The Negative Edge News Report 10.24.07
Posted by Tommy Coloma on 10.24.2007
Another chance to see one of the greatest video game movies of all time on the big screen, the video games that AJ Styles plays, and the latest video game releases. Plus, a look at an Anime that shows you why you shouldn't mess with innocent looking schoolgirls.
I couldn't think of anything for the intro this week, but luckily, I got an interesting response from a reader concerning last week's discussion on pre-ordering at Gamestop/EBGames -
Tommy,
In the Negative Edge report for 10/17, you discussed the issue of receiving pre-order items (or lack thereof, I suppose) from Gamestop/EB Games. As a former employee of the company, I can tell you from personal experience (not one that I participated in, but rather, witnessed) that most of those pre-order items don't make it to the customers' hands because the employees are prone to keeping them for themselves. The fact of the matter is that, for the most part, the employees have a pretty easy time convincing customers that for whatever reason, their store "didn't receive" their shipment of those pre-order bonuses, and then they simply keep whatever items they want. The worst part of the whole situation is that more often than not, I would witness employees taking items they outright stated they had no interest in for the sole reasoning that they "felt like it." Ridiculous as it may be, it's still happening, I can practically guarantee you.
Basically, the next time an employee of that company tells you that they already gave away their pre-orders by mistake, take that information with a grain of salt. It might be true, but they also might have that one last Castlevania pre-order pack stuffed under the counter for themselves.
--Hunter
So there you have it - what really goes on behind the counter at Gamestop/EBGames. It might not happen everywhere and/or all the time, but you know that it happens. I'm sure that there are ways to convince the employees to give you what is rightfully yours, but nobody wants to go to jail for schwag, right? No. The only way to really guarantee that you'll get the goods is to order online. Sad but true.
Let's go -
The News As I See It See The Wizard on the big screen with Fred Savage and... The Wizard himself!
That's right! According to Ain't It Cool News, the movie will be shown on the big screen at the Alamo Drafthouse At the Ritz in Austin Texas on the 7th of December. What makes this screening extra special is the fact that Todd Holland, the director, Fred Savage, and Luke Edwards (aka The Wizard) will be in attendance. Seriously, if I lived in the area, I'd be all over this. For those of you who are close enough to go, you can get the tickets at the Drafthouse web site on the 5th of November at noon. To make it even better, they should bring in the guy that played that punk kid with the Power Glove. All he has to do is go up on stage with a glove and say those five magical words. You know what they are!
Street Fighter IV will be developed in Japan?
It looks like it!
A few years back, Capcom USA somehow got the rights to the Street Fighter franchise from Capcom Japan. I always thought that was weird, but let's just roll with it for now. Because of the whole rights thing, one of the biggest worries fans of the series had was whether or not Capcom Japan would be the one ones making the game. Their fears were laid to rest after Christian Svensson, the Senior Director of strategic planning and research over at Capcom, revealed in the Capcom forums that Capcom Japan had been contracted to handle the game's development. I was actually part of that group that was worried about Capcom USA making the game. I mean, can the developers that crapped out Final Fight Streetwise really be trusted with the next Street Fighter game? Hell no!
AJ Styles knows that Pokemon Diamond is awesome!
I saw this over at Go Nintendo. I'm impressed. Now we know that AJ Styles likes playing Pokemon Diamond and Stranglehold. Is that cool or scary?
The Week In Releases
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
Fourteen years after it came out in Japan, we finally get to play a legit version of Rondo of Blood. Original Super CD version copies are still going for $100+ on eBay, so if you want to experience this game without getting reamed up the ass, the PSP update is the one to get. The re-imagined version looks nice, but I don't really dig 2.5D remakes. Thankfully, there is an option to unlock the original. You also get to play Rondo's sequel, Symphony of the Night, though I've heard that it has to be unlocked as well. I thought that there was supposed to be a revamped Maria mode in SOTN, but none of the reviews/previews that I've read so far mention anything about it so it doesn't look like Konami included it. Regardless, this is still a great package.
Chessmaster: The Art of Learning (DS)
What happened to that creepy old guy that used to grace the covers of Chessmaster games? Ah yes. Back in the day, if you wanted to play video game chess, your choices were Chessmaster, Battle Chess, or Kasparov's Gambit. It looks like Chessmaster is the only one that survived long enough to be on the DS. The details on whether or not this game is playable over the Internet are ambiguous. IF this game is playable over the 'net, I'd say that it's worth the price of admission if you're a chess fan and you're looking for some comp. If not, you're probably better off getting Clubhouse Games (even though it is supposedly glitchy) or going to Yahoo Games.
The King of Fighters XI (PS2)
I would have preferred this on the Xbox 360 with online play, but at $15, it might be a good deal if you have someone to play against.
Mega Man ZX: Advent (DS)
Jeez! Another one? Slow your roll Capcom. Slow your roll.
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
What? You didn't pick this up when I told you about the Japanese version with the English option a few weeks back? Well, it's here now. Yay!
MLB Power Pros (Wii/PS2)
Though many Power Pro games have been released in Japan since 1994, this is the first time the series has made the trip over to America. I personally prefer this style to the more realistic stuff, but then again, I also think that Bad News Baseball for the NES is the best baseball game ever.
Ninja Jajamaru-kun (Wii VC)
I wasn't going to talk about this one until I took a look at its 'pedia entry and saw that there are quite a few games in this series. There is also one coming out for the Nintendo DS soon. If there are that many sequels, then there had to have been something special about the first game to warrant them.
The Releases That I Missed While I Was Out Saving The FutureLast week I caught up with the news. This week it's the release list.
Arcana Heart (PS2 / Japanese Import)
Here is yet another 2D fighting game on the PS2. This time we have a game with an all-girl cast. While all of the characters are original, if you've seen enough Anime, you'll easily recognize the standard girl-types found throughout the game (the first gameplay video I watched had the "sword-girl with long hair type"). I've been wanting to play this for a little while but this game seems to be more rare than Melty Blood. I read that there is one machine in the US somewhere in the East. Fortunately, this PS2 port allows me to try without having to fly. Arcana Heart was popular enough to be featured in Super Battle Opera, Japan's biggest fighting game tournament. Also, Hori thought that it was good enough to make a special stick for. So, if you are into fighting games, you might want to check this out.
Touch Detective 2 1/2 (DS)
I played a lot of adventure games back in the day so I was pleasantly surprised with the gameplay found in the first Touch Detective game. I don't think that younger gamers would like these types of games, but if you miss those old-school point-and-click games, you should definitely give this a try.
Agarest Senki (PS3 import)
So now we've got an SRPG for the PS3. Is this a taste of things to come for those waiting patiently for Disgaea 3? It looks import friendly. Is the PS3 really region free?
ASH (DS import)
Recent reports show that this game is already heading toward bargain bin status. I'm still looking forward to it, as decent DS RPGs aren't as readily available as they are on other systems.
Operation Darkness (Xbox 360 import)
When I first saw pictures of this I thought that it was an FPS. Imagine an FPS made by a Japanese company! But, alas, it's an SRPG.
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (Xbox Live)
This game is essentially Bejeweled with some RPG elements. But don't let that description fool you. Gamers everywhere often talk about how good this game is. I didn't believe it until I tried it. I quickly learned that all the praise that Puzzle Quest was getting was deserved. In fact, the DS version of Puzzle Quest took up way too much of my time over the summer. I even had to get rid of it because of the amount of time that I was wasting. I wasn't addicted though... Really!
Portal (PC)
What do you get when you try to create an FPS with puzzle elements? Pure awesome, if what you created is Portal.
The Anime Circle - Psychopathic Schoolgirl EditionI'm going to mix things up a little. Instead of talking about a show that I'd recommend, this week I'll talk about one that under most circumstances you should avoid.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for School Days. If you think that you're going to watch it some day, you might want to skip this week's Anime Circle, though if you plan on watching the show in its entirety, I suggest that you at least familiarize yourself with the following three spoilers. Otherwise, you will stop watching the show after the first few episodes. I'm serious!
1. School Days is based on an 18+ visual novel that is infamous for three of its bloody endings. Two of them involve murder and the third involves suicide.
2. The story revolves around one of the biggest assholes you will ever see in an Anime.
3. Many who have played the game consider the ending where the protagonist dies to be the "good" ending.
A few weeks ago, we saw the release of a title that allowed players to see the end of a story that was left unfinished almost three years ago. That's quite a long time to be waiting for an ending. Can you imagine how pissed off people would be if the release of that game was postponed indefinitely as the result of some freak occurrence that happened right before it was supposed to drop? Well, "fans" of School Days were unfortunate enough to experience that situation a few weeks ago. But before we get to that, let's get to the essentials -
A high school student named Makoto has fallen in love with a girl that he sees on the train ever day. Unfortunately, Katsura, the girl of his dreams, doesn't seem to know that he exists. It doesn't help that Makoto has little experience with women. Another girl named Sekai finds out about Makoto's one-sided love and offers her assistance in bringing the two together. She also takes it upon herself to show Makoto how to treat the opposite sex by giving him some "special training." Though she is doing her best to bring Makoto and Katsura together, it is obvious that Sekai is harboring some feelings for Makoto.
School Days is based on the Japanese erotic computer game of the same name. Though the game plays like a visual novel, it sets itself apart by including large amounts of animation instead of only still pictures. As mentioned earlier, the School Days game is infamous for several of the "bad" endings that players could get as they feature lots of blood and either murder or suicide. Of particular note is the ending where Makoto is stabbed and dies. Because of the way he treats the girls in the game, many consider this to be the "good" ending since he got what was coming to him.
As is typical with shows that are based on eroge, School Days is a harem Anime. Basically, harems feature one guy and several girls who, for one reason or another, can't get enough of said guy. I'll admit that I didn't mind watching harem shows when I first got into Anime. That didn't last too long as I eventually got tired of them after seeing a few. Harems pretty much follow the same pattern and are way too predictable. I saw something different in School Days though. There is one feature that this series has that separates it from the rest - the fact that the main character, Makoto, is one the most unlikable characters in Anime, ever. One would be hard-pressed to find any redeemable qualities in his character. Sure, he starts out innocent, but within a short period of time, his desires turn him into the biggest prick ever. Never have I found a character more worthy of scorn than Makoto. And it isn't just me. Check out other reviews or ask anyone that has watched the series. You'll find hatred directed toward the character across the board. Even people who have only watched a few episodes would most likely agree. They hate him; they want to see him die. This character is so despicable and hate-worthy that it boggles the mind to try to figure out what the creators of the show were thinking. I'll have to admit that they did a good job at getting people to watch, even if it is for all the wrong reasons.
But hatred for the main character isn't the only thing that this show will be remembered for. No, what made this show memorable in my eyes was the way in which the final episode was pre-empted right before it was supposed to air because some schoolgirl had just murdered her father with an axe. The final episode was supposed to drop the day before I started my current job so I was actually patiently waiting for the raw (untranslated video) while touching up on my programming skills. Eventually, word spread about the cancellation, ruining my last day of freedom (sad, I know). School Days was supposed to be shown on three different stations. The two stations that were going to show it that week (the last week of September) pulled out. What viewers got instead was a video which featured classical music, scenery, and boats. The term "nice boat" quickly became synonymous with the School Days Anime. Just remember that next time someone randomly says "nice boat" while talking about Anime. The only other station that would have shown it was set to broadcast it the following week. Whether or not they were going to follow through was still undetermined. If they didn't show the final episode, viewers would have had to wait for the DVDs to come out in February in order to find out what happens in the end.
Up until then, nobody knew exactly how the series was going to end. There were hints, like in episode 10 when the camera pans over some knives and then later when you hear some metal clanking in someone's bag, but nothing was definite. The fact that the show was pre-empted because of an axe murder pretty much told us that someone was going to die at the hands of a schoolgirl, but it was still unknown who.
Those who continued to watch School Days and endured Makoto's assholish exploits stuck around for the train wreck that they knew was coming in the end. Waiting a week (or possibly a few months) for the payoff was probably one of my most frustrating experiences ever. Sure, I've had games pushed back before, but not when they were within my grasp. Fortunately, the finale was shown a week later. Blood was changed from red to black to make the episode seem less violent, but that did not stop this show from having the epic ending that everyone had been waiting for.
So, is this Anime worth watching? From a historical perspective? Yes. "Nice boat" will most likely be quoted for years to come, so watching the show will give you geek cred if you ever use it. Plus, it's not every day that you get to see a show that was cancelled because of recent events in the news. For fun? Maybe. I'll have to admit that this ending was way more satisfying than the endings for many of the shows that finished this season. Better than the endings for Claymore and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann? Oddly, yes... if you can watch the entire show.
If you want to see the train wreck that is School Days, you can get it here. Don't expect it to ever make it to the US. Who is going to bring an Anime over whose final episode was cancelled because some girl murdered her father with an axe, anyway?
Next week I'll get back to some shows that are actually worthy. Right now, I plan on covering the twilight zone meets Groundhog Day goodness of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (whose sequel was also pre-empted because of the axe murder), the creepiness of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, the mecha craziness that is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and the limb-losing awesomeness of Claymore. Maybe I'll cover Lovely Complex for good measure. Let's see what happens.
To Be Continued...
That's all I have for this week. There's some military woman that's heading toward me while waving a gun and yelling "shake it baby!" If I survive the upcoming attack, I'll be back next week.
