Waifu Wednesday: Aya Kamiki

We’ve had celebrities putting in appearances in video games for a good while now, mostly as voice actors, but it’s quite rare to see a performer appear in a game as themselves.

Japanese singer, actress and model Aya Kamiki evidently saw a good opportunity back in 2008, though, and played a part in Spike Chunsoft’s sound novel 428: Shibuya ScrambleQuite a substantial one, too, despite not being one of the main actors; her face is plastered all over billboards and electronic displays in the in-game rendition of Shibuya (which is represented entirely through photographs and full-motion video), her song Sekai wa Sore Demo Kawari wa Shinai is heard numerous times throughout the narrative and she even puts in an in-person appearance for one brief moment during the main story.

It’s an inventive way to promote yourself, for sure, and adds to the overall believable atmosphere of Spike Chunsoft’s game. But who, exactly, is Aya Kamiki?

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Aya Kamiki

Warriors Wednesday: How The Wild Man Does It – Warriors Orochi #26

How DOES The Wild Man do it? Find out in today’s thrilling installment of Warriors Wednesday, as the Wu forces attempt to prove themselves to Keiji Maeda.

If you were looking forward to seeing my smiling face again on this video, apologies to disappoint; I recorded this before I got the new gear necessary to display my smiling face on videos. If, on the other hand, you were disgusted and repulsed by my fearful countenance in Sunday’s Split/Second video, consider this momentary relief.

Hit the jump to see how today’s battle went.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: How The Wild Man Does It – Warriors Orochi #26

Dedicated to the Backlog

On Monday, LightningEllen from Livid Lightning and Kim from Later Levels revealed the first #LoveYourBacklog Week: seven days devoted to showing your backlog some love, rather than the fear and guilt it usually engenders.

I’ve never seen the backlog as a particularly negative thing. As Kim argues in her post on the subject, having a backlog means that you always have something to play — something new to experience, something new to explore. And since starting MoeGamer I’ve really relished having this huge library of titles just waiting for me to delve into in detail and write, make videos and otherwise enthuse about them.

So what is going on with this whole #LoveYourBacklog thing? Well, for starters, people are proudly displaying the size of their backlog via badges on their blogs — if you’re reading this on desktop or tablet, you should see that over on the left. And from there? Well, read on.

Continue reading Dedicated to the Backlog

Atari A to Z: Zeppelin

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve done it! Well, we’ve done it once, anyway.

Yes, indeed, with this week’s Atari A to Z video, we finally make it all the way to Z, with Cathryn (formerly William, as seen on the title screen) Mataga’s Zeppelin, an interesting multi-directional adventure shoot ’em up in which the challenge is not just from shooting bad guys and avoiding environmental hazards, but also from navigation and item manipulation.

This is a great example of the sort of quality software publisher Synapse became well-known for, although that quality tended to come at a price — Zeppelin was a whopping $34.95 when it came out in 1983, or nearly $90 in today’s money, taking inflation into account! And if Mataga’s name is familiar, you may have come across another Synapse-published title called Shamus that I’m sure will feature on this series at some point in the near future! But that’s a story for another day…

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Tina Guo – Game On!

Over the course of the last few decades, the definition of what constitutes “classical music” has gradually been changing.

When I was a child, “classical music” was pretty strictly defined as art music for its own sake — or perhaps as a companion piece to another medium that was also defined as fine art, such as ballet or opera. Soundtracks, of course, existed, but despite sharing a lot in common with “classical music” as defined by popular culture at the time, they were regarded as something… if not lesser as such, certainly different.

Whizz forward to today, however, and we have established classical musicians putting out albums that consist entirely of video game music. Who’d have thought it?

Continue reading Tina Guo – Game On!

Sunday Driving: Midway Pass – Split/Second #6

Look at me, I’m on camera!

Yes, after some reluctance and a surprising amount of urging from my wife (who either really wants me to suffer or genuinely thinks this is a good idea) I finally decided to show my Actual Face on one of these videos. I thought Sunday Driving was as good a place as any to experiment a bit with this format.

And yes, I know I cut the top of my head off in my GameFace shot. This is why we do experimental takes like this!

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Midway Pass – Split/Second #6

Around the Network

Hello! How are you? The weather seems to be on the turn here and the evenings are getting a bit lighter, so the general mood seems to be lifting a bit. January sure sucks, huh.

Well, a low mood for the last month and a bit hasn’t stopped me from hammering out a whole bunch of cool stuff for you to hopefully enjoy! We’ve kicked off a new Cover Game feature, for starters, as well as several ongoing series.

Hit the jump to see what you might have missed this week.

Continue reading Around the Network

Atari A to Z Flashback: Black Widow

I don’t like spiders. I do, however, absolutely LOVE Black Widow, a delightful vector-based twin-stick shooter.

In Black Widow, you play a spider trying to defend their web from all manner of incoming creepy crawlies. And, unfortunately, it seems that they are sick and tired of you doing your spidery thing, and as such are more than capable of taking you out with a single, fatal touch.

Fortunately, you aren’t just any spider. You are the Black Widow, a laser-spitting spider of doom, the kind of thing that you really wouldn’t want to find under your toilet seat when you wake up in the middle of the night to go for a dump…

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

428: Shibuya Scramble – Introduction and History

cropped-header-5671442This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Every so often a game comes along that really makes you sit up and pay attention.

Sometimes it’s because it features a beautiful refinement or evolution of some established mechanics. Sometimes it’s because it really pushes graphical technology forwards. Sometimes it has famous names attached to it.

And sometimes it’s 428: Shibuya Scramble, a title so far removed from what we traditionally think of as a “video game” that you can’t help but notice it.

Continue reading 428: Shibuya Scramble – Introduction and History

New Game Plus: Furaipan Da Yo – Atelier Rorona DX #2

Our (re)adventures in Atelier Rorona DX continue! Now we’ve finished the first assignment in this New Game Plus run, what’s next?

Well, there are plenty of options. Complete some quests, go out exploring, craft some items, make some materials and turn them into weapons and armour, fill out a bingo card, buy some beehives…

Hit the jump and see what Rorona got up to while waiting for her first deadline to hit.

Continue reading New Game Plus: Furaipan Da Yo – Atelier Rorona DX #2

The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.