Hello and welcome to another Friday here at 411Games! I’m Alex Williams, and I’ll be glad to take you through a news-filled doughnut hole that is the Friday News Report.
(I gotta work on my analogies…)
Anyway, I got a few things to cover before I head into the “actual” news, so lets get them out of the way:
First up is Lee Baxley, who is officially resigning from the news report game. I can’t say that I blame him, really. News reporting is pretty demanding work, considering that most of us have other obligations we must attend to outside of 411. (Work, school, family, secret underground organizations, etc.) Turning in quality stuff every week can be quite demanding, and may not be as fun as we’d like sometimes. I’m a bit sad that Lee won’t be gracing us with a Mid-Boss Humpday anymore, but I also understand where he’s coming from. And besides, its not like he’s leaving for good, so I don’t have to say any “good-byes”, or anything. In any case, I’ll miss Lee on Wednesdays.
Next up are the DDR accomplishments. I’m officially up to 563 AAAs now! While it may not seem like much of an increase as my last reports, I look towards my new achievements as “quality” and not “quantity”. For starters, I finally got Sakura and the legend of MAX on Light, which are some pretty difficult ones on Light to begin with. And I WISH I had a picture ready, but I got my second 9-Foot AAA as well: Paranoia KCET: Clean Mix. Granted it was once an 8-Footer, bumped up to a 9 when 7th Mix arrived, but still, it’s one I’ve been working on for a while, and I’m so glad I don’t have to do it anymore. Expect pictures as soon as I can upload them.
Also, I’ve been playing quite a bit of Ninja Gaiden and Pokémon Colosseum. Well, mostly PokéCol, considering that Ninja Gaiden is tough-as-nails, and made me throw my controller through more windows than I have windows in the house. Seriously, I realize the game is challenging, but couldn’t they have supplied you with an in-game tutorial of some kind? Or maybe an “Easy” difficulty? I mean, wow…
But thankfully, PokeCol allowed me to channel my rage into some productive Pokémon rearing. Just like “leveling up” in the GBA games, the task of Purifying takes a while, but ends up being strangely rewarding. That, and I must have spent too much time doing it, considering that I had 14 eligible Pokémon that could be restored once I reached that Celebi monument.
But you didn’t come here to read about fuzzy creatures with magic powers! You came for the NEWS. So……………..here you go!
ON WITH THE NEWS!
TOP STORY: Wanna Sing Bemani For Konami?
So, do you think you have talent singing, but were too nervous to try out for American Idol? And can you read and speak Japanese fluently? Then you might have a chance to join the ranks of Naoki, DJ TAKA, TaQ, Scotty D., Be For U, SOTA, and others to produce music for future Bemani games!
Starting April 1st (no, this isn’t an April Fools Joke…I think…), Konami will accept applications for two positions in their Bemani division:
(1) A new member for their Be For U group (Dive, Firefly, Breakdown)
(2) A new solo artist
The application page can be found here, but its entirely in Japanese. So if you can read it, submit those applications! Your material could be in the next Guitar Freaks / Drummania game!
(Credit goes to Games Are Fun and DDRFreak.)
New Crash Bandicoot Game To Rip Off TWO DIFFERENT Sonic Games!
The more I look at the Crash Bandicoot series, the more I see how much of a wannabe rip-off it really is.
A new Crash Bandicoot game has just been announced for the PS2 and X-Box, entitled Crash Twinsanity. The plot of the game has Crash Bandicoot and his arch nemesis, Dr. Neo Cortex, team up to stop The Evil Twins, a new evil that has invaded Crash’s home.
The gameplay will reportedly revolve around playing as Crash and Cortex simultaneously and separately. For instance, Crash will use Cortex as a weapon when they are paired together.
Now is this just me, or did Naughty Dog take several pages out of Sega’s Sonic playbook, grind them together, and come out with this thing?
Seriously, you have the option of playing as good or bad characters (Sonic Adventure 2 / SA2 Battle), and playing as more than one character simultaneously, using other characters as weapons (Sonic Heroes)! Hell, Crash Twinsanity even steals the Sonic Heroes NAME SCHEME!
Announcements like these make my head hurt. A lot.
(Credit goes to Gamespot.)
GTA: San Andreas Details Found?
About two weeks ago, David Vaccari, a casting director, placed a listing for voice actors for the upcoming GTA: San Andreas with Shadowfax. The list called for three characters: Maccer, Mad Dogg, and Maria. The interesting thing is that character descriptions were also included, which might have revealed some plot details that…really weren’t supposed to be revealed quite yet.
The following character descriptions come directly from Gamespot:
On the top of the role’s reading script, Maccer is described as a “Manchester-born white male, 22.” The dialogue also gives a taste of Maccer’s personality, since it is taken from the 1999 film Human Traffic, which followed a group of young British clubbers on a drug-fueled night of partying. Coincidentally, Moff, the character who uttered the lines in the film, was played by Danny Dyer, the actor who voiced Kent Paul in Vice City.
The next character, Mad Dogg, is described as “Black American Male, 23.” Judging by the script, Mad Dogg will not be the paradigm of social responsibility. His lines are those of O-Dog, the homicidal teenager played by Larenz Tate in the 1993 classic Menace II Society, and are drenched in hardcore profanity and mid-’90s gangsta slang.
Last comes Maria, referred to in the script as a “young Italian female.” The script is taken from the 1988 film Colors, which focused on two Los Angeles police officers’ efforts to stem the rising tide of gang warfare. The lines were borrowed from Maria Conchita Alonso’s Louisa Gomez, the Hispanic love interest of Senn Penn’s rookie LAPD officer in the film.
I tell you, this is some interesting stuff. And as soon as we dig up more dirt on this, you’ll be the first we tell!
(Credit goes to Gamespot.)
Console Fans Of True Crime: Streets Of L.A. Get The Shaft!
Well, at least compared to the PC version of the game.
It’s been announced that the PC version of True Crime: Streets Of L.A. will contain a LOT of additions to the present elements. Included will be:
–An additional 32 music tracks to the already existing music.
–New Weapons
–New Unlockable Characters
–New multiplayer games, like Street Racing and weapon / hand-to-hand combat modes.
Dang, this kinda makes the game on the Big 3 consoles look VERY unfinished, eh?
(Credit goes to Games Are Fun.)
Well, we’re light on the news today. My excuse? PokéCol. No use lying to you guys. I blew off WAY too much of my time with that game. At least Lucard understands…
PLUGS & SHILLS THAT PAY THE BILLS
Time to hand out more points!
News You Can Use
Gamer’s Hangover News Report — Cory Laflin
Cory estimates what my skills in DDR are like based on “hard songs” and how someone else did based on those same “hard songs”. Cory, I gotta tell you that my skills in the arcade pale in comparison to my skills at home. What I’ll AAA at home I’ll probably get, like, 20-30+ Greats on in the arcade at LEAST. But trust me when I say I’m no slouch in EITHER format. Oh, and if you want some Celtic dance tracks, try bag. It has bagpipes, so it’s close.
Reward Points: 100/ Total: 1610 Bronze Member
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Video Games — Misha
Misha throws us news on Half-Life 3 (?), Sonic Advance 3, Doom 3, and probably several other things involving the number 3 in them. I forget. Anyway, he also preps us for the upcoming look at Weebl flash. Trust me when I say that your brain will NEVER be the same after Weebl flash. (Mister STABBY…do doooooooo dodo do doooooooooo…)
Reward Points: 100/ Total: 1175
Mid-Week Mid-Boss News Report — Lee Baxley
As said in the intro, Lee is retiring from the news game. Therefore, I have no choice but to hand him out 100 bonus points for food and shelter in order to keep him competitive with the others. Cheers, Mr. Baxley. I’ll be looking forward to your next review.
Reward Points: 200 / Total: 1375
Thank God It’s Thursday News Report — Bryan Berg
Bryan touches on the possibility of GBA NES game coming stateside, a GC redesign, and other news tidbits, but the REAL reason to read is Part 1 of future analysis. It makes me sad to agree that the PS3 will be a juggernaught, but Berg makes all the right points and puts things in enough perspective to put forward the best opinion. And he displays my reward. FIFTY BONUS POINTS FOR NO REASON!
Reward Points: 175 / Total: 1715 Bronze Member
Reviews You Can Use
LOTS of reviews, short descriptions. You mind? No? Good.
Scooby Doo: Mystery Mayhem (PS2) — Me, Myself, and I
This was, without a doubt, the review I most enjoyed writing. You’ll see why when you read it. TRUST ME…
Reward Points: NA / Total: NA
Pokemon Colosseum (GC) — Alex Lucard
Lucard perfectly spells out why this report is kinda short this week. DAMN YOU, ADDICTING CUTE CREATURES!
Reward Points: 90 / Total: 1650 Bronze Member
ESPN College Hoops 2K4 (XB) — Cory Laflin
Cory’s at it again with a review of another sports title! See how it measures up!
Reward Points: 80 / Total: 1690
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC) — Michael O’Reily
MGS on the GC. Where it all begins…again. (Or was that with the ORIGINAL Metal Gear?)
Reward Points: 50 / Total: 200
R-Type III: The Third Lightning (GBA) — Liquidcross
You know, after R-Type Final, I thought there would be no more R-Type games? I guess re-releases don’t apply…
Reward Points: 80 / Total: 1210
Kirby’s Air Ride (GC) — Bebito Jackson
The short form is that Bebito doesn’t like it. The long form…well, why don’t you read it for yourself? LAZY BUMS!
Reward Points: 80/ Total: 585
Columns You Can…uh…Use
The Angry Gamer — Liquidcross
LC has really been racking up the points lately with a MASSIVE amount of reviews, and a consistent column schedule. This week, he gives a list of what NES games should receive sequels in this day and age. I fully agree with Ice Climber and Balloon Fight. And a sequel to Fester’s Quest would be completely amazing.
Reward Points: 90/ Total: 1300
Absentees
Fredrick Badlissi
Total: 555
Chris Pankonin
Total: 410
Chuck Platt
Total: 1110
Matt Yeager
Total: 315
And as we can see, BRYAN BERG has taken the lead once again, with CORY LAFLIN moving into 2nd Place for the first time! Will Lucard recover? Find out soon!
PARTING THOUGHTS
It’s a short Friday, but it’s a finished Friday. Now I can get back to PokéCol! And cuss some more at Ninja Gaiden!
Stay tuned next week when I hope to have some news on the next DDR Ultramix song pack. And also be on the lookout for my MTX: Mototrax review.
So until next week, be glad that you have a Spring Break. Because once it’s gone…it’s GONE!
Alex Williams, The Norwegian Athlete