“Japanese gamers hate American games.” So goes one of gaming’s most enduring misconceptions. As with all clichés, there is some kernel of truth to the idea that Japanese video game enthusiasts look down their noses at imported software; hence the phrase yo-ge kuso-ge (“Western games, shitty games”). Overall, however, Japanese gamers have a varied and nuanced a relationship with American and European games. It can range from blind adoration to near-xenophobic contempt. A well-crafted Western game can easily rocket its way up the Japanese charts, as seen recently even with indie titles like Shovel Knight and Undertale. Of course, a keen observer might note that many Western indie titles have a decidedly Japanese vibe to them; Shovel Knight riffs heavily on (Capcom’s) Mega Man, and Undertale plays like a love letter to (Nintendo’s) EarthBound. But bear in mind that those older works owed a great deal in turn to the primal Western works that … [Read more...] about How NES launch negotiations, Tetris, and Lode Runner inspired boutique game publisher Tozai
Features
Major game anniversaries in February 2019
The cold gives video game fans everywhere excuses to lock themselves indoors and play some quality video games. While there’s plenty of promising titles on the horizon like Anthem, Jump Force, and Far Cry New Dawn, it’s always great to save money and enjoy software that’s already on the market. The titles below are worthy of playthroughs given how each is celebrating a major game anniversary in February 2019. It helps that they have withstood the test of time and managed to establish a legacy that’s still celebrated today. Game anniversaries in February 2019 – Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (5th anniversary) The Plants vs. Zombies franchise revitalized itself when it debuted its spin-off series, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, on February 25, 2014 for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. This third-person, multiplayer-focused tower defense game allows players to control both forces in an attempt to win in a variety of familiar cooperative and … [Read more...] about Major game anniversaries in February 2019
Designing the game console of the future (in 1997)
As 1996 faded into 1997 and the hectic holiday season grinded to a halt, 14-year-old Julius Harper felt his desire to own a Nintendo 64 escalating to a fever pitch. Gifted a Nintendo Entertainment System nearly a decade before, Harper had been desperate to upgrade to a more powerful home console. “By this time, Nintendo had long stopped putting out games for the NES,” Harper says. “The last game I picked up for the system was the Yoshi puzzle game, and that came out after the Super Nintendo [shipped]. I had stretched the NES as far as I could.” His pleading and well-thought-out arguments for adding Nintendo’s new 64-bit console to the Harper household had been thwarted on multiple occasions by his mother and father. Their reasoning: It didn’t matter that the Nintendo 64 had advanced graphics or superior games; their son already had a perfectly good gaming system and he didn’t need another. It was the same mentality that had denied Harper a … [Read more...] about Designing the game console of the future (in 1997)
Tell GR
The Resident Evil 2 remake is nearing its release date and it is fantastic. Receiving our golden Editors’ Choice award in our review, it’s pretty much all the GameRevolution team has been talking about. With that being said, we decided to break things up by refraining from discussing Resident Evil 2… and discussing the rest of the RE series instead. Take a look below to see the GR editorial team’s favorite Resident Evil game, and be sure to leave your own responses in the comments section below. As always, we’ll feature our favorite comment in tomorrow’s Tell GR. Paul Tamburro, executive editor: “The Resident Evil remake on the GameCube. I don’t quite have the same level of nostalgia for the series as Jason, but one of my favorite game-related memories is me and a couple of friends playing this bad boy from start to finish in a single sitting, rotating which one of us had to sit at my PC … [Read more...] about Tell GR
We’re streaming our battle against Blackout noobs
It’s time to check out the free Blackout trial in Black Ops 4! Be sure to follow our Twitch channel for more streams and giveaways. GameRevolution’s Lead Editor, Mack Ashworth, will be streaming from 12 AM ET to 1 PM ET, so click “Play” to watch and join in with the chat! … [Read more...] about We’re streaming our battle against Blackout noobs