I was thinking recently on how with the current advances in Android and WP7 phones that Apple would need to really mix things up a bit with the release of the inevitable iPhone 5. I slowly drifted off into what I thought would be an amazing addition to the iPhone’s Springboard. I set to work creating some images in Photoshop and even sat down to start documenting my thoughts.

Halfway through something occurred to me: I haven’t seen Ice Cream Sandwich yet, or the features involved with the update. A quick (literally 5 – 6 seconds) search on Google showed me that the first response to “resizable widgets Android” came back with a YouTube video showing users how to do just that. So instead of going into a blow by blow description of what I had thought of, I’ll simply place my images here and tell you (and Apple) to check out the awesome feature of Ice Cream Sandwich.

The idea isn’t 100% the same so I will note a few things that go with the images I’ve created, simply because I’ve put the time and thoughts in, I might as well get them onto the blog in some form. Firstly, the idea would be that you would tap and hold an icon in the same way that you would to move/delete an app. Once they start shaking it’s just a matter of doing a reverse pinch over the icon to get the size/shape you’re after. Individual apps would need to be programmed in a way that different things show depending on what size you’ve made them. In the example to the right, stretching the icon to a 2×4 widget would allow you to see the weekly weather schedule. You’d still be able to tap the widget to enter the app itself or resize it to a full 4×4 widget that run the complete app inside it.

Obviously it’d depend on the app in use, but as you can see by the second image you’d be able to give yourself a dynamic look on any page on the Springboard by mixing and matching normal tappable icons with the adjusted icons/widgets. This would allow the user to decide on how much micro-info they were receiving through any of their social media or apps that supported the expanded icon feature.

Lastly, to end the clutter, of folders and icons that litter most iPhone users game section of the Springboard, would be the Games icon. An icon that could be expanded to show either the last played games or tapped to bring up a scrollable alphabetical list of games installed on the device. Of course it could also simply be expanded to a 4×4 icon that has the scrolling capability which means any page on the device could hold all downloaded games in a tidy and ordered manner.

While these are all thoughts that are either in place already on other devices in some form or another, it’s definitely something Apple needs to look at to compete with the superior designs found elsewhere. If they feel the need to make their phones “sexier” than they should be thinking the same about the OS. Make it happen Apple.

As E3 draws ever nearer rumours of new consoles are skyrocketing, but while Microsoft and Sony are denying any new console reveals at E3 2012 everyone knows the Wii U will be unveiled to the fullest. As a gamer that has had a crush on Nintendo since the N64 released I have to say, I’m a little worried. I have been one of those Nintendo fans that have defended the company with every decision they’ve made and despite being overall unhappy with the Wii, I’ve defended a lot of the great games that have released on it.

But I don’t know how much more defending I can do. Yes, I was amazed at the Zelda tech demo that was shown off last E3 and the new controller’s features do excite me, but will the Wii U be deserving of a purchase when it releases? There are rumours that the Wii U is either on par or equal to the 360 or PS3 and that’s bad for many reasons.

Let’s just assume that the Wii U will release at least on par with the current consoles. Who is going to purchase it? Nintendo already announced in front of the entire internet that the Wii U is for gamers. The incentive for the casual audience they accrued over the lifetime of the Wii aren’t likely to fork out the $US300+ that the Wii U is likely to release for. The grandparents out there that put 20 minutes into Wii Sports every other month just aren’t going to be as willing to buy something because it has “better graphics”.

Secondly, by the time the Wii U launches, Sony and Microsoft will have at least partially announced their next-gen consoles (tech demos at E3 2012 I reckon), and if rumours are to be trusted these consoles will be far superior (from tech to graphical power) to the Wii U. Gamers will likely hear of the impending release, see tech demos of what will be possible, and possibly delay the purchase of a Wii U in favour of saving for a true next-gen console. I mean, they’ll still be able to play the multiplatform games on their 360 or PS3 as well, right?

So this leaves us with the Nintendo die-hard. The crowd that got absolutely and utterly rejected this generation by the creator of the biggest influx of new gamers this generation. Instead of being able to enjoy a console with amazing graphics, influential online services and the ability to play/stream HD videos all in digital surround sound, Wii owners had to settle for SD last-gen graphics, Dolby Pro Logic II sound and attachments to make the controller do what it was meant to do from the outset. Those Nintendo die-hards are bitter, and have either bought a second console or are looking towards the next-gen for something better.

So who is going to buy the Wii U and where will it fall in the grand scheme of things? It won’t be cheap thanks to the controllers, it won’t be as advanced as the consoles MS and Sony will bring to the table in 2013 and the casual market don’t want/need a more powerful console. Nintendo are about to post their first loss in 20 years, could the Wii U bring the money-printing powerhouse to its knees? Will the Wii U be Nintendo’s last console?

The only way I can see Nintendo making it through the next generation alive is if the Wii U is more powerful than any rumours have stated. It needs to be as powerful as the next Playstation, it needs to have as good an online service as the next XBOX and most of it all needs to not alienate the developers by creating a system that needs special attention.

It seems that lately the louder you voice your upset over a decision made in the video games industry the more likely you are to make a difference. While the recent debacle with the Mass Effect 3 ending may be the most recent case of this, the more impactful instance even got itself a name: Operation Rainfall.

When it became known that 3 of the biggest Japanese jRPG (well, 2 and an action RPG) releases weren’t going to get a US launch (despite getting a PAL release), the masses joined together and made their collective voice heard. After bombarding Nintendo of America with e-mails, phone calls, tweets and Facebook messages NOA started to crack and it was announced that Xenoblade Chronicles would indeed receive a localisation, but that gamers shouldn’t hold their breaths on the other two.

That didn’t stop Operation Rainfall from doing what they did best, and before long it was announced that both The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower would also see localisations. In fact, The Last Story  was the most recent of the group to launch and also managed to get the same full blown United Kingdom localisation that Xenoblade Chronicles got.

The Last Story follows a group of mercenaries lead of Dagran and his comrade Zael. Upon finishing their latest mission they find themselves in a small castle town drinking to their success. Upon investigating the small town alone, Zael finds a rather odd girl hiding in the back of a detached trailer and talks her into coming with him. Things seem a little odd and before long the soldiers of the town become aware of her and try and take her into their custody. The mayhem from this, the imminent royal wedding and the sudden attack on the village from creatures known only as the Gurak mean there’s enough going on in The Last Story to hold your attention from start to end.

TLS plays unlike most jRPGs before it, where instead of the typical turn-based combat that Mistwalker are known for, you have a fast-paced action system. Simply approaching an enemy and pushing the analog stick towards them will cause Zael to attack with his sword with his allies running on auto pilot, and for the most part this is all you’ll be doing; but as you progress you’ll find that it’s not as simple as it may originally seem. You see, Zael gains some rather mystical powers at the beginning of the game which enables him to do two very specific and useful things. The first is called “Gathering” and is triggered by a press of the C button. By doing so every enemy in sight will focus on Zael allowing him to take the pressure off his allies.

What this does is allow the magic users in the group to have the time needed to cast one of their specialty spells. Each spell – whether it’s for healing, defence or offence – is shown as a magic circle cast upon the ground. Stand inside the healing circle to heal, inside the fire circle to add fire to your attacks and so on. This leads us to Zael’s second mystical power: Diffusing. By holding the A button time stops and allows Zael to select a magic circle from a top down view. On doing so Zael launches himself towards the magic circle and diffuses it with a swipe from his blade. A healing circle that requires someone to stand in it suddenly gives every ally on the field a health burst, a light circle gives every member a defence burst, etc.

The game wouldn’t quite be a jRPG if you just left your teammates to do their own thing in battle though, and by simply pressing down on the d-pad you can go through each member and select what their next move should be. The battle system is solid in every way, and once you ‘ve learnt the ins and outs of it, it’s a system you’ll want to see more of.

Unlike the majority of jRPGs out there, and especially Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story chooses to forego the usual 80+ hour epic in favour of a streamlined experience. Instead of having to walk and grind your way from location to location, once you’ve decided to move to the next part of the story there’s a simple narration and cutscene showing your team getting where they need to go. Not once will you dread having to go from point A to point B as even travelling between points in different locations can be fast travelled by accessing the map in the menus.

It seems like “streamlining” is exactly what Mistwalker had in mind when creating TLS as the game just doesn’t seem to mind if you don’t play each and every chapter that the game is broken into. Sure, while the skippable chapters are just fleshed out sidequests, passing them by won’t impede your progress or cause you to hit the next boss under-powered or levelled. On the off chance that you do have a tough time with a boss, there’s always an area just outside the boss room where you can easily summon bad guys to fight and level up to your heart’s content.

 It’s only natural for the last few games to hit a console to really showcase what can be done on aging hardware, and The Last Story definitely does its best to show that the Wii can output some rather delicious art. I can imagine TLS giving some 360/PS3 (lower budget) titles a run for their money if you could flip an HD switch. Sadly, it seems that Mistwalker may have pushed the Wii a little too far and more often than not the game will hit framerate issues. There are times when the game will slow to a crawl and that’s just not something gamers expect to see in this day and age.

Nobuo Uematsu makes a return to Mistwalker to score The Last Story and it’s blindingly obvious the second the game loads up. The selection of tracks and theme chosen and composed here make for a magical experience, it’s just a pity the voice actors weren’t feeling this when they made their way down to the recording studio. First of all, it needs to be said that the localisation for The Last Story is brilliant. Instead of just translating the words, they’ve rewritten them to sound like everything being said is being said by someone from the UK. There’s so much colloquialism here that I’m almost worried that some Americans won’t understand a lot of what’s being said, but it suits the feel of the game down to the ground.

However, the voice actors (bar one or two) have done a terrible job of bringing that across. The majority of the cast sound utterly bored with what’s going on around them and moments of exclamation are delivered in the same manner someone might talk about the weather 3 days ago as they walked home from the shops. Syrenne is one of the few characters that really stands out. Not only does she sound the part but every line is delivered in a way that suits the scene. If all the other actors were of the same calibre The Last Story would be a force to be reckoned with.

The Last Story really is a mixed bag. The gameplay is fantastic, and the 5 hour lead up to the end is fantastically intense, but it really is let down by the fact that in rather simple graphical situations the framerate crawls along. I’d love to say it’s a minor issue, but it really isn’t. There were numerous times where I was angry with how slow the game was running and one battle was easily running at 5fps. Despite all this, it’s still one of the best games to be released onto the Wii and anyone with a Wii should look into this purely to support the fantastic job that went into localisation. There needs to be more of this, and if it means we need to stand up and vocalise our frustration at the lack of western releases of Japanese titles, then so be it.I’m grateful then that, despite the lack of emotion in characters, there’s a lot to enjoy in the acting. There’s plenty of innuendo, comedic moments and characters that just cry out to be laughed at. If you don’t laugh at least once throughout your time with TLS then there’s a chance your funny bone may be forever injured.

Closing Comments

The Last Story is, for the most part, a fantastic farewell to the Wii. It’s not often you find a story that deals with love, betrayal and war as maturely as this does. The graphics are superb, and the gameplay (especially the battle system) is damn near perfect, but the framerate and voice acting really injure The Last Story’s credibility. If you can look past these, and maybe even if you can’t, you’ll enjoy every minute of Zael’s adventure.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz

There aren’t many videogame franchises that have enough sequels that go into the double digits. There are also not many franchises that are both loved and despised, critiqued and rejoiced over as much as Final Fantasy. It seems that with every release of a new title comes adoration from a percentage of the long serving fans and newcomers to the series, and abject disgust from everyone else simply because it’s “not as good as Final Fantasy VII”. When Final Fantasy XIII launched back in 2010 it managed to capture a new audience (being the first Final Fantasy for the current gen systems) but was also criticised for numerous reasons.

Characters were annoying, progress through the game was incredibly linear and the story – for the most part – utterly incomprehensible. This didn’t stop the game from looking and playing well though, and despite its flaws made a fan out of me. In the same vein as FFX-2, FFXIII-2 is very much a spin-off of the world/characters found in its predecessor. You won’t find nearly as much story, and what story there is won’t be part of an 80+ hour epic. The game essentially kicks off 3 years after the Cocoon almost crashed into Pulse, stopped only by a pillar of crystal created by Vanille and Fang. You take control of Serah (Lightning’s sister) as she struggles with her memories around the major event. You see, in her mind Lightning was there to welcome her back from her crystallised state and even gave her blessing to Serah and Snow’s engagement, but everyone else believe Lightning too was caught in the forming of the new pedestal of crystal holding Cocoon aloft. To make things stranger, Lightning hasn’t been seen since.

This conundrum would be a lot more effectual if the game hadn’t started with one of Square-Enix’s mindblowing gorgeous cutscenes showing Lightning in battle with a man well suited to an 80’s glam rock band. Mid battle a portal appears, a boy falls through and Lightning tells him to go and help her sister find the truth. After a brief moment of wandering around Serah’s tropical paradise she calls home, the boy – Noel – arrives along with a meteor and numerous time paradoxes. Serah is told that she can find her sister and bring her back by following Noel through a time portal, and the adventure begins.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is as far from linear as a game can get. Not only are you no longer funnelled down corridors, but as you unlock new worlds, new times or alternate versions of worlds – all thanks to the time gates – you can travel to where/whenever you want, whenever you want. While it’s a thankful change from any/all travel seen in FFXIII it does mean that the game feels more akin to Kingdom Hearts than Final Fantasy. Every world has its own set of problems, and by fixing these issues you unlock gates to other worlds, it doesn’t help that your tagalong partner (Noel) bears an uncanny resemblance to a slightly older Sora.

Just like FFXIII, however, the enjoyment of the title doesn’t revolve around the story or the wandering of the maps. The joy comes from the paradigm switching that is part and parcel with the battle system. Each character can be levelled up using Crystarium gained from battles with creatures, and while you can freely choose what kind of role you’ll be expanding on, each individual does have something they’re stronger at. Unlike its predecessor you don’t have a team of 6 to choose your battle team from. Instead you’re stuck with Serah and Noel for the entirety of the game, with a 3^rd character chosen from a rather special selection of creatures.

One of the new features to the series is the ability to tame, capture and utilise monsters you’ve fought along the way, whether it’s a small slug like creature or a towering Gigantuar. Each monster you tame has their own special abilities and from the ever growing list of monsters you’ll collect you can level up and assign 3 to your Paradigm team. As you switch between pre-made Paradigms the monsters will tag out and in depending on which skill you’re wanting to use. It’s a great addition to the system, and with the ability to name and adorn your monsters with items you’ll surely become more attached to some than others. What this means is that if you do find yourself with a Medic monster that doesn’t have a move that another of your weaker and, let’s face it, more boring creatures have, you can simply infuse one monster with the other and leach their special moves.

The only thing that makes this whole Paradigm system a little odd here is that the game is usually too easy to really require switching very often. While you needed to stay on your toes and strategise with the best time to switch between offence/defence in XIII you merely need to find one Paradigm that works and stick with it here. As long as you’re strong enough to beat a previous boss, you’ll be strong enough to push through the area you’re currently investigating. The only time you’ll be pushed to really try something new is in boss fights, and you’ll probably have to retry these a couple of times thanks to the lack of practice you’ll have made through the rest of the game.

Everything else is your standard Final Fantasy fare. Beautiful cutscenes, amazing music and an amazing presentation that only Square-Enix can bring to their games. What is odd and out of place though is the sadly lacking frame-rate that plagues a lot of the game. It doesn’t seem to be doing anything more than XIII brought to the table, so the numerous drops in framerate are a bit strange to say the least. Thankfully the voice-acting feels a lot better this time through. Vanille is barely seen (and therefore heard) this time through, and Hope has grown into a man that manages to retroactively remove any hatred for him that was grown in the past.

Closing Comments

It plays well, it looks great, and the addition of monsters make the battle system that much more enjoyable…. but there’s something missing. Whether it’s the lack of a clear narrative or the fact that it feels too easy, Final Fantasy XIII-2 just isn’t going to wow you in a way that’ll make this game worth buying at full price. Bring back some more strategy and maybe a little more direction and I’m sure that divide of fans and haters will lessen.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz

18 years ago a fighting game landed on the PlayStation (originally in Arcades) that managed to really take the world by storm. For some reason fighting fans flocked to it and spawned two sequels over the next four years. 18 years, many sequels, spinoffs and movies later we’ve come to a point in gaming life where gamers want more from their handheld consoles and it’s only natural for big console franchises to try and prove that they can do just as well in the handheld market.

Tekken 3D Prime Edition has recently launched onto the Nintendo 3DS to try, once again, to compete with Street Fighter and Dead or Alive. While the presentation of T3DPE does enough to showcase what exactly the 3DS is capable of, it really is a bare bones package. An incredibly laggy online multiplayer mode, and “2 carts required” offline multiplayer mode feel archaic after having experienced many numerous titles with friends on the 3DS. Combine that with a barebones single player mode and a practise mode that would rather you look into extreme combo lists instead of teaching you to how to play and you’ll suddenly realise that Namco probably weren’t creating this experience for anyone but the hardcore Tekken market.

If you’re going to be creating a Tekken game for the die-hard fans, you’ll probably realise that they are quite averse to using anything but an arcade stick, so while T3DPE is playable enough, the combo system that is synonymous with Tekken’s fight style means you won’t be holding onto your 3DS in the same way you’d hold onto it for every other game you’ve played so far. Instead of nestling it comfortably between your hands, you’ll be required to grip it firmly in your left and use your fore and middle finger on the face buttons to the right. Using your thumb in this instance will simply make a lot of the combos completely and utterly impossible.

Unlike fighting games like Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, the Tekken franchise utilises vastly different combos for each character, and this is by no means a bad thing. What this does is force you to find and master a character that you feel attached to, but for someone who doesn’t know the franchise you’ll be unlikely to find any reason at all (other than cosmetic) to choose one character over another. While Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D is supplied on the cart for your viewing pleasure it only details the story of a few characters giving you absolutely no back story or motive behind a fight to the death tournament.

Fans of Tekken will know the characters by now, and the back story associated with each and every one of them, but that shouldn’t mean Namco should stop introducing the whos and whys to newcomers to the franchise. The one thing that really sets Tekken 3D Prime Edition apart from every other fighting title currently on the 3DS is the absolute lack of narrative. Who are the 40 people I have access to from the moment I turn the game on and why should I care about them? How do I play and why do I have to hold the 3DS so uncomfortably to be able to utilise the combo system to the fullest? Sadly Tekken 3D Prime Edition comes off as a quick money making venture aimed at people who have heard of Tekken and would like to try it. I foresee many used copies on sale in the near future.

Closing Comments

Fans of the series will surely hate the cramped button layout, and new people to the series will hate everything else. It’s hard to recommend this when its competition does everything else better.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz

While the Resident Evil series has been around for almost 16 years there’s never really been an original chapter to the franchise on any handheld device. While we did see a remake of the original (with some added extras) hit the Nintendo DS around 5 years back, portable gaming just has never been at a stage where a decent (and new) Resident Evil title could comfortably lie.

With the release of the 3DS (and the upcoming Vita) gaming is at a point where portable games can now immerse you like never before. Nothing brings this point home harder and more succinctly than Resident Evil: Revelations.

Revelations brings almost everything you could possibly want in a Resident Evil title: cheesy voice acting, cliché plot twists, an evil corporation and some form of creature that used to be a perfectly healthy human being. While the creatures found in Revelations aren’t the slow-moving zombies RE fans crave they’re as close as Capcom have been to that since the release of RE: 0, with absolutely none of them being slightly angry looking humans or slightly angry looking humans with guns.

In fact, there are numerous ways that make Revelations a blue-print for what the next numbered title in the series should be. Instead of forcing 2-player co-op on the user, Revelations has you teaming up with an AI partner that cannot die (no matter how injured they may get). What this means is that at numerous points along the story you and your partner split up and you’re not tied to what they’re doing. It is with this technique that Revelations manages to do what Resident Evil 5 couldn’t: be a survival horror. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t shooter/action moments, in fact what this game manages to do best is blend the old with the new.

Nothing screams “new” more than the fact that Revelations has been created in an episodic manner. At first this might seem jarring, but it really helps with the story telling as it allows you to see a bigger picture of what’s going on by forcing you to play as different characters in vastly different situations.  In one scene you might be going it alone, in a rather mansion-esque looking cruise boat with nothing but the eerie silence and minimal bullets to keep you company, and the next you’ll be armed to the teeth, partner beside you, while a horde of infected creatures pour into a room and hopefully to their bloody demise. This seems to be the perfect direction for the Resident Evil series and while this is clearly a look at things to come for Resident Evil 6 it should have been something that was incorporated years ago with Resident Evil 5.

Another staple of the Resident Evil diet that manages to sneak in is the weapon box; the magical teleportation device that allows you to store and retrieve guns whenever you chance upon the cache. However, if wouldn’t be Revelations if it didn’t add something new to the mix. If you happen to find a new gun and want to use it then and there but have no room for it, simply switch to the gun you want to replace, and pick up the new gun. The old one will visually appear as an item you can then go and pick up again, but it also magically appears in your weapons box, which makes sacrificing guns to suit the moment much less painful.

Swapping weaponry won’t be the only thing you do when accessing the weapons cache. Gun modification manages to replace the buying and upgrading of weapons found in both RE4 and 5, and even manages to make more sense. Along your travels you’ll find new modifications that can be installed at weapon caches and can be installed on almost any weapon you have. So while a more powerful shotgun might suit one moment, you can easily swap out that upgrade and chuck it onto a pistol/magnum for later use. It’s a system that works well, and it just makes sense.

You will have uncertainty going in that a handheld system, whose best achievement to date is a remake of a 15 year old game, could handle something the size and scale of a Resident Evil game, but the 3DS manages to do it struggle free. There are moments within Revelations that will blow you away, and it won’t always be the pre-rendered stuff that does it. On numerous occasions I was left with my mouth agape. If it wasn’t for the fact that the faces don’t animate in-game you’ll be hard-pressed to find a reason to complain about the graphical output. Capcom have made sure that no matter who’ll be picking this up will enjoy what they see.

First off, the 3D is amazing. With the option to bump up the 3D depth on offer there should be a level of 3D for everyone. Even on the absolute max setting there’s far less discomfort than I’ve noticed on other titles, but if 3D just isn’t for you, then Capcom have you sorted as well. Without the need to draw the game from two different cameras to create the 3D effect the 3DS is put to use on making the 2D image a much better one. Anti-aliasing suddenly rids the screen of any and all jagged edges and suddenly makes the game look a lot more “next-gen”. There’s no right or wrong option when it comes to how you’ll view the game while playing, and you might even find yourself switching back and forth as you progress, or maybe you’ll save your second playthrough for the second viewing method, because you will be having a second playthrough.

As soon as the game ends you unlock New Game+, and it’s not one of those New Game+s that inhibits how you want to play. You’ll get all your weaponry and upgrades carried over from your first play and you’ll be able to select either the same difficulty or the newly unlocked Hell Mode. Capcom wants you to have fun on your second playthrough, and you’ll more than likely be doing it with some new unlockables. Inside Revelations is an “Achievement” style system which is shown as a list of “missions” that ask to be done as you progress; should you complete them you get rewarded with an unlockable. The first one you’ll stumble upon is gained purely by finishing x amount of episodes, and in return for your patronage you’ll get yourself a whole new game mode.

I’m going to just come right out with it: Raid Mode is what Mercenary Mode should have always been. The whole idea of Raid Mode is to be put back into slightly augmented situations of the main story with the expectation of beating the area and having your time logged. As you progress you get points to spend on unlocking new weapons and upgrades, and, by levelling and other random tasks, you’ll complete “missions” that help unlock new characters and costumes. What makes this mode even better is the added ability to play this online with either friends or strangers. This is the kind of mode that will have you returning, even if you disliked Mercenary Mode, time and time again.

Revelations isn’t all roses though, despite all my kind words, there are places for improvement. For the most part the sound and music is passable, but all too often certain sounds are a little too compressed and crackly, and in moments where there should be lulls in music you’re instead beaten with action music. While these don’t happen all too often, it’s enough to break the immersion, and while this might not be a problem in some other titles, it really goes to show how immersive Revelations can be when it’s at its best.

Since this is the first title to utilise the Circle Pad Pro I feel the need to discuss how the game plays and feels using the rather bizarre attachment. The controls without it work, and they work effectively. It’s a little like the control scheme found in RE4 but with one slight annoyance. In pretty much any game with guns these days the left bumper is for aiming, and the right bumper for shooting, but not so here. Your default controls have the left bumper as your melee/grenade throwing button, the right bumper for aiming and Y to shoot. This doesn’t exactly feel responsive and all too often I found myself slashing thin air, or lobbing a grenade recklessly across a room. Other control layouts surely fix this problem, but the best solution is found by purchasing the Circle Pad Pro. The only real downfall of the Circle Pad Pro is that it just isn’t comfortable for extended use. You might be fine for a decent 30 minute play, but anything more and you’ll start cramping up for sure, but the payoff is that by simply sitting your 3DS in this you get the controls you will know and love plus the ability to strafe while aiming/walking. RE purists may tout the tank controls of old as the way they need to stay, but there is a way forward for the franchise, and I think Revelations is the game that will push them forward.

Small changes like having no run button, suddenly make all the difference. Pushing slightly forward on the left circle pad causes your character to walk, and pushing it all the way forward cause him/her to run. It’s something that has been around since Mario64 but it had always been overlooked in favour of holding a separate button down. Being able to aim (from either a first/third person view) AND walk is something that has been needed forever. I understand not being able to run and aim, but to not be able to walk and aim just seems strange.

Resident Evil: Revelations is a game that every single 3DS owner should have in their collection. It’s a benchmark for what the system can do and it proves that big, immersive console-like experiences can be had on it. With games like this, the 3DS looks to have a very bright future.

Closing Comments

You need to pick this game up if you have a 3DS, and you need to buy a 3DS if you’re a Resident Evil fan. For all intents and purposes this should have been Resident Evil 5.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz

You’d think one digital board game with the Mario crew would be enough to satiate Nintendo, but with the recent release of Boom Street we see that maybe they wanted one more outing purely to meet up with some of the cast from Dragon Quest. You’d also think that a digital board game that has numerous iterations dating back to 1991 and starring an all-star cast from two rather influential franchises would make this a must-have title for each and every Wii owner. Let’s find out why this just isn’t what Nintendo needed in the last few months of the Wii’s life cycle.

Take everything you know about Monopoly and add an entire new layer of business strategy —  investing in owned properties, the buying of shares in districts and dividends on payout – mix in all the graphical charm of a Mario Party title and remove any character/charm whatsoever. In essence this is exactly what Square Enix have brought to the table with Boom Street, which isn’t to say it’s a bad game, just a rather strange exercise in confusion.

In a market where more and more digital board games are being moved onto smart phones or tablet devices, the last place anyone goes for a blast at Monopoly/Carcassonne/Catan is their home console, and when they do, it’s probably with younger family members who don’t already own their own personal device. The inclusion of Mario and friends reinforces this (I’m not saying Mario is for kids, but he’s definitely a signal of the ‘all ages’ bracket) but the intricacies involved in playing a successful game of Boom Street are incredibly complex. Not only this, but there are none of the fun mini-game moments that help Mario Party be less of a traditional board game and suddenly you’re playing a game all about simply rolling a dice, buying property and smart investments.

While there is the option to dumb down the rules for people that aren’t up for the challenge Boom Street offers, there isn’t enough going on to offset the challenge that once stood. Adults would surely get bored playing with kids who need the softer rules, and kids will surely be drowned in the complexities on offer in a standard game. It’s really an example of not knowing who you were trying to market for, and failing in every way possible.

As I mentioned above, despite all this I am not implying that this is a bad game. After a few games – some successful, some not – I’ve come away wishing that this was on my iPhone and without the Mario gang holding on for dear life. It’s the kind of strategic game that is overshadowed by the design choices. You might see cartoony characters bouncing around the board with overly cute mannerisms to their text but underneath that is a game that most boardgame fans will really enjoy. This is for those Monopoly fans that want to be able to control and bankrupt their opponents using more than just luck of the roll.

What really makes this a disappointment is the lack of effort put into the sound when the game looks the part. You see all your favourite characters, but you hear none of them. Not a single grunt/groan/wahoo/It’s-a-me from any character; all you get is the looping music and occasional sound effect, and it’s oh so noticeable. Mario Party captured so many players because not only was it fun, but it created an immersive cartoony world whereas Boom Street will simply push you away with all the glaring shortcomings.

This is the Fortune Street franchises first outing from Japan, so maybe I’m just not seeing what many Japanese people have fallen in love with over the past 20 years, but I can’t help but wish I had a mobile version, either stripped of its characters or with character to the characters. I don’t want to have to sit down at my TV and sit through the pain of watching my AI opponents crawl through their turns for the majority of a 45 – 60 minute game. No amount of unlockable boards or costumes for my Mii will make me go back to the pain that is an all AI version of the game. I can imagine adding a friend or two will make the double-crossing investment schemes all that more delicious, but I don’t like the chances of me finding someone who would want to sit down and play Mario Party minus the fun mini-games.

It was nice to see the addition of online play for those who also don’t have Wii-inclined friends, but after 5 minutes of constant searching I realised that maybe, just maybe, I was the only person looking to play. I will be going back to this, only because I WANT to like it, and it has strategic gameplay that is missing from Monopoly.

Closing Comments

If you’re flatting with some 18 – 24 year old board gamers then you might just be the household Square-Enix were trying to market this to. Digital board games should no longer be an exercise in confusion/frustration.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz

In what seems like an ever growing case of “damn, we messed up, let’s release a whole new product,” Capcom have followed up with their release of Dead Rising 2.5 with Marvel vs Capcom 3.5 (aka Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3). With complaints of a reduced roster and lack of game modes flying all over cyberspace Capcom were pretty quick at remedying those things, but couldn’t this have all been done with a DLC update?

And that’s the question you’ll be asking yourself when you’re staring down an $80 copy of this in your local games store. You’ll take a look at the back of the box and see such selling points as “12 new fighters”, “8 stunning new stages” and “Full Spectator Mode” and wonder if there’s not a little more to the title you’re holding in your hands to make it worth your while. Sadly, if you already own MvsC3 then you might want to just put that box down and walk away, maybe come back when you hear it’s on sale. There really isn’t much more to see here unless you really wanted to check out Phoenix Wright’s bizarre investigation/trial fighting style.

However, for those who have been waiting on purchasing the next MvsC title, then this really is the one you should aim at picking up, if only because the entire game will be new for you to explore. What seemed strange is that while Spectator Mode is mentioned on the box, it’s actually a free (and automatically downloaded) DLC pack called Heroes and Villains. Choose your side and take on the world, or in my case (thanks to Xbox Live being completely barren) the AI controlled fighters in a bid to help decide once and for all who is the strongest. You, of course, can always sit back and watch other gamers fighting it out if you’re just not up for a fight.

I’m no fighting game expert so I’m not about to go into the intricacies of which character is nerfed, who has the best counter-thingy or if the weighting of the characters is ideal, I just don’t have that kinda information for you. But what I will say is that no matter which character you decide to perfect, the majority of the inputs you’ll be entering for specific moves carry over from character to character. While this may or may not cause fans of other fighters to cringe I found that it enabled me to pick and choose who I used for each battle instead of sticking to any predetermined favouriters. Sure, you’ll probably end up with a specified team you select every single fight, but it’s nice knowing that changing who you play as won’t necessarily have you on the back foot.

Closing Comments

There’s no reason this couldn’t have just been a DLC update to Marvel vs Capcom 3, but instead Capcom manages to scrape even more money from the hands of their fans. If you already own the original and you MUST have this one, wait for a sale. However, if you’re new to the series and you like fighting games, you’ll surely find a keeper here.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz

Back in November I was privileged enough to get to attend AnimFX ’11 here in Wellington, NZ. While there I happened to listen to a presentation by Tracey Sellar, a Senior User Research Lead for Microsoft Games Studio, who was discussing Usability in the games industry. While her presentation kept me interested there was one particular slide that has eaten away at me for months now. The slide showed your typical bell curve and it was describing what type of people buy any one game. The middle section of the bell curve was made up of casual gamers with the smaller ends devoted to inexperienced gamers and hardcore gamers respectively.

What this slide was trying to portray was that even if you make a hardcore game catered to specific fans, the majority of your consumers will be below that of your hardcore gamer, and this is where we start seeing problems arise. Obviously, if a game is too hard or too complicated for the majority of your userbase you’re not too likely to sell a sequel or similar product to them, and thus your userbase for any future iterations will be lower.

The only logical step from there is to listen to the consumers that have bought your product and change things to make it more to their liking. The hardcore fans who loved the complexity and challenge of your product already have the “buy-in” to your next product. They’ll follow any news regarding it and they’ll pick it up on day 1. They’ll then find out it’s been watered down or tailored to a softer audience than they are, complain, finish the game defiantly and hope for a better sequel. In the end, what does their opinion REALLY matter when the majority of the people buying your game now have an experience more tailored to them?

We’ve seen this happen with numerous products over the past few years with Dragon Age 2 being the most notable (and most recent) example of this. Hard and fast action games are becoming the pop music of the gaming world with more games trying to emulate the major success of popular shooters like Call of Duty, Halo and Battlefield. Dead Space 2 dropped a chunk of its tension and horror in favour of running and gunning, as did Resident Evil 5 before it. It’s not a new thing and genres that were part of everyday gaming life 5 – 10 years ago are becoming niche genres.

But I’m here to say that it doesn’t need to be like this. Instead of pandering to one section of the market and annoying the gamers that helped make gaming the industry it is today there has to be a way of bringing the inexperienced and casual gamers the triple-A titles hardcore gamers want to play without alienating them. And with that I introduce a difficulty setting that actually works.

Instead of Easy, Medium, Hard and Insane (all of which are basically the same game with the same puzzles and same AI) I’m suggesting developers spend more time putting in a Novice, Intermediate and Hardcore setting. We’re currently in a gaming world where you get tutorials for everything, whether or not you’ve played the previous 5 instalments of the franchise.

Example 1 (Novice)

Player 1 loves movies but has never played a game before. He’s heard that the latest Uncharted title would be right up his alley and he sets out to hire it and a console to play it on. Upon loading the game he selects the novice setting and the game starts. After the opening cinematic – he loved it by the way – the game pauses and explains that the left analog stick will move Drake about while the right analog stick will move the camera. While still paused Player 1 is asked to make the camera look at the ceiling. Player 1 moves the stick forward and the game recognises him as a non-invert gamer. The game unpauses and Player 1 is able to move Drake around the room.

The novice setting would be a very pause/unpause experience to begin with, and can be switched to Intermediate at any stage once Player 1 feels comfortable. He may never feel comfortable and the game will assist him over every jump, firefight or puzzle he comes across. Hopefully this will encourage Player 1 to sit through the entire experience and feel like the interactive movie he had heard about, he might even get adventurous and switch to intermediate should he want to watch/play again.

Example 2 (Intermediate)

Player 2 has a smart phone and loves a bit of Angry Birds. She’s also partial to a bit of Game Dev Story and has heard there are other simulator type games out there. A new Harvest Moon game is just around the corner and decides to pick it up to play on her boyfriend’s console. Upon selecting the Intermediate setting the game starts how any current (non example) game would start. The tutorials are what she expected and goes into showing her the ins and outs of how to play the game without being too intrusive or condescending. This is how casual gamers currently play games, and it works. Player 2 is happy, and plays through the game intent on playing another in the future.

Example 3 (Hardcore)

Player 3 follows the game industry, has played every Call of Duty released and doesn’t need to hear how to crouch or aim a gun. He can do it blindfolded and has a K/D ratio that impresses the gaming community he’s a part of. Picks the latest shooter up at a midnight launch, heads home and selects the Hardcore setting. After a second or two of familiarising himself with this companies way of controlling he’s good to go. He beats the game in a night and complains that it wasn’t long enough, or that someone was cheating online or something. Either way, he’s had no handholding and was able to get into the action straight away.

The system isn’t really about removing a difficulty slider but allowing gamers from all walks of life to enjoy a single product without alienating anyone. While it may not be plausible in every situation, whether the genre doesn’t suit it or the developers don’t have the budget for it, I feel that it would work wonders to help gaming become even more mainstream without watering down the experience.

Let me know what you think, and any ideas you have for how the gaming industry can continue to grow without alienating the hardcore group.

Having been away from the Spider-Man game franchise since I got put off by the movie tie-ins, I feel it’s necessary to say that times have definitely changed. It seems that Marvel are now intent on creating standalone “Spidey” games to help let developers’ creativity flow, and flow it has. While I didn’t get my hands on Shattered Dimensions, I had heard plenty of good things about it, so when Spider-Man: Edge of Time showed up, I was equal parts unsure and excited. Could there possibly be a good (or even great) Spider-Man game in my hands.

The answer is a tricky one. Edge of Time is so close to being that perfect Spider-Man game that it’s painful, sadly the parts that didn’t quite make it are vital to what makes or breaks a videogame. What we have with Edge of Time is one of the most cinematic and promising Spider-Man games I’ve ever seen. The game starts off in one of those “this is what’s happening soon, now we’ll chuck you back a few hours” scenarios. Spider-Man from 2099 is keeping his eye on a rather dodgy looking character named Sloan (voiced by Val Kilmer) who manages to travel back in time and alter not only the year 2099 but also present day. Somehow this creates a link between Spidie 2099 and Peter Parker’s Spider-Man and thus the premise for the whole game is laid out. Find Sloan and get everything back to normal.

To say Edge of Time is a rollercoaster ride of action is an understatement. Crossing over from present day to 2099 happens seamlessly with awesome picture in picture effects and before you know it you’re sprinting down another corridor as a different Spidie. The seamless blending, the zero load times and the absolute lack of progress indication make it feel like the game never relents and while this won’t help you put the game down for a breather it also becomes a little monotonous.

Sadly, the one (and only, in my eyes) downfall of Edge of Time is that the gameplay is incredibly repetitive. The repetition starts early and follows you right through to the end. What you’ll find yourself doing for 90% of the 8 hours spent playing is spamming combos to fend off the enormous amount of enemies in the mega-structure the game is set in. Sure, there are some nice boss battles and Dead Space 2 inspired “flying” (read: free-falling) sections to help break the game up a bit but every section ends in the same old struggle to keep Spidie alive.

Combat is far from boring though with a fairly indepth list of unlockable moves/upgrades. While the majority of the upgrades tend to just be more powerful versions of moves you’ve already unlocked, the way the bad guys scale up means you’ll be looking forward to grabbing them. I did end up yearning for a little more by the time I hit the 4 – 5 hour mark, but perseverance paid off as I was treated to one of the most satisfying final bosses I think I have ever come across in any game. Period.

Graphically, Edge of Time is hit and miss. Up close and in cutscenes the graphics are, for the most part, amazing, but throughout gameplay the world seems incredibly sparse for what gamers are now used to. Some extra polish on the environments would have gone down a treat. In fact, a little more polish throughout the entire game wouldn’t have gone astray with very little ever really standing out as being amazing or mindblowing. This, sadly, includes the voice acting in the game. Despite the banter between Miguel and Peter being rather chucklesome at times it felt like they were reading from a script the entire time, and the inclusion of Val Kilmer is confusing at best. You’d think if you were going to pay someone the likes of him to voice a character you’d give him a larger role, just saying.

Closing comments

I wanted to love this game. I thought I was in the presence of the best Spider-Man game to be created, but in the end I can only admit to enjoying my time with it. Despite all the unlockable costumes and challenges, and the amazing boss fight at the end, I don’t see many people loading this back up once they’re done. It’s not a bad game, by any means, but it is firmly planted on the border between Average and Excellence. Don’t give up Beenox, you’re almost there.

Originally posted on Gameculture.co.nz