Catch us while you can!
The well received game by Runic Games, Tourchlight, has gone on sale for the very low price of… free!! As a part of their “No DRM” promotion, the game will be available, with ALL its juicy stats, till Thursday, June 20th at 12:59 p.m GMT.
So get your butts into the nearest computer chair and start downloading.
The link to gold provided here
There can be only one!
A spokesperson from IO Interactive has said to Develop that the company is heading a straight forward path to only focus on developing games for the Hitman franchise. By this decision the company has laid off about half of their employees. The spokesperson has been quoted as saying, “However we have taken the difficult decision to cancel other studio projects and initiatives at IO and reduce the workforce in this studio, which will impact almost half of the employees currently at IO, as we make internal adjustments to face the challenges of today’s market.” This is something that is not new to companies especially in the video game business, heck it could be way worse, it can just officially shut down but this is different in the case that a wide lay off was caused by the company’s decision to officially focus on one kind of project. Continue reading
Watch our hero, watch him stand, ANGRILY, in front of stairs…
The art of the live-action adaptation is a most difficult and unforgiving field. Anime, almost without exception, is an art form that takes advantage of its unreality to tell stories that would otherwise be impossible to tell in another format. Maybe they’d require unrealistic staging or locations. Maybe the characters need to go through some shit that no real person could feasibly go through. Or maybe someone needs to get punched through several miles of earth, and well, with the exception of Hong Kong legend Lo Meng, I can’t think of anyone in the real world who could handle THAT particular stunt.
I heart him. I heart him so FUCKING much…
Because of this, most anime adaptations tend to run the gamut from “decent” to “holy shit, my brain eyes are on fire, summon the lord for the end-times have come” Some of them are uproariously bad/good times, like the old Fist of the North Star movie with Gary Daniels and Malcolm McDowell. Others are just depressingly bad, like the horrific Blood Plus movie made a few years back. And still others are just, well, BORING, like Mushishi (based off one of my absolute faves, no less). So imagine my shock when, after watching the Rurouni Kenshin live-action film, I sat back and said to myself that it was…good. Damn good. Really damn good. Miracles happen, that they do. Pretty Asian miracles in red hakama… Continue reading
So…some of you may have noticed the lack of much Hajime no Ippo-related writing here, despite my claims to a large amount of such things coming out. Well, that’s because it will be coming this week, for reasons that have nothing to do with my inability to recover from a drunken, debaucherous weekend at a convention, coupled with E3 coverage NO SIREE, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT.
…*ahem*. Anyway, expect all the boxing fun promised last week to instead come this week. I would also like to officially announce that First Step Week is now dedicated in loving memory to Kenji Utsumi, the voice actor for Coach Genji Kamogawa who tragically passed away last week. I’m offering this to his memory, so I’d better damn well be up to snuff.
Well folks, see you in the times to come.
So much MANLINESS…and eyebrows. Also eyebrows.
Well, that about says it, doesn’t it? Yes, to celebrate the…well, no occasion really, just to celebrate, we will be taking a week to look at the long running manga and anime classic, Hajime no Ippo.
“But Hachi, you divine morsel you, what exactly is Hajime no Ippo?” Good question! Hajime no Ippo is a boxing manga created by Joji Morikawa back in 1989, and is still running today. And…that’s it. No bells, no whistles. It’s a boxing story, about boxers and the boxing they do. There is naught a magical girl or a energy beam to be found, and no one will be killing anyone’s family member in revenge for a past slight, or seeking to save the world. It simply chronicles the adventures of one Makunouchi Ippo, as he endeavors to improve himself through the path of boxing, and to find out for himself what true strength is.
Well, of course, there are the occasional techniques and training montages that strain credulity, at best. And the characters are as broad and eccentric as any manga you’ll ever find. But that is all the surface dressing to what is easily one of the best stories, and particularly one of the best anime, you will ever find.
As previously stated, they reaaaaallllyyyy strain credulity some times…
Hajime no Ippo is a triumph of great storytelling, great character development, amazing humor and heart, and of course, amazing fights. However, it is…well, not terribly well-known here in the states. Oh, it has a fanbase, of course. A small, fiercely dedicated one at that, and I and several of my friends count ourselves in said circle. But ask any ten anime fans about it, and you’ll be lucky to find one or two who know what the hell you are talking about.
Which is a shame. Almost without exception, this is anime at its finest. Not its most bombastic, or its most over-the-top. But just…finest. Doing what anime should do; tell a story in a compelling, fun and occasionally gonzo way.
So, to wit, this week will be to educate you. There will be articles galore! Lists! General discussion! And reviews of both the anime series’ that have come out based on the show! It’ll be a good time, and if I do my job, you’ll be poised to get into one of the best stories in the art form.
We begin tomorrow! Bring your gloves…
What have I done? What… have I… done? I’ve taken the most vibrant, colorful, innocent puzzler in recent memory, and turned it into the raunchiest, pervy, most “problematic” game in my collection… and I like it! Reminding me a bit of Catherine, Pushmo is a puzzle game where you push and pull blocks of varying shapes to get to the top of the puzzle (or wherever else the goal is). One of the modes this game offers is a puzzle creator, with creation assets reminiscent of Mario Kart DS and F-ZERO GX, Animal Crossing, and Mario Paint. And so I took to the mode to try and make something. I had no idea what to make, until I remembered back to an old emblem I made in F-ZERO GX. The emblem in question was a red-headed character I once drew way back when, but with her breasts exposed. Sadly, I don’t have the means to extract that emblem out of the Gamecube memory card (nor do I know if that card went missing).
And so off I went to recreate this red-headed, big-boobed lady. I opted to not do the obligatory penis level since, well, I don’t do penis levels. Also, it’s kind of a given when you give players the option to create something in videogames. So I made boobs, the one human organ that’s been somewhat ignored in the creation scene. One share with James later, and this became a weekend that filled my time with pixels, puzzles, and lots and lots of boobs.
It goes without saying that the following article is Not Safe For Work. So if you’re there, wait ’til you get home (or for your boss/supervisor/Computer Overlord to not look). If you’re under the the age of 18, look elsewhere. The Wired Fish Network is not responsible for the ass beating you’ll probably get should you choose to scan these QR Codes.
Though it’s pretty obvious how Mario and Peach rock the casbah (I think), how do other characters in other videogame worlds squeak the bed? Luigi, sadly, is just enjoying watching his brother get nookie instead of doing the same thing to his boo. The Sims find a new toy to play with above their heads. And Chell from Portal somehow does not fall through the portal she’s sitting on. I mean sure there’s a guy there holding her on the other side, but her downward inertia should transfer to sideways inertia and make the guy holding her fa — Nevermind. But that Zelda. Link is one lucky, lucky hero.
Be sure to click the closed caption button for English subtitles.
Yes, you read that right. Balls. Let’s talk about Grant Kirkhope’s balls today. Sorry if this is really late for some, but I just saw this episode some days ago. So then, in a recent episode of Game Grumps — a collab between JonTron and Egoraptor — they had former Rare composer Grant Kirkhope on as a guest as they played a selection of N64 games he worked on. Along with composing music, Kirkhope also did the sound design for some of these games, including some voice work as well.
Many know Mumbo Jumbo from Banjo-Kazooie. With Mumbo Jumbo, much of his spoken lines were generated randomly on a syllable by syllable basis, picking from a pool of samples for him. “Ikambokem” was one such line that was formed from this randomization. Some were also full, used for specific actions performed by Mumbo. “Oominaka” is Continue reading
Let me start of by saying that that the game I chose is not a bad game. It’s actually a damn fine game. No knocks on quality here.
Anyway, around two weeks ago I decided to finally get a 3DS. My late arrival mirrored many who waited it out on getting a 3DS. The price for the system itself was simply too high for my liking, and I waited for a price drop. It happened, but I still wanted to see if something else was going to happen, namely a console redesign of some kind. I’ve been burned before by launch units and I didn’t want to get shafted again.
During the PS4 Press Conference, David Cage of Quantic Dream stepped on stage to show off his company’s new tech demo for the PS4. In the moments leading up to the infamous head of an Old Man popping up on screen, he referred back to previous games his company worked on, like Omikron and Indigo Prophecy, showing off how many polygons made up each character. He relates the mode of storytelling in videogames to how exaggerated storytelling in movies were back during the silent era. And it’s true, some things had to be exaggerated in movies since cameras back then had no sound capabilities. When sound was introduced, things only got better for the movie industry, bringing out classics like Frankenstein, Trouble in Paradise, and Citizen Kane.
But I can’t really say the same for videogames, at least not to the extent that Cage suggests.
Back when I first played New Super Mario Bros. on the DS in 2006, the idea of playing a new, 2D-platformer Mario Bros. was pretty damn cool. While the rest of the gaming world continued to move in 3D, Nintendo looked to its roots to bring forth a new Mario game for its handheld. 2D Platforming was going to make a comeback, and the advent of XBLA, PSN, WiiWare/eShop, and Steam helped facilitate that comeback. The indie dev scene mostly used 2D platforming as their go-to style for their games, adding new wrinkles into the mix. Some told a story about heartache using a time travel mechanic. Another used ultra-difficulty to tear out our hair. Most recently, the clone of Mario made a name for itself with a “twist” mechanic in its new game.
And so I look at Nintendo and its New Super Mario Bros. series. Nintendo has chosen this series as their platform for some of their experiments. With these experiments, the good ones would be carried over into future, non-Mario games. So what have they done so far, and what can they do in the future?
The moment we laid eyes on Vanillaware’s upcoming Dragon’s Crown, we were absolutely floored by how beautifully detailed and stunningly animated the game was. Once again, Vanillaware’s expertise with 2D animation would be on full display, and this time in HD. With each trailer I posted here, I described to the best of my knowledge what I was seeing. And by best I meant “one the surface, what am I looking at.” However one art blogger, Richmond, took it one step further to analyze the various influences Dragon’s Crown had on display.
For his analysis, he watched the most recent trailer for the game (which now has an English version) Just to summarize a few of the many things he covers, much of what influences Dragon’s crown comes from Disney Cartoons, Greek mythology, sculpture, and architecture, Judeo-Christian motifs, Renaissance paintings, classic films, and Conan The Barbarian. He even analyzes things many might overlook, like an emblem on a knight, the parchment around the sword that’s stabbing a ghost knight, and even that other buxom sorceress. If you’re an art nut and/or wondering what makes this game tick, go on and read Richmond’s article over at Art-Eater. He’s also got something for you fighting game fans out there.
From Mickey Mouse to Jesus, This Dragon’s Crown Trailer is Full of Epic Homages [Art-Eater]
Ooooh, my “Flaming Chinese Man” collectible is coming in the mail!
Source: Koei Warriors
In the most exciting news I’ve heard since sliced bread was used to power that Haitian dirigible (oh, you didn’t hear? Pay attention…), a producer over at Koei made it officially known that Dynasty Warriors 8 (known as Shin Sangoku Musou 7 in Japan, because of…reasons that would take a bit of doing to explain) will be releasing here in the US and in Europe. And it’s sooner than I anticipated, coming to us on July 16th. Continue reading
A life worth giving a thumbs-up to.
“So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.”
-Roger Ebert, on his last post on his website, April 2nd, 2013
Roger Ebert, one of the men most responsible for the modern age of media review, passed away April 4th at the age of 70 after a long, hard-fought battle with Thyroid cancer. His death leaves a gaping hole in the world of reviewing of any kind, and he will be missed terribly. Continue reading
To spoil an art exhibit about videogames, you will need:
Take the fourteen videogames, and place them against a black backdrop of minimalist design. Condense titles that are too large for a quick play through, into videogame trailers and pair them with screenshots so visitors know why these games are important. Next, connect generic controllers to the computers running emulation software to negate any Continue reading
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