| GameBump |

Video Game Training DS Announced by Namco Bandai

Akshay Masand — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:40:09 -0600

Are you interested in improving your video game skills? You might be in luck if you have DS. Namco Bandai announced a new game that supposedly trains you to play video games which improves your gamer skills such as reflexes and memorization. Video Game Training DS is a collection of mini-games based on Namco's classic games which include Galaga, Xevious, and Mappy. The new DS game reportedly has over 500 mini-games based which are based on over 30 different titles developed by Namco.

How much will this actually help your skills? Will it be fun? We'll find out in time. The game is will be released in Japan on March 20, 2008. No announcement for release in the United States as of yet.

Prince of Persia coming to XBLA?

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:20:00 -0500

According to Eurogamer, Prince of Persia Classic will be released on June 13 on Xbox Live Arcade. Previously announced by Ubisoft, the game "features the same intricate level design, exciting swordplay, puzzle solving, and storyline from the original." Details regarding the pricing is unknown at this time.

Originally written by Solomon Lee

GH Editorial: God Mode

Aaron Dunlap — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 20:36:00 -0600

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor.

Remember the first time you played Mario? The first time you picked up a Power Star? The music revved up, Mario started flashing, running faster, and stomping enemies like june bugs. Can you remember that feeling, to completely break from the boundaries of physics and for once be afraid of no red turtles or fireball-spewing plants? Thats what I call a high-point in gaming; a Gaming High: complete immersion and disregard of the constraints were all so used to.

At the core thats what we want out of gaming, to be completely invincible and all-powerful. Game designers have long misunderstood that a compelling game is a challenging one, and that is essentially true. Obstacles and puzzle-solving are great ways to make a challenging game that people will enjoy coming back to, but too often games attempt to be challenging by just being frustrating.

The whole health system in games has always been vexing. Mario made it simple by introducing a basic two-step health system, but the concept itself is still rather arbitrary and convoluted. Later, games have almost unilaterally adapted a percentage or bar system of measuring character health in order to supply a level of realism to gameplay. I dont see the realism in a person being 99% dead and still able to hop from platforms and engage in armed combat (or even being 99% dead at all), but your character has to be able to die doesnt he?

Because videogaming was invented for arcades, the goal was always to keep people dropping quarters in the machines. They did this by using time limits, death, or a combination of both as a form of penalties to force the player to fish another 25¢ from his pocket. It was eventually realized that time limits are cheap and transparent, so it became ultimately about getting as far as possible without dying or pay the price.

But for home gaming, what is the purpose? If I plop down fifty bucks to play a game, should I be subject to the sneaky confines created to suck tokens from twitchy consumers?

I dont mean to say that I dont like player health and death in games, I just think they are too often abused. If you want your game to be realistic, make it so the players health affects more than how carefully you avoid bad guys. Games like Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater get the idea right by integrating the health system so deeply in the game that you have to address every bullet wound with a knife, antiseptic, styptic, and bandage; as well as making it so that if youre an inch away from death, youre mostly worthless.

One of the worst examples of arcade-crossover problems is the still-lingering system of having continues. Continues and credits were developed for the sole purpose of making you pay more money to keep playing an arcade game, so what point is there for me to be unable to complete a game at home after using up all my issued continues when, if I were at an arcade, I could keep going if I just had one more quarter?

Gamers want freedom. They want to be in control of the game, thats why there are cheat codes and Game Sharks. Can anyone tell me why every single Superman game to date has included a health bar? Does Superman lose 10% of his health from getting punched by a street thug? No, hes freakin Superman!

Alas, every developer behind Superman games has taken the lazy route and added a superfluous health system just to make the game difficult. If Im paying money for a game with Superman on the cover, I expect to be Superman, and I expect to be susceptible to nothing but glowing green rocks from a planet that exploded shortly after my birth. A Superman game could be so good, representing the utter chaos of being the only person capable of stopping disasters in a world full of disastrous circumstances, or the hectic duality of maintaining a regular life as Clark Kent just to maintain his own sanity and to be able to afford those flashy blue tights. And for crying out loud, let me for once in my gaming career not give a rip if enemies are shooting at me.

Did I mention that Superman can fly? Next to invincibility, flight is one of the most attractive things in games. Was I the only person who booted up Mario 64 just to slip into a winged cap and fly all over the place for hours on end? If youre going to the trouble of making a Superman game (and they are) make it so I can be standing inside a building, hold down a button and immediately plow through every floor of that building, hover above it, lift the building off its foundation, and hurl it into the sun. Superman can do it, why cant I?

How about, instead of punishing us for letting the Man of Steel get hurt, punish us for letting innocent people die? Why not adapt a system like in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic where Supes actions or inactions affect him psychologically? If he fails to save a woman from a burning building, it would eat him up inside, if he keeps making mistakes like that, he gets so distraught from his errors that he cant focus and it becomes difficult to fly or do anything. Use a Hero Meter and have it plummet every time you fail to protect someone, and have it increase when you do something right. No game-overs, just consequences. They should also take a cue from the latest Spider-Man game and allow you to continue playing after youve completed the story so that you can fly, smash things, and save people to your liking.

Developers need to stop adapting cheesy health systems just to make games difficult, and start focusing on the outdated gameplay mechanics infesting even the most recent of games. If you want to make a challenging game, give us puzzles, limit our ammo, or give us challenging enemies; otherwise, just let us have fun.

And dont get me started on backtracking.

GH Editorial: Memory Lane - TMNT IV: Turtles in Time

Aaron Dunlap — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 22:30:00 -0600

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Pub: Konami
Dev: Konami
Gen: Action / Beat-em-up
Sys: SNES
Rel: 1992

The Ninja Turtles rock; theres no way around that. As a child of the 90s, I was reared into adulthood by four walking, talking turtles who all knew kung fu and were named after artists of the Italian Renaissance.

I had all the action figures; I had the realistic Technodrome with the trap door that led to a pit of acid and snakes; I had the Turtle Van with the side door that opened up to reveal a laser-gun turret; and boy-oh-boy did I have the Turtles. Samurai Turtles, Turtles with shells that you could store weapons in, Turtles that actually transformed into regular-looking turtles, and Turtles who would swing their arms with combat precision when you pressed a lever on their backs.

But what I remember most is the games. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game was an instant classic; it is revered today as the introductory Beat-em-up game. Released on the NES as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, the entire console series of TMNT games had etched its name into the annals of video game awesomeness.

However, no Turtles game, past or present, has matched the stunning perfection of the fourth console game: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.

Making the leap from NES to SNES, Turtles in Time used much the same mechanic as the previous titles, yet refined it into the absolute pinnacle of beat-em-up greatness.

While technically a port from the arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, the SNES version featured an improved gameplay engine and a few new levels and boss battles. The graphics were fantastic, as close to cartoon-realism as had been seen. There was even an option to have the turtles all appear in the same shade of green (as in the cartoon) or in the varying shades as seen in the much darker comic book and movie; so even the hardcore fans were appeased.

Turtles in Time is just plain fun. Its gameplay is beautifully simple: pound on a bunch of bad guys on a screen until theyre all gone, go to new screen and repeat; but it featured some innovative strategy elements like allowing you to grab enemy Foot Soldiers and smack around others with them, or even toss them dramatically at the screen - one boss battle even requires that you do so.

This game really represents the excellence Konami was demonstrating throughout the 90s. The game itself was short enough that you could beat it in one sitting, but interesting enough and with enough difficulty-level integration that youll keep playing again and again.

Unfortunately, neither of Konamis recent attempts to bring the Ninja Turtles back into gaming have been up to par with the products of their heyday.

You should be able to pick up a copy of this game from a used-game retailer like EBgames or Gamestop, or from eBay. Or you could find an emulation version online, at your own risk.

Best Moment: My toe! My toe!
If only there were 50 sequels to this.
Party game? Play it after watching the first two movies.
Reasonable facsimile: Unfortunately, decent beat-em-ups died with this game. The last few Ninja Turtles games arent worth it.