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DJMax Technika Tune review: Let your fingers do the dancing
DJMax Technika Tune is in some ways mindbendingly new, but simultaneously comfortingly nostalgic. The look and feel of Pentavision's Vita music game recall my high school Dance Dance Revolution obsession pleasantly.It's all there: the mishmash of weird, unfamiliar, yet catchy Asian dance music; the over-the-top explosion of colorful visuals going on at all times, from the menu screens to the videos playing behind the note prompts; the overenthusiastic announcer sounding surprised and delighted at your every menu choice.I can't pretend I'm getting healthy by playing it, unfortunately.
DJ Max Technika Tune carried to North American Vitas this summer
Last year, Sony Computer Entertainment Korea announced a Vita version of Pentavision's arcade game DJ Max Technika. Today, Pentavision revealed the adaptation with a new trailer – and revealed that it'll be coming to North America this summer.Called DJ Max Technika Tune, the game is due on both PSN and retail, published by Pentavision Global in North America. It features the usual touch-based rhythm gameplay for the series – in which you tap icons in time to a scroll bar, on two divided segments of the screen.However, the video also teases some unspecified "tune" feature using the rear touchpad. We've watched the end of the trailer a few times now, but the word "tune" and flashing lights just doesn't reveal any secrets to us.Update: This piece originally stated that PM Studios would be handling North American publishing, which isn't accurate. Pentavision Global is handling North American publishing for DJ Max Technika Tune.
DJ Max Technika coming to PlayStation Vita
The PSP saw releases of several DJ Max games from developer Pentavision. Now, the successor system will get a portable version of the touchscreen-based DJ Max spinoff, DJ Max Technika. Sony Computer Entertainment Korea announced the Vita port in a press release today, sharing the single moe screenshot above. In the arcades, Technika has players tapping circles and tracing lines on a giant touchscreen. The Vita version won't simply replicate this gameplay concept, as it somehow uses both the touchscreen and the rear touch panel. However it works, rest assured: it will be very difficult.
DJ Max Portable 3 gameplay mixes hot beats with quick cuts
DJ Max Portable fans eagerly awaiting a first look at the third game in action will be happy to see the intensely edited clip that we've dropped after the break. Look for the game on PSP sometime later this year.
DJ Max Portable 3 coming to PSP in 2010
If you've ever found yourself in the proverbial club (perhaps with a bottle full of bub), then you may be familiar with Pentavision's DJ Max -- a Beatmania-like music-rhythm series with some of the most intense gameplay in the genre. Today, PM Studios has announced it will publish DJ Max Portable 3 in the US. PM Studios promises "more than 50 songs, unique modes, customizable options, and a yet to be announced new feature." The game is set to launch sometime in 2010 on UMD and as a download on PSN.
Anti-Aliased: I can kill dragons, but I can't dress myself pt. 2
Take egg, insert onto faceOne of the biggest blunders of the "I can't dress myself" type had to have been The Matrix Online. Take The Matrix franchise -- a world that is washed in a deep cyberpunk atmosphere and slick, luxurious styles. Morpheus's purple vest and yellow tie, Trinity's catsuits, Neo's coat -- all of these defined the culture that was, undoubtedly, The Matrix. How you dressed was as much of the game as the game itself.Then, the game rolled out, people jumped in, and everyone was excited over all of the options. They had trenchcoats, dresses, boots, vests, shirts, jumpsuits, hats, gloves, corsets, you name it. Clothing vendors had a very serious appeal upon launch as everyone ran around, getting dressed exactly how they wanted to look. Finally, the world looked right. "The combinations of clothing that worked diminished until everyone looked like they had fallen into a display of paint cans at the local hardware store." Then, just a few days in, people found upgraded equipment. Clothing that carried stat buffs instead of just sitting on your body. Soon that slick style began to quickly degrade as people were combining green shoes with dull yellow shirts and red pants. The combinations of clothing that worked diminished until everyone looked like they had fallen into a display of paint cans at the local hardware store. An aspect of the culture that was so undoubtedly The Matrix had been swiftly crushed by the player's instinct to maximize benefits and minimize losses. Let the creativity fall to the player It's easy to say something like, "Well, just take the stats off of the clothing," but the fact is that our culture is now attuned to having equipment that boosts stats. When they don't have that, they get a little antsy because they may not "feel" the progression of the game. Take City of Heroes, for example. A game where you could wear basically anything from level 1, and look exactly the way you wanted to. What happened down the road? They added items that had stats because players wanted them. On a creative level, I disagree with that decision, but on a design level I can fully support it. You want to give the players the comfort they want. But, I don't think the idea of separating stats from appearance is dead. If more developers would find ways to embrace that system, more people are going to find it an easy system to navigate. This way people get to wear what they want without having the game force them into outfits they may not like to see. If you want a few games for examples, City of Heroes and Phantasy Star Online are two that come to mind. And if you're worried about still having players armor look better and better as the game progresses, then that's still very doable. Clothing items can still be rare drops -- perhaps as a token that everyone can loot and turn in for a piece of the outfit. Clothing items could still be level restricted as well, so a level 1 can't be dressed up in the max level look. Progression is left intact while still giving players enough freedom to not look like rodeo clowns. Just, simply, let the stats come from somewhere else. Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who wants his fashion to look cohesive for once. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's rambling on his personal blog, The Experience Curve. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com. You can also follow him on Twitter through Massively, or through his personal feed.
Anti-Aliased: I can kill dragons, but I can't dress myself
So, I recently got the chance to run a panel at Tekkoshocon, the local semi-large anime convention in the area of Pittsburgh. This wasn't the first panel I've run at a convention, but it was the first panel where I got to speak on the topic of MMOs. The topic was free anime MMOs -- games people could pick up for little to no payment and actually play a quality game, rather than being tricked into another endless, rewardless grindfest.After the panel, one of the viewers came up to me and shook my hand, thanked me for my panel, and asked if I had ever heard of a game called S4 League. I told him I hadn't, but he urged me to look it up as it might be something I would be interested in. Well here I am, playing Stylish eSper Shooting Sports (S4, get it?), and I'm actually enjoying the experience. But, S4 triggered a bit of a realization in me. It's something I've touched on before, but I've never really engaged.Why do we all look completely stupid at level one? Is it because of the "journey?" Or is it more of an incentive mechanic these days? And why the heck do developers force us to look like we woke up on the wrong side of the bed when adventuring?
DJ Max catches fever, gets delayed
According to IGN, the K-Pop rhythm game that was supposed to come out this November will be delayed. DJ Max Fever is now slated for first quarter 2009. It's not an entire lost, however. The extra months, says PM Studios, will give developers time to add in new gear, upgrade items, and hidden content. They're also working on making the title "fully compatible with the PSP-3000" and "perfecting a brand new game engine that is tentatively titled 'BS'." With all "BS" jokes about the delay aside, we're interested in finding out exactly what this change is all about and see if it was worth the extra wait. After all, the wait for a DJ Max game in North America has been long enough.
Pentavision moves from DJs to Shooters
Pentavision gained fans worldwide with their DJ Max Portable series, but Ruliweb is reporting that their latest game is quite a departure. S4 Portable is a third person shooter. S4 stands for Stylish eSper Shooting Sports, though something tells me Pentavision's definition of sports will be loose. The action title will have guest appearances from DJ Max Portable characters and feature music from some of the DJ Max composers. Fans of Pentavision should be happy to know that they plan on releasing S4 Portable worldwide. [Via Kotaku]
DJ Max Portable DS spotted in the wiki
Update: As expected, the Wikipedia entry has been removed. The short life of the exceedingly dubious DJ Max Portable DS is over, suffering from a fatal "speedy deletion," and with it, our hopes of getting a North American DJ Max release, regardless of console!A new Wikipedia entry (marked for "speedy deletion") appears to contain details about a DS version of DJ Max Portable, South Korean developer Pentavision's Beatmania-like rhythm action game. While the entry claims to have culled its info from an announcement posted on the Pentavision website (reproduced on Wikipedia), a quick trip to the company page led to a dead end, as did an email to the address listed there. According to Wikipedia, DS's DJ Max will be nearly identical to the pair of existing PSP titles, which have enjoyed a cult following among importers with dainty fingers. The entirely suspect image accompanying the entry suggests that the DS version will contain an "Online Battle" mode, which is a key component of Pentavision's PC MMO DJMAX, from which the handheld series is descended. Neither the PSP original nor its sequel includes such a mode.DJ Max Portable DS is purportedly scheduled for release (in Korea) this September and would include an English-language option. "We think that the Nintendo console will bring the game to more players, because the Nintendo handheld has more sales than the PSP," declares a reported translation of the announcement. Sounds like flamebait, not a press release.
