Insomniac Games boldy goes multiplatform… for 1 new game…
It's a different time these days with gamers split between the PlayStation 3, X-Box 360 and Wii, it's a far cry from the previous generation in which the King of the Mountain was the PlayStation 2. With the amount of Wiis, PS3s and 360s out there it is no surprise that more and more third party developers have decided to go multi-platform to recuperate development costs and make a profit while also being able to get their games into as many homes as possible. What is a developer to do when there is a near 50-50 split of X-Box 360 owners as there are PlayStation 3 (PS3) owners (the Wii is another story entirely)? It would seem pretty silly for any third party developer to not make the most of this and double their audience and offer their games on both consoles.
The only disappointing thing about this trend, this generation, is that it seems the majority of video game developers that have gone multi-platform are ones who were previously closely tied to the PlayStation brand, i.e. Square Enix, rather than ones who have been tied to Microsoft and their X-Box brand. We can now add one more developer into the hat of previous PlayStation-centric developers who have gone the way of the multi-platform side, Insomniac Games!
Tales of Vesperia: PS3, NO THANK YOU NORTH AMERICA
Tales of Vesperia, initially a X-Box 360 exclusive, has seen itself move from the X-Box 360 to the PS3 within a year of its release on the X-Box 360 nearly two summers ago. When the PS3 port of the game was announced, it was hoped by North American fans of Namco Bandai's Tales series that the PS3 version would be localized and released in North America. There were rumours that the title was in the midst of being localized only a month after the Japanese version was released as Troy Baker, who voiced the main character Yuri Lowell, commented that the voice cast was getting back together to record additional content for the game. This did not come as a surprise as the PS3 version, released in Japan in September 2009, had additional voiced scenes and an additional character (a pirate named Patty) that were not present in the 360 version.
Mistwalker’s Last Story?
A little over a month ago we finally heard of Mistwalker Corp's latest project after months of speculation. Over the past few months we've heard bits and pieces on the blog of Mistwalker's head, Hironobu Sakaguchi, as well as illustrations that were posted on the Mistwalker website were at best cryptic as to what the new game would be. Since the vague announcement last June it was expected that the newest game might be released on the X-Box 360, in light of Microsoft's financial assistance when Mistwalker was founded, or even the Nintendo DS, as their most recent games were released for the DS. It came as a surprise when the new title was unveiled as coming to the Nintendo Wii with the launch of an official website which includes the game's logo and a piece of music.
What Final Fantasy XIII looked like as a PS2 game
According to FinalFantasy-XIII.net there are some scans that have found their way online from a series of thick volumes published by Square Enix recently. Amongst this group of scans are ones from very early builds of the game built for PS2 hardware. The art style incorporated into the early PS2 builds are quite different from what we ended up in the PS3/360 version of the game. It's quite interesting to see that Square Enix changed their minds about the art styles they were planning on using with the PS2; it makes me wonder if the choice was due to the improved hardware present in the PS3.
Final Fantasy XIII: APRIL 15th 2010, Yes please
According to website The 13th Crystal, via French video game retailer Micromania, who posted the release date on their website. Apparently Micromania was holding a special event called Micromania Game Show earlier today and have a Final Fantasy XIII part later in the evening where the date is supposed to be official.
Also confirmed is that Eidos (soon to be Square Enix Europe) will be responsible for publishing the title in Europe. Obviously some might think, [i]What does a European retailer have anything to do with a North American release?[/i], well the game is supposed to launch simultaneously in North America and Europe which explains things quite nicely.
Update: Turns out that Eidos has denied the release date, so consider this to be a rumour for now.
Sources: Micromania (Français), The 13th Crystal
Monopoly: A guilty pleasure
Originally posted: 07/02/2009
As of late I got a chance to play Monopoly on the 360 and I must say it was quite the experience to play the classic board game in 3D on a 50 inch HDTV. Obviously this game is in that lovely and often favoured category of gaming known as "causal gaming", but you know something, who cares if it's casual if it's fun!
This Monopoly plays out no differently then the board game. You still have a maximum of 4 players as you go around the board and buy up land and built houses and hotels. The Community Chest, Chance, Railroads, and Utilities are all here in glorious 720p! I can't remember if this was a rule in the board game or not, but in this version you can trade money and land between the different players, which helps when you are near bankruptcy and need to pay back a player whose land you had landed on, but if it is specific to the video game I must say it was a great addition. The graphics of the game are not too shabby when you consider this is a video game of a board game, but the colours and graphics of the board, icons (such as the player icon) and Uncle Pennybags/Mr. Monopoly are nice and sharp.
Wii to PS3/360 ports?
Originally posted: 07/02/2009
Usually when the discussion of multi-platform games is brought up with respect to the Nintendo it's usually a title being ported from the 360 or PS3 to the Wii or a multiplatform being toned down, in terms of graphics and other technology, for the Wii as is the case with The Ghostbusters video game. It is very unusual to hear a publisher decide to port titles from the Nintendo Wii, easily considered the weakest of the home consoles of this generation in terms of hardware.
This rarity seems to be gaining traction as Marvelous Entertainment has discussed this exact possibility at a recent shareholders meeting. It's not a stretch since Marvelous Entertainment has previously publically discussed, on a staff blog, their disappointment with the sales of their titles for the Nintendo Wii, which is no surprise as Nintendo seems to be the only Wii developer actually making money on the console. What does this all mean? Well, if Marvelous is serious about porting titles we could see Muramase: The Demon Blade and Arc Rise Fantasia heading to the PS3 and X-Box 360 in the future.
Sources: Nintendo Everything, Transcript of Marvelous Entertainment shareholder meeting (日本語), NeoGAF thread regarding Marvelous Entertainment's disappointment with sales, Marvelous Entertainment (Staff Blog) (日本語), Canned Dogs (Blog)
RPGs: Original audio only?
Originally posted: 07/02/2009
I was just checking out some youtube videos for the Valkyria Chronicles article I am writing up and came across this gem (featuring Edy Nelson, in Japanese):
This video is a commercial for the download content that you can purchase off of PSN (I forget the price, I think it's around $5-7) which features some of the side characters from the game. While watching it, and spending a bit of time looking for a subtitled version of the video, it made me wonder about the issue of playing games in the original audio versus a dub.
Sega announces Resonance of Fate for North America
Originally posted: 05/15/2009
As I mentioned in a previous entry, Sega and Tri-Ace are working on a new RPG together for the Playstation 3 and X-Box 360. Well, Sega of America has confirmed it will be releasing the previously named End of Eternity in North America as Resonance of Fate with a planned release date of Spring 2010. I am glad that they are going to be publishing it for North America but I do wonder what's with the new name. Is it the name of the game for the North American audience only?
Update: Turns out the name change is a result of a naming conflict with an Isaac Asimov work called The End of Eternity.
Source: Sega of America (Blog)
Hironobu hints at a new Mistwalker Project…
Originally posted: 05/05/2009
Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise and creative force behind the series (from FF I to FF IX), has been a bit silent as of late since his last major project, Cry On, was canceled. Since releasing the stellar Lost Odyssey, and less than stellar Blue Dragon, there hasn't been anything remarkable coming out of Mistwalker Corp. Today, however, on the Mistwalker website Sakaguchi post a blog entry in which he referenced a new project that he is working on. In the blog entry Sakaguchi mentions how he finds himself making things out of Lego when he is troubled by something during the design phase during game development.
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