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Wii Warm Up: Short cuts
We've been talking a lot lately about Nintendo's Short Cuts Showcase, because entries are popping out all over. We were just curious -- did any of you enter the contest? Maybe someone you know did? We'd love to hear about the stories behind some of the videos we're starting to see. For those of you who are only watching the contest unfold, like we are, what do you think so far?
Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania ... roguelikes?!
Santiago Zapata has done something horribly, horribly geeky. As if The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Castlevania weren't retro enough, Zapata has re-created each game as an ASCII roguelike. Now, instead of hopping across pools of lava to collect an energy tank, you press "D" to jump, then tap the arrow keys to scoot across slightly darker characters that symbolize higher ground. Despite the obvious limitations the roguelike style presents, Zapata has managed to accurately emulate the feel of each game. You know, even though Link is a purple @ symbol.All three games include a full arsenal of music and sound effects, and CastlevaniaRL packs its own graphical tileset. Very little documentation is provided at the moment (the games are still works-in-progress), so start pressing buttons and you'll get the gist of things. Fortunately they aren't nearly as complex as most roguelikes, so you don't need to remember that "Q" stands for "quaff" which means "drink".
2D Ocarina of Time creator dies in car accident [update 1]
The creator of a 2D fan remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time recently passed away in a fatal car accident. Dampe (as he was known on the forums) devoted himself to the OoT2D project for months. With his death, the game, the official OoT2D webpage as well as the forums are closed forever. A video from late last year shows the game in action.Thanks for your dedication. Thousands of people you never even knew appreciate your hard work.[Thanks, Christian][Update: Identity confusion corrected]
Pokemon Online taunts Nintendo's lawyers
A group of dedicated Pokemaniacs have slathered what we like to call "lawyer bait" all over their massively-multiplayer online RPG project called, creatively enough, Pokemon Online. In a move sure to attract those slippery law-hounds, POL is even using Nintendo's own artwork, game assets and displays advertisements on their site.The game is in early beta stages and you can't do much more than run around and get into a few simple battles for now. Who knows how far they'll get before the inevitable flood of cease-and-desist paperwork arrives? It's a shame, too -- Pokemon is one of those franchises that begs to be MMORPG-ized. Rename the project, slap a new logo on there and overhaul the graphics and POL might just survive. Otherwise, prepare for massive damage.
