There have been seven officially* recognised console generations thus far, including the current one. Every week, on Monday, we run a Top 7 feature, which rounds up seven related things in gaming. The current console generation is due to be superceded by the start of the eighth in a couple of weeks, when the PlayStation 4 launches on November the 15th (The generation system no longer really applies to Nintendo). Thus, by the power of mathematics, we’re obligated to do this feature now, for never again will we get the chance to do it this neatly.

Please note though, because you get all antsy about the start and end dates of the generations we’re about to list in order of greatness, for the purposes of this article, end of generation is judged by the official end of commercial availability for a console, not the date the following generation commenced. All happy? Good. Let’s go.

*semi-officially

7. The second generation (1976 – 1982)

Notable consoles: The Atari 2600, The Mattel Intellivision, far too many others.

The good points: Following the initial surge of gamings popularity, everyone wanted in on the act. Competition heated up, with the start of one of the earliest instances of a console war, and thats always (usually) good for the consumer. Consoles adopted the now-standard format of using interchangeable games, and the arcade scene exploded, further popularising games and fueling the home consoles with a string of high-profile ports.

The bad points: Following the initial surge of gamings popularity, everyone wanted in on the act, leading to the market being flooded by too many consoles and games of highly variable quality. Competition heated up, with the start of one of the earliest instances of a console war, resulting in an increasingly desperate battle of quantity over quality, which in turn lead to a public disillusionment with video games and the mighty crash of an entire industry collapsing in on itself in 1983. As a result, gaming neary died, and there are now several billion copies of the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T. cluttering up the desert in New Mexico.

6. The first generation (1972 – 1977)

Notable consoles: The Magnavox Odyssey, a bunch of Pong and sports game units.

The good points: Video games suddenly existed, whereas before video games had not existed. So thats pretty important.

The bad points: A lot of those games were rubbish, and most of them were Pong. At this point the key appeal of video games was that they existed, so thats pretty much all they had to do. Also, availability wasnt great, with most consoles only having four to eight games, many of which were variants of each other, and which in a lot of cases were hard coded into the machine. Want new games? Buy a new console. Otherwise, games existed on university mainframes, where they had to be programmed manually by students or staff.

5. The Third generation (1983 – 2003)

Notable consoles: The NES, the Sega Master System.

The good points: In 1985, Nintendo swept into the west with the NES, a high-quality, affordable console with a plethora of eclectic games of a standard previously unimagined. The NES laid the foundation for a new games industry on top of the scorched earth left by the meltdown of the previous one, opening the doors for Sega to bring the Master System over a year later. It also pretty much invented handheld gaming with the Game Boy. Between the two main home systems, we got Mario, Sonic, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior/Quest, Kirby, Castlevania, Metroid, Zelda, Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd, Fantasy Zone, Out Run, Space Harrier, Wonderboy, R-Type, and a bounty of other great, industry-defining stuff that I dont have time to mention here.

The bad points: Theres a reason NES-hard is now a common descriptor of tough games. Not every developer enjoyed the platform-holders’ ability to produce huge, lengthy works so, many fell back on the old arcade staple of cheap game extension. Thus, it was a generation defined as much by frustration as by fun.

4. The fifth generation (1993 – 2001)

Notable consoles: The PlayStation, The Nintendo 64, the Sega Saturn.

The good points: Sony entered the gaming market with the PlayStation. It did quite well, and ushered in an era of mass-market acceptance of gaming, largely due the kind of new, cinematic experiences afforded by the CD storage format, as well as a mature new approach to game marketing. Nintendo launched the Nintendo 64, which provided some of the best and most important games ever made. Super Mario 64 showed the world what 3D gaming really was. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a masterpiece of world-building and level design. Goldeneye made FPS work on a console, and created one of the all-time classic multiplayer experiences. The Rare/Nintendo partnership gave both companies some of the best games in their history.

The bad points: Sega released the ill-conceived Saturn, which started its long journey of financial woe. The new 3D tech, along with devs inexperience in using it, resulted in a whole lot of messy crap in between the stand-out classics. And fog. Though in the case of Silent Hill, that worked out well.

3. The seventh generation (2005 – present)

Notable consoles: The Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the Wii

The good points: HD made games look and feel like nothing wed ever seen before. Game design exploded in terms of scope and ideas. Downloadable games brought an eclectic mix of indie and smaller scale gaming back to the forefront. Some of the most experimental, artistic, affecting games ever to hit the mainstream became big hits, whether blockbusters or small indie creations. Games started to develop their own narrative language.

The bad points: Modern military manshooters were everywhere. Everything was brown for about three years. The PS3 was insanely expensive and a mighty technical challenge to developers for a quite a while. Xbox 360s blew up all over the place. Games lost some degree of interactivity and depth in the early-generation pursuit of casual gamers. Loads of mid-tier studios went down under. Real Nintendo games progressively disappeared in favour of casual party games. Novelty motion control infested all platforms for a few years. Extra DLC costs fractured the gaming experience, or at least made it a lot more expensive than the initial price of entry.

2. The fourth generation (1987 – 2003)

Notable consoles: The Super NES, the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, the PC Engine.

The good points: It was the golden era of 2D game design. Having honed their craft on 8-bit machines, developers let rip on consoles with double the power and double the pretty, paving the way for some of the biggest, most ambitious games of the earlier industry and some of the best examples of the pixel art craft ever seen. It was also the golden era of the JRPG, the 16-bit consoles visual heft but limited processing speed making them (the SNES in particular) a perfect home for slower-paced, deeper, graphically beautiful games. The era was a hotbed of arcade conversions too, Street Fighter II (and its hundred variants) in particular becoming a dazzling home game and starting a gaming sub-culture that still thrives.

The bad points: Game prices started getting silly, kickstarted by the 65 price tag of Street Fighter II. Also, the success of Sonic and Mario led every developer under the sun to attempt to catch the same bottled lightning, via an endless parade of identikit, me-too, animal-based platforming mascots. This led to Bubsy. I need say no more.

1. The sixth generation (1998 – 2013)

Notable consoles: The PlayStation 2, The Xbox, the Gamecube, the Dreamcast.

The good points: It was the last generation when every contemporary big player had a strong machine with a unique personality and a great overall games line-up. Following the eclecticism of generation five, game design exploded beautifully. Team Ico created peerless, artistic, emotional experiences. Clover smashed it out of the park repeatedly. Halo happened. Modern Grand Theft Auto happened. TimeSplitters happened. SSX happened. Wind Waker happened. Eternal Darkness happened. Resident Evil 4 happened. Every genre excelled, with groundbreaking, polished, beautifully crafted works from developers all over the world, giving gaming an eclectic, creative, international voice not quite seen since. AAA independent developers could still survive, meaning that creative power held its own against publisher money. Online gaming began to become a thing.

The bad points: Sega died as a platform holder.

Generation next?

So there’s our appraisal of console gaming’s varying levels of greatness over the last 41 years. Obviously we’re wrong, so why not tell us the right order in the comments? Got any hopes or fears for where the next generation will fit into the order? Tell us those too.

And while you’re here, why not check out some of our related features. What generation of gamer are you? (opens in new tab) would be a good start, as would The 60 best moments of the last console generation (opens in new tab).

The post The Top 7… Best console generations so far appeared first on Game News.

Gamers can be an emotional gang, prone to overreaction and superlative. If they like something, it’s the best thing ever and absolutely everyone needs to agree–and if they don’t, the people responsible can burn in the layer of hell reserved for pedophiles and CEOs. Sometimes they’ve got a point–publishers can be money-grubbing monsters, and developers sometimes act with no regard for gamers’ lives.

Except… that’s not usually the case. More often than not there’s a perfectly good reason that game makers do the things they do, and usually their actions are in direct response to market trends set by–you guessed it–gamers themselves. We’ve rounded up the seven things we see gamers complain about the most, and we have explanations as to why they’re blowing things out of proportion.

7. Casual games

Because… they’re stupid, simple, and dumbing down games. We can’t post an article on GamesRadar about the iPhone without commenters arming themselves with pitchforks and torches, complaining about how Farmville and Angry Birds will be the death of the industry. Even games as big as The Sims are often seen as flagrant assaults on the sanctity of gaming, turning the focus away from “real” games and towards experiences that require less commitment than sprawling 100-hour long RPGs. The horror.

Except… maybe the billions of people in the world that aren’t you are allowed to have games made for them, too? Casual games are great for hooking new gamers, and the more people there are playing games, the more people there will be making them. There will always be developers creating awesome games that’ll scratch your hardcore itch, but as the industry grows and expands, there also needs to be teams of talented people catering to those who might want to play Words With Friends instead of The Witcher II.

6. Online passes

Because… any barrier between opening your game and playing it is an unnecessary hurdle. Typing in a code, downloading an activation, waiting for it to unlock–it’s all a waste of time, punishing you for trying to play a game that you responsibly and legally purchased. You bought the game, and it should work perfectly fine the moment the disk enters the system. Hard-earned money was spent to buy that product, and it’s supposed to function.

Except… typing in a code only takes about a minute–PC gamers have been doing it for over a decade–and the only people online passes really effects are those who buy a game used. And you know what? That actually makes sense. Running a multiplayer server costs money, and if you buy used, that developer owes nothing to you. Not a penny of the $45 you spent on Battlefield 4 at GameStop goes to the people who made the game, it all goes to the pawn shop that flipped it. Usually you can buy an online pass for $10, giving money to the people who made the game and still paying less than the price of a new game. Everyone wins.

5. Tacked-on multiplayer

Because… not every game needs multiplayer. Who is buying Far Cry 3 for co-op? Who wants to play Tomb Raider multiplayer? Why does Spec Ops: The Line need a watered-down Call of Duty online clone? Even the game’s producer said that Spec Ops’s deathmatch modes were “rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth.” Developing a multiplayer component is a huge undertaking, and takes time away from the development of the single-player campaign, resulting in a weaker overall product–and for what?

Except… there are more examples of strong multiplayer components being added to single-player games than there are instances of single-player experiences being hindered by multiplayer. Hell, we wrote a Top 7 specifically on that, and found that there were bountiful examples where the multiplayer was a success, and none where it actually hurt the rest of the game.

4. Free-to-play games

Because… free-to-play games are hardly ever actually free. More often than not, you’re asked to spend well over the typical $60 price tag to get an experience even remotely similar to that of a retail game. You’ll be hassled at all times to buy new weapons and better items and other things that should just be free. Worse yet, these purchasable things often unbalance the game, creating a “pay-to-win” situation where spending money unlocks better stuff. May the best wallet win.

Except… the industry is changing, and free-to-play games are getting better and better. Though there are examples of cash grabs and games charging for more powerful guns, companies approaching F2P that way are failing. Instead, you’re seeing developers who respect their audience succeed, and games like League of Legends, Hawken, and Path of Exile rise up above the rest, setting the standard for free-to-play and showing that “free” doesn’t equate to “cheap.”

3. DLC

Because… game developers are intentionally withholding content from the game and releasing it separately, nickel-and-diming consumers to make a quick buck. Fighting games release new characters, RPGs pluck out quests and charge for them later, and multiplayer shooters are releasing with fewer maps than ever so the developers can charge for them down the line. Some DLC even comes out on release day, proving that developers are just repurposing content made during development as downloadable content.

Except… most people actually like being able to spend a few bucks for additional content, and DLC creation usually occurs after the developers have finished work on the game. Bethesda’s Pete Hines recently explained it, saying that in order to get a game manufactured and onto store shelves, “the content people stop making new content a fair amount of time before it ships; its not like in the old days when it was like the day before or a week before. What do they do during the time between going hands-off and the game releasing? Well, they can work on DLC, so that’s what they often do.

2. Yearly sequels

Because… they’re the antithesis of innovation. Companies get into a cycle where they have a studio pump out regular sequels, each more derivative than the last. With games like Madden you’re paying for a roster update–which could easily be made available as downloadable content (or, you know, as just a patch)–while games like Call of Duty essentially re-skin the previous year’s game and add a few new elements that do nothing to improve the quality.

Except… that’s not how the industry works. Companies that make yearly sequels do so because of demand, and have multiple development studios working year-round to create new entries in the franchises their fans love. Activision has two core studios trading Call of Duty releases, but they’re also helped by a slew of other, smaller developers. Ubisoft has an army of programmers, artists, and designers working on a number of Assassin’s Creed games at once–they’ve turned yearly sequels into an art. Even Madden changes greatly from year to year, with fantastic changes that can only come through iteration.

1. DRM

Because… whereas online passes only really affect people who buy games used, DRM creates roadblocks that make it a hassle for gamers to play new games as well. You’d think bigger publishers would have figured out how to make this seamless, but EA flat-out botched the SimCity launch, and Activision Blizzard’s release of Diablo III was hindered greatly by DRM. And now there are rumors that the next-gen Xbox will include an always-online requirement, despite the fact that we’ve been let down time and time again by this system.

Except… gamers have brought this onto themselves. Maybe, just maybe, if there wasn’t a 90% piracy rate with PC games developers wouldn’t have to impose draconian tactics in attempts to stifle rampant piracy (and, for a second, come the fuck on, seriously? 90%? What the hell is wrong with people?). Does it suck? Yeah, absolutely, it sucks major suckage. Have gamers earned their punishment? You bet your ass they have.

Where is the love?

There are valid reasons to be angry about things–that’s one of the reasons we celebrate the Week of Hate–but sometimes gamers need to actually think about things before launching into boycotts. Then again, we get to write news stories when people boycott stuff, so… actually, never mind. Hate away, gamers! Hate away.

And if you’re looking for more hate, check out gaming’s most hated sidekicks and enemies we seriously hated the hell out of.

The post Top 7… Things gamers hate (and why they really shouldnt) appeared first on Game News.

Hyrule, eh? Its the most magical, fantastical, and often-times most whimsical of Nintendos resolutely family-friendly game universes. It would be a great place to live, should you not be too bothered about having a TV or a place to charge your laptop.

Except that it wouldnt. You see Hyrule is really a seething eldritch horror-pit filled with the worst kind of terrors, day in, day out. Whether the product of monster, politics, or plain old, honest-to-goodness inhumanity, Hyrule is is a non-stop atrocity parade spitting out neverending vileness and fear like the production line on Satans own toy factory.

7. The dead rise from the grave EVERY NIGHT

Ocarina of Times night should be a glorious time to be out and about. There are miles of dusky countryside to explore. Theres an inky, hazy sky above and a huge, bulbous full moon to light the way. But can you enjoy it? Not in the slightest. Because the undead are crawling out from under your feet during every step you take, trying to forcibly remove ankles off your legs every single time you place foot upon grass.

And this isnt a special, one-off incident. Its the norm for Hyrule. Skeletal assault isnt an unfortunate horrific mishap, but rather a countrywide way of life. No wonder the main settlement is a fortified castle city. Even the smallest town is fortified or hidden in the woods. Nightfall is a disgusting, unnatural, terror-filled time in Hyrule, spawning flat-out weapons-grade horror every 24 hours without fail. And it gets even worse when you realise that this situation logically means that

6. The whole countryside is one big graveyard

If youre out in Hyrule Field youre going to get attacked by skeletons. This vile matter is already established. But it never stops from dusk til dawn. Which means there must be an endless supply of skeletons under the turf of Hyrules verdant countryside. They must have gotten there somehow, so what happened? Well we know that there was a Hyrulian civil war a few years before the events of Ocarina of Time. Its largely glossed over, but given the sheer number of dead now lingering under the ground everywhere in Hyrule, it must have been a bloody slaughter on a scale to make the battle of Helms Deep look like a stumbly scuffle in a pub car park.

Ever wondered why a supposedly proud kingdom such as Hyrule has such sparse pockets of population? Thatll be your answer. The regions various races and factions murdered the merry Hell out of each other until only a handful of small settlements was left. The Hylian royal family might have unified the kingdom after the war, but given that there were only about 30 people left following the altercation, was that really much of a victory?

5. The chickens attack in organised hit-squads

No way in Hell KFC could ever work in Hyrule. Those chickens are for eggs only. Hyrules Cuccos are less the amicable, bumbling poultry we know, more an efficient, structured, bloodthirsty winged mafia. He puts one of yours in a toasted bun, you put one of his in the Hyrule Field morgue. Thats the Cuccos way. In fact, linking the proliferation of violent farm foul in Hyrule to the amount of corpses buried in shallow graves across the countryside, theres every chance that the Cuccos are actually the real ruling class in Hyrule, having won the war and allowed the Hylian royal family to set up a puppet monarchy in order to tend to their needs. Just like cats do here.

And its not just the chickens. Every bit of wildlife in Hyrule, whether flora or fauna, is sentient, angry, and will attack on sight. Only the bravest and most vigilant warriors would even consider owning a pet or having a few potted plants around the house. Almost every element of Hyrules ecosystem is a pathological murderer. You cant even trust the bushes. The place is a living nightmare.

4. Disembodied human hearts are everywhere

The best defence against Hyrules murderous natural world? The one saving grace giving hope to wandering adventurers and lost innocents amid the long, dark night of abominations that shrouds the path ahead? The possibility of stumbling across a severed human organ. Fortunately (!?) those things are everywhere. The whole of Hyrule is basically one big abattoir floor, strewn end to end with the remains of the no-doubt unpleasantly deceased.

Again, we can only pin this one on the war. Theres little else in the way of a plausible explanation. Just as theres little in the way of a plausible explanation for how this life-giving offal works, other than that Link must be consuming them and living off the life-force contained within. That makes even more macabre sense when you consider that he often receives a greater amount of regenerative essence from larger, recently killed enemies, and gets an overall increase in his vital capacity from felled bosses. Bigger life, more recent death, more lifeforce for Link. Thats how it works. The only way to survive in Hyrule is through evisceration-driven vampirism. Tasty.

3. The climate is screwed

Think about the geology of Hyrule. Its broken. Flat-out screwed. Within a few miles at most you can cross grassy countryside, scorching desert, ice-blasted tundras, and furious, active volcanoes. Thats not right. Thats just not right.

Theres something fundamentally wrong with the physical structure and localised climate systems of Hyrule. And when multiple versions of the series iconic Kakariko Village are located at the foot of something known in the vicinity as Death Mountain, you get the impressions that the locals know that. Consider that the Great Sea in Wind Waker is widely accepted to cover the old Hyrule of Ocarina of Time, and its pretty clear that the kingdoms multitudinous environmental maladies eventually conspired to the sink the place through geological disaster. However hard Link works to save Hyrule in Ocarina, the whole place is going down eventually anyway. The whole quest will be ultimately fruitless. Beat Ganondorf if you like, but everyones going to drown anyway.

2. Racial segregation has made the divided kingdom weak

There are a handful of core races in Hyrule. Hylians, Kokiri, Gorons, Gerudo, and Zora would be the main ones. But they rarely ever mingle. Despite unification, each people has its own distinct area of the kingdom (central towns, forest, mountains, desert, and rivers, respectively) and they by and large stay there. The almost entirely female Gerudo have a distaste for Hylians and only mingle for breeding purposes. The Kokiri enforce their isolation via a (false) collective cultural belief that theyll die if they leave the forest. The Zora have the excuse that they get ill if they leave the water for too long, but its notable that they generally remain at the head of the river, far from central Hyrule.

And thus, every single time Ganondorf appears, the various factions lack of cooperation means that a small boy dressed in green has to save the world. He does so by visiting each region in turn and helping out each civilisation with its various problems before using the rewards to do similar elsewhere. If Hyrule truly worked together as one nation, combining their various gadgets, tools, magic, and knowledge instead of waiting for Link to collect it all, Ganondorf would be a mere irritation. But they dont. Segregation is bad, kids.

1. The most important religious artifact is a ticking time-bomb

The mystical Triforce is often thought of as the golden panacea to all of Hyrules ills. Its not. Its a magical nuke on a short fuse with no safeguards against misuse. Made up of three segments pertaining to power, wisdom, and courage, the Triforce will grant any person who touches it their wish. But it doesnt distinguish between good and evil. In a weak caveat to responsibility, if the Triforce-finder does not have a personality balanced between its three core elements, it will break into three parts, each sent to a person personifying its trait. Only when the Triforce is reunited will the holder be delivered his or her wish. But theres a major flaw in that system.

The initial finder will immediately gain the section of Triforce pertaining to his or her dominant trait. So if, say, a megalomaniac like Ganondorf should get hold of it, the Triforce segment of power is his, no questions asked. Thus, it will be up to the other two, inherently weaker, Triforce recipients to stop him from gaining ultimate power. And given how often that happens, its pretty damn clear that the Golden Land in which the Triforce is hidden is about as secure as a Gotham City mental facility.

Cry-force

So theres our rundown of the most reprehensible elements of Zeldas supposedly noble kingdom. But did we miss anything? Frankly we could have written an entire feature just on Redeads, so feel free to spill your suggestions into the comments. And let us know if there are any other supposedly wholesome gameworlds you find flat-out terrifying.

And while youre here, check out some of our related content by giving video game locations only an idiot would live in a go, and then maybe try the top 7 most disturbing things about the Pokemon universe.

The post Top 7… Most disturbing things about the Zelda universe appeared first on Game News.

Games can go through vast transformations between the time they’re conceived and released. Usually, though, the game that arrives on store shelves is more or less the one the developers sought out to make when they first came up with the idea. This Top 7 is not about those games.

Instead, we’re celebrating the titles that had more tumultuous development cycles–the ones that ended up totally different from what they started out as. We’re looking at licensed games that became AAA blockbusters, cancelled sequels that were reworked into original IPs, and cancelled original IPs that were reworked into amazing sequels. Your favorite game might’ve started off as an entirely different project, and it’s time we pull back the curtain on gaming’s forgotten history.

7. ZombiU was first Killer Freaks from Outer Space

Nintendo first unveiled the Wii U at E3 2011, showing the world its entry into the next generation of consoles. Though few titles were actually shown off, one notable exception was Killer Freaks from Outer Space, an Ubisoft-published first-person shooter about an alien invasion of Earth. Made by Ubisoft Montpellier (who originally pitched it as an FPS where players kill Rabbids–presumably because everyone, including the developers, was tired of Rabbids), the game pit human survivors against creepy, green alien monsters. And yet, one year later, Killer Freaks was nowhere to be found at Ubisoft’s booth. So what happened?

ZombiU happened, apparently. After the lukewarm reception at E3 2011, Ubisoft went back to the drawing board. The titular Killer Freaks were removed from the shooter and replaced with zombies, creating a much more serious, survival-based game. And so, the originally Rabbids-starring, then alien-starring Killer Freaks from Outer Space was mutated into one of the better, more ambitious Wii U launch titles.

6. Star Fox Adventures was Fox-less as Dinosaur Planet

From Battletoads to Banjo Kazooie, British developer Rare was responsible for some of the biggest games of the ’90s. Some of its most popular titles, though, were the ones it made with Nintendo characters–Rare was one of the very few western developers that Nintendo allowed access to its coveted roster of icons. Despite this, the GameCube release of Star Fox Adventures was not originally a Star Fox game at all–in fact, it was originally a Nintendo 64 game by the name of Dinosaur Planet that had absolutely nothing to do with Fox McCloud.

Dinosaur Planet starred Sabre, a fox that, while looking a lot like Nintendo’s Fox, was actually meant to be a totally unconnected fox. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto met with Rare and noted the similarities between the two franchises’ characters, and suggested reaching a middle ground. It was decided that the two IPs would be smushed together, creating Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet, a GameCube game that would ultimately serve as the last one Rare would develop under Nintendo’s wing.

5. Halo was a third-person shooter and an RTS (On Mac)

Halo is to Microsoft as Mario is to Nintendo as Mickey Mouse is to Disney–that’s how it has been since Halo: Combat Evolved released on the original Xbox in 2001. The innovative shooter was immensely popular, and arguably responsible for the success of the Xbox in America, as well as the future success of the first-person shooter genre on consoles. But there was a time, only two years prior to the game’s release, when Halo was a far different game on a totally different system.

Bungie originally hitched its wagon not to Microsoft, but to Apple, and was planning on releasing Halo as a third-person shooter for the Mac. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But it’s true–you can even watch Steve Jobs introduce Bungie co-founder Jason Jones at 1999’s Macworld. And before it was a third-person shooter, Halo was even more removed from the game that dazzled Xbox owners; Bungie had originally planned for it to be a real-time strategy title (as seen in this early video).

4. Doom was conceived as a licensed Aliens game

Though Wolfenstein 3D was big, it wasn’t until id Software released Doom that the FPS had truly arrived. It was a huge hit, thanks in no small part to its incredible graphics and original, unique setting. Fighting demons on Mars? Who would’ve thought of that? What a weird, weird idea.

But it isn’t nearly as strange when you consider what Doom was before it was Doom. Early in the game’s development, id was in talks with 20th Century Fox to make a shooter based on the team’s favorite sci-fi film: Aliens. Suddenly, the concept of fighting weird creatures on a foreign planet doesn’t seem so strange–in fact, that’s literally the plot of the entire franchise. That deal eventually fell through, so Doom went back to the drawing board… and ended up being pretty much the same game, except, you know, more red.

3. Dead Space was original a System Shock sequel

Far, far away there exists an enigmatic mausoleum filled with monsters, and the only evidence of what happened is in audio logs scattered around the world. This narrative could, realistically, describe three different games: System Shock, BioShock, or Dead Space. While it’s well-established that BioShock was made as a spiritual successor to System Shock, a lesser-known fact is that Dead Space was, at one point, supposed to be an actual sequel to Looking Glass Games’ 1999 sci-fi shooter.

In 2006, EAs Redwood Shores studio was rumored to be working on System Shock 3, but after the publisher found that it couldn’t legally publish the game (they owned the name, not the development rights), the team was forced to make an original IP instead. So they went back to work and made Dead Space, a game that takes place far, far away, in an enigmatic mausoleum filled with monsters. Oh, wait.

2. Devil May Cry started off as Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil was shambling towards stagnation in the late ’90s. Though sales of it were strong, Capcom wanted to create something more original for the fourth installment of the incredibly popular franchise. So director Hideki Kamiya set out to turn RE into a stylish action game, ditching the slow, plodding pace of the previous games in favor of a new, superhuman hero. Eventually, however, it was decided that this simply didn’t fit within the RE universe. Kamiya’s action game was just too cool for Resident Evil.

But know what it was cool enough for? The mother-freaking son of Sparda. Kamiya’s team rewrote the story, taking out all of the Resident Evil ties and refocusing it in a new universe. Here, a white-haired monster killer named Dante slashed apart hordes of demons and occasionally stopped for a slice of pizza. From the ashes of Resident Evil 4, Devil May Cry was born–turns out, people enjoyed the freedom that came from ditching traditional tank controls.

1. Donkey Kong was supposed to be a Popeye game

Master Chief is pretty popular. Kratos? Sure–people love that guy. And even at his worst, Sonic the Hedgehog has legions of fans. But none of these icons have anything on Mario. From his humble beginnings as “Jumpman” in Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, the plumber has billions in game sales under his belt. He’s had his own television show, his own cereal, and even his own Hollywood movie. And guess what? He almost didn’t exist.

If young game designer Shigeru Miyamoto had gotten his way, Donkey Kong would’ve been Bluto, Pauline would’ve been Olive Oyl, and Mario would’ve been Popeye. Yup, Donkey Kong–one of the most important video games ever made–was almost a licensed Popeye game. That deal fell through, and Miyamoto had to create his own characters. In other words, gaming’s greatest mascot is essentially a Popeye stand-in. There’s a happy ending to this story, though, besides the advent of an industry icon: Miyamoto was able to eventually make his Popeye game. Dreams do come true, people. Dreams do come true.

Bonus: Sleeping Dogs was Black Lotus, and then True Crime

According to the developers, Sleeping Dogs didn’t change much over the course of its lengthy development cycle, but the story behind the game is too good to ignore. Soon after developer United Front Games was formed, it began work on a new, original IP. Black Lotus, as it was called, was set in Hong Kong, and starred an undercover female cop (reportedly modeled after Lucy Liu). Activision wasn’t comfortable with spending so much on an original IP starring a woman, though, so it had the developer affix a penis onto the star and position it as True Crime: Hong Kong, a reboot of the True Crime series.

The end? Not by a long shot. Activision cancelled the game in 2011, arguing that “only top-tier games can be competitive in today’s market.” But True Cri–erm, Black Lotus wasn’t dead yet. Square Enix saw potential, and published it a year later as Sleeping Dogs. Weirdest part? United Front Games says little was modified during this flip-flopping development cycle–well, besides the hero getting a sex change, that is.

The games, they are a-changin’

There are many, many other examples of games going through crazy transformations before their launch. It’s Mr. Pants was supposed to be a Donkey Kong game, and there’s even some rumblings that 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand wasn’t originally going to star rapper 50 Cent. Crazy, right? And these are just the ones we know of; surely there are plenty of other tales that have yet to reach the light of day. One day, maybe we’ll know the truth.

And if you’re looking for more, check out top 7 cancelled games we wish we could play and the top 7 games we really hope aren’t cancelled.

The post Top 7… Games that were originally totally different games appeared first on Game News.

We gamers are a fickle gang, arent we? Cut the hair of our favorite monster-slaying protagonist? Treachery! Port a platform-exclusive series to another platform? Treason! But these are misdemeanors when compared to adding multiplayer to an otherwise single-player franchise. This rabble was recently re-roused when Square-Enix announced that its Tomb Raider reboot would include a multiplayer mode, imposing competitive gameplay onto an otherwise atmospheric, intimate adventure.

But put down the pitchforks and quash the torches’ flames, friends! Adding online functionality to an otherwise solo affair isn’t always bad; the act of “tacking-on” multiplayer can often end with grand results (as we discussed in an editorial a few months back. Here are some examples of otherwise single-player franchises that have wowed us with surprisingly good multiplayer.

7. Dead Space 2

Dead Spaces take on survival horror in the new generation was filled with tense, fright-filled corridors and cheap (but thrilling) jump scares. This gameplay style, realistically, wouldnt adapt all that well to multiplayer, so it was no wonder that gamers were skeptical about Dead Space 2s inclusion of team deathmatch. How could it maintain the scares while prepubescent brats spit insults through their braces over Xbox Live? Well, it couldnt, but thats fine. Though the multiplayer of Dead Space 2 wasnt as frightening as the single-player, it was pretty damn good in its own right.

Players were broken into two teams, each representing a different side of Dead Spaces ongoing alien-from-The Thing-versus-human conflict. In one group was gun-toting security guards who could use all of the fun weaponry of the Dead Space universe against their necromorph adversaries. Playing as the Necromorphs on the other side was a great role reversal, and allowed players to experience the game from the enemys point of view, and fighting alongside other humans (instead of in tense, fright-filled corridors) was a nice change of pace from the otherwise lonely single-player campaign.

6. Red Dead Redemption

There was a time–not too long ago–when Westerns were to films what World War II shooters were to games. Americas love affair with cowboys, indians, horses, and six-shooters was paramount, but faded as the market became oversaturated (sound familiar, pilgrim?). Sadly, that was some time before the advent of the online multiplayer shooter, and as such, gaming hadnt really seen many successful games head out West. Red Dead Redemption, a pseudo-sequel to Red Dead Revolver, changed that, and included an amazing story and an equally strong multiplayer.

Joining with a friend online meant being tossed into the games massive world, where up to 16 players could travel around and complete objectives to earn experience and upgrades–and that was just the lobby. Besides simply causing havoc in the open-world, there were also plentiful competitive and cooperative options spread throughout varied environments. When the Undead Nightmare expansion unleashed a zombie horde on the Wild West it brought with it new multiplayer modes, turning it into an 1800s version of Left 4 Dead and giving you even more reasons to hit the old dusty trail.

5. XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Compared to many games on this list, there wasn’t too much anger over the announcement that Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown would have multiplayer–in fact, there was a good deal more misplaced belligerence over the title’s lack of a hyphen. Odds are the community was just so darn happy that there was a non-shooter XCOM in the works that they werent about to take issue with some multiplayer addition thingy. Or maybe they (rightfully) guessed that the tactical gameplay that makes for brutally challenging and rewarding single-player battles would translate flawlessly to multiplayer.

4. Max Payne 3

Heres a conundrum: How do you take a slow-motion-filled shooter and make it work online without the entire experience crawling like a pissed-off paraplegic through molasses? If youre Rockstar, your solution is to create a complex system that slows enemies within your field of view while allowing others to continue at their own speed. That is, unless they see a slowed player, in which case they, too, are slowed in a chain reaction. The brilliance of Max Payne 3s multiplayer is that this all happens under the hood, giving you a seamless competitive experience that feels remarkably advanced while remaining incredibly simple.

Slow-motion is just one of many Bursts equipped and unlocked as you play the game. Others include granting bonus damage on attacks, giving teammates infinite ammo, and even tricking foes into thinking their allies are actually enemies. Different modes (including one where youre able to kill Max Payne to become Max Payne) help create some of the best third-person shooting action in the genre.

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was a monumental success; it was cinematic storytelling at its finest (in 2007). A Hollywood blockbuster wrapped in a third-person adventure, Uncharted sported a lavish cast of likable characters, a wonderful plot, and gameplay that was the envy of the industry. With the sequel, developer Naughty Dog opted to not just expand the story, but also include a multiplayer component. People didnt take it well. Some thought it would syphon resources away from the campaign. Others worried that the series would take a co-op route. In short, it was common consensus that Naughty Dog had peed on the rug.

These irrational concerns proved as valid as most irrational concerns often do. The single-player of Uncharted 2 was leaps and bounds better than the originals, and the multiplayer offerings helped make Among Thieves one of the best games of all time. The three-player co-op was great for those uninterested in traditional team deathmatch, adding a new, vertical spin on the genres normal tropes, and the competitive modes proved surprisingly engaging. Turns out being able to climb stuff makes for a fairly unique multiplayer–who knew?

2. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

“I can imagine a [sic] AC multiplayer mode, one commenter mused when Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood would ship with a competitive complement to the series staple single-player campaign. Two players will stand and stare at each other for hours, each waiting for the other guy to make the first move so that they can counter it… then another guy just runs up and stealth kills them both.” Were not going to lie–that sounds pretty awesome. But he had a point! How could a series based on melee assassinations and parkour in an open world be adapted to deathmatch? Splendidly, apparently. Splendidly.

Brotherhoods multiplayer, and the continued competitive gameplay the series has had since, is beautifully original. Players attempt to score points by stealthily assassinating specific enemy players in a small slice of historical fiction, using social stealth to disappear in with a sea of computer-controlled automatons. Wanton chaos is punished–youre a scalpel, not a sledgehammer–and great reward is found in learning the mechanics and gracefully acting as a blade in the crowd.

1. Mass Effect 3

Who would have thought that now, nearly a full year after Mass Effect 3‘s polarizing ending ignited the nerd riot of the century (or year, or… week, or… look, nerds rage, OK?), people would still be consumed in the game’s wave-based online multiplayer? Like, playing the hell out of it? Spending money on it? And clamoring for more multiplayer DLC? Surely not the commenters on the first preview we wrote about the cooperative mode, who said, “Even if i don’t know what the multiplayer is about, the fact alone that it exists is a bad sign, period.”

But it wasn’t a bad sign. Between the wide variety of enemy types and fine-tuned combat, Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer proved to be an utterly thrilling experience. Fighting off waves of enemies with friends was more fulfilling than wed ever expected. Character classes and unlockable upgrades made for incredibly varied gameplay, and the addition of booster pack-style upgrades with randomized gear and results made the itemization unreasonably addictive.

Lets give others the benefit of the doubt

There are, of course, some examples of multiplayer being added to single-player franchises that didnt turn out as strong. BioShock 2s team deathmatch wasnt all that impressive, and Spec Ops: The Lines competitive side by and large completely undermined everything the game was trying to say. More often than not, however, the trend shows that good single-player games can become good multiplayer games without sacrificing the solo campaign, and thats something we hope to see continued in the coming years.

And if you’re looking for more multiplayer games to enjoy, check out best multiplayer FPS games and the most anticipated games of 2013.

The post The Top 7… Surprisingly fun multiplayer games (inside of single-player games) appeared first on Game News.

Updated with the Community Choice entry!

If you had told us five years ago that we would love an XCOM game, we wouldve called you crazy. The original X-COM: UFO Defense was no doubt a great game, with a grip of devoted fans that still play it to this day–but its deep tactical gameplay is nigh impenetrable for new-school gamers. Then Firaxis Games came along, gave it a fresh coat of modern-day polish, energized the gameplay, and created one of the most exciting games of this holiday season. Hows that for a reboot?

It got us thinking–there are plenty of franchises out there which, much like XCOM, are ripe for remakes thanks to their devout, albeit small, following. These are the seven seemingly forgotten franchises that we think need to come back in style; if youve done a majority of your gaming during the 80s and 90s, we can bet youd be on board with these reboots.

7. Heretic

Skyrim, Shmyrim–we want our first-person spellcasting to be as pixelated as possible. One of Raven Softwares first breakout hits, you may best remember the Heretic franchise from its pseudo-sequel Hexen. Using a modified version of the classic Doom engine, this first-person hack-n-slash series had you smashing maces or slinging spells into the fleshy faces of gruesome monsters (as one of three playable classes, no less). Instead of a grimy space station, the Heretic games had you exploring ancient temples and misty marshes–and it forced you to collect keys, but hey, that was the thing to do at the time.

Sadly, its medieval murdering never took off like Dooms demon killing. A modern-day reboot could distinguish itself from the Elder Scrolls pack by playing up the dark fantasy and occult elements, and its already known to offer something Skyrim cant: co-op.

6. Turrican

With some of the most irrefutably outstanding box art for its games, the Turrican series is beloved by those who played it. A 2D side-scrolling shooter in the same vein as Metroid, Turrican was all about blasting aliens with a varied arsenal of space-age weaponry, and even included a morph-ball form–except this one had spikes! The alien enemy designs were varied, the graphics were pleasingly vibrant, and the running animation was pretty dang impressive for the time. Just knowing that we were playing as the bionic cyborg from the games cover made it all that much better, even if we were constantly getting lost in the maze-like level layouts.

Give the game some Shadow Complex-style bells and whistles and make it an affordable downloadable, and Turrican would be on its way towards being the next big Metroidvania franchise. Or go big-budget and turn it into a stylized third-person shooter–look, we just want to see Turrican on a box again. Thatll make us happy.

5. Z

Command & Conquer: Red Alert gets all the nostalgic RTS credit–but not many know that this obscure strategy game predates it, and was way ahead of its time. With one of the least Google-able names of all time, Z (also known as Zed) delivered robot-on-robot, red-vs-blue aggression as bots warred over a variety of worlds. Its gameplay could be compared to the Dawn of War series: Instead of tasking the player with macro-level management of mineral gathering and base construction, your units were at the forefront of the action. Moving around the map and capturing territories was the name of the game, and you could seize unmanned warmachines to bolster your forces. The varied robot types also had great character, thanks to some spiffy unit portraits.

The games light-hearted humor could be compared to the Worms series, and that franchise has certainly withstood the test of time. It wouldnt take much to make Z a miniature modern-day hit–turn it into a tower-defense game or an asynchronous, turn-based strategy game, and the simple charm of its sprite graphics and straightforward objectives will do the rest.

4. Descent

Okay, so gamers who suffer from motion sickness will definitely hate this space shooter, with its incredibly disorienting z-axis flight. But those that can stomach Descents gut-wrenching twists and turns will find a supremely engaging 3D shoot-em-up. Picture Doom with an additional dimension of movement and a cockpit view, and thats Descent in a nutshell–zooming around spacious space stations and tight underground tunnels collecting nifty new weapons and energy globes. The enemy ships were particularly memorable, turning a few jagged polygons into angular, downright menacing machines, and we were far more compelled by collecting new laser types than we had any right to be.

There just arent enough dogfighting in space games these days, and we reckon a Descent reboot would perfectly fill that void in our hearts. As long as it maintains the six degrees of spatial freedom that made the originals famous, nothing (except the need for a barf bag nearby) can go wrong.

3. Shadowrun

Kids today with their Massive Effects and Final Fantasies–whatever happened to the totally-out-there, Blade Runner-meets-D&D RPGs like Shadowrun? Based on a tabletop RPG by the same name, this isometric sci-fi adventure melded punk culture, classic fantasy, and futuristic cityscapes into one incredibly unique, noir-style story. Hitting 2050 Seattles dilapidated streets as the amnesiac Jake Armitage, you never knew what youd be in for next–ducking into an alleyway might put you face to face with shapeshifting shamans, cyborg assassins, or brutish orcs, which you could converse with or kill using guns and magic.

Dont give us any lip about 2007s mediocre-at-best Shadowrun shooter–like the recent Syndicate reboot, that game captured little to nothing about what made the originals so special. We want a dystopian urban future rendered in full 3D, with the same snappy dialogue, technological intrigue, and frantic combat from the earlier games. And, thanks to that crazy cultural phenomenon Kickstarter, we just might get our wish.

2. Star Wars: X-Wing / TIE Fighter

Flight sims are a lot more palatable when they involve iconic Star Wars ships. Before Factor 5 wowed us with the Rogue Squadron series, would-be ace pilots for the Rebel Alliance or Empire were getting their jollies in the X-Wing and TIE Fighter games (the latter of which is easily one of the most fondly remembered DOS games of all time). The graphics may be borderline abysmal by todays standards, but the mere fact that you could control the instantly recognizable starfighters (with a cockpit view, no less) was enough to make hardcore Star Wars fans jump aboard the flight-sim bandwagon. Hearing the classic TIE Fighter scream as they zoomed through the dark void of space made us feel like we were part of the movies, with the scope of each battle and fully-voiced cutscenes driving the classic Trilogy vibe home.

With developer Totally Games no longer in Lucasarts’ pocket, another studio will have to take it upon themselves to create the next-generation Star Wars flight sim. As long as new iterations stick to authentic representations of the namesake aircraft and adamantly abolish any on-foot nonsense (were looking at you, Rebel Strike), Star Wars fans should be happy to strap back in for another trip through the Death Stars trenches.

1. Another World

Despite a small cast of characters, minimalist gameplay, and some truly grueling difficulty, Another World (Out of This World, to US folks) resonated with gamers in ways they werent expecting. The games vivid vector graphics were utterly stunning at the time, and the pacing of the heavy, nicely animated platforming naturally melded with taking in the sights of the sublime alien landscape. Getting your character–the protagonist Physics professor Lester–killed over and over was all but inevitable, what with a cornucopia of death traps and one-hit kills. But slowly adapting to the hostile surroundings offered a hard-earned satisfaction and a surprisingly moving story.

The games graphical style probably wouldnt hold up for the modern gaming crowd, but the core principle would still work: The sensation of exploring foreign, photo-realistic planets is enough to captivate most anyone, and the methodical platforming would be a nice change of pace from the twitch run-n-jumping of modern fare. Prince of Persia definitely got its modern-day due; it seems like a mere matter of time before people pine for the greatness of Another World.

Community Choice: Road Rash

This classic motorcycle combat racer was less about being first to the finish line, and more about painting the concrete pavement with the fleshy faces of your competitors. Okay, so maybe it wasnt that gloriously gory–but the implications of whacking a cyclist on the back of the head with a metal chain or a baseball bat are pretty severe. Full of the gnarly attitude youd expect from unlawful motorcycle street racing, Road Rash even let you take your chances on walloping a pursuing cop off his bike, though whiffing meant instant incarceration.

Sixo T knows the risks of such confrontational cycling, saying I remember taunting a few of the characters, only to end up eating the glass of an oncoming car. You could even call the game a bad influence; Tyrande recalls that her parents split the disc in two when her brother mentioned the desire to smash a cops windshield. But that kind of anarchic rivalry with the other racers is what made Road Rash so memorable, and a reboot could bring even more over-the-top violence and improved graphics to the games breakneck (literally) racing.

Gone, but not forgotten

Would you be on-board with modern-day reboots of these games, or do you think they should remain in the past? Think we missed your favorite cult-classic game and need the masses to know about it? Leave us a comment below singing the praises of old-but-timeless games, and maybe someone will get the ball rolling on the next XCOM: Enemy Unknown-caliber reboot.

Craving some more seven-strong goodness? Youll want to read the Top 7 Awesome-looking games we REALLY hope arent cancelled and the Top 7 Fantastic sequels to forgettable games.

The post The Top 7… Cult-classic franchises wed love to see rebooted appeared first on Game News.

In 2012, most games released in Japan end up making their way to the US and UK–its rare that a big-budget title isnt also localized and pushed out in the two largest gaming territories in the world. Sure, we still miss out on some dating sims, horse racing sims, and JRPGs, but its pretty much a sure bet that anything that would sell in the states will be sold in the states.

Sometimes, however, things slip through the cracks. Licensing will keep certain titles tethered to Japan, while other games end up being released on less popular systems and, thus, never make their way out of the Land of the Rising Sun. So now, with Tokyo Game Show beginning later in the week, we celebrate these games–and beg for their release.

7. Miles Edgeworth 2 (Gyakuten Kenji 2)

It was a welcome change to finally break out from the confines of the stuffy courtroom and solve cases on the fly in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and we were keen to see more. Two years ago, Japan–and Japan alone–did get more. This needs to change. This needs to change badly.

The esteemed prosecutor, known for his condescension, cold demeanor, and velvety purple suit, was always the ruthless opponent in previous Phoenix Wright games. Unlike the Phoenix Wright games, Ace Attorney Investigations was in the third person, allowing players to literally step into the shoes of Miles. That said, the game was still fairly similar in terms of gathering evidence and doing a fair bit of finger pointing, making it a wonderful addition to the series.

6. The Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3)

We’ve been waiting for Seiken Densetsu 3 (or Secret of Mana 2, as it would be called) to come to North America since the 16-bit days, when we heard there was a direct sequel to Secret of Mana in Japan. As of now, the only way to get your hands on it is by hunting down the fan-translated version through less-than-legal means.

Seiken Densetsu 3 is a dense action-RPG that lets players choose their three-character party from a list of six heroes and embark on a quest to save the Mana Tree. Each character (which includes an orphaned mercenary, a beastman, a princess from a kingdom of magicians, a cleric, and a thief) has a unique origin story, combat abilities, and class progression. Between the multitude of class options, character paths, and hidden secrets, every playthrough can be a different sequence of events, making every player’s adventure distinctive. Sadly, we havent gotten to experience any of these options, paths, secrets, or playthroughs–on the up-and-up, at least.

5. Captain Rainbow (Kyaputen Reinb)

In its earliest days, Nintendo was very selective about what games would come to the US and Europe, but by the time the Wii rolled onto store shelves, virtually every game got an international release, especially if Nintendo published it. But a few Wii games were such a slice of good, old-fashioned Japanese weirdness that Nintendo has kept them locked away on their home shores. Thats clearly the case with Captain Rainbow, an adventure game that took a humorous look at the forgotten characters of Nintendos pantheon.

Created by Skip, a dev team mostly known for Nintendo downloadables, Captain Rainbow is a humorously bizarre take on Nintendo nostalgia. Overlooked characters from titles as diverse as Advance Wars, Zelda, and Punch-Out!! all look to Captain Rainbow for help, which he achieves with fabulous results. Most interesting of all is Birdo, whose confused gender is played for laughs in a way thats both clever and likely the reason it never left Japan.

4. Final Fantasy: Type-0 (Fainaru Fantaj Reishiki)

Spin-offs to Square Enixs flagship franchise can be hit (Kingdom Hearts) or miss (Dirge of Cerberus), but this one might be the best yet–which makes it that much more of a shame that the rumored English release hasnt yet materialized. Teased in 2006 and debuting on PSP in 2011 to critical acclaim (including a highly sought-after 39/40 score from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu), were certain that wed prefer Type-0 over another FFXIII sequel any day.

Like Crisis Core, the visuals are among the best the PSP can produce, with a grittier style compared to most other FF titles. Instead of the typical four-ish party sizes in most Final Fantasy games, Type-0 has you traveling in a twelve-strong posse of magic-wielding students called Class Zero–and theyre all A-grade awesome. Each has their own special traits and weapon choice; for instance, main character Ace does his best Gambit impression with a mystical deck of cards, slicing and dicing enemies in the action-based party combat. Fingers crossed that Square Enix will consider an international PS Vita port so we can see just what weve been missing.

3. Elite Beat Agents 2 (Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2)

The DS is far from a one-trick pony. There were brain teasers, jogging programs, and rhythm games that remade the genre in fun new ways. Such was the case with the first Ouendan, a game where male, Japanese cheerleaders sang songs to help people reach their strange goals. Remade as Elite Beat Agents using English-language pop, it translated into a great game, which makes the international absence of the sequel a mystery.

Were Nintendo to localize this sequel now, we wouldnt even want the American songs. Keep the catchy Japanese soundtrack and the wacky level goals; thats all we need to enjoy fervently tapping the bottom screen to the beat.

2. Valkyria Chronicles III (Senj no Valkyria 3: Unrecorded Chronicles)

Though it started its life on the PlayStation 3, the Valkyria Chronicles series found great success when the second game graced the PlayStation Portable in 2010. Its PSP sequel, Valkyria Chronicles III, continued the strategy role-playing hybrid formula to great effect, but, unfortunately, only if you import it and can read Japanese.

The Valkyria Chronicles games take place in a Europe-like land called Gallia during a massive war in 1935. Throughout the series, the gameplay is driven by the BLiTZ System (Battle of Live Tactical Zones) that gives you the option to choose between an overhead view of skirmishes, but can also drop down to an invididual view for fights. This sequel takes place between the last two games, and weds the best of both worlds into a stout late-cycle PSP title that wed love to see grace systems outside of Japan. Wed even take a digital-only version if it meant getting our hands on this one, and with the Vita wanting for more games, we cant help but think the solution is staring us right in the face. Hopefully its staring at Sega, too.

1. Earthbound 2 (Mother 3)

Earthbound has found a home on our top 10 RPG and best games of all time lists, so its no wonder that its Japan-only sequel, Mother 3, would be mentioned in any discussion regarding missed localization opportunities. Unlike others on this list, weve actually played through this amazing RPG. Weve enjoyed the dark, but remarkably funny story of Lucas as his quaint town is ruined by an invading force.

As such, our praise isnt speculative: We can confirm that it is, without a doubt, one of the most touching, beautiful RPGs weve ever played. And theres a good chance youll never play it. Also unlike most games on this list, the fervor surrounding the quirky JRPG is such that fans have taken it upon themselves to create an English translation for the game (and its not that hard to find, actually). Regardless, we still hold out hope that, one day, Nintendo will find an excuse to localize Mother 3, and to bring the Earthbound sequel to the states so it can be enjoyed by the masses.

We might never get to play any of these games

There are, obviously, more Japanese games that haven’t (and won’t) make their way overseas, but these are the ones we want to play the most. What about you? What games from Japan do you want to see released where you live? Let us know in the comments below!

And if you want to read about more games you can’t play, check out the top 7 cancelled games we wish we could play and the top 7 games we hope aren’t cancelled.

The post The Top 7… Japanese games that absolutely need to be localized for the west appeared first on Game News.

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, we thought there was no better time to showcase the characters who give the most, those who truly are the essence of what the holiday is all about. Watch out, though – what these characters have given to the world just might merit a SPOILER ALERT, so beware if you haven’t played these games. With that, let’s give our thanks to the characters that are beyond selfless, the ones who we’re betting wouldn’t mind sharing some turkey with us.

7. Maxwell

From: Scribblenauts series

Maxwell is the genie in your game console, the Santa Claus for your good deeds. Maxwell isn’t generous to his peers in his game, though; he’s not out to solve the world’s problems or make everything better.No, Maxwell’s purpose is to make sure that you, the player, can have anything that your heart desires to solve puzzles… or whatever else it is you want to do.

Maxwell’s so devoted to you, in fact, that there isn’t a plot in either of the Scribblenauts games. There’s simply a variety of puzzles, and the power to do whatever you want. You’re presented with obstacles, and Maxwell has the power to create just about anything to overcome them. No matter your desire, Maxwell is your man. Would you like a cyborg raptor? It’s yours. Laser-guided rocket launcher? You got it. Want to make sure that Abraham Lincoln wasn’t assassinated? Recreate him, stick him inside an armored mecha and set him against any enemy that comes his way, and he’ll live to fight any foe.

Maxwell isn’t generous by dint of being a hero – he’s simply a giving character by his very nature. The type of turkey dinner he can give you is limited only by the number of adjectives you know.

6. Frog (aka Glenn)

From: Chrono Trigger

Glenn isn’t like many of the other characters on the list; for starters, he never actually meant to be a hero. He didn’t even want to enlist as a knight, but when his friend Cyrus did, Glenn signed on as Cyrus’ squire, helping from the sidelines as Cyrus fought monsters and did heroic deeds. Unfortunately, Glenn’s reluctance to be the hero made him powerless to stop the villain Magus, who murdered Cyrus and turned Glenn into the more widely recognized Frog.

Frog fled in shame to the Cursed Woods, but his transformation was more than skin-deep. No matter how tortured he was or how much he blamed himself for Cyrus’ death, he never stopped looking out for others, seeking to redeem his act of cowardice by fighting the good fight in Cyrus’ place. Willing or not, he had the mantle of hero thrust upon him, and he didn’t shy away when it came time to step up and help his friends stand against Lavos, the parasitic horror at the end of the world. With them at his side, he was even more altruistic than normal, becoming the best person/frog-thing he could be.

Frog was a hero because, at his core, he was willing to give everything to set things right and to protect his friends. He wasn’t just fighting against Magus and Lavos; he had his own demons to defeat along the way, and in overcoming them he became more noble. In the end, Frog gives everything to others, sacrificing even his own identity to keep peace, and the memory of Cyrus, alive.

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The post The Top 7… Most giving characters in gaming appeared first on Game News.

Look – a scientific diagram:

Here’s a list consisting of seven enemies that scuttle and jump at your face. (But deliberately not including Facehuggers because they were made in movie land. Not game land).

7. Pregnators | Duke Nukem Forever

For all of Duke Nukem Forever’s multiple faults, for all of its titular character’s lumpen-headed galootishness, there’s only one area in the game that’s really downright unpleasant. Crudeness, you see, cannot possibly be truly offensive if it’s executed with knowing intent. Things with an ‘offensive’ tone only really become a problem if they’re done callously or without self-awareness. Most of Duke Nukem Forever is a case of the former. During ‘The Hive’ however, it sadly becomes very much the latter. And that’s mostly down to these little f*ckers.

Where Alien’s Facehuggers, much like a lot of H.R. Giger designs, are creepy because of the subtly sexual connotations of their form and functionality, DNF’s Pregnators miss the point completely and go full-on genital-o-rama without a shadow of a hint of a soupcon of subtlety. Basically, they’re a cock-and-balls on legs. They even spit white goo at you as a missile attack. You know, just generic white goo. Could be anything.

Could be, but it’s probably spunk.

Above: Yeah, it’s an achievement of sorts, though one normally celebrated in the porn industry

Their narrative function? Filling Earth women with alien baby. Where Facehuggers hint at unpleasant sexual practices via allusion, Pregnators just get on with them. The actual impregnating process is never shown in the game, mercifully, but this concept art (opens in new tab) (which we’re not going to post on the site) makes it very clear what these fellas are all about.

Makes the tentacle-cock face-thrashing they sometimes give Duke seem rather tame in comparison, doesn’t it?

6. Leapers | Resistance

Man alive these things are ugly. We mean, generally speaking, collectively, as a species, the Chimera aren’t going to win any beauty contests. At least not in our Solar System. And Leapers are possibly the most butt-ugly of all the multi-eyed Chimerians. We doubt that even Disney with all its mastery in the arts of sugary cutefication could make a Leaper look lovable. Here’s what a Leaper might look like before and after being Disneyfied:

Above: It’s even singing a song. Regardless, it’s still less appealing than a Styrofoam cup full of day old tramp mucus

In addition to being scuttly and possessing a tendency to jump at your face, Leapers also have the dubious honour of being one of the few video game ‘characters’ that have officially offended God. When the big man in the clouds found out that Manchester Cathedral was used as a shooting gallery in the first Resistance, lo he was pissed and sent a memo to his underlings, who subsequently cast fire and brimstone and claims of copyright infringement in the direction of Sony. The following video shows Leapers desecrating Manchester Cathedral. Ugly and sacrilegious.

And there’s even more ungodliness. If a Leaper has a nibble on someone that hasn’t had the necessary vaccination, there’s a good chance they’ll turn into a Chimera. Just like vampires. Not soppy good-looking vampires for little girls to cry about. But proper evil vampires that want to eat your entire face off. Apparently, if you feel hot and have a craving for raw meat, you’re infected and will be imminently turning into a Chimera. Either that or you’re Jeffrey Dahmer burning in Hell.

Next page: Even more enemies that scuttle and jump at your face!

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The post The Top 7… enemies that scuttle and jump at your face appeared first on Game News.

Ah yes, the Week of Hate. Seven rage-filled days of complaints, criticisms and straight-up trollin’ that let us vent our collective frustration on the games industry. In the past, we kicked off each week with a Top 7 that specified a certain aspect of gaming we’re angry with, be it stereotypical gamers we hate or the laughable habits of mainstream media coverage. This year we’re casting a wider net and bitching about the very state of video games today, from hardware issues to company behavior to trends we’d love to see die out sooner rather than later…

7 %26ndash; Motion
controls

Yes, hating on Wii has made this well trodden territory, but since Kinect and PlayStation Move became the new jangly-shiny thing to dangle in front of Best Buy zombies, this topic has started up all over again. For the past five or six years we’ve been incessantly told how motion controls (aka waggle) broaden gaming, how they make it omni-accessible for all ages and are even pushing the very medium of gaming into the future. Well, it’s been half a decade and what do they have to show for it? Minigames aplenty, tacked-on gestures for games that never needed them and a choking amount of shovelware cluttering up stores across the world. And look what it’s done to Rare!

Above: The proud developers of Viva Pinata, GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country are busy working on… a sequel to Kinect Sports

In the many years of Wii’s existence, how many games made groundbreaking, indispensible use of motion control? Looking at the anemic Kinect and Move lineups, which games are actually worth the combined price tag of hardware and software? We’ll concede some of these games are OK (and in the case of Dance Central, quite good) when played in brief spats, but do any offer any ideas that weren’t already done on Wii?

Is this what we’re reduced to, blatant copycatting with nothing to add to the experience? Kinect removes a controller entirely and touts that as a genius distinction from Wii and Move. A look at the games themselves suggests the developers merely took what was already there and replaced a Wii Remote with your own arm. This is not innovative, this is not inclusive – it’s a reactionary dead end. What other technology-led industry launches expensive me-too competitors four years after the market leader arrived?

Above: Who needs controllers when Kinect Joy Ride is straight-up stuntalicious?

Every month we see amazing new stats claiming Kinect and Move are selling like crazy, so clearly people are biting; but will they continue to buy $40-60 games over the next three years, or will they realize it’s all a bit like the Wii they already have and move on? Could this escalate into a mini-crash (opens in new tab)? Probably not the latter, but it’s still effing annoying as shit to go through this all over again and still not have a game that honestly makes us happy to put down the controller. And on that note, controllers weren’t an obstacle to the mass market in the first place – the PS2 remains the best-selling console in history (opens in new tab), 13-button game pad and all.

6 %26ndash;
Nintendo%26rsquo;s stance on tech

Above: This came out last year!

Talk of motion controls directly leads to another area of constant irritation – Nintendo’s years-long refusal to approach technological standards. Five years ago it said more power was not the answer, that its next console would focus more on expanding the audience than besting some other console’s tech specs. No one can deny that’s exactly what Nintendo did, and that it worked alarmingly well, but for those of us who’ve been playing for years on end and actually look forward to better graphics and other advances in game design, Wii has been a giant pain in the ass.

The whole 480p thing was merely obnoxious in 2006; seeing 360 and PS3 games run in gorgeous HD was painful, but we could deal. In 2011 though, it’s downright hideous to witness how substandard Wii is compared to top releases on competing platforms. This visual hump, along with nearly mandatory motion controls, have turned Wii into a graveyard of third party support, and even when a brilliant game does arise (Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes, Muramasa etc) we can’t help but wonder how much better it would have been on any other system, in HD and with proper controls.

Above: Epic Mickey was pretty… but imagine it in 1080p

Wii also has two USB ports in the back – what were they ever good for? Storage? Useful peripherals? Nah. And let’s not even begin complaining about Friend Codes, Wii Speak, the clumsy Wii Shop Channel or any other piece of content that Nintendo passes off as an online presence. Moving to today, the 3DS just launched without an online store or first-party game that focuses on Wi-Fi multiplayer, even though Nintendo made sure to mention how capable the 3DS is… er, will be when it comes to internet connectivity. People used to compare Nintendo to Apple, but that’s hardly fair anymore; Apple continually revises and upgrades its hardware, while Nintendo’s sat on 2005 technology for six years.

We’ve got our fingers crossed for E3, where Nintendo is set to reveal a fancy new system (opens in new tab)that could undo all this aggregate stress…

7 %26ndash; Motion
controls

Yes, hating on Wii has made this well trodden territory, but since Kinect and PlayStation Move became the new jangly-shiny thing to dangle in front of Best Buy zombies, this topic has started up all over again. For the past five or six years we’ve been incessantly told how motion controls (aka waggle) broaden gaming, how they make it omni-accessible for all ages and are even pushing the very medium of gaming into the future. Well, it’s been half a decade and what do they have to show for it? Minigames aplenty, tacked-on gestures for games that never needed them and a choking amount of shovelware cluttering up stores across the world. And look what it’s done to Rare!

Above: The proud developers of Viva Pinata, GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country are busy working on… a sequel to Kinect Sports

In the many years of Wii’s existence, how many games made groundbreaking, indispensible use of motion control? Looking at the anemic Kinect and Move lineups, which games are actually worth the combined price tag of hardware and software? We’ll concede some of these games are OK (and in the case of Dance Central, quite good) when played in brief spats, but do any offer any ideas that weren’t already done on Wii?

Is this what we’re reduced to, blatant copycatting with nothing to add to the experience? Kinect removes a controller entirely and touts that as a genius distinction from Wii and Move. A look at the games themselves suggests the developers merely took what was already there and replaced a Wii Remote with your own arm. This is not innovative, this is not inclusive – it’s a reactionary dead end. What other technology-led industry launches expensive me-too competitors four years after the market leader arrived?

Above: Who needs controllers when Kinect Joy Ride is straight-up stuntalicious?

Every month we see amazing new stats claiming Kinect and Move are selling like crazy, so clearly people are biting; but will they continue to buy $40-60 games over the next three years, or will they realize it’s all a bit like the Wii they already have and move on? Could this escalate into a mini-crash (opens in new tab)? Probably not the latter, but it’s still effing annoying as shit to go through this all over again and still not have a game that honestly makes us happy to put down the controller. And on that note, controllers weren’t an obstacle to the mass market in the first place – the PS2 remains the best-selling console in history (opens in new tab), 13-button game pad and all.

6 %26ndash;
Nintendo%26rsquo;s stance on tech

Above: This came out last year!

Talk of motion controls directly leads to another area of constant irritation – Nintendo’s years-long refusal to approach technological standards. Five years ago it said more power was not the answer, that its next console would focus more on expanding the audience than besting some other console’s tech specs. No one can deny that’s exactly what Nintendo did, and that it worked alarmingly well, but for those of us who’ve been playing for years on end and actually look forward to better graphics and other advances in game design, Wii has been a giant pain in the ass.

The whole 480p thing was merely obnoxious in 2006; seeing 360 and PS3 games run in gorgeous HD was painful, but we could deal. In 2011 though, it’s downright hideous to witness how substandard Wii is compared to top releases on competing platforms. This visual hump, along with nearly mandatory motion controls, have turned Wii into a graveyard of third party support, and even when a brilliant game does arise (Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes, Muramasa etc) we can’t help but wonder how much better it would have been on any other system, in HD and with proper controls.

Above: Epic Mickey was pretty… but imagine it in 1080p

Wii also has two USB ports in the back – what were they ever good for? Storage? Useful peripherals? Nah. And let’s not even begin complaining about Friend Codes, Wii Speak, the clumsy Wii Shop Channel or any other piece of content that Nintendo passes off as an online presence. Moving to today, the 3DS just launched without an online store or first-party game that focuses on Wi-Fi multiplayer, even though Nintendo made sure to mention how capable the 3DS is… er, will be when it comes to internet connectivity. People used to compare Nintendo to Apple, but that’s hardly fair anymore; Apple continually revises and upgrades its hardware, while Nintendo’s sat on 2005 technology for six years.

We’ve got our fingers crossed for E3, where Nintendo is set to reveal a fancy new system (opens in new tab)that could undo all this aggregate stress…

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The post The Top 7… Things we hate about modern gaming appeared first on Game News.