Community, One-Shots

#ExtraLife: Thank You!

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My 2017 Extra Life efforts are over and done with, and at the conclusion of my 24-hour stint I’d raised a grand total of $170: not quite as much as I managed last time around, but still pretty respectable!

If you’d still like to make a donation to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in celebration of my marathon, you can still do so here.

And if you missed it, well, you’re in “luck”, because I’ve gone and archived most of the stream for you to enjoy at your leisure! (DISCLAIMER: This is all unedited footage, I have had a cold and tonsillitis and am not very good/confident at streaming. But there are some fun games to see, at least!)

Continue reading #ExtraLife: Thank You! →

One-Shots

What’s in the Box: Cyberdimension Neptunia – 4 Goddesses Online

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After a slightly longer wait than expected due to a printing error with the soundtrack CDs, the limited editions for Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online are finally here.

As with most of Idea Factory International’s releases, it’s a substantial but affordable release containing a nice selection of goodies — some practical, some purely to go “ooooh” at. IFI’s limited editions are always reasonably understated and never feel the need to go for the excess of some “Collector’s Editions” — particularly those from triple-A Western publishers — and it’s for that reason I like them. They’re easy and fun to collect and display, and they keep the focus on the game.

So let’s take a look inside the box of this newest one, then!

Continue reading What’s in the Box: Cyberdimension Neptunia – 4 Goddesses Online →

Cover Games, Rance 5D + VI

Rance: Introduction and History

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cropped-rance-header-1-6620974This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Typically, when we talk about gaming franchises that have been around since the early days of the medium, the same names tend to come up all the time.

There’s Final Fantasy, of course, which first appeared in 1987. Super Mario Bros., which hails from 1985. The Legend of Zelda from 1986. All classic series that are still going strong and have been highly prolific over the years, not just with their mainline installments but with numerous spinoffs, too.

What we’re going to explore this month is a series of games from Japan that has been going as long as these established classics, but which remains relatively unknown in the West so far due to 1) its status as an eroge and 2) the fact it only got its first localised release in December of 2016 thanks to MangaGamer.

I am, of course, talking about Rance. Tooooohhhh!

Continue reading Rance: Introduction and History →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Kat

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Gravity Rush and its sequel are both great games, for sure, but they just wouldn’t be the same without the presence of their heroine Kat.

While the simple act of floating around exploring the weird, wonderful Moebius-inspired worlds is a joyful experience in itself, to do it accompanied by a protagonist who is such a pleasure to be around elevates the experience into something truly special and memorable.

So why is Kat such a good heroine? Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Kat →

Essentials, Puzzlers

Puzzler Essentials: Gunpey

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There’s something about handheld systems that just makes puzzle games feel right.

The PlayStation Portable was no stranger to games of this type, of course, what with the excellent Lumines being a launch title for the system and a wide variety of other brainteasers making solid appearances on the platform over the subsequent years.

One of the most interesting and unusual titles on the platform is 2006’s Gunpey, actually the latest installment in a series that got its start on the Japan-only WonderSwan system.

Continue reading Puzzler Essentials: Gunpey →

Cover Games, Ridge Racer

Ridge Racers: The Greatest Hits

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cropped-ridge-header-8975512This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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I wasn’t originally planning to cover the PSP titles in the Ridge Racer series, but after being well and truly glued to them for the last week there’s no way I can’t say something about them.

Known as Ridge Racers in Japan, the two PSP games are almost identical to one another, so we’ll be taking them as a single “unit” today. The main difference between the two releases is that the confusingly named Ridge Racer 2 has more tracks than its PSP-launching predecessor — most notably incorporating all of Ridge Racer Type 4’s circuits instead of just two — plus a few additional single-player modes, including the return of a “checkpoints and countdown”-style arcade mode of the type that hasn’t been seen since Ridge Racer Revolution.

Other than that, they’re pretty much the same game. It’s fortunate, then, that they’re pretty much the same brilliant game.

Continue reading Ridge Racers: The Greatest Hits →

Announcements, One-Shots

Extra Life: Game Day is Soon!

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November 4 is Game Day for this year’s Extra Life — at least for me.

You can find some information about the event and my contribution to it on my fundraising page — as well as make a pledge — but today I wanted to share a bit more information about what I’m planning for the day itself.

I don’t tend to do a lot of streaming, but my 24-hour stint playing Final Fantasy XIV for Extra Life two years ago was a lot of fun, so I’m looking forward to this session too! I hope you’ll join me for some of the day.

Continue reading Extra Life: Game Day is Soon! →

Cover Games, Ridge Racer

Ridge Racer Unbounded: The Black Sheep

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cropped-ridge-header-8975512This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Over the last decade, we’ve seen a lot of series attempt to “reboot” themselves for one reason or another.

In many cases, this is an excuse to go back to older games and remake them with a more modern aesthetic or gameplay conventions, but in others, it is in an attempt to completely reinvent the series for one reason or another — usually as an attempt to respond to the ever-present phantom that is “market forces”.

The Ridge Racer series underwent such a reboot in 2012 with Unbounded. Not only was this an attempt to turn the ageing franchise on its head, it marked a shift in development strategy, too; Unbounded was developed not by Namco itself, but by Bugbear Entertainment, a Finnish outfit who had previously been responsible for the FlatOut series and Sega Rally Revo on the PSP.

Continue reading Ridge Racer Unbounded: The Black Sheep →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Alice Kamishiro

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It’s the last Waifu Wednesday before Halloween, so who better to explore this week than an honest to goodness witch?

Alice Kamishiro is one of the central characters of minori’s Supipara, a proposed five-part series of visual novels of which we’ve seen the first in the West so far, thanks to MangaGamer. Although the first chapter isn’t Alice’s “route”, instead focusing on the protagonist’s second cousin Sakura, she still plays an important part in the story as a whole — and is a mysterious, intriguing character in her own right.

As the series continues to unfold, we’ll have the opportunity to learn more about this rather odd girl and her remarkable powers.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Alice Kamishiro →

Community, One-Shots

The Death of a Community

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The last few years have been a strange time for the gaming community at large — if such a thing even exists as a single entity any more — with one of the most surprising incidents being the apparent fall of NeoGAF.

I won’t be shedding any tears over the site’s possible demise, since its shift into heavily left-leaning progressive politics, the idolisation of women and minorities as infallible beings to be worshiped and unquestioningly protected (as opposed to regular human beings, the same as anyone else) and the immediate, uncompromising exclusion and demonisation of anyone who didn’t fall in line with these values had made the site a laughing-stock for anyone who just wanted to, you know, talk about games. Plus, most relevantly to us here at MoeGamer, many readers will know that the site had been unfriendly to discussion of many modern Japanese games for some time now, with threads on some titles such as Criminal Girls completely banned, and the entirety of the site’s substantial Senran Kagura community unceremoniously ejected one day without any prior warning or explanation.

But the fact remains that what was once a proud institution in gaming culture — one of the longest surviving gaming forums, and formerly a hangout for journalists, developers and gamers alike — now lies in ruins. And that’s significant to anyone who was ever part of it.

Continue reading The Death of a Community →

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