games Sony will be releasing.

Sony’s Press Conference starts at 8PM EST (5PM PST). Once the conference starts, click the link below.

Sony Press Conference

Microsoft Press Conference LiveBlog (Starts at 12:30PM)

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Ahoy Fellow Fishes! It’s E3 time again. Kicking things off for the Big Three is Microsoft. Last year, Microsoft placed a lot of emphasis and time on their Kinect device, displaying games like Kinectimals and Kinect Adventures. The hype train was in full force during the holiday season. However, once the dust settled, the Kinect became an afterthought to most gamers. It did gain notoriety the other things you can do through hacks. But for actual game uses, barely any support has been seen. In the days leading up to today, Microsoft has almost nothing surprising. Gears of War 3 and Forza (I think) are the only games worth noting that Microsoft will show. And there are rumors of Microsoft debuting a TV service. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Microsoft’s Press Conference starts at 12:30PM (EST) (9:30AM PST). Once the Conference begins, click the link below.

Microsoft Press Conference

The Wii: A Tale of Innovation, Apathy, and (Corporate) Stupidity ~ Part 2

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Note: anything regarding sales here refers to sales in the US.

What’s the basic idea of marketing? Do you show your product to people in hopes they buy it? Do you put neon signs and marching lights somewhere to get their attention? Do you dress it up in barely anything and question their marriage? Yes, yes, and… kinda, but yes. When you make something that you want people to see, you bet your ass you gotta whore it out like Grade A Booty. It’s deceptively simple, yet somewhat tricky to market your product. But in some ways, marketing a videogame is easier than the other mediums we have out there. With games, your audience will be either kids, adults, old people, “hardcore,” real hardcore, casual, or niche. Not much else to it. Next, it all comes down to what kind of product you’re selling. Hit the jump to see what went wrong with marketing on the Wii. Continue reading →

The Wii: A Tale of Innovation, Apathy, and (Corporate) Stupidity ~ Part 1

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Looking at my games library, I see more white cases (and a red one) than I see clear or green cases. There’s no mistaking it, my Wii has gotten the most attention this generation than my PS3 (which I got 2 years after the I got my Wii near launch). A Nintendo Customer Service rep (long story) even looked through my Wii account and said it was the largest account he’d ever seen. “Points redeemed, points redeemed, points redeemed…” is all I heard for about a minute. So yes, you can say that I’m a satisfied customer. I like the Wii, and thank god it came out when it did (the world would be a browner, grayer place if it didn’t). But still, there’s always this niggling feeling that I get; that the Wii is capable of something more. Maybe the Wii does have that “something more.” But with so many problems plaguing the Wii now, and with Project Cafe potentially being revealed at E3, the Wii may never reach that “something more.” And that’s a damn shame.

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Persona 2 Coming to the US, Official Site Launched, Loses Tsumi Character

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Atlus, you cheeky bastards. You had many a Persona fan worried that P2: Innocent Sin for the PSP wasn’t coming out in the US. But we kinda had a feeling that a P2 reveal was imminent after seeing that mysterious little mysterious email sent out to the Atlus Faithful. But now the world is in order, and now all Persona games has seen release in the US. (the PS1 Persona 2 we got was Eternal Punishment. We never got Innocent Sin).

The website was also launched following the announcement. Atlus is already taking preorders for the game. As you can assume from the bottom of the site, it’s still under construction, and only basic stuff like the debut trailer, storyline, and some screenshots (which are in English!). Persona 2 is set to release this fall in the US.

On a side note, I’m sad to inform some Persona superfans that the new logo for the US version has lost its 罪 (tsumi=sin) kanji that was seen in the the Japanese version of the game. Now, I tend to stay quiet when it comes to changes made to US releases, since no one really listens to the concerns of fans anyway. But from a graphic design standpoint, that kanji character gave the logo a unique “foreign” feel that goes well with both the story and the theme. To see it missing for the US version is kinda disappointing. Given, this is really a very small gripe and am grateful that we’re getting the game at all. Oh well, at least we can… what a minute! What the…!? OH C’MON ATLUS! Even Nintendo’s using the damn character! What’s stopping you from using it for the US!?

Catch Mitsuko Yoshitomi and Honomi At Dance Parade 2011

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Image courtesy of BronxNet

Several weeks ago during my internship, dancers Mitsuko Yoshitomi and Honomi performed on the Open show set. You can catch their performance on the BronxNet Open site (it starts around 50:32, followed by an interview with them around 55 minutes in). The video does load slowly though. But fret not, you can hit the jump and see that same performance in the youtube video below (you’ll only be missing the interview). They will be performing this Saturday (May 21) at the Dance Parade in NYC, which starts at 1PM. Continue reading →

Sony Rolling Out PSN Restoration

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Kaz Hirai has just announced that the PSN restoration process has begun. Right now, most users will be able to update the firmware of their PS3 and change their passwords. As for a nationwide restoring of the service, that will happen from on a state by state basis. Sony currently has a map on its blog that it will use to indicate which state has service restored. The first service to be restored for PSN will be online multiplayer. He hasn’t stated when the Playstation Store will be up and running again.

Kaz Hirai Restoration Announcement

Restoration Map

Update 1: So far I can confirm that I was able to update to the latest firmware. I wasn’t able to change my password. It did give me a message , however, stating that my password is now invalid, so Sony is serious when they say to change the password. It was followed by a message stating that the Network is undergoing maintenance. So in due time, I’ll be able to change the password.

Update 2: After seeing that Sony has updated their restoration map (see link above), and that New York’s PSN service is on, I checked again to change my password. The first attempt game me the same message as before. But the second attempt brought me to the password change screen. And so I can confirm that PSN is up and running for the Northeast US. It’s still a bit rough though. I have yet to play a game though. I checked the PSN store, but it’s still down. I’d imagine that’s the last thing that will be turned on most of the transaction activity happens there.

A Few Catherine Cutscenes… In English!

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I wish I could go ahead and post these suckers as embeds, but GameSpot’s crazy ass coding ain’t cooperating here. So I’ll just link you guys to them. Be cautious though, as some of these might be spoilerish, especially the first one. But this is pretty early in the game so it ain’t that much of a spoiler. Also, that first link is NSFW

Making a Mistake

Can’t Chain Him Down

Cheating Discussion

So far so good. The voice acting seems pretty good. It’s a bit rough, and kinda jarring to hear Akihiko’s voice as someone else, but it’s all good. Also, I’m certain the syncing will be worked on afterwards (as most Japanese games getting English voices get the sync work done when the acting is finished). As a reminder, Catherine is getting released in the US on July 26th for both the PS3 and 360.

Mighty Milky Way Trailer

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Well, what do we have here? I had totally forgotten that Mighty Milky Way was even being made. I knew WayForward was making something, but I kinda forgot. From the looks of the gameplay, it seems to be a 2D Mario Galaxy, but with more of a puzzle aesthetic. The trailer has music being sung by the main character, Luna, in vocaloid form. The sprite work is top-notch as always. The game is available now on DSiWare.

via Tiny Cartridge

And Here Are Your Picks For The Smithsonian Videogame Art Exhibit

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After many months, and after many votes, the Smithsonian has chosen what games will be shown during their Art of Videogames exhibit. There are some obvious choices, and some surprises. Since this list is long, you’ll have to hit the jump to see them. Okay? So here we go.

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See Grand Knights History (Briefly) In Motion

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Grand Knights History Producer, Yoshifumi Hashimoto, released a video today for the game’s official blog today discussing how the Online component of the game works. It’s all in Japanese however. Thankfully, AndriaSang has an idea about what Hashimoto was talking about. What I’m here for is the video. So far, all we’ve had for Grand Knights History in video form is its relatively static opening movie with the awesome music. That vid showed mostly still shot, but no motion. However, with the vid above, we finally see it moving, and beautifully at that. Along with WayForward, Vanillaware is tops when it comes to 2D sprite animation. The video, as AndriaSang describes, is the character selection process for when you choose units to do battle. As you can see, you can change certain aspects of your character, including armor and hair color, weapons, and accessories, etc.

8-Bit Girls Dancing Gets A Song Stuck In My Head

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This song… I was shown this song several weeks ago by my sister. Upon seeing this, the bright colors were a bit of a turnoff. But at the same time, I could not dismiss the charm that both the video and the song had. The song, “Kodo no Himitsu” (or “Secret Heartbeat”), is sung by J-pop group Tokyo Girls Style. This particular song is actually a remix by YMCK, a group from Japan known for their 8-Bit music. I don’t know much about YMCK unfortunately (but they do sound familiar). The sprites used here do kinda remind me of the ones from the 16-bit Final Fantasy games, mostly with how their eyes are closer to their noses. Anyway, check the vid out.