#Extreme PlayStation Magazine
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Extreme PlayStation Magazine #4, Apr '98 - 'The Fifth Element' cover.
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Official UK PlayStation Magazine #76, October 2001 - Review of 'Hot Wheels: Extreme Racer' on the PlayStation.
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Now on sale - Rez on Game Players Vol.26 (Video Game magazine)(Hong Kong)(05/12/2001)
Translation in English:
PS2 (PlayStation 2)
November 22, 2001
SEGA / STG / 6800 Yen
CD-ROM / 54KB or more
Corresponding to TRANCE VIBRATOR
DC (Dreamcast)
November 22, 2001
SEGA / STG / 6800 Yen
CD-ROM / 9 BLOCKS
Corresponding to VGA BOX,Vibrator
Light, Shadow, Vibration
A Psychedelic Journey with Electronic Music
The fun of "REZ" is really difficult to express in words, because it does not stimulate the player's brain thinking. On the contrary, the less the player's brain does not think, "REZ" will produce more pleasure. Just like the game's promotional phrase: "Feel it, don't think.", This is the attitude you should have when playing "REZ"
STORY OF REZ
In an overpopulated and unorganized network society, the network system has been unable to stop the ever-increasing cyber crimes. In order to solve the whole problem, humans created a new system center "PROJECT-K", and used artificial intelligence "eden" as the core of the system. Since the birth of "eden", the system is slowly approaching the stage of completion. However, after receiving too much information, "eden" began to have doubts about his own existence and actions, and fell into a state of coma… The player's purpose is to be realized after materialization. Look for "e d e n" in the computer space, and attack along the way (HACKING) the firewall (FIREWALL) that has been infected by viruses. Whether "eden" can be revived depends on the player's HACKING (shooting) ability…
SYSTEM
If we only describe the gameplay of "REZ", the author would say that it is a set of "PANZER DRAGOON" with "no ordinary bullets, only attack". What the player does in the game is basically to use CURSOR to aim at the enemy in front of it, and then press the X button to attack with LASER. Players can also press the real X button to LOCK ON up to several enemies at the same time, and then release the X button to launch a LASER to destroy all LOCK ON enemies at once. The bullets fired by the enemy can also be shot down with this method.
In addition to normal attacks, players also have a powerful kill attack "OVERDRIVE". Basically, players can regard it as the "bomb" of the shooting game. After using it, all enemies and bullets on the screen will be wiped out!
There are five sub-systems in the game, and each of them has 10 LAYERs. At the end of each LAYER, there is an object named "NETWORK OPENING". After destroying it, the player can enter the next LAYER. And when reaching the last LAYER, the FIREWALL (leader) of the sub-system will appear. Most of Firewall's attacks are very violent, and their endurance is extremely high. Players have to fight with them for more than three to five minutes at any time to destroy them.
LOCK ON Shoot after the enemy, the gameplay is simple and easy to understand
Use the best OVERDRIVE in the case of bullets flying across the screen
NETWORK OPENING will only open if you hit it several times.
Does such an aggressive FIREWALL exist in the computer world?
The relationship between music and shooting
The most important feature of REZ is the strong rhythmic electronic music that will be generated unconsciously while the player is shooting. There will be sound effects when the launch button is pressed, when LOCK is ON, when the LASER is fired, and when the enemy is eliminated. As long as the player knocks down the enemies efficiently, they can create their own music!
When attacking, players may also press the X button rhythmically to "beat the BEAT"!
"AirPlay REZ" mode
If the player mainly wants to enjoy the music of REZ without putting too much effort into shooting, you can use the "AirPlay REZ" mode provided by the game. The enemies in this mode will not shoot any bullets, and the player is also in an invincible state, which is best for practice.
Be the first to open!
FIREWALL cheats method
Area 1 - The Earth
The first form of the boss is a sphere. Its outer wall can be shot through to expose the central part, and then concentrate on attacking its weak point (green circle). The head will then extend a large number of tentacles, and the tips of these tentacles will shoot bullets, but they should not be a threat to the player, and on the contrary, the tips of the tentacles are also another weakness of the head!When the player deducts the head's physical strength to about one-fifth, it will enter the second form, then a high-speed rotating circle will appear around it, but the player does not need to pay attention to it, just focus on attacking the green circle in the center of the weak point.
The outer walls of FIREWALL are destructible
Aim at the track where the tentacles move, and you can LOCK-ON all tentacles at once
Area 2 - The Mars
In the beginning, no matter how the player attacks, they cannot hurt the leader. The attack will not be effective until it is sucked into the body by the boss and the weak point (a small spaceship) is exposed. When the player is sucked into the eye for the second time, it will stretch out four to five tentacles, and the glowing tentacles will release a large number of bullets. At this time, the player had better shoot wildly at the tips of the tentacles in order to destroy them as soon as possible, otherwise Let three or four tentacles attack the player together, then the player can only use OVERDRIVE to break through. After passing this level, the weak point of the small spaceship will appear again, so don't hesitate to shoot at it! Its attack is very sparse, as long as the player keeps shooting, the enemy bomber will not hit you.
The initial attack of the boss is not a big one, but…….
The blows in the boss's body will become extremely dense, so you must make a quick decision!
Area 3 - The Venus
The appearance of this boss is like a fortress, and the player must destroy it layer by layer when attacking. The first thing to deal with is the outer turrets of the fortress, which will shoot a lot of LASER, and you will be injured if you touch them. However, as long as the player is careful, destroying the turrets before they get close should not pose a threat.In the second stage, the fortress releases a large number of fighter jets to attack the player. Due to the large number of enemies, the player should not use LOCK ON to deal with them. After passing this round of attacks, the player will enter the interior of the fortress. Since the center of the fortress is surrounded by outer walls, players cannot hurt it until it is opened. At this time, you should focus on attacking the red bullets outside the enemy and wait until the center is opened before concentrating your fire on it.
Keep firing at the fortress' fighter group!
The red bullets around the weak points of the fortress are not too much chance of hitting the player, but everyone should be careful
Area 4 - The Uranus
This boss is easier to deal with than you might think, basically it's made up of a hub (a glowing object) surrounded by a lot of cubes. Those cubes will constantly move at high speed and cover the central part. Players attacking the cube will not hurt the boss, but the cube after being attacked will become transparent and lose the function of the protective center. This is a good opportunity to attack. These cubes will change into other shapes during the battle, but the basic tactics are the same, plus the difficulty of the enemy, it just takes more time.
Players have to look forward and back when attacking this boss
The biggest weakness of the boss is its center, concentrate on attacking it
Area 5 - Eden
On the periphery of EDEN, there are layer after layer of defense systems. Although their attack methods are different, their structures are similar. Players only need to concentrate on attacking the light spots in the center to break them. Note that POWERUP ITEMs will be left after each defense system is eliminated, and players must obtain them immediately (or they will not be able to obtain them later).
After reaching the inside of EDEN, the player will face two high-speed rotating rings. Although the bullets they shoot will not be aimed at the player, everyone should be careful. When the ring is destroyed, the "top of the tower" below will be opened on the screen, exposing its weak point, and the player should concentrate their firepower to attack it. When the player deducts one-fifth of its energy, the "top of the tower" will be closed again, and the ring below will be revived and start attacking the player again. Afterwards, the player has to repeat the above steps five times to successfully rescue EDEN!
The outer defense system has four layers, and the light in the center is its point of weakness
After the top of the tower is opened, ignore the enemy's attack, just shoot at it in a row!
Added new mode
after the explosion
beyond
After completing the game, "beyond mode" appears, in which there are three special modes, which will be slowly unlocked when certain conditions are achieved.
Direct assault
Condition - Complete AREA 5
This is a mode in which five areas are played at one go. The difficulty level is the same as SCORE ATTACK mode. And the color of the game background can also be changed by the player.
LOST AREA
Condition - Complete AREA 5/ Accumulated game time over 5 hours
Hidden. Although there is no boss, but the enemy's attack on the way is very fierce , the difficulty is not low.
TRANCEMISSION
Condition - Get first place in LOST AREA
Players can shoot down any object on the screen as they like in FREE MODE. and if you play well, you may be able to achieve a more psychedelic effect than normal levels!
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Okay, so it might be a little hard for me to cohesively put all my thoughts and feelings into why I care so much about Final Fantasy VIII, but because of the 25th anniversary and seeing a lot of you talk about your love of the game I'll try the best I can. So here's my embarrassingly and extremely long personal history with the game and why it will always be my favorite.
Before FF8 I was mostly a Nintendo kid. Mario and Zelda were all I really knew, and as a hyperactive as I was I didn't really have the patience for anything story-heavy that took a lot of reading. Though I did I get a PlayStation later on I hardly bothered with anything other than Spyro or Crash. Anything similar in graphics to FF7 or 8 was mostly foreign to me too, with maybe the closest being my cousin having the first Resident Evil and I was far too young and too scared to bother with anything like that. So you can imagine the complete and utter shock kid me had going to my uncle's and seeing him play FF8 for the first time. I don't think it had been out too long but he was already on disc 3 in Esthar and, bless his soul, he let me play his save for a while. Being able to fly around the map on the Ragnarok?? The realistic proportions and animations in battle?? The absolute BANGER of a soundtrack?! All of it had me excitedly begging my parents to buy me the game.
Nine year old me didn't know roman numerals, though, just that it was called Final Fantasy with some weird lettering. I had no idea of Final Fantasy as a series and I didn't know it was the eighth game or that there were eight of them at all. I couldn't remember what the cover looked like either and my uncle not long after that was going through his own personal troubles so I wasn't able to visit or ask him. We didn't have internet at home until the early 2000s (it was AOL dial-up too, jesus, I don't miss that) and my parents were strict about internet use, so I was stuck. My dad did eventually buy me an FF game as a surprise when I was eleven, and lmao can you believe I was genuinely upset because it was Final Fantasy VII?! That being said, I have an INSANE amount of love and respect for 7. Considering how much easier I think the materia system is to understand for newcomers, having it as my first, full FF experience was a bit of a blessing lol. FF7 hit me in a different way than 8 did, and maybe I'll make a post about it sometime.
So other than the brief times on the internet (I was only allowed on for an hour or two before I was kicked off) and reading gaming magazines I had hardly any access or knowledge about FF8 until years later. I knew the characters briefly and read some small stuff here and there about the world, but that was it. Even so, I STILL loved it. I would draw them (I've drawn most of my life, and I still do occasionally as a fun hobby), write about what I thought they were like, so, so much of me embarrassingly obsessing over it and driving my small group of friends in school bonkers (oh lordy I just remembered my preteen username I had used on an FF forum and now I'm cringing.) You get it. So why did I cling to the game so much, even though I barely played it? Why did it mean so much to me? Because around the time I was twelve I was deeply depressed, and throughout my middle school and early high school life video games and their stories were the only joy and comfort I had. I'm not going to go into much detail because it feels too personal to write on tumblr about and I'd rather not think back too much. If you want the gist it was at a moment in time I was mostly on my own. I felt isolated and alone, and due to growing up in and around strict, conservative circles I struggled with feeling far behind my peers, so my personal and school life suffered. Things got better though and I'm happy in my life now, so that's really it.
As I got a little older I had played other FF's and RPGs in between that I also fell in love with (especially Kingdom Hearts) and funnily enough horror games, but I still didn't get my hands on 8 until I got it on my fifteenth birthday and I was over the moon. That night and many nights and weekends after that I played every single bit of that game. I had printed walkthroughs and a guide of the junction system, with overly-detailed notes I had scribbled down and highlighted. I had written down all the rules of triple triad, weapon upgrades, item refinements and what you get from monsters, side-quests, all of it. I had never went all in into a game before, but I did it because I wanted to experience the game that gave preteen me comfort everything it had to offer. And I remember vividly when I finished it I cried until I was almost out of breath.
But you know, I didn't get emotional because of the nostalgic school-like feel and inspired real-world setting, or the overall main plot with magic, sci-fi and sorceresses. It wasn't even the deeply interwoven love stories, the theme of fate or the gameplay either, though I grew to love all of those things dearly with time.
It was because I was a socially-awkward and lonely fifteen year old girl that watched an equally as awkward seventeen year old boy overcome his own deeply-rooted fears and trauma and come out at the end of it all on the path to healing.
And I knew I'd be okay, and ever since then this game has and will always be that reminder and comfort for me.
Thanks for reading.
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Tommy Thunder (Prototype)
NA release: N/A
PAL release: N/A
JP release: N/A
Developer: Player 1
Publisher: Player 1
N64 Magazine Score: N/A
Tommy Thunder was a game in development by Player 1. It eventually moved to the PlayStation before getting cancelled. A fan of Robotron happened upon an open FPT while trying to find out when Robotron 64 was released and found some files, eventually cracking them 10 years later and discovering this very early prototype of Tommy Thunder.
This prototype mainly seems to be a test of the level design, as you can just move around and enemies don’t harm you – you also walk on water. That said, the level itself is very impressive in scope, with a few underground areas. This map was also just one “block” and the developers were trying to figure out a way to load new chunks of the level on the fly – this is something open world games do now, but was extremely ambitious for the early N64.
From the very few quotes about the game, it seems like this game was going to be a 3D, open world Metroidvania. You would find weapons as you explored, and equipment (such as anti-grav boots) would alter how you can move throughout the environment, opening up new areas in previous sections. The game never made it past prototyping stages and the company eventually closed down after putting all of their eggs into the Sega Dreamcast.
Should it be finished?
With retro-inspired games for this era gaining popularity, it would definitely be interesting to see a “what if” take on if the developers could pull off what they wanted with Tommy Thunder.
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It says I can translate Japanese on my résumé so technically this is working on professional skills. Quick n dirty translation of some Sonic comics found in a Playstation+ magazine by someone on twitter, then posted to tumblr by @transparentlandcheesecake (and put on my dash by @extreme-danger-bug). The other two comics are gonna happen after I do some actual real work things.
#crows ramblings#long post#sonic#if you are a sonicblogger and want to follow others and came here#sorry but thats not me. follow extreme-danger-bug or sunriseinorbit instead theyre my sonk bros#also happy late birthday eddie!#if my translations are bad. pls correct
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Famitsu KPRS interview (Part 1)
An interview from Famitsu with Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and Yoshihiko Arai, both original development staff members of the Klonoa series.
This interview was translated with help from DeepL and may contain inaccuracies.
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The Klonoa series is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is still extremely popular. The innovative 2.5 dimensional side-scrolling action and the memorable storyline have been a hit with players and have been the talk of the town since their release. Two games in the series have now been revived with Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series (hereafter referred to as Phantasy Reverie Series)!
The highly popular first game Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (Klonoa 1) and its sequel Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (Klonoa 2) will be released in a remastered edition on July 7, 2022 (July 8 for Steam). The game will be available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.
We interviewed Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and Yoshihiko Arai, who were involved in the development of the original version of the games, and asked them about the development status at the time and behind-the-scenes stories. The interview contains spoilers, so please be careful when viewing the interview.
Tsuyoshi Kobayashi
Currently a director of Namco Bandai Studios. He worked as a game designer on Klonoa 1 and as a director and game designer on Klonoa 2. He was also in charge of promotion of the game, as well as reviewing the specifications of the game, such as the action and feel of the controls.
Yoshihiko Arai
He is currently the lead artist at Namco Bandai Studio. He was in charge of graphics and scenario for Klonoa 1 and art director, character design, and scenario for Klonoa 2. In addition, he has been involved in the series in various other ways, including voice acting, language creation, and writing lyrics and provisional-songs.
--First of all, please tell us your honest impression about the announcement of "Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series".
Kobayashi: I was somewhat aware of the "Phantasy Reverie Series" being produced as part of the internal development flow of the company, but I didn't officially know about it until a little later. I was invited to give my opinion during the development process, and that's how I became involved in the project. I am very happy to have been able to present it successfully.
Arai: I was also involved in the same way, providing some of the materials from that time. It was 25 years ago, after all, so I am very grateful to be able to revive the work in this way.
--The official announcement was made during the "Nintendo Direct 2022.2.10" program (broadcast on February 10, 2022 from 7:00 a.m.), and the word "Klonoa" has been trending on Twitter since early that morning. Did you see that?
Arai: I was up early in the morning watching everyone's reactions. I was happy to see the loud reactions of people from other countries.
Kobayashi: I couldn't follow it in real time, but I heard that there was a great response. The work had many devoted fans even back then, so I am very happy to hear that they are still supporting it today.
--Did you realize that the "Klonoa" series has a dedicated fan base?
Kobayashi: We were aware of the existence of such fans from the time we exhibited at the "Tokyo Game Show" and wrote about our works on our website. What made me realize that there were people who had played "Klonoa" when they were little and later had joined our company. I heard stories like, "I hated going to school, but I managed to survive by playing Klonoa," and when I gave them goods as gifts, they were very happy.
Arai: At that time, I got the impression that we were often mentioned by game magazines and other people in the game industry. I had interviews like this one published, and I also received compliments directly from Koichi Hamamura, who was the editor-in-chief of Famitsu at the time.
Kobayashi: We received good reviews from all over the industry. I didn't know the details of the reaction to "Klonoa 1" immediately after its release, but I was impressed by the fact that there were people who gradually supported it for a long time.
--So you gradually realized the popularity of your work. Was the response more than you expected?
Arai: At the time, just the fact that it was a PlayStation (PS1) game attracted a lot of attention, so we were quietly expecting it.
Kobayashi: Yes, that's true. At that time, Namco was releasing titles such as the "Ridge Racer" series and "Tales of Destiny," and although sales were not as explosive as those, they were good enough to warrant a sequel....... For some reason, the titles we were in charge of were all in the "Tales of" series (laughs).
--Could you tell us about your involvement in "Klonoa 1" and "Klonoa 2"?
Kobayashi: Mr. Yoshizawa* was the development director for "Klonoa 1," and I worked under him as the main game designer. It was not long after I joined the company, but there was actually a game that was the predecessor to "Klonoa," and I have been involved with it since then. For "Klonoa 2," I was in charge of both the director and the producer.
*Hideo Yoshizawa. Game creator, currently a professor at the Department of Games, Faculty of Arts, Tokyo Polytechnic University. He was involved in titles such as "Ninja Gaiden" at Tecmo and the "Klonoa" series at Namco.
Arai: I was a newcomer myself, about two or three years after joining the company, and I was involved in the project from its predecessor, which Kobayashi mentioned earlier. When the development of that game was abandoned and it was decided to start over from the character level, I participated in a competition that was held. I was in charge of visuals in general, as well as director-type work. I was asked to work on "Klonoa 2" as part of that process.
--So there was a predecessor to the "Klonoa" series?
Kobayashi: Yes, there was. Once we decided to flatten the previous project, we held a competition and solicited various ideas. At that time, there was a feeling within the company that we had not created any original Namco characters recently, and that is when Klonoa, designed by Arai, was born.
Arai: My own design was chosen for the character, but the theme of "making dreams come true," which was thought up by the planning team, was also born from that competition.
--What aspects of its predecessor did "Klonoa 1" inherit?
Arai: The concept of moving 2D characters against a 3D background was decided at that point. I remember that I was also doling out 2D pixel art in the beginning.
Kobayashi: The theme of the game was to create the feeling of being in a 3D game while playing in 2D, with curves seen at the back of the stage and enemies approaching from the back. We wanted to make it so that people who had played 2D games before would have no problem playing it.
Arai: One of the reasons was that it was difficult to move characters in full 3D with the specifications of the PS1 at the time. We reduced the rendering to 2D and made adjustments while watching the overall capacity of the game.
--I feel that you have put a lot of thought into the depth of the 2.5 dimensional stages, but do you have any memories or stories of difficulties during development?
Kobayashi: At the time, 3D games suddenly appeared, so the developers all wanted to move the camera. The sudden transition made it difficult to play many titles. So, we had to find a way to make the game easy to play while paying attention to the expressions that only 3D can provide. It was difficult to find the right balance between the two.
--I also felt a strong sense of commitment to the location of the gems hidden in the stages, etc.
Kobayashi: I really enjoyed creating the stages myself.
Arai: The planners had already created the stages using "Softimage" software.
--I often hear stories about the lack of tools and difficulties in development at that time, but I feel that Namco's environment was one of the better ones.
Arai: At that time, Namco had "Ridge Racer" and "Tekken," etc., and there was an atmosphere of "Let's go ahead with 3D!” I myself used a tool called "LightWave" to create base models for Klonoa.
--One of the features of the "Klonoa" series is the double jump action using enemies.
Kobayashi: The idea for the action of using the Wind Bullet itself came from the very beginning, but at first it was designed to place an inflated enemy in front of Klonoa by pressing the △ button while the enemy was caught in the Wind Bullet. The idea was to use the placed enemy as a staircase to go further up, but the tempo was very slow (laughs), and we had a hard time getting out of it until we came up with the idea for the double jump specification. Once the specifications were finalized, we created an experimental stage that included elements like the hidden extra vision Balue's Tower, which was test-played by members of the development team.
--About the Extra Vision! That stage was extremely difficult, and I thought it was meant to be a challenge from the development staff.
Kobayashi: I didn't intend it that way, but I wanted to include it somehow because I thought that the most interesting element of the game would be a series of actions at high difficulty levels like that stage (laughs). I thought it would be okay if they appeared only after the story was completed, so I adopted them as post-game elements.
Arai: In the planning and visual department, members who were good at games would get together and play Time Attack. It was a very interesting situation where we were creating our own illustrations while playing the game.
Kobayashi: As we played, our times got better and better. I wondered what would happen in the end.
Arai: I couldn't keep up with them from the beginning (laughs).
-The character designs are cute, but the enemies and other characters have a slightly eerie feel to them. What theme did you have in mind?
Arai: Rather than deciding on a theme at the beginning, it was more like I and the other members came up with the idea and worked it out as we went along. The cat's eyes in Klonoa are a remnant of that.
--I heard that the design of Klonoa was decided through a competition.
Arai: We made some adjustments, but the design was adopted as it was from the beginning without any changes. The Pac-Man on Klonoa's hat is also from the beginning, but it was a free competition with no worldview planned out at all, so I put it in with a feeling of "Isn't that just like Namco? (laughs). I thought I would be asked to remove it later, but as it turned out, it became something like a vestige of reality, symbolizing that Klonoa is the alter ego of the player.
--I've always wondered about Pac-Man on the hat, but I didn't realize that was the way it was decided. Do you have any memories of other character designs?
Arai: Huepow was designed directly from a postcard I had made during a meeting. At first, it was a completely different design, like a fireball, but we adjusted it based on the content of the scenario and finally came up with the cute look you see today.
--The story is full of cute characters, but as it progresses, it gets heavier and heavier, and the final scene is something that cannot be told without tears. Was that your goal from the beginning?
Arai: Yes, that's right. Mr. Yoshizawa created the flow from the beginning to the end, and I added the branches and leaves. I was trying not to make the story too heavy, so I kept fighting with Mr. Yoshizawa, adding random lines during the storyboarding and having him cut them (laughs). There are still some gags from those days in the work, which is a bit embarrassing when I look at it now.......
--Personally, I imagined that the story had a children's feel with gags in between, but as the story progressed, it became more adult oriented. The ending in particular is impressive when viewed.......
Kobayashi: I was also shocked by the ending movie. I remember everyone in the company was surprised when the ending started playing while we were playing a test game. I often heard about it later from the children who later joined the company, and I think it must have made a big impression on them.
Arai: I was listening to the whole story from beginning to end, so I wasn't completely sure if the players would cry when they saw it. Even at the time of its completion, "Finally finished......!" was all I could think of (smiles). However, I felt afterward that the players' enthusiasm was slowly spreading without being consumed all at once. Perhaps it was deeply engraved in their hearts by being transmitted little by little.
--Please tell us about the atmosphere of the development team at that time and your memories during the development process.
Kobayashi: We would have meetings with each position in the daytime to get the team working, and then at night I would quietly create stages by myself, and that flow went on forever. I had a lot of help from my seniors, and although we didn't get along very well, we did fight at times (laughs). It was a very gratifying experience for me at the time to be able to bring this much to fruition in the first game development project I was involved in.
Arai: Since we were all newcomers, there were not many barriers between us. Normally, I would have been told to "concentrate on your job first," but at that time, I would raise my hand for anything I could do, and in turn, many people would offer me jobs.
Kobayashi: At that time, there was a culture of "whoever could do it, would do it anyway.” Looking back on it now, there were some difficult times, but I think it was a good experience.
--I heard that you were also in charge of voice acting for Joka.
Arai: Eriko Imura, who was in charge of the main sound, was calling on people who looked like they could do it, and I was sort of called in to do it. The language of the game was the fictional Phantomile, so I didn't have to do a lot of acting. At that time, this kind of thing was common at game companies, wasn't it?
Kobayashi: In the old days, they would just say, "Hey, can you give me a voice?” It was not uncommon for voice actors to be called in on the same day to record a scene (laughs). Sometimes I was called in on the same day to record a scene.
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]
#klonoa#translation#concept art#phantasy reverie series#yoshihiko arai#huepow#door to Phantomile#lunatea's veil#spoilers
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Week 9 Social Gaming Summary
What is gaming?
Gaming is the action of completing a set of tasks or quests created for the purpose of a challenge and for entertainment, using problem solving as a way to stay within the rules of the game.
The evolution of gaming:
Arcade platform games such as Mario and Space Invaders
Single player and Online Multiplayer games such as Skyrim and Halo.
Gaming Culture:
A sterotypical Gamer looks either white or Asian and is Male, this sterotype has been created by the idea that for someone to have the ability to have first of all purchased their console and all the other gadgets that come with that then also having the freedom to sit online for hours on end meaning they must belong to a middle class or higher family.
The actual culture came around during the 80s when home computers became popping up in people's houses, with technology developing fast, the ability to create game with faster reaction times while also improving storage allowing for a more in depth and higher graphic game (Kirkpatrick 2015, pg.126).
Historically gaming has always been seen as heavily male dominated, examples of this are at E sport gaming events where majority of particpants and spectators are male. However statistics would suggest that in the US alone 48% of women play video games (Fox & Tang 2017, pg.110).
What first became popular during the 2000's to the 2010's was social games, which required participation from two or more parties, this would be games like wordle where you had to make a word out of random letter and the more complicated the word the more points you were awarded which made it more intellectually competitive.
Eventually games became more indepth and massive corporations starting releasing quite a few popular games, the need for individual platforms arose, where many of them existed on either PC, XBOX or Playstation. The platformisation of games allowed players to switch between playing the game and watching professional gamers stream themselves playing, which really added to the whole social aspect of gaming.
Platforms such as Twitch, Youtube gaming and Mixer popped up during the peak of online gaming around 2015 and have maintained a steady audience of people to this day.
Competive Gaming:
This has become an extremely lucrative buiness for the Game companies as streaming not only bring audiences to their games, they can start partnerships with the biggest streamers, it therefore gives this company a good reputation as they working with a well respected gamer who endorses their game.
Streaming is such an interesting dynamic as its the fans that interact with the streamer that makes it interesting, and is what makes gaming so fun and dynamic, cause the content is shaped by the viewer.
Certain Knowledge communities have popped out of groups of people coming together to put their combined knowledge of a particular game together to assist each other with mastering the game and providing instruction and answering questions to new players who may not be confident with the games layout.
References:
. Kirkpatrick, G 2015, The Formation of Gaming Culture UK Gaming Magazines, 1981-1995, 1st ed. 2015., Palgrave Macmillan UK, London, pp.125-130.
. Fox, J & Tang, WY 2017, ‘Sexism in Video Games and the Gaming Community’, New Perspectives on the Social Aspects of Digital Gaming, 1st edn, Routledge, pp. 110–135.
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Extreme PlayStation Magazine #23, Nov '99 - 'Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation' cover.
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How to Play Minecraft for free at Home, Legally
To play Minecraft for free is extremely simple. Players can now access an online version of the game in their browsers, with no download, payments or any kind of money required. While it's not guaranteed to provide the full experience, it is better than nothing. It might be enough to satisfy some people's desire to create blocks for a bit.
Simply put it's the case that the free browser version of Minecraft is essentially an older version of the game and is only limited to the creative mode, which restricts your choices and experiences substantially over the actual game. But again - it's definitely more than nothing, and will serve as an acceptable alternative for those looking for a fix. Read on for details on how to play Minecraft for free, from your home, legally.
Minecraft How to Play for Free
If you've got the full version of the game, test some of the top Minecraft mods that are listed here!
You can play Minecraft free of charge through this link. This is an in-browser edition of Minecraft that is a lot less expensive than the paid model. This version of Minecraft includes "Minecraft Classic" which is an older version of the game that only has the creative mode. There are no modern updates or additions or survival elements or mobs - you're basically in a time machine back into the 2000s. There are only 32 types of blocks (with most of them being dyed wool) and all the original bugs are in there, although you can create as many as you like as Classic Minecraft only has the creative mode.
It's a great demo that could be used to showcase the game to people who are thinking of purchasing it, or who wish to give their children something to do during rainy days or don't have enough money at the moment.
There's a downside to take into consideration - you aren't able to save the game! All progress, creations, or explorations you make in the Browser Minecraft are lost when you close the game and there's no chance to retrieve them. Keep that in mind - don't get too invested in the work you create!
If you want more Minecraft games, here are some other games like Minecraft to try out or watch the video below for the top Minecraft facts.
Minecraft cheats
GamesRadar's Senior Guides Coordinator, I've been involved in the development or writing of all the tips and guides content. screamyguy I also write reviews, previews, and feature articles, and do video. Before that, I worked for Kotaku and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website. I'm a huge lover of open world games as well as horror and narrative adventures.
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8. Memoriam (Vamptober 2022)
Find the full list of chapters here.
Lucas and Jazz get cosy in their new surroundings and have a heart to heart.
Note: I've made use of an Arabic word in this - I do not speak Arabic and had to resort to Google, so any Arabic speakers reading this, if it is incorrect please don't take offense, just let me know what it should be and I'll correct it.
CW: Strong themes of sexual abuse.
Word count: 1,768 words.
Image by Ahmed Ashhaadh on Unsplash.
"Stop calling me that," Jazz yelled, throwing a cushion at Lucas's head. "Or I swear to God I'll make you eat your goddamn tongue!"
"Woah! Bit extreme, don't you think?" Lucas laughed, catching the cushion easily and tossing it back to her.
They'd been in their new flat for a few nights now, and Jazz had to admit it was a lot nicer than the last one. It hadn't escaped Jazz's notice that the tiny basement flat was located beneath a larger flat and accessed through their front hall. Nor had the faint smell of death escaped her notice as they'd come in and out of the flat that way. At some point she supposed she was going to have to ask Lucas about that. But for now, it was just nice to live somewhere that had a working tv and a Playstation, and didn't look like a tornado had been through it.
They'd been holed up in the flat for a couple of nights now, mainly at Jazz's insistence. Lucas seemed to have forgotten about his fears, but she definitely hadn't. As before, Lucas had been sleeping on the sofa while Jazz took the bedroom. There were windows in both rooms, but they were high and narrow, and easily covered. Lucas had wanted to board them up right away, but Jazz had suggested it might be a good idea to have covers they could remove at night, in case they needed to see out onto the street.
Tonight Lucas was playing some war game on the Playstation. He was sitting at one end of the three-seater sofa while Jazz sat on the other, her legs stretched out across the space between them. She was flicking through a magazine while she poked him with her feet and made rude comments about how bad he was at the game. In response, he'd started calling her by her full first name.
"I don't get it," he said now. "What is so bad about being called Jasmine? It's a lovely name."
Jazz scoffed. "Sure, it's great if your mum wants you to be named after an Asian stereotype Disney princess," she replied, and made a gagging motion with her fingers at her mouth. "I love it. Really. Just ... made my school life so much easier."
Lucas considered, then nodded. "You might have a point there," he admitted. "But that's not what I think of. I just think it's a beautiful name. Like you."
Jazz stuck her tongue out at him and kicked his thigh. "Don't take the piss."
He hit a button on the controller in his hands, and the game paused. "I'm not," he said solemnly. "You're beautiful. And you deserve a beautiful name."
She hesitated, dropping her eyes to the magazine in her hands. "I mean ... thanks," she muttered, turning the pages without seeing them. "I don't see it, but ..."
Lucas put the controller down and scooted over to her on the sofa, lifting her legs so that they lay across his lap. "Jasmine," he said softly. "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."
Jazz squirmed uncomfortably. She was wearing a pair of men's boxers and an Iron Maiden t shirt - things that Lucas had stocked the flat with before he had brought her here - no make up, and her hair was tied back in a careless ponytail. Much as she liked to hear him say it, she didn't feel beautiful. "Don't," she laughed, embarrassed. "You're lying."
"I would never lie to you," Lucas said, his big blue eyes staring into hers. His hand ran lightly up her bare leg, making her shiver. His touch felt electric. She felt butterflies start to gather in her stomach.
Of course he's lying. Who would ever think you beautiful? You're rotten, inside and out.
She flinched against the Voice as it intruded into the moment. "Stop it," she muttered.
Lucas looked at her a moment longer, then sighed and sat back. "I'm sorry," he said, sounding defeated. "I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." He paused, looking at his hand where it now rested on her knee. "Whoever made you believe you're not gorgeous, though? They're a fucking moron. If I ever meet them I'll snap their fucking neck." This last bit was said with a vehemence that made Jazz flinch.
She bit her lip. "You really want to know?"
He looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I do."
She took a deep breath, feeling suddenly nervous as the mood of the evening - previously so relaxed - abruptly changed. "My dad," she said.
Lucas stared at her. His expression was blank, but she could see the anger gathering behind his eyes. "Your dad?" he repeated incredulously.
She nodded. "Yep. Fucked up, right? I was always too fat, too short, too boyish, too scruffy, too slow, too stupid, too spotty, too dirty. Always a disappointment in some way or another. I'd do well at one thing and get told I was failing at something else. He wanted his perfect little ebnnah and I wasn't it. Never good enough." She paused. "Until I was."
He caught the tone in her voice and his expression darkened. "What did he do?"
She pulled her knees up and hugged them to her chest, making herself small. She felt small, talking about this. Small and helpless. Lucas scooted closer again so that he could cover one of her hands with his. She entwined her fingers with his and squeezed. "Once I got my boobs he started looking at me funny," she said. "Like ... well, you know. Like guys look at girls. He started always finding reasons to touch me or put his arm around me. Then he started telling me I was a little slut, that I dressed too provocatively and I looked cheap and common. Even when I was just wearing my school uniform. He'd accuse me of rolling up my skirt or unbuttoning my blouse to tease the boys. I wasn't ... but then after a while I did. It was like he put it into my head. Like he was goading me to do it."
Lucas's other hand came round and took hold of hers, gently squeezing. His thumb stroked the back of her hand soothingly, tracing circles over the skin.
Now that she'd started talking, the words wouldn't stop coming. "He started to hit me when I came home from school. He'd slap the backs of my legs or smack my butt, hard, and tell me what a whore I looked like. He went on and on about how important it was for me to be pure and 'intact' for my future husband, like I was a fucking cow or something he was going to sell. I think he said it to try to talk himself out of doing anything, you know? But I was so fucked up by then that I started doing things just because I knew he'd disapprove. The way he'd look at me ... I didn't want to please him any more. I wanted to repulse him. The way he looked at me made me feel so ... dirty. So I started drinking and smoking and hanging out with boys, and eventually I started sleeping with them. Which turned out to be a big mistake, because once he found out ..."
She shuddered. Lucas's grip on her hands tightened.
"Once he found out, it was like he didn't have any reason to stop himself any more. Like I was already spoiled. So ... every now and then he would come into my bedroom ... when he'd been drinking ... and he'd ... he ..."
Her voice faltered, the words catching in her throat in a painful lump. She glanced up at Lucas apologetically, putting one hand over her mouth to try and hold back the sobs. Her vision misted read as her eyes welled with bloody tears. Releasing her hand, Lucas gathered her into his arms and hugged her tightly, rocking her against his chest. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to hold in the tears.
"I'll kill him," Lucas said flatly.
"No." She pulled away a little. "Don't do that."
"Why not?"
He sounded genuinely confused, and for a moment she really couldn't think of a reason. Eventually she said "I haven't decided yet if I want to do it."
He looked at her solemnly and nodded. "Alright. But you say the word, and I'll tear his fucking guts out." Lifting a hand, he wiped away a tear that had managed to escape down her cheek. "But nobody's ever going to be able to hurt you like that again, Jazz. That's all behind you now. I promise."
The intensity in his eyes frightened her a little. She could feel him trembling against her, his pent-up anger looking for a way out. "Why do you care so much?" she asked. "About me, I mean?"
He looked surprised, as if it should have been obvious. "Because I love you," he replied. "I know I already told you that. You're perfect to me. My beautiful, perfect flower, and I'll do anything for you and anything to protect you. I love you."
"You barely know me," Jazz protested weakly. She was trying to hide it, but his words had left her feeling breathless and dizzy. He displayed his devotion to her so nakedly, and it was intoxicating.
In response, he dipped his head and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. His mouth lingered on hers for a moment, soft and sweet. He tasted of cigarettes and blood. Her head spun and a lightness exploded outward in her chest, leaving her feeling as if she might float away.
As he broke the kiss, he whispered "I know enough."
Jazz didn't know what to say. She didn't know if this was what she wanted - though more and more each night she was starting to feel that it was. She felt connected to Lucas in more ways than one - as his childe, his pupil, his hostage at times - but also ...
Oh God help me, I'm falling for him aren't I?
That was her own voice in her head, not the Other. She suddenly realised that the other had fallen silent somewhere around the time Lucas had taken her hand.
"Although ..." Lucas was saying. She blinked, trying to focus on what he was saying and not on the confusing tangle of emotions running through her. "If you want me to know you really well ... and for you to know me ... there is something we could do."
He looked at her speculatively, waiting to see if she was interested. She was. She leaned back so she could look at him properly. "Tell me," she said.
#vamily#vampire the masquerade#vampire#vampirism#dark pack#world of darkness#vtm#vamptober#malkavian#triggering themes#read responsibly
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Aero Fighters Assault
NA release: 21st November 1997
JP release: 19th March 1998
PAL release: 12th April 1998
Developer: Paradigm
Publisher: Video System
N64 Magazine Score: 58%
I very rarely suffer from motion sickness in video games, but Aero Fighters Assault was so nauseating that I got a pretty bad headache as a result. The game has a very choppy framerate and the levels are so bland that they’re extremely disorientating. These are things that you need to take care of in an aircraft fighting game like this.
While this is the first jet game on the N64, it’s important to note that the PlayStation had received two Ace Combat games to set an example of what this genre should be offering, with some solid campaigns. Aero Fighters Assault has an extremely bare bones plot that doesn’t give you much of a clue of what is going on, even with the manual. Phutta Morgana (not sure if it’s a person or organisation) has melted the ice caps and flooded most of the world and has “totally immobilized the world’s ground units”. With the navy focused on rescuing people, it’s up to a squad of four pilots to save the world (even though it seems like the world has already lost).
There are seven main levels to play through (plus a couple of bonus ones). In most of them you have to destroy a massive boss vehicle. The biggest challenge is finding it due to the game’s terrible radar, but you can ignore other enemy craft for the most part – they present more danger to your teammates and you’ll miss out on a bonus star if they’re shot down (although good luck finding them when they’re in trouble, they don’t appear on the radar). One level has you defending a space shuttle from ground units and one you have to kill all enemy aircraft. There’s no actual dogfighting manoeuvres, so if an enemy gets behind you, your only real tactic is to just fly as far away and hope they give up.
The final mission gives you the intel “Lar has been sent to Earth to destroy all humanity”. After flying through an ice cave, you enter a spaceship and destroy an alien eye. Was this eye leading the organisation? It’s never explained, but with how awful the game is to actually control, the lack of actual story is probably the most entertaining part of the game. There’s also not much excuse for such a dreadful feeling flight game as the developers worked on Pilotwings 64. Another thing that I noticed was the poor hit detection for collisions – many crashes seemed like I missed the object I blew up on.
Aero Fighters Assault is a bare-bones game and didn’t do anything special when it came out – other games in the genre had already set much higher standards. Time has also done the game no favours and it comes across even worse now than it probably originally did. For me, it was an utterly horrible experience, and that isn’t even counting how it made me feel physically ill.
You’re only allowed to be shot down once before you have to restart the level. Other than that, though, you can crash your aircraft as many times as you like, so boss disposal is simply a matter of firing as many missiles as you can, then crashing into the side of the lumpy metallic beast before you take too much damage. You then reappear next to where you ‘died’, and can repeat the process until the boss explodes. In fact, crashing as soon as you take a hit is the best method of survival.
- Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #16
Remake or Remaster?
The earlier games in the series had a good reception, so having a collection would be quite nice, with this included just for the sake of preservation. The third game is currently available on Switch.
Official ways to get the game.
There is no official way to get Aero Fighters Assault
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Leading 9 Reasons Why You Should Build The Website On WordPress
Whether you're just having you business started out and you are still learning just how to improve your current online presence or you experienced a site for a while and you just not necessarily happy with that, you may possess heard of Blogger and might become wondering what Live journal is. Simply place WordPress can be a publishing platform used for making websites and blogs. It allows with regard to a highly easy to customize user interface. Wp powers millions of websites worldwide, in addition to many big manufacturers use WordPress: CNN, PlayStation, New York Times Blogs, Folks Magazine, and perhaps Ford- they each work with WordPress! Pretty outstanding list of consumers, if its sufficient for the large boys, its excellent enough for the web site. Still not knowing for sure?!? Here is my personal:
Top 9 Main reasons why You Should Construct Your Website On WordPress
First reason: WordPress is not heading anywhere
As a good open source CMS (Content Management System) it has taken typically the world by thunderstorm - as involving August 2011, "14. 7% of typically the top million internet sites in the world" are powered by WordPress. WordPress is often praised by web designers, web developers in addition to users alike for its ease-of-use. This specific is part of the reason it has become therefore popular, and precisely why its growth only keeps on quickly moving. I love numbers, so here is a few more good ones: two years ago, Wp was used simply by approximately 8. 5% with the top mil websites in the particular world, so to be able to jump from 6. 5% to fourteen. 7% in one year alone echoes volumes for how popular WordPress is becoming, and how a lot people love this particular platform! Here's my personal favorite statistic:
Like of August last year WordPress powers 22% of all brand new websites. - Rao, Leena (19 September 2011). "WordPress Right now Powers 22 Per cent Of recent Active Web sites Inside the U. S i9000. ". TechCrunch
Purpose 2: WordPress is definitely no longer only for blogging.
A new long time ago, when someone explained WordPress, everyone quickly thought of writing a blog. While it is definitely still the very best remedy to use regarding blogging, it provides progressed and features become an extremely comprehensive Content Administration Suite used to be able to power many different types of websites, including business web sites, job boards, web sites featuring classified ads, etc.
Second reason: WordPress is cost-effective... it is free!
It will cost a lot involving money to experience a custom CMS developed of which could do the same task that Blogger does; so exactly why not save money with WordPress? There's no have to reinvent the wheel, with WordPress being widely available and easy to customize. Like WordPress, the particular plugins are often free as well. These kinds of plugins are usually not only free but open source as well. This signifies that like Live journal, you can modify them if you need to.
3rd reason: WordPress is Adaptable
A great thing about WordPress is, when i mentioned over, that it's totally open source - which means the reference code accustomed to operate WordPress is available to be able to the general open public. Therefore anyone upon the planet can modify the code if necessary and customize Live journal even further to be the actual need. Often, this may not required, but it furthermore signifies that any plugins and themes (templates) made for the platform are also open source! Imagine a world-wide community working with each other to add more capabilities and functionality in order to WordPress - most likely not limited to only being in a position to use specific employees or developers to produce allow, meaning it's a new powerful CMS method ready to carry out what you want it to, really flexible, and straightforward in order to customize.
Fourth reason: Live journal is SEO friendly
Search engines for instance Google love Blogger because it makes use of well-written code. When you're looking to get the head start together with Search Engine Marketing, WordPress will be the way to go regarding your website and/or blog. When i is on the topic, putting fresh relevant written content to your site is straightforward with Blogger which is highly advised as part regarding your internet marketing strategy since it tells search engines that your site is usually alive and properly, thereby boosting your virtual reality rank and your odds of being located via organic queries.
Reason 6: Live journal Has Cheap High grade themes
Themes are usually what provide Live journal its design, really what connects typically the CMS to the user. WordPress is definitely very flexible in addition to adaptable. During your stay on island are many pretty good free themes, I include found that intended for $70 bucks the good premium styles are simply well worth every penny. The majority of need almost simply no customization!
Reason several: WordPress Makes that easy to find a solution.
Jacks are basically add-ons that can always be easily installed inside the WordPress dash area to include capabilities that are not necessarily section of the core program code. When you need a specific feature or capabilities that are not really built-in, there are generally literally a huge number of jacks available to boost WordPress' functionality. In about any case so there is certainly likely an answer already developed for any thing an individual need - the probabilities are literally limitless!
Purpose 8: WordPress is supported by globally community.
Because WordPress is open-source, there exists literally hundreds associated with thousands of people who are doing work to help help make it better. You will find Blogger has a very actively supported throughout the world community of Live journal developers, and consumers! WordPress is up to date regularly, with new functionality, bug maintenance tasks, and security fixes. Also, because there is such the large community around WordPress, any designer can function on a WordPress-based site to update it, create changes, etc ., so you will by no means be held ransom by anyone designer or developer. A PERSON own your internet site!
https://pagely.co.za : Wp is not hard to employ!
This is could be my favorite thing about WordPress. A person don't have to be able to certainly be a technical guru to find out how to be able to use WordPress. I tell my clients: if you be aware of how to make use of a Microsoft Phrase, (and lets end up being honest who will not? ) It will be possible to easily update the information on your WordPress site. You no longer have to get a website design company to revise your content. That is the magic involving WordPress! Beyond enhancing content, WordPress provides a backend administrator interface that's visually an easy task to navigate and extremely effective. Everything is organized in a logical manner, and so it's easy in order to find what you are seeking for, weather it truly is adding/editing a web page, Adding/editing a post or article, posting images, managing customers, etc. WordPress is the greatest Content Management Program to use to create your website!
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‘NBA Jam Extreme’ ad for the Saturn and PlayStation.
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Extreme PlayStation Magazine #1, Jan '98 - 'Tomb Raider 2' cover.
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