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Oh man. Konami's gone on a rampage, canceling projects left and right. Just in this one announcement, we've already lost:

New Action Game (PS3)
New Role Playing Game (PS3)
New Action Adventure Game 2 (Wii)
Role Playing Game (Wii)

After New Action Adventure Game 1, I was really looking forward to seeing where the story would go.

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Oh my!

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Toy Commander revival?

This is made by the recently-famous Zootfly. No Uncanny Murray in this one.

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http://wiinintendo.net/2007/03/16/sega-saturn-heading-for-virtual-console/

I don't think it's a new NiGHTS game. Even if I trusted Yuji Naka to watch my ramen without slurping it behind my back, and even if I... liked NiGHTS to start with, I think this would excite me rather more anyway.

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Yo, Wii is now the Virtua Console!

Virtua Cop would work well.

And yeah, I don't know how they're working this out either. The Saturn is notorious. Maybe there's been a breakthrough? Maybe these are remakes? Maybe it's just a patch to support Saturn discs, and make the system backward compatible (which would still need emulation then, so... uh?). Confusing, all in all. I guess we'll see if this goes anywhere.

If it does, though -- hey. Okay then! Where's the Master System?

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Yeah, that's pretty old news. Still weird, though.

AoF3 is kind of interesting.

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Hey, are the burger king games still available anywhere? I'm kinda curious about Sneak King.

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Contra: That at least looks kind of neat. Now that I see what they're doing, almost returning to the vertical alignment of the arcade games, the grapple makes a little more sense to me. That, and it looks like they're returning to the level design of the original game, which is just plain great. In theory.

Also: those aren't real screenshots.

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Really. Is it... good? Even a little? Alien Syndrome, I mean?

I haven't really been with it lately.

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http://www.vgchartz.com/?Wii=3m

It's gettin' tight. And jesus, it's still impossible to find one of the bastards.

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It's kind of weird the boss team wasn't in the original '98. I'm guessing it was a space issue?

The only other character they need is Eiji. Maybe a Goenitz/Orochi/Rugal team.

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As much as 2002 bores me, it would be interesting to see them remake it AGAIN, the way it also should have been from the start -- including at the very least all of the NESTS-era characters. Krizalid and all. Just adding King and Shingo back in, in the PS2 version, helped enough. Even if they were a bitch to unlock.

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I think the "accessible" thing is based on the command moves mostly being based on half-circles and the super moves/desperation attacks/whatever they're called this time being the same for just about every character.

Of course, there's a reason they were designed that way. And it's... not for the sake of accessibility, really. Though I guess it does provide another, more basic level of play that isn't present in a lot of 2D fighters.

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Well, this is an... uncautiously worded press release.

Still, there we are.

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Well, I remember nobody really understood what Iwata was talking about -- perhaps in part because few of the news sources actually reported on his rhetoric, preferring a "just the facts" approach.

So there was a lot of confusion and complaint about how it wouldn't suit certain old game styles and about how weak it was and about how dumb the people in the video looked, hopping around and flipping virtual burgers. There aren't enough buttons, and hell, what do we need with motion control anyway? How would it make Tekken better? Though light sabers would be awesome! Because everyone loves Star Wars!

It wasn't really until E3 that people seemed to "get it", sort of. You notice that's also when developers (besides Ubi) started to sign on.

Oh -- you're right that the mainstream press thought it was neat from the get-go. I remember reading breathy articles in... what was it, Time? Newsweek? Something like that.

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Frankly also, I think Sumo is profound at missing the point in its ports. I love OutRun2, yet I think its Xbox port pretty much pisses on the spirit of the game.

I realize this is not a popular viewpoint.

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Basically, they packed in a bunch of stuff which enhances the arcade mode yet they packed it behind a bunch of inane tasks that you have to complete. OutRun isn't about obligation. It's not about doing dumb shit for a trivial reward; it's about freedom. If there's going to be a mission mode for teaching people the basics of play, great -- but don't make it a series of obligations. If there's going to be something to unlock, great -- but make sure the stuff is unlocked through the natural process of play. Through exploring different routes, say. Don't "game up" OutRun. Don't turn it into work. That's just dumb.

That said, they did an okay job porting the arcade mode in and of itself. I'm not sure that this fact is anything to ejaculate over, though I admit it's nice that they didn't fuck it up.

I just think the game would have been better without the enhancements. I think they take away from it, just from the way they leer over the arcade mode, whispering to the player "no, see, I'm the real game over here -- I'm the console experience! The meat and potatoes! I'm what you're paying for!" And what a shitty OutRun experience it is. Yet, indeed, that's what the port is usually judged on. That's a big part of what got it such high scores in the review circuit.

Ugh.

(By "Xbox port", I mean "home console port". I forgot there was a PS2 version.)

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The checkpoints are there because it's an arcade game so there needs to be some kind of a structure for success or failure. Doesn't change the spirit that the game is trying to evoke through the dreamy aesthetics, the liberty in choosing the music and path, and the relative lack of a technique requirement. All the game demands is that you drive toward the horizon, fast, and be careful around curves.

If you fall short, all that happens is that the dream is over a little sooner. Since the entire dream can't possibly last any longer than five minutes -- the same length as the music you select -- it's not such a big deal. You still get the experience. Next time you can choose a different tune, a different path, and have a different trip. And maybe hang on longer.

To put it another way: it's about the ride, not the destination.

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Whatever the literal reality of the situation, it still provides the sensation of cares-to-the-wind freedom. Which is all I'm talking about.

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Yeah, I don't even know. The thing runs all right, and looks okay. Though it's pleasant, that doesn't particularly strike me as a miracle. Anything else is techno-wank, as far as I'm concerned.