General gaming

General gaming

Nippon Ichi Software: Past, Present, Future

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 02:40 AM PST

If you've become a fan of Nippon Ichi Software's work over the past decade, you definitely have Sohei Niikawa to thank for that. The president and CEO of the Gifu, Japan-based developer is also the producer and chief writer on nearly all of their most well-known games, including the Disgaea series and off-kilter PS1 classic Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

Being in this position had been Niikawa's dream pretty much his whole life, although he wasn't expecting it to turn out like this. "I applied for work [at NIS] as a game project planner," he recalled in an interview published in this week's Famitsu magazine. "I don't know how to program, and I can't draw or write music, so I really didn't have any technical skills to show off. What I did have, though, was this intense, long-building desire to make games. NIS was only recruiting programmers and designers at the time, and I still wanted to go on as a planner, but in the end I wound up joining the company's sales and PR division."

Pac-Man Creator Discusses How He Got Started

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 02:00 AM PST

The history of Pac-Man and its development cycle -- the drive to attract female gamers, the extremely Japanese name, the flash of inspiration that came from a pizza missing a slice -- is pretty well documented by this point. What hasn't been talked as much about is how the 1980 arcade game's creator, Toru Iwatani, got into the business in the first place. It turns out that, despite the Japanese-ness of Pac-Man Iwatani was driven into the game industry by a love for pinball, an almost completely American invention.

Born in 1955, Iwatani had a penchant for creating little board games and such to amuse himself with since childhood. The turning point for him, however, didn't come until he developed an addition to pinball as a middle-school student. "This was before video games, so in the lounges of bowling alleys and so forth, you'd have pinball," he told Famitsu magazine in an interview published this week. "The art on the tables was always neat, and the way that people stood in front of the machine and played was just really cool to me. There's a simple beauty to the gravitational physics that those games use, something that I think really sung to me as a boy. So I was charmed by pinball all through high school."

Japan Review Check: Final Fantasy XIII-2

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 12:37 AM PST

We're nearing the end of the holiday release window, something that's plain in the smaller-sized review section in this week's issue of Famitsu magazine. The PlayStation Vita hits stores December 17 in Japan, and while the editors review some other titles due out around that date in the current issue, no Vita reviews were printed. A couple of blockbuster reviews were still in the offing, though:

- Final Fantasy XIII-2 (10/10/10/10, 40 points): The 18th game in Famitsu history to land a perfect review score (on both the 360 and PS3 versions, no less). If Famitsu's reviewers can be trusted, then Square Enix has apparently done a fantastic job of improving over the previous FF. "The setting and presentation is fantastic," wrote assistant editor Norihiro Fujiwara, "and the issues people brought up with the first game -- its linearity, its lack of meaty gameplay -- are a thing of the past. You're sucked into the game right from the beginning, and the story's very easy to get into."

Sega Brings Samurai & Dragons to Vita

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 11:59 PM PST

Kingdom Conquest (above), a free-to-play RPG released by Sega for the iOS platform earlier this year, has garnered a lot of positive attention internationally in a relatively short time. Over 1.3 million user accounts have been created worldwide for the title, which mixes dungeon-crawl sequences with strategic bits like resource management and alliances with other players. Now the interal team behind the game -- led by producer Masayoshi Kikuchi -- is working on an upgraded version of Kingdom Conquest for the PS Vita.

Called Samurai & Dragons, the port (first revealed in this week's issue of Famitsu magazine) will retain the core gameplay of the iOS title while updating the graphics and interface for the new system. "It's a game that features two different attractive aspects melded together," Kikuchi told Famitsu. "There's the dungeon-crawling in the action part, and then there's the struggle for territory in the battle part with the cards you've earned and strengthened. Taking over the world is a major goal of the game, but you're also free to keep hacking away in the dungeons if you like."

Six Ways to Build a Better Mario Kart

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 04:36 PM PST

Feature

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Six Ways to Build a Better Mario Kart

By borrowing from their competition, Nintendo's racer could go from staid to stellar.

By: Marty Sliva December 6, 2011

If you'd like to find a title that best indicates Nintendo's stubborn aversion towards adapting to the current gaming climate, look no further than Mario Kart 7. It presents itself boldly as a Nintendo product with no regard for changes or advancements that the competition may have employed; and while this pride has led to some of their greatest triumphs, it's also contributed to many of their memorable missteps. As we pointed out in our staff review, there's nothing inherently bad about MK7 -- in fact, many of us still find ourselves playing the game even during this season's deluge of titles. It's just that we've grown weary of the creative rut that the franchise has found itself in over the past few installments.

In order to bring Mario Kart back to its former glory, Nintendo would be wise to take a look back at their competition; after all, it's no secret that traces of Mario Kart DNA can be found in countless titles within the racing genre and beyond. There's no denying that each of the following games took inspiration from the Mario Kart franchise in various amounts, but they did so while also bringing a few unique ideas to the table. Nintendo should take note that being in first place doesn't mean you can't learn a thing or two by checking your rear-view mirror.

Skyrim 1.3 Patch Won't Fix Lingering PS3 Lag

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 02:09 PM PST

Skyrim

Even after downloading the forthcoming version 1.3 patch for Skyrim, PlayStation 3 owners may continue to face the sometimes crippling-lag that prevents the game from being played for long stretches of time.

The issue has been well-documented since Skyrim's release just under a month ago. As players' save game files increase in size, lag becomes a more and more serious problem, particularly for those playing on PS3. The only solution is to restart the system often; in a game that players can spend hours at a time with, that's hardly ideal. And, as many gamers see it, it's an unacceptable workaround after spending $60 to pick up the game they've been waiting years for.

Grand Theft Auto III to Cost $5 on iOS and Android Next Week

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 12:48 PM PST

Grand Theft Auto III iOS

In just over a week's time, one of the most influential games of the last generation of consoles will be playable in its entirety on your phone.

As previously announced, the 10-year anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III's release (it came out on PS2 on October 22, 2001) is being celebrated with the release of it on iOS and Android devices. Only more recent hardware will be capable of running it, at least at launch -- additional support for other devices could come later. For the time being, you'll need one of the following to play it:

Play the New RTS from the Developer of RuneScape, Get a 1UP Flag

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 12:12 PM PST

Those interested in trying out the latest game from the developer of RuneScape can do so beginning today. Jagex Game Studio opened up VIP access for the browser-based 8Realms this morning, but you'll need a code to get in. If you don't already have one, we can get you in with a 1UP-branded in-game flag and a few dollars' worth of in-game currency to help you start out.

Getting in is simple. All you need to do is use this link to sign up. You'll receive the flag pictured below and about $4 in gems, the currency used in-game.

Final Fantasy XIV Subscription-Free Period Ending After More Than a Year

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 10:37 AM PST

Final Fantasy XIV

After more than a year of allowing Final Fantasy XIV owners to play the game online for free, Square Enix is now just a month away from instituting a monthly fee.

The game's free trial period was extended twice last year following its September launch due to the "current state of the game." Subscriptions were then (temporarily) shelved altogether and have not returned in order to keep players from abandoning the game due to what was, by all accounts, a disastrous launch. Major personnel changes were made in November and the PlayStation 3 version was indefinitely delayed as Square Enix promised it would make things right.

Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update "Slightly Delayed"

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 09:24 AM PST

Like the UFC app which was dated and then pushed back, the Xbox 360 fall dashboard update slated for release today has been "slightly delayed."

That's according to Xbox Live's director of programming, Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson. He tweeted word out this morning about the delay and promised to "have a status update later today." The update had been scheduled to be out this morning.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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