Announced at EVO 2015 in Las Vegas, Capcom confirmed the first brand new fighter to join the Street Fighter V roster – the mysterious Necalli!
Capcom also confirmed the details of the content plan for Street Fighter V. The initial game purchase will be the only disc or full game download you will ever need to own. For the first time ever, all post-launch gameplay related content will be earnable via gameplay, totally free of charge. Players will also have the option to purchase the content as soon as it’s available if they wish to do so. Any balance and system adjustments will be available for free also. Releasing in Q1 2016, the title will launch with a core roster of 16 characters, including 4 brand new fighters to the Street Fighter universe. Capcom will continually add additional characters, making this the first iteration in the franchise where it’s possible for dedicated players to continue to expand on their gameplay experience without the need to purchase further titles in the series.
About Necalli
Possessing a wide variety of savage and close range attacks, all of Necalli’s moves have been forged through the heat of battle to ensure he’s inflicting maximum pain upon his opponents. Making full use of the Battle System mechanics, Necalli’s V-Skill allows him to pound the ground with both fists, creating an explosion that damages the enemy whereas the powerful V-Trigger allows him to channel a mysterious energy that changes his hair colour and alters his personality for a short period of time. Capcom will be revealing more information on Necalli’s origin and storyline in the coming months so stay tuned for more details.
About Street Fighter V
The legendary fighting franchise returns with Street Fighter V! Stunning visuals depict the next generation of World Warriors in unprecedented detail, while exciting and accessible battle mechanics deliver endless fighting fun that both beginners and veterans can enjoy. Challenge friends online, or compete for fame and glory on the Capcom Pro Tour.
Street Fighter V will be released exclusively for the PlayStation(R)4 and PC in Spring 2016 with the first online Beta beginning on July 24th in Australia and New Zealand. Through a strategic partnership between Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and Capcom, the next generation Street Fighter experience will offer cross-platform play that will unite fans into a centralized player base for the first time ever. The path to greatness begins here: RISE UP!
It has been just over a week since the internet was torn asunder by the news that CEO and President of Nintendo, Mr. Satoru Iwata, had passed away. The world quickly took to social media, posting tributes and condolences over a fallen hero. Even rival companies, Microsoft and Sony, paid respects to Iwata and his family at the news showing that a good person transcends the everlasting console war.
Even if you aren’t like me and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning (because Australia) to watch the latest Nintendo Direct and see all the goodies that Iwata and his peers would announce, if you have played anything remotely Nintendo, you have more than likely played something that Satoru had a hand in bringing to life.
From an early age, Satoru had an interest in games. As a high schooler, he designed games for him and his classmates to play on electronic calculators. It’s no surprise that he went on to major in computer science at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and take his first role in software development as an intern at Commodore Japan. Following this, he rented an apartment in Akihabara to form a game development club, which would eventually evolve into HAL Laboratory (a developer that often work in close collaboration with Nintendo to this day).
HAL laboratory might not ring a bell to you if you aren’t a Nintendo nerd, but some house hold names of the last few decades might; Earthbound, Kirby, Super Smash Bros. and the early Pokémon games just to name a few and all of which Iwata had a stake in creating.
In the year 2000, Satoru took a corporate position at Nintendo and oversaw growth in the company as its Head of Planning. A mere two years later, Mr. Satoru Iwata became the fourth president of Nintendo, being the first new leader in more than half a century and the only president to not have been related to the Yamauchi family who founded the company in 1889.
It’s safe to say that Mr. Iwata saw the company through its best and worst times financially. He was at the helm of implementing the Nintendo strategy of abandoning competition in the console war (between Xbox and Playstation) and focussing on keeping games fun and accessible to people of all ages. This would lead to great success with the Nintendo DS and Wii.
Sadly this trend did not carry on to the Nintendo 3DS or WiiU, with the market for accessible games shifting to mobile devices. Seeing this paradigm shift, Satoru setup a partnership with mobile platform developer DeNA to bring Nintendo characters and franchises to mobile devices. This move may help Nintendo live on for many years beyond his passing.
I tear up writing this article because Satoru was a great role model for me and kept a company I hold dear alive and created games that helped me grow throughout my life. I know I’m not the only one as thousands of heartbroken fans in Japan stood in pouring rain to pay respect to a lost legend. You will be missed. Rest in peace…our leader, Iwata-san.
The fifth episode of True Detective’s second season takes place three months after the brutal final scene from last week. You could be forgiven for thinking you’d accidentally skipped over an episode because a lot has gone down in those three months. Things are getting tighter for the Semyons, they’ve downgraded houses and Frank is getting back into the gangster business. As for the detectives, they are no more, Velcoro has quit, Bezzerides is in evidence lock up and Woodrugh has stepped up to take their place.
I was quite surprised by the three month jump and whether the decision was made to speed up the story I cannot tell since there is a definite feel of a mid-season lull to this episode. Everyone has slowed down and the State Attorney is happy to believe Caspere’s killer died in the shoot-out, even when the investigation picks up again everything is on the hush-hush. The reveal that Semyon may have set Velcoro up is the saving grace of the entire episode and it leads to quite a gripping cliffhanger.
Depression, monotony and personal drama is the key to showing off a casts’ acting chops and this week Colin Farrell really pulled out all the stops. Without the help of his moustache, Farrell gives a stellar performance, especially when it comes to the scene where Velcoro realises his whole life may have been ruined for nothing. Velcoro has “gone clean” for his son and Farrell seamlessly delivers a more sober performance that shows how hard Velcoro is trying to get back on track. It’s either that or he looks more presentable without a moustache, I can’t tell.
Another scene that was quite reminiscent of season one was the discovery of the terrifying lair of the crow master. I maintain my opinion that the murders from True Detective could be fit quite easily in a Criminal Minds episode. Nonetheless, tying the two crimes together is an attractive if obvious idea and I am still interested in the murder plotline. The relationship between the three cops is another aspect of the show that has been notched up a level of intrigue this episode. When compared to the bond between Cole and Hart from last season, it can be seen as both stronger and weaker depending on how you look at it. Velcoro and Bezzerides are the closest of the trio and their relationship makes for an interesting dynamic, I just hope Nic Pizzolatto doesn’t plan on taking their relationship further.
Fans of the first season may enjoy this episode more than previous ones this time around since this is essentially the deep episode. Superfluously ambitious vocabulary and eloquent metaphors are strewn around the hour like lovers’ clothes are thrown across the bedroom. Basically, big words and similes. One scene in particular, when the Semyons are talking about their prospects of a child again in what seems to be the quietest nightclub office ever. It’s nice enough but as I’ve said before, this is the weakest of the plotlines and these kind of scenes don’t go much in the way of furthering the story.
One thing that I have been quite impressed by this entire series has been Rachel McAdams’ hair. Deputy Head Hair, Patricia DeHaney (yes, I looked her name up in the credits) and her team of hairstylists have done an amazing job of making McAdams’ hair look as shitty as possible. It may be a minor detail but I think it’s quite fitting to her character and it’s a nice change from the norm, when every single person on TV has effortlessly amazing hair. Don’t worry Velcoro, I haven’t forgotten you, your hair looks like arse as well.
All in all, this isn’t the worst episode of the series, neither is it the best. There’s not too much to talk about since things have slowed down for this episode. A few notable things have happened, namely the Velcoro/Semyon stand-off. While, a few dull things happened as well(since they are boring, there’s really no point mentioning them). I’m still watching for the resolution to both the cliffhanger and the murders but I’m less impressed by the personal dramas. Woodrugh’s secret sexuality was specially dull this episode and I wouldn’t be sad to see it trail off into oblivion. Shall we end with a quote? I don’t have one prepared but I can scrub through randomly to see what turns up…”Frank, thanks for coming”.
If you are familiar with the world of podcasting you would be aware of the greats, The Ricky Gervais Show, WTF With Marc Maron and Serial. These are definitely worthy of their popularity but there are many other podcasts that are just as good and never get the attention they deserve. It can be quite frustrating, not only for the creators but the consumer who wishes to seek out new and exciting podcasts after binging all the round headed twonk had to offer. For that reason, I plan on recommending/reviewing some of the best of the niche out there every week.
Ever since the dawn of podcasting there has always been one question on people’s lips; “when will a podcast be released that is brave enough to explain to the world the importance of email?”. Now, after ten years that podcast has arrived in the form of The XFM Elis James And John Robins Podcast and people all around the world finally understand that, “you have to be on email”. Not to mention, the show is also one of the most entertaining, hilarious and fun shows out there.
XFM has a long history of hiring very talented comedians with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Karl Pilkington, Russell Brand, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to name a few. Elis James and John Robins make up part of the British frat pack of comedians that are now dominating the UK’s comedy scene. John Robins is quite easily the biggest Queen fan in the world, who is a comedian, over five feet and has a show on XFM, with his friend Elis. While Elis James is known by many names, he is the rightful heir to the medieval town of Gwynedd, the officer for Anecdote Shire North, the first man in 450 years to be banned from the Isle of Anglesey, among others. Along with their coleslaw obsessed producer Dave, the two release a fifty minute podcast every week consisting of “listeners” problem solving, the outing of humble braggers and radio’s most competitive trivial pursuit. Another notable segment is, “John Reads Aloud From Tony Blackburn’s Autobiography” which does what it says on the tin and Blackburn’s autobiography could quite possibly be the most unintentionally, hilarious autobiography ever written.
Elis and John have carved out their own style of comedy that consists of spontaneous singing, high pitched anger and quality banter. As if this article didn’t already contain enough in jokes, I shall now explain the show in the trademarked James and Robins manner. Ales, ales, anecdote, anecdote, ales, Queen, Welsh history, Queen, anecdote, ales, ales, farthings, anecdote, ales, football, Twitter, ales (as far as I know, they don’t do the show drunk, they just really like talking about larging-it).
I highly recommend giving this podcast a listen as it is one of the few examples of radio that can still work in podcast format. The duo even include some extra content exclusive to the podcast at the beginning and definitely do not favour their live listeners over the online ones. So crack open an ale or a beverage of your choice and do yourself a favour by listening to this absolutely quallo podcast.
Let’s lend some context to that statement. It’s the middle of hiatus apart from the ever-reliable Suits there is little to no entertaining new releases. The blockbuster season is near over with Ant-Man and Paper Towns (concluding with Fantastic Four in two weeks) and despite lots of flashy trailers debuting at Comic-Con it looks like a boring eight weeks ahead.
It’s also freezing. The Antarctic Vortex is causing it to snow in parts of Queensland. QUEENSLAND. THE SUNSHINE STATE. If you can be bothered to venture outside you need thirty jackets and some really thick woolly socks. It’s honestly just easier to stay in and watch Netflix. On a related note, I’ve begun watching Firefly. Excellent show. Younger and equally charismatic versions of Nathan Fillion and Gina Torres acting out science fiction from Joss Whedon. Amazing.
Anyway back to the topic at hand – MTV’s Scream. It is in no way, shape or form anywhere near the same ball park as Firely. One is a modern day classic and one is some dribble I’m ingesting while I wait for my preferred dribble – Faking It – to return. But it’s freezing and here we are.
The names of all the cast are so forgettable that it only serves you to remember them by their stereotypes. So far we have Good Girl, Outcast, Nerd, Nerd’s Girlfriend, Bitch, Footballer #1, Footballer #2, Hot Teacher and Mum. We have to add Handsome Guy to that list as an adversary to Footballer #1, a love interest for Good Girl and a source of leaking police documents to the teens. He was the one kissing Good Girl in the pilot by the lakeside, not Hot Teacher. You’ll have to forgive me – MTV seems to have recruited all its male leads from the same Dolce and Gabbana catalogue.
Except for Nerd. He’s a real actor.
He’s fallen head over heels for Nerd’s Girlfriend (funnily enough) and the two are about to have sex on the football field before he calls it quits. An episode later they’re about to sex on a lounge when she gets a text from Ghostface to meet up. Nerd’s Girlfriend obviously doesn’t know it’s Ghostface because Scream is trying it’s hardest to be a thriller/slasher/horror/whatever. Nerd’s Girlfriend is under the impression it’s Tyler.
No witty nickname for Tyler. He’s kind of unforgettable. Not the character or the actor too much – but the way in which he bit the dust. In a twist on the legendary opening of the original feature film poor Tyler has his head cut off and thrown in his girlfriend’s pool. Ghostface then collected it back – hopefully setting up an excellent jump scare down the line – and positioned the blame of all the murders to fall on Tyler’s … head.
Elsewhere, Footballer #1 and Footballer #2 are cross for some less interesting reason. It’s not abundantly clear why, and it’s not abundantly clear whether that was intentional or not by the writers. In the opening scene there’s some trickery with a webcam that may have been Ghostface or may have been the Footballers, though further down the line it’s determined it’s a longstanding operation that Tyler was a part of. Then how could the three be responsible for the stunt that escalated into Tyler’s beheading?
No idea. I miss How To Get Away With Murder. Also, the two have an old fashioned shovel VS knife Mexican standoff that amounts to nothing. Bit disappointing really.
Across town our protagonist (Good Girl) is experiencing lots of feelings, namely angst. She’s realised that the man she kissed by the lake isn’t Hot Teacher and actually Handsome Guy which means the two can do the whole Ross and Rachel dance for another seven episodes. Meanwhile Footballer #1 is angry he was dumped in the pilot and insists on creating a love triangle.
Outcast isn’t having a good time either. Her girlfriend isn’t replying to her, probably because Ghostface promptly killed her and framed it as a suicide inside the first ten minutes of episode two. Mum – pulling double duty as the town coroner – examines the body and determines it was a murder. Her daughter Good Girl overhears and drops this news to former friend Outcast at the girlfriend’s wake for God’s sake. Very insensitive, although the pair bond somewhat to progress the plot.
And Good Girl continues getting harassed by Ghostface. Shrug.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Who is Ghostface? It’s too early to tell. There are still a lot of options on the table.
It’s not Good Girl, obviously, and it’s not Mum. And the motives don’t match Outcast or Bitch. Hot Teacher has zero plot so we’ll put him in the good guy pile for now.
Footballer #1 and Footballer #2 are in a very negative light right now and are the first to show outward aggression. #1 had his relationship ruined by Ghostface though so it doesn’t make an abundance of sense (not a prerequisite for Scream).
Which leaves Nerd, Nerd’s Girlfriend and Handsome Guy. We’re supposed to believe it is Nerd. His interests in the previous and current case are easy clues and the meta-commentary can get a touch creepy. At times it can get super-creepy, but that’s the producer leaning too heavy on one solid trait. It’s not him.
And I didn’t think we had enough evidence to point towards Handsome Guy. Which left Nerd’s Girlfriend, the suspect just left of centre that would be an AHA moment everyone ‘should have seen coming’. One problem: she’s dead. Got a slice down the back of her leg and another in her back, prompting an emotional video call as she bled out on the roof of the local police station. Ironic. Not intelligent irony, but the look-look-we’re-Scream attitude the series is taking to the whole thing.
Which leaves Handsome Guy. Or Footballer #2. Or Hot Teacher. Or literally anybody else.
There’s a lot of heat around the way women are represented in games as well as our place in the gaming industry. On the whole, people are glad to see a growing number of women playing and making games, but there are still some struggling with acceptance. And while some games do an admirable job of creating strong female characters, a lot of the major titles are still lagging behind. But even disregarding the gender equality issues explored in the media lately, there’s no doubt that women in gaming face certain challenges. As a woman who’s played games her entire life, and is working towards a career in the industry, my life has been shaped by issues of identity within the community.
The biggest issue I’ve faced as a woman who plays games isn’t sexism or abuse – I’ve been harassed by a guy online once and a lot more people came to my defence than screamed at me to add them. The hardest part of being a gamer has been expressing my passion for the medium to some of the most important people in my life. My mum didn’t love that I played so many games as a kid, and I think she was a bit shocked when I told her I was going to be studying them at uni. None of my closest friends are gamers, and for the most part I’ve stopped talking to them about games. Not because it makes me feel excluded but because I know they have no idea what I’m talking about! So for a long time I didn’t have an outlet for discussing video games, and I always desperately wanted one.
The life-long desire to share my love of gaming is a big part of what made me want to become a video games journalist. These days, some of my happiest moments come from the times I send Novastream reviews to my mum. Since I’ve started writing for the site, every article has given me a chance to share a part of myself with all the non-gamers that I love.
Anya is every bit BJ’s equal in Wolfenstein: The New Order
I’ve also struggled with the sense that I need to justify my interest in gaming, as a career choice but especially a hobby, because I’m a woman. Writing my dissertation on video games gave me a chance to show that all the time and effort I’d put into games was worthwhile. Months of tireless work and a lifetime of investment paid off when I could point to respected academics like Janet Murray, Miguel Sicart, and Tom Bissell and explain how I was expanding on their work. My Honours supervisor is an amazing and inspiring woman, but she had no idea about games or what made them special. When she was interested in my research and acknowledged video games as a powerful narrative form, I remember feeling a huge sense of pride, relief, and success.
But this is still hard for some people to grasp. The other day I was telling a neighbour about this article and she asked why any nice young lady would like video games? The reason is simple: they give me an experience that nothing can match. I love immersing myself in fantasy worlds, and games offer this escape in a way no other medium can. It’s doesn’t matter that I’m a girl – I just love being told stories and getting the privilege to participate in them!
Sadly, the stereotype that games are a man’s medium is still prevalent in our society. Last year I wrote a uni assignment on the rhetoric at work in the Gamergate controversy. When I started research I thought the issue was silly but working towards a real solution, but by the end of the essay I was convinced it had devolved into a screaming match between two sides who wouldn’t take no for an answer, no matter the consequence for the industry. The whole thing seems ridiculous and harmful, and I want nothing more to do with it. That being said, of course I believe that games should work to portray more realistic and positive female characters. And, happily, some games do an outstanding job of this! Anya and Caroline in Wolfenstein: The New Order are just as integral to the resistance as BJ, and Frau Engel is a terrifying villain without compromise; Lara Croft burst back into our lives as an unstoppable whirlwind of ability and strength of will in the rebooted Tomb Raider; a female Commander Shepard in Mass Effect is the saviour of the galaxy and lacks nothing that a male Shepard possesses. In fact, BioWare games in general are brilliant examples of gender equality. Mass Effect 2 shows off Miranda’s sex appeal every chance it gets, but she isn’t defined by it: she’s incredibly smart, a formidable player in galactic intrigue, and a powerful ally for Shepard. Dragon Age: Inquisition features a cast of ambitious and talented women, as Novastream’s own Zahra discussed. Characters like this make me proud to be a girl gamer, because they give me positive female characters to identify with and form connections with.
Miranda’s as threatening as she is beautiful
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of problems with the representation of women in games. Women in GTA V are only ever prostitutes and “bitches” put in the game for a male audience’s violent comedic outlet. The Witcher 3 has positive female characters, but the sex cards in the first game are a childishly hyper-sexualised approach to women. Geralt having sex with lots of women makes sense in a narrative context, but there’s no in-game justification for his collection of the middle ages equivalent to naked snapchats. The cards only serve to appeal to players, and young male players at that.
For the first time in the franchise’s AAA release history, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate will feature a playable female character (Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation gave us Aveline as a playable character, but the fact that this instalment was relegated to a PS Vita release should show how little effort Ubisoft put into this attempt at gender equality). However, a report from Kotaku claims that Evie will only be playable for roughly 20% of the game. I understand the marketing logic behind this choice, with the series having a predominately male audience, but with the demographic of the gaming industry constantly shifting to include more and more women, this won’t be a valid excuse for much longer.
I felt pretty gross getting this screenshot but at least I didn’t shoot the dancer once she was done
Personally, I don’t often get offended by gender imbalanced in games, but even so, I’d love to see them continue to change. There are more and more women getting involved in all aspects of the industry, and I’m sure they’d agree when I say that I want more realistic women in games, both to represent us and for us to identify with. This isn’t a case of wholesome versus sexy – I love seeing a kick-ass lady flaunting what she’s got – just don’t make a woman’s appearance her defining characteristic.
The gender imbalances in the gaming community had a big influence on the kinds of friends I made when I was younger. In primary school I was very much a tomboy and I had more guy friends than girls, mostly because I recognised boys as my chance to talk about video games. But I realised in my last years of high school that playing games and doing girly things aren’t mutually exclusive. I still don’t have a lot of female friends who game, but all my ladies are amazingly geeky about something. I met Lauren when she saw my Star Wars pencil case one day at school, and she owns what I’m sure is the world’s largest collection of Marvel shirts and lounge pants; Bridgette knows more about Girls than Lena Dunham herself and may even love Han Solo more than I do; I get roughly one snapchat a week from Jess who can’t wait to show off her new art supplies; Mel has the most intense reactions to TV shows and we spent our afternoons after school binging on Veronica Mars and Fringe. I love seeing them geek out about their thing, and even when we’re not talking about video games it satisfies the part of me that wants to express a passion for something.
Lara Croft has no time for looking glamorous when she’s fighting for her life
That being said, games have also been the cornerstone of some of my strongest relationships. One of my best friendships in high school started when I asked a guy to help me build a computer, and we were inseparable for years. I met some of my closest friends at college when they saw the giant KOTOR poster on my wall, and Mass Effect 3 is what led to my boyfriend and I going on our first date (we made a bet that whoever finished the series last would take the other out for coffee. I won, but I think that was his plan all along). So even though a mutual appreciation for games isn’t as important to me as I once thought it was, they’re still an important part of my life.
Games are an amazing medium that welcome anyone with open arms. There’s still work to be done to achieve equality in games, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be positive experiences for women. Being a gamer has given me some amazing experiences in life. I’ve made lots of friends playing games, and I’ve become a part of some very friendly and supportive communities. But no woman – no person – who plays games is defined by that interest. Girl gamers aren’t spectacles, we’re just people who want interactive and immersive experiences. When these experiences get gender representation right, they can lead to some powerful responses. So I’m going to keep striving for equality in games for as long as I’m involved in the industry, and I’m excited to see where we end up in the next few years.
Do you ever find yourself wondering, “What would it be like if Sonic was a naked mole rat instead of a hedgehog?” or “I wonder if Masterchief would ever wear a chef’s hat instead of his helmet.”? No? Well you must lead a very productive life but I find alternatives in the gaming universe very interesting and that’s why today I’ve decided to compile a list of the most fascinating changes in video game history.
Crash Bandicoot
It’s hard to imagine a world without the whirlwind antics of everyone’s favourite Eastern barred bandicoot. Though for Naughty Dog, that was almost a reality when they came up with designs for Wuzzy/Willie the Wombat in 1994. Naughty Dog wanted to make a game centred around a character that was “cute, real and that no one really knew about” and that could also become a mascot for the Playstation in the same way Sonic was for Sega and Mario for Nintendo. So the team bought a book of Tasmanian marsupials and whittled the list down to potoroo, wombat and bandicoot.
Eventually the change was made to Crash Bandicoot, a decision that did not go down to well with the Universal big wigs. The marketing director at Universal Interactive Studios insisted that the game and character should be named either Wez, Wezzy, Wuzzle the Wombat or even Ozzie the Otzel(which isn’t even an animal by the way), but they backed down when Naughty Dog threatened to leave.
Bioshock Infinite
A lot of work went into Bioshock Infinite, with production beginning in February 2008, five years before it’s release. In fact so much work was done that according to the game’s design director, Bill Gardner there was enough on the cutting room floor to make an extra five or six games. Of five years in development, two and a half were kept a secret as the team from Irrational Games used the code name, “Project Icarus”. Before development took place, there was talk of setting the game during the Renaissance period or even returning to Rapture. Eventually they decided that the claustrophobic feel of Rapture was also limiting their ideas so they decided to flip over to the complete opposite, creating a world within the clouds. The plot also went through a few changes and before setting on American exceptionalism and revolution it was originally going to involve a bunch of nerdy tech geeks fighting the luddites of the world. Which sounds great for a sitcom plot but in the end I think Ken Levine made the right decision.
It’s all well and good hearing about these development stage tweaks and changes but what is really interesting about Bioshock Infinite is that almost every trailer released looked very different from the final product. Probably the most intriguing of these trailers includes ten minutes of game-play. Essentially it was an entire level that was not included in the game with different voice actors, a slightly grittier style and bonus telekinesis abilities. Another noticeable thing are the horses, the mechanical horse that is broken down in the final game walks down the street on it’s last legs while an infamous biological horse can be seen in the background. This horse was present in another differing trailer in which Elizabeth brings the horse back to life by opening a tear in a world where it’s still alive along with the credibility of the Star Wars franchise. Elizabeth’s appearance is also slightly more harsh but her Disney Princess-esque appearance of the final game was a better fit because it added more to the juxtaposition of her character. All in all, we can’t complain about the changes because Bioshock Infinite was a near perfect game but a little piece of me will always hope to stumble upon a tear to a world where the game was not changed and I’d get to play it all over again.
Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos
Sometimes in life, the death of one idea can make way for the birth of another like a caterpillar that blooms into a beautiful butterfly or how the end of Friends brought the world the beginning of Joey. Ok, so maybe that last example wasn’t exactly a happy ending but the story of Croc is much more pleasing. Originally planned as a spin-off to the Mario series, Croc was to be Yoshi’s first 3-D venture.
After Nintendo said no to Argonaut, the company sought out alternate platforms and settled with Playstation, Sega and PC, although Croc was still published on the Game Boy. Yoshi was swapped out for an original character and Croc was born. So it’s a bittersweet story, on the one hand a wonderful new IP was born, while on the other we are still yet to get a 3-D platformer staring the little green dinosaur. If you squint really hard though Croc sort of looks like Yoshi, it’s either that or Yoshi’s Wooly World.
Overstrike
Now for the somber tale of a greedy, stupid corporation that though it knew best(don’t they all) and squeezed all the creativity out of what could have been an incredibly inventive game. During 2011’s E3 conference, Insomniac revealed the trailer for their new quirky, fun, fast-paced four player co-op IP, Overstrike. This trailer caused much excitement amongst the few nerds that actually had friends they could play games with and it seemed Insomniac were on to a winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Ah20wNe1g
That is when EA stepped in and blew the fusebox on the whole thing. The next time we heard from “Overstrike” it had become Fuse, a pathetic, second-rate Call Of Duty knock-off with absolutely no soul. This was such a disappointment considering the lack of cooperative games there are one the market, especially ones that can facilitate four players… Sorry it just makes me so mad, it’s taking all I’ve got not to swear at the EA executives that are behind this game murder. Aarrgh, F-use, you bunch of Puse, you’re all just Lusers…ah that feels much better.
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
It’s hard to imagine Ocarina Of Time any other way but it’s true that the game had been planned in first person perspective. Shingeru Miyamoto wanted the player to be able to drink in the view of Hyrule Field and felt first-person was the best method of landscape sculling. Although once it was decided that a child would be the protagonist, Miyamoto thought it necessary for the player to be able to see the child(not touching that).
Of course jokes aside, third person suits the game much better than first and Ocarina Of Time certainly needs no tinkering. Still, it would be great to be able to play the game in first person if only for the novelty. Which thanks to the Oculus Rift is possible, so if your lucky enough to own a Rift, go, go now! Otherwise as with everything else in life, there’s always Youtube.
