Games You Just NEED To Play: Yakuza: Dead Souls

Posted on March 13, 2012 by geelw

Sure, it’s all about Mass Effect 3 for many out there, but for total goofballs like me, Sega’s just-released wild Tokyo nightmare is going to be more fitting for a few reasons. The mix of horror and humor makes for a wacky bit of balancing, but the game isn’t trying to be “serious” at all (zombies versus Japanese gangsters would make a great Takashi Miike flick, I say!). Those weird Yakuza 4 geisha club mini-games are back (enough said there) and hell, it’s just cool to support Sega and the supremely talented Yakuza team again this year, as Binary Domain was also a really nice surprise that’s worth a buy. Don’t get me wrong, though – I’m not skipping out on BioWare’s latest at all, folks. It’s just that it’ll always be around to dive into on multiple platforms (and will no doubt get some sort of reissue down the road) while this one’s a PS3 exclusive that’s only going to get a limited release and that’s that… unless there’s a Yakuza BOX on the way (note to Sega: hint, hint, hint…)

Another Happy Dance Thing: Phantasy Star Online 2 Is Coming To The Vita With Cross-Platform PC Play

Posted on March 11, 2012 by geelw

I’ve been seeing this rather cool news in a few places for days now, so I may as well make it something worth noting, as I like sharing bouncy happy game news. It turns out that Sega’s formerly PC-only Phantasy Star Online 2 will be coming to the PS Vita sometime in 2013. Even better, characters created in the PC version will be playable on the Vita and vice-versa, which begs the question: “Where’s the PS3 version of the game?” I’d imagine we’ll all get an definitive answer to that at some point soon, but from what I’ve read so far, there are no plans to do a console “port” at this point. I’d be the first to say it’s a no-brainer that PSO 2 should be on every platform, but of course, Sega has the final word on where their baby ends up…

Dead or Alive 5 GDC 2012 Trailer: So, Crossovers Are The Next Big Thing (Again)? Bring It.

Posted on March 7, 2012 by geelw

While Capcom has perfected the art of the crossover franchise fighting game, as you can see here, Team Ninja (with a little help from Sega) also wants in on the spectacular fan service with their own key franchise. I’m psyched for this one because the VF series has always been a more technically demanding game than DoA (as some of those crazy Japanese gameplay videos have proved that for a while). While this doesn’t seem to be a FULL crossover game in terms of the total number of VF characters, I’m hoping we see one at some point. In terms of 3D fighters, both VF and DoA do things that Capcom’s awesome arcade hits haven’t on the 2D plane. I guess we’ll see what sort of craziness is going on in future videos, right?

(Thanks to XboxViewTV for the video!)

Jet Set Radio Trailer: What’s Old Is New(s) Again…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

Yeah, I missed running this short trailer update a few days back, but amusingly enough, a few weeks ago, I had the Dreamcast here plugged in and yup, got in some time with the original. Sega’s on the right track here, although in a perfect world, they’d just get a bunch of classic DC games out on a disc format so more people could play them. One game at a time may get the internet cheering (when it’s the RIGHT game), but I think the better thing to do would be to let more people see just what the Dreamcast era was all about with a bit of healthy budget-priced overkill….

Sega’s Hell Yeah!: A Downloadable “What The?!” Curiosity Worth A Shot

Posted on March 1, 2012 by geelw

Well, well, well… new IP is always a good thing in my book (and killer rabbits are hilarious to me for some reason), but I know the hardcore Sega fanatics are all doubled over backwards asking “Where’s Shenmue III?!!!” or whatever. I’m interested in seeing what’s up with this one as it gets further along in development and yup, I want to see some actual gameplay next time, guys. OK, radar activated, eyeball peeled, watch list checked. Thanks, Sega! Next!

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II “Reunion” Trailer: Change Is Good (Unless You’re A Nitpicker Who Thinks It’s Not)…

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

While I’d still prefer Sega just get all the parts done and release this on a DISC with all the other Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast Sonic games ever made (they’ll fit on a single Blu-Ray comfortably, I’d bet), we’ll have to “settle” for installments. The good thing is, the dev team is addressing the complaints about Part 1 and it looks as if the animation is fixed up quite nicely. Of course, SOME people out there are going on and on about how the game doesn’t PERFECTLY replicate the Genesis version to a T in terms of every single animation or how some parts seem to take control away from the player and so forth and so on. I say knock it ff and wait for the game (or at least a demo) to drop before swallowing that foot.

Jet Set Radio Finally Returns (This Time On PSN/XBLA)

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

Excellent, but I have mixed feeling about this one. How funny that a very physical game based on the physical acts of graffiti and trick skating is coming back as a digital-only title. Well, kudos to Sega for FINALLY getting this one out there to the masses, but still. I recall that Jet Set Radio Future on the Xbox had some killer PR goodies such as a set of awesome headphones and a CD soundtrack and yes, a NEW disc version would have been cool just for a documentary on the original JSR and the sequel how they changed gaming. I still remember the first time I saw those ‘cel-shaded’ graphics running on the Dreamcast and thought they were the best thing to hit gaming in a while. Hopefully, all those folks that have never played either game will be as awed as I was back in the day. We shall see…

Retro Swag: Haunting Leather Jacket (Polterguy’s The Prize…)

Posted on February 2, 2012 by geelw

I guess you could technically call this airbrushed (and hopefully one of a kind) Haunting Starring Polterguy leather jacket a Sega collectible (sort of). Or perhaps it’s an Electronic Arts collectible, as they’re the ones who sent it my way along with a copy of the game. Anyway, I won this for entering art in a Diehard Game Fan contest back in 1993. The goal was to finish a Haunting-themed comic strip based on elements in the game with a final panel that showed some sort of scary monster. I actually entered on a whim, not even thinking I’d win (or make the deadline) with a creature that had mouths where its eyes were and eyes in his mouth (eek). Unfortunately, I didn’t make a color copy of the panel I painted nor did I get the issue the panel was in thanks to the issue it appeared in not showing up (and I was a loyal subscriber, too!). But I think I may have a crappy faded black and white copy buried in a bunch of old art around here. If I manage to dig it up, I’ll post it here.

Game Appreciation 101 (Part I): The Phantasy Star III Project

Posted on January 19, 2012 by geelw

It took about 21 years, but I finally appreciate Phantasy Star III. Not that I was playing the game for that long, mind you. It just took me that long to see everything it has to offer and while it’s still flawed, I now have a bit more respect for the final product. Like a number of Sega Genesis owners back in 1991, I didn’t like the game all that much. The visuals were dull compared to the original and sequel, the story was a confusing mess from the start and unless you paid good money for the strategy guide, it was tough to know what to do in a few key moments. A mere two save slots didn’t help either in a game with four possible outcomes. In my case, my younger brother and I played through the game and only completed two of the four endings. We didn’t shell out for the guide book, but concentrated on power-leveling the party members until getting through dungeons was easy. I think all that grinding plus the game’s not so hot localization and depressingly bland color palette was what really killed PSIII for us, so back on the shelf it went for about a decade… Continue reading →

Retro Exploration: Dreamcast (Part 10)

Posted on January 17, 2012 by geelw

Here’s a small and random mix of art this time plus some boring stuff from a game that SHOULD have gotten some omake love. To the left is the single image found on Rune Caster, a fairly terrible strategy/RPG not released outside Japan. Below are images from assorted DC discs starting from the left with the nice CG art piece from Dogu Senki Haoh, a pretty good import SPRG that also stayed in Japan. Next up is the Nightmare Creatures II logo from the US version of the game, which is on the disc along with a brief Kalisto logo movie clip (it’s the same clip you see when you start the game up). Next to that is the lone wallpaper image from Quantic Dream’s experimental open-world epic, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, a game that could use an actual remake (and a multiplayer mode) one of these days.There’s also a bonus music track on the disc, but I’m working on a post about those for a bit later.

The final two images are what’s on both the US and Japanese Sword of the Berserk discs, and yes, it’s damn disappointing that a game that’s so much fun to play (and a pioneer of QTE’s in modern gaming) gets two lame images found on many DC discs. Ah, well…