This Week in Games

Asimov's Laws Didn't Account For Godwin's Law

Well, this was a week! In a twist that I hope served as a positive surprise to everyone, Yours Truly was invited back to This Week In Anime yesterday for a special collab on Toka Gettan: The Moonlight Lady Returns. This was a really fun one to work on! Chris is a fun guy to work with, and I'm a massive sucker for Carnelian's old early 00s VNs. Lots of love to the TWIA folks, they helped me get my start here at ANN. You guys can feel free to check out their columns; Steve, Nick, Nicky, and Chris are great people.

Not much to report on the Xenoblade 3 side of things; the year is already starting to ramp up, so there isn't much time to be delving into stuff outside of minor side-quests and level grinding. Ah, work. The bane of my spare time...

This is...

Before we get into the news, I wanted to contemplate my navel on something. I went to a local GameStop a few days back to pre-order my copy of Fire Emblem: Engage (I want the Tarot cards, okay?). And like anyone else who goes there, I got a particularly hard sell on the GameStop Pro service. Like everyone else, I am pretty annoyed by the upsells; I don't begrudge the poor cashiers at GameStop for having to lay on the sales pitches thick because the suits upstairs crack the whip something fierce, and it's their job on the line. As far back as 2004, I remember anonymous GameStop employees writing into Electronic Gaming Monthly bemoaning having to sell people services they knew their customers didn't want or else risk getting terminated. It sucks, and in a better world, these folks wouldn't have that Sword of Damocles hung over their heads.

People complain a lot about GameStop, but with my experiences as a gamer, I still emphasize that we need a brick-and-mortar store that focuses on games. Like, hey, you know how I always bring up Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja at every turn? Yeah, back in Puerto Rico, the only place I was going to find that was at the GameStop at the Plaza del Norte mall in Hatillo (before GameStop up and abandoned Puerto Rico in 2014 because they didn't want to pay our taxes, *grumble grumble*). I loved JRPGs, and I was never gonna find anything weirder than a Final Fantasy or a Mario & Luigi game at a Walmart. And forget Amazon: I lived in the boonies, so never mind being well out of Amazon's delivery route, I couldn't even log into the website in the first place. (Yes, there are internet dead zones in Puerto Rico.) La Pucelle, Wild Arms: Alter f, Makai Kingdom, .hack//MUTATION, SoLaToRoBo... Gamestop kept my shelves loaded for bear.

My hope is that someone manages to make and maintain a nationwide chain of game shops, places that continue to sell physical copies of games while serving as fun community hubs for gamers. Because online-only, digital-only affairs suck, and the artificial scarcity model of limited-run physical releases bites. In the meantime: support your local shop, especially the mom-and-pop places in your city. Give 'em a shout-out in the comments, I want to know the cool places you guys explore in your local town!

Okay, news now!

With how near and dear the GameBoy Advance is to my heart, this is way too on-brand for me to avoid talking about. And this is the kind of fan effort I can really get behind! Indie dev team Akouzoukos created a little puzzle game called Apotris. Obviously, taking cues from the classic puzzle game Tetris, Apotris tasks players with stacking and arranging blocks. The blocks in question are all the traditional Tetris blocks, so it's the right-and-left Ls, the right-and-left "Z"s, the little "T" shape, the long "I" and a cube. Apotris makes a splashy screen wave every time you make a row across the screen, which is about the biggest visual difference from its inspiration, but the real draw is its multiple game modes! At the time of writing, version 3.4.5 of the game features 11 unique modes; some based on Tetris (specifically, "Classic" mode), others a bit more unique like "Dig" (tunneling through lines of garbage blocks with your combos). The code for the game is up on GitHub, and the game itself is available on Itch.io on a "Pay-what-you-want" basis. And it's regularly getting support with updates, and maybe even new modes or music added!

The real fun is that developers Akouzoukos have made a physical cartridge for the game compatible with the GameBoy Advance!

The GameBoy Advance port ('cuz let's face it, that's what it is) goes so far as to feature a two-player mode compatible with the old GameBoy Advance Link Cable. Best of all, there's a slightly-more-expensive version that features a rumble-pack, vibrating the cartridge in time with your combos (a feature that far too few games incorporated--Drill Dozer rocked those vibrations!). Also, the cartridge is transparent, like the old Boktai cartridges. It's not even a Boktai game, and they're giving me those old nostalgic vibes.

If you want a copy, you can pick it up on the Insidegadgets website; the "rumble" version runs for $42 USD, while the non-rumble version goes for $37 (which is right around where old GBA games used to be priced, too). At the time of writing, Apotris is marked as sold-out, but according to the dev team, this is because they're stocking back up on the necessary cartridge shells to produce new copies. Best of all: because it's a flash cart, anyone tech-savvy enough can update the game whenever new patches are released!

There's a bustling industry for homebrew media for old Nintendo consoles; while I have yet to learn of any such apps for the Nintendo DS or 3DS (let me know in the comments if there are any I should know about), the idea of homebrew content for the GBA amuses me as much as it warms my heart. It's not even that we didn't have a Tetris game on GBA back in the day because we did--Tetris Worlds. It wasn't quite the Tetris game people wanted, and it did offer some gameplay changes fans weren't wild about, sadly. It's taken Apotris 20 years to correct that mistake, but that's the magic of homebrew gaming for you. I look forward to hearing about more homebrew games!

This one threw me for a loop because I'm mainly used to hearing Bushiroad's name in association with card games; Cardfight Vanguard, Future Card Buddyfight, Weiß Schwarz, AlicexCross... I didn't even know these guys had a video game division. But it turns out they do, and this past week they unveiled a short trailer on YouTube announcing a trio of games based on anime.

There is little to say about the first two games, as all we have are their logos and the consoles they'll be releasing on. First up is Goblin Slayer Another Adventure: Nightmare Feast, set to be released on the Nintendo Switch and Steam. The other is Jobless Reincarnation - Quest of Memories, due out on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Steam. I'm not glossing over details on these because these are manga/anime/light novels I'm not particularly fond of--there really isn't much to say. Again, this sizzle reel slapped the logos on-screen and called it a day. We don't even have release dates for them.

With a title like Nightmare Feast, Goblin Slayer Another Adventure sounds positively dreary--somehow, this seems even less appealing than the actual Berserk Musou title, Berserk: Band of the Hawk on PS4. Goblin Slayer, a series about an enigmatic armored warrior whose life mission is to eradicate the population of predatory goblins off of the face of his world, has its population of loyal fans, but the titular Slayer doesn't strike me as a very interesting dude, and the idea of an entire species being inherently evil isn't exactly the kind of thing I'm interested in when it comes to my tastes in fantasy. But hey, you could make a decent Musou with the concept. Give the Slayer any weapon, play as one of his party members, give 'em big combo trees, and rack up the kills. That's a recipe for a satisfying button masher.

Jobless Reincarnation - Quest of Memories... well, this one also has a very loyal fanbase. The story of a guy who reincarnates as a baby in a fantasy world where he gains weird stellar skills in magic and swordplay, Jobless Reincarnation, apparently went on to inspire a lot of other isekai. With that kind of legacy, I'm surprised it's taken this long to get a game out of the series, but here we are. I expect this one to be more of a traditional action RPG, perhaps along the lines of the Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris games. Hopefully, more entertaining than those said duplicate titles too.

It's the final title that has me really interested: it's 2023, and we're getting a new Super Dimensional Macross shooter! Titled Macross: Shooting Insight, we at least got someglimpse at the game. The most we know is that it'll take place on both vertical and horizontal planes (think 1942 and Lightening Force alike). We can also see that Shooting Insight will allow you to play with the Valkyrie fighters' Jet modes and their famous chicken-legged Gerwalk-modes. What we don't know is which Macross entries Shooting Insight will incorporate. It could just stick to Super Dimensional Fortress Macross if it wants to be boring. Many people don't like Macross II, it seems, so that's out. Macross 7 would be a riot, even if they can't get any of that old, loveable Fire Bomber music in. Macross Plus would be fun to see. And I feel like Macross Frontier and Macross Delta are way too popular not to put into a Macross-themed shooter. Again, no release date, but we know Macross: Shooting Insight is coming to PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. A US release seems unlikely because of Harmony Gold and their odious presence, but we can always hope. Anything so that the Lucky Chicken-produced Robotech shooter isn't the only Macross shooter you can get on the Switch.

Fun fact: that was the first game I got for my GameBoy Advance (a middle-school classmate had gifted me three of the Jack McKinney Robotech novelizations back in the day, so I had a minor Robotech phase in the early 2000s). There's actually an HD remaster of that game on the Nintendo eShop and it's so bad; the synthesized orchestral music is out-of-synch, the screen uses proportions designed for a GameBoy Advance screen, so sprites are too big while there's too much empty space on the screen, the old screencapped art for the characters' portraits look uncanny compared to the horribly-cheap HUD... it's $10 for a kusoge for the ages, assuming you can live with giving Harmony Gold some of your money. I'm tempted, but also... I'm really not.

So that's Macross: Shooting Insight, and I don't think it has much chance of coming to the US, but the other titles? Well, they actually have significantly bigger fanbases in the US. Goblin Slayer might be too outwardly gross, but I can see someone taking a chance on the Jobless Reincarnation title. We'll keep you posted.

King of Fighters has such a long, storied history as a franchise that it's got tons of characters folks are dying to see return. Just look at how excited people got when Shermie got announced for King of Fighters XV release. There'd be outright pandemonium if Duck King was brought back! For now, though, we have a few other fighters who've got their ticket to come back. For now, it's a long-time fan favorite, Shingo Yabuki!

Shingo's return is hotly anticipated. A young upstart who idolizes Kyo Kusanagi, Shingo's been missing from King of Fighters since King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match. Also, in a move that makes me very jealous concerning Ángel, he's been voiced by fan-favorite voice actor Takehito Koyasu since Day One. (SNK not being able to secure Mayumi Shintani to continue to voice Ángel upsets me, Ángel is best with a bit of a gremlin voice.) There isn't much to say about Shingo, as his place in the story is Kyo's comedic trainee, who's a nice kid but a bit too enthusiastic. His super shows him flubbing a move and conking himself with the opponent in the head, for crying out loud. But again: Koyasu. We all deserve more chances to hear that man and his velvety voice screaming his heart out. Also worth noting: in true form for an SNK game, the comments to Shingo's trailer are crawling with delighted Latin American fans cheering at the return of not only Shingo but Koyasu as his voice actor. It warms my heart to see us all cheering this guy on.

The trailer also gives players a look into what we can expect for King of Fighters XV in 2023. On the less sexy side of things, we have some character rebalancing in store sometime after Shingo's release. King of Fighters XV is also supposed to get cross-platform play sometime between spring and summer 2023, which is exciting. But after Shingo, we've got a one-two punch of new characters! Kim Kaphwan, the OG taekwondo pugilist, is returning to the King of Fighters tournament this spring, with Sylvie Paula Paula hot on his heels for a summer 2023 release. Kim is a standby of the SNK world, having debuted initially with the Fatal Fury series (and even appearing in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture). Sylvie is a bit more contentious; she debuted in King of Fighters XIV, but her "Kyary Pamu Pamu"-inspired design (and the weird eyeball hair-decorations that bring Pokémon's recent Iono to mind) made her a bit too different in the eyes of many fighting game fans. Nevertheless, she's a member of NESTS along with Ángel and Kula Diamond. Her new design also has even more eyeballs, if you can believe it.

This summer also sees the return of Najd, another returning character from King of Fighters XIV. Of course, this is where we have to drop the requisite bomb, as SNK is owned by Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose government is implicated in several human rights violations and the murder of a journalist. Designed by the artist Mashael Al-Barrak (who, at least, is very excited to see her back), Najd is to be blamed for SNK's unfortunate ownership. Still, it's important to remind folks of the bloody circumstances that follow SNK's games in the light of their ownership.

The trailer ends with the silhouettes of two extra characters scheduled for release this autumn and winter, respectively. I can't pretend I'm a big enough SNK fan to grok who these are supposed to be, but commenters on YouTube theorize that the winter character is Alice from King of Fighters XIV. As for the autumn character, some folks think it's Adel.

We'll keep you posted as more news breaks on King of Fighters!

Twitch angered several streamers late last year when they produced a video highlighting some of their developments in streaming and conflated VTubers with being "AI." This is pretty insulting to the people who work hard portraying these characters; how little do you seriously know about your streamers? But that doesn't mean there isn't at least one AI VTuber. Named "Neuro," this AI VTuber actually plays Minecraft and Osu! while holding conversations with viewers. And because she's an AI VTuber, she has several off-color things to say, like on her December 28th stream where she was quoted as doubting the Holocaust happened. Freaking yikes. This was a bit too much for Twitch, who banned the VTuber earlier this week; while the exact reason for their banning wasn't clear, you probably wouldn't have to look too far to find valid reasoning.

Neuro's creator, Vedal, has been quoted as saying that he's working on appealing the ban while tuning up Neuro's AI so that she comes back "better than ever," but I'm side-eying this. I recall when Projekt Melody hit the scene in 2020; there was a lot of consternation on behalf of adult streamers that she was going to put them out of a job; after all, a virtual performer doesn't have to worry about maintaining their body the same way a flesh-and-blood streamer does. But that did turn out to be a tempest in a teapot. In the following years, we've seen that Melody (as well as many VTuber of her ilk, adult or not) are hardworking people who are no less dedicated to their careers as streamers than anyone else. VTubing offers creatives a chance to make stuff without being judged by their appearances while allowing people to create their own identities. Unsurprisingly, many voice actors and cosplayers also go into VTubing. But an actual AI VTuber? An actual program pulling a "Sharon Apple" on folks? That concerns me, and not because of the potential streamers that would "put out of a job"--there's always going to be the need for actual interaction between streamers and their audiences. And besides, people already go nuts for concerts hosted by Splatoon's Off The Hook, K.K. Slider, or Hatsune Miku. Instead, the issue is that neural networks suck. Just look at Neuro: Vedal obviously didn't hit the "racism" button, but the basic principle of computing is "garbage in, garbage out." The data for "HistoricalRevisionism.exe" had to come from somewhere, even if Vedal didn't put it in there himself. And unfortunately, the kind of garbage data stemming from racism, sexism, or any other brand of hatred is just that prominent on the Internet.

Some argue that this is "the nature of the Internet" at work. Still, it nevertheless feels like a massive indictment on the whole smack if otherwise reasonable creatives make a neural network that finds itself parroting antisemitism that wasn't explicitly programmed into it. Especially in the context of the gaming community, which really really has issues with people and their "heated gaming moments." An actual AI VTuber will need a lot more moderation, curatorship, and plain old responsibility than I think we have at the moment.

That'll do it for this week. Lots to look forward to! We'll have some fun previews and stuff in the next few days. Hopefully, this weekend gives you guys plenty to get excited about! Remember to share your input in the forums, you guys are great fun to talk to, and I appreciate your input. Just do me a solid and remember to give folks in your daily life some love, too. A simple "I hope you're doing okay!" or "I appreciate you!" can mean a lot to folks. Be good to each other; I'll see you in seven.