Mega Man 11: E-Tanks

So that's happening. This, Bubsy and Metroid are three things I did not expect to make any sort of comeback. I figured the people who own each of those properties were done(wait, who evens owns Bubsy?). But here we are.

I'm not sold on the look just yet. I think I just don't like 2D games done with 3D graphics. A lot of visual clarity and detail is lost when you move away from pixel art but still keep everything so zoomed out.

This is also something that bothered me about Mighty No. 9. Up close, I don't mind the character designs, but most of the action is viewed far away. The only way I can think of to reconcile this would be to use a super-deformed art-style with giant heads and expressive faces. This is why I kind of wish Mega Man Powered Up on the PSP had sold a few more copies.

Hopefully this turns out better than Mighty No. 9. I don't want to pile on it like the entire rest of the internet has, but that was not a pleasant experience. Hell, 90% of what makes it so frustrating and unrewarding is how they handled their... I don't know what to call them. "Healing items"? "Potions"?

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Japan's Vanilla Ice

Has anyone else heard about Mamoru Samuragochi, the composer of Resident Evil and Onimusha? Apparently he didn't actually write music, but took credit for ghost-written compositions due to being deaf by age 35(which is now also under question).

Geez. I hope this isn't a common thing. I'd hate to think of some of my heroes of video game music being frauds.

Is there any equivalent to this in movies or television? Granted, the music industry has no shortage of thieves, and then there are cases where "music by X" actually means "music by X and his recording team, sound engineers, etc.". It's clear that not every single note you hear in a Hans Zimmer score was his and his alone, but when you read "Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer", it's to be understood as being a brand more than the individual guy. And even then, he does roll up his sleeves and do the work(...sometimes. Other times he just sort of collects a paycheck when they re-use his themes from a previous movie in a sequel, but just get someone else to score the rest, like in Kung-Fu Panda 2).

But I can't think of an instance where a film composer was outed not only as having taken credit for music, but also accused of faking a disability.

For that matter, does anyone even remember the music in the first Resident Evil? Does anyone even remember Onimusha the game? In any case, this is just what Capcom needed: more bad publicity.

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~A.H.

Ducktales Remastered: The Moon Theme

To hell with being topical.

Jake Kaufman took one of the most untouchable, sacred pieces of video game music and made it better.

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Mighty No. 9

Keiji Inafune needs money to make a game similar to Mega Man, without the corporate meddling that Crapcom gave him.

The main characters are named "Beck" and "Call".

Pay the man, internet.


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~A.H.

Michael Bay's Mega Man X

I am troubled by the trend in video games of simply "rebooting" classic franchises, in ways that are fundamentally wrong. The badly-designed, ugly re-imaginings that confuse missing the point of the source material with "going in bold, new directions"(or what Winston Rowntree called "Franchise-destroying change for the sake of change").

And they usually title these abortions in ways that just make it annoying to talk about them years later. Sonic the Hedgehog. Bionic Commando. Devil May Cry. Tomb Raider. The upcoming Thief installment isn't numbered or otherwise categorized from the original moniker, which looks like it might as well be an entirely different game. Now we have to clarify if we're talking about the original good game, or the stinking pustule that borrowed its' legacy.

At least Bomberman's terrible reboot had the decency to add the subtitle "Act Zero", which could be synonymous with "Bad Version".

They're usually overly serious, gritty, pandering only to cheap gimmicks of the time. Often they lack not only whatever creative spark made the originals so enduring, or any of the original people who worked on it, but also any polish or even a sign of remedial QA testing. If they are useful in any way, they are barometers for everything wrong with video games at the time of their creation. A historical record of how clueless the people in charge of making video games can be.

If there is one small silver lining to Capcom's total abandonment of the Mega Man franchise(and Keiji Inafune's ragequit from their offices), it's that we were spared the horrible reboot of Mega Man X.

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A Letter From The Publisher

"Dear Mr. Tim Schaefer,

We regret to inform you that we will not publish your game. We do not feel confident at this time that anyone would be willing to pay for it. People only want brown and grey first-person shooters with chest-high walls and Madden. Nobody wants fun or creativity. Consumers would much rather have shitty sequels, movie tie-ins and intrusive DRM.

While it is true that you have maintained a level of trust with your audience, a transparent relationship of trust between a developer and the consumer has never equated to profitable business.


...Except for the 17,000 people who completely paid off your kickstarter project within 9 HOURS, with over a month still left to donate. This in turn raising over $800,000.

But other than THAT, clearly there is no demand for your work in this economic environment, Mr. Schaefer.


~Sincerely,

The Morons In Charge Of AAA Game Studios, DNR."

Capcom Must Die

Yesterday I drew some Mega Man fan-art. I still love the character designs and the potential of their games, but Capcom as a company has mutated into something awful. And I've decided to stop giving them my business.

In fact, I'd suggest you stop giving them your business too. No, really. Stop giving Capcom money. Stop it. Don't buy that new Resident Evil, don't buy whatever stupid Street Fighter vs. Sesame Street crossover they're making. We have to stop rewarding these people. Money is the only language this company understands, because they sure as hell don't understand creativity or respect.

Capcom hates you. You do realize this, right? Capcom hates you as an individual. You are an ATM machine to these people. They hate you, and your family, and that thing you love. They hated Keiji Inafune, the man who made them wealthy. The man whose ingenuity and hard work provided them with franchises they are still taking advantage of. They hate the fact that you wanted Mega Man Legends 3 more than Street Fighter vs. Sex And The City. They hated the fact that you keep asking for a character from a franchise they openly despise to keep making fighting game appearances. They hate Capcom-Unity for giving people a peek at the game development process.

They look at the people who allow them to prosper as unwashed, unworthy masses. They feel entitled to their success. I say the time has long since passed for us to take that away. This is absolutely something we can do.

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A New Challenger Appears!

-Freddy Krueger is in Mortal Kombat.

That... actually kind of fits pretty well by guest-character standards in fighting games.

Jazz Hands