FORT90 forum

I've always tried to use my blog as a means to alert folks as to some of the awesome shit that's coming down the pipeline. but due to the massively disorganized way that I do things, 99% of said mentions get lost in the shuffle. Not helping is how they're also usually buried deep in my 18,000 word long gaming news and nonsense round-ups, as evidenced when Joe asked me about the Art Style games for the DSi last week during dinner, which I've talked about quite a bit already on my site.

So I figured, why not just make a list of stuff, which I can add and append whenever? Some stuff comes out relatively soon, some a bit later down the road, and a few has already come out! Take a look...

1. Cave Story & La Mulana (WiiWare)
Not exactly the most original choices to start off with, especially since they already have threads, but since I am doing a most wanted list, they sorta have to be included. Feels like almost forever since word first came out of the Wii port of Cave Story. Truth be told, I've never touched the PC version of La Mulana (hey Dave, was a PSP port ever made?) and my anticipation of the Wii edition will directly rest upon how well Cave Story ends up being.

2. Pole's Big Adventure (WiiWare)
Everyone knows about Sega's retro platformer, right? If not, everyone can brush up here: http://www.siliconera.com/2009/02/03/poles-big-adventure-segas-gag-game/ It's actually one of the more inventive meta-retro titles to come, and by far the most interesting thing Sega has developed in seemingly ages. Though it's hard to say if it'll come out here, given all the cultural references and stuff.

3. Tomenasanner Wii (WiiWare)
Another WiiWare title, this one is from Konami and is a port of a cell phone title, as the trailer clearly shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIhrlpZxqjw The original game was basically an action platformer with just a one button control scheme, whereas the console version, thus far, features lots of dancing. The art style looks cool though, very minimal.

4. Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble (PSP)
Otherwise known as that Atlus game in which they asked the public to come up with a name, and that's the best people could come up with. It's a Final Fight-esque brawler that's very heavy with the Japanese, especially when it comes to humor. I've always heard great things about the series (the PSP version is third in the series), and even got one of them for the PS2, but couldn't figure out what to do cuz of the language barrier.

5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP)
Again, not the most original of choices, but I'm a Metal Gear fanboy, plus this newest portable installment finally appears to be the one I've been waiting for, not some goofy squad based title or card game, but a legit MSG entry, or so says Kojima-sensei: http://www.siliconera.com/2009/07/16/metal-gear-solid-peace-walker-lets-players-customize-snake-has-a-growth-feature/

6. Final Fantasy Gaiden: 4 Warriors of Light (DS)
I'm sure everyone's seen footage of the game, and if not: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zuR5TYWNUo I like adventure/RPGs on the go, and this particular title looks too damn cute to pass up.

7. Inazuma Eleven 2 (DS)
From the makers of Professor Layton and other awesome titles is this hybrid of soccer and role-playing. Worth noting is how your primary opponents are aliens. Aliens that play soccer. It was recently revealed that two flavors of the upcoming sequel are being prepped, a la Pokemon style, plus there's apparently an anime in the works, which leads one to believe that it might be coming stateside!

8. The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (DS)
This past winter, RIZ-ZOAWD, a RPG based on Wizard of Oz was a bit of a sleeper hit in Japan, and it's coming this way thanks to the folks at Xseed. I only got the chance to play around with it for just a few seconds at a press event a few weeks back, but was pretty impressed by the graphics and I hear from good sources that the battle system is a tons of fun.

9. Korg DS-10 Plus (DSi)
Am still a big fan of the original music creation software suite for the regular DS, and the DSi enhanced version looks to be even better. I was actually trying my best to seriously learn how to use the first edition, but got sidetracked by "stuff" so perhaps its best I just wait for ver. 2. BTW, Joe, do you still want a copy? I have an extra one lying around that's up for grabs.

10. The Silver Case (DS)
Here's a title that may not ever come out, according to it's creator, Suda 51 (http://www.cubed3.com/news/12726). It's the prequel to Flower, Sun, and Rain, which also happens to be one of my fave DS games of the year (everyone else says it sucks, and all I can say is that they kinda don't get the game... and this coming from a dude that totally hated Killer 7, remember).

11. Retro/Grade (PSN)
Yet another $10 game I have to first spend $400 for, it's basically a combination of a music game and shump, one that also plays backwards in time. The trailer sorta explains it better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uj7IaNmxhs It also apparently uses a guitar controller, just like Fret Nice. Speaking of...

12. Fret Nice (PSN)
I played the original incarnation at GDC 08 and instantly fell in love with its mechanics, that being a platformer that's controlled via a guitar. Was initially turned off by the brand new art style, but it's slowly grown on me. Too bad the Godawful trailer doesn't tell you a damn thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5CQYV9_dgI

13. Toro to Morimori/Toro! Let’s Party! (PS3)
For years, a cartoon cat known as Toro has served as Sony's unofficial PlayStation mascot in Japan, and just this week, a title featuring him and all his friends just came out in Japan. Granted, it's nothing more than just another collection of mini-games, but they're VERY pretty looking ones, plus some of them look kinda fun. Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jv7JTvJEyg If I had a PS3, I'd nab a copy right now, or simply wait till next month, when it comes out in Hong Kong, where it'll be translated in English.

14. KiraKira (PC)
I have no idea if anyone remembers me mentioning this visual novel on my blog a while back, but it's finally been translated and released in America! Plus, it's been uncensored, which is certainly nice. For a closer look.... http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/07/22/kirakira-gets-english-release/... some of it is NSFW, btw.

I've got to be honest, I read the titles of those games and wasn't intrigued enough to read the descriptions.

:(

I would have added screenshots, but many do not have any at the moment, or at least any of substance. But seriously, half the stuff mentioned are right up your alley Dave.

I don't know, man.

Yeah, that last one is just for me, more or less.

Hey, isn't Trials HD coming out for the 360 this week? Surely you'll be getting that one, right Dave?

Is it any different than the game for the PC?

Not sure. I would have to assume it's a straight-up port, since it's just a downloadable title and all. Then again, considering how must ports get maligned for XBLA (Turtles in Times is the most recent, prime example), who the hell can tell.

... Let me jump on PartnerNet and see if there's a copy available already.

Hey, I totally forgot about this thread! Need to fix that. Anyhow, just announced...

http://tinycartridge.com/post/178153612/trailer-for-bit-trip-void-the-latest-from-gaijin

... In addition to our man Jeremiah doing the music, it looks like 8-bit Ikaruga (sorta), which is like, heaven.

About damn time!

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3176349

Again, keep forgetting about this thread. Though now that lots of cool shit is starting to come down the pipeline at a rapid pace, for the holiday season...

Much like Joe, I simply cannot wait to get my hands on New Super Mario Bros Wii...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAUOCMzgNBs

Matt, is there any kind of possibility that you might check out the Nintendo World Store this Saturday?  i'm heavily considering checking out how the "mushroom kingdom" ends up turning out. 

I've got nothing planned in the afternoon, so... sounds like a plan?

That's pretty awesome. I'm having trouble getting NSMB to run because I accidentally updated my Wii.

Finally got it! But I'm currently waiting for Katie to come home (she was in Pittsburgh all weekend) to start playing. Picked it up this morning at the Gamestop near me, which used to be staffed with totally awesome folks, enough to make me not mind going there. Who, of course, have either all quit or been transferred to other locations. Hence why I'll no longer be going there; I'll spare my latest tale, since we all know how stupid their employees are.

Anyhow, Joe and I never did go to the Mushroom Kingdom yesterday; weather was crap and since I'm no longer on Nintendo're press list (along with EA, was unceremoniously dumped after word got to Nick Mag was dead, and I was one of the their prime contacts there), didn't feel like waiting in line forever (and in the rain). But I know he got the game anyway at Chinatown, which is the best place to go (in Manhattan) for broken street dates.

Dave, ever get your system up and running? BTW, I might need some help soft-modding my own Wii so I can play some homebrew VC titles.

Yeah, I got it up and running Friday. It's pretty awesome so far. It's nice to see a blend of SMW and SMB3 that takes the GOOD things from each game instead of the bad (as if there were anything bad about SMB3).

Yeah, Katie and I played the hell out of it all last night. Not a single bad thing about it. You, me, Katie, and Joe all need to get together for some 4 player action!

Yeah, I would especially like to play this with Joe. I think it would get competitive in a very fun way.

At long last, Mushihime-sama Futari finally comes out for the 360! And look, even though it doesn't matter, it has English menus!

http://www.siliconera.com/2009/11/23/mushihime-sama-futari-ver-1-5-has-english-menus/

I was gonna link to that video, but I wasn't sure if anyone else would get as excited about the option menu as me. Seriously, that's a really nice option menu (independently rotate the screen and the menu, awesome). Usually Cave goes real barebones. I'm psyched for this; my PA order says "order processing" and it sounds like everyone is getting their copies early, so I should have it in two weeks about (I went with cheap airmail). Also, that menu music is nice.

I ordered my copy from National Console Support (I had no bad experiences with them in the past) in Flushing, apparently it ships on November 28. The real question is: does it ship from Flushing to my place or from Japan to Flushing?

From Flushing. I probably should have ordered from them to get it sooner, but I saved about five bucks going with PA.

I pre-ordered something from NCS not too long ago and have been less than thrilled with the experience thus far; they can't find my original order from months ago, which sucks, since what I was trying to get is already sold out across Japan. But they're working on it, so I'm not passing final judgement just yet.

Anyway, glad I ordered through Play-Asia, since this is far more important than a Persona 4 girlie statue.

So I just got this email form NCS:


At the moment there is no point for me to switch for cheaper edition of the game. This package is being shipped to my work, so I would not get the game before next Monday anyway. Also I kinda want what I paid for.

Got my email from Play Asia stating that my copy was on the way! Though I feel like a retarded for not inputting a coupon code that I had lying around that would have saved me a cool $5. Oh well.

Anyway... Final Fantasy 13! As much as the story looks to be complete garbage, the actual gameplay parts look extremely inviting, even if I have no idea what the hell is going on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPvnidyeNj0&

anyone get Mushihime yet?

i'm having my copy shipped to my parents' house and according to NCSX it should be arriving later today.  if it arrives before i start to drive home, though, is the real question.  otherwise, should have it by tomorrow the latest.

NCSX shipped my copy today, hopefully will be at my work tomorrow. Long (and boring) story short: I ended up with regular edition + DLC card and a refund not Limited Edition one.

Your wallet will thank you later. I'm actually thinking about selling my opened Limited Edition Mushihimesama PS2 with figurine right now on eBay since it might fetch a decent price with the Futari buzz going strong.

This honestly has nothing to do with anything, but I don't think I'll be pre-ordering with NCSX anytime soon.

First off, I pre-ordered a Persona 4 statue with them months ago, which has finally come out and is already sold out across the board at other places. Hadn't heard a thing from the NCSX blog, so I decided to shoot them an email, but days passed and I never got a response. I guess I should mention by biggest beef: they charged me almost immediately many moons ago, instead of waiting till the item was available, like virtually everyone else. So for months now they've had my $70, which I could have used elsewhere as I grew impatient.

Finally decided to give them a call and the woman who picked up the woman was rather annoyed, which is always a great way to start off any kind of problem solving. They weren't even aware that they were carrying the item, but then said that the shipment was probably running late and that I would get an update in the next week. I'd cancel out with them if not for the fact that it's again sold out everywhere else. So yeah...

I present you my Mushihimesama NCSX woes:

I pre-ordered LE edition of the game on 7th of November, a bit late but still there was more then two weeks to release date (and Play Asia was already out of LE sets). I got e-mail confirmation. On last Wednesday I got another email saying that the game might be a bit short-shipped on the distributor part, but they will keep us informed. That's ok - I understand that distributors might be yanking their chain. On Friday I checked their site and they got the full shipment in, alas they are short of 8 pre-ordered copies. Still everything was fine because I did not got any email saying that I'm part of that unlucky group (I'm pretty sure that there were at least 8 people ordering the game after me, especially when P-A ran out of LE edition around that time).

So on Monday morning I've sent them an email asking where my order is and why it haven't shipped yet, no response whatsoever.

Today I followed up with another, longer email asking where the game I ordered on 7th (and like you Matt was charged for) was, since they got all the copies on Friday. Half an hour later I got a email claiming that I'm a part of the group that ordered game last and they do not have a copy reserved for me but also assuring me that they sent me 2 emails about it (they blamed Gmail for marking their mail as spam :D). Interesting - I got 2 earlier mails without any hiccups, but now those 2 mails hit my spam filter? I gave them benefit of doubt, went back and checked all the spam I got in last 10 days, surprise - could not find anything from them.

At this point I knew they were shitting me, but calling them out on it would only get things worse (they still had my money) and their prices are generally lower than P-A. Person I was in contact with asked me if I want to wait for the backordered copies with no guarantee. At that point I asked them to change LE to standard one, supposedly only certain amount of standard edition copies comes with DLC code and I bet if I have waited I'd end up without LE and with the game that had no free DLC card in.

To their credit I my money got refunded instantly and game shipped few hours later.

Things aren't going much better with PA. Apparently they are shipping out second print (sans DLC card) copies willy nilly with the first print copies regardless of when you pre-ordered. So I may or may not get a DLC card. People who bought from NCSX should be fine for DLC cards though. I will be pissed if I don't get the 1.01 DLC card and I sure as hell will harass PA until I get some sort of refund because it was in the item description and I pre-ordered in August.

I made sure that NCSX will ship me copy of the game with DLC card.

Dave, is there any way to figure out which print did you got without opening the box? If there is and PA sends you second print I'd call NCSX check if they still have first print copies. If they do - order from them and return unopened game to PA, you're in NYC, you should get your order next day if they have it in stock.

Seriously, with all the crap PA and NCSX have pulled I have to talk to people at VGNY about pre-ordering stuff from Japan thru them. I know that have a lot of imports in stock and they do pre-orders for US editions. It seems like it would be the easiest way (at least for me) to get Japanese games in NYC. VGNY usually charges few bucks premium but I'd be saving on shipping costs anyway. Plus people working there are decent and always call you when your pre-ordered copy arrived!

Sorry to be so out of the loop, but what is this DLC card you guys speak of? This is totally news to me.

But hearing all this nonsense regarding Futari in regards to the normally dependable Play-Asia now makes me wish I had just asked my contact in Japan to get the game for me. Though I couldn't have expected such an ordeal for a Japanese game that was made region free, and theoretically hassle free.

BTW, if Espgaluda 2 ends up being region locked (http://www.siliconera.com/2009/12/01/espgaluda-ii-shoots-for-february/), we will definitely know that Cave just wants to fuck with its American audience, and that's really not cool.

First print has a different SKU (it ends in 1, the second print ends in 4 or 5 I think), but an even easier way to tell is the first print has a pink sticker on the front advertising the inclusion of the DLC card. I saved a few bucks going with PA, and it's probably too late to get a DLC card first print from NCSX, but I'll try if I don't get one. And I'll make PA refund it or something.

Joe and I stopped by VGNY. They said they would have the game in a month lol.

The DLC card is version 1.01 of the game. A mix of 1.0 and 1.5 essentially. And if ESPGaluda II is region locked, it means they didn't sell enough copies through exporters (compared to what they did with Deathsmiles). A lot of fans have j360s, but the fact that 4 people on this forum bought the game versus the 1 that would have bought it had it been region locked is a good sign.

The great thing about my j360 is that even if Cave games are all region free from now on, I still got a sweet deal on it. :)

Oh hey, what's the word on him possibly getting me a card for XBL points?

So the card is for a different version of the game. It's not available otherwise? Huh? Is it something you could get if you bought points in general (let me know how many points you want, gonna place an order with my dude very soon, that goes for anyone else) or is this some special pre-order/first run bonus thing?

And VGNY? It's much better than it used to be on St. Marks proper, but the prices are still fucking highway robbery.

I need a total of 2400 points (1200 for DS Mega Black Label, 1200 for Mushi Futari Black Label), so I guess that would be two 1,400 point cards?

edit: actually, Mushi's black label might also be region free, so I just need one 1400 point card for now. It costs ￥2,100 at retail.

well, the copy arrived at my parents' place late last night, so i'll pick it up on a break from work today.  i only found out about this whole DLC card on shmups yesterday.  i'll be disappointed if i don't get it, but i ordered the thing on Friday, so who the hell knows.

but apparently NCSX said they'd update if they ran out of first editions, according to some poster on shmups, so...who knows?  anyway, i guess we'll see.

Feel free to bring it over if you want to play it properly. :P

hehe

tonight probably won't work for me, but tomorrow seems likely.  i'm sure it'll be fun to play on my TV, but yea, i'd like to play this game properly Tate'd to get a real feel of everything.  is the game two player?  the novice mode seems like it might be nice if i, say, wanted to play through the game for fun with someone who isn't a bullet hell fanatic.

isfet, you should be good, your copy shipped before mine and they assured me that mine has DLC code in it.
Also my order is out for delivery today!

welp, just picked the game up during my lunch break.  as the pink sticker on the outside of the box indicated, it was indeed a first edition of the game.  the DLC card has some nice artwork, too!  that's a relief as it's nice to know i won't have to deal with the hassle of figuring out how to get the content otheriwse.

i know Matt has had some issues with NCSX re: that figurine, but my first experience with them has basically been polar opposite :\

basically, not having ordered the game until Friday and then receiving the first edition of it by Tuesday is really a pretty good deal.  the only reason i'd order from Play-Asia is to save a little money (NCSX charged me tax being that i'm a NY resident).  but the speedy delivery is something Play-Asia has never been too great at.

So once again, just to clarify, if I don't get the copy with the DLC card, I can still nab stuff via a Japanese point card? Since I had no idea it existed, I don't feel as motivated to demand a copy like Dave, who had prior knowledge. Otherwise... fuck.

pretty sure you'll be able to buy v1.01 via a Japanese points card, supposing you don't get the DLC card.  but, if your copy has already shipped, i think it might be safe to assume that you're getting it.

1.01 is 1.5 with the bullet barrages from bosses of 1.0. It's harder than 1.5. It will probably be available at a price, but I'm not paying for that when it's included in the cost of my pre-order. If you ordered from NCSX you should have it on the way, if you ordered from PA, who knows.

I ordered from PA, remember?

At this rate, given all the nonsense I've had to deal with from NCSX and Amazon plus eBay, I just want the damn game, any version, period.

I haven't messed with it much, but I performed a basic softmod on my Wii recently.  would it be extraordinarily difficult to either import S&P2 and play it out of the box or uh, "preview" it? It's definitely my most anticipated Wii title, like, ever.

i don't think it'd be too hard, as dmauro tends to "preview" lots of Wii games.  but you'd have to ask him more about it.  how'd you softmod the Wii, btw?  been thinking of doing it myself.

I haven't even put the disc in yet, so I don't know that it works, but I've got a NeoGamma loader channel installed if it doesn't boot in the regular disc channel. Should be pretty easy if you've softmodded your Wii, I always just check the BC threads about a new Wii game to see what I need to do to get it to run.

I used this, which has since been refined to support the newest 4.2 update (apparently)

http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Bannerbomb

all you need is an SD card and a way to transfer info from your computer. Just make sure that you follow the directions really carefully about where in the Wii Menu you should be running the exploit!

Oh God, I want this game so fucking bad, now more than ever (NSFW)...

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/12/26/dream-c-club-now-bdsm-fetish-club/

Mushihimesama Gaiden is an iPhone game?!?!

http://gamersweb00it.registerblog.splinder.com/post/1207120685/Mushihimesama+Gaiden+BUG+PANIC+iPhone

Has anyone else heard of Pac-Man Battle Royale yet...

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/03/new_pacman_is_actually_like_ba.php

... Needless to say, I'm super excited. Though I hope there is indeed further work done. A Pac-Man game with no score? Get outta here.

Is that planned for an XBLA release? Looks awesome although I hope they do away with the cheesy gradient fill they're using on the Pac-Men.

Thank God it's almost here; the only PSP game I've given a rat's ass about in seriously years...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb236c5Mc8g

whoa what?

Wait, you haven't heard of this game before?

I thought it was just a new watered down MGS game. I didn't realize it was a rape sim.

Never underestimate the genius of Kojima-san.

Further proof: Snake (okay, Big Boos) vs Metal Gear Rex the Dinosaur...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne0OiDVL1Gs

I'm also morbidly curious about the new SNK shmup coming out, if only cuz the cast is shaping up quite nicely...

(http://pics.fort90.com/forum/snkshmup.jpg)

And here's footage of the game that clearly no one else gives two shits about (not just here, but everywhere else)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4My5ff_500

EDIT: Alas, this looks much more fun...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJZwJ8DITzg

As if I didn't need any additional reasons to be excited for Super Mario Galaxy 2...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiRKP5zJqQE

There's a sequel to Contra: Hard Corps on the way! And... it's by the makers of Guilty Gear?

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/03/hard-corps-uprising-is-new-contra-for-xbla-and-psn/

Odd, half the 2010 games I'm looking forward to right now are for Wii:

Retro City Rampage (http://retrocityrampage.com)
La-Mulana
Halo Reach
DDP DFK.

Considering how Cave Story got messed up, I don't have high hopes for La-Mulana. Though it does look awesome!

No, it's gonna be good. It has to be.

Well, Rez 2, aka Child of Eden was on my list of must plays, till this was revealed...

http://kotaku.com/5649177/child-of-edens-ending-will-feature-your-happiest-moments

... Though truth be told, my enthusiasm has been secretly low since day one. Also, Mizuguchi is starting to remind me of Spielberg. Basically how Rez is to Child of Eden as Jaws is to Schindler's List.

Oh. My. God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC70qYhKPi4

I guess i get to play the part of the console-tard of sorts as I list of MY list which is blockbuster streamlined;
Fable 3 (Just to marry boyfriend, even if just virtually:))
New Vegas ('cause it feeds my klepto needs like a horrible, horrible crack dealer and his sweet juice)
BRINK (Love me some co-op and guns.  The mini-RPG elements and free-running are just bonuses