Stop Crushing Your Music!

I cannot fathom what is wrong with the geniuses in the music industry who conceived of the Loudness Wars.  It's what you get when corporate idiocy collides with rock-star egos, who also just happen to be deaf.  I know!  Let's hyper-compress and crush our music to death!  Then people will get ear fatigue and stop listening to our songs...and then...profit?  The collapse of CDs can't be blamed solely on internet downloading.

I know the topic of the Loudness Wars has been harped on endlessly, so I'll keep this little sermon short by presenting a couple of waveforms as examples.  The first waveform is my needledrop recording of John Coltrane's Sun Ship LP.  I recorded with a peak volume of -3dB, which means three decibels below the maximum volume of the CD format.  The second waveform is Megadeth's "Public Enemy No.1," from their newly-released CD, Thirteen.

It's pretty hard to appreciate music when it's literally crushed into a cube.  And there's really no reason for it.  It's especially frustrating because so many musicians and bands have recorded amazing-sounding music in decades past.  For example, I've finally heard some vinyl recordings ("needledrops") of Megadeth's 1990 LP, Rust in Peace, and it sounds amazing - loud, crunchy guitars, a fully three-dimensional sound, solid vocals.  It's really a jazz fusion album, in case anyone bothered to notice, and it shames today's brick-walled wrecks.

And Coltrane, well he's God's Gift to Mankind.  Everything Trane recorded was miraculous.  Wouldn't we all like to go back to that?  Return to music that is recorded and mastered properly?  Hi-fi music...what a concept!

Namco's Go Vacation for Nintendo Wii

Hey, the Nintendo Wii actually gets a good video game this year!  Remember the Wii?  It was extremely popular at one time.  Then Nintendo got bored and quit.

Ahem, heh heh.  Anyway, here's Namco's Go Vacation, by the makers of Family Ski and Snowboard.  I've had my eye on this title for some time, and it's looking terrific.  Yes, I know, I know, this appears to be yet another mini-game collection, for a console swamped with lazy, get-the-investors-off-our-back mini-game collections.  But Namco is dead serious.  They're gunning for Wii Sport Resort's crown.

The game features dozens of sporting events centered around a large island, which you are free to explore on land, sea or air.  Four players can participate at once, although I'm not entirely certain if they can play different activities (which would be cool).  Right now, my guess is that everyone has to play together, and that's perfectly fine by me.

This highlight reel shows a number of events in Go Vacation, like horseback riding and whitewater rafting.  As I mentioned earlier, this is the same software team responsible for Family Ski and Snowboard, which is one of the more enjoyable family games on the Wii.  Thank goodness that we can always trust Namco to deliver the goods.  Now, if we could only get them to apologize for abandoning the Sega Dreamcast - where's my Tekken, ya jerks?!

Ni no Kuni (PS3) Videos at Tokyo Game Show

At The Ghibli Blog, I promised to show more gameplay videos of Ni no Kuni from the Tokyo Game Show, and these two videos are absolutely perfect, and quite lengthy, too.  I'm interested in hearing your impressions.

The game follows the old school RPG formula, with a few interesting wrinkles like day/night.  When I see that, I'm obviously thinking of Minecraft.  Will players have to battle monsters at night?  That would be cool.  I wonder if I could chop down those trees and build a house?  Yeah, then I could build a train station and lay down some tracks, so I can get to....ah, whoops, wrong game.

The combat looks very interesting.  This is an area where RPG game mechanics haven't changed in 25 years.  It appears that instead of directly fighting, your characters can send pets who will do the fighting for you.  Shades of Pokemon, but also the great Phantasy Star Online, and it does raise a lot of possibilities.  Will you have to train your pet?  Can they be bred and grown?  Can they evolve into new forms?  I think this could be the key element that could enable Ni no Kuni to break out from a very old and tired genre.

Yes, I know that Ni no Kuni has already been released for the Nintendo DS in Japan, but I haven't seen it, so I'm choosing to follow the PS3 version as a new video game.  I'm looking forward to the surprises.  Until then, I have Saturn, Dreamcast and Minecraft to keep me happy. But, hey, that's me. Enjoy the videos!

Happy Sega Dreamcast Day!

Happy Sega Dreamcast Day, everybody!  On September 9, 1999 (9-9-99), Sega released the Dreamcast in the United States to a massively successful launch and rapturous welcome.  It appeared, for a short time, that Sega was back on top after years of self-inflicted wounds crippled the company.  Sadly, it would not last, and only 18 months later, Sega would exit the video game hardware business.  Sega and video games have never been the same ever since.

I remember September 9 perfectly.  I was working at my college job, waiting tables at the Dinkytown Pizza Hut, and when business was slow, I had one of the delivery drivers take us down to the nearest Target.  I purchased a Dreamcast, a second controller, a Virtual Memory Unit (these were cool), and a stack of games.  Which ones?  Let's see...Soul Calibur, NFL 2K, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Hydro Thunder and Trickstyle.  All games were fantastic, except for Trickstyle, which was a clunky, half-completed mess.  I later returned it for Sonic Adventure.

Today, the Dreamcast is hailed as a classic, arguably the last true arcade videogames system.  The game industry was pushing relentlessly into the domain of cinematic games, all in a mad pursuit of becoming Digital Hollywood.  Add in an absurd amount of Playstation 2 hype (to this day, I still say DC was better), and the king-maker status of EA, and Sega was just not able to staunch the bleeding from years of financial mismanagement.  It's really unfortunate, and you just wish there was a little more time.

I am a bit surprised to see that Dreamcast never really took off in Japan.  Perhaps it was too similar to the Saturn, which was far more successful over there.  Heck, Sega infamously killed off the Saturn version of Virtua Fighter 3, which was completed and  headed to the pressing plants, because it was superior to Genki's somewhat lackluster DC version.  And while the library of games was stellar, it really wasn't that much different from the Saturn, especially where shoot-em-ups and fighters were concerned.  Also, I'm sure the Sony hype was just as deafening in Japan as in the West.

In any case, you can score a good-as-new Dreamcast and a stack of fantastic games like Soul Calibur and NFL 2K1 for the price of a single $60 retail video game today.  That is a bargain, my friends.  Enjoy!

Sega Saturn Shooter Roundtable Vol I

Instead of writing single posts for every Sega Saturn title that grabs my attention, I've decided that I should group several short reviews together in a single post, so that we can speed through the system's extensive video game library more quickly.  For this installment, we'll look at five titles from Saturn's most popular genre - arcade shoot-em-ups!




Dodonpachi - Cave for Saturn - 10/10

Oh, Yeehhhh!  Dodonpachi, Cave's manic, bullet-hell masterpiece.  The heaviest, loudest, fastest, most intense shoot-em-up ever created.  It's such a wild ride, so gloriously and insanely over-the-top, so wildly colorful and luminous.  This is the video game equivalent of Red Bull and Jolt Cola.  And it's just about the most exciting game ever made for the Sega Saturn.

I don't even think you conquer or master Dodonpachi so much as survive.  The very act of cheating death is a massive rush.  How the heck did I escape that?!  Literally every pixel on the screen is moving, flashing, firing, or exploding.  And you're always caught in smack in the middle.  This feels like a video game that begins where all the other shmups ended, and instead of retreading the same ancient cliches of the genre, cranks all the dials to maximum, gleefully reveling in the beauty of pure chaos.

Bulk Slash - Sega Saturn

Bulk Slash is a 3D robot arcade shoot-em-up for Sega Saturn that feels like the classic 2D shooters of the 16-bit era, fused with the 3D platforming paradigm of Super Mario 64.  It's fast and smooth, sharp and clear, brightly colored, packed with futuristic cities and tanks and robots and massive explosions.  Here is a game that embraces the magic of "replayability," almost like NiGHTS with guns.  Here lies a textbook example of what makes the Saturn so great.

Oh, and Bulk Slash was also created by Technosoft.  Sort of.  Hudson formed CA Productions, the software studio, by stealing away members of Technosoft's staff for the twin PCE/Turbo-CD shooter classics, Gate and Lords of Thunder.  I learned this recently, and it felt like a light clicked in my head.  I had a nagging suspicion that Bulk Slash shared some secret connection to Herzog Zwei, in the robot that transforms into a jet, in the way enemy targets are protected by armored units.  Turns out my hunch was right.  I strongly suspect some members of the Herzog Zwei team were, in fact, involved in this game.

I love the variety of environments, missions, goals, and surprises in Bulk Slash.  Early levels involve flying through cities, smashing everything in sight.  Later levels involve escort missions, bombing runs, and run-and-gun missions through fortresses.  Power-up weapons are hidden around and require you to march around carefully, instead of flying and blasting everything in sight.  There's even a bit of a dating sim (a video game genre strangely popular in Japan), where you choose a young woman as your navigator, and proceed to impress her with your flying and shooting skills.  Oh, and you have to actually find these women, too.  I get a laugh whenever my navigator starts nagging me every time I get shot.  I'm trying to fight a war over here!

It's interesting how the PCE and Saturn were the two great "lost" video game consoles, condemned to failure in the West, while thriving successfully in native Japan with mountains of great games.  Thank goodness for the internet, I say.  How many of these "lost" classics would remain lost without Youtube, message boards, online retailers and downloads?  There are so many good Saturn games that you'll probably lose count, and if you're a collector, you'll likely never own all the titles.  Make sure Bulk Slash is near the top of your list.  It's a terrific video game and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Dezaemon 2 Video Showcase

Twin Dog's Heroes [Saturn Deza2] by RayonDePixel

I promised to show some examples of the many user-created shoot-em-ups created on Athena's 1997 Sega Saturn title, Dezaemon 2.  This is a magnificent construction program, very detailed and thorough, yet easy to comprehend.  If you can read Japanese, the 60-page instruction book will be immensely helpful.  You may also want to track down Athena's official guide book, which became a valuable tool for the devoted Deza2 scene in Japan.

What about English-speakers?  There is a guide on GameFAQs which is very helpful (though incomplete), and all the controls and features can be understood fairly easy.  In fact, I'm openly wondering why Athena (if they're even still in business today) hasn't released a deluxe Deza package for PC and Mac, allowing you to import graphics and audio.  Imagine that you could create your own arcade shmup, and then sell it on iTunes.  Deza2 is that sophisticated!

If you want to get into Deza2, you'll need a backup memory cartridge for the save data (games take up a whopping 1500-2500 blocks).  This presents a challenge for Saturn owners who rely on Action Replay's 4M Plus.  You may want to shop on eBay for a Japanese Saturn.  Fortunately, they're just as cheap and readily available as the American Saturns, in the $40-$60 range.  Let's face it, if you're playing Sega Saturn in the year 2011, you're already in an exclusive club of old-school videogamers.  Spring for the white box!

Anyway, as promised, here is a selection of actual shmups created on Deza2.  More videos after the jump!

Photos - Hyper Duel (Saturn)

I felt that Hyper Duel deserved a second post, so here's a collection of screenshots to enjoy.  All of these hail from the game's Saturn mode, which boasts refurbished graphics and gameplay additions like a lock-on for your Mech.  This is a great-looking video game.  And thanks to the internet, you can download this game, burn it to disc, and play it on your Saturn tonight.  I wouldn't even consider buying a retail copy until the prices come down to reality.

It's really a pity Technosoft didn't similarly revamp the graphics to their other arcade shooter, Blast Wind.  Even better yet, Saturn remakes of Herzog Zwei and Thunder Force II through IV.  Heck, why not do that today?

Technosoft's Hyper Duel on Saturn

My current go-to game on Sega Saturn is Technosoft's excellent 1996 shooter, Hyper Duel.  I played the arcade version on MAME a few years ago, but was slightly disappointed by the experience.  The Sega Saturn version, however, is a completely different story.  Of the three spaceship shooters on the system - Hyper Duel, Blast Wind, Thunder Force 5 - I think Hyper Duel is my favorite, which, of course, makes it my favorite side-scrolling arcade shoot-em-up on the Saturn.

In the arcades, Hyper Duel looked flat and even a little sickly; far too many greys and greens in the color palette.  On the Saturn, Technosoft completely revamps the graphics, adding light and contrast, and bringing a vivid saturation to the colors.  Explosions are a fiery red, enemy ships have a metallic sheen, stars and galaxies in the background look stunning.  It's a testament to glorious pixel-art; Hyper Duel now looks like a proper Technosoft game.  If only Herzog Zwei and Thunder Force III were remade with these graphics!  Ah, I can only dream.

You can tell that Technosoft came from a console background, because their arcade games are relatively simple and straightforward by comparison.  Hyper Duel (and Blast Wind, their vertical-scrolling shooter) doesn't have the winding, unpredictable level design of Thunder Force III and IV, a design that owes its allegiance to 2D platformers.  Instead, it's much more direct and tightly focused, and the levels are fairly short before you have to battle the giant bosses.  It's also very challenging, which meant pumping in lots of quarters at the arcade.

Oh, and have I mentioned that you pilot a spaceship that turns into a robot?  You can also call upon extra fighters or mechs to attack the enemy.  Shades of Technosoft's masterpiece, Herzog Zwei, no doubt.  You can choose among three spacecraft, which move at different speeds and have slight variations in weapons (even though they're basically the same).  And two players can fight together, a terrific addition that should have been included in the Thunder Force games.

Like all of Technosoft's Saturn games, Hyper Duel never left Japan, and it's an extremely rare game that currently sells for a king's ransom - $200 has been the going price at eBay for some time.  I can't fathom why you'd pay that kind of money for a single videogame, especially when you can download and burn to disc for free.  Bragging rights, no doubt.  The Saturn has become a highly prized collector's item among old school and shooter fans; it's a badge of honor for the true hardcore gamer, and Hyper Duel is one of their most prized trophies.

DX Jinsei Game - The Game of LIFE

When going through my latest stack of Sega Saturn discs (thank you, internet), I found this entertaining little gem of a game.  It's DX Jinsei Game, or The Game of LIFE (1995), by Takara for Sega Saturn.  This is the third title in a very long and popular series that has appeared on most game systems from Gameboy to Playstation to Wii.  Do you remember the tropical island board game from last year's Wii Party?  Well, probably not, judging by the lackluster sales.  But DX Jinsei is kinda like that.

I don't know if The Game of LIFE is different in Japan than the US, because this video game version is quite different from the board game I played as a kid.  The basic premise is still there - you drive a car and move through a winding pathway, earning degrees, getting married, making money.  Takara's version is quite a bit different, adapted both for Japanese culture and the video game medium.  I really enjoyed this, because it kept me on my toes.  It felt like a new discovery for me.

EA Kills Stereoscopic 3D

The kingmakers have now spoken.  Stereoscopic 3D is out for video games.  And in this business, whatever EA wants, EA gets.  Just ask Sega and Visual Concepts.

I can't imagine Nintendo surrendering 3D just yet.  They're heavily invested in the idea, and in fact, 3D is an obsession that goes back decades.  They have always been convinced that a 3D display is the future of video games.  Unfortunately, they've failed every time they tried it, whether it was Rad Racer on the NES, or the Virtual Boy, or the 3DS.  Their hope was that the technology only needed to come around, and then the massive push by Hollywood towards 3D movies no doubt convinced Nintendo that era had finally arrived.  Unfortunately, such an era has not arrived, and may never exist.

Does Nintendo have a contingency plan to remove the 3D display from their 3DS handheld?  I would have to think they do, if they're sound businessmen.  There has to be a Plan B.  But I can't imagine they would pull the trigger anytime soon.  As an admission of failure, it would be enormous, and the investments incurred to develop the 3D technology will be lost.  It would be seen as a major retreat, and it would probably cost Satoru Iwata his job.  But I think Iwata dooms himself and his company the longer he waits.  When Sony enters the market with the PS Vita, Nintendo will be assaulted on two fronts (with iOS attacking from the other side).  They lose "casual" gamers to $.99 iPod games, and they lose "hardcore" gamers to Sony.

How does a manufacturing company - and this is the kind of company Nintendo truly is - survive the transition into world without physical media?  It's all going away, cartridges, discs, poof.  The terrible irony is that it was Nintendo who proclaimed the coming changes five years ago.  This is why they radically changed course with the DS and Wii.  Unfortunately, as Nintendo raced back to the top, their old arrogant ways returned as well.

Again, I have no idea how Nintendo escapes from this trap, but I do know that sterescopic 3D and the Wii U tablet are doomed ventures.  Eventually, the company must face that grim reality and deal with the consequences.

Nintendo Made Their Myth, Now They're Trapped

The true crisis for Nintendo lies in how Apple has successfully disrupted their business model with iOS downloads. Nintendo true business isn't really video games, but manufacturing cartridges. That's where the real money comes in. Apple has now completely demolished that model with 99c downloads. And how can you compete against that? How low can you drive the price on a cartridge game and still turn a profit?

I've long felt that Nintendo's greatest strength is its legacy, and the Virtual Console should be the heart of their strategy. But that would require them to sell VC games for 99cents or less, on all formats. This is a bit of a problem, as we have seen how everyone within six degrees of Kevin Bacon wants their cut. The original developers, the original publishers, the original console owners – everyone wants a cut. And Nintendo wants the biggest cut of all. The end result are VC titles that sell for outrageous amounts, leaving the door wide open for iOS and Android to drive a truck through.

I honestly don't know how Nintendo gets out of this fix. The 3DS is a disaster of a handheld; it's not even a noble failure like the Sega Saturn (an immensely better console now that we have all those amazing Japanese games). If I were in charge, I would get rid of the 3D display entirely, get rid of the analog thumb-thing, fix the two screens, get the price under $90, and open up the complete Virtual Console and Ware libraries immediately. Oh, and all downloads are 99c or less. Fat chance on that.

But I don't think even that could help at this point. You still have the problem of selling expensive cartridges, and the rising development costs ensure that prices cannot come down anytime soon. If you could bring carts down to, say, $15, maybe you would have a fighting chance. Maybe. You would still have to deliver the kind of games that would justify that high price in the face of the iPod.

And while I'm at it (before security has me thrown out), I would immediately kill that stupid Wii U tablet and recommit to the Wii Remote, and fulfill all those promises that NIntendo made back in 2005. Unfortunately, they've neglected the Wii's expanded audience for so long, they may be lost for good. Ah, but what do I know? I'm the one guy who thought Wii Music was genius.

Anyway, there's no question at this point that Nintendo is the victim of the very thing - Disruptive Innovation - that they championed in 2006.  It's a nasty situation and things are only going to get worse.

Nintendo 3DS Price Cut to $169.99

This is a shocker.  Nintendo isn't usually given to dramatic moves, like cutting the price of their latest system by nearly a hundred dollars. Drastic times call for drastic measures, and the 3DS is struggling badly.  More shocking: Nintendo will now incur losses on each sale.  They have never done that before.  They have always managed to sell their hardware at a profit; indeed, this is how they were able to thrive during the N64/Gamecube eras.

I still believe that the main problems with the 3DS handheld is 1) the headadache-inducing 3D display, 2) the enormously high price, and 3) the lack of any good games.  The price cut will definitely help.  Nintendo still has to address the 3D and software issues, and that's going to decide whether the system lives or dies.

As always, the 800-pound elephant in the room that nobody wants to discuss is Apple.  The iPod/iPad is becoming a formidable system, thanks to the easy touch-screen controls (people are intimidated by 14-button controllers) and the low price for games.  In our permanent recession, there simply isn't any play money to throw around.  If I can have a really great videogame for only a couple bucks, then that's a win for me.  People simply cannot afford $40-$60 game titles, especially when those games are nothing more than franchise copies of sequels of spinoffs of revivals.  Snooze.

At this point, I don't think even Mario Kart and a new 3D Mario is going to help.  I've already shelled out enough money for the same video games.  I want something new.  I don't see why that's so difficult.  The current game scene is dreadful.  I'm having far more fun burning another 200 or so Sega Saturn games, and, frankly, the Saturn games are far better than the overpriced schlock on store shelves today.

I think Nintendo had better change their strategy and fast.  The problem is...I have no idea just what their current strategy even is.  This is not the same company who gave us the DS and Wii Remote.  They had better find a way to rekindle that lost magic before it's too late.

Digital Pinball: Necronomicon

How many video pinball titles are there on Sega Saturn?  Seven.  Isn't that crazy?  Kaze's Digital Pinball series is easily the best, with their two games: Last Gladiators, which was released in the US, and Necromicon, which stayed in Japan.  Each game presents three different pinball tables, each with compelling physics and gameplay, music by Dream Theater guitarist John Pertrucci, and super-sharp graphics utilizing the Sega Saturn's high-res graphics mode.  This game looks terrific on a big screen, and plays a mean game of pinball.

Necronomicon is commonly regarded as the best pinball title on the Saturn, and it's another excellent addition to your gaming library.  One of these days, I'll start seriously collecting Japanese Saturn games, and this will be near the top of my list.

Three Dirty Dwarves

Three Dirty Dwarves is quintessential Sega.  It's clever, inventive, funny, visually dazzling.  It aggressively pushes the envelope for 2D video games, with graphics that would melt down a Sega Genesis.  Nobody else could create renegade gems like this; not Microsoft, not Sony, and sure as hell not Nintendo.

Ah, but times change, and in the 32-bit era, the video game public was becoming increasingly tired on all things Sega, and dashing to their new infatuation, the Playstation.  And they had no patience for 2D video games.  If it were released in 1991, Three Dirty Dwarves would be hailed as a masterpiece, right up there with Sonic and Toejam and Streets of Rage.  In 1996, it was all but ignored.  No polygons, no mas.

Today, 15 years later, it's the 3D polygons that look horribly out of place, roughshod, slapdash, and the 2D sprites shine gloriously.  Perhaps this is because Saturn was the last true 2D games console, where the art form was pushed to its absolute limit.  Notice the fluid animation, the quirky humor, the dazzling 3D effects.  How surreal that three dimensions appear more inspired, more dazzling, when they are tricked by 2D sprites?  I'm certainly not suggesting that we throw away modern graphics completely (although bringing color back would be nice).  Perhaps I'm jaded about 3D the way I once felt jaded about 2D.

Another thing that greatly impresses me today is how original this game is.  Sega was struggling badly against Playstation in 1996; if they had any chance of holding their ground in the US, that was the year.  And they did not rely on sequels and franchises and Genesis nostalgia.  There was no Streets of Rage, no Revenge of Shinobi, no Toejam and Earl, no Comix Zone, no Vectorman.  Instead, quirky and original games like: Three Dirty Dwarves, Mr. Bones, Virtual On, Bug Too!, Baku Baku Animal, Dark Savior, Worldwide Soccer '97.  That is a stellar lineup, my friends.

Anyway, this is not to slight the Playstation (which deserved its success), or to exonerate Sega (which deserved its meltdown).  The die for the 32-bit generation was already cast.  Fortunately, we now have the luxury of enjoying all of these old video games without dealing with the horse race politics.  Saturn and PSX are now in a nursing home and they're the best of friends.