Ein Hund

And now, further proof that obtaining any license doesn't mean jack:

Original video located here. Accessed 15th March 2017

Well that was missing the point of the movie by a loooooooooooooong shot.
Personally, I can see Reservoir Dogs working as a choice-based RPG but it would seem the devs of this thought otherwise.
A wasted opportunity if ever there was one.

30 years of Final Fantasy

This year sees thirty years of my favorite frenemy franchise, Final Fantasy (alliteration FTW!):

Original video located here. Accessed 13th March 2017

With regards to this video, it's interesting to note that Five is the one that shows some actual gameplay footage....

Still, for me the Final Fantasy series represents a strained relationship. Sometimes it strikes gold, other times it delivers crap. Sometimes it provides an engaging RPG experience, other times it seems more interested in the spectacle. Sometimes it has timeless classics that still hold up years later, other times it seems to be making the lightening strike again to the point of painful.

But in the end, for all the times Final Fantasy DID work, I can't hold those moments against it.
So here's to three decades, you magnificent bastard.

History lesson

Here's something that came to my attention recently: The Video Game History Foundation

This site was launched earlier this week and is dedicated to building a digital library made up of magazine scans, brochures, displays and much more.

Not much else to say except, that this a worthwhile cause and you should go and support it!
Go click on that link!

Not steaming, just fuming

Come July, games distributed via Steam will face a 10% increase here in Australia. This is because of the Australian government's Goods and Service Tax.

As if games weren't already expensive enough here in Australia.

Really there isn't a lot i can say about this. It's a disappointment yes but considering Valve have made some bad moves in the past (getting chased down by the ACCC comes to mind), it's hard to paint them as the 'Good Guys' and the Australian Government as bullies.
Still at least there's always GoG....

Hidden in the Summer for a million years

Earlier this week, some news of interest emerged for us Aussie's: For the first time in it's history, the Civilization series will have, for it's latest iteration (VI), Australia available as a playable faction.
It will be available as a Premium DLC but will feature advantages such as cities benefiting from coastal positioning, and the leader being John Curtin.

Well this is pleasing to me both as an Aussie and a fan of the civilization series. Nice to see some solid representation. And it might make people learn who John Curtin was - both here and overseas.

Castlevania Right There on my TV

News has been circulating recently on how Castlevania will be made into a TV series with the producers behind it talking up how it will follow the gritty path set by Game of Thrones.

Well at least they're admitting they want a piece of that pie...

But seriously though, I have my doubts about this. Castlevania is, for me, a superb slice of gothic horror that, as a series, is played across different eras and generations of the Belmonts. It may seem presumptuous but the former will most likely be one this proposed TV series latches onto. Meaning that the 'generational' aspect may be left by the wyside.

Which is funny because Game of Thrones does the generational thing......

I mean I can see each episode having a different Belmont in a different era but I still don't still it working - even as i type it out.

Return of Timezone

Here's something that came to my attention recently: Former arcade giant Timezone are announcing a comeback with plans to expand into shopping centres.

I remember Timezone being a big deal when I was a kid in the early nineties. It was a place where they had these real awesome games that I couldn't find anywhere else, somewhere I visited many times and a place where i blew many a dollar. Indeed, i have many fond memories about meeting people there and experiencing so many wonderful games.
Of course, that all seems irrelevant now, as the era of the arcade has long since passed. Sure it managed to bounce back from a previous potential collapse (saved only with the advent of Streetfighter 2), but the rise of the home entertainment, technical advancements and saved games kinda ended it for people.

The Timezone I knew from my childhood started was part of my local movie theater. Compared to other places it wasn't seedy and was more welcoming to all kinds of people. Then suddenly it changed it's name to NRG and then to Intensity, it's current name.
I remember Timezone as being packed, wall to wall, with arcade cabinets and little room for anything else. By contrast, I walk into Intensity now and it seems barren. Sure there's DDR but at the same time, there's some aging cabinets that haven't moved in twenty years, very few games from the past decade, and there seems a lot more open spaces. I've heard that arcades are still managing to live a surprisingly healthy existence overseas but you wouldn't think that down here. Hell, I've been to Galactic Circus in Melbourne and that seems to be doing amazingly well, despite the arcade being long-surpassed by the appeal of home gaming.

But it would seem that the Arcade's time has come (yet) again: Gaming has been recognized as a social activity thus presenting an opportunity worth seizing upon. And so Timezone announced a comeback: As indicated by the link above, they've opened up five new stores last year to enough success that expansion has been announced.
I doubt this thing will come to the backwater that Tasmania, but if it results in a large gaming complex loaded with all kinds of Arcade gaming then hell yes!