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[PR]上記の広告は3ヶ月以上新規記事投稿のないブログに表示されています。新しい記事を書く事で広告が消えます。
Finally, after months and months of waiting, the hardcover signed edition of Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway is heading for print. The regular edition has been out for a while and I was getting quite unpatient. Today however, I have recieved an email from Telltale explaining, that everything is fine and that the book should be out soon.
Steve Purcell has been signing 2500 special plates that will be placed on the first page of the hardcover edition, and I've already stated that I won't settle for anything less that numbers 1 - 20, or a nice even number like 100, 1000 or the last book to be signed, 2500. Let's keep those fingers crossed and hope I won't get a crappy 714 or some equally crappy number.
PR
If anyone says Digimon stuff is for kids, well, they're probably right for the most part. But that does not mean you can't enjoy a decent game based in the Digimon world. I bought this one recently, took it for a quick spin and what do you know, it's not half bad.
"Digimon Adventure 02: D1 Tamers" generally follows the story of the second season of the animated series. All starts with Ryo being transported to the Digital World to participate in D1 Tournament. The main objective is to defeat Moon=Millenniummon and that's pretty much it, to make a long story short.
The game plays like you'd expect it to play. It follows the standard Digimon adventure game scheme established by the previous title, so don't expect any "wow" moments. D1 Tamers is your standard variety Digimon / Pokemon / Tamagotchi adventure mix.
What's new, and quite neat in fact, is that the developers have somehow managed to equip this title with some awsome connectivity features. D1 is one of very few titles to support such wide variety of connectivity and data exchange options.
The title supports a standard link cable, a WonderWave wireless link connection, an internet connection through WonderGate [a dongle allowing you to connect your WonderSwan to the internet via a mobile phone in NTT DoCoMo network] and allows you to link WonderSwan with a couple of Digimon handheld devices, such as D-Terminal or Digimon Analyzer. The game supposedly features some kind of connectivity with Sony's PocketStation, but sadly the manual doesn't explain it.
This pretty much proves that Digimon is all about swapping and playing with your friends, and that's where the real fun is. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. WonderSwan came out before GameBoy Advance did, and it already had internet connectivity. For this kind of feat people outside Japan had to wait for DS and PSP.
The game features about 230 digimons, but we'll have to take Bandai's word for it, as I'm not in a real hurry to verify that. One is certain. You'll have plenty to do while playing this game and you will get your moneys worth.
Is it a game for everyone? Not really. First of all, it's in japanese, but then again all WonderSwan titles are. As it is an adventure game, without knowing what's being said, you won't know what to do and you'll get stuck pretty quickly.
If you're familiar with the language, you still have to think if you're willing to spend hours and hours gathering monsters. That, plus the fact that WonderGate service has been down for years and you probably won't fine anyone to connect with via link don't make it an attractive purchase. Still, If you like Digimon and you own a WonderSwan, why not.
Ah, The OneeChanbara. What's more appealing than half naked, computer generated women, with big katana swords, slashing through the hordes of undead, half-dead and zombiefied foes? Nothing. OneeChanbara is just one of these series that you have to get to know before you can really appriciate how much fun it actually is. But let's start from the beginning.
The OneeChanbara is a series of hack and slash titles developed by Tamsoft Corporation [株式会社タムソフト] for D3, a publisher responsible for the Simple 2000 idea. "Simple" is a series of budget priced titles developed mostly by smaller companies for various platforms including PlayStation [Simple 1500], PlayStation 2 [Simple 2000] and Simple Wii.
"Simple" titles do not have the same production values as big, commercial titles, but they can be enjoyable nonetheless. One could say that the Simple series is the equivalent of Xbox Live Arcade or Wii Ware, offering titles developed by smaller companies, for reasonable cash. But back on the subject of The OneeChanbara ...
The developer behind The OneeChanbara is the previously mentioned Tamsoft. If the name doesn't ring a bell, try thinking of Battle Arena Toshinden or Choro Q. That's right. The guys didn't make it on the big market, so they decided to conquer the budget price world and to a degree, they succeeded.
Before I stant telling you about the gameplay, I'll explain the title. The OneeChanbara is actually a wordplay, combining two words: oneechan [older sister] and chanbara [sword fighting, a term commonly used to describe samurai themed movies]. So there it is. Sword fighting older sister. Different parts of the series can have slightly different titles and they usually are a pun of some kind aswell. The game you can see on the photos for example, The OneeChanpon: The Oneechan 2 Tokubetsuhen. Chanpon is a noodle dish originating from Korea consisting of fried pork, seaweed, vegetables and chicken soup as a base. The name itself means "a mix".
OneeChanbara games are often compared to Devil May Cry, and while both games are a hack and slash type titles, the way our character is controlled is completly different in Tamsoft's title. Controls are a bit crude, but there's not that much to complain about and all the flaws of the camera and steering are compensated by the auto aim funtion.
The game mechanics are simple. You can slash, you can kick and you can jump. While you're killing off your enemies, your sword starts dripping of blood, your attacks become slower and if the sword is too dirty, it will get stuck in the bodies of your enemies. You can easily clean it by shaking off the blood and that's pretty much it. You level, you have special moves, but the moves you'll be using will be short sword and kick combos.
The only upgrades that can be made to your character and that are worth mentioning are the costumes. You have to dress your babes for killing and you can dress them pretty nicely too. You can tell that most of the processing power is poured into how the main character looks.
If you think only Tecmo can make a game full of bouncy breasts and violence, think again. The OneeChanbara series is the number one with a bullet when it comes to babes and gore. There are six games out [seven, if you count the mobile phone title, but you can't get it aoutside of Japan, and without a phone registered with a japanese network] and I'll be reviewing them shortly, so be on the lookout and pick up this title now.
I actually got this around Christmas this year, along with some other DreamCast and WonderSwan titles, but didn't bother to post any pictures or info. Since I've got nothing better to do, let's fix this.
What you see on the photos is the limited edition of Sakura Taisen 4: Koi Seyo Otome for the DreamCast. For those who don't know, Sakura Taisen series is a mix between tactical turn based battle RPG and a dating simulator. A weird blend one might think, but it actually works, and works quite well.
The series never officially left Japan, so if you're interested in playing any of Sakura Taisen games think twice, because it's not one of these games where you can just click your way through. I guess you can find some script translations on the internet, but what's the fun in that? Besides, the charm of the game completly dissapears.
Before you get too excited about the nice box and what it contains, I've got to warn you. Sakura Taisen 4 is meant to be played by those, who have played at least one of the previous installment in the series [preferably first or third]. The game does a lousy job of introducing you to the world of Sakura and you might find the game a bit uninspired just because of that.
Now, what's so special about the limited edition? The box contains not only the game, but also a set of sixteen metal plates nicely engraved on both sides, and a mobile phone strap with Sakura Wars 4 print on it.
Except for the above mentioned collectables, hidden in the game case is a Sakura Taisen 3 bonus omake drama CD, or rather GD-Rom. To go through all of its features you'll need to have a Sakura Taisen 3: Pari wa Moeteiru ka, the previous DreamCast title savegame on your memory card.
As for the game itself, it's a fairly decent title, but ... sadly, it doesn't follow any of the interesting and unresolved aspects of the character stories from the previous game and there's very little content that you could call new.
It kind of feels like the game made the same amount of progress as Street Fighter II from the basic version to the turbo. There are some tweaks, some updates, but for the most part, both the visuals and the sound will be pretty familiar to those who played Sakura Taisen 3. Sure, it's a new game, but it's a straightforward sequel. No fireworks.
Is the game worth picking up? That depends. If you're a DreamCast game collector, you will pick it up if only for the value of the limited edition. If you're a Sakura Taisen fan, you will pick it up because you like the series. In any other case, I'd say pass. Invest in one of the previous titles first and see how you like it.
That's right suckers. If you haven't been paying attention, The Effigy mount will soon be out of print and if you didn't get your copy yet, tough luck.
Today I got the usual Telltale news update in my mailbox and it linked to their weblog where you could read the following:
"We're starting to run low on copies of Steve Purcell's 2007 sketchbook, The Effigy Mound, and won't be reprinting them when they sell out. Consider this your official warning!
If you preordered the hardcover version of Surfin' the Highway and have an Effigy Mound on the same order, don't worry, one has been set aside for you.
Also, if you were planning to wait until the Season Two DVD comes out to order your Effigy Mound, don't. They probably won't last that long."
Yet another Sam & Max publication will soon become an eBay rarity. The Age of S&M has been out of print for quite some time now and any day now The Effigy Mound will share its fate. If you want to check out some more pictures of the books, check out the earlier entries by clicking here for The Effigy Mound and here for The Age of S&M.
