Trash Panic (Japan Title: Gomibako) [PS3] Review

LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING

I, the understand, do solemnly swear on pain of death by robotic rottweiler mauling, that the following review shall contain no poor rubbish based puns, including, but not limited to ‘Gomibako is (not) rubbish’ ‘Gomibako should (not) be consigned to the rubbish bin’ and ‘ Gomibako is (no) more than a collection of puzzle game mechanics recycled from other successful titles.’

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Want Cheap Video Games? Korea got you cover

Ever wondered how is the video game market in other places beside  US, Japan or European countries? What about Korea?  We know they have TV shows dedicated to Starcraft but what about Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii?.

Now, let`s get together around the fire kids, time for bedtime stories.

Post E3 2009- Japanese devs strike back?

The geographical centre of the games industry has shifted. Milking the cash cow PS2’s huge installed base created for too long has lead most Japanese developers to fall behind the times, and the pinnacles of modern game design are coming from the West, with the Japanese gaming industry in big trouble.

That was the consensus coming out of TGS 2008 and yet now, shortly after the games industry’s Great American Bash that was E3, it seems like some focus is coming back East. Or is it? Or IS it? Let’s take a look.

First and third party Japanese developers have been crucial to the success of almost every format from the mid 1980s on. There were great games which shifted systems and had tremendous cultural influence worldwide. Super Mario Bros. not only shifted Famicoms in Japan and affected Japanese lives to the extent that the term ‘B-Dash'(hurry!) is immortalised in katakana English that’s still being used today; it also shook the foundations of pop culture in the West. Suddenly Mario was a more recognisable face to children in America than Mickey Mouse. Sega’s Sonicin 1991 had similar importance, capturing a slightly older audience. In the Playstation era, Final Fantasy VIIand Metal Gear Solid joined the likes of the N64’s Ocarina of Time to be internationally hailed as some of the greatest games of their generation, if not of all time.

From Mario to MGS and Zelda OOT- Japanese games matured with their key audience over twenty years, but recent attempts to recapture the young have lost some of what was the core market

Re-thought: Phantasy Star III

Most people dislike this title of the Phantasy Star series. This is because the story has very little to do with the other three Sega titles. I, however, couldn’t find many things I disliked about the game. Since the first introduction of the game back in 1991,  Phantasy Star III rarely gets the respect it deserves.

Originally, I was lucky to play this game back in the Sega Genesis. After years of practically forget about it, I got my hands in the PSP Sega collection that includes Phantasy Star III along with younger sisters Phantasy Star I and II. Still, after all these years, I found the storyline very original and engaging while the gameplay still holds there despise all the grinding you need to go through every two seconds.