Apparently it is not only high-profile console games like Manhunt 2 that are capable of provoking public outrage in Britain. A new brain-training game called MindQuiz was recently pulled from store shelves because it was found to contain a derogatory term. Once the company became aware of the offensive language following a public outcry, they decided to pull the game from shelves voluntarily. A back-pedalling spokesperson had this to say about the whole debacle:
“As soon as we were made aware of the issue we stopped distribution of the product and are now working with retailers to pull the game off the market. The game was developed in Japan, and we unfortunately did not pick up on the offending word in our quality assurance. We are currently working with the developer to find a way to rectify the issue.”
We are not sure if this excuse holds any water, since the offending language was in English, not in Japanese (suggesting that the localization team was actually at fault). Sadly, the word was first discovered in the game by a mother who was recovering in the hospital after giving birth to a disabled child. The BBC is not reporting what the word was, since it is, well, derogatory.
Slower-paced, tactical gameplay seems to lend itself to portable systems, at least from what we have been told by the video game industry. The assumption by developers must be that handheld gamers will be enjoying their product while using the rest of their attention to do something else: driving, operating heavy machinery, running from the police, and so on. Irem Software is working on a new title for gamers who like to play their PSP while literally on the go, and like other tactical games available for the system, their choice of source material leaves us scratching our heads.
The screenshots that have been released so far for R-type Tactics have not done much to alleviate our confusion. It appears as if players will be able to select units from a menu and deploy them onscreen to participate in turn-based battle. While the game certainly looks pretty, it is unclear whether it will capture the mass appeal that a more straightforward R-Type game might have. What do you think? Are you willing to give a tactical side-scrolling space shooter a chance?
If you are a DS fan and have been hiding under a rock all day, you may not have heard that the first screenshots of Konami’s upcoming Contra IV have made their way onto the Internet. Here in all their glory are the screens, courtesy of the folks at 1Up, who managed to score an early preview of the game. A number of things catch our attention while drooling over these screenshots. First of all and most apparent is their unapologetic old-school flavor. No need to worry about a hackneyed 3d spinoff, here, folks. This will be the real deal. The only innovations over the original 2d sidescroller formula appear to be the addition of certain new vehicles and the fact that the game will make use of both DS screens during play. Otherwise the familiar Contra gameplay seems to be intact: enemies are plentiful, platform-jumping skills are a must, and weapons like the spread shot will fall from the sky in the form of power-ups like we have come to expect.
I received an email a few minutes ago from Sony containing some precious nuggets of information about God of War: Chains of Olympus. The company is planning to release a demo of the game to the public on September 7th, but in the meantime the developers plan to spam my email inbox with constant updates about the “making of…” process. This week, they are showing off some of the impressive art design that will be featured in the game. According to project director Ru Weerasuriya, the screenshots we have seen so far barely begin to capture the epic proportions of the experience they are planning on the PSP. News that Sony has finally unlocked the full (333 mhz) potential of the PSP leads us to believe that God of War will be one of the first titles to take advantage of this extra horsepower:
It’s no easy task bringing God of War to the PSP. Fans have come to expect these huge landscapes, complex gameplay, and visceral combat that God of War I and II gave them. To bring that same experience to the PSP, we are pushing the hardware further than ever before. We’re really pleased with what we have so far, but we’re not done yet. We still have a few tricks up our sleeve.
Justin Murray, concept and texture artist for the game seems to have an unhealthy fascination with trees. His description of the screenshot above leads us to believe that this tree will serve as more than just background eye-candy when the game ships. His description gives the impression that at some point, gamers will find themselves locked in epic combat with the olive tree from hell:
I based the design on an olive tree because I thought it had an interesting texture that worked well with the character of my concept. Giving the tree a tumor-like surface and distorting it’s massive form made it appear even more like a petrified monster. The scarred ground surrounding the base of this monstrosity was designed to look like it had punched itself up from the depths of the earth.
With the amount of enthusiasm and attention to detail these developers have expressed for the game, we are fairly certain this will be a highlight game on the PSP. It will definitely be a long wait for us until the demo finally arrives in September.
OK all you drum-circle hippies, there is a new sheriff in town. Traxxpad: Portable Studio from Eidos Interactive promises to revolutionize, popularize, and portabilize music making in a way that has never been done before. In the video demonstration below, a company spokesperson shows off some of the innovative features of this not-quite-game. There are no scores or goals to achieve like one would expect in a traditional rhythm game; instead, Traxxpad can be thought of as more of a toolbox for making your own music tracks. Anyone who has ever played around with programs like Rebirth on the PC will be comfortable with the concept here. Traxxpad adds a number of user-friendly features to the Rebirth formula, however. Gone are all of the complicated icons and menus for selecting instruments and beats. These have been replaced by an intuitive AI system that drops beats where they belong without user input. All the aspiring musician needs to do is select the kind of sound that they want and drop it in the appropriate measure.
With a number of options for sampling, recording and exporting tracks, Traxxpad Studio appears to have the functionality of a fully-featured music application. Based on the demonstration, we can’t wait to try out this innovative piece of software for ourselves.
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of one of the most successful RPG franchises of all time, Square Enix is releasing the first two titles in the series on the PSP. Final Fantasy I: Anniversary Edition was released this week in North America, and the follow-up sequel will come next month for those who are eager to play through the early entries in this venerable franchise. Both versions have been available for some time in Japan, and while they are not identical to each other in terms of storyline, they share enough similarities in terms of gameplay and presentation that they can be treated together for the purposes of this review. So, are these two remakes worth your valuable time and even more valuable money? While Final Fantasy veterans and fans of simple console RPGs will undoubtedly get more mileage out of these two titles, most casual role-playing fans are likely to be disappointed by the overall lack of effort and polish that has gone into their respective updates. Read on to find out how Square may have crossed the line between inspired remake and cynical cash-grab.
Logic puzzle videogames have become somewhat of a popular trend nowadays. Nintendo’s Brain Age franchise has sparked off a rush to the market by imitators that all promise to train your brain “in minutes a day” with dubious results. There is a wide variety of puzzle titles to choose from on the Nintendo DS, including other Sudoku and logic puzzle games. The recently released Brain Buster Puzzle Pack, however, clearly stands out from the rest, delivering five different puzzle series that are sure to keep even the most discerning puzzle freak busy. Keep on reading to find out what makes this game so enjoyable, keeping in mind that the game’s core audience is logic puzzle lovers, thus offering little appeal to those not interested in taxing their brains while playing a video game.
The homebrew developers known as (certainly anything but) Noobz have released a video showing off their brand new all-firmware exploit for the PSP. Making clever use of a modified savegame for Sony’s very own Lumines, the hackers have been able to run an unsigned “Hello World” application on all versions of Sony’s official firmware. This might not be very exciting news for people who already have custom firmware installed on their machines, but it is big news indeed for the rest of us waiting patiently on a 3.50 downgrader. We will be sure to bring you more news on these developments as they emerge.
First let me preface this by saying that not only do I own both a DS and a PSP, but I would also be hard-pressed to declare a clear favorite in the portable race so far. I especially enjoyed Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the DS, because it brought back so many fond memories of the classic original on the Nintendo home console. That said, there is a whole chapter in the Castlevania series that we have been missing out on with the DS. You see, somewhere along the line, the franchise got all high-falootin’ and — dare we say — pretty.
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles is actually a remixed compliation of two other games: Symphony of the Night (arguably one of the best Castlevania titles ever made) and Rondo of Blood, which was a Japan-only title for the PC-Engine. Both games will be unlocked in their original glory after beating the main sngle-player quest. Check out the video below for the upcoming Castlevania: DX Chronicles and tell me that it doesn’t represent a whole new category of awesome. This game is expected to ship in October 2007 for North America.
Retailer Toys ‘R’ Us are having a sale on Nintendo DS games this week, offering 3 games for the price of 2. That’s right, for a limited time you can get a free game with the purchase of two other titles of equal or greater value. The sale isn’t just for bargain-bin stuff, either — the list includes 159 titles, so there is sure to be something there to satisfy whatever mood you happen to be in. We recommend picking up Etrian Odyssey and Clubhouse Games, for their lasting appeal and excellent value. The sale is also available to online shoppers, so be sure to head over to the official site and get bargain hunting!
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of one of the most successful RPG franchises of all time, Square Enix is releasing the first two titles in the series on the PSP. Final Fantasy I: Anniversary Edition was released this week in North America, and the follow-up sequel will come next month for those who are eager to play through the early entries in this venerable franchise. Both versions have been available for some time in Japan, and while they are not identical to each other in terms of storyline, they share enough similarities in terms of gameplay and presentation that they can be treated together for the purposes of this review. So, are these two remakes worth your valuable time and even more valuable money? While Final Fantasy veterans and fans of simple console RPGs will undoubtedly get more mileage out of these two titles, most casual role-playing fans are likely to be disappointed by the overall lack of effort and polish that has gone into their respective updates. Read on to find out how Square may have crossed the line between inspired remake and cynical cash-grab.
Logic puzzle videogames have become somewhat of a popular trend nowadays. Nintendo’s Brain Age franchise has sparked off a rush to the market by imitators that all promise to train your brain “in minutes a day” with dubious results. There is a wide variety of puzzle titles to choose from on the Nintendo DS, including other Sudoku and logic puzzle games. The recently released Brain Buster Puzzle Pack, however, clearly stands out from the rest, delivering five different puzzle series that are sure to keep even the most discerning puzzle freak busy. Keep on reading to find out what makes this game so enjoyable, keeping in mind that the game’s core audience is logic puzzle lovers, thus offering little appeal to those not interested in taxing their brains while playing a video game.
