When I heard about Moero Downhill Night Blaze (and its recent Western release), it was described as a Japanese-made "adult 3D racer"—a description that sent my mind reeling. How do you make a game that is both a porn game and a racing game? My mind came up with more than a few "interesting" theories, but I knew that I just had to play it to know for sure. Unfortunately, the finished product was nowhere near what I imagined. Instead, Moero Downhill Night Blaze is a game that fails at being both an adult visual novel and a racing game.

Good — An Ambitious Idea

When it comes down to it, the vast majority of Japanese erotic games are visual novels. The best of these—like Fate/Stay Night, for example—go on to mainstream success (though with the pornographic parts cut out). This is because, in some cases, the "adult" elements of the game are just a marketing tactic. Once experienced, the plot is strong enough to support the game all on its own; the porn is just a trick to get more people playing it.

So mixing the story aspects of an adult visual novel with a racing game is an intriguing idea if done right. Several fighting games—e.g., Project Justice and Persona 4 Ultimate Arena—have mixed visual novel-type storytelling with well-built fighting engines to great success. And as a person who loves story in games, regardless of genre, I was excited to see how this combination would work out. Sadly, the plot of Moero Downhill Night Blaze is that of…

Mixed — A Cliché 80's Sports Movie

Moero Downhill Night Blaze has perhaps the most cliché 80s sports movie plot of all time. The hero, who doesn't even own a car, dreams of being the best street racer in Japan by beating the current champ. Through skill and determination, he gets into the racing tournament, faces off against his honorable rival, overcomes the dirty tricks of an evil racer, and, in the end, wins the championship and, of course, the girl.

In fact, it's so terribly cliché—so mind numbingly predictable—that it almost becomes enjoyable again. You can see every plot twist coming from a mile away and the characters are so one note it is stunning. It eventually feels more like a parody of those types of films than anything else. And let's face it, when the final race involves strapping a jet engine to the bottom of the car from Initial D, you know at least some of it has to be tongue in cheek.

Mixed — A Scatter-shot Presentation

Moero Downhill Night Blaze is all over the place as far as the presentation goes. In the visual novel sections, the voice actors are pretty solid and the art/sprites are passable. However, there are a myriad of typos and formatting errors that plague the game from start to finish.

The racing presentation, on the other hand, is less of a mixed bag: everything just looks and sounds terrible. Even when the game came out originally in Japan back in 2007, it must have looked pretty bad. Repeated backgrounds with jagged textures and horrendous car models are just the start. In fact, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit on my PS1 looked better than this and it came out nearly a decade before. And don't get me started about the sound. The car engines are a grating half-second sound clip that is looped forever when you hit max speed.

Bad — Same Game No Matter Your Choices

The key interactive elements in any visual novel are the choose-your-own-adventure choices you make to guide the plot. In Moero Downhill Night Blaze there is really only one choice in the game: which female manager you choose. Or, rather, which girl you will be seeing in explicit sex scenes for the next few hours. In most visual novels like this, once you choose a girl you would be treated to a story more or less unique when compared with the others. Not in Moero Downhill Night Blaze though. No matter which girl you choose, the game is 90% the same (with the remaining 10% being sex scenes). It really is scene for scene, line for line identical. The only lines that are even slightly changed are the manager's—not that it really matters, as everyone else responds identically regardless of the manager you choose. Thus the story has little replay value aside from what your hormones can con you into. As for the racing gameplay...

Bad — Well, at least it's not Big Rigs

Whenever I play a racing game, I ultimately don't compare it to the Forzas or Gran Turismos of the day. Rather, I compare it to the worst (and most infamous) commercially-sold racing game of all time: Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. Moero Downhill Night Blaze is, of course, not as bad as Big Rigs—I mean, it is a playable racing game after all—but it is certainly close.

You play each of the five courses three times, with the first two being you racing the clock and the final race being against AI-controlled cars. Of course, it really doesn't matter if there are any other racers or not as the other cars not only lack hit detection (meaning you can drive right through them) but also are so slow you'll never see them again after the first twenty seconds of the race (unless you lap them).

Your car, on the other hand, is "amazing" as rising elevations do not slow it down (nor does turning), and it seems to be the only car capable of drifting—though it's usually safer and faster to just let your foot off the gas.

The track designs themselves aren't so bad however, but they are often boring, especially considering how many times you play each track before you move on to the next.

Final Thoughts

Moero Downhill Night Blaze is neither a good racing game nor a good visual novel. Even keeping in mind that this game was released in 2007 doesn't really excuse the game's lack of quality. This is all the more a shame as the idea of mixing two completely different types of game was—and still is—an interesting idea; but the finished product reaches nowhere near this idea's potential. In the end, I'd only recommend this to those interested in seeing this train wreck in action—and maybe those few of you who just need another 80's sports movie plot in your lives.

Moero Downhill Night Blaze was released in English on December 11, 2012. It can be purchased at the JAST USA homepage (NSFW).

Heads up, Lineage fans. Japanese figure maker Max Factory is rolling out a Lineage II Elf figure. As Japanese site Moeyo (NSFW) points out in its review, this is one tidy looking statue. Can you imagine wearing something white like that outside? Think of the dirt stains! Plastic sculptures don't have to worry about that because they're plastic.

If you dig this sculpture, it'll be out in Japan this June for ¥10,800 (US$121).

美しく清楚な甲冑姿 マックスファクトリー「リネージュII エルフ」の彩色サンプル [Moeyo.com]

Newly announced Pokémon X/Y isn't even a week old. Heck, it's not even half a week old. But the internet makes it seem like the game is a thousand years old. Sites like DeviantArt as well as numerous Tumblr blogs are awash with Pokémon X/Y fan art.

Here's a very small sampling of what's out there. It's interesting to see how artists are already reworking and remixing the new Pocket Monster characters—even more so considering how little we know about the game.

The strong reaction proves that the fans, ahem, choose Pokémon X/Y.

Thanks, Xynthymr for the tip!

Click the lower right corner of each image to expand to full size.

[jonathanjo]
[arkeis-pokemon]
[blubified]
[nauvasca]
[Pilumi]
[sanguisGelidus]
[SeizureDemon]
[Skia]
[TornAroundtheEdges]

For its Japanese release, Far Cry 3 is getting a series of edits that will result in a slightly different experience for the country's gamers. According to Ubisoft (via website 4Gamer), here's what's different in the Japanese language version:


• Wounded corpses have been cut (er, censored)
• A sex scene as well as a scene depicting an open wound have been edited
• Killing three civilians in succession results in a game over penalty


As Western players can already attest, the original version of Far Cry 3 warns players about killing innocent civilians and already has a game-ending penalty for doing so.

However, some Western players reported that killing two or three innocent resulted in a penalty (and a meme), while others said it was higher at around five or more. For Japan, Ubisoft makes it very clear that the number is three.

Besides these changes, the Japanese language version is the same as the Western release, Ubisoft states.

With video games, Japan has traditionally had stricter regulations on bystander-related violence as well as how corpses or body parts are shown. In the past, this has resulted in edits in Western games like the Grand Theft Auto titles and the Call of Duty games (here, here, and here).

「ファークライ3」日本語版における，海外版からの変更点が明らかに [4Gamer]

---

A skeleton wielding a sword is supposed to be scary. It was scary in 1963 when special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen created a whole army of them in Jason and the Argonauts. How do you kill something that's already dead?

But what happens when you take a Skeleton Warrior out of Jason and the Argonauts? And have him (or her!) laugh at crap TV, hang out with gay porn stars, or eat strawberries? You get internet hijinks, that's what.

A few years back, Japanese figure maker Kaiyodo—the folks behind the infamous Creepy Woody—released a poseable figurine based on the Skeleton Warriors in Jason in the Argonauts. And like Creepy Woody, the Skeleton Warrior has since become fodder for figure fans to amuse themselves.

What makes Creepy Woody so much fun is that there's a "gap": Woody is not creepy in Toy Story, but that pervy face opens up a world of figure fun. Likewise with the Skeleton Warrior, there's a similar gap, opening up humorous tableaus like a skeleton ordering a meal. Moreover, the Kaiyodo figure isn't just highly posable; its crooked lower jaw, which can open and shut like a suitcase, makes the figure extremely expressive.

In the above gallery, check out an array of Skeleton Warriors, including a darkly grim one that was uploaded this week.

Click the lower corner of each image to expand to full size.

---

[はっちゃか]
[おもちゃのためなら命も削る]
[PR邪魔すぎんよ～]
[生き物ファイル]
[生き物ファイル]
[こだLOG-ACT2]
[おもちゃのためなら命も削る]
[>生き物ファイル]
[ヒーローフィギュアをレビュー！]
[ヒーローフィギュアをレビュー！]
[超合衆国大日本！？]
[@RoseQuartz1983]

Here's a welcome break from fan-flicks and comedy videos. Psycho Crusher Productions are a team setting out to "make gamers as famous as the games they play", courtesy of a series of films called GAM3R.

It's an unfortunate title, in many ways, because it makes you conjure images of insult-spewing shooter fans and excruciating attempts at sitcom-style humour, but what the series actually focuses on are real stories about real gamers. And so far, they're pretty good.

The first episode, covering a fighting game tournament at New York's Next Level Arcade, is interesting, but it's the second episode that's got me hooked, as it looks at the story of Victor, an unemployed gamer who, rather than find a "real" job, has been trying to make ends meet hustling online communities, trying his hand at everything from selling currency in MMOs to playing fighting games for money.

It's a sad story, but one that's well told by PCP (who were also behind the documentary King of Chinatown). Think of it as the kind of subject matter you'd be seeing on TV if TV executives knew half a thing about video games.

Psycho Crusher Productions [YouTube]

Boy, this review was easy. Normally, when I sit down for a week or so with a gaming mouse, it's all about coming to grips with a new feel and a new design.

Not so with Mionix's Naos 8200, because it's the updated version of the Naos 5000, my personal mouse, the one that sits under my hand ten hours a day, five days a week, and which has done so for, oh, nearly three years now.

There was zero familiarisation needed because, externally, the mice are identical. It's like Mionix is trying to replace a comfortable old pair of shoes with a new pair exactly the same size and exactly the same style. While this made the review easier, it also made it tougher on the new Naos 8200, because those are some big shoes to fill.

SPECS

- 8200DPI laser
- 32-bit ARM processor (inside the mouse)
- 5 profiles
- 7 buttons, all programmable for profiles/macros
- 16.8 million colour options
- Surface Quality Analyzer Tool, which "measures tracking quality of your gaming surface"

WHAT I LIKED

Design - This is, by a country mile, the most comfortable mouse I have ever held. Which probably explains why Mionix haven't changed the design from the Naos 5000. It's got support for all five fingers, and even after a full day's use (8-10 hours), you hand feels fine.

Feel - That design is complemented by a wonderfully soft matte finish, which while showing stains a little too easily, adds to the comfort factor during long sessions. Mionix says this is thanks to four layers of rubber being stuck on top of each other.

What You Need, Where You Need It - There aren't many buttons on the 8000, or fancy wheels, or dials, or anything like that. Just a few buttons that work really well and feel indestructible. I also like how the DPI switch is clearly marked and sits right under the clickwheel, so you can change on the fly without having to flip your mouse over or pull off a button combo.

Speed - Look, like HDTVs, we're at a point with this whole DPI arms race where the average human arm/eye can't seriously tell the difference. What I can tell you, though, is that this mouse is very fast and very responsive, enough to notice it when you've got the 5000 and 8200 plugged in side by side.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Weight - Weird. The Naos 5000 let you add weights to the base to make it heavier (which I prefer). The 8200 does not.

MY FINAL WORD

It's the best mouse I've ever used. Simple. It's incredibly well-made, it feels great, it's supremely comfortable and is snappy as hell. The loss of custom weights stings a little, but since I found performance a little sharper than on the 5000, I think the 8200 comes out on top.

The Naos 8200 retails for $90, and is available now.

Naos 8200 [Mionix]

Aussie writer Daniel Hindes, who for a while has run a niche site called Sneaky Bastards, wants to take the idea of discussing stealth games to a more tangible format. Hence, Sneaky Bastards, the magazine.

Promising that the magazine will feature 100% new content (as in, nothing that's been on the site before), the first issue also has a stunning front cover courtesy of British artist AJ Hately, who we've featured here before.

It's hoped that the print run can be a way of "producing more of a substantial, long-form, long-lasting analysis and exploration of stealth gaming in a format that this kind of material is designed to be read and consumed in."

You can check out more, and contribute, below. Which you should. The internet is a wonderful place to read about cats and fake trailers, but this kind of in-depth discussion about such a dedicated topic is perfect for dead trees between your fingers.

Sneaky Bastards [Kickstarter]

I said earlier this week that Microsoft and Sony should be worried about Valve's Steam Box plans, because they appear to have traditional home consoles square in their sights.

Well, in an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft's Phil Harrison (still feels weird typing that) seems to get awfully defensive, issuing what amounts as a warning to Valve that the hardware business is so-called because it's hard.

"Entering the hardware business is a really tough business," Harrison said. "You have to have great fortitude to be in the hardware business and you have to have deep pockets and a very strong balance sheet. It's not possible for every new hardware entrant to get to scale."

"They can be successful at small scale. But it's very rare for a new hardware entrant to get to scale, and I mean tens or hundreds of millions of units. There are a very small number of companies that can make that happen."

True! But then, of that very few, I'd wager that Valve—and other companies that specialise in selling PC hardware—can do it.

As Valve confirms the Steam Box, Microsoft's Phil Harrison issues a warning [Eurogamer]

Kolby Jukes, formerly of BioWare, is now a Senior Character Artist at 343 Studios, where he got to build the 3D models of Halo 4's villain, Didact, in excruciating detail.

While at BioWare he worked on Mass Effect 2 & 3, building the game models for some of the series' biggest characters, and before that, he's worked for clients like id Software, EA, Dark Horse, Gearbox and Warner Bros.

Most of the stuff you'll see is for Halo 4 and Mass Effect, but fans of comic series Invincible will see something extra, and awesome, below.

You can see more of Kolby's stuff at his personal site and blog.

---

---