[podcast]http://www.gamesugar.net/podcast/e32010/e3ivydemo.mp3[/podcast]
Aileen caught up with XSEED Games this week to try out Ivy the Kiwi? on Wii, but also found out plenty more about the DS version as well as some info about the digital versions in the works for DSiWare and WiiWare and how they differ from the retail copies.
Thanks to the magic of audio, you can hear about it straight from XSEED Games at the show. You can also check out some video of the game after the break.
Last night Giant Robot held a Pre-E3 event with Gaijin Games and Attract Mode, and our own Aileen Viray managed to sweeten the event and grab some photographs for us [ed]
Skeptical Cat feels very ignored with all this E3 business going on around the office. All Skeptical Cat has heard this week is bullets and swords and something about the three d’s of gaming – meanwhile only Skeptical Cat seems to realize that the litter box doesn’t clean itself.
Skeptical Cat isn’t very interested in these things, but was bribed to pitch in with a shiny Natal experience pass to replace his old collar. Skeptical Cat feels that gaming needs to connect with its roots, especially in offering us more games about delicious characters – and maybe more Chu Chu Rocket, Skeptical Cat approves of more games where foolish mice are eaten.
Skeptical Cat feels that Ivy the Kiwi would taste very good, maybe even more so than a Kolibri, but Skeptical Cat feels catching one requires careful planning because Kiwi’s seem tricky.
Skeptical Cat remembered the nice XSEED rep he met when that game about cats inheriting the world came out, and went for a visit to learn more about Kiwis.
As far as Persona 3 Portable is concerned, the word of the day is definitely streamlined, and legitimately so because the game moves from screen to screen swiftly, even without the optional install.
I got the chance to view a demo of the title today when Atlus harnessed the power of the Internet to give an overview of the game’s most notable new feature, the ability to play as either gender.
The trade off is that “anime” cut-scenes have been replaced with more character portrait interactions, and that players now navigate the world with an icon rather than running around loose in it – well except for the dungeons of course.
Pressing square brings up a quick menu that allows players to jump to different locations now, admittedly making P3P a more ideal game on the go. Whether or not that’s a huge loss is debatable. One could lament that loss of immersion, but at the same time locations are freshened with a new 2D art perspective, keeping the game focused on character interchanges and battling with Persona.
Prior to establishing Gamesugar, my PSP-2000 had developed a condition I’ve come to refer to as “PSP Leprosy” – a series of strange blotches staining the screen in permanent places. At the time I was quite concerned that this would cut its working career short, but the handheld soldiered on, ready to meet the new challenges that lay ahead during the year in gaming that is 2010.
However, during a recent adhoc co-op session for Metal Slug Double X, it was clear that my PSP was running much slower than its partner, with significantly longer load-times and finally a screen freezing glitch that forced me to remove the battery to turn it off. Still I held out hope that it might overcome this, only to have the freezing get progressively worse, until I was forced to accept that the patient was lost last night during an attempted revisit of Jeanne D’arc.
It’s impossible not to question why the young are sometimes cut short, long before their time and prior to releases like Valkyria Chronicles 2, Patchwork Heroes, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker – potential joys my PSP will never know. It’s true that the candle that burns twice as bright often lasts only half as long, and surely my PSP was able to attend gaming events and sample review code that made its short life far from ordinary.
I don’t expect an answer regarding the wisdom of the great designer in this situation, I can only mourn the passing of a portable device that gave itself in the service of gamers, in the hope of bringing a better level of information and game writing to their lives.
Assuming you’ll indulge me, a list of this PSP’s published service record can be found after the break, a permanent memorial in remembrance of its accomplishments.
Goodnight my first PSP, while I will undoubtedly be forced to replace you with another, you will never be forgotten.
On Sunday morning Jamie and I made the trek to Wizard World at Exhibition Place in Toronto to catch our very own Pikachu. We arrived early enough to be blasted by children’s music and a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man, which was admittedly overwhelming given our still half sleeping state.
As the bright colors and screaming children within Wizard World roused us from sleep, we saw an area filled with kids wearing Pikachu hats and spotted a giant shuffling Pikachu being led through the crowd for photo ops and suspected we’d found the right place.
-As before, the welcoming party consisted of armed thugs swinging chains and spikes, meat grinders waiting for fresh juice, walls of spikes, and all other manner of death traps eager to paint the town red all over again. In short, it reaffirmed my long running suspicion that cities are intent on killing us, or at least hurrying the speeds at which we kill each other.
-The city is where we need to go in order to make a name for ourselves as well, where we can fight to claw our way ahead and raise our rank and edge ever closer to the prize that eluded us everyplace else.
-Is it any fun?
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