Confessions of a SEGA Child

During my school days, amongst my friends there were people who liked the WWF (WWE) and Hulk Hogan, and those who preferred the WCW and Sting. There were those people who watched CBBC TV shows after school, and then those who would watch CITV. And finally, there were those kids who played Nintendo, while others who swore by Sega. I was firmly entrenched in the Sega camp (and WCW and CBBC). Master System - Mega Drive - Saturn was the order of the day. With the exception of the Gameboy, which everyone had, it was unheard of to play both Sega and Nintendo. Any such individual would have been ostracized, and rightfully so.

I have since moved away from such black and white views, well almost, but not until today did I fully give in to Nintendo. Today, I bought a Super Famicom (SNES). Sonic the Hedgehog must be rolling over in his grave.

I have very little idea of what games I should be playing on this system. I picked up a couple of games today, most notably, and costly, Prince of Persia, partially inspired by its appearance on the TV show Game Centre CX. Despite having only played it for about 15 minutes, I have already been tempted to throw it out of the window. Its so frustrating, but in a good way. I think I will be playing this game a fair bit.

So, I finally bought a Super Famicom, and it now sits between my two Sega Saturns. Just dont tell any of my friends, ok?

"I Love Your Soul" Travis Touchdown

   

A few reasons why I'm enjoying No More Heroes (Nintendo Wii) so much at the moment -

Its given me a legitimate reason to turn on my Wii.

I had completely overlooked this game upon release. In fact, I only picked up a copy this month. I had no real expectations heading in, which has made the experience all the more enjoyable, and surprising.

Travis Touchdown (main protagonist) has an amazing name.

The bosses are great fun. Though they arent all that tough so far, they are really interesting and bizzare. They are anything but generic, with one of my favourite boss encounters involving zero gameplay.

It boasts a unique sense of style, without having to rely upon pretty graphics. In fact, at times it feels like I could be playing a PS2 game. Yet, in some strange way, this is making me enjoy it even more.

Quality dialogue - Oh ya! I feel a good undulation. Your rumbling is excellent.

Machine gun nipples.

100 Best Selling Games of 2008 (JPN)

A lot of discussion at the moment about the 2008 video game best sellers list for Japan. The original list can be found here (in Japanese).

Some thoughts -

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G for the PSP came in first, with 2,452,111 copies sold in 2008. Portable games (DS and PSP) dominate the top hundred, bearing witness to the astounding popularity of portable gaming here in Japan. In fact, the DS accounts for 47 entries, with the top selling being Pokemon Platina (2,187,337). It's good to be Nintendo.

The Wii also has a strong showing, with 5 games in the top 10. It continues to appeal to the casual gaming crowd, but I wonder where it can go from here. Still, its good to be Nintendo.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is the top selling game for the PS3, coming in at number 11 (686,254), which is quite impressive considering the mature theme of the game.

To say that the Xbox360 did not have an impressive year in Japan would be a massive understatement. Only one game featured in the top 100, Tales of Vesperia, coming in at number 84. This is in stark contrast to the popularity of the system in other markets.

There are a couple of DS holdovers from 2005!!! that make an impressive appearance. Topping this select group is Mario Kart DS at number 16, which despite being released in December 2005, managed to shift a further 621,890 copies in 2008.

Despite my best efforts, no Sega Saturn titles made it onto the list.

Now All I Need Is A Friend - Great Multiplayer Games

Some great multiplayer games that I have enjoyed over the years -

Double Dragon (Sega Master System) - I wrote about this game before. http://toomanywires.blog126.fc2.com/blog-entry-5.html.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive) - One of of my all-time favourite games. The multiplayer versus mode, though limited to only a few levels, was extremely playable, and at the time, the Special Stage levels really impressed.




Virtua Cop 2 (Sega Saturn) - There is only one thing more exciting than playing Vitua Cop 2 with a friend; playing on your own, using both guns. Quite a party trick.

X-men Vs Streetfighter/ Marvel Superheroes Vs Streetfighter (Sega Saturn) - Only started playing these games recently, but despite their age, they still look great and play at a great speed. I just wish I wasnt so bloody useless at them.

WWF Smackdown! 1 and 2 (Sony Playstation)- My friends and I spent many a lunchtime during my school days, duking it out in a Royal Rumble. Here comes Taz! And, no matter how old you are, its always fun to create a wrestler in your own likeness. A very addictive game.

TimeSplitters 2 (Sony Playstation 2) - What happened to this series? These games were great single player, amd even better with friends, co-op or versus. Unlike other games that have attempted humour, Timesplitters was actually funny, and the level of humour was not detrimental to the FPS gameplay. I really hope this series makes an appearance on a new generation console.




NBA Live (Various) - So as not to repeat myself - http://toomanywires.blog126.fc2.com/blog-entry-6.html

Pro Evo Soccer series (Various) - Never really been much of a football fan, but the vast majority of my friends at Uni were. So, suffice to say, I played these games quite a lot and found them strangely addictive. Though playing yet another round of Pro Evo was usually a better option than getting on with an essay.

Neo Geo - Kizuna Encounter

One thing I have noticed when shopping for video games in Akihabara, is that for all the cheap and cheerful second hand games you can pick up, there are some games that are worth an small fortune. Amongst these collectible games are a fair share of Neo Geo home console cartridges.

The Neo Geo AES is a fourth generation console produced by SNK, that brought near arcade perfect games to the home back in 1990. Originally only available to rent for use in Japanese hotels, it was eventually released to the public. However, due to its high price tag, it was limited to a niche market of gamers willing to pay for a superior gaming experience. It debuted in America at $649.99 and I believe the games were around $200 each.

Well known games such as Metal Slug and Samurai Showdown still command a hefty price, but its the lesser known rarities that will cost you an arm and a leg. I was having a look at Wikipedia today, avoiding doing whatever I was supposed to be doing, when I stumbled upon a fighting game called Kizuna Encounter. There are only five copies of the European-localized version accounted for, with only 10 total rumoured to exist. The last copy to surface changed hands for $12,000! Thats a lot of playstation games.




Its interesting that video games are starting to command such prices. And in the case of games like the Euro Kizuna Encounter, due to an extremely limited number of copies, they are likely to continue to increase in value.

Complete Famicom collection - 650,000 yen

Mandarake in Akihabara is currently offering the ultimate birthday present for any Nintendo fanboy. For 650,000 yen you can be the proud owner of a complete collection of Famicom cartridges. Thats 1051 games!!
Where would you keep them?
For more info and pics - http://http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/50792601.html

Wish they would do this for the Sega Saturn :)

Final Fantasy XIII - Time to Start Polishing up on my Japanese!

 



Looks like I will be waiting a while longer for FFXIII..
Square-Enix have announced that the next installment in their joint flagship series will not see the light of day outside of Japan until at least April 2010. Will I even still be playing video games by then?!!
For those who are proficient in Japanese, things arent so bleak. FFXIII will be a PS3 exclusive 2009 release. I guess its time to hit the books.

Beware of MEGA RARE RETRO!

I was having a quick look at video games and consoles on Ebay, an internet auction site, when I noticed the liberal use of the term "Rare". Sellers love to include "rare" in their product description and title, even when their item is anything but.

Some of the more blatant examples I noticed -

A NES (Famicom) with no box or wires!

A regular copy of Final Fantasy VII (PSone). A quick check on Wikipedia revealed that FFVII sold 9,800,000 copies worldwide. Rare indeed.

A PS3.

A regular, unboxed Japanese Dreamcast.

But, by far my favourite: a Sega Megadrive with no box, no wires and no controller with the following product title - "SEGA MEGADRIVE CONSOLE ONLY MEGA RARE RETRO". Maybe if it came with the wires, it wouldnt qualify as MEGA RARE!!!!!

Gaming in 2008 - Little Big Planet

With the exception of the Sonic The Hedgehog series, I have never been a big platformer fan. However, Little Big Planet came highly recommended and I wanted a fun multiplayer game for over the Holidays, so I picked up a copy. Im glad I did.

This game is great fun. I have been playing two player story mode and have really enjoyed it, especially the character customization. It reminds me of the TV show, The Mighty Boosh, which I love. Although it does borrow some of its stylistic elements from other media, as a video game it is very original and refreshing.

Its also a game that you can keep playing over and over. There is always the challenge of trying to get every item on each level, and the Metal Gear Solid Gamepack adds yet more content, with other packs set to follow. The online aspects of the game are also very impressive. There are thousands of levels designed by fellow gamers, adding infinite challenges to the LBP universe.

On the downside, at times LBP can be a little frustrating. The camera can make multiplayer more difficult than it should be and there are issues with moving smoothly between the foreground and background of the levels. This is particularly bothersome on the MGS stages.

I am yet to try designing a level of my own, though once I'm finished with the story mode, I think i will give it a try. This should add further hours to a game that I have already had fun with.

Though not without it's problems, LBP was one of the best reasons in 2008 to own a PS3.

Gaming in 2008 - GTA IV

There is little I can say about this game that hasn't already been commented upon a million times already. So I'll keep it short.

Grand Theft Auto was a massive success on all fronts, further expanding the global appeal of video games and making a lot of money in the process.

In the past, I have played and enjoyed other entries in the GTA series. But, there was always one knock on these games. I would get to the point where the missions and storyline no longer held my attention, at which point I would resort to causing random havoc across the city. This is always fun at first, but it gets old quickly. Once I abandoned the narrative, I wouldn't return to it, and soon after I would abandon the game entirely. However, this never happened to me in GTAIV.

The interesting characters and strength of narrative meant that I never wandered too far from the main drive of the story. I was hooked on this game until the very end. There is so much to do and so many different ways to do it. The city looks amazing, the music is great and there are so many small things to discover. I could go on.

Some of the missions were a little repetitive and its not a game that i'm likely to play again. I think its a one time experience, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. But with these small points aside, GTAIV is a standout game and is more than deserving of all the praise that it has received.