by [name redacted]

Week seven of my ongoing, irreverent news column; originally posted at Next Generation

Today (Monday, August 22nd)

Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS)
Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

Now, there’s nothing wrong with the Wars series. This is, what, the fourth Wars game announced in the West, after the two GBA iterations and the endlessly-delayed and frequently-renamed GameCube iteration. And it looks every bit as good as previous games. I understand it’s to make some decent use of the touchscreen with a real-time mode where you move things around with the stylus. Good and well; this is something the DS should excel at. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more strategy games and RPGs for the system.

The name, though – why is it still Advance Wars? The answer is the same as why Retro’s second Metroid game is called Metroid Prime 2, instead of just “Metroid: Echoes” and why Metal Gear Ghost Babel became simply “Metal Gear Solid”; it’s an issue of branding. The assumption, from a Western marketing perspective, is that you need “brand unity”. If you’ve got a successful product, you need to cash in on its name as far as you can. So if you’ve got a new cereal, you’re better off introducing it as, say, Cinna-Crunch Pebbles and putting Fred Flintsone in it, rather then letting it fend for itself, on its own merits.

The thing about the Wars series – well. It’s been around for a long time. Going on twenty years, actually. It began on the Famicom as Famicom Wars, then moved to the Super Famicom and Gameboy as Super Famicom Wars and Gameboy Wars. Thus we have Advance Wars. And since the GBA games were the first we were introduced to over here, every future game in the series must have the word “Advance” in it.

Well, to be fair, we’re to receive the GameCube one (called, inexplicably, “Famicom Wars”) as (even more inexplicably) “Battalion Wars”. I guess that complicates the theory right there. And the Western title for the DS game is no less arbitrary than the Japanese one (again, simply “Famicom Wars DS”). That doesn’t make this trend any less irritating.

Nintendogs (DS)
EAD SDG#1/Nintendo

So here it is; as Seaman was to the Dreamcast in Japan, so Nintendogs is to the DS – though even more so, in this case (in three flavors, no less). This is the game that’s pushed the system’s install base far enough that developers are starting to take the system seriously and that the less imaginative pundits have begun to scratch their heads. In anticipation for a similar smash success, Nintendo of America has chosen to dip the hardware’s retail price by twenty dollars a day before the game is released.

What I wonder is – and I haven’t been checking up – where has Nintendo been advertising this game? Has it considered Good Housekeeping? Teen Beat? Better Homes & Gardens? Because this isn’t a gamer’s game. The only reason it sold in Japan is that it’s virtually impossible to own a dog in Japan. There’s no space, there’s no time, and it’s expensive besides. That’s the whole reason why Tamagochi took off a decade ago, and why the Aibo’s done Sony so well. It’s part of the success behind Pokemon, frankly – though that series has enough quirk and an obsessive-compulsive enough a premise to appeal to kids anywhere.

What does Nintendogs have? Unlike Pokemon, it’s not really a videogame. It’s only “fruity” in the sense that by Western standards it’s an unusual premise for a piece of software. I mean, if you like dogs enough to play Nintendogs, you might as well pick up a real dog from the SPCA. If you don’t like dogs that much, then why would you play a dog-raising sim? You don’t even get a Will Wright “God” effect out of playing, as there’s not much you can really do with your virtual dog, really. You’re not interfering with the lives of mere mortals; you’re just playing with a puppy. It’s a decent tech demo and all – there’s some nice AI and voice recognition work going on, and the software makes good use of the stylus. It’s just: why?

So the traditional gaming audience is mostly out, aside from the curiosity and technology aspects. Not that those are anything to sneeze at. You know the game will sell well for a week or two, just because of all of the hype around it. The problem is in sustaining that. In finding people with disposable income who normally wouldn’t play videogames but who would find the game cute enough to give it a shot. Since the system already comes with another game (Mario 64 is a bad choice; pack it with Kirby Canvas Curse if you’re smart, Nintendo), that’ll give these people something else to do when they bore of Nintendogs, and the beginning of a library. It’s a way to get people curious about videogames in general – and with its interface, the DS is the perfect system for that.

The task is one of demographics. Who likes puppies and has money, but doesn’t already play videogames? Older women and teenaged girls are what spring to mind. Dog enthusiasts would probably be aghast, so avoid them. Focus on the cuteness.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, August 23rd)

Pac ‘n Roll (DS)
Namco/Namco

As much as I like Marble Madness, this game isn’t much fun. This is assuming it hasn’t made leaps and bounds since E3. I think maybe it’s that you never touch Pac-Man directly. You fiddle with a little Pac-icon on the bottom screen, and all of the action takes place on the top. So there’s no connection. It’s like a trackball game, except you’re never allowed to physically touch the trackball. So the interface is an abstraction of an abstraction. Gee, that’s hot.

When you combine that psychological disconnect with how simplistic the game itself is, there’s just not much here to go on. This feels like yet another in a string of tech demos; the first idea that popped into someone’s head when he saw the hardware specs. And not even a very imaginative one. I hope the team behind this learned what it set out to learn.

Namco Museum Battle Collection (PSP)
Namco/Namco

What ho! Is this another PSP game? No, not really. It’s another iteration of Namco Museum, and not even a very interesting one. All you get is the first two Pac-Men, Galaga and Galaxian, Rally-X and New Rally X, Dig Dug 1 and 2, Xevious, King & Balloon, Bosconian, Mappy, Tower of Druaga, Grobda (what?), and Dragon Buster.

Sure, Dragon Buster and Druaga are a little unusual. And you get some remakes in the bunch. Really, though – if you’re going to keep airing out Iwatani’s laundry, would it kill you to include Pac-Man Jr. and Super Pac-Man in future compilations? There are two routes to go with a collection like this: either for historical or entertainment value. And Namco keeps failing to hit either one. Given the PSP’s most popular unlisted use, any classics collections are going to have to be something special to warrant even releasing here. Skim down to the end of Thursday, if you want to see a classics collection done right.

ADDENDUM: There are more interesting games to unlock, such as the legendary Rolling Thunder. Well, that’s a little better. Why hide them, though? And why is it so hard to find pre-release information on this feature? Oh well. Rolling Thunder on a handheld! I guess there you go.

The King of Fighters 2002 & 2003 (Xbox)
Brezza, Eolith, SNK NeoGeo/SNK Playmore

A compilation of the final two King of Fighters games on the Neo-Geo hardware, this came out on the PS2 a couple of months ago; one assumes the delay for the Xbox iteration was in working out the network code, as the two games will take advantage of Xbox Live (making them the first King of Fighters games playable online in the West).

This is a weird pairing of games, as 2002 is probably the worst, and certainly the most conservative, game in the series (though it plays pretty well), while on its own merits 2003 is one of the most radical and probably one of the best – though by now the series is starting to feel a bit creaky around the edges. The two games also come from different eras in SNK’s recent history, and were developed under different circumstances.

The problem with 2002 was that Eolith (a Korean company that somehow got the license to the series around the time that Aruze drove SNK into bankruptcy) got the jitters when entrenched SNK fans screamed at Eolith’s handling of the previous game, KOF2001 – which, though superficially ugly, was in some ways rather ingenious and was certainly more expressive than the series had ever been before. So to appease fans, Eolith ended the then-current storyline on a disappointing note in favor of copying the “Dream Match” framework of KOF’98 – meaning they would make a tournament-oriented game with no storyline, bringing back the most popular past elements from the series.

Thing is, Eolith missed the point. They polled fans, and essentially made the exact game that the fans wanted. So we get exactly what you’d expect by polling as imaginative a bunch as fighting game fans. Thing is – the fans loved it. Of course they did, since it was exactly what they asked for. The game has no soul, though. It’s pretty darned cynical – a quality that puts it in kind of stark contrast to the game it’s trying to emulate, KOF’98. Where ’98 was a rather vibrant celebration of all that KOF had been, 2002 was Eolith’s kind of shallow ploy to milk as much money as it could out of SNK’s fans before its license ran out.

I guess it’s understandable, considering how the fans reacted when Eolith actually tried to do something interesting. Still, it’s kind of sad to see.

The PS2 version is the best iteration of the game, as it adds in a bunch of characters and features (not all obligatory!) missing in earlier versions. The Xbox version should be identical, save the online features. So if you really need to play the game, this is the best you can do.

Again, 2003 is nice. It’s the start of the plot arc continued in the upcoming King of Fighters XI, for the AtomisWave (and likely to receive a home port by next summer). New main characters, new tag-based game system, some rather daring changes in the roster, some great character art, and some of the most intriguing team endings in the series. There are some good ideas here, that should fire off a few neurons in the more thoughtful players.

Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder (PC, PS2, Xbox)
Eutechnyx/THQ

Oh dear. Well, actually – set dressing aside, the premise isn’t a poor one. What you’ve got is a sort of a pirate sim, crossed with an arcadey driving engine. Instead of frigates you’ve got eighteen-wheelers. Instead of mahogany and spices you’ve got lumber and narcotics. The game even seems to have a stripped-down GTA-style radio system, with jabbering DJs and a choice of several different musical styles. If anything, the game seems weirdly ambitious, for what it is. And I guess it’s educational to see that the game this is a sequel to sold nearly a million copies.

Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance (PS2, Xbox)
Cavia/Capcom

We covered this not too long ago. It’s one of several games at this past E3 trying to bring new context to the classic brawler genre, beyond walking to the right and punching. It’s got some good ideas; we’ll just see how they play out. Curious that Capcom is choosing to publish this, when its own Final Fight: Streetwise (the most ambitious of the new breed) isn’t too far from completion. Each game does offer its own distinct perspective, though.

187 Ride or Die (PS2, Xbox)
Ubisoft France/Ubisoft

Another “street combat” game, this one with a ghetto skin fitted around it. As with Big Mutha Truckers, evidently someone buys these things. Good to be aware.

Pump It Up: Exceed (PS2, Xbox)
Andamiro/Mastiff

A port of a popular Korean DDR knock-off known for actually improving on the original in some key ways, including actually-choreographed steps for each song and a five-button dance mat that helps to measure both the end position of the player’s feet and the path those feet took to get there. In this incarnation, the game includes “over 80” songs, which might or might not mean 81, from contemporary artists like Crystal Method and Steriogram; from K-pop acts Sechs Kies, Honey Family, Clon, and Novasonic; and original material from the Pump It Up band, BanYa.

Thursday, August 25th

Akumajou Dracula: Aoitsuki no Juujika (DS)
KCE TYO/Konami (Japan release)

Otherwise known as Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, this is the direct sequel to 2003’s Aria of Sorrow, following its hero, Soma Cruz, into another excuse for Metroid-style castle exploration. Although it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, from what I saw of it at E3, this is likely to be the best of the five Metroidvanias – a species that also covers Symphony of the Night and the three GBA games.

Honestly, this is the game that will sell the DS to everyone I know. It’s got the more interesting system and design of Aria of Sorrow, with better level design (in the short portion I played) than in any of Igarashi’s other Castlevanias, and probably the best-looking sprites and backgrounds in the entire series.

In a recent interview with GamaSutra, Igarashi says he chose the DS as his Castlevania platform because it’s frankly the only feasible place to put a 2D game anymore. The problem this presents, from his perspective, is that Nintendo hardware tends to skew somewhat younger, demographically, while Castlevania’s fanbase has been getting older and more narrow. For example, despite critical acclaim, Aria of Sorrow sold less than 20,000 copies. That’s… pretty dismal, for one of the best entries in one of Konami’s flagship series.

To address this, Igarashi has replaced the drippy neo-gothicism of series illustrator Ayami Kojima (allowing her to focus exclusively on Curse of Darkness for the older-skewing PS2) with bright, anime-styled character designs and backpedaled on his earlier decision to re-brand the series as “Castlevania”, world-wide. Perhaps someone decided that the old title, Akumajou Dracula, had wider brand recognition in Japan. Either way, it’s back again for the 2D game (while again, Curse of Darkness is retaining the “new” series name).

It should also help that this is the first strong action-adventure for the DS, and indeed one of the first DS games to appeal strongly to a hardcore demographic. The unusually strong female DS demographic might be another factor, as Igarashi’s Castlevania games (in particular) have always been a hit with women.

Lunar Genesis (DS)
Game Arts, Japan Art Media/Marvelous Interactive (Japan release)

Intended as a prequel to Lunar: Silver Star Saga, I guess this counts as the third real game in the Lunar series, the bible of RPGs that put Grandia developer Game Arts on the map, first on the Sega CD then again to a hardcore and RPG-thirsty PlayStation audience. It’s unclear to me just what part Japan Art Media is playing in development, although this seems to be the group behind the GBA Lunar port from a year or two ago. I also don’t quite understand why King of Fighters EX publisher Marvelous is handling the game, given the current relationship between Game Arts and Square-Enix.

Anyway. The game’s doing what any RPG on the DS should do (and frankly what would help a bunch of RPGs anyway), by allowing the player to control characters’ movement and make decisions through the touchscreen. Oddly, it also seems to support the microphone, allowing the player to vocally command his or her party to flee from battle. Not sure how that works, yet.

Puzzle Bobble DS (DS)
Taito/Taito (Japan release)

This is one of those obligatory series, like Bomberman, that must show up at least once on every piece of gaming hardware. Given that they’re a spin-off of the Bubble Bobble series, I’ve never understood why these games are called “Bust-A-Move” over here. I always confuse the name with Enix’s “Bust-A-Groove”. Or else am prone to think it’s a dancing game – if only until my memory clicks into place.

This is the same as usual, though adapted to the eccentricities of the hardware: the bubbles are on the top screen, while Bub, Bob, and company are on the bottom; instead of aiming that awkward little arrow, you now use the touchscreen to pull back a slingshot. The game also supports five-way wireless multiplayer.

Survival Kids: Lost in Blue (DS)
KCE Hawaii/Konami (Japan release)

Along with Phoenix Wright, Another Code, and Trauma Unit, this is one of what I consider the tetrad of killer DS adventures: mostly original (or at least based on sufficiently obscure series, from a Western perspective), all perfectly suited to the hardware, and all really creative both in concept and in execution. Where Nintendogs is roping in the non-gamers and Castlevania is luring the hardcore, these are the four games that have been holding my attention for the last year, and certainly since E3.

Lost in Blue is a desert island shipwreck sim, more or less. You search for food and cook it, using both traditional and rather creative methods (like closing the DS lid in order to close the “lid” on your cooking pot). Although I’m not sure where the full game is going, the overall theme is simply survival. And so far, the tasks at hand have been ingeniously inane, from finding shelter to starting a fire and drying your clothes to digging for edible root vegetables.

However it turns out in the end, this game is a prime demonstration of how different tools (in this case the DS hardware) change the rules for game development. If videogames feel like they’re in a rut, maybe it’s got something to do with the interface we’re still being given after all these years. And I’m not just talking about the touchscreen and microphone; I mean the whole way the game challenges the player to think. The whole premise, and the way it’s executed. The principles involved in its design. Today it’s a gimmick. To an extent, maybe the whole system is. Still, just look at the lateral thinking involved in the design. This is some of the most creative, vibrant, and frankly rather obvious boundary-testing in a high-profile major-label game in years, and it’s only made possible because the hardware is so weird.

Something to think about as Sony and Microsoft compete to give you the prettiest version of what you already think you want. Recall The King of Fighters 2002.

Juka and the Monophonic Menace (GBA)
Orbital Media, Inc./Orbital Media, Inc.

This seems to be the second game by Orbital after the well-received Micro Machines-style racer, Racing Gears Advance, though the company has several other interesting-sounding productions in the works for both GBA and DS, most with a targeted 2006 release date.

As is typical with small developers and publishers, it’s hard to find a lot of pre-release press on this game. From screenshots and the official site, the game seems to be an isometric action-adventure in the vein of Link to the Past or Landstalker, flavored with a dash of Hindu and African folklore and your typical arbitrary fussing with the game system.

As the protagonist is an alchemist, the main gameplay gimmick seems to involve mixing potions of half a dozen colors. The art and gameworld are colorful and stylish, in a way that feels neither Japanese nor Western, and (somewhat amazingly) doesn’t even feel like white guys trying to imitate Japanese art, even if the game design itself looks awfully familiar. Seems appealing, from a distance.

Kunio-Kun Nekketsu Collection 1 (GBA)
Million/Atlus (Japan release)

You know River City Ransom? Super Dodge Ball? All of those other weird NES games that seemed to use the same sprites, like Nintendo World Cup and Crash ‘N the Boys Street Challenge? In Japan, they were all part of the same series – a series that began with the game we know over here as Renegade. The Western localization of Renegade – a game which coincidentally also happened to be the first brawler ever made – later inspired Technos, the game’s developers, to create the Double Dragon series, pretty much establishing the brawler as one of the key genres of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Here, though, is the Nekketsu series, that was around both before and after Double Draon, and which covered far more ground than its cousin ever did. Starring Kunio (named after Technos president Kunio Taki) and his rival Riki, the Nekketsu games ranged from traditional side-scrolling brawlers to all manner of “extreme sports” games to a four-player versus fighting game – for the Famicom. This is one of the longest-running, most prolific, and most significant series that most people outside of Japan are clueless about.

Technos died out in the mid-’90s, after a couple of last-ditch developments for the Neo-Geo MVS (including a rather deluxe upgrade of Super Dodge Ball); later, Kunio Taki and a few of his former Technos staff, who found themselves at Atlus subsidiary Million, managed to scramble together all of Technos’s languishing IP (somewhat putting a damper on the ambitions of mexican developer Evoga, which at that very moment was putting the final touches on an MVS-based sequel to Double Dragon called Rage of the Dragons), and published a few GBA updates to old Technos games.

I guess those were successful enough, as now Million is going nuts with the remakes. This, the first of at least three upcoming Nekketsu compilations, includes Super Dodge Ball and Ganbare Dunk Heroes – which is basically the same, except with more of an ostensible basketball framework. As yet, all of the remakes will be of the Nekketsu sports spin-offs. Anyone waiting for a GBA version of the legendary and as-yet unreleased-in-the-West series finale, Tachi no Banka, has some waiting yet in store.

Breath of Fire III (PSP)
Capcom/Capcom(Japan release)

Hey, another PSP game! Hey, another port!

Twelve: Sengoku Fengshenden (PSP) (Japan release)
Tenky/Konami (Japan release)

Wait. This isn’t a classics collection or a port. What’s going on?! Instead we’ve got what looks like a pretty standard strategy RPG, following on the coattails of Nippon Ichi’s re-popularization of the subgenre. Looks pretty enough, though the character designs lack the wacky charm of NI’s. And there’s no telling if it will be as smart, self-conscious, and witheringly observant as, say, Disgaea – which is the main thing that Nippon Ichi did to make the subgenre tolerable to people who might occasionally do something with their lives other than play videogames.

Taito Memories Vol. 2 (PS2)
Taito/Taito (Japan release)

As with last time, I’m not really going to comment here. Instead, check it out:

Space Invaders
Space Invaders Part 2
Crazy Balloon
Balloon Bomber
Qix
Wild Western
Elevator Action
Chack’n Pop
Front Line
Legend of Kage
The New Zealand Story
Rastan Saga II
Raimais
Insector X
Cadash
Violence Fight
Gun Frontier
Hat Trick Hero
Mizubaku Daibouken
Arabian Magic
Gekirindan
Puzzle Bobble 2
Raystorm
G-Darius

Basically everything I missed on the first Memories collection, plus a bunch of other stuff that’s either excellent or hilariously bad enough to take a close look at. Between the two of them, these two Memories discs are an excellent cross-section of Taito as a developer – and the glory part is, many of the games have never been released for home consoles, or have never had a perfect port before. Given the excellent emulation on the previous disc, there should be nothing to complain about here. If someone doesn’t pick these discs up for US release, I weep for the publishing industry.

Tales of Legendia (PS2)
Namco Tales Studio/Namco (Japan release)

Another Tales game! Since it seems the market is not yet saturated enough! Maybe Namco will do it this time. You can do it, Namco! You know you already have my apathy on your side!

Friday, August 26th

Nibiru: Age of Secrets (PC)
Future Games/The Adventure Company

If nothing else, these Myst clones have some darned good synopses to them. This one involves a linguistics and archeology student invited by his uncle to explore a World War II-era tunnel unearthed in Bohemia during highway construction. Recalling The Third Man, when the protagonist gets to Prague, he finds his contact murdered. There follows a deep web involving the Nazis and the demise of the Mayans.

It looks pretty.

And wow, aside from Mario Superstar Baseball, there’s nothing happening next week. I guess there’s that Bleach fighting game for the PSP that a few people are looking forward to. Otherwise, it’s tumbleweeds and crickets. I’m sure I’ll think up something to amuse you, however. Please to anticipate!