Who Will Define The Next Year of Nintendo? February 25, 2014

On March 18th, 2014 the Year of Luigi will officially end. The Year of Luigi, originally announced a year ago, was one of the best promotional events in the history of Nintendo and brought a character typically seen in the background up front and center as he happened to star in several major games that got released over the course of that year, including Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, New Super Luigi U and Dr. Luigi.

With the year wrapping up soon, and with all the positive press from the promotion, I started to wonder if Nintendo might try the event again with a new character for 2014.  Luigi was chosen because he was a background character that hadn’t got as much appreciation as Nintendo’s biggest mascot, Mario. He was also chosen because Nintendo had planned an entire lineup of games which featured him to release within that year, including several games he would star in. So it would be logical to assume Nintendo may want to promote some other secondary character once the Year of Luigi concludes.

But which character?  With a bit of speculation, and a bit of conjecture lets take a look at some of the options.

Samus Aran – The third major Nintendo property has not seen much love from Nintendo in this current generation.  Since the release of Metroid: Other M, we haven’t heard a peep from the franchise’s hero Samus Aran, despite the demand for new Metroid Prime games.  Short of releases of the original Metroid games on the Wii U and 3DS platforms, and a fantastic bunch of minigames in the Wii U launch title Nintendo Land, there have not been any new Metroid games released on the current Nintendo platforms. I think the time is right for some new Metroid games, all it would take is a new game’s announcement.  In the meantime, Metroid Fusion has already been confirmed as an early title for the Wii U’s first GBA Virtual Console releases, and Samus was one of the first characters confirmed for the next Super Smash Bros game.

Donkey Kong – Could this year be on like Donkey Kong?  It’s already started up.  One of the original mascots of the Nintendo company, Donkey Kong would be a great contender to dedicate the next year.  With Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze releasing this month on the Wii U, the lineup is already in place.  He has also been confirmed as one of the first playable characters for the next Super Smash Bros game and Mario Kart 8.  However, even I have to admit the timing may be wrong for Donkey Kong this year.  With the new Donkey Kong Country game getting released while we are still officially in the Year of Luigi, it may have been too soon to dedicate the next year of releases to him.

Bowser – A role once played by Dennis Hopper, next to Mario or Luigi, Bowser is one of the most iconic characters from the Super Mario series, and if Nintendo wanted to devote another year to a lesser appreciated character from the Super Mario franchise, Bowser would probably be the most likely candidate. While typically the villain of nearly every Super Mario Bros game, Bowser has occasionally joined Mario with his battles, like in Super Mario RPG, or joined him with his recreational activities, like Golf or Go Karting.  Interesting to note that not only will he be returning as a playable character in Mario Kart 8, all the Koopalings will be coming with him.

Pikachu – The most iconic mascot for one of the most popular game franchises in history could find a year dedicated to him.  Yes I know that Nintendo already released the sixth generation Pokémon games in 2013, but Nintendo doesn’t need to launch a new Pokémon generational game, they could be in development of new spin-off titles like a new Pokémon Ranger game.  On top of that, there have been rumors for a few months now that an interactive game starring Pikachu is under development and will be the next game Nintendo releases in the Pokémon series.  Could this Pikachu game be the flagship title of a year of Pikachu like Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon was for The Year of Luigi?

The Year of Luigi ends March 18th, 2014.  I guess we’ll find out what will be coming in less than a month.  Until then, speculate away.  I’ll see you on Miiverse.

Why I Left the PC February 20, 2014

I got my first PC in late 1996. It was a Pentium machine clocked at 133mHz with 16MB of RAM running Windows 95. The store my dad bought the computer from included a CD-ROM with the computer which had over one hundred different DOS shareware demos. Every game demo you could imagine as staples of the gaming industry was on that disc. Wolfenstein 3D, Commander Keen, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis were just some of the games I could start playing, and my computer, while a dinosaur by today’s standards, could run all these demos without the slightest hitch. When I loaded up the first shareware demo, the computer’s speakers began to roar. The last time I had played a video game was on the original NES and as the flight simulator loaded up, it looked hundreds of times better than any game I had ever seen before. On that day, I became a PC Gamer. Ten years later, that ended.

Throughout the late 90s, the PC had so much more that it could offer gamers than the consoles of the day could. It had better graphics hardware, a wider variety of control options, and online capabilities. But to me, the single thing that made the PC the best gaming platform was its ability to improve itself through the form of patches and mods. PC game developers could release new features, fix bugs, and support user modifications with just a simple download.

The tide had begun turning against the PC starting around the launch of the original Playstation. While it was clear that the PC could deliver a better gaming experience than the consoles of the day could, it was clear that the consoles would compete by offering some amazing exclusive games that would never see a release on the PC. By the time the PS2, Xbox and GameCube launched, publishers turned nearly all their focus to developing games on those consoles. Even LucasArts, who had one of the biggest catalogs of PC games, was no longer porting games to the PC. PC games were still being developed, and any game’s PC version would clearly offer the superior gaming experience over the console version, fewer games were coming to the platform. Unless the game was pushing technology past something the consoles could do or was a best selling game, it wouldn’t come to the PC.

But a lack of key exclusive titles was not enough to turn me away from the PC, it was the decisions made by the game publishers. To them, the PC was a pit, at least, that’s how it seemed like they felt. Valve released Half-Life 2, one of the best games ever made, in 2004. In every copy of Half-Life 2 was a program called Steam, and it would run every time Half-Life 2 did. The Steam program required online access to function, but once you gave it the game’s CD-Key, it would keep Half-Life 2 up to date, keep an online friend’s list of all the Half-Life and Counter Strike players, making it easier for you to join friend’s games, and provided one of the PC’s first online digital marketplaces. Many PC players were against its existence, but it offered me a lot of really useful benefits, so I had no issue with it. Little did I know that other publishers would see the success of the Steam platform and its acceptance by players like myself, and, not knowing or caring about all the benefits that Steam offered players, actively engaged in anti-consumer practices to protect their own bottom lines.

In 2007, publishers started to ship PC games which, like other games that shipped with Steam, required online activation to play. However, unlike Steam, they offered absolutely no benefits whatsoever to customers who bought games that required online activation, not even automatic game patching. In fact some of the games it shipped with, like the original Bioshock, had no multiplayer component. So, why did it have to be included? The worst part of this development was that the publishers limited the amount of times you could perform an online activation! The internet went into an uproar by this point. PCs can break or get computer viruses very suddenly and unexpectedly, forcing players to perform system wipes, costing them an activation in the process. Meanwhile, while Steam wasn’t going anywhere, there was no way to tell how long the activation servers that verified these games would continue to run, or if they would go down due to heavy use. The concerns turned out to be fully justified. Even legitimate PC game reviewers encountered problems with these limited activations.

Forced online activations became the norm by 2008. Games including Mirror’s Edge, Red Alert 3 and Dead Space all required online activation. I was most sad to see Red Alert 3 would be DRM locked, I was actually planing to buy that game, but I knew all it would take would be three system wipes and I would have to rebuy it.

Meanwhile the newest consoles were looking more and more attractive by comparison. With the wide adoption of HDTVs, the game consoles could offer high definition gaming in surround sound, perfect for gamers interested in setting up a home theater system in their home. Also, with the wider adoption of high speed internet, console games could be patched, giving consoles one of the biggest advantages the PC held over it. Unified console marketplaces also made it possible to deliver downloadable content, digital games and even feature films!

The tide against the PC had turned and I knew that if I wanted to stay a gamer, I could no longer be loyal to just one platform. Some of the best games I’ve played in the past ten years were console exclusives. I never thought I would make that statement.

The PC still claims dominance in graphical fidelity but with its cost, complexity, and the restrictive self imposed procedures publishers are forcing on their customers, it is getting harder and harder to justify those slightly less jagged edges or extra frames per second during gameplay.

I will miss the PC. But I’m a gamer.

Subs vs. Dubs, For Gaming February 18, 2014

For as long as media has been imported overseas there has been a never-ending discussion from fans of other country’s media how the imported content should be localized for the region it is being brought to should be presented.  One option, by far the most used by mainstream media distributors is referred to as “dubbing”.  This is done by doing a complete translation of a script to the language spoken by the region it is being brought to, hiring a new cast of native voice actors, and redub all of the content’s dialog.  The other option is referred to as “subbing”, which keeps the content’s dialog exactly as the original creators intended, with its original voice actors presented in its original language.  Only subtitles are provided to help non native speakers understand what is going on.  While this is a cheaper option for foreign distributors, this option is typically preferred by importers and many devoted consumers.  This debate, lovingly referred to by either side as, “Subs vs. Dubs”, has been happening for a long time.  Now, the conversation is happening all over again for video games and it looks to be completely changing the rules on how international video games are localized.

Let’s be honest here, regardless of how you feel about subs or dubs, there are valid arguments on both sides.  People arguing for subtitled content argue that a content should be presented in its original medium exactly the way that its creator, regardless of their country of origin, intended.  On top of that they cite that in a lot of cases foreign dubbing just isn’t very good and can wreck an otherwise fantastic work.  People in favor of dubbed content have their own points.  Subtitles can distract the viewer from what is happening on the screen, and if time and effort is taken by the right localization studio, a properly translated work performed by decent voice actors can be obtained in any country regardless of a language or cultural gap.

Up to this point, any localized content provided from overseas development studios have typically made the decision to fully translate and localize any of their game’s content to the region they release their game to.  It is a difficult process, as it means an entire reworking of a game’s menu systems, script, and can require an entirely separate team of voice actors and directors be hired and recorded.  It can be an expensive process, especially for dialog heavy games.  Because of that, some companies have sadly chosen not to even bother releasing many popular games overseas, like Mother 3, because they didn’t believe the development costs of localizing their content would pay off once the content was released to a new market, or because they wouldn’t be able to release a game into the market before a new platform would launch.

Consumers on the “sub” side of this argument have not been happy with this status quo.  In fact, I remember there was a huge desire for Catherine to be brought to the US in its original language.  The guy who did the voice of Vincent in the original Japanese version is apparently a very famous voice actor in Japan, with many fans here in the US.  Sadly, the version of Catherine that came to the US only included a localized English audio track, and even though I enjoyed it tremendously in my own native language, this upset many people who preferred to hear it spoken with the game’s original dialog by the original voice actors.

However, as of this past year I have personally had something of a resurgence in my interest in foreign content, and I have noticed that the trend of “dubbing” all localized content is beginning to change.  The Nintendo 3DS downloadable title Attack of the Friday Monsters (A Tokyo Tale) was entirely subbed.  This decision worked on many levels, especially since the game took place in Japan.  Even though it was just a cute little downloadable title that never got a retail release, for the first time I can think of, a video game studio chose to present localized content for a North American game release in the form of subtitles instead of redubbing the original voice over work.

I believe the best decision that could have been made to solve this debate is to give consumers a choice between the two and release games that offer players either option.  Back in the days of VHS, this wasn’t an option, but with the storage space offered by Blu-Ray Discs, and its ability to be used as either a game or a film storage medium, and with online streaming services and DLC, consumers can get both options without having to rebuy the same content multiple times.  Heck, you don’t always need a large enough disc to do it.  Bravely Default’s full version can be played in the original Japanese language (among several others including English and Italian), they just couldn’t fit all the different languages into the game’s demo version.  The North American retail version of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII does not include the game’s original Japanese voice over on the game disc, but Square did release the game’s original Japanese audio track for free as DLC, and it can be downloaded right now by anyone with a copy of the full version of the game who wants to hear it.  Support for this decision this must have been very positive, as Square Enix plans to do it again with the next Drakengard game, and will give DLC codes for the game’s original Japanese voice over audio for free to anyone who preorders the game early enough.

With current technology making it possible for movies, television and video games to offer consumers either option for how they want to view their content, perhaps this debate may finally be coming to an end.