Yesterday, Charlie received a mysterious note threatening him to stop saving those thrown into the TV prompting the investigation team to get serious.
Get Persona 4!
Insert another credit, because it’s time for your weekly video game news and you’ve just hit the Game Overview screen.
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover this week, so let’s get cracking right away. Will I mention Left 4 Dead 2 again? Read on to find out:
Thank God Atlus Made a Mistake
Video game companies take note: countdown timers suck. No one likes them. Stop teasing your announcements and just make announcements like normal people do.
Or you could do what Atlus just did and tease an announcement and follow it with an accidental premature reveal. The cat is out of the bag, Atlus announced another new spinoff iteration to their MegaTen series with the upcoming (comes out 8 October) Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. Story details indicate that the main character is a member of a UN research team deployed to investigate some weirdness at the South Pole. I’m a fan of MegaTen in general, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.
Big Numbers
It seems that Dragon Quest IX has sold another 600k or so since last week. Good on them, keep it up and localize that game faster!
Rock Out!
Guitar Hero fans were so smug about the music creation tools within GH: World Tour. It turned out to be a rather niche feature that created midi-representations of songs that vocals couldn’t even be recorded for. Clearly not what everyone was expecting. Harmonix announced the Rock Band Network this week, allowing bands who hold copyrights to songs to chart their own songs and release them within Rock Band, fully realizing their vision of making Rock Band a platform for music distribution. It’s very exciting and I can’t wait to see if some of my favorite underrepresented bands will start submitting their music to the game. There are a few caveats with submission, namely that the content must remain rated T, but it’s still some of the best news I’ve heard from the company not pertaining directly to The Beatles: Rock Band in a while.
While I’m on the subject of Rock Band, research is showing that sales of boxed copies of Rock Band and Guitar Hero are down 49% in no small part due to the Guitar Hero glut diluting the marketplace. Thankfully, Harmonix’s music platform idea has caught on, earning them a cool billion dollars in revenue. They’ve sold over 40 million tracks online. Good on you HMX.
Get Rock Band 2!
Evo
Evo 2009 came to a close this year and if you know anything about Street Fighter, you can probably guess who won. Daigo “The Beast” in the West and “Ume” in Japan Umehara, playing as Ryu, faced off against America’s Justin Wong, playing as Balrog, in a fight that truly went the distance.
Known around the world for his almost psychic shoryuken deployment, Daigo squeezed past Wong with truly expert execution.
If you want to see more Daigo vs Wong, check out Daigo’s most famous moment from Evo 2004. The epic action begins at about 2:43:
Confused by what you just saw? Daigo, as Ken, parried all 15 of the hits in Justin Wong’s Chun-Li super move. This is no easy feat, especially considering that he had to jump to do one of them. He then takes advantage of Chun-Li’s recovery time to unleash a super of his own, winning the match and Evo 2004.
While they haven’t faced each other as many times, I like to think of Wong and Umehara as the Federer and Roddick of the fighting game world. Good luck next year Justin.
Swamp Fever
Come on, you knew I was going to mention it? New L4D2 details have emerged thanks to SDCC. Valve has released details and footage of the Spitter at Comic-Con.
The Spitter seems to fall into Valve’s “split up groups” policy in Left 4 Dead. Not content to allow players to sit on their haunches with the same tactics from L4D, the Spitter will disperse survivors by lobbing spit balls in a mortar-like fashion that cause continuous damage when players stand in the same spot. Combined with the Charger, this game is looking to be a lot harder.
Other announcements include the common-uncommon infected, modified common infected specific to each level. One can guess that the hazmat, fire retardant infected are one example of this innovation, but Valve has specifically named Mud Men from, I assume, Swamp Fever as common-uncommon infected. They will crawl and move very quickly.
That video actually shows off quite a bit. You can see the residue from a Spitter quickly take down Coach and Ellis and Nick is knocked away from the group and savagely beat against the ground by a Charger (the little arm is so funny looking) while Rochelle is overwhelmed by common infected. It looks intense.
The Fortress
Everyone loves Dwarf Fortress-related comics. Matt and Ian at Three Panel Soul have put together yet another strip.
Man Do I Love “Paperback Writer”
While we’re far away from the subject of The Beatles: Rock Band, how about I post the new gameplay trailer?
I need this game when I get back from Japan.
Time for Updates!
The Xbox 360 dashboard will be updates on 11 August. New features seem to be their games on demand service, movie parties (think MSTK3000), and an avatar marketplace so you can buy gear for your Mii knockoff.
Grand Theft Advertising
Chicago poked the bear by prohibiting the advertising of games rated M on their public transportation ad spaces while not also prohibiting the advertising of R-rated movies. The suit comes from the ESA who claims that the whole thing defies the first amendment. Nice work getting yourselves in trouble Chicago. Was it really worth it to get rid of GTA IV ads?
I’m not ready to review the album yet, but the Rx Bandits have released a new album this week! It’s called Mandala and it’s an amazing listen. I’d have to say my favorite track so far is “White Lies.”
Get Mandala!
I’ll be seeing them live on 28 August and I can’t wait. There will probably be a concert wrap-up following the show along with a CD review soon.
Until then, enjoy this feature about the making of the album.
The endurance run continues to roll on as the Investigation Team works to solve the mystery behind the murders.
I like being surprised by a narrative. Too often, especially when it comes to video games, it’s always the same predictable plot twists and points. This was a point where Dan, the player, and Dan, the character, were both stunned at a convention being broken. It seems that Dan is most definitely not the hero of legend. The Zenithian helmet doesn’t fit Dan and Cleohatra is not willing to just loan it to him with the hopes that he’ll eventually run into the hero of legend. She sends Dan off to his previously unknown hometown of Gotha with the intent to track down the leads that Pankraz was following.
While we’re on the topic of defied expectations, there’s was an event along the route to Gotha that I found particularly telling of Horii’s style. Along the path, there was a cave containing a very suspicious old woman. Every statement she makes ends with a suspicious cackle and she seems to want Dan to stay the night. Knowing danger when I see it, I declined her offer at first, fearing for the safety of my party. Then I thought about this feature and made Dan accept this old witch’s hospitatlity to see just what might happen. Cut to a scene where Dan and Debora are sleeping in the same room and Deb complains to Dan about hearing strange noises upstairs. Dan has the option of going to check it out. Knowing that something was clearly amiss, I ordered Dan to get up and check on just what that old woman was doing, but he was paralyzed in place! Things were looking bad, I mean, Dan takes a detour on his way to Gotha and is about to find himself killed. The old woman walked downstairs and crept up to the hero. It turned out that she was simply enhancing Dan’s equipment and he received a +1 permanent strength enhancement. She just paralyzed Dan and Debora so that they would sleep through the night and not have fitful sleep.
It’s totally obvious, in retrospect, that nothing bad would have happened to Dan as a result of simply trusting someone suspicious. Horii is not the kind of guy to just screw over a player for doing something nice, so it makes perfect sense that your actions reward you. The question of whether or not it’s okay to outright punish a player for making a choice so tangential to the main game mechanics or story is bigger than this tiny DQV feature, but I think it bears thinking about. The player does not want to feel like he/she has been unfairly penalized, but I think it would be a fine choice for a notorious trickster, like Kojima, to force upon his unsuspecting audience.
The characterization of Debora also became a point for me. At one point along the path, it seemed like she said something rather nice to me. Quite frankly, the last thing I’d want in this game would be for her to become some sort of weak-kneed woman who is head-over-heels in love with Dan. If I wanted that, I would have had Dan marry Bianca. I’m really hoping that consistency and quality are Horii’s priorities over pandering to male sexist ideas about what a woman should act like. Marrying a Briscoletti continues to be a financially sound decision, as I received another gift on the way to Gotha. In other Debora-related story developments, our arrival in Batenberg was immediately followed by Deb fainting.
Get Dragon Quest V from my aStore!
After still not catching a goldfish, Vinny and Jeff continue the school year while waiting for Naoto’s recovery.
It’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up.
Here we are at the middle of the 2009 MLB season and things could not be more different than I expected. Dark horse candidates lead wild cards, division standings are mostly in shambles, it’s just not what most anyone predicted.
Let’s take a look at the current standings:
AL East
Yankees Red Sox 1GB Rays 4.5GB Blue Jays 10.5GB Orioles 15GB
No doubt about it, the AL East has seen a return to past form with the rise of the Yankees after last year’s dismal (for them) results. At the season’s opening it seemed like the Blue Jays might make a run for it, but their strong start quickly eroded away putting them way far behind in the standings. It will be interesting to see who finishes last: Baltimore or Toronto.
The East remains a three-team race this year and the Rays have a lot of ground to make up. I’ll be revising my predictions as follows:
Red Sox Rays Yankees Orioles Blue Jays
I think the Rays can win the wild card with a strong second half and the Yankees will struggle late in the season to give Tampa Bay the go ahead. Baltimore’s strong youth combined with Toronto’s impending Roy Halladay trade will allow the Os to pull ahead of the Jays.
AL Central
Tigers White Sox 2GB Twins 2.5GB Royals 13GB Indians 13.5GB
It’s a real surprise to see Detroit go from last place last year to first place this year. I guess the bigger surprise was that they were last place last year despite a strong squad. It’s a strong three team race in this division too. You can count out the surprisingly terrible Indians and predictably bad Royals this year. Will Kansas City ever field a good team in the near future?
The division will wrap up:
Tigers Twins White Sox Royals Indians
Detroit is really looking to perform this season and I think they have a great chance thanks to superb young pitching. So long as the team keeps hitting, they should be fine, especially if they can make a move before the deadline for more starting pitching. I predict that Mauer will give the Twins the needed boost to stay above the Sox all year long, but, who knows, it might come to a playoff between the teams again, they’re relatively evenly matched.
AL West
Angels Rangers 3GB Mariners 5.5GB Athletics 15GB
The AL West will be one of the most surprising and exciting divisions this year, I can just feel it. LA won’t be able to hold onto their lead and the Rangers are hungry for their first World Series appearance. Seattle has done quite well for itself this season thanks to the steady lead of Don Wakamatsu and, really, all it takes is a good streak to put them in a competitive spot in the west.
Rangers Mariners Angels Athletics
It’s a bold prediction, but I’m going to forecast a late season collapse for the Angels that puts them a hair behind Seattle in the west. We all know Oakland is going nowhere.
NL East
Phillies Braves 6.5GB Marlins 7GB Mets 10GB Nationals 27GB
I could not be more surprised about the way a division is turning out. NL East was close coming out of the All-Star break, but a sweep of the Marlins by the Phillies blew this wide open. All the East can hope for is a Phillies slump, but with NL competition being what it is, this may not happen. The Mets place in all of this is rather surprising too, but not unbelievable since almost their entire roster is on the DL. They’re practically fielding a AAA team.
Phillies Marlins Braves Mets Nationals
New York won’t be able to recover from all of these injuries and the Braves won’t be able to pull ahead of the Fish. Philadelphia holds on to the top and Washington is just terrible.
NL Central
Cardinals Cubs 2GB Astros 2GB Brewers 2GB Reds 5.5GB Pirates 8.5GB
Is there a closer division in baseball than the NL Central? Four teams within two games of first place has got to be some sort of record. The most surprising story in this division has to be the terrible play of the Cubs after their amazing 2008 season.
Cardinals Cubs Brewers Astros Reds Pirates
Predicting this one is almost like flipping a coin. St. Louis has all the pieces they need to go the distance this year, barring injury. I think they have the best chance to do well considering Chicago’s lack of initiative this year.
NL West
Dodgers Rockies 9.5GB Giants 9GB Diamondbacks 20GB Padres 23GB
After the exciting NL Central, how do we arrive at this mess? The largest first place lead in baseball goes to LA (again) this year, but in the opposite league. The Dodgers are in a dangerous position with such lax competition and could find themselves floundering in the playoffs this year. I’m still amazed that both Colorado and the Giants are leading the wild card race this year. Colorado has been on a tear since changing skippers to Jim Tracy and the Giants seem to have found their niche with standout pitching by Lincecum and Cain. If only these teams found their stride earlier in the season, this division might have been interesting.
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay NL Wild Card: Giants
Controversial choices, I know, but I love both of these teams and I hope to see them succeed this year.
Looks like Charlie and the gang are working on their social links with the shrine Fox. Fishing is boring in this game, it’s true.
There’s a rather interesting mechanic in play with Dragon Quest V and, while it wasn’t pioneered in Dragon Quest V, I think that it fits in well with the family theme of DQV. After Dan became an adult, he acquires a horse named Dusty and a wagon. This wagon holds the hero’s excess party when he doesn’t have them in the fighting party. The end result is that Dan has the fighting party and a backup party present in battles. He can swap fighters whenever he needs to within any battle that the wagon is present in. The wagon, logically, is only present in outdoor battles or battles in locations where a wagon would fit in the corridors with you.
Anyway, back to my point, the wagon emphasizes the broad themes present in the game. While the narrative has Dan literally creating a new family, this mechanic, combined with the monster recruitment, is also like creating a family with a fighting unit. It’s heavily reminiscent of the Oregon Trail to me. Dan, his real family, and his extended family all travel to their destination together and, at any point on the world map or in a town/dungeon/temple, Dan can hit a button to talk to the members of his party to get their input on current events.
Horii also has some fun with the wagon mechanic in the random battles. The Dragon Quest series’ iconic enemy is the slime. It’s usually the first enemy you encounter and the easiest one, at that. At around this point in the game I started seeing huge crowds of slimes at once, which was an odd occurrence considering what part of the world map I was on. It got interesting when all of the slimes started coming together to create…a King Slime! This new abomination was a much larger slime that could take some hits, unlike his constituent parts. The King Slime has an interesting attack whereupon he charges the wagon. The result is that the wagon goes flying away and the fighting party becomes your only pool of fighters to draw from.
Another neat little touch that Yuji Horii added to the game has to do with your choice of wife. Bianca, who, as I’ve discussed before, seems to be the canonical choice for a wife, is rather poor. Her father lives alone in a small town and her mother died in her youth. The Briscolettis, on the other hand, are rich and influential. So when Dan arrived in Helunaptra, I was surprised and quite pleased to see a representative from the Briscoletti family when he gave Dan a chest containing 2000 gold as a gift from his father-in-law.
Dan went to Helunaptra to retrieve the Zenithian Helmet and hears from the citizens that the Zenithian hero of legend will save Helunaptra and the world. Naturally, this will be Dan. Gotta get that helmet to finish off my quest. Just got to go talk to the queen of Helunaptra, Cleohatra. So this little kingdom Helunaptra (sounds kind of like helmet) is ruled by Cleohatra. Very clever localization team. Good stuff. Time to go see the helmet. Will it be stolen? Will it be fake? Will she make Dan do something before she gives it to him? Find out next time!
Fell behind again, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly social linking for now. Based on the caption, it seems that Charlie’s uncle is having some problems controlling his daughter.
