Link Out (12/10/08)

October 12th, 2008

metal gear solid 2 snake

The past few weeks I seem to be sectioning between days with no time on my hands to days with perhaps too much free time. It’s all pretty random, so in the downtime I’ve been chipping away at some articles and doing plenty of reading because I know, before too long, I’ll be back in the cycle again.

Whatever the case may be I seem to have more time on my hands over here, which is great. This means that the quality of links for this month are top notch. Here’s what I have enjoyed lately:

The Needles: The Russians Are Coming! – The Escapist

This editorial should be read in tango with my Culture Bred Through Game Design article as it’s a sarcastic take on the cultural convenience of using Russians as the default video game villains. Despite the humour of the article, I find the observation to be an intriguing one. Been planning on writing about “cultural convenience” for a while.

Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked

There aren’t many thinkers in the industry, particularly ones that managed to tie together games and some significant discipline of study, which is why I am happy to plug almost anything that Henry Jenkins writes about games. Take a read.

Coming Home – Sexy Video Game Land

I don’t think that I’ve ever linked out to Leigh Alexander before which is a pity because I enjoy most of the stuff she writes, it’s all very melt-in-your-mouth writing. This post talks about the conclusive state of mind gamers place themselves in before we even have a chance to play. The quotes at the end nail the point beautifully.

Metal Gear Solid 4 spite – GameSpite

There’s been a whole pile of new writers on GameSpite lately and I’m not too sure that If I like them or not. In anycase, the critiques are still pretty solid, as was the case with this one. Some good points made, still not enough to mend the shitstorm that blew in come review time. Some of the points tie in with what I wrote here too.

TGS: Square Enix’s Wada: Japanese Industry Has ‘Lost Its Position’

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that it exists and Yoichi Wada just did. Asian cultures seem reluctant to change, his acknowledgment is a good place to start.

Masochistic? [Too Human] – Consolation Prize

The account here is interesting. Basically it’s all about the affinity that builds up between you and the game when you are forced to teach yourself how to play. The effort invested in the game ultimately makes it harder to hate the title because you become more aware of what it was trying to do, even if it didn’t do it properly in the first place.

Greater than the (Riemann) Sum of Its Parts?

I must confess, I love this blog and have been backlogging on articles I missed for the early on. Richard’s approach is simple; everything can be broken down into smaller parts, hence by dismantling games we can better understand why they are good or bad. It’s common sense genius that doesn’t exist in this industry. So go forth, learn!

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Konami Vs Square Enix – TGS Supremacy

September 20th, 2007

square enix konami tokyo game show

This years Tokyo Game Show is definitely gearing up to be a fantastic event, mostly due to the hype surrounding big hitters from Konami and Square Enix. With Nintendo once again out of the picture and other companies having fairly average showings, its time for these guys to strut their stuff. So lets breakdown what to expect from these guys

Line up of Games

Square Enix

Konami

Square Enix’s Showing

SE have a nice selection of first time and already played titles on their list with a number of core titles still in video form. There is obviously a strong showing of mobile phone games which for most of us probably isn’t much of a big deal although the new Tobal title was a bit of a surprise.

I think that titles like Rings of Fate, Crisis Core and FF: Tactics A2 will really be what we are expecting out of these titles. There has already been plenty of news and media on Rings of Fate and (just recently)Crisis Core, so really we’ll just hear more on how they play. Its also pretty safe to assume that FF Tactics A2 will play the same as its predecessor especially with no touch screen field control.

I think that the two remakes(DQ and FF IV) as well as Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon should be the more interesting titles of the show. The new videos of FF XIII, Dissidia Final Fantasy and Last Remnant should also maintain quite a buzz. Hopefully these trailers will contain a solid amount of gameplay video. Chances are they all should.

The other bit of buzz around Square Enix’s showing are the number of surprise announcements that people are expecting. Here is a list from QJ of all of the rumoured titles to be announced:

Now, as of writing Square have shown the media video of 3 new Kingdom Hearts titles being:

These were all shown off in a montage behind closed doors.

Konami’s Showing

What Square misses out on Konami fits in. Playable versions of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Solid Online(6 vs 6) is definitely the highlight here. Konami much like Square are also into the mobile phone gaming market and announced several big franchise titles for mobiles at their conference.

Overall they have plenty of Metal Gear Solid to show off:

Along with MGS there are the 3 new Silent Hill titles; Origins, Silent Hill 5 and a new mobile phone title. Sticking with their best franchises there will also be a slew Wining Eleven on show. The Wii also won’t be left out with titles like Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party, Big Head Baseball and Big Head MLB. All of these titles are designed for the non gamer in mind.

As of writing, news has been put out of even more titles announced at Konami’s TGS Conference. So to find out about more of what they have on offer click the following link.

Conclusion

More big hitting franchises definitely seem to be the theme this year. With Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Wining Eleven all due for at least 3 new titles(per franchise) being released in the near future. Its clear to see that key, stable franchises seem to be the future of gaming. Look below to see the current highlights.

News Links

Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer
Kingdom Hearts Announcement
Konami Press Conference
Square Enix Rumoured titles
Metal Gear Online Package Announcement

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