Points of Interest – 4/6/07
- From over at Penny Arcade, it seems word has come that the Japanese are rather unhappy that the MMO RPG based on the sacred Dragon Ball franchise is being developed by Koreans.
Funny, I don’t remember hearing about outrage when Atari began developing good fighting games based on it.
I guess a fair comparison would be if another country made a game based on… um… hmm.
You know, it kind of feels like most any American license has passed through Japanese fingers at least once, you know? If you think of an apt comparison, feel free to reply below.
The real irony behind all of this is the simple fact that Dragon Ball was based on a Chinese legend to start with, so a sense of entitlement is at least a little questionable.
- Ever wanted to race a TransFormer? If you have Flatout 2, then pretty soon, you can.
In other TransFormers happenings, Kup gets a MySpace page, Furman talks Furry ‘Formers, and new pics of movie toys Swindle and Bonecrusher are available.
- Hmm, this would’ve been a good thing to be talking about more about a month ago.
If you dig the TMNT movie, and want more, then you might want to take a look at these previews of the comic prequels to the movie.
- Nintendo has updated their Super Paper Mario site, complete with videos and such goodness.
Go. Play. Have fun!
If you crave more videos, GameTrailers has you covered with a new batch.
STILL not enough? Fine. Then you can go to GameSpot’s 4-hour marathon today at 1pm PST. I kind of have to side with Kotaku on this one.
And thanks a lot, NOA Matt. Now you make me want to find a pizza parlor with 20-year old arcade games in it.
- What do you consider some of the most engaging Nintendo games where visuals are concerned?
Press the Buttons has a list that’s hard to argue with.
- You’ve probably played every version of Street Fighter II, III, EX, and the Alpha series. And you think that makes you hardcore, right?
But.
Have you ever played the original?
I was lucky enough to give it some tries at a video game machine at the gym where I was training for wrestling some years ago, and it’s quite a change from the SF norm. I’m glad it finally saw release in Capcom Classics, but it seriously should have been in Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, and I think its exclusion was an embarassment.
- GameSpot reviews Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES.
GameSpot hates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES.
Wussies.
- They also check out Star Fox 64 on Virtual Console.
Sounds like it’s lost something in the conversion, controller-wise.
- 8 minutes.
How much of the Nintendo Museum can one see in 8 minutes?
In addition, Kotaku says the same guy broke into Nintendo’s old Kyoto HQ, and got a tour for his troubles.
- GamePro goes hands-on with Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii.
- If you download a game from the Wii Virtual Console, there’s a neat downloading sequence which features Mario or Luigi doing some running and jumping and collecting coins.
But, there’s more…
- How do we improve the Wii? Some suggestions.
On a related note, as pertains to the Virtual Console, I fully agree. I’ve been calling for arcade versions since Day 1.
- “Video Games Offer Fun New Violence”
While I won’t dispute anything they have here, I do ask how they can dare to leave off the rolling of people, places, and things into giant balls before sending them into the sky to go supernova?
- A hand-drawn Super Smash Bros. Brawl video with a lesson:
Don’t f*** with Flint.
- To bring you all the hot secrets from behind the counter, game store clerks will risk their ass. But don’t worry, they’ve got plenty to spare.
I kid, though. Seriously, when I think about it, most game store clerks seem to be in better condition than one might think.
- Wii: “Revolution,” or “Evolution?”
- Want to play Mario Kart Arcade GP, but don’t know where to look for this rare game?
- What do you get when you mix Akira Toriyama’s Blue Dragon and the artist of Death Note?
Something rather different-looking from the anime, at any rate.
- 1up.com adds EGM‘s ever-controversial article BattleStation! The PlayStation 3 Is Under Attack! to their website.
It was a bit of a hot topic a little while ago, and now you can read it for yourself.
- So while you wait for the Diamond and Pearl games to come out, you can turn back time with Retronauts’ look back at the Pocket Monsters.
–LBD “Nytetrayn”
April 6th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Gee, there’s only a total of 9 MK Arcade Machines in my area. >_>
Not THAT rare.
April 6th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Ryan: Just because they happen to be concentrated near you, doesn’t mean it’s not rare for the country as a whole. It’s like someone from Hawaii telling someone in Kansas, “Volcanoes? Those aren’t rare!”
1. One thing to keep in mind is that there appears to be great animosity between Koreans and basically every other Asian race out there. They hate Koreans and Koreans hate them. So this would be kind of like if Fox had asked France to produce the Simpsons movie.
April 6th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
15. That was a really interesting read, but at the same time, I have to agree with some of those comments. Some of their complaints are genuine but some of it is just whining. As some commenters have said, a lot of the same complaints can be applied to any retail job, and heck, some of them apply to just any job in general.
On the flip side, there are the employees who are decent people. Just as there are some good customers out of many irritating ones, there are also some good employees among the many rotten ones. I know one GameStop that I actually like, because it’s fun to go in there and talk with the employees and check out the games. But that’s one store I’ve visted out of many. Most of the time I get the employees who are either clueless themselves, inattentive, or condescending, or even those people who are “too good” of an employee and will harass you by the book just like corporate wants them to.
April 6th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Ryan: Then quit hogging them! Send a couple to Canada!
Shinkuu: 1) Good comparison, thanks.
–LBD “Nytetrayn”