JC Fletcher
Articles by JC Fletcher
Sega's 3D Classics: making old games stand out
I never really thought much about Space Harrier. I like vintage Sega just fine, I just never spent much time with that particular game for whatever reason. Then I read this interview with M2, who ported it and the rest of the Sega 3D Classics line to 3DS, and I resolved to buy 3D Space Harrier as soon as it was released. M2's obsessive love of Space Harrier, evident in the overwhelming, comical level of detail applied to the port, was the most ringing endorsement possible. The care put into the port made me care more about the game, showing the persuasive power of a truly bespoke adaptation. And by giving me cause to reevaluate Space Harrier, Sega's 3D Classics line allowed me to see just how well it holds up.
Attack of the Friday Monsters, I'm in love
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS) is a multi-pronged nostalgia assault, combining creator Kaz Ayabe's well-documented love of early 1970's small-town Japan childhood with a fond look back at the Ultraman-style monster shows children of the era grew up on. But even if you didn't grow up in Japan, or in the 1970s, and never heard the word tokusatsu in your life, Friday Monsters is likely to make you feel like you did. It's a movie-length, low-key, sweet game that delivers an absolutely perfect summer day on demand.%Gallery-194367%
Mighty Switch Force 2 switches careers without switching gears
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Somehow, in developer WayForward's world, the professions of firefighting and law enforcement are almost identical, and primarily involve collecting the same five blonde women from dangerous positions atop tricky jumping puzzles. Between the Mighty Switch Force games, protagonist Patricia Wagon sought a career change from cop to firefighter, affecting the game very little beyond adding the occasional spot of fire, replacing her gun with a water cannon and ruining her hilariously punny name. I am totally okay with this, because Mighty Switch Force didn't need to change. It's an impressively economical 3DS game that packs a lot of interesting phase-shifting puzzle platforming into a relatively small set of levels, and the sequel fits the same description to a tee.%Gallery-183427%
In which I manage to stop editing
Attentive byline watchers may have noticed my name appearing a lot less frequently. Non-byline watchers: hi, I'm JC, and I'm managing editor of this site. Or I was, until very recently. I've stepped down from my full-time position to devote myself to the completely different challenge of being a full-time stay at home dad to my new twins, who were born on May 2.
NBA Live 14 includes BounceTek for dribbling, live roster updates
Adding to the list of jargon terms applied to the tech in EA Sports games, NBA Live 14 includes "BounceTek" physics for dribbling, which apparently improves ball physics, instead of merely expressing them as part of the player character's hand motions. More immediately understandable is the way the basketball game handles roster updates. In-game stats will be tweaked in near real time, "an hour after it happens" according to EA's E3 presentation. From indefinite delays to instant updates! That's a big promise for NBA Live.
Twitch streaming integrated into Xbox One
You'll be able to stream to Twitch directly from your Xbox One, Microsoft just revealed. Demonstrating the Kinect integration for the service, a Killer Instinct match was instantly streamed with a quick voice command. "The integration of Twitch into Xbox One will enable Xbox Live Gold members to broadcast games directly to their Twitch channels, as well as view content from other streamers on the Twitch platform," the service revealed in a press release (embedded after the break).
Killer Instinct revealed for Xbox One [Update: trailer!]
Killer Instinct is on the way from Microsoft's Rare studio. The update to the classic arcade/SNES/N64 fighter will be released exclusively on Xbox One. A brief video revealed returning fighters and teased a 2013 release. Coinciding with the new fighter, a new Xbox One Mad Catz Tournament Edition Fightstick will be available. Your Xbox 360 sticks won't work, remember. Update: Double Helix is developing the new Killer Instinct. Weird!%Gallery-191147%
New Xbox 360 model available today
A new model of the Xbox 360 was just revealed on stage by Yusuf Mehdi. It's inspired by the Xbox One design, and is available today! Along with the announcement, Xbox Live Gold is being upgraded to a PlayStation Plus-style model, with two free games per month through the release of the One. First up: Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed 2. New and current XBL Gold members will get the games for free, to keep, starting July 1. Update: added new image, corrected free games.
Rare: Xbox One out in November
During a Spike interview about Kinect Sports: Rivals, Rare let slip news of a November release window for the Xbox One console. While this is an obvious window for a new console, Microsoft only officially said "later this year" in its reveal event last month. Retailers have said "holiday 2013." Microsoft will reveal more details about the Xbox One console at its E3 2013 press conference, which will start momentarily. Follow along as Microsoft reveals news on purpose in our liveblog.
Karateka Classic adapts vintage martial artistry
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. It's rare for an iPhone adaptation of a classic game to work out at all; rarer still for said adaptation to be preferable to the original. Jordan Mechner's faithful iOS/Android port of Karateka accomplishes this task handily, partly because of convenient portability, and partly because of nice new features. But more than anything else, Karateka Classic succeeds because the original's controls weren't that great to begin with. Karateka is, when you get right down to it, a game about shuffling your feet up to your opponent, and then mashing on the kick buttons until he falls over. Like every other pre-Street Fighter 2 fighting game, attacks are slow and connecting depends not so much on timing or frame counting, but the will of some capricious computer god.
Curiosity: A worthwhile shame
I played Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube. I played it for a few hours over the course of its six-month lifespan. I feel a small amount of shame in confessing this, shame that I don't feel about anything else I've ever played – not Hooters Road Trip, not Dragon Power, nor any of the other terrible things I've subjected myself to. At least those things were games. Curiosity is a repetitive chore with a thin layer of "game" over it. It's gamification, applied to nothing. But despite making fun of it relentlessly – and, on a couple of occasions, even simultaneously while making fun of it – I tapped cubes. My ironic detachment failed, and I couldn't help but buy into the hype on some level, at least enough to participate. I admit that even though I knew it was a dumb game predicated on a promise from someone notorious for hyperbolic and unfulfilled promises, the novelty of the "life-changing prize" intrigued me. And so I joined thousands of strangers in helping some guy scratch off the world's most annoying lottery ticket.
First4Figures unveils statuette of Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki
Ryo Hazuki, protagonist of Sega's Shenmue series, is being adapted into a statue that captures the full emotional range of the character – by which we mean it is completely devoid of emotion. Ryo Hazuki is the first in the Sega All Stars range from premium collectibles maker First4Figures. The one-foot-tall representation of the martial arts student/occasional dock worker comes in two variants: a $170 regular edition and a $185 "Exclusive" version with a base modeled after the sought-after "Phoenix Mirror" relic from the game. The figures are up for pre-order, due to ship in Q4. Just think, boxes of these will be moved in and out of warehouses by forklift.%Gallery-187299%
Curiosity's end may coincide with new Xbox reveal
Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube is now officially down to its last 50 layers. Even Peter Molyneux is impatient for 22Cans' bizarre iOS experiment to end, telling Polygon: "Enough's enough, for crying out loud." The game, which is about tapping to remove dots from a cube to reveal the "life-changing" secret within, features a countdown timer running toward the projected end of the experiment, when one person will clear the final layer. "I thought six months was about the length of time that Curiosity should go on before it closed, and this is almost exactly the six month anniversary of the end of Curiosity," Molyneux told GameSpot. "Bizarrely, as part of that controversy, is that the end of the cube – the last layer of the cube – might well be, I mean probably if you look at our analysis of probability, the same day that the next Xbox is announced. Which would be a bizarre twist of fate." The next Xbox is due to be revealed May 21. Or a bizarre twist of Pete? Regarding the coincidence, he told GameSpot, "There's an interesting opportunity, possibly, for me to ... well, I can't say any more than that. There may be some words from me around that time. I'm not saying any more." Confirmed: The next Xbox will come in a box made of billions of tiny cubes. Along with today's news, 22Cans released the above video, which features visual proof that people like Curiosity at least enough to scrawl dirty words into the cube.
Machinima app, other wildly random entertainment on Xbox Live
Xbox Live is home to a new Machinima app, allowing you to view that website's content, like Mortal Kombat: Legacy and everything else, through your Xbox. Joining that app are three more entertainment options, which we'd categorize as "interestingly eclectic." Tune into the Events Player on Thursday, and you'll be able to watch the Revolver Golden Gods Awards Show, which is apparently some kind of rock/metal show, and which has apparently been going on for five years. The show is SmartGlass-enhanced, allowing you to fill out polls, see backstage interviews, and "Check out the award nominees in categories like "'Best Drummer,' 'Comeback of the Year' and 'Most Metal Athlete.'" Starting May 10, Xbox Video will host new episodes of The LeBrons, an animated series about LeBron James based on Nike commercials. And in the indefinite future, a OneBeat app will be released on Xbox with a calendar of events, ticket sales and more for electronic dance music. Eclectic!
Pay what you want for a virtual pile of video game ebooks
The new StoryBundle – a pay-what-you-want, DRM-free collection of eBooks – offers an instant collection of game history and culture, including Jordan Mechner's journals for Karateka and Prince of Persia, Videogames: In the Beginning by Ralph Baer (who would know!), Brendan Keogh's Killing is Harmless, a longform review/critique of Spec Ops: The Line, a couple of Kill Screen issues, and more. To get all the books, you need to pay at least $10; however, you can pay anything and get merely most of them. Either way, your ebook reader is going to be loaded up with game history.
Capcom encases 3DS, 3DS XL in vintage Mega Man look
Capcom has taken part in an ongoing observation of Mega Man's 25th anniversary with statues, soundtrack releases, USB drives, and even an officially promoted fan game. As we stretch into year two of the 25th anniversary celebration, Capcom is producing a Mega Man-themed case for 3DS and 3DS XL. At first blush, outfitting a 3DS in Mega Man garb seems like a cruel tease, after the death of Mega Man Legends 3. But Capcom is releasing all of the NES Mega Mans on the handheld's Virtual Console (it's up to 4 now), making an NES-style Mega Man motif appropriate. The case will be on sale at Comic-Con, as well as at Capcom's online store.
May the Fourth be an excuse for Star Wars Pinball discounts
Every year, we forget that people celebrate Star Wars-related stuff on May 4, thanks to a cute pun, and every year we smile a bit when we remember. This year, Zen Studios is marking the occasion with a sale on Star Wars Pinball, marking the game down 50% in all of its multifarious versions. Starting yesterday, and through May 7, Star Wars Pinball as part of Pinball FX2 on Xbox is 400 Microsoft Points; Star Wars Pinball for Zen Pinball 2 is €4.99 for European PS Plus members; and the iOS, Android, Mac App Store, and new Kindle Fire HD versions are all 99 cents. There have been some ups and downs for Star Wars recently – new owners, and new movies, but LucasArts is gone. Enjoy this game, then, as it's likely to be a while before we see more Star Wars games.
John Madden Football designer's lawsuit against EA going to court
Robin Antonick, designer of John Madden Football for 8-bit computers, will have his case against EA proceed to trial June 17, after a federal judge denied EA's motion to dismiss Antonick's lawsuit. Antonick filed in 2011, seeking royalties and a cut of profits from the Madden series' subsequent success. "We have very compelling evidence indicating that EA used Mr. Antonick's ground-breaking code and design elements as the basis for both past and present Madden NFL titles," Robert Carey, one of Antonick's attorneys, said in a press release. "Yet, EA has failed to compensate him as required by his agreement or give him proper credit for his work. We look forward to proving our case at trial, and we are very confident that we will prevail." Antonick claims he signed a deal with EA in 1986 entitling him to royalties from derivative works, and claims that the later Madden games all count as derivative from his game. [Image: Mobygames]
Terraria expands to European PSN May 15
The console version of Terraria arrived worldwide on Xbox 360 and in North America back in March, while European PSN players have been waiting patiently for their chance. Or maybe they haven't been patient. We haven't polled anyone. Anyway, the point is Terraria will be out on PS3 in Europe and Australia on May 15, at a €14.99 / £11.99 price point.If you still don't mind waiting, a Vita version is on the way later this summer.
Fetch Metal Gear Rising's Blade Wolf DLC starting May 14
Metal Gear Rising's Blade Wolf character will take center stage on May 14 in North America, and will probably take a few nerve centers while he's at it, given the usual flow of that game's action. The Blade Wolf DLC will be released on PSN in North America and Xbox Live in North America and Europe that day, with a European PS3 release following the next day. Don't expect a buddy comedy between Blade Wolf (formal name: LQ-84i) and Raiden; the story takes place before the two cyborgs face off, with Blade Wolf still working under Mistral. You probably didn't even think about what his life was like before he started yelling "COMBINATION ATTACK" at Raiden, but now you'll know.%Gallery-187192%