Hyper Japan 2013 report

This feature is also available at n-Europe, found here.

Nerd conventions aren't too common in the UK – at least not compared to the US. The biggest one, the MCM Media Expo, draws ridiculous numbers of nerds, thirsty for cosplay and overpriced merchandise.

As such, I was slightly wary of Hyper Japan. Technically, it's not a convention for nerdy interests, but because Japanese entertainment and culture has such a heavy overlap, I was expecting it to be a similar affair to MCM or London Film and Comic Con, but with superhero capes being replaced by the super kawaii.

But I was wrong – kinda. While there were a myriad ways to spend your money on authentic (and not-so-authentic) Japanese products, there were also panels on aspects of Japanese culture, music performances, and tea and sake tasting.

As for broadening my own cultural horizons, I found that I hate takoyaki (did you know they put mayonnaise directly into the batter? Disgusting), that hakama are super comfortable but not built for someone who's 6ft 5, and a cute purple bento box that will store my lunches for months to come.
There was also a very large section devoted to Nintendo's upcoming and latest releases, including a few things I wasn't expecting to see just yet.

Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

After Ace Attorney Investigations 2 not being translated into English, the news that Dual Destinies was making it over here brings me great relief.

They've cranked things up for the 3DS – everything is now rendered in 3D, but the art direction of the originals is still intact, right down to the goofy freaking out animations when you expose a flaw in testimony.

As the name suggests, there are two stories afoot – in a direct continuation of Apollo Justice, both Apollo and Phoenix Wright stand in court to fight for the truth. The demo looked at both a court and an investigation scenario; neither of them differ much from the rest of the main Ace Attorney games, but there's a new feature added to court proceedings.

Phoenix's new assistant, Athena, is a behavioural psychologist, and carries some snazzy software what will give you readings of feelings from the witness on the stand. Some parts of the testimony might have an emotion you don't expect to see, and pointing them out is the way to progress.

Finding these inaccuracies is easier than the body-language reading in Apollo Justice, but it could still be employed in complex ways. Only time (or a play through of the Japanese version, which is already out) can tell.

Shin Megami Tensei IV

The SMT series has kind of a cult following (and most of the recent fans are of the Persona spinoff series), but Atlus have not been great at getting its instalments out to Europe.

Yet, there's a whole lot of RPG goodness heading our way on Nintendo formats. Including this game, four SMT titles are set to have an European release. Dollars-to-doughnuts most of them won't arrive here for some time, but SMTIV is bound to tide you over in the meantime.

You play as a trainee Samurai – a member of the police force for a medieval kingdom with some really serious class divide issues. In order to keep the peace (and follow your directives), you're given an arm-mounted computer that will let you summon demons. A difficult adventure into dungeons, morality issues and gateways to post-apocalyptic Tokyo follows.

The battle system is very similar to other games in the SMT series (and if you're not familiar with that, Dragon Quest and Earthbound are close matches), and is quick to punish careless players. In the demo, there were fights with demons that could clear out my party in one turn if I didn't get the upper hand.

Fortunately, SMTIV will let you resume your game from where you died at the cost of some in-game cash or Play Coins. It's a feature a lot of other games in the series lacks, and comes personally as a great relief.

The Wonderful 101

It doesn't take long to identify a Clover Studios/Platinum game when you come across one. It might be a focus on grading your combat prowess, it might be the flying kick attack they seem to work into every game, and sometimes it's just the the hyper-passionate energy they put into making you feel like a powerful badass.

On in this case, up to 100 powerful badasses.

The Wonderful 101 is partially a technique-heavy hack 'n' slash, partially an action puzzler. Playing as a superhero with the power of 'unity', you use it not so much in a 'power of friendship' way, but more of a 'chaining people together to make giant weapons' kind of way.

Tailed by an ever-lengthening crowd of people you find in the stages, you can suspend the game action to draw a shape on the Wii U Gamepad or with the right analogue stick. The shape you make will determine the weapon. A straight line for a sword, an L shape for a gun, an S shape for a whip and so on.

The longer you draw the line, the more people you use to make the weapon and the larger it gets. Joy is swinging a massive sword made from 50 people. Heaven is plunging it into a gelatinous space monster.

The character design and sense of humour reminds me heavily of Viewtiful Joe, and considering the superhero theme, I will be distraught if he doesn't cameo in some way. The battles, though chaotic, rely on a mastery of dodges and parries, just like Platinum's other works. Getting hit doesn't just mean damage, but scattering your amassed horde.

The demo only allowed for 10 minutes of play, but in that time I ran down a water slide trailing rainbows, cranked a Ferris Wheel into life with a giant fist, ripped the armour of a giant robot with a whip, and got swallowed whole by the aforesaid gelatinous space monster. Awesome.

Wii Karaoke U

It is exactly what it sounds like, though that's not a complete cause to write it off. Arguably, it was the most appropriate game to be demonstrated at the event! The Wii U Gamepad is great for queueing up songs on the fly, and the game boasts that thousands of songs will be available from the eShop.
There's an almost even mix between Japanese and Western songs, meaning I had the pleasure of seeing countless white girls butcher Japanese pop songs the lyrics of which they could barely pronounce.

I myself sung Beyonce's 'Ego' - an excellent (terrible) match for my incredibly bass-heavy singing voice. A refreshing change to the repeated requests for 'Hare Hare Yukai'. It was only one of two Beyonce songs offered though, which is a grave, grave error. 



A special note has to be made for the large Animal Crossing area that was set up, complete with a photo booth and fish catching competition (which almost immediately devolved into a Whale Shark-catching competition). For the tons of people going through their Street Pass data, there was a cushioned area complete with a bunch of charge points (and a profoundly irritating Emcee who's constant humming of the Luigi's Mansion theme made me want to lodge my 3DS in his trachea).

Really, it was the most ambitious Nintendo stall I've seen at a convention in a long time. They'll be holding a convention entirely by themselves soon, just you wait.

MCM Media Expo 2013 round up

 This feature is also available at n-Europe, found here.

The MCM Media Expo, while increasingly turning into an outlet for bad cosplay and overpriced merchandise every passing year, it's one of the better opportunities for members of the public to try out upcoming releases without paying through the nose.

Nintendo has a rather hefty stall every year, and this time around was no exception. Here's a quick round up of the new content that featured last weekend.

Rayman Legends (Wii U)
Having seen severe delays, you would hope that Rayman Legends would be brimming with content and gleaming with polish. Well, it's impossible to judge content from the demo, but the game definitely feels weighty, retaining all the charm and animation quality of the prequel.

What's different for the Wi iU is the ability for the GamePad user to act as a helper, tapping on scenery to reveal hidden objects and stun enemies. It's definitely functional, but like the helper mode in the Super Mario Galaxy games, its inclusion is entirely incidental, and not a patch on running around the levels yourself.

Thankfully, the game still supports 4-player co-op, and now there's a new character - the axe-hefting Barbara. Considering most of the female characters in Rayman Origins were inside cages, this is a nice change.

Game and Wario (Wii U)
Arguably existing to fill a quota of a Wario Ware game on every Nintendo console, the Wario Ware series have been great for demonstrating how to use the hardware's quirks for interesting ideas.
As such, Game and Wario plays like a halfway house between the structured, controlled fun of Nintendo Land and the meta, inter-personal fun of Spin the Bottle.

The minigames on offer - now too robust to really be 'microgames' - balance using the technology of the GamePad (its tilt-sensor, its touch screen, that it's a screen other people can't see) with getting other people involved in a way that doesn't necessarily require hardware.

Of the games shown, 'Fruit' stands out as a Where's Wally style game where one player pretends to be a single character in a crowd of NPCs, stealing fruit without other players noticing.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
The first public showing of the game in Europe, Animal Crossing New Leaf's release date crawls closer and closer.

The formula of the game definitely hasn't changed, but a graphical update, a torrent of new content to fill your house with, and countless tweaks for convenience make this version of AC smoother to play and set to get fans hooked all over again.

The added element of being the mayor of your town doesn't change to much of what you'll be doing day-to-day, but the ability to add in custom features and pass town altering 'laws' (the law that makes your villagers clean your town for you is going to be definitely useful) adds a new facet of game to throw your precious bells at.

Project X Zone (3DS)
A spiritual sequel to the Japanese-only Namco X Capcom, Project X Zone (pronounced "Cross Zone") takes iconic characters from the franchise histories of Sega, Namco, and Capcom and has them fight to save the say in a very flashy turn-based strategy game.

The demo, offered at the event is also available on the eShop right now, so you can already give it a whirl! The stage maps and basic rules aren't too complex, but the battle system is where the game stands out. Battles are executed manually, each attack hitting with different timing and heights. Winning battles requires timed attacks to juggle foes into oblivion.

As with previous games by Monolith Soft (They also did Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier on the DS), the sprite work is gloriously detailed and cleverly animated.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Wii U)
One of the handful of games demonstrated at the Nintendo booth that are ports of an existing titles (Resident Evil Revelations and The Cave were also available), I bring it up Deus Ex for the unique way it uses the GamePad.

While the game itself was unchanged from the 360/PS3 release (the dialogue and area layouts are all the same) all of the menu functionality has been moved to the touch screen.

So your standard inventory management is now touch-operated and a lot more intuitive. Better yet, the hacking minigame is also now on touch screen, and in dialogue sections where your aim is to persuade your conversation partner, you get a rudimentary psychological profile of the subject, and a visual indicator of how close you are to changing their mind.

Considering the game's cyberpunk aesthetic, the GamePad feels much more engaging, as if you're using the technology in real life. Here's hoping the Wi iU version of Watch_Dogs will incorporate similar ideas.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

This (at the time of writing) preview can also be found on Shadowlocked, here.

The Mario RPGs stick a hefty middle finger up at the stat-crunching of traditional RPGs – and I love it. Whereas in the Final Fantasy series, a large portion of the combat is aiming to reach 9999 damage per attack, Mario's quests (and the Paper Mario games in particular) make you put a lot of strategy and effort into dealing what damage you can.

Couple this with the ability to deal extra damage and dodge blows taken via 'Timed Hits', and the combat of Mario RPGs feel more like puzzles than a series of statistics comparisons. However, among the series, there are some variations and exceptions. The Wii instalment, Super Paper Mario, crammed the system into a (surprisingly loose) platforming game – which didn't really work for me. Its predecessor, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door on the Gamecube felt like the pinnacle of what a Mario RPG could offer me, and I was secretly hoping that Paper Mario Sticker Star would match that.

The setup is exact Paper Mario fare. Bowser interrupts the annual Sticker Fest of Decalburg by causing the Sticker Comet to explode, throwing the 6 Royal Stickers in all directions, and leaving Mario to clean up his mess. His only companion in his adventure this time is Kersti, a 'sticker fairy'. For the early sections that I played, Sticker Star definitely echoes Thousand Year Door in tone and style (which is excellent and a huge plus by itself), and the writing is as long-form and self-referentially goofy as you could ever want. However, mechanically, it takes a surprising step towards... the adventure game genre?

Mario-nostalgia 

Yes, while the basic tenets of a Mario RPG are present and correct – with 'Timed Hits', enemies to be defeated in less-than-straightforward ways, and incredibly jaunty battle themes – battles are given slightly less of a focus to favour exploration and puzzle solving in the game world. Think Monkey Island, and you're on the right track.

You could reason this change as being related to Sticker Star's main theme and mechanical gimmick – all of your actions and abilities are powered by stickers. Littered across the game world are stickers depicting weapons and items, and these are your only means of attack in battle. This means that if you run out of stickers you're defenceless; but they are easily replenished, and will generally be tailored to the foes in the area. Other, more significant items found are also turned into stickers for use in combat.

This system is incredibly streamlined; and forces you to think in a way that's contrasting to many RPGs – you don't benefit from holding onto your strongest items. Why waste three stickers on winning a fight when you can do it in one? Unfortunately, it also means that the finer features of Thousand Year Door are no longer present. There's no audience cheering you on in fights, or Partner Characters. The loss of the latter is a huge shame, but begrudgingly accepted. Attacks do a lot more damage than standard for a Paper Mario game, and you're rewarded for finishing fights quickly without taking damage. You don't even gain experience after battle (which is honestly a good thing). It definitely feels like battles are being pushed out of focus, but not in a way that makes them irrelevant or poor.

Puzzle me this

 

And what of the puzzle-adventure aspects? The game world is broken down into many small acts spread across a map, as with Super Mario Bros. 3/Super Mario World/New Super Mario Bros./etc. Not only is this a sensible decision for a 3DS game (it makes it a lot easier to play in bursts), it gives a focus for each area having a main event or puzzle to solve.

As with battles, they are also sticker-related; the focus of your play will be on finding items to resolve requests and obstacles in your path. What would wake up a sleeping Wiggler? Can you replant a Toad's destroyed flower garden? Some of the puzzles even take an oft-criticised aspect from point 'n' click adventures, with very specific and arguably obtuse solutions. There will only be one item that will wake up that Wiggler, even if you have something else that would make sense. Fortunately, you can press the L button at any time to get a hint from Kersti.

While, from its opening hour or so, Paper Mario Sticker Star is not Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door again, it doesn't really need to be (which is painfully obvious when said like that, but fans of a series have complicated feelings about sequels). It's mindful of the past in all the right ways, and the shift towards puzzle-adventure is a genre I actually like a whole lot (for whatever that's worth). The Mario RPGs continue to offer more than what's normally demanded of an RPG, and that's a very good thing indeed.

Preview: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

This preview can also be found at Shadowlocked, here.

I'll be honest here: I'm not a Studio Ghibli fan, and not of the works of Miyazaki in particular. His films are pretty, no arguments there. But as a jaded and bitter adult, the endless whimsy does little for me, and the ham-fisted environmentalist messages even less.

So on paper, Ni No Kuni, an RPG co-produced by Studio Ghibli (right down to Joe Hisaishi composing the soundtrack) would do little for me. Fortunately they are working alongside RPG masterminds Level-5 – and now I've had time to play the PS3 title, I can safely say that although the theme is pure Ghibli, the gameplay experience is totally my kind of game.

Ah, but why do I say the “PS3 title” specifically? Well, back in 2010, Level-5 and Studio Ghibli made Ni No Kuni: The Jet Black Mage for the DS. While a solid RPG in its own right, its main draw was that it came with a real-world grimoire, reflecting one that appeared in the game. Within it was information on every weapon, item and enemy, as well as detailed lore about the game world. Due to the hefty translation requirements of the book, the game was never localised.

However, the PS3 release, retaining the basic story basis and characters – as well as including the high quality graphical production as expected of any HD console – has the budget and the scale to get a full English translation, book included. Hisaishi's soundtrack (performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic orchestra, no less) is coupled with smatterings of fully animated cut-scenes from Ghibli; in a similar way to how Catherine had some scenes animated by STUDIO4°C.

The rise of a classic

The story is very familiar fare. You play as Oliver, an ordinary kid living in an ordinary (if somewhat 50's-ish) town. But due to a series of unfortunate events, his mother dies of heart failure. Distraught by his sudden loss, Oliver's tears transform a doll given to him by his mother. The now living doll (with a charmingly well-localised Welsh accent) calls himself Drippy, Lord of the Faeries. He tells Oliver of a mysterious evil plaguing his home land, and needs Oliver - as the Chosen One - to take up the role of a wizard to cure the spreading case of Brokenheartedness plaguing the population.

If you're familiar of the Hero's Journey story archetype, Ni No Kuni plays it line for line. And as a game designed for children (and written by Studio Ghibli), you would expect no less. The vast lush scenery porn of the Other World, its adorable denizens (enemy and ally alike), and how the game gently hand holds you from check point to check point ensures that Ni No Kuni is ideal for the son, daughter or young sibling in your life.

But don't take this as Ni No Kuni being unsuitable for older audiences to play. Level-5 shows some great mastery of game design, lending tricks from their previous RPG exploits. The battle system is that of a simplified action RPG (and a subtle call back to Rogue Galaxy on the PS2). You can freely run around the battle arena, but attacking and defending are on timers. Deciding the best time to attack is incredibly important, especially when Oliver's running speed is rather feeble.

When battles get too hot for him to handle, Oliver can summon a familiar to fight in his stead. Almost every foe in the game can be recruited to your side; all detailed in full within your magical grimoire. While the preorder version of Ni No Kuni will come with a physical copy, the entire text is available within the game itself. The translation and content echoes strongly of Dragon Quest IX (also produced by Level-5), right down to the punny names of foes. The Hog-Goblin line of enemies also features the Gobfather, the Gobspeed and the Gobforsaken. Christ.

When you're not battling monsters, you are puzzle solving...of the highest order. As a wizard, Oliver's task to cure Brokenheartedness requires him to borrow a little Heart from those who have excess to cure those who are lacking. A guard lacking a get-up-and-go attitude? Find him a little Enthusiasm! On paper they're little more than side quests; but it's a clever bit of attention paid to the game's theme. You're magically fixing broken hearts on a quest to save your mother... and what did she die of again?

I do always have a soft spot for games that include a bestiary; so the way Ni No Kuni encourages you to read as you roam, discovering new pages as you play, is incredibly compelling. The game reportedly has an around 50 hour play time, but finding all there is to see (and completing the huge number of side quests) will add on many more. For those who need to be won over (or just want to see the lush visuals in action), a demo is available on the PSN right now! Otherwise, the full game will be available from the 25th January, 2013.

Preview: Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed (WiiU)

This preview has also been released (in a slightly edited form) on Shadowlocked, here.

The Mario Vs. Sonic rivalry hasn't quite died yet. Sure, they get along just fine at the Olympics, but when it comes to Kart racing, Sonic is still looking to take the top spot.

Between Mario Kart and its long list of competitors across console generations, the genre has become incredibly refined. At this stage, in order to remain competitive, innovation and bold statements are definitely required. In the light of Mario Kart 7, All-Stars Racing Transformed has done both of those things; and it succeeds! Mostly.

What makes the All-Stars Racing series stand out is its use of Sega history. While Sonic's in the game title, it's not all about him. Characters and courses are sourced from all places, with surprising additions. Transformed features a Skies of Arcadia stage (and Vyse as a racer), and raceways born from Panzer Dragoon and Afterburner, of all things. For more contemporary cameos, the Starlight Carnival stage from Sonic Colours is included, which is just as mind-blowingly colourful as the original.

Transformed makes itself directly comparable to Mario Kart 7 by having the vehicles (you guessed it) transform. However, while the hang glider and submersible in Mario Kart handled in manners similar to the basic car, the planes and boats in Transformed handle noticeably differently.

On paper, this makes a lot of sense. In terms of... let's say 'gamefeel', having each vehicle type handle differently is logical; a plane controlling exactly like a car would feel terrible. At the same time, having the handling of your car change severely in the middle of a race can be very off-putting if you're not prepared for it.

The previously mentioned planes are egregious for this. Developers Sumo Digital realised that, in a game designed for all ages, having total free-flight would end in wayward chaos. As such, you can turn on a 'guiding path' that creates a friendly green guideline in the flying sections. It's also somewhat magnetic – flying too far away from the line will pull you back on track. You can turn this assist system off at any time, but after using it for a while, the full plane controls gave me the piloting skills of a drunken madman. I hastily turned the guides back on.

Like any self-respecting kart racer, All Stars Racing Transformed has weapons – but interestingly, they aren't the randomised game-changers that they are in Mario Kart. Equivalents to the Blue Shell and the Lightning are nowhere to be found. This, personally, is a glorious, well-judged addition. While, in close races, a well-timed firework will get you into the lead, the person at the back can no longer effortlessly ruin the person in first place.

What they have to challenge the leader instead are stage hazards. On some courses, like Starlight Carnival, enemies from the source material will hover ahead causing havoc. On all stages, there will be a sudden swarm of bees at set intervals during the race. The person in 1^st place will have to deal with them, and poor driving at these moments can leave you fighting to hold position. While sudden, it never feels unfair – but having these obstacles be bees on every stage feels like a wasted opportunity for good theming. They could easily be ninjas on the Shinobi stage, or Rokkaku Police on the Jet Set Radio stage.

In terms of game modes, they've taken the time to go beyond the basic standards. There's the regular Grand Prix, versus modes, and battle modes – but there's also an extensive single player mode that acts as a sort of 'career', with race requirements, branching paths and challenge races. The challenge races are legitimately difficult, and are a great way to improve your skills in the game (don't know how to powerslide? Do the checkpoint challenge where you get bonus time for good drifts, and you'll learn fast). If you want to take things online, up to 10 racers can participate at once.

While there are additional functions that make use of the Wii U's assets, they're all rather incidental. That's no bad thing – labouring gimmicks into the control scheme would definitely hinder more than it would help. You can use the tablet controller as a steering wheel should you wish (you won't); the screen acts as a top-down map in single player, and your own personal screen in multiplayer.

It feels a little mean-spirited of me to continually mention Mario Kart while writing about a game that's legitimately solid and entertaining in its own right; but much of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed wouldn't exist (or at least wouldn't be so refined) without the context provided by Nintendo's racing series. That Transformed has managed to take that context and make it its own this is definitely commendable, though. Until Nintendo release Mario Kart WiiU (and trust me, they will), Transformed is looking to happily be your kart racer for the next generation.

N.B. After the article went up on Shadowlocked, I had an error corrected. Rather than butcher the paragraph to fix it, and addendum was placed:

Since writing this, I've been corrected about the weapons. There is actually an equivalent to the Blue Shell in All Stars Racing Transformed: the bee swarms. During my (short) time playing, I never found them in item rotation, so I took them as a stage hazard. That this isn't the case is actually a huge shame, though the reality makes a lot of sense. I'd still enjoy it if the bees were themed to to stage they appeared in, though.

Patient Zero - Curse and Regret (Promo Material)

I wrote this as promo copy for a musical friend of mine, Patient Zero, the album's fully open to the public now, so go check it out!

http://patientzero.bandcamp.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/artistk

---

Many may know Patient Zero from his collaboration with the Internet video group the Yogscast - ‘Dwarf Hole (Diggy Diggy Hole)’ took both YouTube and iTunes by storm. Following on from that great success, and to continue his long line of album releases; Patient Zero’s new album Curse and Regret is hitting iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Spotify this July.

For those not part of the scene, electronica and trance can be intimidating genres. At first blush the sound may be hard and clashing, but Curse and Regret offers some solid tunes that even newcomers to the genre will fit right in with.

To be specific, Curse and Regret is Electronic Body Music (or EBM); think Trance with Industrial sensibilities. However, precise pigeon-holing only gets you so far - Patient Zero takes on the genre from multiple angles and it works for the better; keeping things fresh.

‘Humanity Will Lie’ is a strong start with a solid club vibe, and fun, distorted vocals that are a running theme through the album. There’s a finely-tuned balance between lyrics that exude dark humour, club hype, and just a touch of campness. You may well find yourself singing along with the simple chorus of ‘Raise those Horns’ or the upbeat and poppy verses of ‘The Band Played On’.

For those who want something more experimental, ‘Eins’ goes down the route of a sample-based track (remember DJ Shadow’s Entroducing?), with the cheeky decision to build the vocals out of porn samples and a cut from a sex-negative sermon, for an amusing contrast.

For more down-tempo vibes, there’s ‘Take my Death Away’, with its airy and futuristic vibe; or the piano-based instrumental of ‘The Burden of Distance’ that both work wonderfully as a mellow middle to the album.

Those who have been anticipating a follow-up to ‘Dwarf Hole’ need not hold their breath any longer - ‘Dig It’ brings back samples from the Yogscast for a more punchy feel than its predecessor with a retro video game feel. Your Minecraft sessions need never go silent again.

Curse and Regret will be available from the 20th of June via the aforesaid locations, as well as Last.fm, Google Music Store, Myspace Music, and of course Patient Zero’s Bandcamp site - where his previous albums and singles can also be found. For more information on Patient Zero’s music, as well as news and updates, visit http://doctorzero.tumblr.com/ .

A Glimpse into Navigator

"So, what is all this Navigator business?"
Navigator is PxC's 1st publically released project, a puzzle game starring the titular Nav, a pioneer in virtual reality. He works alongside Professor Claire Nova, building the first-ever virtual reality survival puzzle game.

"Survival Puzzle game?"
That's right, the nature of Navigator is two-fold. The aim isn't soley just to rack up the highest score by creating clusters and chains of coloured blocks, but to keep Nav alive as the steadily rising tower of blocks threatens to crush him against the ceiling.

"How cruel!"
Isn't it just. But Nav isn't entirely helpless, he can move about the playing field, pushing blocks around and maneuvering over obstacles to get to a safe spot.
He's also backed up by the Block Cannon, loaded with an infinite supply of colourful ammo to beat back the cube conquest. By matching up at least four blocks of the same color, you will create a cluster that explodes after a short period of time, dropping any mass above it down to a lower level, and gaining points.
By creating clusters bigger than 4 blocks, you get bonus points, and by breaking a cluster that drops down and forms a second cluster, you create combos that add multipliers to your score bonus that double for each cluster formed in the same combo!

"And I'm responsible for both Nav and the Cannon? Sounds tricky..."
Don't sweat it. While controlling both tasks is difficult to begin with, it'll be no time at all before you're using the two in tandem. The highest scorers use Nav and the Cannon co-operatively to set up huge combos.
Higher-level players will take advantage of Nav's Block Push ability to create combos as well, since creating a cluster using the Block Push is an instant 1.5x combo multiplier!
You can also use Nav's Power Climb to continue to help him navigate to other areas.
If you're still finding it tricky, you can give up control of one aspect to a friend. Working together is the key!

"So how do I rack up the big scores?"
If you're used to games like Tetris Attack or Puyo Pop, then your skills will come in handy here. It's not just about laying down blocks quickly, being able to read the playing field, and see where the clusters are in advance is the key to making lengthy combos. The target reticule of the Cannon will match the colour of the block to be placed, so you needn't draw your eyes away from the action.
Don't forget about Nav! His ability to push blocks around can save you from a Cannon misfire, or to keep your Combo going just a bit longer. The period where a cluster is frozen and glowing is your chance to set up something big! It's a risky move, but manually raising the stack of blocks is also a possibility. Being able to see more of the field means you can keep combos going for that much longer.

"Working with my friends is one thing, but how about competing with them?"
But of course! For those of you with a bloodthirsty streak, a Vs. mode is in the pipeline. This allows you to directly compete against a second navigator in both score and survival. By creating large clusters and cluster chains, you can attack the opposing player with "garbage blocks" that clog up their field of play. This mode can be played cooperatively as well, meaning 4 players can get in on the action in teams of 2vs2!

"Do I get kickass music to listen to while saving Nav's life?"
A6: Absolutely; Navigator features completely original music for every level, each song fitting the atmosphere of the stage itself. The music is composed by Chris "Søda Meløn" King, also known as "GreenDragonXIII," and all of it is very well done. We believe the music will also be a big part of creating a unique experience with Navigator.

"Awesome. So what modes are on offer?"
A6: Navigator includes a couple of gameplay modes for many types of players; there's the Tutorial Mode, where Professor Nova herself teaches you the rules of the field, the Endless Mode, the basic survival gameplay mode that doesn't end until you lose, the 1v1/1v2/2v2 Competitive Mode, and a 1-2 player Puzzle Mode, where you solve advanced puzzles based on the gameplay mechanics of Navigator, but with unique twists!

"And lots of different stages, right?"
There will be at least six stages to play in. In Endless and Competitive Mode, each stage has its own predetermined block setup on startup, adding enhanced variation to each game, and allowing the more advanced players to set up high-level opening strategies. And if you're not the competitive type, each stage has its own graphical style. Whether you're a fan of the clean circles of Energy Cells, or the gritty industrialism of Field of Cogs, Navigator can scratch that itch.

"Nav is pretty expressive, how long did his design and animation take?"
A6: That's an interesting question. The basic idea for Nav was originally to just be a simple little guy pushing blocks around. His design is fairly simplified as well; a black-haired guy in a navy blue shirt and green pants. As development continued, I wanted to put more life and personality in both Nav and the entire game as well, which lead to the conception of Professor Nova, a cooperative design effort by myself and our digital artist, Joe Ryan. Having two characters in the game like this really allows us to explore different personalities for them and make them expressive, to give the game another layer of depth outside of gameplay, without overcomplicating things.

"What about the two characters? Will we get to see interaction between Nav and Prof. Nova? Any chemistry?"
A6: Workplace romance is strictly forbidden, especially in the lab! However, there will be plenty of conversing and interaction between the two in both the tutorial and puzzle modes. There's a little more interaction with Professor Nova personally, as well, but we'll just keep that a secret for now!

"So when do I get to play this, and on what?"
The 1.1 beta is available for PC right now! You can find it Right Here. The final release won't just be on PC, but also on Windows Phone 7 and potentially even XBOX Live Indie Games. You can fire blocks and detonate clusters both at home and on the go!

Look forward to seeing Navigator during the third quarter of 2011.

 This article can also be found at PixelXCore.

Games Previews at London MCM Expo

This article has also been hosted at The Yorker. And is a little old, I should have uploaded this earlier.

While they're a big part of nerd culture, I'm really not a fan of conventions. For the most part they're less about die-hard media fans sharing an interest, and more about overpriced tat, grown men dressing up as under-age anime girls, and an overpowering stench of nerd-sweat that I have to bleach my clothes to get rid of. However, despite the numerous shortcomings, conventions like the MCM Expo are prime advertisement material for games publishers; and they often have pre-release versions of soon-to-be-released games to drum up interest.

 

The 'Summer Drought' - the period of time around the yearly Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in July - is something of a dead-zone for new games releases, so the games on offer at MCM were slightly lean, but there are still a big few names to tide us over.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) - June 17th is fast approaching, and that means the Ocarina of Time remake for 3DS will be upon us; and Nintendo is trying their damnedest to make sure it'll still be a considered purchase for people who've played the original already. While there are full copies floating around already, the version available at the Expo was a demo showing off the starting area, Kokiri Forest, and the first dungeon inside the Great Deku Tree. Anyone familiar with the original game will be entirely at home in terms of layout, but the graphical overhaul makes things much easier on the eyes.

Despite this, I couldn't help but notice that distant objects popped in when they got close enough, the animations erred on the side of clunky, and there was an instance of noticeable - but not detrimental - slowdown. However, the revised controls and touch-screen functionality make playing the game a much more intuitive experience. A revised 'Master Quest' mode is also available, with mirrored maps and different enemies and puzzles. We'll see how different it is from the Gamecube's release of LoZ:OoT Master Quest when the game is released.

Child of Eden (360) - Mentioned in May 15th's news, the Kinect controls were straightforward, but took a lot of getting used to. Your hands are both used to fire at targets on-screen; the left hand is a purple rapid-fire shot that'll fire as long as you're pointing on screen. The right hand is a lock-on gun that will highlight targets as you gesture over them, and then fire if you flick your wrist. You can lock-on to 8 targets at a time, and you score bonus points for firing all 8 shots every volley, and for firing shots in time to the beat. However, sometimes my gesture to fire would go ignored, ruining my timing.

Community Manager Pete Closs gave us information about the developmental process - over 1000 different concept art designs went into creating the wide variety of art directions that make up the stages. The music to the game was done by the in-studio band Genki Rockets, who have previously released an album; some of the songs featuring in previous Q? Entertainment titles. The songs appearing in Child of Eden are either remixes or all new tracks, but a commercially available soundtrack has not presently been planned.

Gears of War 3 (360) - You know where you are with Gears of War. Even with Gears of War 2, the experience - while nothing particularly unexpected - was very well-refined cover-based shooter. Unsurprisingly, Gears of War 3 is more of the same. The booth for the game was set up in multiplayer mode, so I wasn't able to try out the story mode. The arena for the match was very pretty in the way that post-apocalyptic cityscapes tend to be; but a mixture of my inability to play Shooters with any kind of competence and the slow, lumbering character I was playing as meant I didn't get much time to explore. Sigh.

Xenoblade (WII) - After a noticeable lack in RPGs for the Wii, there are suddenly a surprising number that promise to make the jump from Japan to the UK. One of the first being Xenoblade, a game developed by Monolith Soft, and published by Nintendo (with Arc Rise Fantasia and The Last Story hopefully following soon). Screenshots for this game have been around since last year, the style of which (Youths in impossible armour fighting giant wild beasts) made me think of Monster Hunter, but in playing it I found the reality was much different. Attacks are not at-will, you have a handful of skills that slowly recharge once used. This made battles feel slow and tactical, as you made sure every hit counted. In a very poor decision, they seem to have given all the characters unlikely British accents, for reasons I'm not sure of. Verily, this is a game of an acquired taste, what!

Vision Issue 210

Since it's a new year, I decided to give the page a stylistic revamp. It's nothing special; but I think the design is just that liiitle bit closer to Wired's design ethos. God, I love those guys.

Snow, Sleds & Space Aliens
The Christmas season is approaching, and it's the best time for games companies to bring out some of their big projects - though not all of them manage to do so in time. Nathan Blades gets stuck into four of the big name releases for you to anticipate on those lonely winter nights...

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Ubisoft - PS3/360/PC
Now a well-established series, Assassin's Creed has now been polished to a sheen. Both the graphics and the gameplay have been upgraded since its previous incarnation - running across rooftops and plunging into bales of hay from dizzying heights has never looked so good, or been so easy to pull off.
And a good thing too, as the multiplayer mode offered will require all your skills. Put up against other assassins; you're given 'hits' to perform, sneaking up on your target, and taking them out with minimal fuss; all the while dodging those who're on your tail. It's a fun mixture of elaborate parkour to jump around the map, and patient stealth - blending in with the street rabble so your foes walk past.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood releases 16 November 2010.

Kirby's Epic Yarn
Nintendo - Wii
Kirby is adorable. In almost every game he has been a part of, he spreads both irresistable charm and emasculating cuteness. The games in question tend not to be very difficult - but the presentation and fun factor more than make up for it. Epic Yarn takes this to the extreme, with its beautiful art style. It discards the idea of hyper-realistic graphics, and fills your television screen with wonderfully animated cloth and string.
Instead of using his well known copying abilities, Kirby instead pulls apart the scenery and enemies using the string he's made out of. Reducing obstacles to scraps of fabric and buttons is incredibly satisfying - and that feeling is doubled in Two-Player mode. In an interesting design choice, you are unable to die - getting hit or falling off-screen just reduces your score - but the decision strangely works. Even the threat of death won't stop Kirby from charming you and your friends. Scary.
Kirby's Epic Yarn has an unconfirmed release date, but will be out before Christmas.

Dead Space 2
EA - PS3/360/PC
I am probably not the best person to be reviewing a game like Dead Space. Not so much because it's a horror game; more because I am entirely awful at Shooters. I cannot aim for the life of me. This made the initial Dead Space something of a trial to play, and this sequel is little different.
The excellent aesthetic design is suspenseful - engines hum, gas hisses from pipes, and odd dents and scratches mark the walls. The combat is still visceral and chunky (stomping on an alien corpse, complete with thudding squishing sound effects is oddly cathartic), but the set pieces don't change if you walk through the same area twice - eliminating the suspense.
There are new enemy types, and lead character Isaac gets some hover boots to play with, but if the first game didn't pique your interest, Dead Space 2 won't sway you.
Dead Space 2 releases 28 January 2011.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Capcom - PS3/360/ARC
As a genre, Fighting games can be difficult to get in to. Fans of the genre tend to be incredibly competitive; making it hard for newcomers to find a place to get started. This makes the Marvel Vs. Capcom series just a little bit special; it's design giving experts an in-depth system to chew on, and newbies the opportunity to tear faces off as Wolverine, or fill them full of bullets as Dante from Devil May Cry.
The game is still incomplete - the version I played had a limited character roster. Capcom's been leaking new characters on the internet to drum up interest. It's definitely been working, at least for me. Spider-Man and Arthur (Ghosts & Goblins) are joining the fray, but some of the veterans from past games, like Gambit, are said to not be returning, which is a damn shame.
At time of writing, Marvel Vs Capcom 3 has an unconfirmed release date. Get it together, Capcom!


Fear and Loathing in Isshu: Pokémon Black & White
Not soon after Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were released in the UK, Nintendo started releasing information on their newest PokéProject - Black & White. After 5 months of internet leaks and press releases, the 5th Generation of Pokémon has hit the stores in Japan. Touted as a 'reboot' to the main series, Black & White take place in the all new region of Isshu; a fantastical representation of America, rather than the Japanese-based locations of the previous games. Casinos, skyscrapers, and basketball players await.

To go along with it are a new set of 156 Pokémon, protagonists that are actually older than 10, and a plot more complicated than a straightforward quest to beat 8 Gym Leaders and thwart the criminal organization du jour. Yes, Pokémon has finally decided to grow up with us - which can be a little conflicting for some. For a lot of people, Pokémon began and ended with Pokémon Red and Blue, and so the hundreds of new beasts and locations are entirely lost on them. If you're one of those people, I implore you to get with the program! Contrary to what you might think, what Pokémon (and games in general) have become won't be alienating to the fond memories of your youth.

That's not to say the core that made the original Red and Blue so enjoyable has changed. You've still gotta catch 'em all, you still get a rush from battling your captured minions with friends, and the number crunching behind the fights is still slick and complex. As for what kind of new Pokémon are appearing this time around - I'm personally quite impressed. They span from a gigantic electrical tarantula, to a bull with a gigantic afro, to an Ice type that looks amusingly similar to an oversized ice cream cone.

Another new feature is the Dream World, a game mode that is actually separate from the DS game itself, and is played on your PC. You can transfer your beloved monsters to the vastness of the internet, and play bonus minigames. Prizes include almost every Pokémon from the earlier games - so even in 2010, you can still have access to Charizard and Mewtwo. Praise be to Nintendo.
Pokémon Black & White have already been released in Japan. The EU release is slated for summer next year.

Nathan Blades