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Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review Aside the super-brief trailer shown at Microsoft’s pre-TGS conference that’s now looping at Square’s booth and the anemic website, tri-ACE hasn’t really given us much about their long-festering, upcoming RPG Infinite Undiscovery. Piling into a hotel suite with director Hiroshi Ogawa (tri-Ace) and producer Hajime Kojima (Square Enix), they filled in a few of the blanks for us, including the big question: “What the hell does ‘Infinite Undiscovery’ mean?”
While the “underlying concept” of the game is discovery, the “overall concept of the game is that it’s always going.” The game’s engine, in fact, seems to be its raison d’etre. Everything is in real-time, so that it’s hard to separate the battle system from the rest of the game—it’s seamless. For instance, weather and other outside forces can influence the battle, like a tsunami. World damage is persistent as well, so that if a wall or something is destroyed by a dragon, it stays that way. Interestingly, Ogawa said it’s kind of like an MMO in that way, but singleplayer with a party system.
Just want to remind you that Team TGS Kotaku is still faithfully plugging away at the big show. We have tons of content coming down the pipeline and it will be landing around the clock. So don’t you dare go to sleep. Just don’t do it. You might miss something, like a Metal Gear Solid guard popping up on you… and then vigorously fanning himself.
Taito’s Space Invaders Revolution didn’t quite reinvent the archetypal arcade series for a new generation as its titled promised, but the company is giving it another go with Space Invaders Extreme. Like the previous Nintendo DS game, Taito adds new power ups and weapons to the formula, but takes the shooting action in an entirely new direction. Focusing on combos, rhythmically driven gameplay and fast paced, more Galaga-like invader formations, many may look at the game and assume it’s developed by Lumines creator Q Entertainment. In fact, it seems to follow the Q design formula so closely, others may call it a rip off.
Not unlike Q’s Gunpey and Every Extend Extra, Space Invaders Extreme adds layers of trippy effects, filling the screen with an excessive amount of visual noise. Even more suspect, your shots will trigger sound effects that I could swear were ripped straight from Rez.
Gameplay-wise though, it does add a handful of fresh elements to make the constant shooting a bit more exciting. You’ll get bonuses for destroying invaders by column, by color, by shape, or by row and be rewarded for doing so with points and alternate stages. There’s a Fever Mode that’s essentially a point grabbing free-for-all and a Roulette Shot that awards you with extra lives.
With the slight sketchiness of latching on to the Q schtick of success, it may seem like Space Invaders Extreme is a me-too gimmick filled attempt at bringing relevance to a 30-year old arcade game. It was enjoyable for the first fifteen minutes, but it’s unclear whether this simple enjoyment will last beyond that. We’ll know more when the game hits early 2008.
newVideoPlayer("Flynn_gawker.flv", 475, 376); Our own Flynn De Marco got some hands-on time with the broomstick controller for Online Mega’s Parse Rorunpe. Just how exciting is the footage? We’re talking hot broom action with up to 10 degrees of tilting. Flynn’s one word review of the device: “Crap.” Sorry Quidditch fans, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
Before I spoke with Goichi Suda yesterday, I got the chance to have a go on No More Heroes, both on the showroom floor and with Suda & Co backstage. From what little was on offer (basically just a load of combat), it felt pretty good, especially the more brutal finishing moves you can pull off by waving the Wii Remote around. One thing, though, really struck me: where was all the violence?
Suda’s on record as saying No More Heroes was going to be violent. Like, Manhunt 2 violent. Yet playing it I noticed there was no blood. Not a drop. Enemies instead disappeared in a puff of black smoke and… coins. So I asked what’s up, does he still want to make it ultra-violent?
“Oh yes. The version you played is the Japanese version, which won’t be featuring much blood,” he said. Understandable, because Japanese censors don’t take much shit. “Besides,” he kids, “he’s using a lightsaber, which burns the wound when you cut someone.”
Western sadists shouldn’t be too concerned: he says gushing fountains of crimson are expected to feature in the American and European releases, both which are due in February 2008.
One corner of the show floor was devoted to a Video Games Museum, made up of playable version of past “game of show” winners. Pretty much every version of the Final Fantasy series (FFVII on) was on display, and I have to say that the guy who was playing through parts of FFX deserves a few devotion points. What, did he really need to re-live one single moment of that 40-hour storyline – one that almost every Japanese gamer has experienced – that one extra time?
Jean Snow
Everyday Shooter – that PSN release that you’ll hopefully all be downloading a couple of weeks from now – had a presence at the show, with its creator, Canadian Jonathan Mak, on hand to give people a go at the game. As the title isn’t getting a Japanese release just yet, Mak was previewing the game from a laptop, and offering the use of earphones so that you could take in the game as it was meant to be played, meaning in a space where you can actually hear the music (not easy when you’re located right next to Capcom’s bombastic booth).
As has been written elsewhere, the game is an absolute blast, but surprising to me was the variety of gameplay that each level introduces. From Geometry Wars-like waves of enemies you move on to hard-to-kill and quickly-spreading insectoids to a level that Mak says was inspired by the Ghibli film Porco Rosso (you need to shoot down red airplanes that continually circle you).
It sounds like Mak is in a good place right now, with the release of the game coming up, and plans are already on the way for a new, undisclosed project. While I was at the booth, a writer for Japanese game bible Famitsu walked by, and he was so entranced that he pretty much promised on the spot that he would feature the game in an upcoming column.
Jean Snow
I’ve been looking forward to Zak and Wiki: Quest for Barbaro’s Treasure ever since it was called Treasure Island Z. I continued to love it through it’s questionable name change and now, having played several different builds, I’m still a huge fan. I got a chance to sit down with Zak and Wiki producer Hironobu Takeshita to talk a bit about the quirky puzzle game and why they went with such a ridiculously long name.
According to Mr. Takeshita, Zak and Wiki takes it’s inspiration from the old PC point and click adventure games of years past. But they didn’t want to create just another retro style game, they wanted to take the formula and improve upon it, allowing the player to do things they previously couldn’t do due to the restrictions of a 2D environment. They also wanted to create a game that would appeal to not only regular game fans, but families and kids as well, providing an experience that would allow parents and kids to play together. I asked Mr. Takeshita if he thought the marketing of the game towards kids would turn off a lot of the adult gamers out there (which is admittedly a larger market) and he said that what will really sell the game is not it’s graphics or title, but it’s content and I have to say I agree. Despite the wonderfully cartoony graphics, the gameplay is solid and the puzzles are fun and more challenging than they would seem on the surface.
Of course I couldn’t let the opportunity to go by without asking Mr. Takeshita about the name change. Treasure Island Z was short, sweet and to the point. Why change it to something so ridiculously long and rather juvenile? To start he said that Treasure Island Z was out because they couldn’t secure the international right to the name because of the book. They went through almost two hundred other names before settling on Zak and Wiki. They figured that using the names of the main characters made sense and that adding the subtitle would let players know what the game was about. As for the length, he said the first name they settled on was even longer, but was shortened to the one they have now, although he couldn’t recall what that longer name was. But ultimately, the name needed to appeal to kids and so was given a name that sounded similar to something one might hear attached to a animated show.
If you’ve had the good fortune to have played a demo of Zak and Wiki, you know how fun it is. It will be a shame if this game gets overlooked due to it’s quirky title and cartoony graphics although if Capcom plays it’s cards right, this game will definitely be a great candidate for a new, intriguing franchise. Mr. Takeshita and his team have created an innovative game for the Wii that deserves a life as long as it’s title.
As a person who used to be a giant Nintendo fanboy, it’s hard saying that it took Metroid 3: Corruption to make me dust off the Wii — it hadn’t seen any action in at least four months – but I’m happy to say that I think No More Heroes will also be a play title for me.
I came to it with mixed feelings; I’d been excited when it was first announced – loved the style and attitude – but I haven’t been a very happy Wii gamer, and so hadn’t really been thinking about the title anymore. All that changed after one play session.
Admittedly, controls are on the basic side: you move around with the nunchuck controller, can lock target with the Z button, and then make your attacks with the A button. But once you make that attack, your flurry of attacks usually turn into a mini-game that has you either shaking or pointing your Wiimote in a particular direction, which then unleashes a special move, and if successful, a fountain of gold coins and the sudden appearance of a slot machine that can pump up that amount.
Another cool feature experienced during the demo was when a call came to the character’s cell phone; to respond, you need to place your Wiimote’s speaker to your ear to listen to the call. Gimmicky? Yes, but it worked great as a storytelling element, and helped put me “in” the game.
Add to this some stylish character designs, a retro pixel-inspired HUD/interface, and what looks like a wacky over-the-top storyline, and you’ve got the recipe for a game that rises above the seemingly unending streak of disappointing Wii releases.
Jean Snow
Ten things I learned at the presentation by Nielsen Vice President Jeff L. Herrmann about their new measuring system for game play.
1. Men aged 18-49 play lots of video games. 2. Lots of people own consoles. 3. A lot of people watch American Idol. 4. Women play video games too! 5. A lot of kids play on the Wii, and they mostly play when they get back from school. 6. Gamers who play on the 360 and PS3 – they tend to be older – play in the evening. 7. Gamers are mostly playing on the PS2. 8. Gamers are getting interested in next-gen gaming. 9. The most played PC game is World of Warcraft. 10. After stating that the heaviest gamers play an average of 10 hours a week, Mr. Herrmann explained that he would rather use that time for sleep.
Jean Snow
