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ファイト／ステイナイト 
If you have been having problem commenting or searching the site, I'm sorry for the problem. I have been changing the comment and search settings so that it'll weed out spam better. However, I forgot to turn on a few things so it became a bit of a mess for a while. Anyway, on to the actual article, I was pleasantly surprised when Sony suddenly announced that Siren: New Translation is almost complete and ready for release in Japan this July. No one even knew that they were working on a new Siren title and out of the blue, they announced that it's ready for release soon. If you've never heard about Siren, this is basically a survival horror entry from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. What makes the series special is that it's created and directed by the original director of Silent Hill, Toyama Keiichirou. You can actually see some of the hallmark of his creation including air siren, static noise, and bloody nursers. Siren games, however, are pretty different from other survival-horror games in that it relies heavily on surveillance and sneaking around the enemies instead of direct confrontation. If you try to do the later, rest assured that you'll be dead before reaching your destination. This really does increase the dread factor but it was also the reason I never finished the game.
Ruliweb has just released two teasers to PS3 upcoming promo art. I think these look fantastic. It would be better if the first one is actually some kind of level in the game but either way, I'm just amazed at the details included in both of these ads. It really makes me want to resume that 3D course that I stopped a long time ago. Anyway, there's no info whether this is just a general ads for PS3 or if it's to promote a specific title. The first one actually reminds me of a level from God of War while the second one reminds me of Resistance but I don't think the promo were designed with those two games in mind. At the moment, the only piece of information included are the names of the creators. Hats off to you guys!
Advertising Agency: BBDO Chile
Executive Creative Director: Joaquin Bascunan
Creative Directors: Cristian Schinadeerman, Emerson Navarrete
Art Director: Emerson Navarrete
Copywriter: Cristian Schinadeerman
Illustrator: Ricardo Salamanca
Photographer: Lautaro
Head of Art: Fernando Riveros
Ryu ga Gotoku aka Yakuza was an action/adventure game released by Sega for the PS2. This sequel, Ryu ga Gotoku: Kenzan! is not a continuation of the first and second game but rather, a story set in the Edo period with Miyamoto Musashi as its main character. There are several things that make this iteration looks impressive. The first is the amount of talents who lend their voice to the characters. These include: Tsukamoto Takeshi (Battle Royale), Takenaka Naoto (Nodame Cantabile), Katou Masaya (Mirai Yosouzu), Terajima Susumu (Casshern), Matsuda Shouta (Hana Yori Dango), and two famous anime VA, Hisakawa Aya (Fruits Basket) and Kuroda Takaya (Bleach). In an attempt to emphasize these talents, the facial structure of the characters have also been tailored to mimic the VA's face. The only exception to this is the face of Kiryuu Kazumanosuke/Miyamoto Musashi, which doesn't seem to have been molded from the face of his VA. While this is not a faithful re-telling of Miyamoto Musashi's history, I can't help but being interested in the game. I just think the game's atmosphere looks fantastic and faithful to the Edo period.
OP Theme: ZEEBRA -「ＢＵＳＨＩＤＯ」 (YouTube video)
ED Theme: ケツメイシ -「ライフ イズ ビューティフル」 (YouTube video)
February 17, 2008 | 
14 Comments
I haven't had effective days in the past two days mostly because I've been pre-occupied with this game. I can't remember the last time I find a game being this engaging and charming. As a background, Patapon is a rhythm strategy game for the Playstation Portable (PSP). It is created by Japan Studio, the same internal developer responsible for creating LocoRoco. On a glance, one can immediately see the similarity between the two. Both games possess a very unique and cute look courtesy a design studio called Rolito. What sets Patapon apart from LocoRoco, however, is the depth of its customization. There is an RPG-element embedded into the rhythm/God-sim part of the game. You are constantly required to upgrade various weapons and outfits that the Patapons use in the game. One can even mix and match various elements to create brand new Patapons. If that's not enough, there are several mini-games which allow you to obtain rare materials to create rare Patapons. A combination of the elements mentioned above turns out to be an addictive and deep game.
December 28, 2007 | 9 Comments
Silent Hill: Origins trailer (Gametrailers, various format including downloads)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - Hole in the Sky (Soundtrack, YouTube video)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - Shot Down In Flames (Soundtrack, YouTube video)
I just finished this game, which turns out to be much better than Silent Hill 4: The Room. Despite the game format, I'm surprised at how effectively creepy the game can be when played in a dark room and with the headphone on. One thing that I love about this series is its ability to make me apprehensive at exploring the areas. There's always that sense of dread that makes me tense, as well as glad, that I'm not really there inside that disturbing world. I think most of that was missing in Silent Hill 4 so to see it back in this prequel is a definite welcome. Graphic-wise, this is one of those showcase pieces for the PSP. Although the polygons are not as smooth as I'd like it to be, the texture work displayed here is amazing. It's hard to believe that the programmers manage to squeeze so much details into a handheld game. I'd talk about the plot next but if you haven't played the game and plan to do so then I'd recommend that you don't read further. Be aware that the following paragraphs contain spoilers.
December 15, 2007 | 23 Comments
Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII Extended (40MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
These are trailers which were included in Cloud Mook (Picture book) released yesterday in Japan. I'm not even sure if these are new or old trailers. They don't look new but there are elements of the trailers that I haven't seen before. Out of the two trailers, Versus XIII is the one that I like better. The gothic-like atmosphere, operatic music and the quick cut of this trailer just gives off better impression of how the game's universe would look like. The FFXIII trailer gives the impression that the world will be Star Wars-like and it's a bit too similar to FFXII. I do like the character design for Lightning (the female character for FFXIII) but I prefer the stylish look of Versus XIII world.
September 27, 2007 | 6 Comments
Trailer | World Transition | Stairwell
I don't think these are new trailers but I haven't seen them before and I love the game so I thought I should feature it. I know that Silent Hill 4 was a bit of a disappointment but I can't help but being excited about this new game. I love the sense of dread that comes into me everytime I'm about to enter a new room or a new building. I feel like I don't want to enter the place and want to wake up from this nightmare. I think that's why the game works so well because you do feel sorry for the protagonists and want to help them to get out of the creepy environments. I also like that most of the protagonist, like Harry and Henry, are far more vulnerable than a typical character from Resident Evil/Biohazard series. Anyway, not much is known about this game apart from the fact that the main character is called Alex and he's looking for his missing little brother.
The first thing that I noticed from all of these trailers is that the new installment borrows a lot of the visual cues from Silent Hill movie. You can see it in the new design of the Psycho Nurse as well as the way the normal world morphs into the Hell world. I am slightly concerned with how certain game events look similar to other Silent Hill games but I hope there are still some surprise left in store. I think I have said this before but I'll happily admit that I'm a graphic whore. One thing that I think is missing from all of the Silent Hill series is high polygon character design. Sure, they look wonderful during cut scenes but they don't look that good during the actual gameplay. This is something that I hope will change now that the game is on next gen consoles. No more dust filter to hide the fact that the polygon count is low.
September 21, 2007 | 18 Comments
Well, Miyajima/Itsukushima Island was beautiful but I find out that I'm an internet addict. I was restless while I was there because the place where I stay didn't have internet connection. Well, now that I do, I already miss 3 episodes of Darker than Black. Oh well, let's just start with something simple like the latest MGS4 trailer. I think it's funny (even with the diarrhea joke) although I could do without Eva calling herself "Big Mama" again. You can download the trailer from Game Trailers if you want. I would like to know what Kojima was thinking when he came up with that final scene in the trailer.
The biggest news here in Japan, however, is about this 16 year old Kyoto girl who killed her father. It actually caused School Days to be postponed as a result of this incident since the series featured an ending not too different from this murder case. If that's not bad enough, someone from 2ch made a joke about how the events Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is similar to the murder case. D'oh! Of course the media found out about it and made a big case about it. Now Higurashi episode 12 has also been replaced by a documentary. I do love Japanese documentary though, especially where they travel to some far-off areas and eat local foods while pretending that everything is delicious.
For my long (well, it's been a week since I post anything) absence. It's partially the cough but it's also because I've been a bit lazy. At times I wonder if I am getting bored with anime but that's clearly not the case since I'm still excited to see the upcoming Evangelion movie in Japan. I think it's mostly because none of the series that's been aired in the past few seasons really motivate me to write anything. There's nothing that makes me want to write something as soon as possible like in the past with Honey and Clover, Suzumiya Haruhi, Ouran High School Host Club, and Rozen Maiden: Ouverture. As a result, lately I feel like I have no idea what to talk about. Well, until today that is thanks to the cool screenshots from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid game. If you want more of them and the larger version, check out Kotaku.
Having said that, I am not planning to retire anytime soon. I will cover the upcoming Evangelion movie since I'll be in Japan. I will even update Kongetsu again when I get there. Autumn anime series also look kind of interesting although just like other season this year, the numbers of the interesting series versus the mediocre one are quite imbalanced, with the mediocre winning. Maybe I should try writing more opinion pieces if I don't write episode reviews. That's something which I haven't done in a long time. I look back at my archive and notice that I used to talk a lot about characters and I don't do that much these days except in episode reviews. It's kind of hard to do that though when you're not as invested in the character. Anyway, that's the long drivel and I will come back tomorrow with Darker than Black 20. Yeah, I'm sure everyone is excited since it's been a week old since it was aired. I'm glad there's a one week break though.
Metal Gear Solid 4 (MP4, bittorrent/stream/download) | Mirror (Quicktime, GameTrailers)
Trailer 1 (YouTube version) | Trailer 2 (YouTube version) | Trailer 3 (YouTube version) | Trailer 4 (YouTube version)
Wow. This is insane! I can't believe the game could look this good. I didn't have that much interest in the game prior to seeing this gameplay demo but this one really turned me around. The textures are so detailed and the animations are top-notch. I like how the entire place is so open that you have no choice but to keep moving before a soldier finds out your whereabouts. The hilarious part was when Snake has to pretend to be a statue and grab the crotch of the statue next to him. In general, I am surprised to know that the game already looks this polished at this point. I'm glad Konami still have 6 more months to go before the release so hopefully they'll use the time to make the game even better.
White Knight Story trailer (WMV, 79.2MB) | YouTube version (thx to TranceKuja)
That's just awesome. I know that the majority of the trailer are composed of real-time cut scenes and CG (the last 20 seconds). However, I'm really impressed with the atmosphere that the trailer tries to convey. The game feels like an old-school RPG (Final Fantasy VII, Legend of the Dragoon). And judging from the trailer, there will be some wild places and enemies that the characters will place. The song is probably the best part of the game. I really hope they don't replace it with some different song for the Western version of the game. I know many people hate cut-scenes but I have to admit that I miss them on my RPGs. I think they are important part of a game and gives me a sense of achievement when I reach a certain part of the game. The trailer is rather big in size so it's a good idea to right click and save it on your hard drive instead of watching it through your browser. I'll post the YouTube version once there's one online.
Update: Uncharted's new trailer.
Another year means another E3. Unlike last year, however, this year's popular gaming exhibition is a lot smaller and restricted to game journalists. The exhibition will last from today, July 11th to Friday, July the 13th. The 3 major console producers, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, have all had their main presentation earlier this morning. While nothing Earth-shattering was announced, I figure it'll be nice to have lists of what's been announced thus far for my own reference and in case others want to read it as well. As usual, the rest of the contents are under the cut. I will try to update this entry as more information comes in. Personally, I'm waiting for an announcement on Silent Hill 5.
Little Big Planet Gameplay (Quicktime, Game Trailers)
Enviromental creation (Quicktime, Game Trailers)
I don't usually go out of my way to promote games but this one is so cute and looks really fun to play. Little Big Planet is basically a 1-4 player platformer. You can make the platform yourself or use the one that others have posted online. You can even do a co-op platform making with your friends at home. It looks really fun to play and the basic character that you get, SackBoy, is the cutest thing I've ever seen lately. The gameplay also looks kind of fun and seems to rely on co-operation of other players although I've heard you can play as a single player as well. The graphic is impressive with good-looking textures. Although Home was equally impressive, I think this game is the highlight of this year's Game Developer's Conference.
September 22, 2006 | 12 Comments
This weekend marks the annual Tokyo Game Show, a major game exhibition in Japan. Most people who are into gaming have probably read most of these stuff and these are mostly just for my own reference so I don't have to hunt and seek the trailers all over again when I want to see them. But if you can find some use to this, then that's good too. Personally, I think these trailers are okay. I think most of them still need more development time and polish. I hope that by the time the game is complete and out in the market, it'll be a whole lot better. Anyway, I'll update with more info as the exhibition progresses but for now, I'll return to my regular review, starting with Welcome to NHK!.
Time and time again I've heard the same (mostly justified) complaint: "Oh, if only this game was available in English". Be it Fate/stay night, Tsukihime, Air, or other kinds of games like Shuffle, it's sad that for most anime fans not proficient in Japanese the best games remain unavailable. Why? Because it usually involves translating incredible amounts of text, costing alot of time and money, while at the same time, the market and thus the potential revenues for it remain very small. Nearly nobody takes the risk.
Phantom of Inferno however is one of the great classics. Unlike the terrible anime version, which completely butchered this great story, this game is available in English and playable by everyone - because all you need for it is a DVD player.
About the storyline: Imagine the underworld setting of assassins from "Noir" blended with the loyalty-romance-and-betrayal drama of "Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien". The result is a thrilling epic with no less than six true endings, several of which I was unable to reach with dry eyes (even on my third replay). Add in the fact that the main endings take no less than 14 hours of game time each, and you can appreciate what you're getting.
Available dirt cheap for below 25$ in several locations. If you're remotely interested in the genre, get it.
Phantom of Inferno trailer 1 (MKV format)
Phantom of Inferno trailer 2 (MPG format)
Game Rating: (+++)
It's been a while since I talk about games so I figure I should mention the E3 conference a bit especially since it's already underway at the moment. I've specifically created this thread to discuss the various announcement which are of interest to me. Unfortunately most of it will probably be PS3 related since I don't have enough money to purchase all 3 next-gen system. I will probably end up buying an additional console but I haven't decided if it's going to be XBox 360 or Nintendo Wii. Anyway, I'll update this thread from time to time so it may have some additions in the next few days.
E3 Coverage: Gamespot | IGN | 1UP
News:
PS3 will arrive in US on November 17, $499 for 20GB version, $599 for 60GB.
Final Fantasy XIII trailer | Mirror
Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer | Mirror
Ridge Racer 7 trailer
Grand Theft Auto 4 is confirmed for PS3/XBox
Yes, there was actually a promotional video for FFXII that featured this song released not too long ago. However, this is the actual PV featuring the singer of the song, Angela Aki. I personally like this song a lot and think that it's not a bad theme for a Final Fantasy game. The PV itself, however, is nothing special. It simply features Angela Aki performing the song alternating with several Final Fantasy XII scenes. In addition to this, this version of the song is actually in Japanese while the version used on the FFXII Promo Video was English. I have to admit it was rather weird to hear this in Japanese when I first heard it in English. If you want to see the English lyric, check the other entry.
Angela Aki - Kiss Me Good-Bye | Mirror (25.2MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
February 28, 2006 | 7 Comments
I've been obsessed with this game ever since I saw the opening and the TVCM, both of which use Hamasaki Ayumi's Startin' as a theme song. If you're interested in the lyric for the song, I suggest that you check the entry underneath this one. Anyway, there are actually two opening within the game. The first one basically plays as soon as you insert the disc and repeats after a few seconds of no action. This is the one that contains Startin'. The second opening basically starts when you hit the start button and commence the game. And the screencap you see in this entry is basically a compilation of this opening. This one basically introduces the background story for the game as well as the main hero of this fourth Onimusha game, Soki. And just be aware, I think I've gone a little bit screencap crazy this time around.
February 24, 2006 | 8 Comments
My first exposure to this song happened when I was in Akihabara, Japan (see Kongetsu for related post on Japan), looking for some anime/game goods to purchase. The song was included in a music video featuring the opening scene from Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams game, which was out in Japan around the 26th of January this year. The game's opening sequence looks so hot that I can't help but spending a couple of minutes in front of the visual display everytime the video appeared. So imagine my shock when I saw the real PV for the song. Hamasaki Ayumi looks beautiful but the PV itself is messy and cheestastic. It basically shows Ms Hamasaki in a skimpy outfit drilling a hole before breaking into a TV station. She then changes her outfit and starts to re-enact the motorbike scene from Kill Bill. Right now I want to wipe the memory of watching the PV in the first place so I decide to prominently feature scenes from Shin Onimusha here.
15 Seconds TVCM (Streaming Flash, Official site)
February 2, 2006 | 18 Comments
Well, here's another promo video which keeps blaring throughout various stores in Akihabara while I was in Japan. This promo comes from a DVD containing Gackt's new single, Redemption, which happens to be the main theme song for Dirge of Cerberus: FFVII. There are only two contents inside this more or less priced around 1,900 Yen DVD: Gackt's version of the PV and the Dirge of Cerberus version of the PV. The first one simply shows Gackt wandering around in warrior costume. Not exactly interesting unless you're a Gackt fan, which I am not. It doesn't help that the song is not exactly that memorable. The second one, however, contains a very cool mixture of CG and in-game scenes from Dirge of Cerberus. In this version, you can see the entire FFVII crew back for another adventure.
January 28, 2006 | 14 Comments
How's everyone? I didn't have that good of a trip in England but now I'm back in Japan and things seem to be on the upside. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do a full review right now since I have to go again soon. I did manage to update Kongetsu with short article about Hachikuro Cafe. So check that one out if you're interested. I also want to mention this one since the single is kind of popular right now in Tokyo. This is basically the theme song to Final Fantasy XII game called Kiss Me Good-Bye. The singer is Angela Aki and she just released a single which contain the song along with a DVD containing 'Premium video'. The video basically features the song overlayed on top of old and new FFXII scenes.
I'm sorry that I've been lazy to blog lately. But I finally get the chance to play MGS3 and it has taken a lot of my free time. I wish I had the money to buy this sooner but with the amount of money I spent on anime, sometimes my gaming hobby gets pushed aside. But it's better to be late than never especially since this turns out to be one good-looking game. I haven't played too far into the game, but I'm relieved that I don't have to play as Raiden this time around. To sweeten the deal, a friend of mine recently gave me a poster of the image above. Now I just want to know who's obsessed enough with the series to buy this life-size Solid Snake?
September 28, 2004 | 19 Comments
I just realised that I haven't written any entry on video games lately. It's kind of hard to do so when in reality I haven't had the time to play any kind of game. Last week, however, I managed to finally give Silent Hill 4: The Room a test drive. It looks to me that the game has changed a bit from the last instalment and unfortunately, some of the changes were quite poorly implemented. I understand that the creators want to change some parts of the game mechanics to prevent the series from staying in a rut. However, I feel that some of the changes that they placed within this game does not make the game any better. In some places, the changes actually make the game a bit annoying. Before I continue, please be aware that the paragraphs below are filled with spoilers so unless you've played the game or like to be spoiled, please don't read further.
There are so many game news this week thanks to E3. So I thought I'll summarise some that I'm interested in. The first one will have to be the release of a new trailer for Resident Evil 4. This trailer shows more game footage of Leon getting caught up in different perilous situations. The trailer gives the impression that the villagers are infected with some kind of 'disease' that turns them into this 'controlled puppets'. They are still alive and definitely show traces of intelligence. Some of them will duck or evade your gunshot, some will try to use your colleague (the president's daughter) as a shield, and the others will come up with ways to capture you either alive or dead.
My friend just forwarded me a rather creepy gameplay test (WMV, 2.6 MB) of Silent Hill 4. It looks like the new game's storyline relies heavily on the use of a paranormal hole that is used by the main character, Henry Townsend, to get himself out of his cursed apartment. Unfortunately, the hole first transports him into various alternate worlds which are filled with freaks of nature. Judging from the gameplay test, it looks like this game will be quite action-oriented.
In addition to Henry, there are also 2 female characters who Henry will encounter throughout the game. The first one is Eileen Gavin and the other is Cynthia Velasquez. Eileen seems to be Henry's next door neighbour who lives in room 303 (Henry's room is 302) while Cynthia seems to be a cipher-type of character similar to Maria in Silent Hill 2. The game will be released to the Japanese public on the 17th of June this year and I can't wait to see what gamers think about it.
I finally get to play Forbidden Siren after having to wait such a long time for the English version of the game. This is quite an interesting game that is marred a little bit by horrible dubbing and slightly annoying control. But rest assured, the game is as freaky as I thought it'll be. At one point I was so stressed out because I can't decide which one is worse: turning my character's flashlight on and risk the chance of being found by those Shibitos or walk around in the dark and hope that I won't bump into one of those creatures. The problem is, unlike other survival horror games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, this game requires you to stay as far away as possible from these creatures or else. This mostly stems from the fact that the first character you get to use is unarmed. So you really don't want to be bumping into these creatures because they can kill you easily with 2 or 3 attacks. Anyway, the following is a spoilery short impression of the first 5 to 10 minutes of the game before I encounter my miserable death.
IGN.com has brief trailers for both Final Fantasy XII and Killer 7. Upon seeing some of the game footage, Final Fantasy XII looks a bit similar to Vagrant Story as far as the design of the dungeons goes. And this worries me a bit because I thought the design of the dungeon in VS was rather dull. Gameplay-wise the game was a blast but I wasn't keen on the design style. Interestingly enough, the characters archetype for Final Fantasy XII look rather similar to the original Star Wars characters. Balflear reminds me a bit of Han Solo while Ashee and Vaan seem to have been based after Leia and Luke, respectively.
Killer 7, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast altogether. For some people, this title probably looks like an unfinished 3D render minus some fine texture slapped together as a game. But never the less, the simplicity and experimental style of the game intriques me. Judging from the trailer, there seems to be a lot of gratuitous violence within the game and I find it funny that all of the 7 killers has 'Smith' as their last name. Having said that, I'll probably rent it first before I decide to buy it though just in case it's too offbeat for me. I haven't got too much dough to spend on video games lately so I have to be careful of what I buy.
IGN.com has written a detailed impression of the Biohazard 4 demo released by Capcom. And what a revelation this one turns out to be. To begin with, this time around the main monsters are actually not zombies but rather a bunch of crazed villagers who seem to have been mind-controlled by someone. Of course, there are other monsters type as well but this time they look more like monsters from fables (ie. ogre, lake monster, etc) instead of some kind of Biohazard freaks like in previous Resident Evil series.
Anyway, the changes seem to have caused quite a stir at various video game message boards with some people claiming that Biohazard without zombies and other Biohazard freaks are not the same. I, however, prefer to wait and see since I think the premise sounds interesting, and because I've seen first hand how humans can be really terrifying when they grouped together to create violence. Just imagine if there are tens of humans working together to hunt and kill you. I think that's the sort of frantic atmosphere that the game tries to create.
IGN.com has released a bunch of movie captures from Resident Evil: Outbreak gameplay scenes. I have to admit that the first time the idea was mentioned, I wasn't too thrilled about it since I didn't really like the idea of having to play the game online. But now, it looks like this could be a good title with interesting gameplay mechanism in place. It's interesting to see how different people play this game differently. Some of them seem to be willing to help the other players who are in trouble from zombies attack while others choose to flee and save their own hide.
February 15, 2004 | 0 Comments
There is a brand-spanking new trailer for both Silent Hill 4: The Room and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege on the IGN website. I have to say that Silent Hill 4 trailer creeps me out, especially when those 3 headed babies crawling its way to the screen. I can't wait for this game to come out. Onimusha 3's new trailer looks equally good, especially with "Requiem Mass Dies Irae" (Mozart ver.) song playing in the background. And while the full opening trailer featured full-on CGI, this new trailer features the gameplay graphics and mechanics. Also, if you're interested, Konami has 'pre-opened' their official Silent Hill 4 website. It looks empty at the moment, but they have the same trailer that is posted on IGN website in various Windows Media Player format.
Some horror-related game news here. The first one is probably old news to some but since I've got so many people looking and hungry for some "Siren PS2" news, I figure I'll mention this one here just in case some of you didn't know about it yet. There's actually a European official site of the game available to look at now. This is one interesting site which basically forces you to live out the experiences of the characters in the game. As a result, surfing the site turns into the creepiest web surfing experience I've had to endure. However, if you're patient and careful enough in navigating their Flash-based site, you'll be rewarded with a cool screensaver. You'll also get to be amused and creeped out by the atmospheres that the site creates.
Konami Entertainment Japan has just released a digitised version of a news piece (asx format, streaming) that features their Konami Gamers' Day which happened on the 9th of January this year. The news is entirely in Japanese and rather slow to download. So it's probably not worth it if you're on a dial-up connection. But those of you who are not on dial-up will probably be interested in this if you want to get a glimpse of some of their upcoming releases which includes but not limited to: Silent Hill 4 for PS2 and XBox.
I'm glad to see that Konami has finally released a bunch of images for the next Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 4: The Room. The main character is a guy called Henry Townsend, who for some reason, has locked himself inside his apartment. After a week, he starts seeing some weird portals appearing inside his bathroom. What's worse is the fact that these portals apparently link his apartment to the world of Silent Hill.
The game seems to have upped the gore quota and I personally am not sure if this is a good or a bad idea. I prefer it if they make the game scarier on a psychological level since it'll leave an indelible impression a bit more than if they just increase the amount of the blood splatters. Because of that, I hope the game succeeds in maintaining the foreboding atmosphere that exists in the previous SH games. For more info on Silent Hill 4, check out the IGN site.
December 18, 2003 | 0 Comments
Well, it looks like SquareEnix PR machine is busy promoting the heck out of Final Fantasy XII. They have finally opened the Official Site complete with pictures of the two main characters, Vaan and Ashee, as well as some screenshot of the game CGI scenes and in-game sequences. And if you're still not satisfied with what they have, there's always IGN FF12 screenshots gallery.
There are also Interviews with the creators of the game located on Game Informer Site. And last but not least, you can see the 2 new characters called Fran and Balflear. Both characters were featured on an advert inside the Japanese Weekly Jump magazine vol.3 (15th January 2004 issue - Japanese magazines are often released one month ahead of their listed release date), which came out late last week.
I hate being sick. There's nothing I can do but laying around and watch some crappy TV shows. So I thought I'll cheer myself up by playing this game I just rent called Animal Crossing (GC). At a first glance, it looks a lot like Harvest Moon, this farming RPG that I enjoy quite a bit which is why I rented the game to begin with. But as I was playing it, I started to wonder if I was wrong after all.
November 28, 2003 | 2 Comments
I accidentally stumbled upon a trailer for this new game and find it to be quite creepy in that Silent Hill way. It turns out this game was directed by Keiichiro Toyama, the same person who was responsible for the idea and direction of Silent Hill 1. Judging from the trailer, the polygon and the texture of the game don't look that impressive. But the eerie atmosphere seems to make up for these deficiencies. It looks like the game is inspired by various Japanese horror films such as Ringu (The Ring), as well as some horror manga like Uzumaki (Spiral into Terror).
November 20, 2003 | 0 Comments
aka Zone of the Enders: the Second Runner is one of the most enjoyable and coolest games I've had the pleasure to play. The game is presented in pseudo cell-shading look while the cut scene is presented in Anime form. Despite the difference in the two art styles, they strangely blend quite well with one another. This is achieved through effective use of cuts and editing, clever implementation of the colour schemes (which mostly limited to the blue/green hues), and the previously mentioned pseudo cell-shading of the 3D elements. The special effects that pops out everytime the mecha battles each other have to be seen to be believed. And the whole gaming experience makes it feel as if you are the one who's actually piloting the mecha.
November 16, 2003 | 0 Comments
Well, I just had a chance to play this. It's basically a game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto style (free roaming, hijack any cars, etc). This one is quite different though. Because instead of playing as a thug, you're actually playing as a cop. So there are certain things that you can't (or can, I suppose, if you want to be a 'bad cop') do such as...well, shooting/hit & run too many of those poor pedestrians walking around inside the games. But don't worry about it not being fun because like I said, you do have the option of becoming a 'bad cop' if you choose to do so.
