Substance TV

Remember the first time you saw Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Back to the Future or Raiders of the Lost Ark? You probably did not see some of them in the theatres, but always wanted too. Avatar is one of those movies.

Avatar just released on Friday, December 18th is extremely impressive. As a fan of classic science fiction, I know James Cameron has the gift of giving us movies that he himself would want to see. The Terminator movies are a great example of how Cameron pushes the boundries of filmmaking to new levels.  Avatar is no different. The story is cut and dry and very easy to understand. The characters are easy to relate to and yes, there are a LOT of special effects. So many, in fact, that it was hard to tell what was real and what was a CG image. That’s a good thing. Furthermore, the movie is presented in RealD 3D, which adds a new dimension to the art of storytelling. You might find yourself swatting fireflies that float in front of your face.

The music of Avatar is also top notch. I have been a fan of James Horner’s music since I was a child. The soundtrack is a mix between Willow, Apocalypto and Aliens. Quite a score, indeed.

So everyone, I beg, no plead with you to see this masterpiece today you will not regret it. Recommend.

- Erik

Like many other fans of James Cameron’s exemplary work, both Erik and I anxiously wait to see Avatar. But the real question remains, does Cameron still have the magic after being dormant for more than a decade? We’ll find out Friday December 18th at midnight when it premieres in the States. A few hours ago, the movie premiered in the UK (lucky Brits who get the sun earlier than us). Early reports from various news sources already hail the movie as an epic triumph.

The best endorsement yet comes from the one and only Steven Spielberg. Yes, we forgive him for Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull. We blame it on Lucas. Anyway, Spielberg watched the film last Friday on Fox’s studio lot in Los Angeles and loved it. “He flipped for it,” says a person close to the acclaimed director. This one endorsement goes a long way to ease some of my worry. The only way I’ll know for sure is to see the film myself when it opens. Sadly I already have prior obligations on Friday (a Christmas party with the Mrs. and some friends). Thankfully Erik already has his ticket to the midnight showing in 3-D. At least I can find solace one of us will see it day of.

C’mon James, don’t let us down my friend.

- Brian

Cave is one of my favorite video game companies period. If you haven’t the faintest idea who this Cave company is, check out this Wikipedia article.

Their most recent arcade port Mushihime-sama Futari version 1.5, recently released on the Xbox 360, marks their first region free release on home consoles giving the average joe a chance to play it without modding or importing a Japanese system. Depending on the level of uptake outside of Japan, sales of the game will affect their future decision to localize other shooters such as Espgaluda 2.

On the heels of this release comes news of future releases. Cave general manager Makato Asada has plans to bring future games to a wider audience (meaning us here in the old U S of A and beyond).

According to Asada’s last blog post, Cave is working on five new titles. Though he doesn’t specify much, he does give a few hints:

1. A completely new arcade game (“completely” implies it’s not a sequel to any previous game)
2. An original Xbox 360 game
3. Xbox 360 arcade port(s)
4. Development on “new hardware”

At the Cave festival on 12/27, he’ll reveal more. Here’s hoping for ports of previously Japan exclusive games such as Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu and DeathSmiles. And don’t even get me started on games like Progear. Oh please let it be true.

I’ve always been a fan of the Valkyrie Profile series. So it would only make sense that developer Tri-Ace would be amazing at making other games right? Wrong. If you’ve played Infinite Undiscovery for the Xbox 360, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s not terrible by any means, but it’s not great. Regardless, I am interested to hear they are developing another RPG for the 360 called End of Eternity (Resonace of Fate). Published by Sega, the game uses a tri-attack-battle system. Few details have been released over at The Magic Box, but what I see looks interesting.

The game will be released in January 2010 in Japan with an eventual North American release. Here’s hoping they learn from their mistakes and make an amazing game.

Source: Magicbox

So now the November Free Play is over, and the winner of a complete copy of Shinobi for the Playstation 2 is….

rossosnaruto!

Congratulations, enjoy this awesome game full of ninjas, blood, and much killing. It’s just doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks again to everyone who entered. Both Erik and I were seriously impressed with the entries this month. We figured the obvious games would be chosen for revivals, but you guys pick some niche titles that desperately need some lovin’.

Now it’s on to the December Free Play. As we’ve alluded to, the month of December will be filled with sweet goodness for the fans of Substance TV. So for this month’s Free Play, we’re going to be doing a little something special. We are giving away a game we featured in episode 9. An amazing and rare RPG called Y’s: The Ark of Napishtim for the Playstation 2. But not only are we giving away the game, we are also giving away the hard to find strategy guide! You’ll need it as it covers a lot of the hidden items and extra bonuses you won’t normally find in the game.

To enter, we want to know your favorite Christmas video game memory. Maybe it was the year you got a Nintendo Sixty-FOOOOOOOOOOUR!!!!!! Or was it the year you got that brand new Power Glove? Whatever it is, we want to know. For me, it was the year I got my very own Nintendo Entertainment System. I always played it at my cousin’s house, but I never had one. I can still remember opening that big power set box Christmas Eve. It was all just too wonderful!

You can either post a comment here or by visiting the YouTube video (which will soon be up). As always, entering at more than one place gives you a better chance. The deadline to enter is December 31st at 11:59:59 P.M. so best of luck to all of you. I’m off to do some more work on episode 11, and hopefully my new game will be in today!

For the last decade, Sunsoft has been all but dormant releasing only a handful of new titles. It’s been over twenty years since the release of such classics as Blaster Master on the NES. Those glory days may very well be upon us again as Sunsoft just announced a reboot of their console gaming brand in the USA.

Sunsoft has teamed up with GAIJINWORKS, headed up by former Working Designs President Victor Ireland, to aid in the publishing and release of Sunsoft titles.

First and foremost, this means a release of Blaster Master on the Virtual Console. Past that there is talk of other VC releases and new content as well. Though no specific titles have been announced, I’m glad to see Sunsoft back and kicking.

P.S. Just promise me no Warner Bros. licensed games.