It’s been just a few days over a week since the release of Game Freak’s 3DS swan song, Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. Pokémon Ultra Sun is good – if you’re wondering whether or not it sucks, I’m here to tell you what I’ve played of the game has been fun and I don’t see it beginning to tank anytime soon.
While I never bothered with either Pokémon Sun or Moon, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what I’ve experienced of Pokémon’s seventh generation and its Alola region. Having dawdled around the Alola region’s Melemele and Akala Islands, I have yet to see everything Alola has to offer, but I really want to see more of Alola.
Melemele Island, the first island available for exploration in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, is jam-packed with Pokémon both old and new. The inhabitants of Melemele Island offer a number of sub-quests. There is an abundant variety of time-specific events scattered across the island for the player to find, and you can even take time out from your journey to pet friendly Pokémon you happen across.
The Alola region and its different inhabitants all look beautiful on 3DS hardware old enough to qualify for a senior discount. Really! This game looks great. I’ve read about players playing on either original 3DSs or 2DSs experiencing low graphical fidelity in places, but I’ve been playing with a New 3DS and haven’t seen any dips in the frame rate.
As far as improvements over previous iterations go, Pokémon Ultra Sun does well to try something new with the structure and story, but it isn’t enough. While the traditional gyms and Elite Four have been left by the wayside in favour of a new trial system, it all seems trite. Although I’ve only participated in one trial I feel so far the trial system works and at other times it just seems like an ill fit for the Pokémon series.
Necrozma for Ultra Sun
Pokémon’s seventh generation places a lot of emphasis on story and character relationships, but the characters often fall short. The trial captains and kahunas I’ve run into are interesting characters but they haven’t been compelling, and the rival is far too friendly to inspire any rivalry. However, Gladion and Lillie are both compelling enough characters to make me wonder where the story goes. While it’s clear Pokémon writers aren’t trying to write the next Shenmue, it would serve their more story-focused game well to include more dynamic characters than those present.
If you’ve already played Sun & Moon, I’ve heard there isn’t much different here outside of new features like wormhole travelling, mantine surfing, and a few new story beats. The postgame is said to be chock full of features new to Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, but I have yet to reach this. Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon are more expansions than they are sequels to Sun and Moon.
The difficulty of Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon isn’t anything too challenging but it’s no pushover like X & Y. You’ll encounter trainers on routes not afraid to use full restores on their Pokémon, but most route trainers use only one.
Despite not offering much of anything new to the series, Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon are great Pokémon games. Gamers with a soft spot for the games will find plenty here to enjoy. If you’ve never played Pokémon before but you’ve always been curious, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon are great entry points into the series.
The 8 bit and 16-bit era of gaming is often referred to as the “gaming wild west” for its amazing ability to create a constant stream of new and weird games. We had not yet figured out how many of the things we take for granted now, first appeared in those eras. Controls, menus, gameplay mechanics even whole genres were totally up in the air with how much variety could be in any one game.
And yet for all the creativity and magic we all remember so fondly now, there are a few things that retro games did that honestly, I think we are best to leave behind. Here are 5 awful tendencies from retro gaming that WON’T be missed.
1) Lives
Lives are an old mechanic dragged over to us from the old arcade days of gaming; it was created in order to get the player to keep putting in money, every time you ran out of lives, that’d be another quarter, please!
And yet we bought it with us? When we transitioned from arcade gaming to home consoles we decided as a collective that we should let lives tag along too. Only now rather than dropping another dollar on the machine to keep going, some games would make us restart a level, losing any collectables we had found or worse yet just ending the game, getting the player to start right from the start – unless you happened to remember the games’ 16 letter-long password which you then had to slowly punch in using a controller (we’ll get to that!). It was a bad time all around.
Of course, I am not so naïve to not understand WHY we had lives in retro games. It was pretty simple really, game designers wanted to make very short games that seemed longer. You couldn’t exactly store a ton of data on a NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) cartridge and even back in the 80s games could cost upwards of $60 – game designers wanted you to feel like you got your money’s worth, so they made a punishing life system, that might force newer players to keep playing the same levels over and over. This made the game seem way longer than it really was.
What’s truly mind-blowing is that even some games, launched in 2017, use this ‘lives system’, to limit our ability to progress through the game. Now in some cases like with roguelikes, this makes sense, as it’s an integral part of the game, and without these lives, the genre itself would lose some (if not a lot) of its value. My advice would be if you’re making a platformer or a worse offender of this, an action game, avoid putting in a live system; we’ve outgrown it, we want to see all your game has to offer, not replay the first three levels until something better is released.
2) Game Over!
Damn you!
Losing in a game is inevitable (just like life at times), in fact most of the games I truly love come with a very steep learning curve, the game I normally point to when talking about this is “Demon’s Souls” – a game where you die quite often but the death never feels ill earnt, and the time between death and starting over isn’t too long, so you never have time to dwell on your errors.
So when I say “Game overs were bad” I need to be clear with what I mean. Game overs with a painfully long outro or loading screen following them up, forcing you to sit there for 5 minutes listening to what evil villain you were chasing down laugh at you as the disk struggles to find where you last saved; that’s bad.
Now I will admit this one was more often than not a technical limitation of retro games rather than any sort of design choice. But did they really have to have the game mock me while it forced me to wait? Did you need to laugh at me Castlevania? It just made the action of waiting even more tedious.
Shockingly though this isn’t something that’s completely gone out of fashion, famously Too Human had a amazingly long cutscene every time you died: it was of a Valkyrie coming slowly (very slowly) down to earth, picking your character up and very slowly going back up to the skies. Every. Time. You. Died. The punishment for a player’s death should be to go back to the last checkpoint or the start of a level, you don’t need to add to that by making them wait, waiting doesn’t feel like a good punishment for us dying, waiting feels like a punishment for us buying your game.
3) Passwords
Passwords as a save option were always a fascination of mine, what caused them to not only pop up but become the popular option in games was something I spent a long amount of time reading up on. Let me quickly explain why there were passwords systems, not just continues.
Continues required a programmer to store a lot of the player’s information onto the cartridge the player was using, taking up valuable gameplay space in order to let them continue from where they last stopped. (This was before Zelda came along with its memory chip inside of the cartridge).
However a password eliminates all the issues that saving brings, a password let the programmer skip all of that nonsense, they could just tell the game “If the player puts in this password, teleport them here and give them these items”. Much less space was taken up and as an added bonus it was far easier to program. Not to mention those memory cards in each cartridge sold must have increased production costs a fair amount.
But for some reason, game designers got more and more paranoid that somehow gamers might “guess” their passwords and skip some of their game. To combat this they went to great lengths to make guessing these passwords impossible, the downside of this, of course, is that it also made them impossible to remember and a big pain in the neck to input.
The question quickly comes up of “Why not just use 5 symbols?” I can remember “Monkey, Rabbit, Rabbit, Cat, Monkey.” It’s very unlikely even with a small pool of characters you have to input (A 5 letter password for example) that a player would just get lucky and guess it. If you must give your players a long password, developers really should have made the effort to make it something you could remember, for example, two words stuck together such as “NewHill”. It doesn’t even have to be related to the stage you are skipping to, just making it actual words makes it far easier for a player to remember and to read from a notepad when inputting the password.
I for one am glad that we mastered the art of saving.
4) Leap Of Faith
Not this type, no.
This was a weirdly common gameplay choice, wasn’t it? You run to the right, jumping, shooting, battling, and timing everything perfectly, then, you hit a cliff edge. You can’t move the screen any further forwards and all you can see in front of you is…nothingness, just the backdrop of the level. What do I do now? You think to yourself, and then it slowly dawns on you. It’s a leap of faith. The developer wants you to trust them, jump right off that cliff and land on the platform below, that you can’t see, nor have any idea if it’s really there. Worst yet, some developers decide this is the perfect place to put a hole in the ground or a tough enemy to deal damage to you. Hiding information from your players just isn’t good game design.
5) Time Limits
Nothing gets the heart pumping like a sense of urgency, builds excitement as the end draws near, a mountain of fire behind you maybe? A pool of lava. Something chasing you.
On the other hand, nothing is more frustrating than an arbitrary time limit that just straight up kills you once it hits 0. No reason, no way to avoid it, you’re just dead. Move faster next time kiddo. Time limits are just an “anti-fun” way to make a game. Rushing to the end of a level, constantly worrying about if you have enough time to beat the stage stops a player actually enjoying what they are doing. Anything challenging quickly stops being engaging and starts becoming a controller breaking frenzy.
A single level with a time limit, designed around that time limit is fine. In fact, it’s a good way to mix up how a player tackles your levels and keeps them guessing about what future levels might pull out. But far too many old classics had a time limit on every level, forcing the player to keep moving forward, rather than explore or try new things.
If your time limit doesn’t add anything to the experience and instead just takes away from player freedom, it probably shouldn’t be in your game.
So that’s my list folks, do you agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear what you won’t be missing from the past…
There is a question, which has existed throughout time and space, and an answer that remains one of Earth’s greatest mysteries. No, it’s not THAT question, whose answer is 42, but rather, why can’t Hollywood make a good movie adaptation of popular video games? It doesn’t make any sense to me. The best gaming franchises come gift wrapped with intricately developed characters, storylines, epic set pieces, and established dedicated fan bases. Hollywood has this innate ability to constantly screw things up, but there are a few glimmers of greatness among the pile of failed adaptations. Here is my list of the top five “best” video game adaptations (please note, I’m not saying these movies are perfect…):
Doom
First off, this movie has the Rock, end of story! Ok, the Rock aside, Doom isn’t that bad of a movie. Sure, they changed the story, but that doesn’t really matter; no one ever played Doom for its riveting and salacious story telling. The action was great, the monsters were well-done, and the Rock and Karl Urban were awesome. There was also that twist in the end, which I won’t spoil, that made things fun in the last few minutes. Besides, even if you disagree with all of that, you can’t tell me the first-person camerawork scene, just like in the game, wasn’t awesome to see.
Resident Evil
Two words – Milla Jovovich! That’s all I need to say. The original Resident Evil wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a fun movie regardless. You had kick-ass female characters, great enemies, interesting weapons, and a creepy A.I. that gave me nightmares for years. How amazing was that checkerboard laser scene; you know which one I’m talking about! I fell in love with Jovovich the instant I saw her in The Fifth Element, so it wasn’t a tough sell to get me behind this movie. Paul W. S. Anderson isn’t going to bring home any Academy Awards, but he has consistently made entertaining movies throughout his career. I know people bad-mouth this adaptation, but come on, at least it wasn’t one of Uwe Bolls Crap-A-Thons. Or the latest film in the series.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
You can say whatever you want about this movie, but back in 2001, Angelina Jolie was the living embodiment of Lara Croft. Just look at the picture below…I’ll wait. Great, now I dare you to say Jolie doesn’t look like she was born for the role. Unfortunately, the perfect casting (also starring Chris Barrie, Rimmer from Red Dwarf!), didn’t come with a perfect script. The movie felt clunky at times, had some questionable CGI, and didn’t really do much to set up the character for long-term potential. What we did get though, was a decent movie, with an amazing cast, and a chance to see our favourite daring adventurer archaeologist come to life for the first time. Let’s hope the reboot fares a little better.
Wreck-It Ralph
Please don’t write in the comments “Jordan, this isn’t based off one specific game, but an amalgamation of many iconic gaming characters!” I get that, OK, but this movie rocked, and was exactly how something of this calibre should be. If you want to see how NOT to do it, just put on Adam Sandler’s unwatchable Pixels; that’s a lesson on how you take some of our greatest gaming icons and turn them into a steaming pile of…pixels! Wreck-It Ralph is incredibly well-written, with our main character voiced to perfection by John C. Reilly. Like most animated movies of the like, it plays exceptionally well to kids, while having inside jokes for adults. Some of the nostalgia references alone in this movie were worth the price of admission; I’ve seen it a few times and I still haven’t caught all the references. If you haven’t seen Wreck-It Ralph, I highly recommend you step away from your gaming PC, put down the Mountain Dew, and go watch it now!
Mortal Kombat
This is MY list, so I get to choose MY favourite video game movie – *dodges incoming axes. I absolutely adore the first Mortal Kombat movie and everything in it. Sure, it was cheesy at times, with some notably bad dialogue coming from Luke Cage especially, but the fight scenes and soundtrack were outstanding. I remember grinning ear to ear when I first saw Scorpion and Sub-Zero on the screen; they looked perfect! The Johnny Cage vs. Scorpion and Liu Kang vs. Reptile fights were insane, with choreography orchestrated to perfection. I would say the only misstep came from the Goro fight (though I chock that up to poor animatronics and CGI). As I mentioned, the music in this movie was amazing. With Tracks form George S. Clinton, KMFDM, Fear Factory, The Immortals, Sister Machine Gun, and more, the album went as high as tenth on Billboard’s Top 200 and placed #1 on Top Tastemakers Albums in 1995. You can’t tell me you weren’t pumped every time “MORTAL KOMBAT” belted out on the title track. It’s a shame the sequel was so terrible and a clear cash grab to sell albums because we never got the true sequel we deserved. Rumors have circled for years of a reboot, but I won’t hold my breath for that.
There you have it, folks, those are my favourite video game to movie adaptations. I am sure the rest of you have a few different choices, and I would love to hear what they are. Do you absolutely love Silent Hill or Van Dam’s Street Fighter, let us know in the comments below.
The more I see on this, the less I understand it. It’s like a complex algebra equation, it all seems a little unnecessary and pointless. I loved Skyrim and I love my Switch, but do the two need to be united? Absolutely not. The two are separate entities and can live in complete isolation from one another.
You see, my Switch doesn’t need Skyrim nor does Skyrim need my Switch. Skyrim has had its time, even more so with the recent remake outing, and I loved every single minute of it. But Skyrim fatigue is well and truly in effect; I’ve played enough Skyrim to know I’ve had my fill. There’s nobody out there that hasn’t at least dabbled with it in some variety surely?
The few die-hard Nintendo-only fans out there must (even) have very little interest in this as well. There’s a reason why they buy Nintendo consoles; for their unique experiences. Nintendo offers something different, they don’t conform to the other console cycles or trends. They do their own thing and that’s what Nintendo needs, not to open up the gates to two generation old titles.
Now I’m sure Skyrim will run absolutely fine on Switch and seeing it on a portable platform would be amazing. Sure. But do I need that to justify my purchase by showing how powerful the Switch actually is? I think we all know the answer here. Whichever way I look at it, I just cannot fathom it.
It’s the fact that Nintendo has done the above, by sticking to their guns, that makes them who they are. For better or worse, their loyal fan base will stand by them throughout this as well – I think they’re taking a step away from what they do best though. What I’m saying is: more like Odyssey, less like Skyrim.
It’s not costing them anything to develop Skyrim on their latest console, granted, but surely Bethesda have something better to do with their time as well? You know, like milking us for a re-release of a complete edition of Fallout 4 on PS4/XB1, and not bringing it to the Switch.
Irony’s a cruel mistress and make no mistake. Just last week, we thought indie platformer Cuphead’s near-unprecedented smash success might signal a welcome change in the air for the gaming industry, particularly during a year abundant with studio closures.
But if the latest development in publisher EA’s fraught era at the helm of licensed Star Wars IPs reminds us of anything, it’s that some trends aren’t so easily bucked as one might hope.
Before this troubling turn of events, the team was hard at work on a new action-adventure set in the universe of Jedi, Sith and Gungans, first teased as a “story-driven” IP upon EA announcing the project in 2016.
Work on said untitled licensed effort will still continue beyond Visceral’s shutdown, however, albeit in the hands of EA Vancouver and with an apparently revised modus operandi: expect less of a “story-based, linear adventure game” and more of a “broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency”.
That’s according to EA’s executive VP, Patrick Söderlund, and while we’ve no idea precisely what he means either, apparently a core focus of the refreshed project will be providing an experience that encourages players to return “for a long time to come”, presumably with extra content atop its “stunning visuals” and “authenticity”.
Shifts in the ‘marketplace’?
Given Söderlund’s emphasis on how much of the rationale behind EA’s tweaked approach has come thanks to the publisher “closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace”, that the move has already prompted more than a few grumbles should come as no surprise.
Relying on focus groups and market trends has its benefits, of course, as anyone on the marketing team for 2015’s controversial Battlefront reboot will surely attest today, but allowing that to hamper creative vision carries equal risks, not least if it means we lose the opportunity for a Last of Us-rivalling tour de force of Star Wars storytelling as a result. And guess what? We like single-player games.
With all that said, it’s worth remembering that we only ever saw brief glimpses of Visceral’s IP in EA’s E3 showreels, so we’ll never know for sure whether the developer’s approach to the project would’ve born fruition or proven misguided in hindsight.
For now, then, let’s keep our thoughts with the enviably creative minds at the fallen studio who’ll now need to seek gainful employment elsewhere. No doubt they’ve bright futures ahead at EA or elsewhere, and we wish them the very best of luck en route.
If you pay attention to the sporting world, you probably noticed the shocking news that the USMNT (United States Men’s National Team) has FAILED to qualify for the world cup for the first time since 1986. As a hardcore follower of the sport living in the United States (yes, believe it or not, we exist) this was absolutely heartbreaking. But, we aren’t here to discuss that, we are here to discuss how this event will affect the series of FIFA: World Cup video games that are released every four years.
Facts are facts, the United States is the third biggest country in the world (population), and the average person has more than enough money to purchase a single video game. And living in America, I almost never hear anyone talk about soccer (Football UK readers!) unless it’s time for the World Cup. This is a time where the country becomes united and watches a sport that they usually couldn’t care less about. With this summer sensation of soccer, FIFA releases a World Cup spin-off game along with each event. EA does this to try to capitalize on the worldwide interest in the sport, in order to gain some extra revenue, of course.
Well, with the US not qualifying for the upcoming World Cup, it would not surprise me to see the sales of FIFA: World Cup edition drop off in the US pretty substantially. Like I said above, when the World Cup comes around and the US is playing, almost everyone in the country is paying attention. This upcoming World Cup will be much different, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the 2018 World Cup isn’t covered nearly as much as the 2014 World Cup in the US. Less publicity is never a good thing and with a spin-off title, you only have a tight window of time to make your money.
I know this is all conjecture but what do you guys think? Will the sales of this upcoming FIFA: World Cup edition drop off? Or am I overestimating the effect of the USMNT failing to qualify will have on the game? Let me know in the comments below!
The Nintendo Switch has been around for a few months now and there have been some big games to drop on the popular hybrid console. With the new Zelda on the shelves and making history, and a new Mario Kart addiction created, what’s next for the Switch? We’ll take a look at some of the more popular and upcoming Nintendo Switch games we’re hoping to see by the end of 2017.
Super Mario Odyssey
Release Date: October 27th
The new Big N console has had a successful launch and with it came one of the company’s most praised games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Soon after, the face of the company made his appearance in his newest kart racer classic, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. So now, the gaming world is anxiously awaiting the release of the next actual adventurer from the Italian plumber franchise, Super Mario Odyssey.
The entire Nintendo realm is pulsating with impatience to get their eager paws on this huge Mario sandbox-style game. Levels themed from re-vamped classic Mario-like worlds to life-like cities and jungles, Super Mario Odyssey looks to introduce the Mario franchise to the next layer of 3D platforming greatness. Look for this one to come out at the tail end of 2017 during the holiday season.
Splatoon 2
Release Date: Out
Third-person shooters are in rare form in the realm of the Nintendo Switch but Splatoon 2 brings just that, and in cartoony, Nintendo fashion. The sequel to the hit Wii U title brings back multiplayer fun in this team-based shooter. Use your Inklings to alternate between humanoid form to shoot coloured ink at opponents and accomplish objectives, and squid form to swim through ink, replenishing your ink ammunition.
Splatoon 2 will bring much more multiplayer fun to the list of Nintendo Switch titles providing exactly that. With team-based strategy and a lively story mode, again featuring the Squid Sisters, this is sure to fill homes with non-stop ink-shooting action.
Arms
Release Date: Out
Arms brings whacky, stretching, flailing boxing to Nintendo’s hybrid console. Taking a route away from the serious boxing games with complex button combos and precise movements, Arms pins you one-on-one between two fighters equipped with incredibly stretchable boxing gloves. Jumping, punching and dodging across the 3D boxing arena gives you more to think about when facing off against your prestigious foe.
The first real experience with the Joy-Con motion controls, Arms provides a loose, fluid swinging motion, unlike tight, exact jabs in your more realistic fighters. Punches floating across the screen, giving you the option to fight any way you choose, Arms looks to be a perfect fit to utilize the Switch’s motion-controls.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Release Date: December 1st
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles will be hitting Switch consoles everywhere sometime this year (we think!). Off on a journey in an open-world adventure/RPG, your character embarks to search the lands for “Elysium”. Unsure of “what” or “who” Elysium might be, all we can do is wait for more on this fantastic JRPG.
Nintendo’s E3 conference will be a solid one to watch this year, as we can expect many of these games to be featured, especially the new Xenoblade title. After the success, the first title saw on the Wii, expect die-hard fans and newcomers alike to be waiting restlessly for this one.
Shakedown Hawaii
Release Date: Q4 2017
The successor to the 16-bit classic Retro City Rampage is coming to consoles this year and it’s called Shakedown Hawaii. This open world gunner will have you shooting down enemies and running past rows of bullets in old-school fashion. In the tropical setting of Hawaii, you’ll not only run and gun, but take the wheel on the streets of the Aloha state. With flashbacks of the old Grand Theft Auto style games on the original PlayStation, Shakedown looks to reignite that classic sandbox feel.
With loads of powerful weapons and a huge open world to discover, smash your way through the destructible environment while constructing your empire in Shakedown Hawaii.
RIME
Release Date: November 14th NA / Europe November 17th
Beautiful 3D puzzle-adventure games give players a rewarding journey in vast, mysterious settings. Games like The Last Guardian or Ico (Team Ico) use vague dialogue and rich settings to unfold emotional stories in a gorgeous, fantasy world. RIME creates settings like these other titles but in a cartoon-like fashion, and with the help of an adorable, friendly fox.
Use puzzles to progress through the story and find the truth behind the mysteries that surround RIME with the help of your friendly fox. This indie release will see a Switch release, hopefully coming sooner rather than later!
Fire Emblem Warriors
Release Date: October 20th
Hack ‘n’ slash games offer loads of addictive fun, and the Fire Emblem series has adopted this play style beautifully. With four confirmed players – two originals and two Fire Emblem classics – the next Switch/3DS title in the series is starting to open up about its details. Chrom makes his return from Fire Emblem Awakening (2012) as the prince of The Halidom of Ylisse. Going back to the original Fire Emblem, the protagonist Marth is also confirmed for Fire Emblem Warriors.
The Fire Emblem games always give dedicated gamers the option to grind with hundreds of hours of gameplay. Bringing this game to the Switch and having the ability to take it on the go sends chills down every action-RPG player’s restless spine.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Release Date: November 17th
Ok, so this game may be over 5 years old and yes, most of us are tired of hearing about Skyrim and the ‘Dragonborn’, but with all that aside, this game still provides gamers with a long, immersive adventure with a huge map begging to be discovered. Dry plains and giant camps, rushing rivers surrounded by sprawling trees and snowy mountain trails will look gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch, and stand equally impressive next to the hit Zelda launch title.
Bringing Bethesda’s critically acclaimed RPG to the Switch console will not only finally give Nintendo fans the ‘Skyrim’ experience, but for the first time ever, you will have the mobile Dragonborn RPG wherever you go. With the impressive HD graphics on the Switch, the Elder Scrolls port should stand up pretty solidly, at least compared to the original console release of the previous generation. Your Dragonborn adventure begins this Fall 2017.
While this is just a few games on the huge list of titles coming to the Switch this year, 2018 doesn’t seem to be letting up either. As the months pass by the games will release and we’ll see just how Nintendo’s new, big hybrid console stacks up against its competitors.
Let us know which Switch games you’re looking forward to in the comments below!
Looking around at the gaming industry right now, it seems we’re living in a great time. Most video games on the three major modern-gen platforms – Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch – have games with presentations that easily rival the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. We’re seeing new technology drive forward, with hardware like Sony VR and Oculus Rift further immersing players into their science-fiction-style fantasies. Yet, despite all this, a subsection of the industry is also thriving: retro gaming.
Science-Fiction-Style Fantasies
Given we’re surrounded by games that utilise so much of today’s latest and greatest technology, why are gamers heading back to the past to get a good dose of their entertainment? Why are we looking back to the simpler, less-evolved ancestors of gaming when we have the overwhelming complexity of modern-day gaming all around us?
Perhaps it’s because of what modern-day gaming can’t seem to provide. For example, the primitive nature of technology back in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of gaming meant none of the big Hollywood-esque production values we see in today’s games but it did mean more emphasis on gameplay. When one switched on their Sega MegaDrive/Genesis to play Sonic the Hedgehog, there were no lengthy opening CG cut-scenes or tedious tutorial sections. Players were transported straight to the first level and worked out the basic controls by themselves or through the game’s instruction manual (*sigh* remember when games had instruction manuals?).
Although no doubt a bugger to program, retro games were simple in the objectives they presented to players. Run through the level, collect rings, jump on bad guys and reach the goal. Shoot the invading aliens without being shot yourself. Create a line of coloured blocks. The games were simple in what they asked of the player, and any player can receive enjoyment out of playing them because of that, kids included. Nowadays, the complex nature of game design and the layers of elements in these games can make them a turn-off for more casual players.
Mobile Gaming: Bringing Back The Past
But where casual gaming is concerned, it’s no secret that the mobile gaming section of the industry is a real moneymaker. This is because the majority of their games are targeted towards casual gamers who like to play on their mobiles and tablets. In a Newzoo article posted in April 2017, it was calculated that $46.1 billion will be generated from mobile gaming for the whole of 2017 – which is 42% of the global market. While there has been plenty of original retro-inspired content such as Candy Crush and Clash of Clans, we’re seeing more and more retro games from past consoles being ported to mobile devices.
Ubisoft released a tablet version of side-scrolling PS1 classic, Rayman in 2016. Remastered ports of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were released on iOS and Android devices in May 2013 and were programmed by Sonic Mania director, Christian Whitehead. What’s more, you’re sure to find a host of other retro games from Space Invaders to Tetris amongst the extensive mobile gaming library. Mobile gaming is bringing back the past – and in the palm of our hands no less.
Retro Gaming: The NES Classic Mini
But the most recent example of how retro gaming’s popularity is still alive and well is in the sales of the ‘mini-consoles’. The NES Classic Mini was released in November 2016 and sold out on pre-orders while the remaining few that made it to the shelves were quickly swiped. Only until recently has Nintendo declared it will resume NES mini-consoles next year. If that wasn’t enough, the SNES Mini also experienced a similar fate – high demand for the 16-bit classic console has convinced Nintendo to continue to ship more in 2018.
If Nintendo’s efforts to retrieve the past weren’t enough, then there’s the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Classic Console which boasts an impressive library of 80 built-in games. This is joined by Atari’s upcoming Ataribox, which will be a console optimised for both retro and modern forms of gaming. It’s as though past and present are existing side-by-side.
Procrastination Vortex – YouTube
And if the real world wasn’t evidence of retro gaming’s popularity, then the world of the internet definitely is. The fanbase is particularly thriving in the inescapable procrastination vortex we call YouTube. Among YouTube’s most popular gaming stars is the Angry Video Game Nerd, written by and played by filmmaker James Rolfe. His show revolves around comedically reviewing retro games and hardware from the Atari to Nintendo and beyond. Not only is it a goldmine for older gamers who want to reflect nostalgically on their childhood days, but it also exposes millions of younger gamers to gaming’s past through its humorous presentation.
Through his videos, the Nerd has cast a spotlight on lesser-known commercial failures of the 90’s such as the Atari Jaguar and the Nintendo Virtual Boy. The Nerd is not alone in his reviewing of the past because there are a large number of thriving YouTube channels that revere retro gaming and even capitalise on the nostalgia-loving hearts of today’s gamers. Whether that be through Let’s Plays or similar game-themed shows and reviews, retro gaming is alive and well on the interwebs.
So, one thing is for sure here. Retro games may be old, but they are not past their heyday. In fact, retro games seem to be timeless as opposed to a thing of the past. They remain an eternal presence and don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. And given that these games are still highly playable and enjoyable to this very day, who can complain about that?
What are your favourite retro games? Are you happy about the popularity of retro gaming? Let us know in the comments below…
It’s that time of year again. The fall season, where all the sports games start releasing back to back. It all starts with Madden in August, then goes NHL and NBA in the middle of September, then wraps up with the release of FIFA in late September. Unlike most years, where you could, for the most part, only get these games on the Xbox One and PS4, there was a new console this year in the Nintendo Switch. With a new console, comes a potential new market of players to grab, but it also means you have to develop a new port for said game. Right here is where developers EA and Visual Concepts took different routes for their Switch versions of the popular console games in FIFA 18 and NBA 2K18.
In the past when FIFA 18 was announced for the Switch, I expressed some concerns in another viewpoint article, which can be viewed right here. In that article, I spoke about how the game will not be using the usual Frostbite engine and will be missing multiple game modes.
Well, since that article there have been some updates regarding the Switch version, and in my opinion, it comes off as a little insulting. In an interview with FIFA 18 developer, Andrei Lazarescu was asked about the missing modes in the Switch version, for example, the Switch version is missing The Journey, FUT champions and squad battles. His response for the missing modes was “If you throw everything from the get go to a completely new player base, you might not get the desired result.”
This argument that Andrei is presenting is one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve ever read. He is essentially saying that Nintendo Switch users are too incompetent to understand the intricacies of FIFA 18. Andrei we all know the real story here, the real reason that the Switch version is so butchered down and simple is because EA didn’t want to put any money into it – mainly because of their Wii U failure. Next time, don’t lie to the consumer about it and try to spin it. Saying that Switch users wouldn’t understand the technicalities of a soccer game is far worse than being upfront and honest about it.
NBA 2K18
With the disappointment of FIFA 18 came the surprise of NBA 2K18 for the Switch. Unlike EA, Visual concepts went all in on their Switch port of 2K18. Senior producer Rob Jones said porting 2K18 to the Nintendo Switch was a “gargantuan task.” The game features all of the same game modes and runs on the same engine as the PS4 and Xbox One versions:
“It’s not the same exact graphics because the Switch can’t push them, you know, but the experience itself – you’re not missing out on anything from the Switch version [compared] to the main consoles version”, he said, talking about the Switch version of 2K18.
The only compromises Visual Concepts had to make regarding the Switch port is the toned-down graphics, and they had to cut the frame rate from 60fps to 30fps.
With the Switch port of 2K18, you really are getting a console-quality sports game on the go. It’s great that they were able to pull this off, especially since EA couldn’t figure out how to port FIFA 18 to the Switch in a respectable manner. I really wish I didn’t have to bash on the Switch version of FIFA 18, but the Switch version of NBA 2K18 makes it come off as a lazy cash grab.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what I think. All that matters is what the public as a whole thinks about these ports. So, with that being said, will you guys be picking up the seemingly great Switch port in NBA 2K18? Or, will you still be picking up the Switch Port of FIFA 18 despite all of its downfalls? Or maybe you’ll be picking up both? Let me know in the comments below!
In case you missed it the big N is holding their next, coveted, Nintendo Direct this Wednesday, the 13th September at 11 pm (that’s UK time). We’re looking at midnight for Europe and 3 pm Pacific time.
As with every Direct, before it’s shown, the excitement tends to build to ridiculously high levels online. Enthusiasm and passion are brilliant things. No arguments. But they can also lead to disappointment, sometimes culminating in folks on the internet ‘stating’ that there was nothing to see. Or our ‘favourite’ comment we see thrown at all of the big three from time to time: “No gamez”.
Some Directs are better than others, that’s for certain. But it also helps to go in with realistic expectations. So, what do we know, and think, will actually be shown over the course of the 45-minutes-long presentation?
Nintendo Direct: What We Know
Super Mario Odyssey has been confirmed for starters, and we expect a good amount of time to be spent on it too. It’s released at the end of next month and is Nintendo’s next flagship 3D Mario title. It’ll be an essential game to ensure Switch consoles are under the Christmas tree.
We also know that both 3DS and Switch games, to be released “in the coming months”, will get some time in the spotlight. Nintendo confirmed this on Twitter, which is good news for those that aren’t too keen on the individual 3DS and Switch Directs that we’ve seen in the past. But that’s all we know for sure.
Nintendo Direct: What We Think
In terms of those 3DS games, we’d expect to see a final showing for Metroid: Samus Returns, released this Friday and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions, the remake of the classic first game in the series out October 6th. That Kirby 3DS game that we know nothing about other than it’s a “multiplayer action game” should show up as well. It is Kirby’s 25th anniversary after all. Finally, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will definitely be in there.
As for Switch, other than Super Mario Odyssey, details about the new Arms update, featuring Lola Pop, should be coming. A release date for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 may well be in there. (We hope). Fire Emblem Warriors (New 3DS and Switch) will probably get a new trailer showing off some unannounced characters before its release on October 20th. The enhanced port of Pokkén Tournament DX, the Tekken Pokémon game for Wii U, to be released on the 22nd September, will most likely feature too.
What about new games?
They’re the most exciting thing of all. Well, we don’t expect to see many here in all honesty. A Bayonetta Switch announcement could be on the cards, in some form. A third game if we’re very lucky. Bethesda has also been teasing an unannounced game, but whether it’s for Nintendo consoles or not, that remains to be seen. Bottom line: we wouldn’t expect any new AAA Nintendo games we don’t already know about. Unless they’re Wii U ports, (for example Smash Bros.).
A bonus something might be in there and perhaps we’ll get more on that Animal Crossing mobile app. For now, though, take a deep breath, relax, and keep expectations real. It really does make surprises, if any, that much better.
I always maintain that knowledge is power, but maybe gaming is less of a niche than it originally was. The industry is now far more mainstream than at any other point in history. Long gone are the days of bedroom teenage programmers, violence seeking Mortal Kombat enthusiasts and the 14-hour a day World of Warcraft players. Now the market is so much more diverse.
Don’t get me wrong, these fractions of the gaming demographic still exist, but now there are so many more people (and more importantly, different classes of people) playing video games. Today, it is not uncommon for the very young and the very old to get involved. Now, it doesn’t seem so strange for your Mother to sit down for a session on Brain Training or 1-2-Switch.
For decades these markets existed relatively untapped, but currently, gaming has become accessible for anyone and everyone.
This has got me thinking about where the medium stands in society. Lest we forget the controversial Alan Titchmarsh show debate that enraged many for varying reasons. One side buying into Julie Peasgood’s evocative anti-gaming rally, the other feeling angered by a certain lack of awareness and understanding of video games.
Yet now we have a BAFTA awards ceremony for video games, a pastime, that has brought joy to millions. The industry makes more money than music and films combined. The Halo franchise brings in more revenue than Harry Potter. It is a hugely profitable, and now widely accepted digital nirvana.
So I don’t think parents are particularly dumbfounded so to speak, but it can be easy for those who don’t play to have certain misconceptions about the industry, especially when misinformation is circulated.
I like to look at video games in the same way I view films. I genuinely believe there is something for everyone. Yes, you can criticise violent or adult themed games, in the same way, you could criticise violent movies. And I am 100% behind not letting 18 rated titles fall into the hands of children, in the same way as I am with an age restricted DVD. But it’s a partnership here.
When it happens and it will (kids are notoriously good at disobeying the rules), it is simply no good to point the finger. We all need to take a share of the responsibility and be as aware of gaming as we are with music, TV and film.
Sonic Mania has raced onto the scene with critical acclaim, being noted as the best Sonic game in decades. By combining the speed and clever level design of the classic Mega Drive games with some fun modern touches, the Blue Blur is potentially on the verge of another golden age (don’t screw this up, Sonic Forces!). But, as with any successful platforming character, Sonic has had his fair share of hiccups over the past few decades. Well, alright then. Perhaps ‘hiccups’ is a bad word. How does ‘downright monstrosities’ sound? Hmm…that sounds a little more to the point. So, why don’t we go over some of these poor judgements on Sega’s part and hope that nothing like these horrid abominations are ever produced again?
Well, alright then. Perhaps ‘hiccups’ is a bad word. How does ‘downright monstrosities’ sound? Hmm…that sounds a little more to the point. So, why don’t we go over some of these poor judgements on Sega’s part and hope that nothing like these horrid abominations are ever produced again?
Shadow the Hedgehog
It was the game that nobody asked for. But we got it, anyway. This 2005 semi-sequel to Sonic Heroes starred the eponymous black hedgehog in his first (and, hopefully, only) solo game. The problems with this game were many; poor, glitchy level design, a dark plot uncharacteristic of a Sonic game and, of course, those damn guns.
The idea of guns being in a Sonic game was eyebrow-raising enough – but the way they were implemented into the gameplay was awful, as though the mechanic had been shoehorned in at the last minute. Stopping to shoot foes regularly just didn’t feel natural and contradicted the game’s attempt to be a fast-moving platformer. The vehicle sections were also tedious and out of place (when you can move faster on foot, what’s the point?). While the game boasted multiple endings and level pathways, you’d be forgiven for not wanting to endure a second playthrough of this awful stain on Sonic’s legacy.
Sonic Shuffle
By the time Sonic Shuffle hit the Sega Dreamcast in 2000 (2001 in European territories), Sonic had experimented with a number of other genres. There was the Game Gear Mario Kart-esque Sonic Drift games and also the arcade beat ’em up, Sonic The Fighters. Not content with those forays into other zones of gaming, Sonic had to have his own Mario Party-style party game.
Now, to the developers’ credit, they crafted a new narrative for the game to take place in and dressed it up in a plethora of bright colours. It’s just that they forgot to include the ‘fun’ aspect. The game was bogged down with a small number of below-average minigames and tedious loading times. You would be better off sticking with Mario Party than this boring clone.
Sonic The Fighters
It should be obvious to anyone that Sonic simply isn’t suited to the fighting genre. He’s a platforming hero known for his speed and agility, not his resilience or fisticuffs. Apparently, though, Sega didn’t get the memo and thus, in 1996, Sonic The Fighters hit Japanese and American arcades (after which, it has been ported to a number of Sonic games collections since).
The game can best be described as a poor man’s Virtua Fighter. While it is true that Sega designed a number of exclusive characters for the game, they are mostly forgettable, due to having a very short supply of unique fighting moves. The fighting system is simply Virtual Fighter-Lite and is overall tedious and slow. You would be better off playing any fighting game but this.
Sonic R
Nowadays, most gamers will recognise games studio Travellers’ Tales for their seemingly endless supply of Lego video games. But, back in the day, they did some other things (Mickey’s Wild Adventure for the Sony PlayStation comes to nostalgic mind). One of these things, however, was co-developing the awful Sonic R, which was released for the Sega Saturn in 1997 and for Windows a year later. Now, as a concept, a Sonic racing game where the characters move on-foot, doesn’t sound too bad. But when this concept is brought to life via Sonic Team’s poorly-designed racing tracks and Travellers Tales’ poor programming, it makes you re-think that statement.
The majority of the game’s tracks are bugged with awkwardly tight corners and are short to the point of tedium. The characters are awkward when trying to turn corners and some of them are so slow and disadvantageous when compared to the other racers (I’m looking at you, Amy Rose) that they just aren’t worth bothering with on a whole. Add in the fact there are only five available courses and you’ve got yourself a stinker here.
Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GBA Port)
This is perhaps one of the lesser-known examples of bad Sonic games, but it’s well-deserving of a spot here. This lazy, (half-assed) Game Boy Advance port was developed by Sonic Team for the blue hedgehog’s 15th anniversary and is one of the worst Sonic games in existence. It takes the original Genesis/Mega Drive game and gives it a painfully-slow frame rate, poor physics and an awfully-downgraded soundtrack – in other words, everything that made the first Sonic great.
As a cheap shoe-in, Sonic Team did add an “Anniversary mode” – which is the exact same game save for adding the spin-dash that was introduced in Sonic 2 onward. Wow, Sonic Team really pushed the boat out with this one.
What do you think are the worst Sonic games ever? Are you enjoying Mania? Let me know below.
