GAME VERSUS – Galaxy Force II

I started a new series along side HardOffing, it’s called Game Versus.  In it, I take a game that’s been released on multiple consoles and pit the different versions against each other to determine which is best.  I can help but feel I could be more flowery about the whole thing; but it’s 2am and I’ve been editing for the last 13 or so hours and I’m tired, so this is as good as it gets. I guess my work will just have to speak for itself.  If you like it, let me know!

Hatsune Miku Vita Bound

 

According to the latest issue of video game magazine Famitsu, the next Project Diva game will be releasing on the PlayStation Vita later this year, and oddly enough, the PlayStation 3 next year.  Why it’s going to take an additional year to put it out for a home console, I can’t fathom.  The game ditches the pucchi look that was fond in the recently successful Project Mirai for Nintendo’s 3DS system, and returns to it “normally shaped” roots as seen in past iterations of the game found on the PSP and PS3.  As always, you can click on the images to enbiggen them.

 

 

Here you can see various screens from the new game, which looks to have maintained the play mechanics of the previous games; but also takes advantage of the dual nub support that the Vita offers.  Also announced are the returning somewhat failed Vocaloid characters of Rin, Ran, Ruka, Kaito, and Meiko.  Will any Vocaloid ever be able to dethrone the ever popular Hatsune Miku?  At this point, probably not.

 

 

Next we get a taste of the locations of the various dance scenes in the game as well as a brief glance at some of the costumes that will be available.  I like that one of the outfits has been designed by someone who is only known as “bob”.   Way to go, “bob”!

I think it’s interesting to note that while Vocaloid fans are getting quite a bit of Hatsune Miku in their lives courtesy of Sega; all the games that have been released thus far have been relatively the same.  Sure, the songs and outfits change, and graphical prowess varies by system; but couldn’t Sega try something a little different?  Are they that set on just driving this Vocaloid cash cow into the ground?  Why not try something new?  I, for one, would love play to play a Vocaloid RPG, and at this point that seems a logical way to go to keep it fresh.  Maybe it’s time for Sega to give Compile Heart a call, hum?

Also, the dates on the top picture refer to a general public game play event being held at Makuhari Messe, April 28 and 29.  There you’ll be able to try the new game out for yourself, if you live in the Tokyo area.  For the game to have just been announced and have a public play event must mean that either it’s pretty far along in development, or that Sega really doesn’t put that much work into these things.  An official release date has not yet been made.

 

 

HardOffing Episode 4: Akihabara part 1

The Game Gear Book

I really dig video game history, and as much as Wikipedia would like you to believe it’s not true, one of the best places to get information on retro games and systems is by reading books and magazines that were released back in the day.  That’s why I recently acquired this:

 

The Sega Game Gear Book from 1990

 

Running 84 pages, what the Sega Game Gear Book amounts to is Game Gear for Dummies, with a little Mega Drive Modem thrown in  for good measure.  Let’s take a look inside, shall we?  As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge.

 

Here we’re introduced to the Game Gear proper, as the book points out the different buttons on the machine and what they do (I told you it was Game Gear for Dummies).  From left to right the book addresses the controller, display screen, start button, and buttons I and II.  It also refers to buying an AC adaptor (or any add-on for that matter) as “powering up” the system.  Well played, Sega… well played…

 

Here we’re shown evil parents not allowing their child to play video games.  I like the fact that while dad gets to sit in a chair to watch TV, mom has to sit on the floor.  But fear not!  All’s not lost for little Sega kid there, turns out he can play his Mega Drive games on his Game Gear using the connectors found on the Game Gear’s TV tuner.  The book goes on to say you can even use it as an external monitor during professional video production, though I doubt anyone actually did that.  Actually, after having seen Japanese TV from this time period, using a Game Gear as a monitor might have been common practice.  That would actually explain a lot…

 

This is a really interesting page.  The left side has cool space ship drawings that relate to nothing while the text explains the internal differences between a Mega Drive and a Game Gear.  It goes on to explain that while Mega Drive games can’t natively be played on Game Gear hardware, Game Gear games could, in fact, be played on a Mega Drive.  That’s because the Game Gear is pretty much just a Mark III (Master System).  Sega would eventually release a converter for the Mega Drive that allowed you to play Mark III (Master System) games on it.  Nintendo would pull ahead in this arena with the Super Game Boy, allowing people to play their Game Boy games on a Super Famicom (Super Nintendo); something that would never grace the Game Gear or Mega Drive, although Sega seems to be hinting at it here.  Sega also reminds you not to mod your system.

 

I think it’s funny that 29% of the book (25 pages) is devoted to the subject of how to the game Columns works and how to play it.  Were people really that stupid back then?

 

Interesting to note is the list of upcoming Game Gear games the book contains.  Included are the titles Space Harrier 3, Fantasy Zone 3, and Alex Kidd, which were never produced.  I also like that it lists one game as “RPG”.  You can’t get any more generic than that.  It’s like someone said, “Yeah, yeah… we’ll make an RPG for it.”

The last part of the books is the coolest, for me at least (although I’ll admit that I didn’t know you could use the Game gear to play your Mega Drive games).  It details the game(s) Phantasy Star Text Adventures, a download only treat that never made it outside of Japan, although apparently is was later released as a compilation for the Mega CD.

 

The book came out right at the beginning of the Game Gear’s sad, sad life, so there’s not really any other games featured in it other than launch titles Pengo and Monico GP.  Although they would be completely useless now, Sega’s Game Gear Book did pique my interest in getting a Game Gear TV tuner and a Mega Modem.  Again, well played, Sega… well played.

Game Gearin’ on the 3DS

I think it’s pretty cool that older games (known as retro games in the gaming community) have seen new life on modern game systems.  Ever since the the Wii’s Virtual Console gave a new meaning to “backwards compatible” old friends have been popping up on the PlayStation 3 and to some extent on the Xbox360.

 

What's old is new again.

 

I don’t buy many games using this method, though.  I prefer to play old games on the systems they were intended to be played on.  The titles I’ve repurchased include Bomber Man ’94 and Tokimeki Memorial 2 because they’re some of my all-time favorite games.  What I really don’t like is the idea of companies selling you the same game over and over and over.  Take Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda.  Since the time it was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan, the original title has been re-sold to consumers by Nintendo at least 6 times, and only one of those times was the game enhanced in any way (this was for the Super Famicom download service).

 

I'm more used than a Mexican condom!

 

A couple of days ago in Japan, three Game Gear titles were released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.  Now, I have a major problem with the idea of paying $150 for a games system where one of its big features is that it allows me to repurchase games for 20 year old lesser systems.  Honestly, if I wanted to play Game Boy games, I’d buy a Game Boy.  I buy next gen systems to play next gen games.  Look at it this way: the cost of me to buy a working Game Boy and a game would run no more than $20 (actually probably closer to $10).  Additional games would cost around $1 – $2 each.  Nintendo wants me to pay $5 each for emulated Game Boy games.  And they say the 3DS doesn’t print money.

 

 

Luckily, Game Gear titles on the 3DS cost less than their Game Boy rivals, clocking in at around $4 each.  The cool thing about the virtual Game Gear titles is that the emulator lets you choose the color of the Game Gear that you’re playing the game on, and the level of Game Gear “realism” you experience while playing.  I spent some time with Sonic & Tails on the 3DS and here’s what I got from the experience:

 

 

Overall, I really like the look and feel of Game Gear on the 3DS.  It has a cool feature where if you’re playing in windowed mode (where you can see the Game Gear system in the upper screen) then you can turn on the 3D, adding a little depth to the experience so it’s a bit like if you were looking down at an actual Game Gear.  You can do that with the Game Boy games as well; but it’s a hidden feature.  I would like to see more focus on giving gamers more retro games in 3D instead of selling us an experience that we already have.  I mean, that’s the whole point of the 3DS, right?

HardOffing Episode 2

Well, I meant to have a big New Love Plus article in this spot; but the video is taking much longer than I anticipated to upload.  1080p HD always takes a long time.  In the meantime, please enjoy my next episode of HardOffing.

HardOffing Episode 1

I travel around hunting in used video game stores so much that I find really cool stuff… but I have no one to share my adventures with; so I decided to share them with you, random internet person!  Not whiz-bang stuff, but if you like retro video games and especially retro Japanese games, this’ll be right up your alley.  More to come!

Game Girls Go!

What is Game Girls Go?  Well, let me tell you what it is not.  It is not another video game news show with smarmy hosts that don’t know a thing about what they’re saying.  It is not the name of a new gravure release from Happy Chicken Pink, although bikinis and lingerie are involved.  And it is not disappointing.

Game Girls Go!  season 1 pits 4 Japanese idols against 16 retro games in a do-or-die competition that will make your head explode.  And that’s all I can say… for now.  Until then, here’s a little promotional video featuring Ayaka Uchiyama to tide you over.  Enjoy!

Hardoffing: Urawa, Japan

One of the great things about Japan is that old games come cheap… well, usually.  One of the best places to get used games, from current generation systems to the classics is called Hard Off.  I talked a little bit about them in my post here.

The Hard Off in Urawa, Japan, seems to have good days and bad days.  Some days I walk in and find magic, like a Playstation debugging unit, some days it’s just… meh.  Here’s a little look at the Hard Off in Urawa:

 

Welcome to Hard Off! Where you can get a copy of GTA4 that won't work in your Japanese 360 (it's European)!

 

I think it’s pretty cool that you’re greeted with a mix of newer and older games.  You can see the three Neo Geo cartridges there on the top.  World Heroes 2 Jet is way overpriced at Y2100 ($27).  There’s a so-so PC Engine game, Emerald Dragon, as well as an excellent PC Engine game Xanadu 2 (I bought that new when it came out for $65… guess I should have waited).  In the middle there is Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn, which is a little high at Y1680 ($22).  Below that are a mix of PC Engine, Mega CD, Dreamcast, and GameCube games.

 

If you need Final Fantasy of Dragon Quest, this is the place to go.

 

Here’s a look at their selection of Playstation 2 games.  They’re sorted by genre.  The PS2 was pretty RPG heavy, and you’ll find an abundance of Final Fantasy games everywhere you look.  They’ve priced all their PS2 Final Fantasy games at Y1680 ($22), regardless of title.  It’s not uncommon that a Hard Off will have a random price that they just stick on games… you’ll see a lot of games, both popular and unpopular, for the same exact price; but that price differs from store to store.  It’s like every store has one lazy guy who works there that eventually gets tired of looking at what the correct price should be for things and just canvases everything with a blanket price.  Sometimes that man works in my favor, other times… not so much.

 

Poor PS Vita... someone already gave you the boot.

Who doesn't want a Virtual Boy with things taped to it?

 

Here’s their systems isle.  It’s running a little low at the moment.  In the foreground you can see a Neo Geo CD complete with box, 3 games, and extra controller for Y8400 ($109).  Even with the extra stuff, that’s a little high.  The Virtal Boy price might seem off-putting, but it’s actually not that bad because it comes with four games, one of those being Mario Clash which easily sells for Y3500 ($45) by itself.  That makes the Y12,600 ($163) price tag a little easier to swallow, being that Virtual Boys usually go for around Y10,000 ($130) for the unit alone.  You can also see a boxed Family Basic set (that’s the programming cartridge and keyboard for the Famicom), Some Wiis, a 3DO, and a Mega Drive waaaaay down there at the end.

Now for the part you’ve all been waiting for.  Here is a video tour I filmed of the store, mostly focusing on their “junk” section.  That’s usually where you find the good stuff.  Making this taught me a very important lesson: never again will I film a Hardoffing video with my iPhone.  And yes, that means more episode of Hardoffing are to come.  It only get’s better from here, so stay tuned.

New Year’s Goodness from Famitsu

The last Famitsu of the year came out today in Japan.  For those of you not familiar, Famitsu is the 800 pound gorilla of gaming magazines in Japan.  It seems as far as 2011 goes, Famitsu saved the best for last.

This issue comes with a bonus catalog sized, well, catalog highlighting the best of Nintendo from the Famicom all the way to modern day 3DS download titles.  Here’s a sampling of what this 194 page tome has to offer:

 

Left: Famicom Right: Famicom Twin, Famicom Twin Turbo, Famicom Titler, and redesigned Famicom. Missing is the neon orange Famicom Twin.

Selection of Game Boys in their various forms, including the Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Light.

Left: Super Famicom Right: Nintendo Satellaview

The Game Boy Advance in it's many varied forms. Missing are almost all of the special editions.

The Nintendo DS, DL Lite, DSi, and DSLL (XL in America).

Left: Page highlighting Zelda for the Famicom Disk System. Right: Famicom Disk System accessories and the disk re-writing kiosk.

Left: Super Famicom and Game Boy re-writable flash memory cartridges. Right: Special edition games for the Game Cube

Left: Special edition Famicom Mini Game Boy Advance boxed sets. Right: Mother 3 (Earthbound 3) for the Game Boy Advance.

 

And as if that weren’t enough, Sega chose to bless readers with a free DVD filled with gameplay and movies from their upcoming  PS3 and XBOX360 game Binary Domain.

 

Happy New Year from Famitsu and Sega!  I highly recommend you snag a copy of this issue before it sells out.