RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

The weekend ain’t over just yet! Although I’ll be glad when it is, and I can leave the stench of disappointing football behind me. Why, Cutler, why did you have to leave us when you were finally doing good?! Giants, why did you have to let Green Bay win again?! It just ain’t fair, man.

Oh right, I should probably talk about the news. In today’s episode:

• Nintendo finally deigns to release Xenosaga on this side of the pond.  Next up: The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower, AKA “That third one I keep forgetting.”
• Gamestop reveals the price of Vita memory cards, prompting an outcry.  Sony tries to reassure people by restating that they’ve learned little from the PSP’s launch.
• Electronic Arts plans to put action-horror game Dead Space into an FPS, a space shooter, and an Uncharted-a-like.  Also in the works: collectable card game, rhythm game, and multiplayer.  And speaking of multiplayer…
• …rumor has it that Dragon Age 3 may join Mass Effect 3 in that regard, likely some kind of battle arena.  My question: how many hats are involved?
• Tetris on iOS will feature a subscription service.  Is any comment really necessary on this?  God, I hope not.
• GamePro dies and goes down the tubes.  We shall forever remember its sage advice – its tips, if you were – given from the pros themselves.
• AMD gets out of the PC processor market to focus on mobiles, I turned 30 this week, and more!

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Endless Gouging Phenomenon’ »

The will-they/won’t-they about Xenoblade Chronicles coming to North America has finally been answered, and for once positively so.  Nintendo has just announced that the game will see a release in the US and Canada through select retailers.  An exact date is not known, though a trailer on Nintendo’s website indicates an April release month.

Come one, come all, we got all the news you have time for and then some! Well, okay more like all the news I can squeeze into a 15-minute podcast. And, well, actually it’s more like news and analysis and WHATEVER YOU’RE NOT THE POLICE OF ME!

In today’s cavity-fighting* episode:

• Minecraft studio Mojang, which I took a stab at pronouncing, finds itself sued by ZeniMax over use of the word “Scrolls.”  I wish I were joking, and so does Bethesda.
• Someone looks to hand Rovio a fat sack of cash for purposes yet unknown.  Who could benefit from Rovio owing them money?  Oh, where to begin.
• 3DS analysis: Reggie discusses where it stumbled and the plan for going forward.  Yeah, who among us could have predicted that launching without Zelda could be a problem?
• Meanwhile, Sony refuses to blink in reaction to the 3DS price cut.  All they have to do is not run stupid advertising.  How hard could it be, right?  …guys?
• Reggie also makes passing mention of “watching what happens in Europe” when asked about Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower.  Deliberate troll or accidental?  You decide!
• What doesn’t worry me: Lonesome Road‘s delay.  What does: the possibility of being unable to convey my confusion over whatever Ulysses’ deal is.
• As promised last week, I offer a semi-postmortem on the recent market insanity and what lies in store for us down the road.  Bottom line, brace yourselves and get popcorn.

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Mr. Keynes’ Wild Ride’ »

Hello once more, folks! Hope you’re enjoying the weekend, and not too busy getting drunk and shooting bottle rockets at each other to check out the news. Quite a bit happened this past week, so let’s break it down:

• Zynga prepares to go public, and LinkedIn makes a surprising gain through no action of their own.  Pay no attention to that Greece problem in Europe, that could never affect us!
• Facebook hires George Hotz, possibly for iPad or security-related development.  So you know, this is the man himself. Feel better about yourself?  I sure do.
• Resident Evil: The Mercenaries‘ save system prevents players from deleting saves.  Capcom says no really, it’s not about the used market, please don’t be mad GameStop.
• Nintendo thanks its fans for their loyalty and concern over Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, etc. before ripping their hearts out and stomping on them.
• Politics: SCOTUS rules in favor of game developers/retailers, while a Senate bill plays dueling banjos while eying up YouTube.
• IGN reveals the ugly truth about LA Noire‘s stay in development hell.  Read the whole thing then wonder why there aren’t more fistfights in the office.
• World of Warcraft changes its subscription model, Namco-Bandai’s community manager retracts her statement re: Vesperia on 360, and much more!

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Free Market V. Captive Audience’ »

Monolith’s Xenoblade is getting a name tweak and localization for a trip to Europe. Now dubbed Xenoblade Chronicles, the game will have both English and Japanese casts, with subtitles for English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Chronicles now has a site on Nintendo’s European homepage, along with a new trailer.

The official statement can be read in full here. No exact date was given beyond “later this year.”

There’s a mouthful for you. Hello, me good smilin’ friends! In today’s thrilling episode:

• Xenogears arrives on PSN, nostalgia ensues.
• Name your kid Dovahkiin, get free Bethesda games: madness, or radness? Probably madness.  Although…
• Atlus tops Japanese sales charts, is probably fun to hang out with on the weekends.
• Vietnam begins banning online gaming between 10pm and 8am.  Now who’s lost in fantasy?
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution personal media blackout begins now, and will last until I have to index more about the game.
• PSP price drop, Unreal Engine 3 on the NGP, and Ubisoft’s Beyond Good & Evil proposition.

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Atlus Breaks Internet Curfew in Stolen DeLorean’ »

Remember the 90s? I know I do: dial-up internet, MTV that actually played music videos, and having to pick sides in console wars because mom didn’t care what your pal Marty had, you were only getting one or the other. And lest I forget, the 90s was also a time of gigantohuge multi-disc RPGs, like for instance Xenogears. I bring this up because Sony announced via official blog that Xenogears is available on PSN starting today.

One long, long trip down memory lane is priced at $10.

It has been said – by me, using that phrase to mask that it was me saying it – that the gaming industry is where good dreams go to die horrible deaths. Less hyperbolic (and more true) is that sometimes a developer’s pet idea just had to go if the game was to see the light of day; at times, the game had to become something else entirely. Come on in and let us discuss some rather noteworthy examples, and see what they say about our hobby-slash-industry. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll find out someone was in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky that you were not expecting. I bet you can’t guess! Continue reading ‘NPCast 17: Cut Content – Keeping the Dream Alive’ »

If it gets one degree hotter I’m gonna kick someone’s ass. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 07/24/10’ »

Three years later and Blue is still bitter. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 06/03/10’ »

Nintendo’s recent earnings report revealed a couple of upcoming titles for the Wii. Xenoblade, previously entitled Monado: Beginning of the World, will be released sometime this Spring. It’s being developed by Monolith Soft, creator of the Xenosaga trilogy. And yes, there’s a teaser site. It just wouldn’t be the same without one.

The other title is The Last Story, which is being developed by Mistwalker and Nintendo. According to a statement made at an an investor meeting, the game is supposed to be “a new kind of RPG.” It’s due to be released sometime this year, and there’s a teaser site for it as well.

Source: Joystiq