Alt+Games is a blog about games by a couple of gamers. Role-playing
games , computer and console games , board games etc. Focus on games that
enable playing together , whether in the same room or over the net. We
try to feature interesting stuff you don't hear from elsewhere.
A while back I posted a video of a Japanese drum arcade game that I shot in an arcade in Tokyo. That was in the old Alt+Games site, so here's the re-run.
After that incident a lot has happened in the drum game scene. Taiko no Tatsujin has been available in the western world for a while (athough I like the songs in the Japanese versions more) and more importantly the genre of band games has introduced the plastic drum sets into our living rooms.
I got the chance to play the drums on Guitar Hero World Tour a while ago at my friends Juha's and M's place. While my performance was nothing of the sort featured in the video below, I could immediately see the charm of drum-set-banging gameplay. To me the whole thing seemed to be a lot closer to the real thing than the guitar playingin Guitar Hero. Actually when I think about it the interface is exactly the same as in a digital drum set (minus the quality).
That said, it's really hard for me to get so excited about the drum set games as to actually get a drum set controller myself. The music games are essentially recycling the same concept over and over with only a few changes. I'm getting bored with the basic concept a bit. Something really cool needs to surface for me to sacrifice the space needed for the drum kit in my living room.
But, here's the video, please enjoy. Pretty sophisticated, ain't it?
I've been playing Secret Files: Tunguska on Wii a couple of evenings with my s.o. I would really want to like Secret Files: Tunguska on Wii. The point-and-click adventure genre could be combatible with thw Wiimote and my tv screen and could even evolve into something more social and fun together with Wii's other features and a bit of game design magic.
Alas, the game's drawbacks make the experience a bit of a grind. First, the main character Nina's voice actor speaks in a really irritable nasal drawl. I mean, it sounds like the dreaded accent of people living in Helsinki (for all of you Finnish-speaking readers, for those fluent in English I would compare it as a mix between a popular high school teen-aged girl and Draco Malfoy). And, because she's speaking all the time you find yourself pulling your hair out especially when you are stuck with a puzzle.
Second, Nina looks a bit like a character from a low-budget tv series flirting with sex and porn. Do you remember Silk Stalkings? Ugh. The idea probably was to make Nina a cool, active woman protagonist but on the visual front the plan was botched big time. Overly slim waist and large hips along with ridiculous open cleavage (even when driving a motor cycle) give an unintendedly comical look to Nina, much like to the stars of those soft porn tv series. This is becoming a staple of point-and-click adventures so much that I'll probably refer them to as soft porn games from now on. I mean the characters in Syberia and The Longest Journey (the newer edition) were done with much better taste, but the underlying formula seems to be the same in each one. Could we have a change to this trend, please?
I wanted WiiFit. I wanted it badly. I used to mock it, I still mock it. It's just plain stupid sci-fi apparel for Wii, among the light guns, guitars and what not. At least that was what I thought it would be. Nobody told me, that I was going to witness the thing I saw other night, while doing ordinary body test.
Guitarfun is a simple Homebrew Guitar Hero clone now available for Wii, PC and PS2. The Wii version supports several different input methods: the Wii Guitar Hero controller, usb-keyboard, Wiimote (with or without Nunchuck) and also PS2 guitar controllers through a PS2-GameCube converter. The game uses the same song format as Frets on Fire , so there is a great variety of songs available for download through the various Frets on Fire sites.
The sound (depending on source, naturally) is a bit off and playability isn't as good as it could be, but the catalogues of playable songs make this Homebrew application certainly worth trying out. When you've worn out your genuine Guitar Hero tracks and can't bear to hear Low Ride ever again, check out Guitarfun and look for Frets on Fire songs. I started with Pixies' "Debaser" !
Edit, couple of days later:
After a few more tests and new songs I agree with a commenter: the game has a lag/sync issue. On some songs it bothers less, on others more. The problem has been discussed on the Wiibrew wiki , too. Hopefully development continues and this issue can be dealt with. But it seems that I'll be keeping the current version on my SD card until that.
Roughly a year ago I traveled to Tokyo, Japan for the DiGRA2007 Conference. During the trip I frequented Tokyo's numerous arcades - here's an article from my old blog republished to coincide with my friend Mika's month-long trip to Japan. Mika, if you are reading this, don't forget to visit the arcades!
I was really drawn towards the arcade / CCG games in the arcades I visited in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the language barrier (I must admit that I can't read a word of Japanese) combined the relatively high cost to start playing one of these games (1000 yen for the starter deck, 200 yen for the arcade card and 200 yen per game, totaling just under 15 dollars or 9 euros for your first game) prevented me from testing them so I just stood and watched.
Console Games 
Alas, the game's drawbacks make the experience a bit of a grind. First, the main character Nina's voice actor speaks in a really irritable nasal drawl. I mean, it sounds like the dreaded accent of people living in Helsinki (for all of you Finnish-speaking readers, for those fluent in English I would compare it as a mix between a popular high school teen-aged girl and Draco Malfoy). And, because she's speaking all the time you find yourself pulling your hair out especially when you are stuck with a puzzle.
