Viking Squad — Slick Entertainment — PS4, Steam — October 4, 2016 — $14.99

“Slick Entertainment” is a tiny studio out of Vancouver, Canada that have been making games since 2008; their most notable (and first ever project) was “N+” on the Xbox 360. “Metanet Software” got in touch with “Slick Entertainment” and “Klei Entertainment Inc.” to bring the original flash game, “N” to the XBLA marketplace, and it became an instant classic. Since that time, they released the top-down car combat game “Scrap Metal”, for XBLA in 2010, followed by the silly endless runner and shooter “Shellrazer”, for mobile platforms in 2012. Since then, the team has been working diligently on their new project, “Viking Squad”.

“Viking Squad” is a lane based brawler that feels and plays like “Castle Crashers”, but the lanes you attack and move around in are more defined then it’s mentor; having these lanes prevents a lot of “swing and a miss” moments and keeps everything organized, while still maintaining a great level of harmonized chaos. Attacking enemies is simple: use your basic attack as much as possible, follow it up with a heavy (rechargeable) attack to stun your foe, block or dodge when necessary, and unleash your Valor attack when things get out of hand, or if you just want to see the world burn. Like any arcade brawler before it, you fight waves of enemies that are easily eviscerated and become more difficult as you progress through it’s various levels. Every segment of the map is inhabited by specific enemy types and ends with awesome boss battles that require strategy and impeccable timing. The world map is painless to navigate and every section demands your return, as there are locked doors and special characters that take you to secret areas when they receive special idols.

If you die during a mission, you are taken back to your village where you can spend the chalices you’ve collected on new gear and weapons, as well as buff your hit points, your rune power and your attack strength. The money you collect can be used to buy keys that unlock doors and chests, valor charges for your super (Valor) attack, potions to replenish health and a potion upgrade that increases their effectiveness. If you have chalices leftover and can’t purchase anything new, you can take them to a station that will convert them into money to be used later, or lose them altogether if you decide to sail to the next area.

The art style is bright and cartoony, with just the right amount of Scandinavian heavy metal tributes. Every inch of this game has been hand crafted and the level of detail is incredible. Unfortunately the animations are a little jerky, but the level of fun and its visual aesthetic keep you more than distracted. “Viking Squad” has gone through many different iterations over the past couple of years, namely the refined visual aesthetic, tighter controls, no on-screen cue’s for heavy attacks, and no procedurally generated maps, but why did they strip the player count from four to three? Whatever the reason, it doesn’t hold “Viking Squad” back from being a pillaging good time.

Halycon 6: Starbase Commander (8.5 out of 10) – Massive Damage, Inc. – PC/Mac – 09.09.16 — $19.99

While the words “to boldly go where no one has gone before” never fail to evoke a romantic perspective on space exploration, I tend to side with H.P. Lovecraft’s interpretation of the infinite cosmos. In fact, the idea of hurtling ourselves into the depths of something that we can’t possibly comprehend is the ultimate act of hubris on our part. The universe isn’t some new frontier, ripe for exploration—it’s an ever-expanding void, built upon the corpses of dead stars.  

“Halcyon 6” is a game that is based in a universe as cosmic naysayers like myself can get behind—humanity has overextended its reach, made contact with an interstellar race of biomechanical murder beasts and been hunted to the edge of extinction. The only bastion of hope in this vast expanse is a marooned alien space station called Halcyon 6. It’s the player’s job to explore this space station, build fleets and gather resources in order to rebuild humanity.

The initial concern when launching “Halcyon 6” is whether or not it will be able to juggle all of the different gaming influences that are at play. Base management and recruitment is a lot like the “XCOM” games, space and ground combat draws widely from the JRPG genre, and the script pans out like a season of “Star Trek.” It’s a lot to take on for an indie studio like Massive Damage, but I’ll be damned if they haven’t pulled off a solid title with excellent replayability. It fools you into thinking it’s a rogue-like title in the vein of “FTL,” but once you start building fleets and sending them off to protect your interests across the galaxy, “Halcyon 6” becomes increasingly complex.

Most of the game is played out through ship-to-ship combat, which, despite the obvious nod to the early “Final Fantasy” games, has yet to get old. If the player really wants to take their opponents down, they have to rely on their ship’s abilities to inflict negative status buffs on the enemy, and then take advantage of those buffs by exploiting them. For example, say your Acolyte uploads a virus to your enemies, bringing their sensors down. A Rogue can use its taunt attack to exploit the fact that their sensors are down and do way more damage. It’s absolutely crucial when facing larger ships, and it’s also something that enemies will use against you. While the ship and character designs are lovely in their pixelated glory, it’s this brilliantly simple mechanic that makes “Halcyon 6” so replayable.

Away team missions function in much the same way as space combat—yes, the game occasionally requires your officers to beam down to the surface of a hostile planet or fight off alien vermin while they explore the space station. It’s lots of fun too, but it doesn’t happen nearly enough. The space combat is still very satisfying, but since the officers have different abilities and exploits, it would be nice to have things a bit more mixed up.

Graphically, “Halcyon 6” is downright beautiful. Combat takes place against many different cosmic backgrounds, and each ship has a very cool, sci-fi aesthetic. Like much of the game, the graphics are at their strongest during combat. Battles become more vivid and colorful as enemies warp the fabric of reality while friendly ships blast solar flares and nano-mites back at them.

The broad strokes of “Halcyon 6” work very well—it’s got a ton of replay value, it’s fun to build ships and send them out on attack runs or to gather resources and the base management is surprisingly engaging. On the other hand, the game doesn’t do particularly well with nuance—occasionally the player gets assassination missions, but most of the game consists of putting out fires when they appear. Luckily, the developers have invested a lot into making combat fun and sophisticated, so this isn’t too big of a gripe, but a bit more mission variation would be nice.

All in all, the replay value of “Halcyon 6” is definitely worth twenty bucks. Fans of resource/base management, JRPG’s and science fiction in general can expect to get plenty of mileage out of this indie gem.

Metrico + — Digital Dreams — PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Steam — August 23, 2016 — $13.99

Puzzle games are a guilty pleasure of mine. Not because I’m embarrassed to admit that to people, but I hardly go out of my way to find and play them. I’ve always loved the challenge of solving puzzles, but my passion for gaming is dominated by so many other genres that I rarely have the time to go outside my comfort zone. When I played an early build of “Metrico +” at PSX 2015, I was sold on this unique vision of a what a puzzle platformer can be, and now that I’ve been able to dig deeper into it’s world, I’ve been grinning from ear to ear.  

Every video game we play is made using mathematics, but “Digital Dreams” took that to heart and made a puzzle platformer that’s a visual representation of mathematics, graphs, percentages, geometric shapes, infographics, etc. On paper, the concept might sound boring if not weird, but they’ve managed to make everything work in unison, while at the same time making it interesting and occasionally frustrating. Every movement — whether I’m walking left or right, jumping or shooting a line from my virtual protractor — affects the level’s layout in various ways. It’s a beautiful dystopian world full of mind numbing puzzles, breathtaking colors, and geometrically distracting backgrounds that change with every action. And like so many great puzzle platformers before it, there’s a great deal of trial and error. Whenever I completed a small section of its various levels, I found myself clapping and cheering like I was celebrating for my favorite sports team.

Primary complaints about “Metrico” was the frustrating touch controls and janky camera inclusion, so “Digital Dreams” decided to scrap touch controls completely and move everything to the sticks and buttons of a controller. With the exception of trying to aim my protractor to destroy objects, the more fundamental control scheme has helped immensely, where the only frustration comes from player error and the puzzles themselves. On top of the better controls and improved visuals, the game handles load times efficiently and the frame rate stayed consistent throughout, save the few times I used the PS4’s quick menu. Needless to say, these refinements make “Metrico +” feel like it’s half remake, half reimagining of “Metrico”.

One of the most curious aspects of this game is how vague the story is. I’m solving all these mathematical and geometrical puzzles, then ending up inside a void and making a decision between two doors that will transform an appendage and unlock new gameplay mechanics.

I’m not entirely sure what these things represent, but I can’t help but be intrigued to figure out what’s really going on. Even though I haven’t completed the game, the entirety of my puzzle solving adventure has made every small accomplishment that much more cheerful. The crew at “Digital Dreams” have created an incredibly unique and intelligent puzzle platformer and I can’t imagine the headaches that came from putting this game together the first or even the second time.

Vourbot returns from Pax West with a hands on review of Super Galaxy Squadron EX…

Hello, All. Vourbot reporting in from PAX West with some amazing news: There is a shmup here.

It’s been three or four years since a traditional shmup has graced the expanse of glowing screens here at the Seattle Convention Center!

I did my speed run- left my colleagues in the dust so they wouldn’t slow me down- and I went here, there, to, fro at top speed, turned a corner, and in my periphery, saw the blooming firework fountain that says, “That might be a shmup!”.

It was two youngsters from Baltimore, and I think a third in the wings, presenting the game Super Galaxy Squadron EX. The name was so generic that I was ready to see an underdone muffin of iphone app-ness. I stepped in. I remembered the graphics from something I’d seen on steam- Super Galaxy Squadron— My review of that game was… puny game with good intentions. Basically, single background pixel fest, probably designed for the iphone, but still unable to hide it’s gentle sophistication in it’s basic respect for the fine shmups of the past– mostly in the graphics, basic movement and speed, and marriage of explosion and sound- which were all above average. But it was still too simple of a game for me to celebrate.

And you have to remember, I still think that video games are magic. I have no idea how hard they are to make or.. anything! I just like the art form of “the shmup”.

After talking to the two a little bit, I got where they were coming from.

The one who seems to have been in charge was Nick Clinkscales. And here’s some blogage he wrote, that will supplement this article!

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/NickClinkscales/20150116/234350/Super_Galaxy_Squadron_prepostmortem_or_how_a_pixel_artist_pretended_to_be_a_developer_for_a_year_and_things_got_weird.php

I’m posting it right up front, because I think this is some heavy isht@#– the art form I love is on the brink, I’m not ready to become the artist, and neither was he it seems. But he did it!!

He describes himself (well, I’m going to describe him as) a pixel artist who has been compelled to throw his pixels into context by dabbling with programming. And then here’s my list of assumptions about him:

1. If drawing ANYTHING, why not draw a spaceship. Booyah!

2. Once you’ve committed to spaceships, you’ve got to program the thing, and luckily, shmups are the easiest thing to program in the world. At least that’s what I imagine, ’cause I don’t know anything at all about it. I’ve just always thought that the mechanics were so simple that it’d be so easy to express yourself, in this medium, as a programmer, and that’s why I’ve got such a chip on my shoulder about the lack of indie shmups at PAX in years past.

3. Once you’ve committed to that much, you’d have to do a little research- or I guess you could just dink around with your Nintendo memories, but you know, it takes a lot of time. so why not try to make it good.

4. So this guy did the research- he looked at the top 10 lists of shmups and tried them out, quickly found out what he liked about them, and quickly saw the appeal of them- even though the whole while he wasn’t even particularly into them, and his whole goal was to make a shmup that he liked– that the layman would like. –That the people who are frustrated by shmups would like. Again, probably because he didn’t want to waste all his time making a piece of art that no one would look at.

5. After researching the pinnacles of the genre, there’s no going back. It’d be pointless. Shmups are cool. They are superior. His game has easy modes that a shmupper would barf at. It has hard modes that a shmupper would worship. It has variety that anyone critical of shmups would like.

And that’s what he explained to me, and a little in the article I posted– that he wanted to make an accessible shmup.

And my review of this shmup? It’s just great. But it has to be put in context:

The historical definition of an accessible shmup is… “shit”. They’re called “Euroshmups” (google it). They are usually focused on lifebars (which Galaxy Squadron happens to have), too many ships with meaninglessly differing weapons (which GS also has to some degree), easy difficulty (same), “endless” feel (same), lack of narrative background visuals and set pieces (same), and lots more garbage that would make a shmup somehow less like Shienryu (google it). Plus long cut scenes!

SGS walks the line in ALL those euroshmup areas. (Although, there is an arcade mode, and a wide spectrum of difficulty– with nice backgrounds and that suicide feeling intact. Not to classic shmup levels, but to “pleasantly surprised” levels for 2016. —of course, for 2016, those levels are actually “OMG”).

But, since this article is actually my opus, since I haven’t seen a shmup in the wild for four years, since the last company shmup I saw at PAX was Sine Mora, and the last independent one was Jamestown, that same year, I’ve got to explain just a couple of points to the layman. With a bonus point at the end.

When I was doing construction work and listening to my Alan Watts CD, I heard something that struck me and stuck with me and it has crystallized my understanding video games, plus a lot of activities in my life. He described the meditative state (and that’s with the assumption is that that means the “enlightened” and “better” state) as, “paying more attention than usual, to more things than usual”. I believe in the “meditative state” as being thrilling, fulfilling and fun. In so many words, Nick Clinkscales was saying to me, “I wan’t to make the meditative state more accessible”, and it shows in every second of the game. It’s what makes the classic shmups good– lack of IT is what makes euroshmups bad. The content is not what’s for sale. The meditative state is what’s for sale. That’s why Sina Mora is a dud– A+++ content, with constantly interrupted meditative state. That’s why Jamestown walks that frustrating line– thrilling meditative state (during the levels), then switch to lower gear to move your cursor. I’m being a little picky on those wonderful artworks, but seriously, waiting for my computer to boot, think, ANYTHING= Not Meditative. And I’m in love with games that can stoke me for the start line, and then not make me step off the track. It’s as simple as that. SGS happens to do that well. Fast menus.

I’d go as far as to say that, if you should EVER encounter a shmup that is then great, it’s because the creator has literally never played a good shmup for more than 40 seconds. Or they’re not trying to make a shmup. It’s that blatant. Of course, they might have just forgotten to check out the Alan Watts CD from the library. That’s possible, too.

Anyhow, SGSEX has a few things special, besides. You can switch ships between levels, which I thought was lame till I tried it– it is a squadron that you’re in charge of, and there’s great (optional) cut scenes that flesh out that idea. The variety of ships is good. Each is as fun as any Aerofighters ship, but beefed up to Battle Bakraid potency or beyond. The action is superb. The graphics are chiptuned mode 7 bliss. If you’re looking for influence, it’s a cross between Donpachi squares and Cho Ren Sha 64k pixel grit, over bright Gameboy Advance backgrounds. The sounds are just spot on. My only complaint is that the blue icons look like a cereal that haunts me. It has an element of chaos that is refreshing- there is no ship collision, so the ships layer up, making it feel a little organic (rather than fully orchestrated. Not like it matters- I never flew over a ship. The big ships at the top stack up sometimes, for that gamey feeling). The music is fantastic and simple. It reminded me very much of Hotdog Storm. It plays like a Gameboy Advance version of Dodonpachi, running at Battle Garegga speed, paced by someone who’s played a real shmup before, with help from the computer’s AI for any heavy lifting.

And I think the game just has total integrity, and would probably be a sleeper hit if all was right with the world. But I still don’t think that these guys realize that they made the ONLY shmup at PAX for almost as long as I’ve been going there. Their personal victory is actually the PINNACLE and BEACON of a fine art that is NOT LIVING ANYMORE, and the masterpieces and classics aren’t even hanging in the museum yet, and maybe never will be. I mean, they’re called “shmups” for christsakes- what a dumb word. So maybe no one will listen to Alan Watts, and the genre and all of it’s fine art will succumb to death and oblivion.

And as far as death and oblivion go– the final point, and my only other enlightenment from this years PAX, and also the clear line between which games I’ve been attracted to throughout my life and why:

1. Old games were suicide missions.
2. New games are adventures.
3. Mediums that convey suicide missions the best: video games.
4. Mediums that convey adventures best: Movies. Books.

I think any episode of Punky Brewster is fundamentally and elegantly more engaging, as an adventure, than any Zelda game. And death’s role in any Zelda game is more compelling than any part of the adventure.

Watch TV. Play shmups.

Oh, yes. There is one little thing I forgot to mention about Super Galaxy Squadron EX, and it’s the only place where they missed the mark and let their integrity falter- a single missing dragon scale over Clinkscales’ heart, if you will. There is no way to reconfigure the controls, and no way to reconfigure the screen. So, as Alan Watts commands, I can’t sit in front of my computer on a beanbag with my controller plugged in like a little kid with infinite patience. I can barely handle Steam pondering cyberspace for 120 seconds every time I turn it on! It’s worse than iTunes! I have to play games like this on a vertical monitor, with an input scheme of my own design, so basically….. I can’t play the f-ing game!! I’m just that hardcore!! I’m 41 years old!! Please, Nick! You’re not going to be Michelangelo of shmups if you throw these few seemingly useless traditions out the window. They’re not meaningless- they are tradition, and you’re dealing with a fine art. The traditions are:

1. 3×4 possible aspect ratio.
2. Configurable controls.

I know this is antique, but if you don’t do this, you’re basically digging a Nintendo out of it’s grave and slobbering into it’s cartridge slot, while smashing a CRT. And then lighting it on fire in front of anyone whose ever soldered wires to the inside of their xbox controller, and their cabinet only has three buttons, and solder and hot glue got everywhere in there somehow. I hope it’s possible

Audio Interview/Hands On (Pax West 2016 Exclusive): 

https://soundcloud.com/poppundits/super-galaxy-squadron-ex-hands-on-wnick-clinkscales

Square Enix has seen fit to bless us with Episode 4 “Bittersweet Memories” in their “Brotherhood Final Fantasy” series. This series is adding backstory leading up to the now delayed November 29th release of “Final Fantasy XV” You can catch the video below, and the Final Fantasy XV YouTube Channel has the rest of the series available. 

Dex — Dreadlocks Ltd / BadLand Indie — PS4, Xbox One, Steam — July 12, 2016 — $20.00

“Dex” is a side scrolling adventure RPG set in a cyberpunk world where corporations have connected their networks and everyday operations through the shady, off the books organization called The Complex. Our protagonist Dex, accidentally and unknowingly pissed them off by accessing the GRID (their network). After making contact with the notorious and elusive Raycast, she is sent to meet his friends, Decker and Tony. After Dex discovers that she’s a fragment of Kether (the advanced AI program The Complex created) she and her new friends gear up to take down them down.

The game looks and plays like it was dug up from the grave of the SNES era, evoking an awesome feeling of 16-bit nostalgia. Harbor Prime looks and feels like a once great city that’s been deteriorating for years. Slums were once thriving communities and it’s neighboring ramshackle, the industrial zone, has long been abandoned. The high end district shines brightly with it’s giant storefronts and swanky penthouse apartments. Segregated from the rest of Harbor Prime and towering over everything is the Highrise district, home to all the major corporations. “Dreadlocks” has nailed the bleak, grungy, and depressing backdrop of a future not far off.

Traversing these various sections of Harbor Prime can become a little monotonous. There’s a serious amount of backtracking to complete quests, forcing Dex to re-visit every character and locale she’s come across, but thankfully “Dreadlocks” has incorporated a fast travel function to speed things up. When Dex isn’t fast traveling, she moves slow and methodically, but she can jump and crouch her way around the city. She can climb ladders at a snail’s pace, awkwardly crawl through vents and other tight spaces, jump over gaps and get to higher ground, as well as ascend stairs like a champ, but descending them is quite the opposite. When Dex is sneaking around gang territories or other restricted areas, she can sneak up behind her enemies and snap their necks. When sneaking is no longer an option, she can block and dodge attacks, unleash a lackluster three to four punch combo as well as an unlockable Power Kick. She also has a few guns to play with, but in many cases, she’s underpowered and outgunned, so getting up close and personal tends to be the best option.

Because of Dex’s ability to access the massive network of Harbor Prime, she can enter Cyberspace through Augmented Reality. Here she can hack cameras, turrets, computers and enemies with faulty augmentations. Once she has control of her avatar, she must shoot and evade annoying contingents of viruses while trying to remain inside the hacking circle. It feels like “Asteroids” meets “Geometry Wars”, but all it proves to be is a frustratingly flawed mechanic. It is entirely too difficult to hack anything without the necessary leveling and upgrades. This is all compounded by the damage Dex receives if she fails and the astronomically expensive one-time-use hacking software. These range from temporary shields, massive shockwave blasts, crowd control pulsewaves, a nest neutralizing spammer, and a high powered beam shot.

All in all, “Dex” is a very intriguing, hostile and dark world to discover, and the story compliments it well. The characters (voiced by solid albeit unknown talent) she comes across and takes quests from are well worth the time. The gameplay is nothing spectacular, but “Dreadlocks” deserves credit for how well they’ve infused the 16-bit construct with modern RPG elements. Dex does many things right and while it has a few annoyances, they don’t destroy the overall experience, except for the hacking mechanic, that can go to hell.

Games with Gold and PlayStation Plus offer their subscribers free games each month just for being members. Sometimes those free games are awesome and other times they are lack luster at best. However we are here to help. Each month we will let you know what those games are and even provide the trailers with a brief description of the game. Because we love you we also give you the links for each Games with Gold and PlayStation Network games so if you decide you want to download them you can. Happy Gaming!

Become a XBOX Gold member.

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate (XBOX One August 1st – August 31st).

Game Description: “The WARRIORS OROCHI series is a series of tactical action games in which heroes from the DYNASTY WARRIORS and SAMURAI WARRIORS franchises work together in an effort to defeat Orochi, the Serpent King. The latest title in the series, WARRIORS OROCHI 3, features over 120 playable characters, who can be played freely in three-character teams. Themes of loyalty, betrayal, friendship and love are explored in the human drama created as these heroes clash on the field of battle.” -xbox.com

WWE 2K16 (XBOX One 16th- September 15th) 

Game Description: “Get in the ring and Raise Some Hell with WWE 2K16!  The undisputed champion of wrestling games returns with the biggest roster in WWE games history and the “Texas Rattlesnake” Stone Cold Steve Austin as its Cover Superstar!  Play as your favorite Superstars from the past, present and future and experience the most authentic, comprehensive, in-your-face WWE video game of all-time!” -xbox.com

Spelunky (XBOX One/360 August 1st- August 15th)

Game Description: “Spelunky is a unique platformer with randomized levels that offer a new and challenging experience each time you play! Journey deep underground and explore fantastic places filled with monsters, traps, and treasure. Fully-destructible environments open up lots of strategies and make it a blast to master the game’s many secrets.”- xbox.com

Beyond Good & Evil (XBOX One/360 August 16th- August 31st)

Game Description: “Beyond Good & Evil™, the award-winning action-adventure game is back! This time play through this innovative thriller in full high-definition graphics. Play as Jade, a young investigative reporter, and expose a terrible government conspiracy. It is up to you and your loyal pig friend Pey’j to save your planet and its inhabitants.”- xbox.com

Become a PlayStation Plus member.

 Tricky Towers (PS4)

Game Description: “Tricky Towers is a frantic physics-based multiplayer tower building game.”- playstation.com

Rebel Galaxy (PS4) 

Game Description: “Rebel Galaxy is a swashbuckling space adventure, with action-packed combat, exploration, discovery, trade, and “negotiation” with the outlandish denizens at the edge of the known universe.”- playstation.com

Ultratron (PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

Game Description: “Experience the addictive gameplay of old-school arcade favorites, updated for the 21st century, with unique upgrades, player responsive difficulty, and a subtle system of tactics combined with classic gameplay.” -playstation.com

Yakuza 5 (PS3)

Game Description: “The legendary dragon returns to the criminal underworld of Yakuza. Kazuma Kiryu, once known as the Dragon of Dojima, was living a quiet life as a taxi driver in Hakata after severing all his ties with the underworld.  However, at the dawn of the bloody turf war between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance, Kazuma is forced to accept his inescapable fate and returns to a life filled with crime and violence to protect his loved ones.  Yakuza 5 continues the epic story of Kazuma Kiryu and 4 other protagonists, Haruka Sawamura, Taiga Saejima, Tatsuo Shinada and Shun Akiyama.”- playstation.com

Retro/Grade (PS3)

“Rick Rocket has just saved the universe! Unfortunately, the massive destruction he left in his wake has caused a temporal anomaly that has reversed the flow of time. The player must assume control of Rick’s spacecraft and fight through the epic space battle… in reverse! Players must un-fire their attacks, which are timed to the beat of the music, as they return to the ship all the while dodging enemy shots as they return to the guns that fired them. Retro/Grade is an innovative game that fuses the white knuckle thrills and over the top visuals of a shooter with the broad appeal of a rhythm game.”- playstation.com

Patapon 3 (PS VIta)

Game Description: “Devastate your opponents with attacks as Superhero Patapon in the third iteration of the critically acclaimed rhythm-based action adventure. Play campaign with friends, go head-to-head, or even take on a clan of other Patapon gamers with network play allowing up to eight people. Customize your tribe with different weapons and abilities in the greatest portable adventure of rhythm and war.” -playstation.com

The first part of a Home Arcade Tutorial from our good friend, Vourbot. 

Hello! This is Vourbot checking with my report on what the younger set might call “What are those”, but what the folks my age call “The holy grail of transcendent, tactile, cyber-interface: the Arcade Machine”. In case you’re in the first batch, here’s what it is: It is a six-foot-tall wooden rectangle-ish sculpture. It has a glowing image at eye level. At hand level, there are some heavy levers and some large buttons that click away when manipulated, and it takes your whole forearm (in tiny amounts) to keep the high score when the heat gets turned up– which it does– which is what is generally special about these games. Actually, the whole genre actually devolved into just turning up the heat, physically– with gun and driving cabinets that, while still being games, mostly just shake your body.

Trust me, you want it. So I’m going to try and describe to the layman a piece or two from my personal collection– and here’s the thing: I’m a layman, and I’ve got this huge and varied arcade at my house. So read through this over and over until you feel like you could do the same.

GETTING THE CABINET

I get the wooden box by searching “amusement devices” in the yellow pages (and every city has this), and asking them, “do you have any trash cabinets”. Trust me–– THEY DO. You actually have to intercept them before they go in the trash.
COST: Aim for 50$ to free. Don’t pay 300$ unless it’s working and in pristine condition, in which case, it’ll probably break soon. It’s more fun to make them yourself on the cheap, I think.

DIFFICULTY: for an old, narrow (90’s-ish and earlier) cab, one six-foot-tall man barely has the strength to tip one into the back of their hatch-back, and then pull it back out at home. You need a hand truck to roll it around, but those will fit throughout your house OK with creative scooting.. If you get a newer cab (2000-ish or later), It might be just a few inches wider, but it’ll take two people to tip, might not fit in your hatchback, and will barely fit through some parts of your house (doors) –sometimes with creative doorknob removal and wall scrapes. Just think to yourself, “The ancient Egyptians did it, I can too”. Any later than that (Crazy Taxi vintage), and it’ll have wheels that glide it along, be almost totally un-tip-able, and might not fit at all through many doors. So those are a major undertaking. –But cabs that new begin to interface with modern computers, so it’s possible it’ll have a VGA monitor installed, or maybe even an element of USB control. That’s cool.

HINTS: if your lucky, you’ll get a mouse nest in the bottom of the cab, or bits of arcade hardware to experiment with later. Sometimes garbage cabs are stripped, but USUALLY have a broken monitor, and then a body full of working parts. Or the reverse– a broken insides, and a working monitor (that’s very special). QUITE OFTEN, everything works, but something is unplugged or just needs to be wiggled.

Also, the more mouse nests in the bottom, the more likely to work. Hmm.. I wonder why?

GETTING THE DISPLAY

I search amazon for the cheapest TV possible, a flat screen that is unfortunately in the wide, modern aspect ratio. But no problem. It’s just as wide as the inside of the cab. The cardboard surround from the original screen harmlessly brings the aspect ratio back to old-timey 3×4. Note: if you should ever come across an original arcade monitor that works, it is like a rare jewel. So keep that. –However, you won’t be able to use it for anything but original arcade guts. Or, if your more adventuresome, for a hacked home console. *plus, if you ever want to sneak a modern game in there, the wide aspect ratio is fine. More details next.

COST: 100$ more or less.

DIFFICULTY: All displays are NOT the same. Here’s the fundamental differences with some rough stats that you have to consider for the future (and I don’t even know the exact numbers, just the basic classes).

320×240 resolution (It’s also called CGA)–– This is any arcade monitor or any old TV before the invention of the flat screen (unless it was designed to work on your home computer. It’s also the resolution of NES through PS1, and most arcade games during that time. It’s a resolution that computers won’t use, so all emulation is out the window, but most original arcade stuff needs this monitor. That’s why if you ever find a working one, it’s like gold. They’re expensive, rare, and perhaps unfixable in your city.

–––-The input that this kind of monitor accepts is either called RGB or RCA/coaxial. Only RGB looks great, and it is five individual wires (Red Green Blue Sync and Ground). This is what arcade monitors accept, and those five wires come right from the game PCB to a connector on the naked guts of the monitor. (Don’t shock yourself– the red suction cup on the back and a few other spots contain deadly voltage when it’s on… and possibly when it’s off, too.) If you do some research, you can find ways to get those five RGB wires out of old home consoles, but it can be easy, difficult, or impossible, based on the console. The others, RCA and coaxial look kind of bad up close. But not that bad, I suppose. That’s the easy way. Just stick your Nintendo in the cab with a TV and hook it up. Arcade hardware only uses RGB (so their monitors do too), old home consoles have to be hacked to get RGB, and they output crappy RCA or coaxial (as old TV’s do). Later consoles do Svideo, which is a little better (and goes to later old TV’s). Modern flat screen TV’s can show at this low 320×480 resolution, but computer monitors can’t.

EGA (320×480 or something) and VGA (640×480 and higher– I’m just guessing) are what computers use– VGA for sure. There’s some EGA Arcade games, but nothing else. You might end up with a great arcade monitor only to realize that it’s EGA and worthless. But some arcade machines use VGA, which means it will plug right into your computer– and computers output RGB which looks beautiful, which is why emulation is cool– it makes your nintendo look sharp where nothing else will (Nintendo’s are hard to hack for RGB). Modern flat screens usually have a VGA input also (so they are basically all computer monitors).

Modern HDMI: this is my favorite modern video plug. It’s RGB, it conveys audio, too, it can even tell the TV when to turn on and off, and it’s small. I have cabs with Xbox 360’s in them with cheap modern flat screens through HDMI and it’s the best.

Alright, laypeople!

Old stuff equals: research, work, and a struggle to get the resolution sharp enough and low enough.

Arcade monitors equals: look great but are too rare and are difficult to interface with any home stuff.

Old TV’s interface with old home stuff, but look like crap.

Modern TV’s interface with computers and all modern games, and look beautiful– they might not look so hot with old home consoles, though (’cause they don’t have RGB out).

Computer monitors (which modern TV’s also are) look great with computers! -which emulate old consoles. And, last but not least, you may find and arcade VGA monitor, which will effortlessly interface at rock bottom res that your computer will handle (which is still double the resolution that old games are programmed in), and will be old and break soon, but guess what? It is impossible to get an RGB display that has a 3×4 aspect ratio (not widescreen) any larger than 19 inches or so, flat or not, any other way!!! So these are the luckiest. Whoa Your not a layman anymore about that! I hope you’re not stupider! Or me, too! Gah!

I google the resolution of my garbage cab’s resolution first, before I decide which one to take home.

HINTS: If it’s the cheap TV from amazon (or the thrift store computer monitor),screw that guy into the cabinet any way you want. I like to drill and screws right through the very edge of the plastic of the actual TV. It’s tough. Don’t hit the electronics.
Make sure that, in the TV’s settings menu, you turn off all special features and enhancements because they’ll all cause input delay. Some TV’s have a “video game mode” that does this.

Arcade monitors are the heaviest part of the things.

Arcade monitors have many knobs on the back for adjusting the picture. MANY times, simple knob adjustments will “fix” the discarded monitor. You are the artist, attempting to get the best image that the old and worn out thing can make.
Flat screens are light.

Now you’re too busy to pay attention any more. I’ll see you in the next article, where we’ll talk about throwing in the monster’s brains and fingertips!!!!!!!! Doesn’t the cabinet look awesome in your house, though!!!!!!!

-Vourbot

“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven” – Bandai Namco – PS4 – 06.28.16 – $59.99

Licensed games are always a gamble, especially when anime is involved. Developers have to juggle the monumental tasks of staying true to the feel of the source material while also creating an engaging game. “Eyes of Heaven” is a lot like its source, in that to an outsider, it appears near incomprehensible, but if you’ve wallowed around in the muck of fighting games before and you’re already a fan of “JoJo,” then I can recommend the game to you without a second thought.

The story mode for “Eyes of Heaven” picks up at the end of “Stardust Crusaders” (part 3 of the manga), with the climactic battle between DIO and Jotaro Kujo serving as the game’s “tutorial.” I use the word loosely, because the only explanation of game mechanics you get is three walls of text, after which the game lets you loose, for better or worse. 

After the battle and as the Part 3 story winds down, the canon railroad gets split in two. A character from Part 1 emerges through a portal carrying a mummified piece of Christ’s body, two formerly dead Part 3 characters pop up as possessed versions of themselves to kick things into motion (and provide an introduction to the two-on-two fighting system), and Jotaro and company start to track down the bits of Jesus across space and time, thereby halting the plans of a nebulous villain referred to as The Noble One (though it doesn’t take a series fan much to figure out that it’s just DIO rocking a new name). The ensuing story chapters take you through all 8 parts of the JoJo universe, with more and more characters becoming available for play as you progress.

While playing a fighting game for story is akin to going to a burger joint for a salad, I found it a lot of fun watching the interactions between the different Joestar generations. Most of story mode consists of two-on-two battles, but there are a couple exploration stages, mob battles, and other various minigames thrown in to keep things interesting. Previous battles can be replayed for higher ranks, with each rank rewarding you alternate colors, costumes, dialogue lines, and quotes for your fighters. An in-game shop supplies you with support items that can give you an edge in story battles, as well as letting you purchase the unlockable costumes if you don’t feel particularly thrilled about clearing a certain mission with an S ranking.

“Eyes of Heaven’s” roster is top-notch. Each character has their own particular set of abilities based on their fighting styles (Vampire, Pillar Man, Hamon User, and Stand User, to name a few), with skills and stat boosts unlocked as you gain experience with them, although thankfully, all characters have their full movesets unlocked from the start in the game’s Free Battle mode. 

What it lacks in mechanical meat, “Eyes of Heaven” more than makes up for in aesthetic.

As a brawler, the game works but at times it feels a bit thin. Too many of the stages allow for you to simply run for half the match without actually coming into contact with your enemies. The guard and recovery mechanics work some of the time, but without much explanation of the mechanics you’ll find yourself button mashing and wondering why the guard you pulled off three seconds ago won’t work anymore. The lack of explanation of the different fighting styles also hamstrings the game. Series newcomers won’t necessarily know the mechanics behind why some characters take damage while standing on spikes, some don’t, and some are only immune to damage while their stamina meter remains full. The whole “Only a Stand can damage another Stand” shtick also falls flat at times, mostly because for brawlers with smaller Stands like N’doul or Narancia, you’d be hard pressed to actually connect an attack on their Stand at all.

What it lacks in mechanical meat, “Eyes of Heaven” more than makes up for in aesthetic. Every aspect of the game oozes style, from the menu design to the vibrant color use to the terrible English localizations of certain stands to avoid copyright issues (looking at you, Cool Ice, Flaccid Pancake, and Spicy Lady). There’s more than enough content for a JoJo aficionado to sink their teeth into, but a series newcomer might be better off playing the game after consuming the related media.

Loath as I am to do so, “Eyes of Heaven” is one of those games that I can’t recommend to anyone who hasn’t at least seen or read some of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” beforehand. As a fan, I felt like I was more willing to overlook the less polished facets of the game, if only for the sheer joy it brought me to see Old Joseph’s iconic ‘OH MY GOD’ worked into his ultimate attack animation.

Nintendo’s press conference was pretty fun to watch. If you missed it don’t worry we’ve got you covered.