Okami was one of my favorite PS2 games and I almost teared up when I traded it in for another game. No. Really. I almost cried.

The game was absolutely stunning. The storyline was good and there was actually some replay value to it.

Ever since I bought my PS3, I’ve held out hope that the next Okami would be for the PS3.

Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Destructoid is reporting that the next Okami game – Okamiden: Chiisaki Taiyo – will be coming to the Nintendo DS and since I don’t own a DS, I suppose that I will just have to drool over gameplay footage and screenshots.

I have to agree with Hamza CTZ Aziz that the DS is the perfect platform for the gameplay of Okami and like him, I’m impressed with the screenshot since it looks like the rendering is pretty solid.

Maybe I’ll ask for a DS for Christmas.

Image|True-Gaming

Post from: EveryJoe

Okamiden New Okami Game for DS

I’ve never been very much of a fan of the whole comic book scene [though I do have an unnatural amount of lust love for Wolverine] but I know that there are a lot of people out there whole eat this stuff up.

Who am I to keep these pretty, pretty pictures from you guys?

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is set to hit this fall.

Images|Activision

Post from: EveryJoe

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Screenshots

The PS2 might get even more popular with a price drop that goes into effect today. Now, you can get a PS2 for $99.

As Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA puts it:

“Demand for PlayStation 2 remains strong throughout the world, and the new $99 price point will bring in new consumers who will discover how PlayStation platforms are an outstanding choice for their gaming and home entertainment needs.

Just as PlayStation 2 is delivering on a 10-year lifecycle and helped expand and solidify the DVD format for home entertainment along the way, we believe PLAYSTATION 3 offers the same promise by helping secure the Blu-ray format and delivering unprecedented value as the total home entertainment solution for the next decade.”

Looks to me like their plan is to get people to buy a PS2, fall in love and then move on to the PS3.

That worked on me and maybe it will work on other people too.

Well played, Sony. Well played.

Image|Sony Computer Entertainment America

Post from: EveryJoe

Not a Joke-PS2 for $99

The role of Shinobi is most commonly associated with that of Joe Musashi, the protagonist of the original arcade game and many of its sequels. His name is a combination of both an archetypal Western first name and Japanese last name, Musashi likely being derived from the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. In the manual of The Revenge of Shinobi, Musashi\’s backstory is told as that of a weak boy who first entered the dojo of the Oboro Clan at a young age and gradually, through tireless practice and meditation, worked himself up to become the most skilled and respected ninja of his clan.\r\n\r\nHis peaceful existence in the mountains of Japan is shattered when the totalitarian crime syndicate Neo Zeed rises to power and threatens to take over the world. The Oboro Clan is hunted down by Zeed\’s minions, his master assassinated and his girlfriend Naoko taken hostage. Musashi swears revenge, and in the ensuing battles, as chronicled in The Revenge of Shinobi, all but annihilates Neo Zeed. When Neo Zeed returns in Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, the ninja comes out of retirement one final time and destroys the crime organization for good.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) in Shinobi commercial

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nThe Legend of Kage isn\\\\\\\’t a NES game, per se; it was actually released in the arcades in 1984 by Taito. The game was ported to several contemporary home computer systems, including the Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo Family Computer two years after the arcade version.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nHere\\\\\\\’s a short backgrounder on The Legend of Kage:\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\n

The object of the game is for a ninja named Kage to rescue Princess Kiri from mystical villains. Kage must fight his way through a forest and into a secret passageway that leads up a fortress wall and through the castle itself. Each time the pixelated princess is rescued, the seasons change, starting with summer, followed by autumn, and then winter.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nNo self-respecting rescuer is complete without an arsenal, of course. Kage is armed with swords and shurikens. Power-ups are also available in the form of crystal balls, which not only change Kage\\\\\\\’s clothes but also give him bigger shurikens and make him move faster; a scroll that strikes down all approaching enemies, and a pudgy butterfly that flits across the top portion of the screen during odd intervals.

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nGood news for those who wish to relive those ninja-tastic moments: first, The Legend of Kage\\\\\\\’s NES version has been re-released on the Nintendo Wii\\\\\\\’s Virtual Console in Japan; second, the arcade version has made a comeback via the Playstation 2 title Taito Legends 2; third and last, there\\\\\\\’s a 3D remake of The Legend of Kage in Taito Legends Power Up for the Playstation Portable.

Post from: EveryJoe

Itching for ninja action? Try The Legend of Kage

During this time, on the other side of the world, video game consoles were coming out. These consoles didn’t come with joysticks as controllers but something called D-pads, an adaptation of the arcade controller sans the stick. The joystick was replaced by a button shaped like a cross that allowed movement much like a joystick, eight directions: north, east, south, west, northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.

I remember the time Nintendo started marketing the Nintendo Entertainment System (repackaged in some Asian countries as the Nintendo Family Computer), bundling it with two hot video games at the time, Super Mario Brothers and Hudson’s Adventure Island. The controller that came with the Famicom felt clumsy in my hands. I found myself longing for a joystick, primarily to make my adventures in Super Mario Brothers more palatable.

So we went out to a shopping center to look for a joystick for the Famicom. Of course, we failed to find one. The closest thing we found was a joystick-like contraption that took the place of the cross-shaped button. A few hours of playing Super Mario Brothers using the stub was enough to drive me bonkers. “It’s not a joystick!”

I think that was what forced me, and probably a thousand other players, to adapt—and adapt fast—to the controller of the next generation, the D-pad. Of course, there’s also the fact that it’s hard to play new games using the joystick.

Here’s an opinion from a pro d-pad guy:

I have a great dislike for the joystick of more modern video game system controllers. Controllers like the ones for the Playstation, Playstation 2 and Gamecube all bug me in one very big way with their joysticks or whatever you wish to call it. Joysticks have to have this way where you can control how fast the character or cursor moves by how far you tilt the stick. Push it a bit to make the character or cursor move at a crawl or walk, and push it all the way to move the character or cursor fast. This is where I have problems.

I find the D-pad (the plus sign thingy on the left side of most controllers) so much easier to work with. There’s no need to tilt the thing to control the character or cursor for the games.

Now let’s take a look at the comment of someone who loves joysticks:

Today’s controllers are the main reason I don’t play action games anymore. I dislike the controllers you describe but I was never a fan of the D-pad either. My favorite joysticks remain the ones we used to have in the late 80s to early 90s: a rectangular box with a hard lever and suctions that make it stick on the table. And if the game only needs one button, even better. You control the lever with your right hand and push the button(s) with the left one; an old arcades feeling, the joystick is really a part of yourself and you can feel in control. How today’s gamers enjoy sitting on the couch and playing with their thumb is beyond me.

Nice. So how about you? Joystick or D-pad? Joystick or other video game console controllers?

Post from: EveryJoe

Age-old debate: Joystick versus other controllers

How did the current home-console controllers come to be? How have they evolved? You may have noticed some similarities between the current generation controllers, or between them and the previous generations of controllers. So, how do they all tie together?

Let’s try to find out. I’ve put together a chart, or controller family tree, that tries to connect all the current console controllers with their predecessors. Firstly, I don’t think anyone else has tried to do something similar on the Web, and secondly, none of the manufacturers actually come out and tell you who they’re borrowing ideas from. This means that a lot of the information presented here is my opinion. I try to keep things accurate, using facts I know, but also making some of my own conclusions where no hard evidence is available.

Suffice it to say that Sock Master has done a good job at assembling his little project, from the old school Atari 2600 joystick to the sensational Nintendo Wiimote.

Atari 2600 joystick: Grandpa Controller

Nintendo Wiimote: Junior

Here, take a gander at Sock Master’s work.

Post from: EveryJoe

The video game console controller ‘family tree’

Well, here’s my list:

Pong, Space Invaders, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Leisure Suite Larry, Afterburner, Double Dragon, Prince of Persia, Tetris, Secret of Monkey Island, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castle Wolfenstein, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Minesweeper, Myst, Rayman, Command & Conquer, Tekken, Tomb Raider, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, and Total War.

Darn, I think I have to brush up on my video games history and literature again.

Post from: EveryJoe

The History of Video Games in two minutes

Post from: EveryJoe

Ken and Ryu animated gifs

I’ve found this really neat article about this very subject, The Evolution of Ken and Ryu. Actually, I’ve been wanting to write something just like it for the longest time, but since I don’t have the entire Street Fighter collection within my grasp, I decided not to push through with it.

Here’s the introduction to the article on GamesRadar written by Tyler Wilde:

Ken and Ryu are cultural icons. Legends. Even most non-gamers, assuming they have at least a cursory knowledge of ’90s pop culture, can recognize them.

Ten years after Street Fighter III, Street Fighter IV is about to cement the formidable duo into the collective consciousness of a new generation. In celebration, we’re taking a look at how they became legends in the first place, one game at a time.

The story then goes on to detail, as the introduction says, the changes in appearance and costume of our street fighting duo, from Street Fighter to Street Fighter EX, from the various Capcom Versus arcade games to comic books and graphic novels. Whew! Talk about history.

Go check out the story. I’m sure you’ll have tons of fun reading it.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Evolution of Ken and Ryu