THQ Onboard Revolution
Company president pledges support, hints at aggressive Nintendo.
by IGN Staff
September 8, 2005 - Tonight at THQ's year-end press event, IGNcube caught up with company president Brian Farrell and quizzed him on Revolution plans. Farrell did confirm that THQ is developing "games for Revolution." Providing more details than that, Farrell indicated wide support for all the next-generation consoles including Revolution, saying, "THQ's plan is to serve gamers no matter what platform they are on." Backing that up, he also firmly stated, "We are commited to Nintendo's [Revolution]."
However, when asked about what plans Nintendo has laid out for THQ, Brian was hush-hush on the matter. But he claims that based on his discussions with the hardware giant, he feels that "Nintendo is waking up."
Finally, when confronted with the question of whether or not THQ was in possession of development hardware, Mr. Farrell declined to provide specifics due to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). All he would say was that "We're seeing more from Nintendo now [for Revolution] than we have an any other Nintendo platform."
But here's my thing; Monkey Ball has always needed a tilt sensor since it's inception on the Dreamcast. It ***NEEDS*** a tilt sensor. I got the GBA version which is alot of fun but the lack of analog is just poop. They could have put a tilt sensor in the GBA version but decided not to.
Now with the DS they're saying the game will use the stylus to 'roll' your Monkey Ball in the direction you want to go. This sounds like it could be fun however the series was always about tilting the playing field to cause your ball to move. I haven't played Pac'n Roll but I understand it has the same game mechanic of 'rolling' the ball. But I say take out the stylus out all together and throw in a tilt pak in the GBA slot of the DS.
The touch screen could be used with your fingers. Imagine holding the DS like you would for playing a Gameboy game: Your thumbs can still reach the touch screen quite easily. Your thumbs could be like 'brakes' to instantly stop your Monkey Ball and then 'flick it' in the direction you want to go.
An alternative would be that your thumbs would act like a bumper: You use your thumbs to block the Ball. It would retain most of its speed but you could be able to deflect it from certain death. All other controls would be carried out through the tilt pak by actually tilting the DS. Although a camera option would be great too. Imagine a first person Monkey Ball. :D
The top screen would have your obligatory map/radar as well as point score, number of lives, etc.
What do you think: Pac'n Roll style or the style I mentioned above for playing Monkey Ball DS?
Regardless of how it's done, I hope it's online out of the box and uses the DS mic to communicate to your buddies during the mini games and other multiplayer modes. And i'd love to see a full-on replay mode (like the ones used in 1080 and F-Zero) that lets you save an entire level replay to show off your uber Monkey skills.
And lastly, the ability to play as different characters with unique abilities. The baby is small and light and bounces high, easy to control but slow. Gongon is heavy and bounces very little, hard to control but super-fast, etc. I'd also like to see Ball upgrades so that you can open your ball like a parachute/glider or a Spiderball like upgrade :D
Quote:Sonic Goes eXtreme
New multiplatform racing title to feature all your favorite characters.
by IGN Staff
September 7, 2005 - Just as we were starting to think that Shadow had taken over the Sonic franchise for the remainder of 2005, Sega makes the surprise announcement of an all-new racing game featuring Sonic and friends. The latest issue of Famitsu reveals that Sonic Riders is being developed by Sonic Team for a Winter Japanese release on the Xbox, PS2 and GameCube this winter. Serving as producer is Yuda Koshi, a veteran of Sonic development who's also worked on Puyo Puyo and Space Channel 5.
In Sonic Riders, Dr. Robotnik has set up a speed challenge, and all the Sonic characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Storm the Albatross, Jet the Hawk, Miles "Tails" Prower and Web the Swallow, have decided to compete. To the victor goes a Chaos Emerald.
Unlike the classic Sega Saturn racer Sonic R (now appearing as a game in Sonic Gems Collection), Sonic Riders promises an "eXtreme" experience. Yes, Sega is actually using this buzz word that we thought had died two years ago to promote the game. Sonic and friends speed through tracks on air boards, using individual special moves to strike down opponents.
Air is a big element of Sonic Riders. Your board's "fuel" source is air. You can fill up your air at various points on the course, but to race well you'll have to use another means of replenishment: performing tricks with your board. You'll also want to make use of turbulence from racers who are in front of you. By riding your rival racers' turbulence, you get a burst of speed and can even make your board leap into the air (sometimes finding shortcuts in the course). Your air supply remains fixed when riding turbulence, making this a tactic that you'll want to employ as you play the game. Turbulence isn't all good, though, as players can generate irregularities in their turbulence, knocking those who are along for a free ride out of the course.
Sega is planning a whole lot of gameplay for Sonic Riders. Expect numerous tracks, including such Sonic fare as Splash Canyon, Egg Factory, Green Cave and Sandy Ruin. The game will offer a number of different modes, including two and four player split screen.
Sega of Japan will be holding a press conference in Tokyo on Friday to show off some of its upcoming plans for the Sonic series, and we expect Sonic Riders to make an appearance there, followed by a showing at the Tokyo Game Show. Sonic fans, stay tuned for much more to come.
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------ Location: Death Mountain Hearts: 3 Deaths: 0 Skulltulas: 5 Status: Just beat King Dodongo. Cavern was harder than I remember. Not doing so badly yet. This is my first attempt to do the 3-Heart challenge in Master Quest mode. Went to go see Great Fairy on Death Mountain but had no slingshot ammo to kill the skulltulas with. [/size]
Describing Kino's Journey is no easy thing since there's simply NOTHING to compare it to. It's unlike any anime I've ever seen, even Serial Experiments Lain. In fact, the two series have the same director: Ryotaru Nakamura. The best thing I've come up with to describe it is that it's like a course in human psychology, but more interesting.
To put it simply, Kino's Journey is about a person named Kino who travels with a talking motorad [or motorcycle] named Hermes. Kino merely observes other people and rarely makes judgement about their cultures and belief. However, it's not just a journey through different lands but a journey through the human mind, each episode focusing on a certain [fantasy] country and how the humans who live there...well...live. One episode is about a land where the people can read the minds of everyone else and another is about a land of peace but things are not what they seem. It's an episodic series with no real overall story arc, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the best anime series that I've ever seen.
The animation in Kino's Journey isn't too impressive on a technical level, but on the other hand it seems like a prosession of beautiful paintings. The music is some of the best I've heard and fits well in the series.
Final thoughts: For those who want an anime that makes them think and doesn't need action every five seconds to keep their attention will find Kino's Journey to be one of the greatest anime series ever made. It's that good.
![[Image: georgebe1uh.jpg]](http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/8163/georgebe1uh.jpg)
