SEGA will take us back to mid 1980s Hong Kong and Japan with the re-release of Shenmue I & II on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on August 21st. The publisher confirmed the price, release date, discount and various technical details surrounding this dual port in an F.A.Q posted on the official SEGA website.
Shenmue I & II will be priced at $39.99 CDN and includes the full version of the 1999 Dreamcast title and its 2002 Sequel. In their F.A.Q SEGA confirmed that the codebase for this port comes from the Xbox Version of both games which was originally released back in 2003 in North America. Working from the XBOX version ensures that features like photo mode, filters and better overall anti-aliasing are supported from the start. Gameplay segments will support 16:9 HD resolutions but cut-scenes will be preserved in their original 4:3 presentation. A “modern control scheme” has also been implemented that maps Ryu’s movement to the analog sticks rather than the D-Pad, as originally intended.
A number of other small additions have also been added to the Shenmue I & II port including both Japanese / English dialogue, configurable controls on PC, Achievements and the ability to save anywhere.
As well as the herculean effort of porting the code to the new platforms, there is a huge number of things we have added:
- Choice of Japanese or English speech in both games
- Saves can be carried over from Shenmue into Shenmue II on all platforms
- Saving anywhere in both games
- HD resolution rendering
- Updated UI
- New post processing effects for both games
- Full controller support and configurable mouse and keyboard for PC users
- Full Achievement support for both games on all platforms
Above: A Trailer From 2000 Official Dreamcast Magazine.
Shenmue I was heralded back in 1999 for its pseudo open world approach to game design – allowing players to explore a fully realized slice of Japan in full 3D with a working internal clock, the ability to rent motel rooms, visit pachinko parlors and even work a part time job. Players take on the role of Ryo Hazuki who witnesses the murder of his father – which launches a multinational adventure that spans multiple games as players help Ryo with his quest for vengeance.
On PC Shenmue I & II‘s minimum specs are quite relaxed:
Minimum:
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- OS: Windows 7 64Bit
- Processor: Intel i3-560 / AMD FX-4300
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti (1GB Vram) / AMD Radeon 6990
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 30 GB available space
[Source]
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DOOM’s Nintendo Switch Port Will Have You Believing In The Dark Arts
Posted on November 16, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards
Over the past week I’ve been playing 2016’s DOOM on the Nintendo Switch and this game… just wow, what black magic did Bethesda use to make a game as visually striking and visceral work on Nintendo’s hybrid tablet?
Players new to this iteration of the classic FPS franchise will find themselves in the boots of the Doom Slayer, an unnamed marine who loves nothing more than ripping the limbs off of demons and splattering their guts across the floor. DOOM exists for two reasons: 1) to allow players to graphically murder countless demons in as comically over the top fashion as possible and 2) to provide the player with an assortment of deadly futuristic weapons that are each more devastating and implausible as the last. These two core tenants are true whether you’re playing the game’s introductory level or on the final boss.
Overall I’ve played about five hours of DOOM on Switch and I’ve just returned from my first trip to Hell. As a repeat visitor to the lands of fire and brimstone, I have to say being able to be transported to DOOM’s hellscapes where ever I please – whether that’s on the bus or on the couch – proves just how viable the Switch is for First Person Shooters, a genre that up until now has gone unrepresented on Nintendo’s hot new platform.
Yes, graphically DOOM’s portable iteration is a visual downgrade from its PC based sibling (which I adored and reviewed last year) but when seeing it in motion none of that really matters. Halving of the frame rate from 60 fps to a mostly locked 30 and lowering the resolution of some environment textures to accommodate the Nintendo Switch’s 4GB of RAM does little to hamper the visual quality of this port of DOOM. For the most part, the framerate remains rock solid during heavy action scenes, effects like water running down windows and depth of field are faithfully recreated. Somehow, Panic Button got the full 12+ hour campaign on to Nintendo’s handheld and I’m glad for it. If you haven’t played through DOOM yet and own a Switch I’d highly recommend picking it up – it plays great either docked or in handheld mode.
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What Is The Upcoming Steam JRPG Trillion Anyway?
Posted on August 15, 2016 by Les Major
Trillion is an Idea Factory title in which you power up to take on Trillion, the god of destruction! Sounds nice, happy and to the point doesn’t it? Trillion seemingly gets his name from the 1,000,000,000,000 hit points he has. Hopefully he’s max level so he doesn’t need to change his name. It must have been weird for Trillion growing up. “Who are you?” “I’m Twenty-Four!” “Oh, that’s a shame because my sword has a DPS of twenty five!” We don’t need to worry about that though since Trillion has all those juicy hit points at level 1. Ahem, joking aside, what IS this game? Let’s find out!
First off it should be noted that unlike some Vita ports, which is what Trillion is, the game contains both English and Japanese voiced dialogue. So any of you out there who enjoy dubbed audio in your JRPG’s, you should still have that here. I can’t imagine that not surviving the port to Steam.
Unlike the cute Moe girls you’re used to from Idea Factory, Trillion takes on quite a Disgaea vibe which is something that stood out to me from the start. Instead of being like Hyperdimension Neptunia however, there seems to be a more tile based combat system in Trillion. When you move the enemies get to move. I’ve only looked at YouTube videos so far, but we do hope to get some hands on experience closer to the Steam release. As you can see in the image below, this specific combat focuses on Mokujin, a Trillion training dummy. He’s able to summon monsters and do some pretty devastating area of attack moves that show up both on your map in the upper left and on the actual level display as well. So you do have some warning of these big moves as well as time to avoid them. You can fight Mokujin every cycle, which works out to a week. In your main menu you’ll see the next coming of Trillion which the game counts down to in weeks.
That isn’t the only way to power up. A mode called Valley of Swords gives players a rogue-like dungeon to explore and fight enemies in. If anything it reminds me quite a bit of NIS’ game The Guided Fate Ultimatum. With Trillion baring down on the world however, you’re probably not going to be able to stop him the first time. Cool thing is, after your game over new game plus carries over your character progression. So it is really a neat concept. Grind away, fight back against Trillion, rinse, repeat.
We’ll be taking a further look into Trillion soon, but for now take a look at the trailer below.
Also, some of the screens in this article are from BlueMaxima’s Vita Channel. If you’d like to look deeper into Trillion right now, feel free to watch his video here:
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Ray Gigant Holding Strong On Steam New Releases
Posted on August 13, 2016 by Les Major
With titles like No Man’s Sky just being released this week, you’d figure it would be difficult to be anyone else. That’s not the case with Acttil Steam release of Ray Gigant which is still holding strong on the popular new releases list. Originally released for the PlayStation Vita, the game sees players tackling a visual novel story with dungeon crawling elements included. If that isn’t enough to grab your attention, the story feels like an interesting mix between Neon Genesis Evangelion (without the mecha) and almost a Percy Jackson vibe as you join with others who have powers given by a mysterious power known as Yorigami. Potentially you could even compare it to Pacific Rim with how the aliens just pop up and are classified. The characters are part of a school which seems to just be there to support these gifted individuals to fight back against these aliens who are called Gigants.
Combat in the game itself is turn based and the story itself plays out very well between the cast. At least the bit I’ve played so far doesn’t feel sluggish which I really appreciated for a more action based title. I’m really digging the feel of the story and clearly it’s piqued Steam users curiosity as well. That and the artwork is just beautiful! Both in battle and overall.
When you combine that with the fact that the game is 40% off until August 17th, it’s certainly a risk worth taking. The only complaint I’ve heard so far is so possibly some issues with the music not syncing up with the rhythm game section some battles have, but even that doesn’t seem to be a major issue. At $17.99 USD, it’s been a fun ride so far and I’ll be releasing a review in the coming future.
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Sim City To Be Released On Mac Later This Month
Posted on August 6, 2013 by Rae Michelle Richards
Electronic Arts is preparing to release the promised Mac OSX port of Sim City later this month, according to a press release issued earlier in the day. Multiplayer is front & center in the new Sim City and it is no surprise that the game will be cross platform, enabling established PC players interact with Mac players/
Sim City will be available in both digital and physical (boxed) flavors on August 29th. Here’s hoping that the Mac version isn’t plagued as some of the same connectivity issues as the PC version. Last I heard, things have been running rather smoothly.
Source Joystiq
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