On the Age-Old Question of Video Game Violence

February 27, 2018 Pete Davison 5 Comments

Over at The Well-Red Mage, which you should really be reading if you enjoy thoughtful and well-considered writing about games without sociopolitical showboating, the Mage posed an interesting question.

It’s one we’ve been over many times since the medium’s inception, and yet at the time of writing, it’s once again a hot topic thanks to recent gun-related atrocities and the surrounding discussions.

So let’s talk about it a bit. I am, of course, no expert on psychology, so I’m not going to speak for anyone else; instead, I’m primarily going to focus on my own experiences here, and contemplate how they perhaps came to be. Feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments, and be sure to drop by the Mage’s site to see some other takes on the matter.

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Essentials, Neo Geo

Neo Geo Essentials: Shock Troopers

February 26, 2018 Pete Davison 7 Comments

“The eight soldiers get to attack the wicked terrorists!!”

So ran the promotional blurb on the arcade flyer for SNK’s Shock Troopers, a well-regarded installment in the Neo Geo library developed by Saurus and originally released in 1997 to both home- and arcade-based Neo Geo systems.

This is not by any means a unique setup for a video game, particularly an arcade title from the era, but what makes Shock Troopers truly special is its execution. And its presentation. And, well, everything.

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Essentials, SNES

SNES Essentials: Top Gear

February 23, 2018 Pete Davison 9 Comments

It’s weird how some memories stick with you for the longest time, for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

Prior to picking up a copy again recently, I hadn’t played Top Gear on the Super NES since the early ’90s when it was first released. And yet upon firing it up I confirmed something I had suspected for a while: its music had indeed been stuck in my head for nearly thirty years.

I was also pleased to discover that Top Gear is indeed still a whole lot of fun — and a great example of a type of racing game that has been rendered largely obsolete by the advances in technology over the years.

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Cover Games

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2: Amping It Up

February 22, 2018 Pete Davison Leave a comment

This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
<< First | < Previous

What makes a good sequel? It’s a question that there isn’t really a conclusive answer for, because there are so many different ways you can approach it.

In the world of video games, we’ve had titles that completely reinvent themselves from their previous installments, games that simply offer more of the same, and series that evolve, change and improve over time.

The sequel to Azure Striker Gunvolt takes a combination of approaches, building on the good work of the original and expanding it considerably. And, like its predecessor, it’s a cracking good time, particularly for those who grew up in the 16-bit era.

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Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Joule and Lumen, The Muse

February 21, 2018 Pete Davison 2 Comments

When I asked Inti Creates producer and localisation specialist Matt Papa who his favourite Inti waifu was, he was initially hesitant to answer, saying it was a “REALLY hard question”.

I can understand that response; over the course of the Cover Game features and our previous exploration of Gal*Gun Double Peace, it’s become abundantly clear that not only is Inti Creates a company good at producing high-quality games inspired by classics of the past, it also has plenty of people on staff with a formidable talent for creating waifus.

“I’m gonna have to say Joule/Lumen from the Azure Striker Gunvolt series,” Papa finally decided. “Because she is just the cutest, sweetest character, she was a big part of the first game I ever worked on, her voice actress Megu Sakuragawa is an absolutely delightful person, and the list goes on.”

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Cover Games, Inti Creates

Mighty Gunvolt Burst: Bringing It All Together

February 21, 2018 Pete Davison 6 Comments

This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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If you ever wanted to play a game that is clearly Inti Creates “at play”, Mighty Gunvolt Burst on Nintendo Switch and 3DS is emphatically the game for you.

Coming across as a rather wonderful attempt to fling everything at the wall and see what sticks, this NES-style, Mega Man-inspired romp features an impressive degree of customisation, plenty of variety — and, for some, represents an overall better experience than the divisive Mighty No. 9, despite being based around many of the same stages and bosses.

One thing’s for sure: it’s a ton of fun, and if you get a kick out of Inti Creates’ authentic but modern take on retro-style gameplay, you’re going to love this.

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Essentials

PS2 Essentials: Alpine Racer 3

February 19, 2018 Pete Davison Leave a comment

I am one of the least sporty people I know, and I find the prospect of winter sports particularly terrifying. But I’ve always found something appealing about games involving skiing and suchlike.

My interest in this type of game dates right back to the imaginatively titled Skiing on the Philips G7000 Videopac (aka the Magnavox Odyssey 2 for American readers, where the game was known as Alpine Skiing) and the slightly later Winter Games from Epyx for various home computers.

Sometime around the PlayStation 1 and 2 eras, winter sports games started to place a heavy focus on technical, trick-based gameplay rather than the straight racing of early titles such as Skiing. And I kind of missed that simplicity.

Enter Namco’s Alpine Racer 3, the third installment of a series that began as a 1994 arcade title.

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Cover Games

Azure Striker Gunvolt: An Electrifying Action Platformer

February 16, 2018 Pete Davison 2 Comments

This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
<< First | < Previous | Next > | Latest >>

As we’ve already seen, one of Inti Creates’ biggest strengths as a developer is its ability to understand what made the games of the past great while simultaneously updating them with modern conveniences and conventions.

Azure Striker Gunvolt, a relatively new series from the company but one which has already gone on to be popular and well-received, is a great example of this philosophy at work. Adopting a pleasingly chunky but detailed late 16-bit pixel art look and combining it with delicious 2D art, excellent storytelling and a well-crafted world, the game provides a wonderful experience, whether you enjoy it on its original host platform of the 3DS, its port to PC or its most recent incarnation on Nintendo Switch as part of the Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack alongside its sequel.

Let’s take a closer look at where this game from and what makes it tick… or rather buzz, perhaps.

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Essentials

Namco Essentials: Tank Force

February 15, 2018 Pete Davison 2 Comments

While they’ve fallen a bit out of fashion in more recent years, tanks have been an important part of the gaming landscape pretty much since its dawn. (Then, of course, they trundled right over said landscape, flattened it and blew it up.)

Indeed, one of the earliest competitive games — Atari’s Combat for 2600, released in 1977 — is most well known for its highly enjoyable two-player tank battles, though the game’s myriad modes also incorporated a variety of other vehicles.

Namco got in on the tank battle action in 1980 with its arcade title Tank Battalion, subsequently followed up by spinoff title Battle City for Famicom in 1985. Then, finally, we come to 1991’s Tank Force, the game that we’re concerned with today — and an underappreciated arcade title that is well worth your time to check out.

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Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Call

February 14, 2018 Pete Davison 2 Comments

I have a bit of a thing for robot girls, I won’t lie.

It’s perhaps more accurate to say that I have a bit of a thing for certain types of robot girls, particularly those as depicted in Japanese video games and anime. I am, to be specific, a fan of robot girls who speak Japanese in a voice that simultaneously sounds kind of emotionless but also infused with urgency; a fan of robot girls who deliver their lines with a delightfully percussive, clipped tone; and, of course, robot girls who are cute.

I most certainly, in short, have a bit of a thing for Call from Mighty No. 9.

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