Pac-Man World Re-Pac - Updated Credits

A few months after the game's release, Bandai Namco and Now Production had made a patch that improved many aspects of the game such as credits, soundtrack and other stuffs that were changed. The credits part is the most important part of the update with the original team who made the game credited with True Accurate Information. Under the Sounds and Music part, it is Todd Dennis and Joey Kuras who worked on the music and sound part for the original version of the game under Tallarico Studios at the time. With this updated credit list, it can be proven that Tommy wasn't the one who composed the music for the game at all. Also, it is the first step in undoing the damage Tommy had caused in the past. The other games Tallarico Studios was involved in still have inaccurate credit information for the composer as if many websites still state that Tommy is the only composer due to him passing off others' compositions as his.

Besides the patch, there are two DLCs for the game and the Jukebox feature allows you to listen to the high quality versions of the songs in the Sound Test. The soundtrack in Re-Pac is said to be updated with high quality and uncompressed versions for free but the Jukebox remains a paid DLC.

Indeed, compliment is what I have for Bandai Namco and Now Production for a truly accurate credit information for the original team under Special Thanks category. However, this update should come with a new responsibility to keep those credits for the original team accurate and protected. The sites that wrongly claimed that Tommy Tallarico was the composer for this game should have corrected the credits in the game page once the update was out. I don't know for sure if there's some jerk-face out there who tries to make a malicious request to those sites to revert said changes or not but I think that the Special Thanks portion of the updated credits list should remain in the accurate form.

Aside from the Intellivision Amico controversies, there were other backlashes Tommy had done in the past such as giving Super Smash Bros games a low score in the most ignorant and offensive ways, and passing off other stuffs like sound effects he didn't make as his creations for instance but you can look up those stories yourself as they're beyond the scope of this blog article. His actions were not cool back then and the on-going controversies surrounding the Amico had already tarnished the Intellivision brand and his reputation further.

TRDR Pocket 2 controversy

It's like the manufacturers of TRDR Pocket followed Soulja Boy's shady footsteps and that kind of footstep is what only losers follow. There are two reasons why the TRDR Pocket 2 is as controversial as the first one:

1. False advertising
2. The console is as scammy as the first one even if Soulja Boy is not involved

The design is more or less the same and who wants to play games on this thing? For advanced games like TPS or FPS games, it is still problematic for both TRDR Pocket 1 and 2 as they have a lack of trigger/shoulder buttons. It's even worse if there's no controller support at all for those games. The inclusion of 4G is somewhat a retarded idea for an Android device that is a portable game console. About the false advertising for the console I mentioned earlier, the console is said to have AI-related features which can be made dangerous due to how much of a scam the console is even if Soulja Boy is not involved.

This pretty much angered gamers even more despite the fact that Soulja Boy is not involved this time in which the lessons given to learn didn't mean anything to the manufacturers of TRDR Pocket 2. They downplay and don't bother to learn those lessons and try to brainwash people with AI related features that try to "teach them any social skills and stuffs" with that TRDR Pocket 2 console. Why learn something from TRDR Pocket 2 console when you can learn a couple of things from modern games' interesting concepts and cutscenes? The TRDR Pocket 2 console isn't going to change your life in a good way and you're not going to make friends with it. Gamers are more interested in highly popular games normally and they discuss what goes on in those games.

A smartphone//tablet running Android has a better screen than TRDR Pocket 1 & 2 consoles and is attachable to whatever external gaming peripheral. Such peripheral may or may not be like the Switch or Wii U console in terms of design but it's a better gaming experience that way for advanced looking mobile games. For other portable Android gaming devices, they have a better design than TRDR Pocket 1 & 2 but that's a different story.

In the end, TRDR Pocket 2 is a scam with bullshit features just like the original TRDR Pocket. It's not worth your time and money, and your mobile device is already more capable for mobile gaming in the first place.

Splatoon 3 Virtual YouTuber Livestream Controversy

Splatoon 3 seems to be a hit on Nintendo Switch as it is as fun as the previous Splatoon games but there happens to be one Virtual YouTuber-related controversy that crossed the line. Nintendo wasn't happy about that controversy that occurred this month that they took actions against several members of a group I don't know of. The members' channels were terminated and the policy of taking screenshots or making videos of Nintendo games was changed as a result. At least, said members of that group whose channels were affected later apologized for their indecent acts.

What those members of a Virtual YouTuber group I don't know of did was green-screening something disturbing on the opponents' ink and covering that ink with their own team's in the game. Whether it's a new way or another way, it's still inexcusable enough that it caused a controversy. Sure, the Switch has a couple of mature-rated games that are also released on other game platforms but most of the first-party games from Nintendo are mainly family-friendly or teen-related games and Splatoon series is said to be family-friendly. However, in this case, the incident that occurred recently had gone too far and I'm reminded of another gaming controversy that happened two years ago in which the game's writer had come up with disturbing Pokemon and Harry Potter related tmaterials prior to working on some indie game. She realized her mistake and apologized but what cannot be scrapped is the consequences when such gaming controversy occurs. At least, it's better to realize the mistakes than to keep defending something extremely disturbing.

There are other Virtual YouTuber-related controversies I knew of like a group of trolls spamming the live chat with disturbing spam messages that caused many Virtual YouTubers' channels to be terminated, an AI software where fan arts of whatever Virtual YouTuber can be produced that may or may not cause some confusion on whether those artworks are actually produced using that tool or not, etc. The former was already bothersome like it's obstructive to business with the latter about fan arts generated using the AI software in a disturbing way being more concerning.

Meta's Horizon Worlds metaverse is so disastrous that they force employees to love and use it

Man, is this a vicious plan disguised as a discipline they've come up with for employees because the employees kept avoiding the app? The employees developing this metaverse app were already feeling disgruntled by that plan after people knew how disastrous the app is. As a tech demo, the showcase was said to be interesting but it turned out the app was poorly executed from the start. The avatars were missing the bottom half like legs for instance and the graphical potential was unspeakably low. Were those avatars intended to be simple or full-fledged to begin with? Even the Playstation Home has superior graphics to Horizon Worlds metaverse, ranging from good looking avatars to scenery having sufficient potential with proper textures, proper water effects and superior shadow effects. Hell, the Playstation Home had some mini games to play through at the time that it gave players the reason to explore various virtual places and interact with other players.

The bigger concerns included the highly expensive Meta Quest Pro VR headset which cost $1000+, privacy concerns surrounding Facebook and Horizon Worlds, and the inferior quality of the metaverse app that the consumers are already better off with other VR apps like VRChat. It's no wonder lesser and lesser amount of people is using Horizon Worlds metaverse. It's like those at Meta came up with Horizon Worlds with business in mind and they expected the employees to use it for the sake of meetings and stuff. Why do you want to buy that super-expensive VR headset as an add-on for video conferencing when you can simply use Zoom or Microsoft Teams, instead?

Upon seeing that video title of this gaming news from Yongyea's YouTube channel, I was already concerned on what other greedy game companies would do after that news broke out. What would Ubisoft do to the game developers who were against NFTs? What would Intellivision do to anyone's who has been criticizing the Amico? Plus, is there such a thing as alternative game engine for Intellivision Amico game development ever since the recent Unity controversy caused by Unity Technologies CEO? If Unity is the only game engine for that platform and Intellivision found out that some game developers were using some other game engine like Godot, what would Intellivision do to them?

From Yongyea's YouTube channel

Indeed, there may be weird and fishy obstacles to whatever criticism we have but it's ridiculous for the employees at Meta to be forced to use and love the disaster that is Horizon Worlds metaverse. It's greedy and vicious that forcing people to use and love something they hate is making them hate it even more. One other thing I learnt is that criticism of a product can happen anytime from pre-release to post-release but I should be careful to find the right time to criticize the product. If there's a backlash surrounding whatever gaming product, it opens doors to rants and criticisms from content creators for instance.

COD MW2 Phone Number Requirement Controversy (A controversy borrowed from Overwatch 2?)

If the phone number requirement for Overwatch 2 wasn't controversial enough and is a feature that won't go away for new players of the Overwatch series, even the upcoming COD MW2 will borrow that feature. That's Activision Blizzard for you which can mean game franchises coming from both sides. The problems Activision Blizzard mentioned like bots, cheaters and other types of gaming misbehaviors still exist to this day but to make use of phone number to tackle such problems isn't going to help a lot in my opinion as there are concerns of the solution's downside like someone using someone else's phone number to do such malicious activities for instance. So, if you see someone doing such malicious stuffs in the game online, you should report that person. Of course, it's not an easy feat from that point on as once that person's account is terminated for their disruptive behavior, they can come up with another account to circumvent the account termination and continue such nefarious acts using it.

It's like Activision Blizzard downplayed the backlash Overwatch 2 caused and they're trying to extend it further with other games like COD MW2. You may wonder if they're out of their minds enough to cause another gaming controversy in a row or something after a series of controversies surrounding Diablo Immortal occurred. It's worse than we thought but again, people were right to be disgruntled and vocal over such controversies like this. And to anyone claiming that people were "entitled" for feeling displeased, disgusted or whatever over the Diablo Immortal gaming controversies, it'll be best to reflect on this mistake.

Overwatch 2 Phone Number Requirement Controversy

What kind of greed would come up with an unusual requirement for playing a game like Overwatch 2? Indeed, there have been cases of bots, cheaters and toxic behaviors plaguing whatever popular game out there but to make people enter their phone number as part of logging in to the game in the guise of tackling those problems is already STEP BACKWARDS. How can THAT be a solution to said problems, anyway? It's like an email address isn't enough to mainly represent your gaming account that the phone number is somewhat the main thing or a required portion of the account information.

It's stupid that Activision Blizzard had the audacity to mandate something like linking/attaching a phone number to the gaming account to play. Sure, if anyone is caught using bots, cheats or even impersonating someone as part of a disruptive and immature behavior for instance, that account of theirs will be banned. Granted, that person may end up making a new account to continue such acts as a way to circumvent the account termination. As long as that person's malicious behavior continues to persist, it's going to be a long fight against it. So, what can Activision Blizzard do to the phone number belonging to the account that is reported?

A bigger problem is that not all players were able to play Overwatch 2 as they happened to use prepaid plans but the lucky thing was that not all prepaid plans were affected and even then, is there an acceptable reason on why the account used to play Overwatch 2 and other games must have the phone number attached? What about the authentication app? Many tech companies have one and it's said to be more convenient for account security.

I don't know for sure if handling over your mobile phone number by attaching it to your battle.net account as required for playing Overwatch 2 is considered a privacy violation or not. Even if it is, the mandation of phone number for playing Overwatch 2 is a NEW LEVEL OF GREED I've ever seen in gaming. How much worse the reputation can be for Activision Blizzard after endless amounts of controversy surrounding Diablo Immortal? There's already a well-known case of some streamer spending huge amounts of money on the microtransaction feature in Diablo Immortal and his acts were financially selfish. You could have spent that same amount of money for a house or something instead.

Yesterday, Activision Blizzard dropped the controversial requirement for Overwatch 2 for anyone who's played the original Overwatch. So, I do have a feeling that the requirement is still there for those new to the series or something.

Currently, the game is in early access and was recently released a few days ago as a free-to-play game on PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.

Happinet Gamers Festival from this year's TGS

Yesterday, there was a livestream from Game Center Mikado's official Youtube channel showcasing various classic remakes and the City Connection/Zerodiv port of Akai Katana for 8th-gen consoles. There are reasons for mentioning things about the remakes, the Zerodiv port of Akai Katana and a short video from the character from Needy Streamer Overload in a stream from Game Center Mikado's channel of all the gaming channels. What is that short video doing in a channel like that? It could have resided in WSS Playground's official YouTube channel.

The first game they had shown was a remake of Phychic 5, the arcade classic from NMK in 1987. The unique thing about its presentation is that you can switch between Original or Wide aspect ratio and Original or Arranged graphics and sound on the fly. This supersedes R-Type Dimensions when it comes to switching in-between on the fly during the game where you have not one but two options to switch things in-between. The earlier examples I can know of that have extended playfield are Giga Wing Generations on PS2, Mamoru Has Been Cursed on PS3 and Under Defeat HD and HD+. However, only some game modes have the extended playfield while the original game modes retain the original aspect ratio. By having an extended playfield, it's going to affect how you play the game. The shameful thing is that the game never had a home console release until its remake was announced this year. The remake will come out in Spring next year on Switch.

The third game they had shown was a remake of a Disc Station RPG originally from Compile. Many of the Compile IPs are with D4 Enterprise and it was a surprise that some Disc Station RPG was being developed. I don't know for sure if Sega owns the rights to the Puyo Puyo-related Disc Station games or not as those are part of the Puyo Puyo franchise. The RPG game is trying to be Compile's answer to Konami's Suikoden or something and the remake is going to come out on Switch next year.

The last one they showed was a City Connection port of Cave's Akai Katana Shin that will be released on Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. It's a strange move to have an Xbox One release when there's already an Xbox 360 version. The new thing exclusive to those ports so far is the new arrange soundtrack named, Arrange '22, in which the arranged tracks are done by Daisuke Matsumoto of Cave. There's even the CD of said soundtrack that comes with the Limited Edition copy of the game. It's one exlucisve addition the Exa-Arcadia version doesn't have. It's unexpected that my encouragement for 3rd-party game developers about adding something new the Intellivision Amico version doesn't have to the later or previous versions of their game has become true or something due to City Connection's recent idea but that said encouragement was for 3rd-party game developers who happen to make the Amico version of their game, not City Connection. I don't know how Exa-Arcadia team will react to the City Connection's port of Akai Katana Shin due to its own exclusive addition. The City Connection port of Akai Katana Shin will come out in December this year.

So, the lesson or encouragement is that, the game developers can add extra stuffs like new characters/ships/planes/stages and new remade graphics/soundtracks to the previous or later versions of their game, the additions the Intellvision Amico version will not have. Hell, they may as well switch to a different game engine or a new version of the same game engine that the Amico is not able to support or handle it at all, with features added to their game after the game engine/version switch that will put their Amico version to shame. What City Connection did to their upcoming port of Akai Katana Shin is a brave but unexpected move with a brand new arrange soundtrack.

N***y Streamer Overload on Switch

Talk about another game with highly inappropriate contents that will be coming to Switch this year, it originally came out on Steam early this year and is one game that has become so popular due to the unique gameplay concept centering on a character who does live streaming professionally for a living. People tend to bring up Virtual YouTuber stuff when it comes to this game by WSS Playground as the fictional live streamer is already akin to a Virtual YouTuber who does live streaming as a default norm. That method of content creation as a Virtual YouTuber has been the default method even in the present time thanks to Tsukino Mito of Nijisanji. Unlike the other Virtual YouTubers of the time who started off with a 3D model and videos that don't last as long as a live stream video which is hours long, she started off with a 2D model and things are more technically limited that way but as technically limited a Live2D model is as opposed to a 3D model controlled with VR technology, enabling a person voicing that character to move around, it is said to be less expensive.

The fictional character from the game is trying to qualify as a Virtual YouTuber-type according to WSS Playground's Youtube channel where you can find some streams that de-fictionalize some things from the game. You're still watching as a viewer, not a producer, mind you, and the way the flow works is different than the one in-game. The streams are LONG and you can take a look at the video comments as long as they are archives. Unlike the game, my guess is that they must be typing in something as part of the scripts in real time and then broadcast it to make things look like the character's saying what they type, voiceless and subtitles only just like in the game. If that guess is correct, there's a chance that the Super-Chat comments will be responded to in the same way the fictional character responds in the game. The one managing the channel must be doing the moderation work just like how the producer in the game does during live streams in real time. I wonder what the gaming stream is like from that real channel although the idea is more manageable if that character is a real Virtual YouTuber in the first place. There are even real life Twitter accounts from the game characters, one is Ame, and the other is her streaming persona. The former is completely private but the latter is accessible to the public.

A serious warning is that the game has a lot of dark and highly inappropriate themes/scenes. Just like DDLC, there is a warning message from the game telling you of such things. Certain actions and topics are already inappropriate and may turn people off. So, if you're turned off by those things, then why do you want to buy this game in the first place? The actions will determine whichever game ending you'll get and needless to say, there's no such thing as the desired outcome from all the endings you can get. The game's message has something about the modern internet culture, mentality and a couple of upsides and downsides for the ambition as a professional streamer or content creator.

The upcoming Switch version will have additional content and said content will be on the Steam version as the update. If you want a more appropriate alternative about a character making contents professionally, there's YouTubers' Life 2 where the way the character makes content is different than a streamer does although the Let's Play videos can be closely comparable to the gaming streams. Another interesting thing is that the theme song is playable in some rhythm games. Just be warned of inappropriate references from the source game itself.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac Credits Controversy?

The Rangok Skies controversy was a real definition of controversy over stolen assets that the credits list remains questionable to this day because of the stolen sound effects. That is something the developers have no intention to do something about despite having made some improvements and other changes prior to the game's release. At least, Mojang put in the a fully detailed credits list for sound effects taken from freesound.org that are used for Minecraft and that's appreciated.

In the case of Pac-Man World Re-Pac's credits list, the original developers of the original Pac-Man World aren't credited in the remake and that's a shame and disappointment. I don't know if this qualifies as a gaming controversy or not as there's a chance the developers of the remake will be requested to fix the credits list, just like how the developers of the 8th-gen console ports of S**** Colors added the credits related to Godot game engine in a patch. Believe it or not, for every game made with Godot game engine, the game engine has to be credited no matter what despite it being a free and open-source game engine. At times, there are games that show the Made With Unity logo upon starting up. This lets people know that that game is made with Unity game engine.

Some interesting story prior to the remake's release included the fact that Tommy already sold the rights of the soundtrack to Bandai Namco and the composer is actually Todd Dennis, not Tommy himself. The credits information for the composer circulated on the net has been mostly incorrect and to find a correct one is a challenge to this day.

There are multiple reasons why people were interested in taking a look at Pac-Man World Re-Pac:

1. It's a remake of the original that came out on Playstation 1 in the late 90s.
   
2. Tommy and others under Tallarico Studios were involved in the sound and music department for the game.

The controversies surrounding the Tommy and Intellivision Amico were severe enough that the Amico console will never see a release because of his poor leadership and disrespectful attitude but the latest concern regarding the fact that the original developers of Pac-Man World aren't credited in the remake has attracted the attention of the content creators, fans of the franchise and some original developers. I don't know for sure if even Tommy would be disappointed for this but if it looks like he doesn't care for this controversy-to-be because the remake was released recently on Switch, Sony and Microsoft consoles, maybe his disrespectful attitude is still intact even if the Amico console was pretty much dead at this point that even a family would buy a Switch and play together or something.

Denuvo's Switch Emulator Protection technology

Denuvo Anti-Tamper is the DRM-related technology that is supposed to combat software piracy but it had been criticized for hindering the performance of certain games released on PC. The popular examples had to be the AAA games released on PC that make use of this technology but some non-AAA games that use it had a similar problem. Some of the games were eventually patched to make the performance be on par with the DRM-free versions. Even the director of Tekken 7 put the blame on Denuvo technology for this problem and many gamers have been against that technology as a result.

With regards to the upcoming "Switch Emulator Protection" technology, the gamers are really concerned about the hindering of the performance of the Switch games as the console isn't that much of a powerhouse to begin with when compared to the competing game consoles such as the Playstation 4, Xbox One and their successors. The way the technology is implemented is that according to GamesRadar, there will be some checks inserted into the code where a specific Switch game containing such implementation will be prevented from being played on the Switch emulators on PC. Perhaps, the videos of Nintendo games being played on emulators on Steam Deck must have attracted a lot of attention recently and I guess that this is how Denuvo responds with the latest controversy they're going to cause.

According to Kotaku, there won't be online checks for the Switch games that make use of this "Switch Emulator Protection" technology, which means the solution is completely offline as the Switch console is a hybrid of a home and portable game console, so the full online capabilities of the console take place indoors. At least, this is not like the TRDR Pocket console which is an ANDROID-BASED PORTABLE console in which you're out of luck in trying to play tons of freemium mobile games on the go without Mobile Data turned on and SIM card inserted. But why would anyone want to play a portable console on the go in Online Mode? A smartphone could have been handy enough for browsing the net on the go, provided you have Mobile Data turned on and the SIM card inserted. It's already stupid to include 4G on a previous portable game console like the PS Vita and the same technical stupidity had gotten bigger with TRDR Pocket.

The latest controversy that affects the Switch had people thinking if Nintendo is involved in this or not but Denuvo made a recent claim that they developed this technology as a request from various publishing partners and Nintendo itself wasn't involved. It's basically causing gamers another hesitation on playing those games that have the Denuvo technology on PC and Switch.

One imagination from me is that the delusional shills of the Amico console may or may not be proud of a news like this for once when it comes to the Switch even though the Intellivision offices were empty for months and the game development for Amico games already came to a halt sometime ago. Certain Amico games looked like they didn't run at 60FPS or some sort when being shown in action. Sure, they might be family-friendly games but those shown were 2D GAMES and even certain family-friendly games with 3D graphics on Switch that don't run at 60FPS have superior graphics and more interesting presentation. The inclusion of the Denuvo technology on Switch games is one thing that may or may not get those shills surprised but the on-going concern from gamers about hindering of the performance of some Switch games should outweigh that surprise nobody cares. Imagine that the Amico console did come out with games released on it that used disastrous DRM technology that worsened the performance even further despite most of the games being 2D, that would make Switch and PC games with Denuvo more interesting although this is something no delusional shills of the Amico might care. A bigger problem involved the inclusion of such disastrous DRM technology in Amico games combined with the console lasting less than few years.

What about a 2D game that doesn't run at 60FPS despite having NO Denuvo technology at all? There were such NES games like that in existence and I guess it's due to game development incompetency but that sounds like a story of another time. Also, no matter how much optimization is put into the game, the Denuvo technology when included is already a big obstacle to the game's performance.

Unity Technologies CEO's idiotic statement to game developers who are against microtransaction features

As if someone employed by EA wasn't idiotic enough for coming up with such an idiotic tweet recently that angered many game developers and gamers alike, this one from Unity Technologies CEO does the same thing with a different statement in which he claimed that game developers who shun microtransactions were brilliant but biggest idiots. If you're one of the game developers who's against the microtransaction & loot-box features because they are like gambling features in video games to you, there's a chance that you may or may not be offended by him. Switching game engines because of this recent offense is no easy path as you have to master another alternate game engine you've switched to. Even one game engine used by indie game developers is different than the other. Like Game Maker Studio when compared to Unity for instance, where you have a choice of making a 2D or 3D game based on your plans.

It's like the Unity Technologies CEO thought that game developers are going nowhere without implementing such nefarious features in their games for the sake of whatever he values. Game developers get hired to work in a game studio as professional game developers mostly due to passion and interest in making games. Even Satoru Iwata was full of ideas when it came to making a game console or a game software for said console when he was a CEO of Nintendo at the time and thanks to his vision, many of the Nintendo consoles were sold super-well and even the families had a blast in playing some Wii games together unlike Intellivision Amico which went on an opposite route by ensuring that families would be united with it according to Tommy. That made Satoru Iwata a well-respected CEO at the time, unlike the shady ones the content creators ranted.

Another ignorant thing was that Unity Technologies CEO didn't have the knowledge that many of the freemium mobile games made use of the Unity engine. The worse thing you can imagine is the future of game design courses having some microtransaction & loot box assignments you'll need to do and skipping them because of how fishy the microtransaction & loot box features are doesn't seem like an option. Another worse thing has to do with the villainous character the CEO had from the way he made his offensive statements like an idiot. It's like he's pretending to be on the same side when he's clearly not and the complaints that he offended the game developers were total barking nonsense to him.

There was a presentation from Mark Venturelli that criticized the NFT and Web3 stuffs at the event and many companies there were not pleased but the presentation drew praise from gamers for his heroic acts. Even Diablo Immortal was mentioned somewhere in that presentation for mimicking the casino experience illegally. It clearly shows on how super-predatory the monetization features are in that mobile game and he's brave enough to put it on one of the slides. It's part of the serious situation on what future of game development is like. I won't mention deeper about that presentation as this blog article is about Unity Technologies CEO's idiotic statement that disrespected game developers who didn't implement microtransaction features.

Ray'z Arcade Chronology

Just how many re-releases are there? Many Psikyo classics were released on mobile like more than once with later releases being based on the Zerodiv ports. The same can go for Taito's Rayforce on modern consoles and Deathsmiles on PC with the City Connection port being part of the compilation with DLC characters for the first game. Even the original Darius is guilty of the same thing, one that is Arcade Archives version and the other being part of the compilation made by M2. A regular audacity ever since the past times is how overpriced Taito games are.

City Connection has plans for modern console releases of several Taito arcade classics although Puzzle Bobble 2 was already in Arcade Archives under ACA Neo Geo but that was a little bit graphically inferior to the other arcade version of the same game whose hardware is 32-Bit. A cool thing about the S-Tribute release of Rayforce is that you can set the in-game screen orientation without setting the external UI to be in the same screen orientation as the in-game. Since the game is based on the Saturn version, you get superior soundtrack although the graphics are inaccurate in horizontal screen mode and the S-Tribute version doesn't fix the flaws the Saturn version has. The real concerns are the input-lag and screen shimmering and City Connection was aware of the input-lag issue.

What can the upcoming M2 version do besides the fact that all the games in the upcoming compilation game, Ray'z Arcade Chronology are based on the arcade versions? Will there be a consumer mode for the all games that have different game modes? G-Darius HD had Ver. 2 and Consumer Mode you can choose from in addition to the initial arcade version. Like G-Darius HD, Raystorm and Raycrisis will have a similar treatment from M2, so other than the games being basically upscaled, the rest of the graphics are the same. The mobile version of Raystorm is said to have Hi-Res HUD and rearranged Stage 1 BGM as the exclusive additions but it's a shame that the upcoming compilation game will not have that Hi-Res HUD for Raystorm Neo HD.

One exclusive bonus is that you'll be able to try out the prototype, R-Gear, which has only one stage. Suffice to say, it's something as experimental as G-Darius Exhibition from G-Darius HD Steam version, the deepest part of the compilation.

As for the choice of modern console ports of Taito's arcade classics, you can choose to go for either the City Connection port or the M2 port of Rayforce. It's unexpected for the upcoming compilation game, Ray'z Arcade Chronology to be the next project from M2 and it's going to be released in March next year. Only time will tell what else will they work on in the future.

Are complaints about games having microtransactions and loot boxes effective?

Many mobile games have microtransactions and loot boxes but not all mobile games have both features present. Also, other mobile games are like less dangerous than others due to having microtransaction feature only but the spending on it is still unlimited that it continues to pose danger of gaming addiction. Many developers who made those freemium mobile games have made tons of money off microtransaction feature and suffice to say, this has been the norm for mobile gaming nowadays. A paid mobile game is said not to have microtransaction features but they happen to be bigger financial advantage for game companies.

No matter how much you warn people about how dangerous the microtransaction and loot box features are when they are present together in a mobile game, there are scummy whales out there who continue to defend such games no matter how much greed and unusual stuff that are implemented. You can complain about such practices all you want but there are already games full of greed that we can rant on as they surpass many good mobile games through wickedness alone. Diablo Immortal is one of those games many people including me have ranted about.

Unfortunately, no matter how vocal we are, there are times where complaints are ignored or appreciated depending on the gaming controversy. It's like all Activision Blizzard cared for was the profits and I guess that the whales are to blame for making such mobile games like Diablo Immortal succeed.

An immature misconception is when people think that mobile gamers aren't real gamers and mobile games in general are total garbage. That's not an opinion at all. The only thing from me that can rival that misconception is that spinoff games of source material on mobile cannot be trusted and mobile games with endless paths of difficult stages/levels like Candy Crush games are not a fun experience. Your best solution will be to avoid those kinds of mobile games in the first place.

There were other past things I ranted because of how extremely disturbing they were like the M1 Fringe Festival of 2017, a game console with the most inappropriate design and a dance movie involving kids as main characters that would be released on Netflix two years ago. However, those were stories of the past times.

S**** Origins compilation controversy

Hate to blog anything related to that franchise I'm no longer a fan of but it seems that many journalists and content creators brought up AAA GAMES while the topic is about S***c Origins, the upcoming compilation game from Sega that will come up in two months or so. The reason has something to do with Sega emulating what other companies like Rockstar and Square Enix did to the original versions of the old games in favor of the remastered ones. Suffice to say, GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition is a disaster when it came out that Rockstar would eventually come up with a plan to reinstate the original versions of the old games on Rockstar Store which is still an incomplete amend they had made. Square Enix had pretty much done the same for some classic Final Fantasy games on mobile and PC in favor of the Pixel Remaster versions and the Pixel Remaster versions of the classic Final Fantasy games are said to be quite good.

So, what is Sega planning for this compilation this time? Well, they're planning to remove the original versions of the classic S***c games from Steam, PS3, Xbox 360 and even Playstation Now service in favor of the enhanced compilation version done by Christian Whitehead and Headcannon, who were behind the enhanced ports of some classics previously released on mobile with S**** CD enhanced version released on mobile, PC and consoles. The recent actions from Sega attracted the attention of some content creators who make news videos on big games like those AAA games for instance.

The gaming news that had both the upcoming S***c Origins and whatever AAA games mentioned was the reason I wrote this blog article in the first place. Even the content creators who make gaming news videos, ranted about this S***c Origins controversy in a professional way like proper adults.

Nintendo of America's alleged mistreatment of employees

Oh man, even Nintendo of America had gone on a similar treacherous route as some other big game companies like Konami, EA, Activision Blizzard do. The recent gaming news about Activision Blizzard's similar mistreatment to employees and toxic work environment was as serious as the previous gaming news regarding Konami of the present time.

There were labor complaints filed against Nintendo of America recently and they even put out a statement regarding this situation. Some of the big game companies are already on the dark and greedy side ever since many years ago with Konami being one of the examples regarding the dispute between them and Hideo Kojima for instance. Other than that side, there are still new games being made by those companies and especially that you get to see new games in classic Nintendo franchises. Some of the Pokemon commercials are good examples about playing together with a family or friend like it's one of the bright sides of Nintendo but Nintendo being on the super dark side is some moment nobody wants.

A controversy like the one caused recently from Nintendo of America is something of a kind that can attract those weirdos shilling on the Amico platform like they can label Nintendo certain things in an ignorant way while Intellivision and Tommy have their own controversies to address. Tommy's disrespectful and aggressive attitude towards gamers, critics and content creators is what should be addressed the most as it had been one of the causes of the Amico console falling apart as a product.

I guess that after the amount of gaming controversies you know of regarding Konami, EA or Activision Blizzard for instance, the group you do not want to encounter at all is a group of defensive scums defending Konami with no regards to or awareness of said controversies. There's no plan to give big game companies a second chance if they continue to make such greedy moves such as disregards for consumers and employees for instance. You can give them that chance but they will blow it after sometime.

Space Kabaam on Playstation 4 & Playstation 5

What is this bare-bones looking shit that was recently released on Playstation 4 & 5? Indeed, I have appreciation for indie games being on consoles, mobile, PC and even arcades but Space Kabaam by Auto Slavic looks like something that is being shown in a game jam event. It has one stage, no powerups, simple enemy ship attacks, bare-bones presentation and the game session behaves like an endless runner. The flow is there from start to finish in which the game jumps to in-game and then goes to result screen after the game is over. Even Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing and Popeye reboot have a proper flow although some stages in Big Rigs are not there or something that choosing them might result in a program crash. Desert Bus on Sega CD has an in-game session that doesn't end or something and that makes it more incomplete than other games I just mentioned.

If you want to play an endless runner-style shmup game with a complete presentation and sufficient contents, how about MUGEN Vritra on mobile and PC or Galaga Wars on mobile? MUGEN Vritra has one endless stage that is divided into randomly chosen areas and the player character which is the flying dragon has different weapons to choose from. Galaga Wars has multiple ships to choose from and each ship has its own set of weapons that can be upgraded just like in other endless runner games. It also has multiple stages but it is still an endless runner-style game. Once you reach the final stage, you'll remain there for the rest of the game session.

For an indie game in such an incomplete state, the release of Space Kabaam has left people baffled on how could Sony allow something like this to happen. The gameplay of Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing is unpolished with the game having incomplete set of race tracks and Popeye reboot has a few different maps and that's that. Space Kabaam has a severely bare-bones presentation I've ever seen and is not worth the time no matter which platform it is released on.

Even as an indie game, people expect a complete and interesting set of contents. Undertale has tons of unique stuffs and demonstrates the goodness of indie gaming on modern gaming platforms.

G-Darius HD Steam version

While the game performs faithfully to the arcade original with accurate emulation, the game name is still misleading as the visuals are more or less the same with the player ship being updated and the edges no longer looking jaggy in HD Mode so it's basically G-Darius in upscaled high-res glory. The Steam version of G-Darius HD has on more game mode exclusive to it, G-Darius Exhibition, which is an experimental game mode offering ultrawide gameplay experience with the HUD and in-game UI re-positioned. That game mode puts Playstation emulators with widescreen feature to shame with more accurate emulation M2 has come up with so far.

Some of the SNES and Genesis emulators have the widescreen feature but the games were designed with original aspect ratio in mind so there may be issues with that emulation feature. To get a true widescreen experience for SNES/Genesis games on those emulators, the games will need to be modified with widescreen in mind with the modification saved as a patch for the roms. But in case of Darius 1 & II, why would you want to come up with a widescreen patch for Genesis version of them when you can experience the arcade version instead? Just buy the compilation game or something like Darius Cozmic Collection for instance.

Like the previous M2 Shot Trigger games, some of the game modes for G-Darius HD are exclusively new which included M2 modifying the games with their own feature additions and other stuffs. As G-Darius Exhibition is an experimental game mode on what it's like to have a dual-screen game just like the other Darius games in the arcades excluding Darius Gaiden, only the boss battle feature made the cut although not all bosses are present in that mode. It's an awesome addition but if only it includes the whole game.

There was even a campaign taking place at Tsukumo PC shop's second floor at Akibahara where the Steam version of the game was being demonstrated there in G-Darius Exhibition game mode, allowing people to experience the ultra-wide gaming with sub-woofer installed in the seats. Sub woofers installed in the player's seats of the arcade cabinet have been a thing ever since the original Darius hit the arcades. Darius Burst Another Chronicle is the latest to have the similar cabinet setup. Like Darius I, II and Darius Burst Another Chronicle (Part of Chronicle Saviors) PC versions, there will be support for multiple monitors for G-Darius Exhibition game mode for G-Darius HD.

Mikado's Shooterfes event of this year

This one's a different story and something I don't blog about but from the list of games that will be displayed in Shooterfes event from Mikado that will take place this April, the game based on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid franchise as published by Bushiroad and developed by Kaminari Games happens to be part of that list and that is reasonable for me to blog about since the game caused a controversy-to-be recently. The philosophy against such disturbing stuffs like those depicted in that game is stricter than before ever since I discovered a disturbing Netflix movie that caused a similar controversy two years ago but I don't know for sure if anyone is going to call out Kaminari Games and Bushiroad in a harsh way for that or not.

I should have been reminded earlier of a similar controversy SNK caused at a time when they released a series of those games for DS in the late 2000s although SNK was already given proper chances when they went back to producing good games again starting from King of Fighters XIV onwards. The concept of those games released on DS was about investigating and conducting checks on the subjects to determine if there's a mark on them somewhere and it was sickening and disturbing. At that time, SNK got away with it and we can recall some western reviewers giving the first game an instant 0/10. If that's the case, the ones who gave that game a 0/10 may as well criticize the game Kaminari Games developed based on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid franchise in such a harsh way for repeating that same controversy SNK and Omocat caused. There's no realization on what Kaminari Games had done and the same can go for SNK for those games they made for DS at the time. At least, SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy's story acts as a proper message although the character customization feature has made it hypocritical quickly. It's a disappointment due to questionable graphics and gameplay style with the game's ending where the pocket dimension collapses and the game presentation having a lack of potential. It's better to be mediocre or mixed bag than being scored less than 5/10. However, this is not the case of the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid shmup game for having more flaws than what KOF Sky Stage and SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy have.

Other companies like Platinum Games, Granzella and the one behind G-Mode Archives to name a few will be involved besides Bushiroad and in case of Platinum Games, they have Sol Cresta to be shown at the event with Granzella showing R-Type Final 2. Game center Mikado already made livestreams of those two games as well as the Cave shooter games ported by Livewire for Switch. Other recent games include Cotton Reboot and Cotton Fantasy as well as recent ports of existing games to Exa-Arcadia platform such as Crimson Katana Exa Label, Cotton Fantasy Exa-Arcadia version, etc. Other upcoming Exa-Arcadia games are off-topic to this upcoming event as they are not shmup games.

There are many interesting and good contents from Netflix and Bushiroad with some Korean dramas and movies recently released on Netflix being a massive hit for instance. Those are what you should watch instead. There are also interesting shmup games out there in this April's Shooterfes list and M2 Shot Triggers, Arcade Archives, R-Type Final 2, Sol Cresta, Cotton Fantasy and Cotton Reboot to name a few are what you should take a look at instead of some disturbing shmup game Kaminari Games developed. You can buy that disturbing shmup game if you want but the filthy and sickening influence that caused many developers including Kaminari Games to make such a disturbing shmup game cannot be thrown away easily.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid shmup game controversy?

If "fan-service" is the only thing Kaminari Games had without anything else like a message or mistake realization when making a shmup game based on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid franchise, perhaps, I sense a bigger gaming controversy drawing near. Back then, during the game development of Omori from Omocat and her team, there were already some controversies including the one involving some indecent words on the main character's T-shirt. She already realized her mistake at the time and fast forward to when the game, Omori, was finally released, it was quite successful with positive reviews. This one from Kaminari Games will put the previous gaming controversies I discovered to shame. Of course, there are other shmup games out there that are more disturbing than this and they happened to be released in recent years.

These are the following reasons on how the controversy-to-be regarding the game based on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid franchise could happen:

1. Damage portraits taken from Caladrius - The bosses have multiple phases and when you complete one phase like that, a portrait of the boss character can be displayed. For the player character's side, the same thing can happen if you lose a life in Caladrius. In the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid shmup game, you can switch between three active characters and each character has her own health gauge. Taking damage decreases health and triggers such portrait taken from Caladrius. For boss battles, the same thing applies to some of the bosses. Needless to say, the game consists of the characters of multiple age-ranges with some of them looking like pre-teens or something. It's basically a gaming controversy waiting to happen since even the pre-teened characters are put in the mix for the gameplay with Caladrius elements.
2. Questionable character design and hybrid - We can complain about weird character hybrids all we want but rather than complaining about it countless times, why don't we redo something with more decent character design unofficially? The character concept from the source material is already questionable enough and Kaminari Games had made things in the game quite disturbing.
3. Worst way the enemies and bosses are defeated in a shmup game - We thought that Natsuki Chronicles had the worst explosion effects when enemies are defeated in the land of 8th-Gen console era but this one from Kaminari Games goes in an unusual way. The enemies are blown away with trails of static smoke when defeated like you're playing a modern Bomberman game or Super Smash Bros and the bosses retreat upon defeat like you're playing a platformer game or something. At least, in Sisters Royale, the enemies explode upon defeat and the boss characters blow into large amounts of particles, pieces of crystals and other effects upon defeat while the game still resembles Castle of Shikigami series. Even KOF Sky Stage has the modern boss defeat effects that slow down the game.

The first reason as described above is the most obvious one on how the gaming controversy could happen for real but as this is the game based on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid franchise, it's not like Kaminari Games or Bushiroad is fully to blame for such controversy. The others' opinions on the game may be positive just because it's based on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid franchise like they can dismiss my thoughts on how controversial it is as something bullshit and whiny.

A game like this that's disturbing and released on Switch had become one of the reasons on why Tommy would make offensive remarks on that console on the forum while manufacturing the Amico. Indeed, the Switch has tons of mature games besides the family-friendly games and the games with ESRB T ratings but the real offense from him is the lack of research and labeling the Switch in such an ignorant way that the Switch owners would get offended by him. The recent crowd funding from Intellivision at Start Engine also had a share of ignorant remarks about how such games like the one developed by Kaminari Games had divided families apart.

For the game center Mikado's part, I think that their support streams for Raiden IV are the final straws for MOSS and Kaminari Games after the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid shmup game's release.

Controversies regarding Intellivision Amico

It's quite a long time since I last blogged about the TRDR Pocket which had its own share of gaming controversies. They even attracted other content creators like Yongyea & Angry Joe who could be last straws for Soulja Boy's gaming controversy history. I had worked on some 3D animation and computer graphic stuffs which were seriously time-consuming as well as worked on the Phosh Shell theme which can be applied to whichever Linux OS that uses that desktop environment.

In case of the Intellivision Amico saga, the controversy started with many problems including the main problem starring Tommy's horrible and disrespectful attitude towards gamers, critics and content creators. When the Amico was being criticized, he had the audacity to label gamers, critics and content creators various things. He even insulted the Nintendo Switch console on the online forum, AtariAge, by calling it some disturbing term I won't mention here. There happened to be a series of drama surrounding the Amico like he established a cult of Amico shills or something where they made positive and defensive opinions on the console that still has yet to be released. Criticizing the Amico console doesn't make us the "haters" or something. Indeed, I have both the positive and negative opinions about it but with the amount of drama and controversies that affected Intellivision's reputation, I probably have more negative opinions.

Here are the opinions in regards to the Amico:

1. Remakes: Some of the remakes define the term completely with sufficient potential although it's not quite the same for some other games like Finnegan Fox for instance, which has the background blurred out or something as if pixel art style is disallowed.
   
2. Questionable control schemes for some games: The Amico controller has four trigger buttons with two of them accessible depending on how you hold it, a disc for directional controls and a touch screen feature. Battle Tanks has a questionable control scheme in which you use the touch screen as a virtual analog stick or something and that makes the controller look like an unusual way to play twin-stick shooter games.
3. Lack of progress for games: The new trailer has some additions and edits but the rest is still the same. Not to mention that Flying Tigers on Amico has the worst explosions when the enemies are destroyed. They make the game look like some free hobbyist-indie game you could discover from Newgrounds or maybe Shoot The Core website.
   
4. A game box with RFID card and NFT coin: The presence of the NFT coins signals the start of the greed but things about the Amico are already fishy enough.
5. Game Development Rules: Some of the rules reminded me of the ones for Exa-Arcadia platform in which the Amico version must have something exclusive although there's no easy telling of the amount of exclusive differences/additions other games have on Amico and Exa-Arcadia.
6. Stolen assets used in some Amico games: As if Rangok Skies or some other mobile games didn't cause controversy enough for using stolen assets, some of the Amico games would, like Battle Tanks & Moon Patrol for instance with Battle Tanks looking more obvious. A stupid defense from Tommy, "Placeholder". It's kind of like saying that it's surprise mechanics when it's still clearly gambling with real money in video games in various ways.
7. Financial disadvantage for game developers

From the list of opinions above, things are not that good for Amico. And if that's not enough, Intellivision of today has recent financial trouble and even their crowd funding at Start Engine failed. Who would want to buy the Amico console, anyway? Also, the weirdos had a treacherous way to tell the others that they're not allowed to have opinions about the Amico until they've played some games like Shark Shark. Like what kind of idiot would tell you that? And what's the point of making a rant video before the product's release then? Do you even tell Angry Joe stupid shit like that before whatever game comes out? With a weirdo-style attitude you show towards such content creators like him, maybe it's best that they either ignore you or block you.

Another disrespectful problem from Intellivision was that they boldly called the popular game controllers from 8-Bit and 16-Bit eras complicated when the original Intellivision and Amico controllers ARE TRULY the OPPOSITE OF EASY. An NES controller looks simple for anyone to pick up and play and the same can go for the SNES, Genesis and PC-Engine controllers. Even the modern game controllers nowadays are having a common layout but not every game makes use of every portion of them. Even the arcade controllers from the 8-Bit and 16-Bit eras were labeled as complicated by Intellivision through their failed Start Engine crowd funding campaign.

Prior to the new Intellivision and Amico stuff, Tommy even had offended the fighting game fans back then as if he expected every fighting game to be played like Tekken/Virtua Fighter. His reviews on 2D fighting games back then were ignorant and I've figured that supporting those games at this time may be a key although the victory against the Amico console is already drawing near. Even if the victory reaches us for real, we're already off with something else as if the victory means nothing to us as many gamers are already interested in other game platforms instead of the Amico.