@NoirConceit Thanks for the comment. I've added the in-game name if that makes you happier.
Mr. X was what I personally grew up hearing/seeing the character referred to as, as a Resident Evil fan in the 90s, in official merchandise/magazines. I knew of its other name, but I just assumed most people had accepted the other moniker as an official alternative at this point. I can see I'm wrong, so I'll just include both.
@Zeebor15 They rebranded to Amazon Games Orange County and did the online game New World. Tony worked on that a bit, I believe, before going independent.
@slider1983 Yeah, I thought that when it was announced. It's a strange decision. I imagine there is going to probably be some time/memory stuff going on to tie it all together. Either that, or they are just going to retcon the original to make it fit.
@Guru_Larry As far as I know, Rockstar had the license locked down in the early 2000s, which is the only time it would have really made sense to do one.
They were working with Climax and n-space on Austin Powers console projects and had Tarantula on some handheld titles, but only the Game Boy ones came out.
@Futureshark That one is a bit strange. It was originally announced for modern platforms and PC last November.
But then when Damien wrote the piece about the game potentially using AI for the key art, we reached out to Mark Cale at System 3 for comment and he never responded (he'd been pretty active talking to us prior to that for other things).
Next thing we knew the Steam page all of a sudden mysteriously disappeared.
I was half-expecting them to re-reveal the project with some non-AI key art, but I've just noticed it apparently did release on Switch (quietly) last December, but seemingly not anywhere else.
@Mrsunnybones Those games are already coming to Switch later this year as part of the Last Ninja Collection from System 3, so they're already on the way.
@Mayhem Thanks for your comment. Just to double-check, do you have the dates before correcting? Critters Vol. 1 seems to be dated June 1986, whereas I've seen Usagi Yojimbo #1 from Fantagraphics Books dated July 1987.
There was an earlier one-off called Usagi Yojimbo: Summer Special from 1986. Is that what you're referring to?
@Daggot Yeah, Shogo has got some rough spots, but it's super charming (to me, at least). I heard from one of the designers, they started work on a sequel of some kind to essentially address all the feedback, but that eventually ended up changing and evolving so much during talks with publishers until it ended up becoming what was eventually released as No One Lives Forever.
@N64-ROX I've been meaning to get in touch with some of the preservation teams within these studios, but that will undoubtedly require jumping through some hoops (some Japanese companies just outright seem to blank inquiries from foreign press).
I have to say I sort of disagree with GPS on this one being a “fabrication” (I wasn't the one to update this article and have requested changes be made to state this was their opinion, not fact). I based the initial article on slideshows written in English (you can view them on gamemakers.jp’s website) so they couldn’t be garbled by mistranslation as John suggests in the accompanying feature, and I imagine other sites like GI Biz also did the same.
I will concede, however, that they could be missing some key context regarding the limitations of these projects from not being there in person to hear the accompanying talk, and have seen them being misinterpreted elsewhere online as a collaborative effort (which simply isn't the case).
Something I’m still trying to get my head around is it is pretty self-evident from the examples given in the original slides, and from things like Taito's appearances on Arcade Archives weekly streams and Capcom's art shows, that these companies ARE doing some work to preserve their game dev materials, but with the intention to eventually turn them into assets they can use for commercial and promotional projects. That’s what I was implying with the original article, and it seems that’s also what Redon is saying too. So the idea that part is a “complete fabrication” is honestly confusing to me and seems to contradict his own claim.
@dconstantine It's still accepting submissions, but the difference now is you have to host the files yourself basically. This one links to a Google Drive folder, but others link to GitHub pages, etc.
@-wc- I'm not really sure where you're getting the hostility from. I'm just saying the audience for this one is probably a lot smaller, considering it's an extremely old, unlocalized game and will likely cost the same as the regular Arcade Archives releases by default.
The reason we covered it is we acknowledge there are people who like other games to us, and might want to pick it up. It's just pretty obvious that the market for this is likely incredibly niche, given the countless other ways you can play this game.
@Legoguy515 I've amended the article to mention TheSeventhForce was the person to discover this.
I wasn't aware of his tweet thread or video, as the Eventhubs post didn't mention it. It seems they credited him in an initial article a while ago and then stopped crediting him in subsequent stories. I still mention Eventhubs as that's how I discovered the story, and I still quote their translation.
@Razieluigi Performers don't need to acquire any specific rights to cover a song in a concert or a gig. If they release a cover for money via a streaming service or on CD, that's when obtaining permission would usually come into play. So he can likely perform the song live with that in mind.
As for the Paramount question, Sega Sammy is one of the production companies behind the new film, so they were likely part of that agreement he mentioned or had already agreed to let Paramount use their copyrighted materials (along with its characters, etc).
@jesse_dylan Nope, there's no mode to play with the original graphics. It's not really a straightforward remake anyway. There's an expanded story, so it would have required them to remake the new scenes in a retro style and make it consistent. As for language options, the game basically has English text, but Japanese voiceover.
@Guru_Larry Yep, it probably seemed really unfair to Capcom at the time, but I think it worked out for the best. They're both great platformers and have a ton of variety between them. As for the animation, Dudley actually said he was "a little ticked" Virgin had access to Disney's own animators. Apparently, that wasn't even a conversation on the Capcom side.
@GravyThief That's the hope, according to the devs. I think it would be a perfect fit for Switch too. I'd probably even double-dip.
I'm not sure how well this is doing though, and I'm guessing it would have to sell a certain amount of copies on Steam/GOG before they put the money into porting it.
@GravyThief Working on it! The issue I've had is he is the CEO of a major IT company now called Faith Inc. So to ask him for an interview basically means navigating various chains of command in a foreign business setting I'm not particularly familiar with.
I've employed some help to try and give me a leg up, but, so far, all the emails I have sent have pretty much been met with silence. I'm going to keep trying though, and if worse comes to worst, it might be worth doing a profile with insight from those who worked alongside him. I think I chatted to Giles and Dylan about him. There may be others I could rope in too.
@Bonggon5 She is older in that image. The remake adds an intro and an ending not included in the original that bookends things. It takes place sometime in the future. The Easter Egg was basically moved to this future section.
@N00BiSH I saw that there was a fan mod, which is why I didn't bring it up. It's one of those things where I just expected it was all water under the bridge for everyone.
@TheBigK I've altered it to just the "US" after a quick look on the retro store locator with some Canadian postcodes. I can't seem to find any participating stores in Canada, so you're right. This seems to just be a US thing.
@Daggot You can type "slow", "slower", "slowest" to slow things down if you're having trouble typing fast enough. The commands also work the other way too ("fast", "faster", "fastest"), if you're tired of retreading an area and want to get it over and done with quicker.
There's a clock on the top right of the screen, to encourage you to go quicker. I'm not sure yet whether it has any real consequences beyond making you feel bad for taking your time.
@RootsGenoa Last week's seems to be out on the UK & US stores for Switch and out on the US PlayStation store. Seems to only be the UK PlayStation store that's the problem. I'll try to find out more.
@LowDefAl Yeah, it's sort of ridiculous now. Shmups make sense, and some of the RPGs are sort of playable, but I can't imagine this will sell anything though, as it will require the absolute patience of a saint to get through.
I've been reaching out to D4E to ask them if they can provide any sales data or anything for this stuff in this West, and a bunch of other questions about their plans for EGGCONSOLE (in English and Japanese), but so far have been ignored.
@boatie They weren't the source this time around. I saw the Project Egg tweet about announcing a new piece of software and checked the Japanese Nintendo store. We credit gosokkyu every time we find news through them.
Comments 110
Re: Resident Evil Just Got A New Arcade Game, But You'll Have To Travel To Romford To Play It
@NoirConceit Thanks for the comment. I've added the in-game name if that makes you happier.
Mr. X was what I personally grew up hearing/seeing the character referred to as, as a Resident Evil fan in the 90s, in official merchandise/magazines. I knew of its other name, but I just assumed most people had accepted the other moniker as an official alternative at this point. I can see I'm wrong, so I'll just include both.
Re: The Making Of: Utopia - The Creation Of A Nation, Gremlin Graphics' SimCity In Space
@Daniel36 Fixed! Cheers for flagging. Bizarrely, in all my emails to Graeme I got it right, so I must have had a brain fade moment here.
Re: The Making Of: Wings Of Glory, Warren Spector's Forgotten Flight of Fancy
@romanista Nope, different projects. I've been meaning to give that one a proper go
Re: Strike Series Designer Outlines Plans For A Spiritual Successor, But You'll Have A Long Wait Before You Can Play It
@MysticWangForce It's calling out for something like a Digital Eclipse collection. That way you could have the ports too.
Re: Interview: Urban Strike's Agent Ego On EA, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, & Rebooting A Capcom Classic
@Zeebor15 They rebranded to Amazon Games Orange County and did the online game New World. Tony worked on that a bit, I believe, before going independent.
Re: After A Year Of Silence, Simon The Sorcerer Origins Finally Shows Signs Of Life
@slider1983 Yeah, I thought that when it was announced. It's a strange decision. I imagine there is going to probably be some time/memory stuff going on to tie it all together. Either that, or they are just going to retcon the original to make it fit.
Re: Shuttered Wonder Woman Studio Once Pitched A Big Trouble In Little China Game
@Guru_Larry As far as I know, Rockstar had the license locked down in the early 2000s, which is the only time it would have really made sense to do one.
They were working with Climax and n-space on Austin Powers console projects and had Tarantula on some handheld titles, but only the Game Boy ones came out.
Re: City Connection Reveals The Latest Jaleco NES Game To Sneak Out Of The Shadows Onto Switch
@Futureshark That one is a bit strange. It was originally announced for modern platforms and PC last November.
But then when Damien wrote the piece about the game potentially using AI for the key art, we reached out to Mark Cale at System 3 for comment and he never responded (he'd been pretty active talking to us prior to that for other things).
Next thing we knew the Steam page all of a sudden mysteriously disappeared.
I was half-expecting them to re-reveal the project with some non-AI key art, but I've just noticed it apparently did release on Switch (quietly) last December, but seemingly not anywhere else.
Re: City Connection Reveals The Latest Jaleco NES Game To Sneak Out Of The Shadows Onto Switch
@Mrsunnybones Those games are already coming to Switch later this year as part of the Last Ninja Collection from System 3, so they're already on the way.
Re: Feature: How A Cult Comic About A Samurai Rabbit Became A Classic Commodore 64 Game
@Mayhem Thanks for your comment. Just to double-check, do you have the dates before correcting? Critters Vol. 1 seems to be dated June 1986, whereas I've seen Usagi Yojimbo #1 from Fantagraphics Books dated July 1987.
There was an earlier one-off called Usagi Yojimbo: Summer Special from 1986. Is that what you're referring to?
Re: The Lost Vikings - Ragnarok Edition Could Be The Definitive Way To Play The Classic SNES Platformer
@slider1983 They're on Battle Net again. https://eu.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/blizzard-arcade-collection
Re: Feature: Over 25 Years Ago, This Lemmings-Esque Puzzler Was Sent Out To Die - Its Fans Had Other Plans
@Daggot Yeah, Shogo has got some rough spots, but it's super charming (to me, at least). I heard from one of the designers, they started work on a sequel of some kind to essentially address all the feedback, but that eventually ended up changing and evolving so much during talks with publishers until it ended up becoming what was eventually released as No One Lives Forever.
Re: Monolith Almost Made A Horror Game For Nintendo's Ill-Fated 64DD Add-On
@KingMike Yep, 100%. It was the Washington-based Monolith.
Re: Claims That Square, Capcom, Taito, & Sega Are Promising To Preserve Their Past A "Fabrication" Claims GPS
@N64-ROX I've been meaning to get in touch with some of the preservation teams within these studios, but that will undoubtedly require jumping through some hoops (some Japanese companies just outright seem to blank inquiries from foreign press).
I have to say I sort of disagree with GPS on this one being a “fabrication” (I wasn't the one to update this article and have requested changes be made to state this was their opinion, not fact). I based the initial article on slideshows written in English (you can view them on gamemakers.jp’s website) so they couldn’t be garbled by mistranslation as John suggests in the accompanying feature, and I imagine other sites like GI Biz also did the same.
I will concede, however, that they could be missing some key context regarding the limitations of these projects from not being there in person to hear the accompanying talk, and have seen them being misinterpreted elsewhere online as a collaborative effort (which simply isn't the case).
Something I’m still trying to get my head around is it is pretty self-evident from the examples given in the original slides, and from things like Taito's appearances on Arcade Archives weekly streams and Capcom's art shows, that these companies ARE doing some work to preserve their game dev materials, but with the intention to eventually turn them into assets they can use for commercial and promotional projects. That’s what I was implying with the original article, and it seems that’s also what Redon is saying too. So the idea that part is a “complete fabrication” is honestly confusing to me and seems to contradict his own claim.
Re: "Licensing Constraints" Mean Toaplan Shooters Collection Volume 2 Loses Twin Cobra
@Hastor Thanks for flagging. I've tweaked that line to avoid further confusion.
Re: Interview: "I'm The Last Person Who Wants To F**k Sensible Soccer Up" - Jon Hare On Sociable Soccer & What's Next
@slider1983 I agree! And ooft! That's autocorrect messing me up. Cheers for flagging.
Re: Taito Is Reviving The Critically Acclaimed 'Space Invaders Infinity Gene' For Apple Arcade
@bkd777 Definitely. I'm hoping this is just a timed exclusivity thing. Same with pretty much anything that comes to Apple Arcade.
Re: Head Over Heels To Get An Enhanced Remake From The Company Behind The Spectrum Next
@RootsGenoa Thanks for flagging. The Switch version will be later this year, Steam is the next few days. I've updated.
Re: This New Tiny Toon Adventures Hack Is A Love Letter To An Old Mario Bootleg From The '90s
@dconstantine It's still accepting submissions, but the difference now is you have to host the files yourself basically. This one links to a Google Drive folder, but others link to GitHub pages, etc.
Re: Over 30 Years Later, Someone Has Given Ocean's 'Jurassic Park 2' A Much-Needed Overhaul
@845H Yikes! Just fixed that.
Re: This Week's Arcade Archives Game May Be Worth Skipping
@-wc- I'm not really sure where you're getting the hostility from. I'm just saying the audience for this one is probably a lot smaller, considering it's an extremely old, unlocalized game and will likely cost the same as the regular Arcade Archives releases by default.
The reason we covered it is we acknowledge there are people who like other games to us, and might want to pick it up. It's just pretty obvious that the market for this is likely incredibly niche, given the countless other ways you can play this game.
Re: 'Snake Vs Monkey' Returns In Metal Gear Solid Delta, But Not For Xbox
@Slobbert Fingers crossed for Snake Vs. Pikmin
Re: Over 30 Years Later, Someone Is Giving Ocean's 'Jurassic Park 2' A Much-Needed Overhaul
@XiaoShao Yep, it should be included. I'd say it's worth playing, but I'm a bit biased as I played this a ton as a kid.
Re: The Making Of: Uchuu Race: Astro Go! Go!, The F-Zero-Inspired SNES Racer From Sonic Jam And Samba De Amigo's Satoshi Okano
@KingMike I imagine he's referring to what became Digital Pinball: Last Gladiators. This: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Pinball:_Last_Gladiators
Re: Prince Of Persia Is Now Playable On The Sega Dreamcast
@gingerbeardman Fixed! Thanks for the correction.
Re: Secret Website Offers Remarkable Insight Into The Making Of The First Marvel vs. Capcom
@Legoguy515 I've amended the article to mention TheSeventhForce was the person to discover this.
I wasn't aware of his tweet thread or video, as the Eventhubs post didn't mention it. It seems they credited him in an initial article a while ago and then stopped crediting him in subsequent stories. I still mention Eventhubs as that's how I discovered the story, and I still quote their translation.
Re: Best Of 2024: The Making Of FIFA Road To World Cup 98, The "Greatest FIFA Of All Time"
@Guru_Larry I've interviewed a few people who worked on it. If I can't answer, I could maybe point you in the direction of someone who can.
Re: 21 Years After It Was Canned, This SAS Xbox Shooter Is Finally Playable
@Daniel36 Fixed! Thanks for flagging
Re: Crush 40 Singer Suing Sega Over Ownership Of Sonic Adventure 2's 'Live & Learn'
@Razieluigi Performers don't need to acquire any specific rights to cover a song in a concert or a gig. If they release a cover for money via a streaming service or on CD, that's when obtaining permission would usually come into play. So he can likely perform the song live with that in mind.
As for the Paramount question, Sega Sammy is one of the production companies behind the new film, so they were likely part of that agreement he mentioned or had already agreed to let Paramount use their copyrighted materials (along with its characters, etc).
Re: Interview: Secret Of Mana Composer Hiroki Kikuta Reflects On The Timeless SNES Soundtrack
@-wc- Thanks for the feedback. I've done a pass and softened the language a bit based on your note.
Re: Switch Remake Of Yuji Horii's 'Hokkaido Serial Murder Case' Delisted In The UK
@jesse_dylan Nope, there's no mode to play with the original graphics. It's not really a straightforward remake anyway. There's an expanded story, so it would have required them to remake the new scenes in a retro style and make it consistent. As for language options, the game basically has English text, but Japanese voiceover.
Re: Atari ST Shoot 'Em Up 'Wings Of Death' Is Getting A Jaguar Port
@KGRAMR Fixed! Thanks for the correction
Re: Irem Collection Volume 2 Finally Gets Western Release Date After Delay
@MontyCircus Fixed! Thanks for pointing that out.
Re: NES Homebrew 'Graveyard Dude' Gets "Extremely-Limited" Physical Release To Honour Late Creator
@obijuankanoobie It was a bit hidden in the original article, so I've added a clearer link at the bottom
Re: Random: Here's The Story Of Why Capcom's SNES Aladdin Game Didn't Feature A Sword
@Guru_Larry Yep, it probably seemed really unfair to Capcom at the time, but I think it worked out for the best. They're both great platformers and have a ton of variety between them. As for the animation, Dudley actually said he was "a little ticked" Virgin had access to Disney's own animators. Apparently, that wasn't even a conversation on the Capcom side.
Re: Random: That Time Sega Got Donald Duck In Trouble With Disney For Animal Cruelty
@Ristar24 Yeah, I was playing it again after I heard this story, and it's surprisingly solid. Especially those first three levels.
Re: Interview: Shadowgate's Co-Creator On Returning To The NES Classic 30 Years Later
@GravyThief That's the hope, according to the devs. I think it would be a perfect fit for Switch too. I'd probably even double-dip.
I'm not sure how well this is doing though, and I'm guessing it would have to sell a certain amount of copies on Steam/GOG before they put the money into porting it.
Re: Interview: Super Mario Kart & SimCity Composer Soyo Oka On Her Most Iconic Nintendo Soundtracks
@GravyThief Working on it! The issue I've had is he is the CEO of a major IT company now called Faith Inc. So to ask him for an interview basically means navigating various chains of command in a foreign business setting I'm not particularly familiar with.
I've employed some help to try and give me a leg up, but, so far, all the emails I have sent have pretty much been met with silence. I'm going to keep trying though, and if worse comes to worst, it might be worth doing a profile with insight from those who worked alongside him. I think I chatted to Giles and Dylan about him. There may be others I could rope in too.
Re: Switch 'Hokkaido Serial Murder Case' Remake Retains NSFW Easter Egg From Yuji Horii's 1984 Original
@Bonggon5 She is older in that image. The remake adds an intro and an ending not included in the original that bookends things. It takes place sometime in the future. The Easter Egg was basically moved to this future section.
Re: Brand New Footage Of "Lost" Garfield Sega Channel Game Emerges Online
@PZT Thanks for the comment! I've updated the article. Were you responsible at all for the recovery? Or did you just happen to play it?
Re: More Taito Arcade Archives Games Are Now On Sale On PS4 & The Switch eShop
@dmcc0 Thanks for the correction. The Nintendo websites hadn't been updated when I originally checked.
Re: Interview: "Switch Has Been Big For Us" - Skunkape On Remastering Telltale's Sam & Max Trilogy
@N00BiSH I saw that there was a fan mod, which is why I didn't bring it up. It's one of those things where I just expected it was all water under the bridge for everyone.
Re: GameStop Announces Launch Of New "Retro GameStops" Stores
@TheBigK I've altered it to just the "US" after a quick look on the retro store locator with some Canadian postcodes. I can't seem to find any participating stores in Canada, so you're right. This seems to just be a US thing.
Re: Terminal City Is An Auto-Runner Inspired By Classic Sierra-Style Text Adventures
@Daggot You can type "slow", "slower", "slowest" to slow things down if you're having trouble typing fast enough. The commands also work the other way too ("fast", "faster", "fastest"), if you're tired of retreading an area and want to get it over and done with quicker.
There's a clock on the top right of the screen, to encourage you to go quicker. I'm not sure yet whether it has any real consequences beyond making you feel bad for taking your time.
Re: Tecmo's Puyo Puyo Clone 'Tecmo Stackers' Is Coming To Switch & PS4 This Week
@RootsGenoa Last week's seems to be out on the UK & US stores for Switch and out on the US PlayStation store. Seems to only be the UK PlayStation store that's the problem. I'll try to find out more.
Re: 'Arguice No Tsubasa' Is The Next Classic PC-88 RPG Coming To Switch
@LowDefAl Yeah, it's sort of ridiculous now. Shmups make sense, and some of the RPGs are sort of playable, but I can't imagine this will sell anything though, as it will require the absolute patience of a saint to get through.
I've been reaching out to D4E to ask them if they can provide any sales data or anything for this stuff in this West, and a bunch of other questions about their plans for EGGCONSOLE (in English and Japanese), but so far have been ignored.
Re: 'Abathor' Is A New Retro Hack 'N' Slash For 'Rastan Saga' & 'Golden Axe' Fans
@Milk_ It seems to be an enhanced version.
Re: Feature: Cracking The Mystery Of Duke Nukem Advance's Two English Localizations
@N64-ROX It does. When they altered the other languages, they also altered the English text to bring the European versions closer to each other.
Re: Bothtec's Topple Zip Races Onto The Nintendo Switch eShop Next Week
@boatie They weren't the source this time around. I saw the Project Egg tweet about announcing a new piece of software and checked the Japanese Nintendo store. We credit gosokkyu every time we find news through them.
Re: Retail Therapy: Nintendo Stores, Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto)
@Lofoten They're little memo pads. You open them up and there's basically a bunch of paper inside with Mario-themed drawings and a space to write.