The Wired Fish Podcast Season 2 – Episode 5

Here we are. We’ve finally made it to the end of the second season. Like Hachi warned you in the beginning, this season was going to be short. The Winter breaks are shorter than the Summer breaks, thus the season is shorter. Why’d this take so long? Well, you figure that out! We’ve got topics to talk about! First up, we talk about Mass Effect 3’s ending. Then we discuss Capcom’s woes with Street Fighter X Tekken and the On-Disc Characters being locked away by a pay-gate. And finally, the rumors surrounding the Playstation Orbis concerns us.

You know the drill. Topic Table of Contents after the break.

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Two G4 Mainstays Leaving The Network: Sessler, And Now Pereira

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Something’s a-brewing over at G4, and man it ain’t pretty. While you can see just how bad things were getting just by looking at the programming line-up of G4, you just had to feel bad for the only shows left that showed an ounce of G4’s original intent. And then two weeks ago, long-time X-Play host and game content head honcho Adam Sessler announced that he was leaving the network, citing a contract dispute. An obvious sign that Sessler had enough of G4’s bullshit and corporate mismanagement. It became clear that looking at what G4 has become, the network wasn’t for him anymore, and now he’s finally called it quits.

And now two weeks later, Kevin Pereira, long-time co-host of Attack of the Show, is leaving the network as well. Pereira was one of the more hated personalities from G4 fans, largely for his douchiness and overly dry (lack of) humor. Regardless, he was one of the faces of G4 and looked to still fit in with G4’s changing image. And now he’s leaving too? Oh yeah, something’s definitely wrong over at G4. Pereira had taken to his personal blog to address the concerns fans are having over his departure. However, unlike Sessler, he doesn’t state why he’s leaving.

To some, the last veteran left on the network is Morgan Webb. I can’t help but feel like her departure won’t be too far off either.

U.S. Copies of Xenoblade Outsell Japan’s Total Lifetime Sales[EDIT]

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Well it’s already been a month since Xenoblade went on sale in the U.S. So far I’ve been thoroughly impressed with this game with each gaming session unintentionally becoming a marathon session. But how has Xenoblade done in terms of sales? According to VGChartz* the game has sold a total of 220,503 copies in the U.S. Compare that to Japan’s totals sales of 159,000 copies sold, and Europe’s 176,000 copies sold, and you’ll see that the U.S. was the biggest contributor to the total sales of the game. Keep in mind, Nintendo did next to no advertising for the game, producing one trailer (that they sent to publications twice for some odd reason), making a crappy internet banner ad, and made the game a retailer exclusive. A whole lot of super-safe steps were made by NoA to make sure next to no money was spent in advertising this game. It was up to the fans to spread the word. Operational Rainfall was the primary hub for this, with others joining in to help out in spreading the word (myself included). Not only that, it was up against Mass Effect 3, The Witcher 2, and Nintendo’s own Mario Party 9 (which sells freakishly high numbers). And look, the game sold better than anyone expected considering the circumstances. All territories combined, Xenoblade has sold a grand total of 623,000 copies. Good job people!

Now if only there was a cake to celebrate this occasion.

*VGChartz uses speculative data for its sales numbers. [Edit] Unfortunately, VG Chartz is the only one reporting this since NPD won’t list Xenoblade due to its retail exclusivity. So Neogaf users, quote us with caution.

BBFC Leakes Zone of The Enders HD Collection And Release Date

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Fans have been begging for this Kojima classic to make a comeback either with a sequel or an HD port. It looks like their wishes are being granted as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rated the game, unintentionally making its existence known to the public. They rated the game 12+ and say that it will come out in the UK on September 1 of this year.

In Zone of the Enders, you piloted a mech across a stage, fighting enemy robots along the way. My only experience with the game was through a demo for the PS2. Unlike other mech games, you had complete control over how you mech flew around. You could shoot at enemies from afar, or come in close for a devastating sword swipe. Besides its unique controls, the game was also known for coming with a demo of the hotly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 2. While most people probably bought the game for that demo, it did make fans for Zone of the Enders. Here’s hoping this HD collection doesn’t suffer the same fate of another collection Konami made recently.

BBFC unveils Zone of The Enders HD Collection release date [Gamepur, via Operation Rainfall]

Wii U Titles Leaked By BlockBuster UK

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As we come closer to E3 and the Wii U’s holiday launch, Joystiq reports that BlockBuster UK has leaked a picture of what appears to be launch titles for the Wii U. Besides the 10 in the picture up there, the lists goes deeper, showing titles in the Splinter Cell, Tekken, and Aliens franchises. For now, most of these names look like placeholders. Joystiq had updated their article stating that a former Blockuster employee on NeoGaf says that the titles upthere now are placeholders and that the list was formulated by the sales team. So far what we’re not sure of is which of these titles are launch titles and which aren’t. Some are pretty obvious, like Rayman Legends, Metro: Last Light, and Just Dance 4.

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Resonance of Fate, Dead Rising, And God Eater Characters Join Project X Zone

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I gotta keep up with these website updates! About two weeks ago Namco, SEGA, and Capcom revealed more characters for their collaboration Project X Zone. On the Capcom side, we have Frank West representing Dead Rising. Hsien-Ko joins the already revealed Donovan from Darkstalkers. On the SEGA side, Zephyr and Leanne from Resonance of Fate join the fray. Quietly added was Riela Marceris from Valkyria Chronicles III. And finally on the Namco Bandai side we have Alisa and Soma from God Eater. You can see their character art after the break.

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Night-Time Listenings Wrap-Up: Week of 4/30/12

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This week in Night-Time Listenings, we listened to music from Rival Schools, SEGA Saturn classic Burning Rangers, obscure arcade game Ollie King, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Again, there’s only four here to due an event I had to attend. Remember to like our Facebook Page to listen to the music as it’s posted.

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Retro Weekends – Monster Party

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Pumpkins, vampires, zombies, murderous robots. These were among the numerous creatures to pervade the entertainment landscape, tapping into the fears that people developed worldwide. So it’s no surprise that such monsters would find their way into videogames. Monster Party sought to bring them to the forefront and make them the primary enemies in the game. What we got was a game that actually parodized the monster genre and made little references to the source material here and there. Oh, and this game pretty was hard. After a month off, let’s celebrate NES MAY with a Monster Party!

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XSeed Has Cancelled Localization For Grand Knights History

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Grand Knights History was slated for release some time in early Spring, roughly March. That time came and went with nary a word from XSeed Games, the game’s North American publisher. Many wondered if the game was just delayed. Others were fearful of Vanillaware’s other game, Dragon’s Crown, getting the shaft. Thankfully, that game is in good hands. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Grand Knights History as Xseed announced overnight that they have cancelled the NA localization of Grand Knights History, citing unavailable development resources. However, unless someone else picks up the game, I have a few hunches that this decision goes beyond unavailable resources.

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Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale – A Little Competition Didn’t Hurt Anyone

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There sure are a lot of crossovers going on. And I do love me some crossovers. A crossover between all of Sony’s characters was something I’ve been waiting for for the longest. After the success of Marvel vs. Capcom and Super Smash Bros., I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. Back then though, there wasn’t a lot of characters to go around in the Sony department. But now, that roster has grown and a game like this is now possible. From the outset you can see that this game is heavily, heavily inspired by the Smash Bros. series, right down to the color and arrangement of the HUD (except for the timer, which is at the bottom). Even the physics seem to resemble that of Smash Bros. Brawl. But Sony seems to be doing a few things differently to make it stand out a bit.

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Rumor: Bayonetta Sequel Cancelled

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News of SEGA’s restructuring seems to be getting worse as now there’s rumors that the restructuring is also hitting Platinum Games’ titles. According to SPOnG, someone “…familiar with the situation has told SPOnG that progress on the apparent Platinum Games sequel was halted.” The source goes on to state that the game was to have new characters in the game. So far this seems to only affect any Platinum Games titles that SEGA has published, like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and MadWorld. So any other excursions Platinum has, like Metal Gear Rising, are still okay. This does however put MadWorld sequel Anarchy Reigns in a rather sticky spot. While the game looks close to finished and ready for launch, it puts the game in a situation where it’ll probably make it or break it for SEGA’s partnership with Platinum Games. Platinum, for a while, seem to have more hits than misses. Sure their games do well with critics, but the sales numbers, save for Bayonetta (which boggles the mind even more) seem to underperfom. If these problems continue, it won’t be long before we see Platinum left to fend for themselves. Hopefully, they won’t suffer the same fate as their previous entity.

Rumour: Bayonetta 2 Has Been Cancelled [SPOnG]

The Breakdown – ICO

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System: PS2, PS3 (reviewed)/Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment/Developer: Team Ico/Players: 1 (2 after beating game)/Released: September 21, 2001, September 27, 2011

Picture if you will, the beginning of a console. From the moment it’s in its concept stages to when it’s finally out the door and into the homes of consumers, the company that makes it wants it to be successful. It does everything in its power to prove that the console is worth your hard-earned dollars. Features, controls, ergonomics, power… all of these are important to the console. But most of all, the games make the console, and it is the games that will shape the future of your console. And so, the company picks from a bushel of games to showcase around the launch period to show the public. You want to wow these people to buy your product. Since this is a new console, everyone’s going to go on about the graphics. Well, here’s a game that can wow you, while doing a few nifty things on the side. This was the reality back during the PS2’s early life when ICO was released. 10 years later, do those same enamored feelings still hold true for ICO? After the jump, I break down ICO.

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Night-Time Listenings Wrap-Up: Week of 4/23/12

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This week marked the returned of Night-Time Listenings. I thought that it wouldn’t be fair for a lot of people without Facebook accounts to miss out on these songs. However, if you don’t want to wait for the weekend to see these wrap-ups, you can still like our Facebook Page and listen to the songs the moment they go up! Since Night-Time Listenings re-started on a Tuesday, there’s only four entries. And due to Sakura Matsuri, I couldn’t post this yesterday. Anyway, hit the jump and listen to the music.

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Nintendo Posts Its First Annual Loss In 30 Years

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While Nintendo did expect to lose a little over half-billion dollars in the past year, its still quite a kick in the face for the company. To put this in perspective, Nintendo has never reported an annual loss since going public, essentially when it went to the videogames business. Throughout those years, we’ve seen Nintendo stumble couple of times with the N64, Gamecube, and a few other excursions. But it never dragged Nintendo down that much… until now.

With Wii sales dropping as a new console looms on the horizon and the shaky (but much improved) launch of the 3DS, this could be the jolt that Nintendo needs to finally get back in the game. During this generation, you can see that Nintendo got pretty arrogant with their consoles, even going as far as charging $250 for the 3DS based on people really liking the 3DS with it was first shown at E3 2010. But hey, maybe things might be looking up. There’s a new Super Mario game coming out for the 3DS, and development on the new Super Smash Bros. is finally underway for both the Wii U and 3DS, and sales for the 3DS are on the rise as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Wii U crucial as Nintendo posts first loss in 30 years [techradar]

A Pair Of Shin Megami Tensei News To Wet Your Appetite

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If you have forgotten about it, here’s a reminder that Persona 2: Eternal Punishment will be hitting the PSP in Japan soon. Atlus has released a new trailer for the game and showed bits of gameplay as well. From the looks of it, it will stick to what made Innocent Sin a fun, old-school romp. Admitedly, I don’t know much about Eternal Punishment outside of only knowing it was the only Persona 2 game released in the U.S. back then. So I was surprised to see that Nanjo, the rich guy from Persona 1, will be in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Maya will take over as the main protagonist with Tatsuya Suou playing a scondary role. Katsuya Suou looks like he’ll play a bigger role as well. Madhouse will be doing the intro for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Satelight, the studio that did Innocent Sin‘s intro, will be busy doing the intro for the next game I’m going to talk about.

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