It's been a while since I've been able to tap into my Gaming B.I. (Before Internet) series, but I struck a little bit of pay dirt recently when my local import shop had a small stack of gaming publications for me to sink my teeth into.  Most of this stack was filled with old strategy guides (hey, old strategy guides make for great toilet reading material) but the first book out of the bunch I dove into was Random House's Official SEGA Genesis & Game Gear Strategies, more specifically, the 1994 edition by Corey Sandler and Tom Badgett.

This publication is decent enough and it falls within the same perimeters I've talked about with vague descriptions of each game and such great pointers as not having Pac-Man eat power pellets when he doesn't need to, but this book is one of the more solid entries I've read recently, devoting a lot of space to passwords, cheats and Game Genie codes, which would have been a godsend before the Internet made all of this commonly-accessible knowledge.  What blew me away, though, was this comment, made in regard to the Electronic Arts' SEGA Genesis title Mutant League Football and I quote it word for word:

"Looks like the real thing to us."

Now I won't pretend to know what the authors are thinking here and they may just be referring to the football itself and the passing and running plays contained within, but I can think of numerous other comments that would be far more suitable to describe Mutant League Football.  In fact, that is perhaps the worst comment you could make in reflection to the game's target demographic.  The reason I still pick up the game every now and again is because it wasn't just some cookie cutter football game.  Sure, it hasn't aged well at all, but it can be mindless fun for about fifteen minutes until you decide to move on to something like Streets of Rage 2.

Do you remember during Super Bowl XLIV when the Indianapolis Colts bribed the referee and the New Orleans Saints had to kill him so he would stop calling five-yard penalties for nose picking?  Or how about in Super Bowl XIX where Joe Montana lobbed a horrible pass, but in reality, it was actually a live explosive that he purposely threw at a Miami Dolphin defender?  Evidently, we're supposed to believe the events of this game are rooted in reality.  Perhaps in the future, we will be playing football on distant planets with aliens and skeletons, but to claim Mutant League Football has any resemblance of reality is a bit of a stretch, especially considering the obvious cartoon artwork used in the game.

It's been at least 15 years since I've been asked the awkward question of "how many bits would be real life?" as if reality was governed by something out of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream or The Matrix, but it appears the answer is 16.  Watching Mutant League Football is identical to turning on a television on Sunday afternoon during football season according to this statement, but I will ease off of this soap box for now as, of course, this publication is far from the first to ever call reality into play in regard to video gaming.  Even though advertising tried to lead me to believe 8-bit graphics were realistic, I knew better, especially since arcade games would be running at double to triple the power.  People can believe what they want about what is and isn't reality, but being based on reality doesn't necessitate a claim something is, in fact, realistic.  Even as technology progresses to this day, there is a strive to be "real," but, I have to ask, how real can video games become before they are not even games anymore and, more importantly, they aren't fun?

I always seem to be on that opposing end of the spectrum where I want my games to be fantasy, an escape from what I live through from 8-6 p.m.  The never-ending push for realism has cut away a little bit of this creativity, but, thankfully, it still exists.  We're definitely catching up to realistic looks, which is a far cry from the sprites and jagged polygons we used to be fed as real.  As a matter of fact, the title of this Gaming B.I. comes from this legendary gem of an advertisement:

You can still be rooted in reality and present a fantasy as well; take Madden for example.  The aspect of football is a reality, however, for a majority of people, assuming the role of their favorite player/team, playing in the big leagues, being in front of a roaring crowd, being in full control of the league and more are fantasy elements.  There becomes a point where reality is no longer video game material: Do you want a game where you have to spend half the year not even playing during the offseason?  Do you want to do full-scale workouts, training and deal with personal matters on a real-time daily schedule?

Of course, this is all subjective in nature.  The boundaries of reality are going to differ from person to person and their tolerance for it will be dynamic as well.  How far are you willing to go with realism in video games?  What is the point where you feel realism would ruin the video gaming experience?

Originally published on Bemanistyle

Back when news of this year’s brand new DanceDanceRevolution titles surfaced during July’s E3 event, Konami of America went out of its way to state it was going to feature “major licensed master Latin tracks.” While we were initially ignorant about the impact these Latin tunes would have on the final product, DanceDanceRevolution X2 released in North America on Oct. 27 and it became clear exactly how far Konami was looking to go in featuring Latin-style music in the title. Of the title’s 60 songs, nearly 17 percent of the list features Latin songs and/or artists and it seemed as if the company purposely went out of its way to reproduce Konami originals in this styling in bringing revival songs from previous entries into the mix. It’s hard to deny DanceDanceRevolution is as global as it has ever been, originating from its humble, nine Konami original songs on the original DDR arcade cabinet, evolving to later include European influence with the company’s Toshiba EMI partnership and, finally, breaking out into recognizable tunes made popular in America. While Latin-style songs are hardly nothing new to series, what attributed this focus to load almost one-fifth of DDR X2 with this music genre?

“We believed that the PS2 market in Central America is relatively large, so we decided to implement Latin/Spanish-influenced licensed and Konami original songs that might be better accepted in that region and for the residents in North America who enjoy this type of music,” stated series producer Naoki Maeda in a recent e-mail interview with Bemanistyle.com. Looking at recent events that have unfolded in 2009 between Central America and Sony, perhaps saying the previously untapped video game market in the territory is large could be an understatement.

A February announcement made by Sony Computer Entertainment America officially put the company’s consoles and services available to the territory for the first time(1). Prior to this point, residents of the area had to either swallow heavy-hitting price tags for systems and games thanks to customs taxes and import tariffs or take part in playing pirated copies of games titles. In fact, a 2008 editorial by Pascal Clarysse, who was formerly a marketing manager for Lik Sang, commented on Edge Online that a popular title such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl could cost as much as $110 U.S. at retail in Columbia – a real slap to the wallet when you take into account that Clarysse states the minimum and average wage in the country is $260-280. Because of these limitations, he states the Game Boy Advance and Playstation 2 continue to be the best-selling systems in Central America(5) and when you factor in the huge install base the PS2 has in Brazil – the largest in the territory - it becomes easier to understand SCEA’s decision to officially enter the market(2).

“The significance of the Latin America market is huge. Obviously from a population standpoint I don’t think it’s a big secret that this is a huge opportunity. We will put a number of resources in place to cater to that market,” stated Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Vice President of Sales Ian Jackson one year ago at a BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference. “… We’ve identified the Brazilian market as probably the biggest market opportunity for us, and that will be the third part of our launch which will take place over Spring 2009."(3)

Thanks to the official distribution of Sony product in Central America, the distribution has made the prices of official games a bit easier to swallow for the 13 countries within reach of Sony Latin America, even though the territory has some fierce competition in the form of the regional Zeebo console and pirated discs that provide games at a lower price. Regardless of where players are receiving their games, it can’t be denied that gaming is a huge hobby in Central America and the Playstation 2 is a common system, much as it is worldwide, where it has been cut to a $99.99 U.S. price tag. Konami’s efforts to market DanceDanceRevolution to this territory rolled off of Sony’s momentum in the region as X2 and Hottest Party 3 made appearances the weekend prior to the titles’ release at Latin America’s largest video game event, the eighth-annual Electronic Games Show in Mexico City, which saw more than 30,000 attendees(4). As such, Konami certainly isn’t ready to give up on the system, which still has a full year to follow Sony’s intention to give the Playstation 2 format a 10-year life cycle.

“We still look at the PS2 as a competitive platform in today's global market but the so-called next generation consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360 have great possibility of permeating throughout the world even more,” noted Konami's Naoki Maeda. “Our goal is to foresee the needs of the market and provide titles with the hardware that best suits these needs.”

Before the attempted penetration of DDR into the Central American territory, however, local players had long been accustomed to Andamiro’s Pump It Up series, a cheaper arcade alternative that served as the go-to dancing title for this territory along with Korea. In 2005, Mastiff CEO Bill Swartz, who was at the time preparing Pump It Up Exceed for a home console release in North America, told Edge Online, “It's insanely popular in Latin America and Korea. Every year in Mexico City there are tournaments. This year's drew more than 15,000 people and they had to open the doors an hour early to avoid a riot. " Interestingly enough, the same interview has Swartz stating the release features “lots of Latin music,” showing the dancing game market has in some form catered to the territory for a number of years(6). According to Maeda, the global appeal of DanceDanceRevolution stems from the art of dance being a global language that is enjoyed by everyone across the world, however, cultural differences are what tend to bring such “market targeting” into play.

“The global appeal of DanceDanceRevolution lies in the fact that the main idea of the game is ‘dancing,’ which is a method used to express oneself that can be seen throughout the world,” he explained. “However, there are several different types of dancing which can come from elements such as the characteristics of a country or what they deem beautiful. We believe that holds great importance in that the recorded music fitting the dance type of a specific region is essential.”

Of course, targeting the Latin music market isn’t an unfamiliar endeavor, with Konami of Japan releasing Mambo a Go Go (which, unfortunately, missed the U.S. market with an intended, but cancelled, release under the name Mambo King) and SEGA developing Samba de Amigo during the Latin pop craze that hit at the turn of the century. Even though neither title had a huge impact, if any, on North America, Maeda noted Konami hasn’t given up on the theme as long as its games are openly available to the region.

“Yes, depending on the location of where we release our titles and the characteristics of the people in the country, we would like to provide content that is geared more toward that region,” he stated. “Music in Southern America has its own characteristics with a very unique history and developing games with these themes are in one of our best interests.”

Will the adjusted focus help Konami and its DanceDanceRevolution series in the long run? Only time will tell in the long run, but, currently, the company is keeping a positive focus on the market for now.

“Our view of Central America is that there are several unknown elements in the market, but features such as their national trait where they look at things objectively and with the way ‘dancing’ is positioned in their lifestyle, we believe that it is a very hopeful market,” concluded Maeda.

[1] Official SCEA Press Release, “Sony Computer Entertainment America Expands into Latin America” - GameSpy
[2] Theo Azevedo, “Produção do PlayStation 2 e jogos no Brasil é aprovada” – UOL Jogos
[3] Staff, “SCEA: Latin America is a Huge Opportunity for PS2” – Playstation Universe
[4] Official Michael Meyers Public Relations press release – “Eighth-Annual Electronic Game Show Draws 30,000” – (received internally by Bemanistyle.com)
[5] Pascal Clarysse, “Gaming in Latin America” – Edge Online
[6] Staff, “Pump it Up” – Edge Online 

After much delay, we finally have a new Happy Hour posted over at J2Games.  This entry sees the return of MixMasterLar to the show as we carry on our banter as normal.  Included in this installment is a review of Donkey Kong Country and our top 10 most disappointing game sequels.  Head on over and check it out.

The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for Dec. 16, 2009

The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for July 12, 2008

Nes:  Welcome one and all once again to the podcast you have to read, The Nestlekwik Happy Hour.  Of course, I am your host nestlekwik, welcoming you back from what I hope was an enjoyable holiday for all of our US readers.  Hopefully you didn’t blow off any thumbs with those fireworks as that would make playing video games quite a chore.  If you were expecting some sort of holiday theme based on fireworks games such as Fantavision or Boom Boom Rocket, we apologize as the GemuBaka crew was catching some much needed rest (and hamburgers) for the holiday weekend.  Of course, by “we,” I mean myself and your Happy Hour co-host, MixMasterLar.


Lar:  I can see you had your share of hamburgers over the past week Nes.  It might be time for you to fire up Wii Fit and hit some of those jackknives.

Nes:  We’ll just wait for Dance Dance Revolution X to hit and it will give me a reason to get moving again.

Lar:  Understood.  Well, even though we were conspicuously absent last weekend, we want to point out that The Nestlekwik Happy Hour now has a new segment – the stickied thread entitled “Swag Museum.”  The feature kicked off with 10 pieces of gaming history (or junk depending on your view) and today we have updated with an additional two entries.

Nes:  I hope that hot sauce ages well.  It could get really gross in a couple more years.

Lar:  Well, you should probably talk that over with your girlfriend.  I’m just glad I won’t be there to smell it when it turns green.

Nes:  … But it was green to begin with.

Lar:  Oh, I see.  Well, moving on, speaking of things aging, let’s dive a little into the past and see how our latest review prospect has aged.

Review: Virtua Fighter 2

Lar:  Sega broke all kinds of records with the release of the first Virtua Fighter. When Namco jumped in on the action, Sega and AM2 decided to release a sequel to the first 3-D fighter ever made. The game is considered to be one of the best 3-D fighters of the ‘90s and many believe that it did to its genre what Street Fighter II did with 2-D fighting games.

The graphics of the arcade and Windows port were pretty good for the time and made Namco's efforts look pitiful. Sadly, the game's looks haven’t aged well over 12 years - characters look like Legos and move a bit sluggish compared to newer games (but it was the first 3-D game to run 60 frames per second with no slowdown whatsoever).  Backgrounds are drawn well for the time and the characters all look and fight unique from one another (something that wasn’t - and still isn’t - a real standard).

The game is not known for music and that only means the music reeks ‘90s game style. The speakers are filled with a mix of rock guitar and ‘90s tech, with very little composition. I didn’t care for the soundtrack and not many people seem to either.

Gameplay is pretty standard VF fare: There are punch, kick and guard buttons that perform what you would expect, with a few extra moves when more than one button is pressed together. The game is the only one in the VF line up that has re-sizable rings and health bars, which is good since the default heath bar doesn’t hold up to much damage (even for the time). This really hurts replayablity since matches are so short. Speaking of replay, you pretty much have no real reason to play this game unless you have memories attached to it. The arcade mode is as predictable as it gets and if you’re playing on a port with the Team Battle, Time Attack and two-player modes, then you'll realize there just isn’t any diversity in the game. It also doesn’t help that the later Virtual Fighters have upped the ante on everything four-plus times already. Unlike Street Fighter where playing the old version of Street Fighter II still holds some merit, you're more likely to feel like you did surfing on Windows 95 at your library after you had gotten use to the new release of Window's XP at home: You'll feel like your using a old, watered-down outdated game instead of getting your dose of classic gaming. That said, you can probably still enjoy it if your hardcore about fighters, so it isn’t all bad news.

Overall, if you're looking for a classic fighter then stick with either Street Fighter or the better-aged Tekken 2/3 releases. This game has outlived its time.


Nes:  People can say all they want about how the game has aged, but there is a reason why there is a Virtua Fighter 2 arcade machine in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History in the field of Arts and Entertainment. 

With the game hitting the Sega Saturn with nearly every single facet intact, Virtua Fighter 2 wiped clean the flickery skidmark that was Virtua Fighter (although it was patched through VF Remix) and was one of the many home games at the time to show perfect ports of arcade games were finally here.  Virtua Fighter's raw appeal has always been its 3-D implementation and vast selection of martial arts moves made possible by the simplest number of buttons and at the time, Sega felt the title was such a high point that it received a number of updates and spin-offs - and rightfully so as very few 3-D fighters on the Saturn hold up to VF2.

Ideally, most complaints about the game today will stem from the "1995" feel of the port - the polygonal counts aren't comparable to today's games, the jumping is floaty, the music has a slightly cheesy '90s electronic vibe, there are "only 10 fighters" - however, the port was quite a success for its time.  While the PC version has had the bonus of updated graphics over the Saturn, the console version still holds up incredibly well.  Nay sayers of the Saturn's 3-D prowess should look at the title's relatively high polygon count for its time on consoles, rotating backgrounds and rotating camera views during replays.  The sound may be the title's weakest point as while the music plays very well and fits each stage's theme, the sound has muffled quality and lacks the punch of effects from other popular fighters.

Thankfully, VF2 doesn't fail where it matters - in its game play.  The move list for each character was quite jaw dropping for its time and on the Saturn, the control is just as responsive as ever thanks to the system's stellar controller.  To make the control even more convenient, button combinations can be mapped to a single button to make pulling off throws or other moves flawlessly easy.  I would definitely agree by default the matches end too early, but this obviously either comes from trying to emulate real fighting (where in reality people don't take multiple heavy blows and keep fighting) or rushing the fights to keep the quarters pumping in arcades.  However, this can be suitably changed in the options to increase players' health and expand the ring size for a real last-man-standing affair.

There are no unlockables in the game, so replayability does fall quite a bit.  That's not to say there isn't any longetivity in the title, especially for fighter buffs, as there are a ton of moves to master, a number of difficulty modes, a handful of Easter eggs to dig up and, of course, you have multiplayer.

Overall:  Between the PC and Saturn versions, I think we both agree the foundation of Virtua Fighter 2 is a solid one that shouldn't be overlooked by fighting fans.  While the title pales in technicality when compared to Virtua Fighter 4 or 5, the engine still feels familiar and is as fun as ever.  While it lacks replayability depth, it is a quick game you'll find yourself coming back to time and time again as long as the aged feel of the title won’t get under your skin.  Seeing as both formats of the game shouldn't cost you more than $5, Virtua Fighter 2 is a no-brainer for anyone looking to start a Saturn collection and PC buffs will enjoy the extra attention to graphics (this version is also available through the GameTap subscription service and the Playstation 2 Sega Ages series).

Nes:  I loves me some Saturn.  It was good to fire it up again.  I had to switch out my hard drive though after not plugging it in for a good amount of time.

Lar:  The Saturn has a hard drive?

Nes:  Oh, yeah.  The ever-popular CR2032 battery … unlocking your Fighters MegaMix characters every time you play it gets old after a while, you know.

Lar:  Definitely.  Some things will never get old, though, including the music featured in this week’s top five feature …

The Happy Hour Top 5:  Underappreciated Game Themes

#5  Zoom Down


Music Artist Toshikazu Tanaka should be proud of the overlapping guitars and the use of synth he used in this Metal Slug 5 theme and he should really get some credit for it beyond "Oh. This was in a Metal Slug Game."  While the vocals make no sense in the tense game, it's still a very fast-paced song that goes well with the game's famous run and gun gameplay. If I had to pick a song to request as RockBand's next DLC, it would easily be this one.

That said, no one seems to ever remember what this song is or where it came from and it's never gotten respect as a game theme. In our opinions this song is one of the better MS themes.

#4  Pandora No Hako Yori-Dai Ichi Ban-Souguu


Loosely translated as "He who came first from Pandora's Box" this is the first boss battle theme that plays while fighting against Jin Choushu in SNK's Fatal Fury 3. The theme refects the situation the player encounters at the end; a mysterious 2,200 year-old kid looking for the secret scrolls that will make him immortal (as if living 2,200 years wasn’t good enough) has appeared out of nowhere to claim them.

As for the theme itself, GemuBaka has opted to select the rearranged version found on the Fatal Fury Collection Vol 1, though we still enjoy the original 24-bit version. This arrangement has a very classical feel to it with string instruments, cymbals, violins, drums and many others making their way into an epic rhythm that can be both relaxing to hum to and still be upbeat enough to suit a fighter like Fatal Fury. The song is hugely underrated and in (at least) Lar's opinion can rival a few of Nobuo Uematsu's famed compositions.

#3 Lil Bonus Room


It could be said the entire game of SkullMonkeys, released for the Playstation by The Neverhood, is underappreciated.  Sparing no expense in the presentation department, SkullMonkeys has some of the most bizzare claymation graphics in video game form, but even more bizzare is its completely insane soundtrack.

With such cult hits as Elevated Structure of Terror, Klogg is Dead, Beans and more under its belt, if you could say any one song in the game has the most notority (even though Death Garden Jive is completely awesome), it's definitely the one which drives players to acheive those bonus rooms every time.  With nothing more than an acoustic guitar and a set of vocal pipes, your "little invisible friend" is here to assure you players are completely safe in the most calming voice ever.

You might be safe in the bonus room, but when the singer goes on about always being with you and being just like your parents, you might eventually be afraid to leave your house.  Also, what kind of friend tries to scare you into thinking there is a monster directly behind you?  Regardless, the tune makes you feel like you are actually taking a break from the meat of the game and the sheer obscurity of the title ranks this one high.

#2 God Hand End Theme


If Clover left us with anything, it is damn well one of the greatest ending themes ever etched in the annals of video game history.  While the cheese factor is certainly high here, it's cheese cranked all the way to 11 as the kids would say, resulting in a hilarious theme you just can't take seriously but, still, the God Hand ending theme will still manage to kick your nuts and dragon kick your ass into the Milky Way.

While 80 percent of the song will probably fail to make any sense to those who have never played the title, the video is filled with enough inane para para dancing and Sentai knockoffs to make any J-fan go into epileptic joy.  God Hand is a mockery of conventional video game themes and this certainly carries over into the ending theme which bodly proclaims that the God Power will keep your pimp hand strong.  Themes aside, the song is severly infectious, already serving as a basis for many AMV videos flowing around YouTube and the most insane of fans recreating the dances performed in the ending.

While God Hand may have come and gone with little fanfare, it is most certain its ending theme will live on in the memory of its fans.  If only more companies could make more ending themes this compelling, the world would be a better place.

#1 Silent Hill no Uta


Half the reason the number one song might be so underappreciated is the fact you have to bend over backwards to hear it as part of Silent Hill 3's super-secret ending.  Thankfully, through the bag of magic that is YouTube, any regular Joe can fill their nostrils with the catchy aroma that is Silent Hill no Uta.

For the Japanese deficient, the title translates to a simple "Song of Silent Hill" and as such, it goes through with a description of the games' main characters and provides loads of fan service to those who pay attention to every detail that is Silent Hill.  Perhaps the raw appeal of the song lies within the oxymoronic situation which it overlaps - with a completely destroyed Silent Hill laying in the backdrop, everyone gathers with joy to sing an upbeat ditty about the game that was just played.  The scenery maintains a creepy feel reminescent of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's hallowing Game Over screen, but that hardly stops the kiddies from gathering around.

With the leading charge of "one, two, five, seven!" it becomes clear Silent Hill no Uta isn't going to be an ordinary song and the futuristic sound effects and robotic delivery of the lyrics are quite laugh inducing. But, again, that is the point, as it seems the people are purposely trying to sing as poorly as possible.  Singing talent aside, who can't resist lyrics that falsely place the characters of the game as fish salesmen or single parents?  I guess those fallacies are what prompts the song's bizzare and slightly distrubring (depending on your views) ending.  Much like a nasty car wreck, Silent Hill no Uta is so odd, but you just can't look away and its obscurity places it at the top of our list of underappreciated songs.

Nes:  Man, I’m going to have God Hand stuck in my head for weeks now.

Lar:  It is indeed that catchy.

Nes:  Well, it just freaks out my mom when I just randomly spout “Dragon Kick your ass into the Milky Way” out of the blue.

Lar:  That’s not normal.

Nes:  Should I get that checked?

Lar:  Possibly, but people will definitely want to check out more about these future titles hitting consoles next week.

The Nestlekwik Happy Hour Picks of the Week for July 14, 2008

*As a friendly reminder, these picks are based on hype and preview media and merely suggest what titles we are looking forward to most.  We have not actually played builds of these titles unless indicated and do not guarantee their quality.

Nes:  It’s a no-brainer what will sell the most next week as NCAA Football 09 hits every system under the sun next week.  Sports fans will have plenty to do next week, but for those who can’t stomach the good-old 10-yard fight, here are three suggestions that we’re looking forward to next week.

Pick of the Week Runner-Up #1 - B-Boy – Playstation 2

Just when your mom thought the world was safe from the Hip-Hop/”gansta”/street video gaming craze, Sony and FreestyleGames has decided to bring the UK's rhythm-action game B-Boy to the US this week.

The game is played almost like a fighter, but with break dancing moves instead of hadoukens, akin to games such as Bust-A-Groove. You learn moves that require a command on the controller's four face buttons and the shoulder buttons in a fashion similar to a minigame from Zelda or Rocky Legends - the exception being that you decide when to time the move you pull off (with the goal being to do it in time to Hip-Hop and Rap beats).  The graphics are looking pretty standard for today’s PS2 games, but it seems that the PS2 has reached its limit now and all we can ask for is standard suit.

While the game received a 7-score average in its UK release, we're guessing that it will be fairly popular over here in the states in light of EA Big's success and Rock Band's popularity.

Pick of the Week Runner-Up #2 - We Love Golf – Nintendo Wii

The Wii is getting another golf game in the form of We Love Golf!  Camelot Software Planning, the team that has made many of the Mario sports games has teamed up with Capcom for another Wiimote swinging outing.

Interestingly, the Wiimote seems to just replace button presses when it comes to gameplay: You time maneuvers with the Wiimote to a pretty familiar-looking power bar on the bottom of the screen. Once you've locked in power and speed, you swing the controller to match the onscreen indicator to send the ball flying.  We're not sure how this method will work seeing as it's mostly cutting hairs on the last generation games and the Wii, but it looks solid so far. The game also boasts unlockable characters, courses and classic Capcom character outfits to have your selected golfer wear (Chun-Li, Jill Valintine, Phoenix Wright were named and Lar spotted a Dino theme course which may mean Regina from Dino Crisis).  So far it looks like these really are just costumes as the character's face and skin tone remain unchanged when wearing a red gi, but it's nice to have them.

The Pick of the Week for the week of July 14, 2008 - Puchi Puchi Virus - Nintendo DS


While this game will have you battling a virus that causes people to turn into party animals, Puchi Puchi Virus shouldn't prove to be a buzz kill, especially for puzzle fans, when the title hits shelves next week.

Players will control a doctor who takes a look at a list of people who are down with the sickness.  As they say, each person is unique and in Puchi Puchi Virus, each patient will have their own unique goal players will have to tackle to cure the ill.  To perform the feat, players will use the stylus to pick out similar blocks on a hex grid to eliminate them in triangle-based patterns and owners the cart can do so in single-player or multiplayer (single and multi card) modes.

With a unique mechanic and plenty of charm to its pre-release screenshots and videos, Puchi Puchi Virus looks good enough for puzzle fans to call in with a sickness of their own to stay home and play the title.

Nes:  While we have music on the brain, it’s no surprise to point out that gamers have done some crazy things with the in-game music they love.  From the pure – www.ocremix.org - to the crazy, video game music has carried over to a number of media and many have reproduced the tunes in a style of their own.  Let’s take a look at some examples where players use video games as a means to further glorify the music.

Fly through the air on Mario Paint


Street Fighter Music is so legendary that it's been done one hundred different times - per theme.  While the techno remixes, vocal arrangements and countless rock version are fun, I think seeing Mario hop to an 8-bit version is pretty cool (even Mario pays tribute where it's due). My one gripe is the cat sound effects, but it does show that the artist put some time into making the theme in Mario Paint not as redundant as it might have been otherwise.

Blaze Heatnix's Theme


Ever wonder what some themes would look like when allowed to be in another rhythm game? This is fairly popular song from Mega ManX6 being played in a Beatmania IIDX emulation (on auto, of course).  It's a wonder that people can even dream of hitting keys that fast.

God Hand


You didn’t think we were done with this theme did you?  Someone evidentially loved this theme as much as we do and took the time to create a custom Guitar Hero II file for it.  While most of the level questionably fails to follow the … um, you know … guitar, it certainly earns brownie points for the fact it is God Hand.

Super Mario Bros. Medley


Sometimes these crossovers occur officially as well.  This is a Super Mario Bros. Medley as seen in the Japanese arcade release of Konami's Pop'N Music 14 FEVER.  The song gets pretty tough toward the end!

Super Music World


If Youtube has proven anything, it's that with enough dedicated time and effort you can be recognized as someone who has nothing better to do than crazy ROM hacks that no one has even thought of yet.

And nothing is a better textbook example of that than this game music video of a custom world's objects being timed to Niko Niko, a medley of Touhou, anime and other familar game themes. The amazing part is that the player isn’t really playing for the most part of the video at all but is being pushed along for the ride. The topping on the cake is the unique use of the boxes, turtles, and ropes used: Even if the song repeats itself, the game stays fresh with different sound effects to play all through 11 minutes worth. Oh; and the song is nice, too.

Nes:  As always, we hope you enjoyed today’s show.  We know you’ve been experiencing withdrawal from us, so you should be glad to know we are back on schedule and our next show will be hitting J2Games.com on Saturday, July 19.

As it was pointed out to numerous people, my trip entailed nine hours of driving, originating from the Toledo area, so with proper planning, I actually missed out on a day of work Thursday to cut into the trip and make the travel there a little less grueling.  We had everything packed on Thursday in a decent time and head out around noon with the intent of stopping somewhere outside of the Philadelphia area and just relaxing after a most tedious drive.  We hit a pretty big roadblock, however, as when going to renew littlenekochan’s state ID card, we were told that on that very day, a new regulation was passed to where you had to have a proof of residency in order to receive an ID.  Of course, we didn’t have this and the resulting BS put us behind scheduled almost an hour and a half.  Still we were in decent spirits for the trip as leaving the day prior allowed us to take easy and not be in a rush.  After seven hours of driving, we stopped for the night in Carlisle, PA, and got a nice Mariott suite with parking, a hot tub, a pool and plenty of stores across the street, all at a much lower price than the Philadelphia hotel we ended up staying at.  We managed to snap a bunch of pictures on the way as well – being from northwest Ohio, things like hills and mountains are unheard of – so in all, the first day of our excursion was relaxing and full of anticipation.

With the lead time, we were able to cut our travel time down to two hours and, as a result, we were able to arrive at the Philadelphia Convention Center one hour before the opening on Friday without having to wake up real early and rushing out the door.  Finding our way to our hotel was a very simple process and it was nice to know it was a mere block away from the convention center, but once we arrived, this is when we found out the hotel had absolutely no parking.  After about 15 minutes of asking random people where we should go, we settled on a parking lot a block from the hotel where some gentlemen I could barely understand charged me $60 for parking.  This isn’t the convention’s fault, for sure, but after the huge chunk of change we spent on travel alone (there were a couple unforeseen costs and turnpike rates decided to hike on Oct. 1), let’s just say I’m never driving out to Philadelphia ever again.

Now that we were finally settled to go to VGXPO, the problems with the event started to surface.  If there is a VGXPO 2010, please, please set aside a little bit of money and invest in some f*cking signage, banners, anything.  Since the convention center and VGXPO Web sites do not provide exact addresses and no note was ever made of where to enter this building, we walked around the entire building trying to find where we were supposed to go and it wasn’t until we saw a convention hall staff member outside smoking that we were able to finally have an understanding of which direction to go.  When we finally arrived at the entrance of the event, which, still, had absolutely no signage or any indication whatsoever of there being an event there, I began to wonder if others were having the same troubles since there was now almost only half an hour until the doors opened and I would generously say there were maybe 25 people outside of the entrance.  After some texting, Jamie came down to give us our wristbands, which after reading other online accounts of VGXPO, sounds like a godsend now after the clusterf*ck people have described as the registration process at the event.

Walking to the exhibit hall, it was hard to shake the feeling of how spread out and empty everything seemed at the time.  I shrugged it off since the event hadn’t started yet, but, obviously, foreshadowing should tell you I will get back into this topic in due time.  We walked past the Nintendo booth, which got me amped, I noticed the nice Army setup toward the front, but making out way toward the back, I could see scores of empty, wasted space, empty booths and a CBS/CW tent manned by people that looked like they would rather be at a 2-week seminar about how to properly chew food than at VGXPO (here’s another aspect I’ll be returning to).  After winding a couple of times through the hollow path that lied beyond the front attractions, I was finally able to see Retrocon and some hope finally coursed through my veins.

A full square of classic and current gaming goods and some extremely hard-to-find items complemented by a string of classic (and some very bizarrely picked, might I add) arcade titles – I say this not because J2Games was a part of it, but, honestly, Retrocon was one of the few places in the entire convention center I could go to and not feel depressed.  I was finally able to re-meet Jay and finally meet Bill and Thomas face-to-face, which was essentially the entire reason I came to the event.  Nothing on the Web site for VGXPO alone would have made me drive nine hours and I’m very proud to say I’m acquainted with everyone on the site here, so finally being able to talk to people face-to-face was a welcome change and an experience I won’t soon forget.  What was forgettable was what happened once the announcer declared the expo was open and small chunks of people muddled in at a very slow pace.

I was able to sell a UMD for Jay before the show had even begun, so I had a little hope in being able to pitch some sales, but almost immediately, it was clearly evident what type of show this would be.  Amongst the first groups I conversed with, I received this very puzzling question: “So, where are all the games to play?”  Mind you, this is said as we standing right next to a full classic arcade set on free play.  I tried to reply with a joking “What do you mean?  I see a bunch of games available to play right here [the arcade], there is a tournament lounge by the stage, Nintendo has a booth and there are few companies over that way too.”  The young group just looked bewildered like I had just answered in Japanese.  “Yeah, but … where are the new games?”  they retorted.  I still attempted to play along by answering with “Well, I have some Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games for sale and a number of other vendors have new games for sale, the Army setup I think has Halo, Nintendo has some new games at the booth and they are playing Street Fighter IV and other newer games in the tournament area.”  Reeling back like I had just devastated them, they came back with, “but where are the games that aren’t out yet?  Where are all of the other companies?”  To this I couldn’t say anything other than “Sorry, but Nintendo is the only company out here (this is before I knew Storm City Games, Synet and Island Officials were at the event – my apologies guys!).”  The kids ran off after muttering a very disturbed “oh.”  With this situation, I had finally run into the crutch you have by naming your event and “expo” – you will immediately be compared to the industry events of higher caliber such as E3 or PAX – PAX, this event certainly was not.

After uncomfortably making conversation with people who had no intent other than window shopping and asking about “that one game,” I made my way over to where Bill was sitting after witnessing scores of people staring his section of the booth over and not having any clue who Bill Kunkel was.  Just as it is online, Bill was very easy to talk to and we shoot around a bunch of topics such as video game writing in general, Tips & Tricks, arcades and more and I was able to have him take a quick look at the thrown-together “resume” I pieced together for the event.  While Bill left to prepare for a panel he had to kick off the event’s panels – “411 on Collecting Video Games” – I decided it was as good a time as any to check out the floor space.  I found it odd that virtually half of the exhibition room’s floor space wasn’t even used and I almost expected to trip over a few tumbleweeds as probably half of the guests and featured booths hadn’t even shown up yet.  After taking a lap around, I found my way across the convention center to the room where the panel was being held and sat in on it.

Evidentially, being a panel, other people were supposed to join Bill and help him run the 411 bit, however, no one seemed to show up and he was left to run the show all by himself.  Regardless, it was still an interesting panel and he was able to prove a few key points in regard to games and how there doesn’t seem to be focus on collecting other game-related items.  The audience participation kind of steered the conversation away from the point of collecting, but it was still rather intelligent discussion and, of course, they received Bill’s insight on the matters and I was glad to see a handful of the guests stuck around to greet Bill and thank him for the panel.  Bill also did another panel later in the evening and afterwards left with an acquaintance to grab some food – that sounded good, but too bad the convention center saw fit to close all of the building’s food offerings in the early evening.  Being 7:00 p.m., we decided we should look for the grand opening ceremonies … but no one could find it or even knew what it consisted of.

Instead, walking around prior to the closing of the event, I was able to get some quality time in on the Nintendo and Storm City Games booths.  On Friday, all I really played was the New Super Mario Bros. title and Zelda Spirit Tracks.  I still don’t think either game is really for me, though.  New Super Mario Bros. is most likely something I would enjoy for one playthrough and never play again and it’s just been hard for me to get into a recent Zelda game.  Although both titles are executed really well, I suppose they just aren’t a fit for what I am looking for.  I was able to play the first stage of New Super Mario Bros. with some other expo attendee and it kind of bored me to see that it reflected the design of World 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros.  I would have liked to have tried some of the other stages as the later stages looked to be more of a challenge, but I would be distracted by other events and games.  I loved the setups for the Zelda DS units though – nice red, mushroom shaped seats (that would look great in my gaming space) and a dual-screen monitor for those passing by to watch the gameplay.  The train segments rather annoyed me on the demo, but, still, the dungeon and boss fights were classic Zelda.  Both of these offerings were the same as seen at E3, but it was nice to get a hands-on play with them.

I was much more interested in the Storm City Games booths, which featured Island Official’s Hands-On! Tangrams and a tent displaying the upcoming DSi-only cart title System Flaw.  Tangrams featured some challenging puzzles based on the puzzle game of the same name.  I was struggling to make zoo animals out of set shapes, but it was a fun experience nonetheless and I hope the title does well.  System Flaw is one of the more original titles I’ve seen lately and it’s good to see a game making extended use of the DSi’s functionality.  The title uses the DSi’s external camera to display your playfield and enemies will surround the player, which must spin the camera view to see the beast and fire away to destroy it.  I expect this to be a popular game and it seems the company knows it has it potential hit on its hands with telling me a few things they could hope to do in a sequel.

The remaining time whittled down with me checking out the span of offerings at Retrocon, which featured a great mix of imports and classic titles, systems and gaming-related items.  I didn’t pick anything up the first day, but toward the end of the first day, food was definitely on my agenda.  After meeting up with Chris, we were able to deposit our belongings in the hotel and we headed down to Chili’s to meet up with Jay.

It was a nice dinner with the company of others as our group joined another group that had a booth at the event.  We just chatted away and enjoyed bacon cheeseburgers and called it a day.  On the way back, littlenekochan forced a stop at the nearby 7-11 to complete her Domo-Kun cup and straw collection.  To unceremoniously end the night, I pretty much crashed as soon as we returned to the hotel.  My one thought on the first day was definitely one of hoping the second day, the day that everyone stated would be the “big one,” shaped up far better and had more to offer than the first.