Mostly known on the freeware scene for last year's surprising hit EveryExtend, Omega released his latest effort this weekend. The (catchy) name is DAN! DA! DAN!, and the game is once again a brillant 2D shooter, this time evoking Hudson's Famicom classic Star Soldier. Expect some nifty discussions and tactics in the forums, as usual.
VTF-INO has a new video up (direct link), displaying his now familiar insane skills on the arcade version of Chaos Field, the recent Naomi/Dreamcast shooter which, despite a lukewarm welcome from shooting fans, was released on the japanese Gamecube last week.
Torus Trooper got updated while I wasn't looking. (Or maybe it was while I was playing Nanaca Crash. Probably...) New features include a cool replay mode, so-smooth-it's-smoov color shifting, and various fixes for bugs I never got to experience in my previous travails.
And it's FASTER. Meaning: it's REALLY easy to get past 10000 km/h now. Wow.
More insanity at the insanely slow-rendering web page known as insani. Today, the group released their 100% English patch of the retail release of Key'sPlanetarian. Remember, this is just a patch, so you'll need to purchase the game (or content yourself with the Trial Edition... or... well...) to see what makes this novel so kinetic rather than visual. Yes, there is a difference.
Note: Just so that everyone is on the same page here: while Key is pretty famous for a game catalog which includes many adult games, Planetarian has no adult material.
SNKP is bringing Twinkle Star Sprites to the PS2. It has a new sub-title (La Petite Princesse), so it's remotely possible that this is either a sequel or an updated. I'd bet on the latter. Thanks to Iggy for this news.
In related news, KOF MI, SSV and KOF94: Rebout are confirmed for Xbox Live play. Rockin.
Jeux-france has a copy of the brilliant french commercial for the Nintendo DS. Check it out here, but be sure to check out the original site, since this is a direct link. This commercial should be used globally, I think.
As they hinted not long after the cancellation of Sam and Max: Freelance Police by LucasArts, TellTale Games, founded by the people in charge of the abandoned project, had a trick up their sleeve in the form of an adventure game based on the praised Bone comic book series. This will be the second title in their young history after interim 'casual' game TellTale Texas Hold'em Poker, released earlier this month. [2/27 update: There's an interview avaiable at adventuregamers.com]
There is a rumor going round that Native, one of the last planned shooters for the Jaguar, is coming to the Dreamcast as a homebrew. Not sure if it will be commercial or free, or even if it's coming to pass (looks very likely), but certainly interesting to think about. The company has been emailed, more info as it comes.
I can't hide this game from you any longer - the posting of this notice was only delayed by the playing of it. Nanaca Crash is a distance-based flash game in which you hit a young lad with a bicycle , then attempt to keep him in the air. The persons on the ground act as combo boost, angle, or stop attacks. Watch the 'special' area to see which characters have extra properties at the time, and if you hit them, click the screen for spectacular gains. You can also teleport attack with your bike when he's in the air, three times for up angle, though down angle replenishes itself. Great fun - I've seen a score as high as 12k+
There's now an official site for Tokimeki Memorial Online, the dating sim MMO. Though, it might be a bit less point and click, and a little more sims-esque. They call it a community game, and you actually take part in a school, joining clubs, doing homework (one can easily imagine a student skipping real homework to do their virtual homework, which would be quite insane). Regardless, the screens are interesting, and the concept, once more is revealed, may be something curious.
You read that right. Thanks to the popularity of the Pump it Up arcade game in latin america, there is now a mexican-made official trading card game. Songs from the game take the place of traditional monsters, complete with attack and defense, with items and effects cards being used as well. It's edited and distributed by MangaK (not to be confused with the anime fanzine of the same name), out of a few stores in mexico city.
In a decision that's likely to be somewhat horrible for Atlus financially, but fantastic for readers of this particular website, the company will be bringing the brilliant GBA/WSC RPG Riviera: The Promised Land to the US in summer of 2005. Absolutely buy this game when it comes out. In related news, Atlus is also bringing us Samurai Western and Puyo Pop Fever on PS2 and DS respectively.
Lawrence has put up a gallery of images from this year's AOU show. The emphasis is on girls, but there are also several game shots in there, largely of Ibara. Amusing anecdote of the show:
"Saw a very attractive Namco rep bend over to talk to a boy, who looked about ten years old. He just reached up and grabbed her boob, surprising her to the point where her jaw dropped and the boy sprinted off. For the next half hour the poor girl, completely flustered, kept her arms crossed."
Just a few more screens of Spectral vs. Generation arcade - check the game watch article, about halfway down. There are a couple of errant Rajirugi screens as well, if you like that sort of thing.
Genshiken was one of the best Anime surprises of last winter in Japan, and to promote the release of the new DVD pack next friday (including episodes 5 to 8), Media Factory announced that lucky (and wealthy) buyers of the whole Genshiken DVD collection (14500 yen per box) would be gratified with Unbalance Fighters Beta, which is apparently a 2D fighting game based on the characters of Kujibiki Unbalance. For those not in the know, please stay focused, it's a bit twisted : Genshiken is originally a manga about a club of otakus who happen to be fans of a fictional manga called Kujibiki Unbalance. In the Genshiken anime, they are instead fans of the Kujibiki Unbalance anime. But as they worked on the anime adaptation of Genshiken, Media Factory also produced the actual Kujibiki Unbalance anime, which can be found in the form of a series of OAV through the purchase of Genshiken DVD boxes (one Kujibiki Unbalance episode per Genshiken box). So we have an anime made for a fictional story in which characters are fans of that anime and therefore buy a lot of related goods and doujins. The forthcoming Unbalance Fighters is certainly the kind of doujin game the characters of Genshiken would be playing, which leads us to conclude that fans who bought all the DVD boxes will get an official game pretending to be a doujin game of a previously fake manga turned into a real anime to please the real fans of the fictional fans of the aforementioned fake manga and real anime. Yes.
Nihon Falcom just created a page for the next game in the Ys series, called The Oath in Felghana. Nothing except the title and the logo of the game has been released, so questions like when the game will be released, on which platform it will debut (probably Windows?), and why it's not called Ys 7 will have to wait.
The slick Click-Stick has gathered an impressive amount of media and links focused on the shoot'em ups featured at the AOU2005 arcade show, including Ibara, Rajiguri, Mushihime Sama, Senko no Ronde, Homura and Shikigami no Shiro III - grab 'em via his site. If those links are broken by the time you read this news, the magnificent Jiji is hosting a batch of useful mirrors.
You might have come across an amusing but official Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater Flash movie earlier this month. You were only allowed to view it if you entered some information on your completed game of MGS3, but it's actually accessible to anyone provided you know the right address. There are now more Flash movies available from Konami Japan, including an original interpretation of the butterfly effect and a new take on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The last one focuses on the ending of MGS3, and is definitely not recommanded unless you've finished the game, but is certainly the most hilarious.
Incidentally, the IC Forums are celebrating Konami Week right now. It's worth lurking there, especially if you always wanted to know more about how Lorenzo Lamas got credited in Snake Eater, Kojima's favorite scene in The Great Escape, or why Powerful Pro Yakkyuu is Japan's number one sports series.
This weekend's AOU Amusement Expo in Tokyo has revealed two unexpected comebacks to the arcade scene. Firstly, there's Mario himself, both in his 'kart' form thanks to Namco, and as several 'medal games' from Capcom. But secondly, the classic 2D side-scroller, widely ignored by the arcade audience and media at present. Taito wants to bring the jumping, platforms, cute characters and multi-purpose umbrellas back in full hi-res sprite glory with 'Spica Adventure', a game for the Windows-based Type X system, ported from Japanese mobile phones. Game Watch has the only screenshot available for now - look for more info.
This isn't the first time we've mentioned Eien no Aselia - developed by Xuse, this adventure/simulation game with RPG-style combat appeared for Windows in Japan in 2003, and Nippon 1 thought it would be a good idea to publish a port for the PS2. The forthcoming PS2 version has an official website full of nice content, including in-game screenshots and the usual character artwork. Best of all, it has now a Japanese release date for the game: April 28th, 2005.
I've put together another screenshot gallery (1.2MB, beware!) of the newest Japanese cellular phone games over at NFG Games, this time with a few words to help describe them, as well. Please have a look if you want to see what you just can't have.
In an extremely odd move, especially for a japanese company, Triangle Service, maker of XII Stag and Trizeal, has made an appeal - also in english - for people to preorder the Dreamcast version of Trizeal. Essentially, they admit that the game underperformed in arcades, and that the Dreamcast preorders are abysmal. So the creator pleads for fans to help out. And indeed, the game itself got very lukewarm reception from shooter fans, as did XII Stag.
Tacky or not, it would be a shame to see a company like this, that is dedicated to the shooter genre, go under. Also if you check the link, you'll be able to play one stage of XII Stag, and view a movie from the company's proposed 3rd game Project Lamda. If you feel inclined, preorder the game here.
Here's a new interview I did for Gamasutra (free reg. req.), this one with Doug Whatley of BreakAway Games. BreakAway, in addition to RTS/military strategy titles, also makes a lot of 'serious games' - those being games that are primarily for 'non-entertainment' (though that's debatable) purposes. Therein, he talks about using serious games as a way to get in through the back door to the game industry - a potentially very good route for indie developers.
NeoGeo Freak, cult Japanese magazine of the nineties that disappeared with the NeoGeo home system, has initiated a most surprising comeback, appearing as a section in this month's issue of Dorimaga. Pretty much like the "Beep" section (which evokes the eighties' ancestor of Dorimaga, Beep Magazine), the "NeoGeo Freak" section of Dorimaga has its own staff, cover and design. The first issue retraces the Garou Densetsu (Fatal Fury) saga, offers combos and strategies for Rugal in KOF'94 Re-Bout, reveals a few exclusives appearing in the PS2 adaptation of Mark of the Wolves and doesn't forget to satisfy SNK's always devoted cosplay fanbase with a dedicated column. [Thanks to the seriously wounded yet with soul still burning Sugoi! for the news.]
A bunch of interesting views on the issues and challenges of videogame journalism have surfaced on the net lately. Game Girl Advance gave new impetus to the recent discovery of reviews from a communist viewpoint by openly criticizing "New Game Journalism". The Video Game Ombudsman linked to an unforgiving two-part rant from These Damned Machines Are Killing Me trying to figure out why exactly consumer game magazines suck (here & there). Although more optimistic, Matthew Sakey's latest column at the IGDA argues that the press has "a responsibility to comport itself in a certain manner, and some of the more childish antics, while amusing (if you're eleven), reflect poorly on the industry". Meanwhile, on GI.biz, Future Publishing CEO Greg Ingham defends his strategy after Future's £97.5 million bid for Highbury House, Future's main challenger in the UK's video game press industry. Those entering in the business in such turbulent times might want to take a look at these links.
Namco's latest financials have been released on a special English-language part of Namco.jp, and the detailed financial results [PDF] has some great trivia and randomness in it. For example, "There were two food theme park openings with Kuwana Ramen Kaido and Kobe Sweets Harbor... both have been well received." Mm, a theme park with custom desserts. Also, "On October 1, 2004, the [Namco] Incubation Center opened the Kaikaya Day Service Center for the elderly in the Yokohama 'World Porters' shopping area." Apparently, "Plans are on the table to expand this business going forward by offering services that incorporate an element of play that only an entertainment company like Namco can provide." Wait, the lovable Japanese pensioners will be playing Pac Manhattan?
Feature: Keeping Your Options Open: Reinterpreting a Legacy
February 13, 2005, 05:06 PM
by brandon, via ic / eric-jon rössel waugh - [permalink]
Eric-Jon on why Gradius V is a sequel to Life Force, why options are the key to a fully realized Gradius, and why Konami didn't bother to think of this before.
"Gradius, as a series, is a bitter seductress. When you first engage Gradius, it seems charming, quirky; inviting, even. In reality, it only exists to shoot you down."
Everyone's favorite Lawrence has written up a review of Catch! Touch! Yoshi! for the DS. If you don't feel like reading the review, here's a paraphrase: it doesn't suck.
Over at eBay, there's an incredibly rare Atari Cosmos for sale, for just UKP 9,990 (that's only $18,600, currency conversion fiends.) The Cosmos was a 1981-era Atari prototype handheld that used 3D hologram backdrops with 2D LED-based gameplay. Atari Museum has more Cosmos information - apparently, the console was "the brainchild of Atari engineers Allan Alcorn, Harry Jenkins and Roger Hector, [and] was shown at the New York Toy Fair in 1981." The auction includes holograms from unreleased Asteroids (the original, pre-arcade version was developed for the Cosmos!) and Superman games, but the handheld itself isn't playable, unfortunately.
Following the previous post regarding Segagaga Domain's Retro Core video series, concentrating on the Sega Saturn shooter special, the other videos are now available for high-speed download from Archive.org. Highlights? As before, there's lots of great retro game footage with associated voice commentary, but Retro Core Volume 4 has a videotape tour of a Japanese retro gaming store and an interview with the owner (starts at 01:00:00 exactly!), and best of all, Retro Core Volume 3 has a longish tour of a massive Japanese arcade (starting at 01:18:34), showing both retro and obscure new coin-ops - it's the first time we've seen footage of Namco's Dragon Chronicle arcade CCG. for one.
Sonnori, makers of Arcturus and AstonishiaStory R, have been pretty quiet recently. Sure, they put out an online Choro Q clone, and rereleased all of their best games for a 'romance of package' 10-year anniversary set, but where are the fancy new RPGs with the pretty illustrations? Where, indeed. Illustrator Lim Hak Soo may be asking the same question. Check out his page for Soulless, an Astonishia sidestory. Really nice art, supposedly released in 2003 on PS2 by KCEK. But there's no info on the game at the KCEK page - nor the Sonnori page. Nor anywhere else on the web, for that matter. Mystery~!
In more concrete news, Sonnori had an Arcturus papercraft competition a bit ago. Check out some of the results, and make your own papercraft using these designs.
Idea Factory fans gathered today at a special event to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary. The event also revealed the first details of the forthcoming Spectral vs. Generation arcade game, as Dengeki Online reports. It's a vs. fighting game where the 10 most popular characters from Spectral Souls and Generation of Chaos collide. Co-developed by IGS and IF themselves, the game will be shown on February 19th, second day of AOU. There's also an official announcement on the Idea Factory website.
Water Cooler Games recently pointed readers towards the politically-related website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which, among other things, decided to review a handful of games from the viewpoint of communist values. You will learn, for example, that "Sim City has completely bourgeois assumptions, which is why it is not MIM's favorite economic strategy game", yet they favor "games such as Sim City (...) because among existing games that the mostly imperialist country people play, the mindless militarist games are the worst of all." Beyond the amusing clichés employed by some of the articles, the pieces are an interesting nod toward the often overlooked ideology conveyed by videogames. Thanks to Pierre Gaultier for the link.
News: Mastiff announces Pump It Up: Exceed for U.S.
At a press event in San Francisco, Mastiff has announced that it will be publishing Andamiro's Pump It Up: Exceed for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in North America this June. Mastiff's 'head woof' Bill Swartz made the announcement at a neat Metreon event headlined by ace Pump It Up! player 'Smidget', who was strutting his stuff on arcade and home versions of the dance-mat game. Apparently, the Pump It Up franchise has sold over 250,000 copies of the arcade versions (plus the PC version) thus far, and this special North American version (which is not the same as the recently launched Korean PS2 iteration) includes some exclusive songs - we also spotted Steriogram's 'Walkie Talkie Man' (with the awesome Michel Gondry video running in the background) running on the PS2 preview version.
A few things that might pique a reader's interest have been discussed through the forum lately, so here's a quick recap.
- First of all, there's a new game from Sting, the creators of WSC/GBA 'fantasy RPG/rhythm/dating sim' Riviera in the works, and although the system isn't confirmed, it wouldn't be surprising if they stick with a 2D-focused handheld console.
- Lech, who provided that previous piece of information, also reported news that is much less worksafe concerning Illusion Soft. Their game DBVR will get a DVD-PG release, which means 'enthusiasts' will be able to play on their DVD player and through their (helpfully one-handed) remote control. Also, there are new patches being regularly uploaded for Jinkou Shoujo 2 ("Artificial Young Girl 2").
- If saucy polygons don't tempt you, Blockland is "a non-competitive multiplayer game where you build with interconnecting bricks" - basically, a free online multiplayer 'Lego'-style construction kit. It's still an early Beta right now, but the first screenshots look quite promising. You might find some people from the forum working on spectacular projects if you log in.
- Speaking of online communities, some of you appear to have been tempted by PangYa, yet are concerned that the Japanese or Korean versions will be unnavigable because of language issues. Takashi found another free Korean online golf game named Shot Online, which seems to be much more international user-friendly, and does offers a handful of neat courses. However, listening to players who tried the game after PangYa leads some to conclude that the gameplay might be a tad disappointing.
It turns out that Segagaga Domain, recently mentioned on IC, has a neat trick up its sleeve - Retro Core, an "online retro games show that features the classics from days gone by." There's a good explanation of Retro Core's format over at The Save Points - it's basically in-game footage of classic titles, alongside semi-nostalgic narration. In particular, the Sega Saturn Shooting Special is now available for easy download at Archive.org - 70 minutes and 651mb, showing off "55 [Sega] Saturn shooters" - with regard to this, Jiji #ic-commented: "It was funny to finally see the likes of Planet Joker and Terra Cresta 3D." The rest of the shows will be up on Archive.org's game videos page soon.
Malicious people at Ruliweb have revealed that the next Weekly Famitsu will feature a full report on Banpresto's long-expected Dai3ji Super Robot Taisen Alpha on PS2. After two episodes on the PlayStation, a remake on the Dreamcast and another chapter for the PS2, this will be the fifth installment in the "Alpha" subseries - easily the most successful and popular offspring of the titanic Super Robot Taisen saga, considered as not only one of the best license-based series ever, but also a terrific tactical RPG in it's own right.
Part of the success of the "Alpha" family can be explained by its roster of licensed robot series, which is often star-studded, and favored over the other SRT subseries. This one will make no exception, as the likes of the highly popular Gundam Seed, Ideon, Gaogaigar, Gaogaigar Final, Macross the Movie and Top wo Nerae Gunbuster have been spotted. But more importantly, and arguably as an interesting retaliation to the recent announcement of a Namco x Capcom game that seems to borrows a lot from SRT, it clearly appears (according to Famitsu scans) that robots from Sega's Virtual On series will also be included in Dai3ji Super Robot Taisen Alpha.
There's a special page on the Burger King website devoted to the 'classic handheld mini games from Activision', apparently given away free with a Kids Meal, at least "in the USA, Canada, their respective territories and possessions, including Puerto Rico, military installations worldwide, Aruba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Freeport, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Nassau, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Trinidad and participating restaurants located in Mexico within 30 miles of the U.S. border." The mini handhelds include originally Atari 2600-based titles like Grand Prix, Tennis, Barnstorming, and Kaboom! (for which there is some rather neat wallpaper.) Novelty? Sure. Tempting? Oui monsieur.
Some of you may know already how relatively successful Idea Factory's Neverland Series of fantasy console titles is in Japan. But we wouldn't have reckoned that an arcade game based on it would appear some day. Even more surprisingly, it seems that Taiwanese company IGS (creators of the Neo Geo-like PGM cart system) will be the developer. Not much more is known at the moment, but the game will be present in the AOU arcade show, courtesy of Cave distributor AMI. Mak Japan has revealed the game flyer, alongside this news.
GameWatch is whispering that, amongst already announced releases such as Gyakuten Saiban 2's second scenario (which focuses on Chihiro's troubling family) and BioHazard: Confidential Report, Capcom's early 2005 iMode release schedule now features Puzzle Anakaris, an original puzzle game obviously featuring the restless mummy from the Vampire Hunter/Darkstalkers series. If we have it right, this is Capcom's third puzzle-oriented spin-off game, after Super Puzzle Fighter IIX and Arthur to Astaroth no Nazomakaimura.
Over at the Electrokraft website, there's information on the Space*Axe guitar synth, which is billed as using "a sound generator chip that was used in many popular
'80's video arcade games like Space Invaders", hence the appropriate name. Apparently, the chip in question is the Texas Instruments SN76477, originally created for the Speak N' Spell, but also used in early arcade machines including the afore-mentioned Space Invaders, Phoenix, and Asteroids Deluxe - the sample MP3 for the similar Space*Synth shows the chip's awesomely primitive retrogaming power. [In addition, the Space*Axe has a photocell theremin, and (accidentally?) looks extremely '80s, so is perfect for the wannabe Numanoids among you.]
Those of you who enjoyed Broco's fan translation project and/or Tim's explanatory article regarding Gyakuten Saiban 3 will be thrilled, and scared, and puzzled, by Capcom's demented Japanese lawyer simulator series is scheduled for a 2005 North American release on the Nintendo DS. Also, a few websites indicate this is a port of the third game, but Iggy suggests on MMC that most of the images unveiled, if not all, looked suspiciously similar to the first installment. Thanks to the French-language Happy DS for the news. [UPDATE: This Capcom Japan webpage confirms that the 'new' DS game is a remake of the first Gyakuten Saiban.]
The Pioneer LaserActive game system remains an obscure piece of hardware to most of us, but French offbeat website Nekofan recently got updated with a feature on the device, containing a bunch of interesting text most of you won't be able to read without Babelfish, but also new hi-res pictures and even a few exclusive and brand new videos of Pioneer's late lamented attempt at pricey multimedia entertainment. In case you are late in your research on the subject, one quite valuable English-language website called CyberRoach has been providing a tremendous amount of data, pictures and videos about the LaserActive for some time. Also apparently back on track, ASSEMbler hosts some nice pics of the LaserActive 3D Goggles set and the insides of the Sega Genesis module.
Orchid Media (home of the best website slogan ever) has "announced the [North American] launch of its debut title, Storm Riders Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The game is an adaptation of the world famous comic book series Fung Wan [the Asian game name] and motion picture Storm Riders by renowned artist Ma Wing Shing." The official Storm Riders Online website has a screenshot gallery showing the not unreasonable MMO kung fu action, in yet another example of a niche Asian MMO trying to make inroads into the World Of WarCraft-obsessed States.
Being an individual of taste, and therefore reading Majoria News religiously, you can't have avoided reading about the greatness of PangYa, a Korean PC online golf game blatantly 'borrowing from' the PS2's Minna no Golf series, and doing an even better job in providing exciting and deep yet newbie-friendly action than Camelot and Sony. Another quality of PangYa (there are in-game videos available showing more detail) is that for the most part (downloading, getting membership, playing any course with anyone in the world), it is absolutely free of charge. HanbitSoft and nTReev only charge players real money if they want some special equipment, or feel like unlocking new characters more easily.
In fact, the awesome Japanese version of the game, which is a bit behind the Korean one in terms of updates, received a major addition last Thursday, in the form of a lovely gothloli character named Kooh, who instantly 'invaded' local servers. To unlock her you will have to pay either 29,000PP or around 100CP (PP being money earned in the game, while CP being money exchanged for yen at a rate of 10 yen for 1CP). The Japanese official website offers a bunch of related goodies and events: illustration contests, wallpapers, special items for first Kooh users (members-only for this one) and many other neat things. If you play a different character from Kooh and felt in love with one of her in-game incarnations, you might want to wait for February 14th to take part in the special Valentine event scheduled then, offering many exclusive related items to fulfil your heart's desire.
Silver Translations has gathered an impressive collection of translated material related to Treasure's shooter masterpiece Radiant Silvergun. Thanks to OmegaDog of MMC's forums for the link. On a related topic, Shmup.com (not to be mistaken for the similarly-named Shmups.com) has constructed a forty page-long FAQ on the game - it's in French, but they included superplay videos for every single section of the game (check each stage page for related downloads, or go here) performed by local one-credit-one-life juggernaut Ben Shinobi.
Tales Of Breaker is the newest title in the famous 'Tales of' RPG series from Namco, and is now available for download for those who own a FOMA 900/901i mobile phone in Japan. The game is divided into six episodes, which will be released monthly and will use character data from previous episodes. Gpara has more screenshots of Tales of Breaker, and Namco's Japanese mobile page has lots of screenshots of the rest of the company's line-up.
Mostly known on the freeware scene for last year's surprising hit 
More insanity at the insanely slow-rendering web page known as 
SNKP is bringing 
As they hinted not long after the cancellation of Sam and Max: Freelance Police by LucasArts, 
There is a 
There's now an 
You read that right. Thanks to the popularity of the Pump it Up arcade game in latin america, there is now a mexican-made 
In a decision that's likely to be somewhat horrible for Atlus financially, but fantastic for readers of this particular website, the company will 
Lawrence has put up a 
Just a few more screens of Spectral vs. Generation arcade - check the 
The slick 
This weekend's AOU Amusement Expo in Tokyo has revealed two unexpected comebacks to the arcade scene. Firstly, there's Mario himself, both 
This isn't the first time we've mentioned Eien no Aselia - developed by Xuse, this adventure/simulation game with RPG-style combat appeared for Windows in Japan in 2003, and Nippon 1 thought it would be a good idea to publish a port for the PS2. The forthcoming PS2 version has an 
I've put together 
In an extremely odd move, especially for a japanese company, Triangle Service, maker of XII Stag and Trizeal, has made an 
NeoGeo Freak, cult Japanese magazine of the nineties that disappeared with the NeoGeo home system, has initiated a most surprising comeback, appearing as a section 
Namco's latest financials have been released on a 
Everyone's favorite Lawrence has written up a 
Over at eBay, there's an incredibly rare 
Following the 
Sonnori, makers of Arcturus and 
At a press event in San Francisco, 
It turns out that 
Malicious people at 
There's a special page on the 
Some of you may know already how relatively successful 
GameWatch is 
Over at the 
The hunt for documentation and media on Hitachi's love affair with 
Those of you who enjoyed 
The 
Orchid Media (home of the 
Being an individual of taste, and therefore reading 
Tales Of Breaker is the newest title in the famous 'Tales of' RPG series from Namco, and is now available for download for those who own a FOMA 900/901i mobile phone in Japan. The game is divided into six episodes, which will be released monthly and will use character data from previous episodes. Gpara has 
