Archive for the ‘News’ Category
It May Happen: Resident Evil 2 Fan Remake Nears Finish
I remember hearing constantly about Resident Evil 2 fan remakes in the last couple of years. Time has been kind to other members of the series, including the HD Remaster of the Gamecube remake and the “elite” 1080p version of Resident Evil 4. Now it appears, thanks to a recent Eurogamer update, that the fan created (and free) Unreal Engine 4 remake of Resident Evil 2 is only a couple of months away. This version takes the over-the-shoulder style of Resident Evil 4 and brings back the classic sequel we all anticipated for two years on the original Playstation. No word yet on what Capcom has to say about it – clearly it has remained silent on the topic – but if you really want this game you will want to grab it the second we post the download link.
Fred’s Take: I fear this is going to be one of many titles that’s probably best left in the creative memory of what it used to be. That said, I will gladly pick up this free version of the game (and possibly even donate some money provided it’s the stellar effort in this video) and see how I feel. Who knows, perhaps it will be the breath of fresh air I’ve been waiting for from Resident Evil.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata Has Died
I remember seeing all those death announcements of celebrities in the last few years, especially the (real) ones that make it to Facebook, and cannot understand the majority of people that claim to be sad. It’s the negative side of me that thinks they are doing that just for attention and want to add the “me too” mentality to the loss of a person we’ve seen on TV or the silver screen. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant because assuming at least some of these people are sincere, I now know how they feel. Satoru Iwata is an important man in the realm of video games and it is with the deepest regard that I discuss his death briefly.
It’s mind blowing to me given his young age, 55. That’s almost twice mine but I do not intend to only live to 55, so on a selfish level it humbles me to think about the frailty of life. More importantly, Iwata represents what we should all want of our company presidents. Working his way up from a programmer and producer at HAL Laboratory (Adventures of Lolo, Kirby) right out of University and eventually rising the ranks to be President of Nintendo is just about the dream of any gamer and developer out there, so he should be commended. We will be doing a show to honor him much like we did with Hiroshi Yamauchi in the upcoming days (and Jeremy Parish has already announced a HAL episode of Retronauts to honor him as well), but it’s just too sad and sudden to jump into it now. I’m not crying or anything, not that he doesn’t deserve it, but because I’m still trying to process it all. I can assure you that if Iwata-san were able to communicate with us he would want us smiling and happy of his release as opposed to saddened, but I just feel a large sense of loss. He was a great man who did great things and regardless of how you feel about Nintendo’s current state there should be no doubt that the company was significantly better thanks in part to his efforts. I don’t want to ramble on or add more sentiment to this Sunday evening so I leave with a fantastic quote from Iwata that Bungie recently tweeted:
On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer.” – Satoru Iwata
Rest in peace.
Capcom Releases Resident Evil 0 Comparison Video With N64 Prototype Footage
Normally we don’t like to report much on what is basically marketing for the upcoming 2016 Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster, but it includes previously unseen clips of the original N64 prototype (where the game was originally going to release). For that reason, and the 5 minute run time, we’ve decided to put it here for all to enjoy.
History in the Making: SNES Playstation Found
We here at Gaming History 101 were of the many who reached out to Dan Diebold after he posted some photos Thursday night of his father’s apparent SNES Playstation console, a console that was never released and all prototypes were thought to be destroyed. Polygon appears to have gotten the interview, and did a fine job at that, so instead of having that coverage Fred delves into what this is, what it means, and what could be on those blank media that came with the console. Sadly since it doesn’t have a power cord we won’t know for a while.
The Birth of the Playstation episode of Gh101 can be found here.
E3 2015 Press Conference Schedule – Join Us!
The Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) is going to have a ton of press conferences this year. You could sit around and watch the boring old things by yourself while today’s top developers tout their newest works, or you could join the All Games Radio crew with live commentary! Perhaps you are unaware when each of the press conferences are taking place? Well look no further, here is you entire press schedule and where you should be able to find us talking games:
- Bethesda: Sunday Night, 10pm Eastern – Press Conference Live on All Games with the radio show broadcasting the commentary and live chat. Head to allgames.com and click on “chat” to join in the fun.
- Microsoft: Monday, Noon Eastern – All Games (allgames.com)
- EA: Monday, 4pm Eastern – All Games
- Ubisoft: Monday, 6pm Eastern – All Games (we may move off site once Mom’s Minute starts at 7pm)
- Sony: Monday, 9pm Eastern – Video feed with special guests, web site TBA
- Nintendo: Tuesday, Noon Eastern – All Games
- Square Enix: Tuesday, 1pm Eastern – All Games
- PC: Tuesday, 8 pm Eastern – Starts on All Games and moves off site
If all goes well we should have captures of these press conferences with the commentary available at your convenience once they end. The Sony and PC press conference will most likely streamed to a UStream site, links available shortly. In addition gameplay demos and streams will be going on all week.
Join us for E3 2015!
Capcom Announces Mega Man Legacy Collection
As we gear up to E3 starting just under a week from now, it was inevitable that announcements would start to fly. Odd that one of these announcements comes from Capcom for the Mega Man Legacy Collection that combines the first six Mega Man titles from the NES era into one comprehensive package. This is not the first time these games have all been collected – there was the Mega Man Anniversary Collection in 2004 for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube with differing opinions on the results and the faithful virtual console allows you to get each game piecemeal for $5 – however in keeping with its “HD Remaster” initiative Capcom is claiming higher quality graphics. The real draw here, aside from the 1080p upscale, is the various challenge modes to switch things up and test even the most seasoned Mega Man fan as well as the museum that has so far promised sketches and art. The Mega Man Legacy Collection will launch sometime this summer on Steam, Xbox One, and PS4 with a 3DS port due this winter for $14.99.
Fred’s Take: This is a somewhat shameless attempt to cash in on the upcoming Keji Inafune (he created Mega Man) project Mighty Number 9. Not only that but aside from upscaling the games and adding some very bare bones items it seems like a shameless cash-in with almost no work done. Still, Frank Cifaldi is head of restoration at Digital Eclipse, the company behind this and many other remakes, and if anyone is going to treat it with care, he will. I just hope this is not the precedence we can come to expect from Capcom’s new dedication to HD and finally see some proper remasters like, say, a Resident Evil 2 overhaul. If you have never played these games, I can see the argument for an inexpensive collection that looks great on an HDTV. Grab the PS4 version though because I can’t stand Microsoft d-pads.
Capcom Confirms Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster
It was bound to happen, if only because all the texture and sprite work from the Gamecube era was already done, but Capcom finally revealed it will be making an HD Remaster of Resident Evil Zero (Biohazard 0 in Japan). This comes on the cusp of the success of Resident Evil HD Remaster, which was developed also on the Gamecube using the same engine. Many had speculated it was coming and some even reported before the official word from Capcom, but we waited until that actually was announced today to report on it. Releasing in early 2016 on the same platforms as this year’s remaster (360/PS3/PC/PS4/XB1) we’re betting it will get the similar digital only treatment and $20 price tag but that has yet to be announced. The link above also provides a video from Koji Oda, the director of Resident Evil Zero, that’s a bit charming.
Fan Translation Double Dip: Dark Half and Super Shell Monsters Story (SNES)
Not one, but two notable Japan only JRPGs from the SNES (Super Famicom) era received completed fan translation patches this weekend: Dark Half and Super Shell Monsters Story. Since you may be justified in having no idea what these games are, let us enlighten you.
Dark Half is most notable because it was developed by Westone aka the Wonder Boy developer. In proving its unique pedigree, this 1996 Enix published JRPG has you playing the hero and the villain in a dark and mature story and related game mechanics. It’s definitely worth checking out if you love Wonder Boy and want to try something new while the rest of us were getting caught up with the PS1 re-releases in the West. Thank you Aeon Genesis (AGTP) for the hard work.
Super Shell Monsters Story is a much more typical JRPG released on the Super Famicom in 1994 by Hudson Soft, this is a traditional turn-based title that like many others steals the Dragon Quest (Warrior) formula and gives it that super cute and bright colored spin Hudson was known for. It’s somewhat obscure, even to the Japanese, so playing through this title may be more for earning your otaku cred than anything else, but the team at Dynamic Designs worked hard and clearly love this game. Thanks for the hard work and I hope to someday give this title the love it deserves.
Clicking on the links in the opening line above will take you to the fan translation patch page.
Pixelated Pints Episode 31: Damn You Internetz
This episode Fred and Heffe have a long show that starts out with technical issues and ends up being silky smooth till the very end. We discuss the business of HD remakes, financial plans, the good old days of Call of Duty, Fallout 4 leaks, and more.
Opening Song – Beautiful Disaster by 311
Closing Song – Gasoline by Audioslave
Double Fine Has Some Awesome Game Dev Videos
I have always been meaning to watch the fantastic Double Fine Adventure! series spanning more than 20 videos at current that gives you the most in depth look behind the creative process I’ve ever seen. Always a likable team with an equally likable and charismatic leader in Tim Schafer, Double Fine nails it in this series about Kickstarted title Broken Age and all of the business and developmental setbacks along the way. I have posted the full run (playlist) below as an in-browser window for your convenience.
What you should also check out is the fantastic Devs Play series that spans 25 videos of development guys playing old games (like The Lion King and Doom) and even how to hack a ROM (they use Legend of Zelda), which I find fascinating. Probably the best episode, and a rightful finale to the first season, is a more than 2 hour video with Koji Igarashi (Iga) on the development of Symphony of the Night to kick off his new project. You can also see that below:
Gaming History 101 