61 Frames Per Second : namco bandai

Splatterhouse Developer Bites Back

Bob Mackey — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:05:00 GMT

Last year's announcement of a new Splatterhouse game was unexpected, but exciting; the revival even got an EGM cover, for crying out loud. But recent developments for the slightly-obscure franchise have been less than promising; with developer bottleRocket losing custody of the game to Namco-Bandai due to a "performance issue" claimed by the developer, the fate of Splatterhouse isn't looking so good. With such a vague explanation of why the game was literally ripped from bottleRocket's hands, it's hard to remain optimistic about the future of the Friday the 13th-inspired brawler.

But it may be a little misguided to blame bottleRocket for the state of Splatterhouse; a recent statement from the developer given to the fine people at GamaSutra indicates that Namco's issues with their work on Splatterhouse have been greatly exaggerated--or just plain made up:

"Game development contracts are put in place to protect the publisher and their interests. Within these contracts are a series of defined game development objectives and goals called milestones. If a developer is under performing they tend to fail these milestones and have varying degrees of accountability placed upon them.

Splatterhouse had been in development for over eighteen months and up to having the title taken away from us we had not missed any contractually defined milestones. So either there were no performance issues during that timeframe or Namco’s management of the title was inept."

So, what exactly was Namco's problem with this in-development game? Creative differences over artistic direction? Or was the Splatterhouse revival just a bad idea to begin with? Given bottleRocket's track record, it's hard to see how they'd screw this up.

Related Links:

Klonoa: Careful, Namco. You Tread On My Dreams.
Bad Games With Good Music: Tales of Legendia
Where Will You Go, Tecmo? What Will Happen to Our Love?

Alternate Soundtrack: Noby Noby Boy vs. Daft Punk

Derrick Sanskrit — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

As John previously mentioned, Spring is in the air here in New York. Coats and coffee have been replaced by t-shirts and...well... some people still have coffee. I've been rocking the cranberry juice myself. With all of this new life in the air, I find myself returning to my summer lover, Alternate Soundtrack, and where better to begin than with Bandai Namco's newest Springtime insta-classic, Noby Noby Boy.

As I'm sure you know, because you're all just that well-informed, oh wonderful 61fpsers, Keita Takahashi's Noby Noby Boy is a game all about relaxed play. In fact, the game's title is a pun on the japanese words for "loose" and "stretch," much like how the original Katamari Damacy was a visual pun in that the two kanji were nearly identical, but I digress. While Katamari was notorious for its ridiculously catchy and enthralling soundtrack, Noby's is much more subdued. Introductory tuba and bells clear the path for sedate acoustic guitar plucking. That's about it. Thankfully, Noby uses just about every feature of the PS3's Cross Media Browser, including the ability to play music from the hard drive, allowing you to make your own soundtrack with incredible ease. I found that the game works wonderfully with Daft Punk's Discovery.

Quite a leap, huh? Plucked acoustic guitar to pungent synth blasts, but it works. Much like Takahashi's sophomore game (let's face it, We <3 Katamari doesn't count) represents a shift in his own career, focusing less on "goals" and "craft" and more on the fun of play and freedom of youth, Daft Punk's sophomore album attempted to be more open-minded and playful than their previous material, and was as such named for the childhood psychological phase of discovery. Philosophically, the two works share a great deal of common ground: occassional moments of poignancy and introspection amidst an overall air of liberation and excitement, the carefree juxtaposition of elements from unrelated fields (cavemen did not have helicopters, but that makes the game more fun!), a deeper sense of connection with its intended audience and reliance on their reaction to achieve the works' goals. Oh yeah, and robots.

But it's all too easy to ramble about the meaning behind anything done by Takahashi and/or Daft Punk, let's just go to the video for a demonstration:

Oh yeah, that's the stuff right there.

Be sure to check back here in the not-too-distant future for more Alternate Soundtracks, and, of course, you're welcome to share your favorites and your ideas in the comments. If you sell me on a particular idea, it just might be featured later on, and I'm always happy to give credit where credit is due.

Previously on Alternate Soundtrack:
Castlevania III vs. Bush
Ai Cho Aniki vs. Xiu Xiu
Orbital vs. The Notwist
Altered Beast vs. Natalie Portman's Shaved Head
Kirby's Adventure vs. girlsareshort

Bad Games With Good Music: Eternal Sonata

Bob Mackey — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:15:00 GMT

Fun fact: I'm such a video game music nerd that I'll usually slog through the worst of experiences if the tunes happen to tickle my fancy. This should serve to explain why I spend so much time with mediocre titles better left unplayed--and also why I keep the contents of my iTunes library far, far away from people who respect me. One game this past summer is a perfect example of this phenomenon: Namco's Eternal Sonata, a pretty-yet-underdeveloped JRPG with one of the more embarrassing plots I've ever had to sit through. Because I've played many Tales of games, I was familiar with composer Motoi Sakuraba's previous work; though most of the time I found his soundtracks to be a little too droning and bombastic for my tastes. I guess it shouldn't be too shocking to find out that a game about one of history greatest composers would have such a fantastic soundtrack, but I was definitely surprised and highly impressed by Sakuraba's work on Eternal Sonata. It's kind of a shame that this soundtrack might get overlooked in the future, what with it not being in Sakuraba's top-tier Tales of and Star Ocean soundtracks, but it's definitely worth a listen.

Here's a little sampler of the music from the first disc of the Eternal Sonata soundtrack. If you'd like to find more, you'll probably get more results by search for the game's Japanese name, Trusty Bell.

Related Links:

OST: Mother
OST: Chrono Cross
OST: Everyday Shooter

Your JRPG Narrative is Bad and You Should Feel Bad

Bob Mackey — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:00:00 GMT

I recently gave up on Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World a scant four hours into my experience for one reason alone: the game was literally stabbing me in the brain with its narrative. It's not that DotNW's story was exceptionally bad; actually, it was delightfully mediocre, which is really all I can ask for from a JRPG these days. The biggest problem, you see, is that DotNW's stopped to show me its accursed story about every 5 seconds, like an attention-starved child waving a macaroni art project in my face.

"Yes, I see. Very nice. Daddy's trying to play his game now."

Listen up, JRPG developers: the stories you're trying to tell? They aren't necessarily worth telling. In fact, I can really only name two RPGs in the past decade that've had stories which ranked far above "serviceable:" Final Fantasy XII, and Mother 3--note that the latter of these two was written by an actual writer. I may come off as kind of snobbish with this post, though I think that just comes with age; there was a point in my life when I thought RPG plots were totally tubular, but that was back when I was in high school. Turning into a cranky old man has given me the benefit of perspective; through experiencing a number of excellent narratives (across various media), I've obtained standards that I can't quite drop. (Also, I need some way to justify my expensive BA.)

The problem of lousy narrative is a pretty big hurdle for JRPG developers, but I've taken the liberty of coming up with some easy-to-follow and unsolicited solutions:

- Keep it simple. This involves recognizing your own limitations. You're not the next Tolkien, so don't try to be. Some of the most fun and charming RPGs--like Chrono Trigger--had simple, storybook tales that steered clear from pretention. Do your neologisms number in the dozens? Have you name-dropped at least two German philosophers? Then you've gone too far and must be stopped.

- Showing us your story means we're not playing your game. We want to play your game; that's why we bought it. Could something in a proposed story scene actually be played by us? Then let us play!

- Your story is not as good as you think it is. Seriously. Odds are, you've just assembled a collection of stereotypes from the popcorn entertainment you've been immersed in for your entire life. Go to someone who can recognize quality writing. Get them to hit you, if necessary.

That wasn't so hard, was it? Now, if we could only get you guys to stop committing deicide so often, we'd have a real revolution on our hands.

Related Links:

The 61FPS Review: Dragon Quest IV – Chapters of the Chosen
Hey, RPG Hero: Go Home and Be a Family Man
Watcha Playing: Opoona

Whatcha Playing: Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Bob Mackey — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:00:00 GMT

I've probably blathered about this before on 61FPS, but the original Tales of Symphonia marks the most time I spent with a game during the last generation of consoles. I spent over 100 hours milking that game for all it was worth, and I don't regret it at all--though, to be fair, at the time I was living at home and only marginally employed. So when a semi-sequel to one of my favorite games snuck up on me, I had to check it out; and while common sense told me the my disappointment in Tales of Legendia and The Abyss may indicate Dawn of the New World's quality, I decided to pick it up anyway. (I'm a weak, weak man.)

As a sequel to Symphonia, Dawn of the New World is a pretty shameless cash-in full of recycled assets with a decidedly last-gen look. But, in coping with its shamelessness, New World has some interesting qualities; namely, its status as a direct successor to a previous RPG. Outside of stuff like FFX-2, you don't find games like this too often--most RPG sequels usually end up taking place 100 or 1000 years before/after their previously-released games. Not so with New World; the events of Symphonia are in the not-too-distant past, which actually explains the state of the in-game world. Turns out that 100-hour quest from Symphonia actually made things worse, and managed to turn Symphonia-protagonist Lloyd into a ruthless killer. Go fig.

And, in keeping with the connection to the previous game, importing your complete Symphonia save rewards you with a meager set of items (with a few very rare ones thrown in) to start your quest. It's a nice extra, and quite possibly the only example of cross-generational save imports outside of Suikoden III.

In the hour-or-so that I played New World last night, I only made it to three different battles--all of which were "YOU CAN'T LOSE" tutorials, so that should give you some insight into the pacing of this game. As with most modern JRPGs, the introduction of New World is completely weighed down with pointless exposition that could have been integrated in a less passive way--say, by starting the game with the player actually doing something and working in some quick flashbacks while he or she moves along. Seasoned JRPGers may be used to lousy pacing, but one element of New World may actually turn off the most battle-hardened Tales vet: our hero Emil, who starts off as one of the most pathetic, simpering, and browbeaten heroes in JRPG history. Case in point: your first mission in the game involves building up the courage to thank someone. I think Emil starts of with a dignity level of zero to make his change throughout the game more significant, but that doesn't make him a less-annoying character.

The most fun part of the Tales games--the battle system--seems to have been left intact, so that makes me happy; I was known to grind for levels in Symphonia for the sheer joy of it. I'm just looking forward to the point where New World actually lets me play it. Hopefully that's not more than a few hours in.

Related Links:

Pay-Per-Grind: Tales of Vesperia Lets You Level With Cash
Turning Japanese: Microsoft’s Latest Ditch Effort to Win the East
Watcha Playing: Opoona

Klonoa: Careful, Namco. You Tread On My Dreams.

John Constantine — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

I’m not a purist. No, really. When it comes to classics being revisited, modernized, or remade, I don’t need every facet of the past perfectly preserved just the way I remember it in order to get a desperate nostalgic thrill. I delight in Mega Man 9 because it’s a great game whose presentation and technological limitations are carefully made design choices, not because it’s a new NES game. I’ll let you in on a secret: I actually like Mega Man 7 and 8. Yeah, that’s right. I think they’re good games. Not as good as their forebears, but all the same. When the new Bionic Commando was announced last year, even before Rearmed was revealed, I didn’t balk at Radd Spencer’s Adam-Duritz-makeover. I think the new look is cool, especially the way his dreads flow behind him like delicate willow branches as he soars through dystopian cityscapes and… oh! Excuse me. What I’m getting at is that not everything from yesterday is sacred. Some things, especially in games, should be changed. Final Fantasy III DS is a good thing. The NES original is just too slow now. Tomb Raider Anniversary preserves a revolutionary game’s best qualities while also making it, you know, playable. In with the new, out with the old may not be an all-encompassing maxim, but it’s more often than not good advice.

That said, Namco, if you go through with this, I will hurt you.

The Raw Meat Cowboy himself over at GoNintendo received a survey from Namco-Bandai today, the subject of which was their impending Wii remake of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. RMC has smartly inferred that Namco is testing the waters to see if Klonoa should be localized for North America. One of the questions in the survey asks which of these two character designs is preferable:

Yes, there on the right is Klonoa, already slightly altered to more closely resemble his 21st century self than the Klonoa of 1998. It’s great, he’s looking good. On the left, is some monstrosity, a Japanese Poochie, his raised ears giving off a deliberate whiff of the EXTREME. He has just enough buckles and straps to satisfy a Nomura. The implication is that Namco thinks this bastard would be more suited to North America’s indelicate palette.

Now, there are going to be some vague spoilers here, so beware. Even beyond the fantastic platforming, level design, and soundtrack, what makes Door to Phantomile so special is that it subverts expectation. Klonoa himself, and his introduction in the game, portray complete innocence, a cutesy cartoon anthropomorphic at play in a pleasant fantasy world. But the game quickly becomes melancholic, and by game’s end, the pleasant Disney aesthetic is pulled away, violently, to reveal that the story is, in fact, a tragedy. The game is about a loss of innocence, and the character’s design is essential to that theme. This redesign places the character more firmly in a recognizable, and marketable, anime tradition, where existential angst is an expected component. Remaking Klonoa in this image completely betrays the point of Shuichi Sakurazaki’s story.

Don’t do this, Namco.

(Link: GoNintendo)

Related links:

Where is Shuichi Sakurazaki, Creator of Ninja Gaiden?
Klonoa's Truimphant(?) Return
Christmas in Nintendoland: The Tokyo Conference
The Tale of the Identical Box Art
Lowering the Standard: Why Nintendo’s Hardcore vs. Casual Commitments Aren’t the Problem
Abominations of Technology: Pre-Rendered Graphics

Low-Rent RPGs: A Good Idea

Bob Mackey — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Tales of Symphonia was how I spent the summer of 2004, and, along with Dragon Warrior VII and Persona 3: FES, is one of the very few games I've spent more than 100 hours playing. I've known for a long time that a sequel to Symphonia would eventually be hitting the Wii--but I must've not been paying attention, because Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World comes out next friggin' month. While I figure out how to take a leave of absence from graduate school, wet your whistle (or any woodwind instruments you have lying around the house) with the official English trailer:

I'll say right now that the Tales games have a pretty low batting average; on the whole, about a third of them are worth playing--and out of that third, only a few are truly excellent. I've actually been a bit disappointed with the series since Symphonia; Legendia--despite having what may be the world's greatest RPG soundtrack--was a major step down, and Abyss was fun until my experience was throttled by constant, inescapable load times. I'm still not certain if DotNW will suck on toast, but at least one thing is clear: I dig Namco's approach.

Yes, they're being cheap: DotNW is made partially out of materials recycled from Symphonia. But this eco-friendly approach makes the RPG--a genre known for its depth of content and 50+ hours of play per game--much less of an overwhelming financial risk. Persona 4 is taking the same approach, and (sadly) may be the last PS2 game of note released in this country. It's always been my belief that developers could continue making RPGs with the tech of last-gen, and fans of the genre really wouldn't care; maybe this idealistic dream would have been possible if the backwards compatibility of the 360 and the PS3 wasn't such a mess. But as things stand, the hefty price of now-gen entry means that quite a few franchises aren't going to come back. Case in point: I'd love to see another entry in the underappreciated Shadow Hearts series, but the developer is now working on projects backed by deep, deep coffers, like Lost Odyssey.

I never thought I'd be congratulating a company on their shameless frugality, but it looks like Namco has the right idea--and even Mega Man 9 took advantage of re-used and low-intensity assets to give people the game they've been wanting for over a decade. Can the deliberately old-school (both in tech and design) RPG be far behind? It's been done before, but never out of necessity.

Related Links:

Pay-Per-Grind: Tales of Vesperia Lets You Level With Cash
Turning Japanese: Microsoft’s Latest Ditch Effort to Win the East
Watcha Playing: Opoona

Klonoa's Truimphant(?) Return

Bob Mackey — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, a mostly-forgotten mascot platformer for the PSX, may be far less forgotten in the not-too-distant future. 1UP reports that the first--and admittedly, best--Klonoa game will see new life on the Wii in a fully-refurbished remake this December, which is great news--for Japan, anyway. Not only will this remake excise the game's lousy pre-rendered sprites; everyone who missed Namco's mascot of indeterminate species back in 1997 will finally get a chance to see why they should regret all of their decade-old mistakes.

Here's a video of the original game in action, lest we've forgotten:

I've always held a bit of disappointment in my heart for the general failure of the Klonoa series; despite the furry trappings, the first game was a whimsical adventure with a seemingly contrary bittersweet--and slightly depressing--tone. And the economy of effective storytelling fit in well with the game's deceptively-simple puzzle-platforming mechanics; Klonoa is a solid little game, and very similar to the 8-bit 2D platformers that undoubtedly inspired it. Unfortunately, the series was launched at a time when 2D vs. 3D was a common argument, back before people realized they could live together--kinda like Ebony and Ivory (ask your parents).

We can only hope that the Klonoa remake comes out here--and hopefully, without any Wii-mote gimmicks. I'd hate to see the elegant simplicity of the game ruined by excessive waggling. And who knows; maybe this remake will spark a Klonoa revival? The only thing to say to that is "Doopa-loo-doo."

Once again, ask your parents.

Related Links

Where is Shuichi Sakurazaki, Creator of Ninja Gaiden?
9/9/99 9 Years Later
Abominations of Technology: Pre-Rendered Graphics

Ready? Okay! Wii've Got Spirit, Yes Wii Do...

Derrick Sanskrit — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

There was one male cheerleader in my high school, and every time I saw him in routines at one of the mandatory pep rallies, all I could think was, "I could do that so much better than him!" I wasn't scared of being a cheerleader either, I just couldn't stand that being a cheerleader would require me to A) attend sporting events and B) display school spirit.

Well, Namco Bandai's We Cheer may just be the game to earn me my long overdue varsity letter. These three gameplay videos from E3 make the Wii cheerleader sim look a lot like a cross between Polly Pocket at Elite Beat Agents.

Much like in Elite Beat Agents (or its japanese source Ouendan), you seem to control the cheerleaders on screen by mimicking their movements, displayed on screen as a series of colored lines, only this time you're using the Wii Remote to move your arms around and actually create the cheer movements, unlike Elite Beat Agents' stylus-based touch screen control.

Honestly, I'm not even that bothered by the Hillary Duff and Hoku songs when I know that The Go! Team's "The Power Is On" is also playable, especially considering the fact that Elite Beat Agents got me to enjoy songs by Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 (though I still hate that Coheed and Cambria track in Rock Band). My only real concern is just how bright everything is visually. A little more separation between the background graphics and the HUD interface could go a long way to making this game much more user-friendly.

We Cheer is currently unrated (though it is sure to garner an E for Everyone) and is scheduled to be released on September 15th.

Related articles:
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Make The Music With Your Games, Kids!
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Watcha Playing: A Little Singin', A Little Dancin'