Miscellanous posts, shop talk.
186-Independence… Night!
Happy Independence.. Night! Sorry I spent all day building a Gundam model and watching Smiler stream Metal Wolf Chaos!
Posts categoriezed as Banter
Little Things- Unconventional Title Screens
For some reason, I really get a kick out of games that get creative with their title screens. Most games get by just fine with a huge logo over a blank background, screened-back art assets, or panning around game backgrounds. I guess it’s just that extra bit of effort that helps make an impression every time I start into the game.
Starting most recently, I got Freedom Wars off the last PSN flash sale (and it is awesome, I’m actually preparing a +/- comic about it) and its title screen depicts your player character (or “Sinner”) sitting in their prison cell, facing the wall-sized monitor opposite their bed, and with their Accessory (a dystopia-appointed android parole officer, basically) staring blankly at them. From the second the game loads, you are being watched. Aside from that, it’s also kind of interesting in that it probably wouldn’t work as well if the game supported multiple save files since there’s no guaranteeing your avatar wouldn’t be sitting there- and the cell is the only place you can hard save your game. It’s one of a handful of ways the game coaches you into a regimen and reinforces the whole “trapped in a 1984-ish superjail” thing the game is based around.
(Also the game’s pretty awesome. I recommend it next time it goes cheap again.)
(The “Press Start” only appears on first install)
Armored Core in general has an interesting storytelling style that I didn’t get the first time I attempted the series, like at all. I thought it was just a largely-plotless series of missions, but there’s actually a fair amount of depth if you dig around the menus (and/or poke around Wikia and TVTropes to see fans’ takes on things.) Actually, FROM seems to like this in general, given how much of Dark Souls’ universe is only revealed through reading all the item lore and connecting the dots in your head. Anyway, one of the central elements of the AC games is that the story is told more or less completely impersonally. Communication is handled with aliases, icons, and emails with voice accompaniment. Fittingly, then, Armored Core V starts with an AC boot-up sequence rather than a conventional loading and title screen, synching up your messages and data over the familiar “Main system” computer voice. I especially like how it begins with “Good Morning” displayed in multiple languages before selecting and speaking the player’s.
(Possibly foreshadowing a future Little Thing- I also dig that the track that plays over the bootup screen is called “Computers are Talking.”)
In both of these, the title screen is kind of used to add extra immersion to the experience. It’s just a little thing that I notice, and appreciate- that the game can grab you immediately and drag you into it without the use of an attract-mode/introductory sequence.
(Honorable Mention- Devil Survivor 2 on the original DS’s title screen had a little play bar beneath the title screen that matched the time of the music playing in the background, with it fading to attract mode once the track finished playing; I always thought that was kind of cool since it tied back into the Nicaeia death video site that figures heavily into the plot. Also after the Game Over sequence plays, it cuts to a blank white screen simply saying 403 Forbidden. Am I alone in finding that kind of creepy?)
On Gamestop And Retro Trade Ins
When they first announced this program I was actually looking forward to it a bit, but the comments here as well as the actual policies laid down reminded me, oh yeah- this is Gamestop.
Now, personally, I don’t have the hate-on for them that some seem to. I’ve got one super close, the staff are pretty friendly, not too obnoxious with upsells, and for the most part seem to know their stuff more than I usually expect. (Not to knock their employees on the whole or anything- I imagine working at a game store means you have an interest in them, but working retail outlets I know not every employee knows every item under the roof so I’m kind of pleasantly surprised when I go to buy some of the weeaboo cult garbage I like to play and wind up chatting and trading recommendations for stuff.)Â But if there’s one thing that does let me down past online testimonials, I do think the trade in system is kind of balls and dabbling into the retro market doesn’t seem like it’s going to bode well. For starters, the pricing model seems oversimplified, particularly for the collector set who are probably the biggest target for the program. Having a box and manual is kind of a big deal to collectors, generally speaking the more complete an item is, the better. So, maybe they want to get more casual, curious types’ attention? Their shops have the market for convenience pretty cornered in my area, either tucked in malls or Wal-Mart adjacent, with the smaller local shops relegated to strip malls and the downtown area. (Maybe not such a problem for some, but I’ve been without wheels a while now.)
I guess ultimately how I feel is that a big part of the scene around old games is based around the community. They’re games we grew up with, have memories attached to, or longed to play for years and years before spotting a copy by chance in a dusty shop or convention booth. It’s a tall order to take that scene, put it into a nationwide chain, and expect it to flourish put alongside the brand new stuff that most Gamestop customers are there to pick up. Best case, it will mean having a convenient and possibly cheap spot to pick up old titles on a whim. Worst case scenario, it may wind up hurting the existing aftermarket trade by absorbing potential stock and eliminating copies from circulation. Taking another bite out of smaller game shops probably wasn’t out of their consideration going in. Gamestop dealing in retro hardware isn’t entirely unprecedented, though, they’ve been offering vintage merch in the PowerUp Rewards shop for a while, so they probably have some kind of stash or supplier already to kick things off from.
109-Who Is She, Anyway
I feel like at some point I should detail the development of Gatty Ling, but it’s frankly embarassingly lengthy and the gist is “I made this character in freshman year of high school and could never settle on what to do with her.†She’s been a ditzy “Real Robot†pilot, a split-personality android daughter of a mad scientist, and really for the longest time was my go-to character to create in games until Eishi and Dixie popped into being-partly so I could maybe see if a particular play style or attitude stuck. The main constants for her were a naive but really persistent belief that she’s The Hero in spite of… mixed competence, let’s say and having pink hair.
The series’ name change from Gatling Guard (in various capitalizations or stylizations) to Angel Dust (BLEED) was done mostly since the giant robot aspect’s been downplayed a lot and partly because I wanted to open up the possibility of other characters sharing the spotlight or even taking over the main character mantle. After kicking around a few options a while, Dust stuck since it’s actually story relevant, and the BLEED subtitle is in reference to Gatty’s use of blood as a medium for her powers. So if I do other side junk later, I can call them stuff like Angel Dust: RUIN, Angel Dust: GAG, so on.
108-Smorg
It’s kind of hard to come up with titles when I just sit down and do whatever without a clear starting idea. Eventually I started thinking about stuff that would make a cool banner idea o serve as a starting point for some design tweaks.