Late Night Consoling
by Chris Remo, Jan 23, 2006 8:00pm PSTAny jazz fans around? I've been listening to a lot of Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus recently, and man is that a solid album.
- Sega put a great deal of fanfare behind Amusement Vision's yakuza epic Ryu ga Gotoku (PS2) by producer Toshihiro Nagoshi after keeping it conspicuously hush-hush under the codename Project-J. Indeed, when the game was released in Japan, it was met with critical acclaim. The sales figures didn't reflect that, however, and to my dismay Sega has kept quiet on the possible of a Western release of the game. Fortunately, I have just received word from a trustworthy source that European localizations of the game are in the works, and though a North American release isn't a certain it seems likely. Sega has not yet responded to requests for confirmation. Fingers crossed!
Ryu Ga Gotoku Coming, Maybe?
[ps2] - At the extraordinarily named "Hopper's Vol.1 25H Our Party People" event in Japan, the details of which I haven't the slightest clue, designers Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear), Goichi Suda (Killer 7 [PS2, GCN]), and Kazutoshi Iida (Doshin the Giant [GCN]) spoke together at a panel. Suda noted that Kojima's 1988 adventure game Snatcher (MSX) was a big reason he became involved with games, and he and Kojima mentioned that they should collaborate on an adventure game to be announced at E3. The event is reported slightly differently by various sites, but only one doesn't play it off as if the comment was a joke, which doesn't speak well for fans hoping for such a collaboration--but hey, you never know. If I had to come up with designers known for utterly insane stories, those two would be on the very short list. Hell, it might even be a list of two. Suda also brought up the Nintendo Revolution and confirmed hisproject for the console, stating that development is in progress. Kojima is working on a Revolution game as well, but has been reluctant to disclose any details.
Kojima and Suda to Work Together?
- Speaking of Amusement Vision, the latest issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine reports that a new edition of the studio's best known property, Super Monkey Ball, is under development. The game will, somewhat surprisingly, be a story based platform-ish game with various themed worlds as well as puzzles and multiplayer minigames. The game, entitled Super Monkey Ball Adventures, will be handled by Traveller's Tales, the studio behind the underrated Lego Star Wars (PS2, Xbox, GCN, GBA, PC). Given the news' presence in a Sony-sponsored publication, the story only mentioned PS2 and PSP as platforms for the game. However, the series has appeared on all three current-gen consoles and made its home console debut (and most frequent appearance and best sales figures) on GameCube, so don't be surprised to see it pop up elsewhere.
Play With Monkey Balls Some More
[ps2] [psp] - This weekend, fire hit the New York City offices of 2K Games and Global Star, divisions of publisher Take-Two Games. Those publishing arms have no game development operations in New York, so the incident will have no effect on games in progress. No employees were harmed. Jason Bergman, the man who basically invented my job and who now works for 2K Games, posted news of the fire on his blog this weekend (the entry has now been taken down). The cause of the fire is still unknown. Upon receipt of the news, Take-Two nemesis Jack Thompson allegedly danced a jig.
Take Two Offices Hit by Fire
- Three new games are headed to Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade: PopCap's Astro Pop, what appears to be sort of a Tetris/Breakout hybrid; Stainless Games' Crystal Quest, a crystal-collecting space shooter originally released in 1987; and Sprout Games' Feeding Frenzy, a fish-eat-fish action title. All three games are due for release in February.
A Few New Xbox Live Arcade Games
[xbox360] - CNN/Money's Chris Morris takes a look at what went wrong with publisher Majesco. The company just announced its departure from high budget game development. Starting to get tired of Guitar Hero (PS2)? First off, you shouldn't be, but if you are, you could always turn your guitar controller into an actual musical instrument. Or, rather, nerdstrument. Ugh, I felt dirty just typing that. Still, this is pretty cool.
Misc. Q&As/Features
Daily Filter: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition, MLB 12: The Show
Cradle trailer shows off Russian indie adventure game
WoW Monopoly, StarCraft RISK announced at Toy Fair
Jersey Shore's 'The Situation' signs App deal
Blacklight: Retribution open beta begins Feb 27
Comments
THANK YOU.
I picked up my Xbox copy for $29.99 at WalMart (I hate that place but had a gift card that had to be used). I just finished the Lungfishopolis level. I can tell you right now that I would have spent $49.99 on that level alone. The fact that everything else has been so much fun is just icing on the cake. Seriously, I haven't laughed this hard during a game since probably Monkey Island 2. That's what gets me about Psychonauts after playing for a few hours... Lungfishopolis alone has more great quotable lines than the last dozen games I've played and the last dozen movies I've seen.* "He's impervious to bullets... and love!" cracks me up no matter how many times I hear it. The humor, the storyline and especially the voice acting helps me overlook the 3-D platform and scavenger hunt nature of the game and still enjoy it. And this is coming from a guy who gave up and never finished Mario 64.
Now I see why everyone is so bummed this game hasn't done well at retail. I'm kind of mad at myself for not paying full price for it, if that makes any sense. I know everyone else has already said it, but if you loved the old LucasArts adventures, you owe it to yourself to get a copy. For $29.99 you really shouldn't have any excuse not to.**
*OK, except for Sin City, but you get my point.
**Unless you're one of those poor souls who can't find it at any store near you. I weep for you. Really, I do.
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If I'm going for classic stuff, I'll usually listen to Miles Davis. Down to the Bone for the best damn acid jazz...well...ever. And Action Figure Party for acid jazz with guest appearances from pop/rock stars like flea, Jose Pasillas of Incubus, and Sean Lennon... String Cheese Incident is just barely jazzy, but I like them a lot...
I'll have to check out Mingus Ah Um...
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Wayne Shorter's "Speak No Evil" is one of my all time favorite jazz albums. You should also check out any Miles Davis Quartet albums when he played with Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock. One of the all time best jazz rhythm sections.
John Coltrane's "Blue Train" is a good basic Coltrane album. So is "My Favorite Things".
Those are pretty much in the same vein as Mingus. If you want some more modern artists I can offer some suggestions as well.
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http://www.majornelson.com/2006/01/22/show-156-the-one-after-ces/
- Texas Hold 'Em will be a free download, sponsored by a casino. Lots of stats, leaderboards etc.
- They want to expand to be able to offer six or more games a month instead of the roughly three a month at the moment
- Discussions have been going on with Oasis publisher Playfirst
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When I saw something about Jack Thompson dancing a jig that was the first image that popped into my head...but perhaps I'm warped.
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GrandiaIII, FF12 and Ryo Ga
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http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1804/rollingthunder4qg.jpg
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6853/rollingthunderad4wq.jpg
wished to select ' Arcade ' as platform, but you know. .. .
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rollingthunder/rollingthunder.htm
- From not so much a jazz fan, but a big Pat Metheny fan
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PS2 vs GC — Any Differences?
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http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142858.html
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http://www.mingusmingusmingus.com/
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