(Reference) GameCenter CX:Pokémon Interview & Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

(I mentioned awhile back I was going to upload this privately...

Sunday, October 4, 2015

"...One of the more interesting episodes being Part 2, of the Super Mario Bros Lost Levels, episode:

In that episode, (which I’ll try to eventually upload here, privately) Arino sits down and interviews Satoshi Tajiri; the creator of Pokemon. It’s here where we learn of Satoshi’s incredible passion and fascination to track down various arcade games seen throughout Japan, that eventually lead to the creation of his self-published fanzine GameFreak... that eventually lead to a position within the game industry....That eventually lead to the creation of Pokemon itself. (really interesting stuff and a great episode to boot!)

...which I finally got around to! Enjoy! ; I'll probably edit this entry later with timestamps.)
*please don't spread this around, I'm simply uploading the video here, solely for posterity's sake. (...thank you.)

(Alternative Download - GamingCX Pokemon Special)

(CrunkGames.com write up)
(Another great Satoshi Tajiri interview from BulpediaGarden.Net)
(GameCenterCX/RetroGameMaster on Amazon)

(from The TV Database - thetddb.com )

"First Aired: 2004-05-30

In the closing episode of this first season, Arino visits one of the most famous and yet reclusive developers in the world, Game Freak. Arino discusses their history with company founder Satoshi Tajiri as well as their most famous creation, Pokémon.

This week's challenge is a continuation of last week's and finds Arino attempting to finish Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Just as it looks as though Arino is no chance, Tojima presents him with a gift that could change the tides in this challenge.

Lastly there is an extended travelogue centered around visiting arcades in hot springs located in the tourist town of Hakone. When he isn't indulging in the hot springs themselves he's playing impossible prize games, broken shmups or leaving his mark with his trademark high score name."

(Spotted) Rhapsody (Working Title) - ???

(Spotted) Earthcraft - ???

Via RPGArchitects
rpga.info (defunct)

(Spotted) Shinobiya - RMVX

(from Nocturne: Rebirth's GamePage Blog on RMN by eplipswich - February 4th 2015)

"Blog 10: Shinobiya: A new future game that I may translate in the future

Hi everyone!

So, I was just reading Enu's latest blog (Enu is the creator of Hat World), and I stumbled onto this game called Shinobiya (忍屋) by Nanabuluku. It's being made in RPG Maker VX and hasn't been released yet, but a release date has been announced: Winter 2017. If we take that date from the Japanese point of view, it's some time between end 2016 and early 2017. Anyway, here's a preview video of the game by Nanabuluku herself:

No videos of actual fights yet, but the game certainly looks promising. I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this. And if I'm impressed enough after playing this when it's released, I might even translate it!

Oh, and before I forget, here's the official website of this game.

Well, that's all from me then. Just wanted to post this to let people know of another one of great Japanese RPG Maker games out there. Till next time!

-eplipswich"

(Reference) Making of Lunar:SSSC - Wind's Nocturne - Playstation (PSone)

"...When we originally started translating the games, I use to try and stick as closely as possible to the translated lyrics of the songs.

...But somewhere along the way I figured out that, that really didn't convey the emotion of the song as well. So, I decided that, if I took into account the author's original intent, plus the feeling that I got from the scenes and just rewrote the lyrics entirely...

...We ended up with a much better overall song, which is true in the case of Lunar with the Boat Song (Wind's Nocrtune), of which, the English version turned out to be a much more melancholy and reflective song than the Japanese one." - Victor Ireland

Excerpt from "The Making of Lunar: The Silver Star Story COMPLETE"

Lunar: The Silver Star Story COMPLETE
Platform: Playstation (Psone)
Release: May 28 1999
Translation: Working Designs (Victor Ireland)

(Spotted) Wolfenhain - RM2k3 - RPG Atelier

Via RPG Atelier

Wolfenhain's Website

(Reference) Alundra 2: A New Adventure Begins -Trailer-

Alundra 2: A New Adventure Begins (Trailer) - Playstation (PSone)
(US) Official Playstation Magazine vol.30 Demo Disc March 2000

Activision Translation Team/Jeremey Blaustein

Redeeming Big Red Button After Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric - [Polygon]

"After the release of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Bob Rafei, co-founder of development studio Big Red Button, got letters from fans telling him that he ruined their childhood.

During his long career, Rafei has worked on numerous critically acclaimed games. He had his hands on the Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and Uncharted series — all smash hits. But since breaking away from those, his career has gone down a bumpier road, with his independent studio having trouble getting its early projects to see the light of day, and the aforementionedRise of Lyric receiving ridicule from critics and fans.

But Rafei hasn’t lost faith in his studio, and right now he says he’s looking at a potentially great comeback story. Polygon recently spoke to Rafei about his career in the game industry and how his team is moving on from Rise of Lyric..."

Continued on Polygon

(Will probably transpose at a later date - definitely worth reading though)

(Spotted) Can't Be Stopped - RM2k3 - RMN

Via RMN

Yume Nikki - RM2k3

(from HG101 Article by Ryan McSwain - January 22, 2011)

"I was eighteen years old when I first watched David Lynch's Eraserhead. I found a beat-up VHS cassette at the library and decided to give it a try. Little did I know how lucky I was--at that point in time, it was out of print and extremely rare, so most rental and library copies of the film had been stolen. The cassette was in my car when a group of us were hanging out and looking for something to do. I mentioned I had this crazy movie that none of us knew anything about, and we ended up watching it.

Minds were blown and lives were changed.

With each increasingly bizarre scene, confusion and frustration ran more and more rampant. My friends yelled at the screen, "What is that thing? What's happening?" People were already heatedly arguing over the symbolism of the film before it was even over. Even as the movie ended, I knew that certain scenes would continue to haunt me.

And that was how I felt when I first discovered Yume Nikki. Here was a game that was unashamedly ambiguous, making no real attempt to explain itself yet begging to be explored. It was a bottomless rabbit hole disguised as the simplest of adventure games, and its depths were full of pale creatures with rows of jagged teeth. If you are a gamer seeking something truly bizarre, experiential and full of psychological horror, Yume Nikki is the game for you..."

(Continued on HG101)



(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)

"Yume Nikki is a free adventure game about dreams. This game is still -technically- unfinished, but has a high level of quality in its current version (version 0.10) and can be played from beginning to end (the creator apparently wants to one day add more to the game). It originally came out in 2005, but it only started to get a lot of attention in 2008, when the game was picked up by the most popular Japanese gaming board, which helped spread it to even English-speaking audiences. The game has become big enough to inspire a ton of fan-made content, and official merchandise in Japan.

In the game, you play as a girl named Madotsuki. The game takes a lot of visual inspirations from Mother 3, but has a completely open style of design. Initially to new players, there may be no clear goal. You start off in a room, unable to leave, but can fiddle around with things, or play a Super Nintendo game about eggplants, and eventually go off to sleep. When you sleep is when the game really begins, soon you'll find yourself in a room full of doors, each of which leading to completely different surreal area. You can explore freely, with a surprisingly large amount of deeper areas and doors hidden away to go even deeper into your dreams. Each area has its own train of logic you have to crack and figure out, like a dream. Soon you'll probably interact with a strange object or character and gain something called an 'effect'. Going to your menu, you can equip the effect and transform Madotsuki in some sort of way. Some of these effects give you special powers, some are completely aesthetic, but the goal is to collect all 24. However, not all is safe here in the world of dreams, as there are nightmare areas and stalkers of sorts who will try to catch you, and will wake you up from your dream the moment you're caught.

The game has a lot of symbolism and does a great job capturing the feeling of a dream. It has inspired a TON of fan games and works, and remains one of the most popular RPG Maker games. It has a lot of secrets hidden away in the game, and lots of surprises for those who decide to travel to Madotsuki's dreamscae. Worth checking out if you're a fan of exploring in games, surreal or 'experience' games, or if the whole concept just sounds intriguing. You can read up more on the game and download it from here."

Mirror Download (English)