Wow. Only 5 more years till 30. :(

Quote: Killer 7; experimental college project or game...you decide #1<!-- 2 1--> <hr style="color: rgb(209, 209, 225);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> Some initial impressions of the GC version of Killer 7. I put about 4 hours in and did the first 2 "episodes".

--There is very little gameplay in the title. The action bits consist of simple shooting a couple of enemies in each section and the rest of the time is running around RE style and collecting items to use in fireplaces which give you new items to use on the empty picture on the wall which opens the secret passage. Though this is not bad, it's actually pretty fun.

--The shooting bits are a joke. You can either aim on your own, or just tap L and it locks on to the enemy's weakpoint and you hit fire and kill them in 1 hit. Basically this is the big "hit win" button game.

--You can change between 6 of the 7 characters at any time, the 7th one is the medical man and can't be changed to during play. But at checkpoint rooms you can use a TV and change to him. If one of the 6 characters dies in battle, you are warped back to the last checkpoint room. If you use the medical man and go to where the previous guy died, you can take their head back and resurrect them for what seems like free of cost. So again "win button"

--Each character has their own unique attacks, special attacks, and personal abilities. Certain enemies are best dealt with by certain members but since you can morph instantely it's no problem. For the personal abilities the map actually marks all points that can be accessed with a specific character and shows a picture of their face. For instance one of the guys can unlock any lock, so if his portrait is on the map screen you know there will be a lock there and you should switch to him. Some characters can jump to rooftops, some can read secret messages, some can destroy walls, etc... but since the map tells you who to use at each area again "win button" :P

--When you kill enemies you get blood. You can store the blood at your checkpoints and use it to upgrade your stats of your characters. There is a limit to how much you can store per episode and since enemies respawn you reach the max pretty fast. From that point you can just use the blood to heal yourself at enemy time or use it for the character specials which cost blood.

--Level and art design is pretty cool. Each section looks great and the game just has a really nice look that makes it stick out. The game is very gorey (screaming girls exploding and only their top half of torso remains; rolling heads of high school girls, etc...) but since the graphics are kinda like PS1.5 looking they can get away with it. It kinda reminds me of Fear Effect where it's really gorey but the graphics suck so much it's not that offensive. Graphics are decent on the main characters and the levels look alright but yea it's the art that makes it look good; technically it's pretty weak.

--Music ROCKS. Really good music filled with bizarre ambient sound effects. Unique music for almost every few rooms, tons of variety so far and everything fits. Sound effects are pretty good although since the game is about hearing where the enemies are located it's kinda weak that you're limited to Stereo sound.

--Considering the levels are complete insanity, the plot is kinda a normal alternate universe sci-fi political story. Seems interesting so far, but Capcom scripts always have a disjumbled feel to them.

--Voices range. Some like the villian are horrible, while the main old guy and the black guy are awesome. As usual with English voiced capcom games, the dialogue is odd and stilted because I'm guessing that the Japanese team has a ton of control over the english voice recording and use...and yea most Japanese people don't know the difference between good english voicework and bad work.

--I gotta wonder if this game will be uncensored in the US. Not only is it pretty gory, but each character has a tag line they yell when you kill an enemy and one guys is "YOUR FUCKED" and anothers is "FUCK YOU". So when you're shooting a room full of enemies all you hear is "FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU" :P For a GC game I dunno how that'll go over in the states. Maybe they'll change the lines.

--Another thing that will be interesting with the localization. 90% of the voice acting in Killer7 is by ghost like people who are supposed to be wierd. So in order to up the wierdness Capcom decided to do this:
1. Take the Japanese script for each line (ex: You'll never make it through here alive!)
2. Run it through babblefish (result: Alive you chop wood tree)
3. Use a text-to-voice pc program and record the voicing (robotic voice: Alive you chop wood tree)
4. Insert this as the voice of all the ghost characters

Now in the Japanese version you can at least read the Japanese subs and it'll make sense, since the subs are saying "You'll never make it through here alive" while the voice is talking about trees. But in the US version normally the subtitles would just be a transcript of the voice work which in this case would make 90% of the dialogue sections complete giberish. Hopefully Capcom USA is not that dumb and will have readable normal english subs while the ghost is speaking gibberish.

--Loading times suck. I'm playing a GC game...WHY ARE THERE LOAD TIMES!? In reality they really don't suck and are only about 2-3 secs between rooms. But compared to your average GC game that's like a 300% upgrade in load times. Bah. I bet the PS2 version is kinda bad if they're twice as long.

--Boss battles are kinda bad gameplay-wise. I mean when you can't even move on your own, there's not much you can do with a boss battle so.....yea.

So umm, yea so far it's hard to really describe it as a game. I'm having a good time playing it and certain things have made me smile and laugh a bit. It's really addictive and if I didn't have work tomorrow I'd probably play the entire thing straight through. But for those looking for a RE4 experience or DMC3 or anything gameplay related are gonna be let down. It's a walk around and solve simple RE-style puzzles while going through cool levels game with a little bit of easy shooting to keep things interesting. I don't expect a great plot as it's a Capcom game, nor do I expect great dialogue sequences as it's a Capcom Jpn game with English voices. Yet take it for what it is and it's good stuff; the Famitsu guy who gave it a 10/10 was crazy, but since I enjoy oddball attempts at unique art pieces it's easily a strong 8-9/10 so far.

Scans here.

Saw this over at Gaming-Age and thought it was interesting.

Quote:Have you ever seen an independent or small budget film where you could tell by the story and direction that the people behind it were geniuses in the making? Like Terminator, with its experimental effects and choppy stop motion… Advent is like that. The difference is that in Hollywood talents like these are showered with praise and given more money and resources to create their opus, where in gaming, select “press” see these instances as an opportunity to salt the wound; search for every last bug and put them under a microscope.

Does Advent slow down? Yes…Is Gideon dynamic to the environment…no. But as they said in one of Cameron’s many future opuses; “you have to look with better eyes than that”. Advent is a Halo scope game by a first time developer meant to immerse us in part one of a cinematic trilogy, much like Star Wars; another cobbled together first effort. On the whole the game is an experience no sci-fi fan should miss and in a proper environment would be critiqued for what it does right, over technical flaws inherent of time technology and a first time developer. This, right here, is why games like this are endangered and why our industry often veers in the wrong direction. As long as it’s easier and safer to put out cookie cutter flavor of the year games, we won’t see proper strides in gameplay. New ideas and franchise players such as this need support, not undue scrutiny.

Want me to go off on the technical snafus of GTA…Got an hour? But it’s a great game! Do you see these outlets doing that? No? Hmmm; I wonder why? Did anyone bag on Halo when Covenant troops glitched and ran into crevices like broken robots? Of course not…Or how about the trees in Halo 2…They’re square…and have no transition to the ground. I could have modeled them better. Anyone pick that apart? No; of course not, because it’s an awesome game. It was also made over three years on a titanic budget with a huge team and cutting edge tools, the same tools and treatment Donald Mustard and company now deserve to complete his trilogy. They should also recruit David Siller, one of the best producers in the country, if not the world, who is currently shopping for a new home. Only one of the main guys responsible for making the original Crash the game it was and creator of the first ever American made Capcom hit; Maximo. With Dave on the team, Advent is a 10…But that’s just my two cents.

We all scream for original games and innovation and here Glyphx and Majesco are delivering, and all certain outlets want to do is focus on what should be regarded as asides; things easily explained within the context of the development process. Well, enough. I said my piece. They are entitled to their opinion and their process. I just don’t agree with it. I don’t mean to throw stones. Lord knows I’ve scored some games high that many people weren’t so wild about…(P.N. 03, Voodoo Vince…) I just feel that in this case certain reviews have been overly critical in the scheme of things.
To Donald and everyone at Glyphx (and Tommy T. for a truly stunning score) I say hang in there and let the game buying public (who seem to love it) be your guide. I only hope the right message gets through so that we see you guys again real soon. Our cover will always be open for Advent Rising.

Hmm... how about we kidnap the Nintendojo staff and force them to link us again? :)

... what, their forums have been dead for a few weeks now I think, why not... :D

Thought I should make it official ;) .
Happy BDAY EM!

Guess I'll give MYSELF the birthday girl, nobody here seems to have noticed the 6th was my birthday :(.

I'm so unloved. Noriko will cheer me up.

Saw this a day or two ago, but why not post it anyway.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/02/commenta.../index.htm

Quote:Nintendo: Innovation is dying
Mario creator Miyamoto discusses what's wrong with the video game industry today
June 3, 2005: 8:11 AM EDT
Game Over is a weekly column by Chris Morris

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – This might come as something of a shock to the gaming world, but Shigeru Miyamoto – the man who created Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda – really doesn't feel like playing games these days.

"There's not a lot I want to play now," he told me recently. "A lot of the games out there are just too long. Of course, there are games, such as 'Halo' or 'Grand Theft Auto,' that are big and expansive. But if you're not interested in spending that time with them, you're not going to play."

What he misses, he said, are games you can pick up and play – something the company hopes to accomplish with its next generation home console, currently code-named "Revolution".

Nintendo deliberately avoided giving too many details about the Revolution at the E3 conference this year, frustrating some fans who felt the company did not fight back against the PR onslaught of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Miyamoto didn't offer any firm details either, though he did offer a few more vague hints about how the system would be different.

"The Revolution will use cutting edge technology, but it's ultimately about how that technology is used," he said. "We asked ourselves 'why would a family need or want to have a gaming console?' The answer is what's driving development of the Revolution."

While Miyamoto insists the Revolution will have advanced graphics and features, he doesn't want that to be the focus of the machine.

Instead, he's trying to encourage developers to think outside of the genres that have become so well known in the industry. In other words, there's more to gaming than role playing, simulation, strategy and action.

"Rather than thinking we have a new console, let's make epic games, I want [developers] to make more unique products," he said.

That's the school of thought behind some of the upcoming games for the Nintendo DS. "Nintendogs," a Tamigachi-like canine simulator lets you experience the joy of raising a pup with none of the house-training. Whether U.S. audiences will embrace it is a mystery, but Japan has gone crazy for the game, buying more than 400,000 copies, according to Nintendo. "ElectroPlankton," meanwhile, blends music and art, letting owners mix their own tunes.

Less likely to make it to Western shores is "Touch Dic". (Really, that's the name.) This dictionary application for the DS is a bit different than standard electronic dictionaries, turning learning a new language into a game. For example, one person, using the DS' stylus, can draw Kanji characters onto their Picto-chat screen while others try to guess their meaning.

There have even been whispers of a PDA application for the DS in the works, though Nintendo declined to comment on that.

Of course, the Revolution and the DS will continue to primarily be game machines. (Nintendo's not straying that far from its roots.) And company president Satoru Iwata has indicated established franchises, such as "Super Smash Bros." and "Metroid" will be ready at or near launch.

How much support Nintendo will get from third-party publishers remains to be seen. Though they used a lot of smoke and mirrors, Sony and Microsoft both turned heads at E3. Nintendo's next-gen device was barely an afterthought for most developers.

If Miyamoto is concerned, though, he didn't show it. He said he wasn't overly impressed with what he saw from Sony (Research) and Microsoft (Research) at the show – particularly in their pre-show press conferences.

"Most of what you're seeing are not even the first projections of games," he said. "They're just shiny computer graphics. They're things anyone using a computer can do. ... It's how we're going to use the technology that separates us. What we want to do is different – and we're happy with the road we're taking. When you have a Revolution, you're not going to have the same experience as you would with the other home consoles."

... smaller, they said?

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/172475