Thoughts on Video Games Live

The Video Games Live event came to Charlotte, NC this past Saturday. For those not in the know, it is a concert hosted by Tommy Tallarico ( game composer) who pays tribute to famous game music with a live orchestra and laser show. I am a big fan of game music, so I had to attend and see what the big fuss was about...

Highlights:

During the tribute to Sonic games of yesteryear, a live chorus chimed in and sang "SEEEGGGAAA!" just like the logo screen from the original two Sonic titles. It was awesome.

Sephiroth's theme, One Winged Angel, with the full chorus and guitar lead sounded incredible.

The famous Mario pianist from Youtube played selections from many Final Fantasy games and rocked the house down with his Super Mario World mix.

Could Have Lived Without:

The dumb jokes supplied by Tommy Tallarico came off sounding like lines from a washed up game show host. Lame.

The game videos and laser shows distract heavily from the orchestra and guitar work on display leading to boredom with some pieces. It felt alittle too much like a light show at Six Flags, which is cool, if you are under the age of 10.

The music from World of Warcraft makes me yawn, I didn't even know it had music till last night. Of course, I am not a PC gamer, so my taste may not be shared by all.

The Guitar Hero days are dead, Tommy's tribute seemed like a wasted segment.

Overall, the concert was a fun experience. I was really surprised that they ended the show with music from the Chrono series. It was a nice way to end the night, as Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross have some of the best music in gaming history. If Video Games Live comes to your city, check it out, the show is great for music lovers and very family friendly...just don't take spend too much for tickets.

Deathsmiles Patch is Out

Being the nice guys that they are, Aksys has released a patch for Deathsmiles today. This patch is supposed to fix the problems that people have been complaining about like the lack of slowdown in some areas of the game. Here is the information from Aksys's page:

There's a patch out for Deathsmiles! It releases today, and allows Deathsmiles to run at optimal capacity. It fixes several key issues, including a de-sync problem that prevented players from viewing their level replays properly. It also adjust the slowdown on several levels. Game on!

Even though I will be playing Marvel vs Capcom 3 today, it is still nice to know this game was fixed for the naysayers. Thank you for your dedication Aksys!

Now release Deathsmiles 2!

Marvel vs Capcom 3 Fan Art

I am pretty excited for the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 this week. To celebrate the reunion of two of my most beloved companies, I have collected some nice pieces of fan art from Pixiv. Enjoy!

Top Ten Games of 2010

It is kinda late being Feb. 11 and all, but I want to do my rundown of the best games of 2010. I played a shit ton of new releases last year so I feel somewhat qualified to make this list. I am also including honorable mentions for a few that didn't quite make the list. The number assigned indicates each game's rank on the list (i.e., number one is best.) Without further ado, here we go...

10. Deadly Premonition This game came out of nowhere, and stole many jaded 360 owner's hearts. I loved the story and all the weirdness. It is a budget title so there is no reason not to own this cool sandbox horror title.

9. Deathsmiles While this game technically came out in 2009, the US release didn't happen till last year. The goth girl theme is unique, and the music is fantastic. It is a must play for oldschool shooter fans.

8. Ys Seven I never cared for the Ys series till I played this little PSP gem. The game is a refreshingly fun take on the action RPG genre. The battles are so fun that this one becomes hard to put down; my PSP game of the year.

7. Super Mario Galaxy 2 I didn't care much for the first Mario Galaxy, which is strange, because I loved the sequel. The planets were so imaginative, and the game really felt like the first perfect 3-D Mario experience. Thank you Miyamoto-san, you continue to impress me.

6. Bayonetta Platinum games really knows how to make a great game. Bayonetta oozes style and sexiness putting Dante to shame. I loved the action, setpieces, and the nice little homages to oldschool Sega titles like Afterburner. I hope this lady gets a sequel.

5. Heavy Rain The Playstation 3 doesn't get many great exclusive, but this one is a masterpiece. It has elements of horror and drama that stay with you long after the game is complete, and the characters look beautiful. Too bad all the DLC got canned to make way for Move support. Lame.

4. Fallout New Vegas This game caught alot of flack for having too many bugs. I only experience two non fatal bugs during about 40 hours of game play, so maybe I am alone in loving the new Fallout. The Vegas theme was really fun, and I loved the new party members. Boone was like a one man army!

3. Red Dead Redemption I am not a huge fan of cowboys, so it surprised me how drawn into this world I became. I really felt attached to Marston, and hoped the best for him. The twist this story takes at the end blew me away... truly one of the best game endings of all time!

2. Super Street Fighter 4 I am a huge fan of Street Fighter in general, so it is not a surprise that this almost tops my list. It is basically a very polished version of SF 4, but there is nothing wrong with that. Plus I can play as Dudley again...now let's fight like gentlemen.

1. Mass Effect 2 I love science fiction. The Mass Effect series takes the best of Star Trek, and everything else I love in space opera stories and creates a masterpiece with each game. This wonderful sequel has great new team members, fascinating new worlds, and an awesome storyline. This is my game of the year.

Honorable Mentions

Valkyria Chronicles 2

Pokemon Black and White

Super Scribblenauts

BlazBlue C.T.

Sin and Punishment 2

Some Photos from My Game Collection

Out of sheer boredom tonight, I decided to take some pictures of my game collection. I do not have a massive collection, but I still have some cool shit that is worth mentioning. I may do this again sometime as I actually enjoyed taking these pictures.

Here is Momohime from Muramasa. She is ready to kick ass.

The NES shelf is fiercely guarded by Mega Man. The DVD case comes from the Super Mario Special Collection.

This is a weird 99 in1 Famiclone portable I picked up overseas.

A few of my favorite imports from the 32-bit era. Super Tempo costs way too much these days!

I am a big fan of game art books. These are two of my favorites.

Capcom art books fill my collection, the Mega Man: Official Complete Works stands out for the amount of translation work done by Udon. Bravo to those guys, this book rocks.

Here is my art book shelf. I also have Langrisser displayed there because I love the game's cover. A Rockman 10 box is also on display.

Chrono Trigger for the Super Famicom...one of my favorite games.

Finally, here is the Dreamcast shelf. It is guarded by my favorite ninja, Ibuki. Yes...she is even guarding Seaman.

The Art of George Kamitani

I love 2-D games. One of the last bastions of beautiful 2-D is the developer, Vanillaware. The lead artist and designer, George Kamitani is responsible for great games like Princess Crown, Muramasa, and Odin's Sphere. Today's art gallery is dedicated to his masterful work. Enjoy.

Region Free Japanese 360 Exclusives

I have noticed there is a no list on the net concerning Xbox 360's region free Japanese exclusives. While many US games are region free, Japan likes to region lock it's titles. I am not sure of why they do this, but it sure keeps us "gaijins" in the dark on some of their more obscure titles that never get released anywhere else ( I am talking to you Gal Gun.) Without further ado here is a list I have compiled (feel free to message me if I am excluding a few):

- Mushihime Futari ( CAVE shooter game, popular with manic stg fans)

- ESPgaluda 2 ( CAVE shooter game, only the regular edition of the game is region free)

- Virtual-On Force ( Sega's fourth game in their slick robot fighter series)

- Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets ( CAVE shooter, two games for the price of one)

- Eschatos (shooter game, packed with two Wonderswan stg hits)

Japanese demos have no region protection as long as you make a XBLA account for Japan. Here is a list of fun demos that are Japanese only:

- Catherine (weird but fun puzzle game with sexual overtones)

- Gal Gun (shoot a love gun to capture school girl's hearts, shoot enough and you can enter fantasy mode)

- Zegapain XOR (mech action game from 2006)

I hope Catherine gets picked up by Atlus for distribution here. The demo is great. In the meantime pre-order Eschatos, they deserve our cash for including the super rare, Judgement Silversword as a bonus.

Overseas Adventure: Gaming in the Philippines

Last month I wrote a small article for Hardcore Gaming 101. The article is based on my trip to the Philippines and the gaming culture there. I mention bootlegs, the arcade scene, and a wacky electric ape; here is a link :

hardcoregaming101.net/GOTW/Philippines/lbenfield.htm

In a personal note, if anyone knows a cheap booking agency for tickets there, let me know. I want to go back to visit, but it can be quite expensive to fly around the world. Someone really needs to invent teleportation machines.

Evil Ryu and Oni Revealed Earlier Than Expected

Hackers have found a way to make Evil Ryu and Oni (a more powerful Akuma) unlock in Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition without Capcom's consent. These characters were not officially announced, but were hinted at a few months prior to SSF AE's release. Now savvy code crackers in China and the US have found a way to get these two new characters without Capcom's approval and they are pretty angry about it. People who have posted videos of the two new characters on Youtube, are having their accounts banned as it is now copyrighted material. This seems pretty unfair since some of these people probably didn't know the characters were hacked out, and more likely assumed they were unlocked legally.

Oni and Evil Ryu look pretty bad ass in action. The character selection screen seems to show a spot for two more characters. I am hoping Rolento and Alex are hacked out next. The AE DLC for consoles has yet to be officially announced by Capcom.

Want to play as Evil Ryu or Oni now? Head to Chinatown Fair in NYC; they seem to be using them without any fear of Capcom reprisal.