Wonderbook: Don't Backlog Your Childhood

Ayn has already touched briefly on the passing of E3, which gave a decidedly underwhelming performance this year. Gaming's biggest show seemed to elicit a resounding "that's it?" from the fans. While some of it was justified, one thing jumped out at me after Ayn linked me to the presentation for it. Sony's new peripheral, the Wonderbook.

Wonderbook is, in appearance, a physical book that will be used in conjunction with the Playstation Eye (remember the Playstation Eye?) and the Move controller. Utilizing the same Augmented Reality technology we've seen cropping up on other systems and even comic books these days, you'll be able to actually interact with stories as you flip each virtual page. Here's the official trailer;

And here's the tech demo from E3:

Go ahead and watch that until at least five minutes in to find out what Wonderbook has in store for us first.

Now, a brief sidebar. Here was my reaction when Ayn first told me about this new innovation.

David

Oh yeah.

This'll revolutionize the industry.

Aw man.

I just realized that if this were 20 years ago, I would think this was the coolest thing EVER.

Aw man.

I just realized that it can be 20 years ago and I'll still be a person.

Ayn

And sadly, unlike Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond, you can never be 20 years younger and still be the goddamn Batman.

David

Aw maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

My first reaction was to write this off as a cheap gimmick for kids and another bid by Sony to make the Move relevant in an era where the Wii dominates console sales and the Kinect lets you do everything the Move can without a controller. Then I realized, quickly as you can see from the IMs above, that my younger self would be in vehement disagreement with the me of today about what would and wouldn't be fun to play with.

"Sure, I don't need the magic book, I'll just keep playing my favorite game; Shoe."

- Young Me

And that got me thinking.

The future's so dim I have to wear one of those mining hats.

E3 is in its concluding days, and while I wish that I could say me, David, and Kyle were important enough to go, sadly that's not the case (alright, well maybe not for Kyle:  He's been there a few times, if I recall correctly).  Anyway, as I perused the images and stories of E3, I came across this:

What is this I don't even.

Naturally, I decided to show the image to my best friend, Nick, who had this to say:

Nick 2:32 pm
.................
Fuck this Gen.

If I'm grateful for anything this E3, it's that few things looked exciting enough to create more of a backlog for me in the future, which means you'll be seeing some more activity around here.

What are your thoughts?  Share your impressions, satisfactions, or dissatisfaction with us in the comments section.

Until next time (which I promise will be sooner), keep playing.

Just not with the contraption pictured above.

Dig That Radio

Hi there, my name is Kyle, but I'm pretty much known as "dropslash" around the internets. I was invited a while to take part in writing for The Backlog, but I'm just now getting around to it. Hey, I was busy! Anyway, I've been involved in the video game industry for about 12 years now and some of what I'll be writing here won't be exactly about playing video games as much as it will be about games and the industry in general. Such is true for the post you'll find below. Enjoy!

Ok, so this is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while now. It’s going to be long and it’s going to be about a topic that is both generally universal and intensely personal. Music. Specifically, video game music, both original and inspired by, some of which will be included along the way. So feel free to fire up some of your favorite tunes, or jam on some of the ones here, grab a snack, and let's jump in.

Tales of Victory Quotes.

I know I said that Tales of Graces f was too good to play, but after making a poor attempt to go back to Tales of Vesperia, as well as hearing about the Enabler's adventures in the game, I decided that I'd pick Graces back up.

You know what one of the best things about this game has been so far, aside from the combat system?

The win quotes.

I'll keep my post short this week and leave you with these these gems, while I go back to playing:

Choose Your Own Adventure, the game: Radiant Historia

Sometimes, less is more.

In the context of this post, that has a dual meaning:  Radiant Historia, which recently saw a reprint, is a game that, in spite of utilizing time-travel as a central story mechanic, does not try to beat you over the head with overly complex combat systems, or a robust cast of characters with overly complicated storylines, daddy issues, or focus on vengeance.  In trying to do less than many of the RPGs out there do, it manages to be a thoroughly engrossing game from start to finish that feels like one of the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.

The other meaning?  Rather than spend an entire post telling you about how much I loved the game and my experience with it, I'll put it this way:

This blog is about decent, and even excellent games that are pushed into the abyss of unfinished games for a variety of reasons.

Radiant Historia is a game that never made it to my backlog.  I picked it up, and within a week, clocked about 40 hours and completed it.

Go order the reprint now.  Then play it.

And keep playing.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Dream Dropped Sleeping Memories

A few weeks back, I made a post about Kingdom Hearts II, where I brought up a few important plot points that most people would have a hard time understanding if they didn't play the spin offs.  In the same post, I also promised a follow up that would serve as an explanation about how said spin-offs explain Sora's mysterious absence at the start of KH2, the mysterious Organization XIII, and the whole Xemnas/Ansem/Xehanort link.

But you know, I've spent the last few weeks struggling.  Let's be realistic here:  If you're really curious to know all of the story links, you can simply consult a Kingdom Hearts wiki.  I also struggled because there was a larger point I was trying to illustrate with the ridiculous number of spin-offs needing to clarify the story.  It wasn't until a conversation with David that I began to hash things out, but my friend Joe gets the credit for really hitting the point that's bothered me this entire time:

Kingdom Hearts is a franchise victim, and has become more about "how can we get more games out of this" rather than providing side-stories or sequels that add closure.

I still owe it to you all to carry out part of this post's original goal:  Mapping out the spin-off mayhem that surrounds Kingdom Hearts II.  But I'm going to do it in a more abbreviated format, covering what each respective game answers, what new concepts to the KH mythos was added, and a miscellaneous category I'll simply title "Damn it Nomura" (DIN).  But I'll also elaborate more on the previous accusation towards the franchise.

Well, let's get this show on the road.

AGE: Suikoden III and The Relentless Grind

As part of my Almost Got 'Em series which started with Breath of Fire III, I've moved on to the other third entry in a series on the list, Suikoden III. I haven't beaten it yet, in fact I've barely started playing, but I've already put over thirty hours in. I've been doing this because there's a handy little trick in Suikoden games which lends itself to a chance to completely cap out a number of characters right at the start in the third entry. That amount of time lends itself to giving one enough a good deal of writing material, so I thought I might share.

Suikoden III reached my backlog about six years ago. I'd played through this at-times-epic entry in one of my favorite series from beginning to end, and was ready to seal the deal in the last battle of the game. It was just me and the final boss, face-to-face on the very last battlefield, my Flame Champion's unit against him, it came down to the final blow and . . .

. . . and I missed, he counter attacked, game over. I never played again.

My rebuttal.

Maybe not the best response, but it's not the first time it's happened to me. I had similar final battle outcomes in Dragon Quest II and IV, Earthbound, and Breath of Fire III. The latter three I eventually went back to and finished off, but this game fell into the DQII pile - until now.

The whale! The white whaaaaaalle

I've started this off and taken steps already to ensure that I'm nigh-unbeatable when that final fight comes around again. But it's taken me a long time to get there.