Well if you remember any of those cartoony games, please let me know.
Yeah back then the Age of Empires folks were called Ensemble Studios and were based in Dallas. It was real interesting to see their game before they even had a publisher! And then to see how popular it got later.
It makes me wonder if Nintendo was expecting everyone to be more excited about Breath of the Wild 2, but instead everyone was ga-ga over Metroid Dread. I just love WarioWare games, as you know, so I'm happy for the new one. Comes out 5 days before my birthday, too! The first two Monkey Ball games are really good so I'm glad they're making a collection of them. The mini-games in those titles are just as good as standalone games in those genres.
I thought of you when they announced that Advance Wars collection.
Aside from Psychonauts 2, was there anything else in the Xbox presentation you think I'd like? I didn't watch it since I don't have a new Xbox system. I have nothing against Xbox, in fact the 360 was my favorite console of that generation. But the new ones just don't have enough games on them I'd like for me to get one. I'm glad that Psychonauts 2 is coming to PS4 as well, though.
I thought Age of Empires was already at least on a handheld. I got to meet the team that made the original Age of Empires when I first started writing for The Dallas Morning News. They were based in Dallas then, and when I met them, they hadn't even found a publisher for their game yet. But they said they were thinking of Microsoft (which is what happened).
I kind of wish that if they had to do a Namco fighter character, they would've picked someone from Soul Calibur instead of Tekken, since I like Soul Calibur more. But I guess Tekken is the more popular series.
Didn't they have a Lloyd Mii fighter one time? If I wanted a Tales character in Smash, I would've picked someone from my favorite Tales game: Legendia. But nobody likes that one but me so it'll never happen.
I don't know who else I'd want in Smash. I've already got my three boys: Pac-Man, Kirby, and Mega Man, so I'm pretty happy.
Yeah Ridge Racer games have a lot of ads and cameos of other Namco games in them. Heck, in Ridge Racer Type 4, there's a whole track named Phantomile, which is the setting of Klonoa!
Another PSOne game that has a Galaxian 3 billboard is Tekken 3. There is an amusement park level with that in the background. Which makes sense, since Galaxian 3 was probably showcased in Namco's indoor amusments parks in Japan around that time.
In Japan, the Galaxian 3 theater arcade game looked way more immersive, with more players and chairs and stuff. In the US, at least the one I played, it was just behind some curtains and four players could stand at the guns and shoot at a big screen. But it was still pretty big for something in an arcade from the early 90s. Now go read my E3 article! :)
Well it's up now so go read it or I'll send Chun-Li over to your house and she'll roll you up like a basketball and dribble you around the house!
Yeah Galaxian gets forgotten a lot of the time, being overshadowed by more significant games that came out a year or so later, like Pac-Man or Galaxian's own sequel Galaga. But Galaxian was a pretty significant game, being the first to feature true color graphics and enemies that swooped down on you.
As a kid, I didn't realize that Galaxian was the first game in the series, so when Galaga 3 came out, I was like, 'Where's Galaga 2?" I did the same thing with Donkey Kong 3. I was like "Where's Donkey Kong 2?" Not realizing that DK Jr. was 2.
The Galaxian flagship makes a lot of cameos in other Namco games. Like one of the bonus fruit in Pac-Man and Dig Dug, and many more appearances. Also, in Pac-Man World, there is a whole shooter stage where you blast pixelly Galaxians and the boss of that level is "King Galaxian."
I think it's funny that games like Galaxian and Galaga are in the same Namco universe as other games like Ace Combat, StarBlade, and even Dig Dug and Mr. Driller!
Have you ever heard of the theater arcade game Galaxian 3? I played it once at a Dave & Busters a long time ago. It's just an on-rails shooter, but it was neat at the time. I'm glad I got to play it.
Pac-Man 256 was a fun little mobile game. Made by the same folks who did Crossy Road, so that's where the endless runner connection comes in. Well I'm off to write my E3 article. Hope to post it in a couple of hours.
Yeah, me too. I'm trying to remember if Everyone's Golf made it into that Sony Smash Bros. clone that was on PS3. Now that got me thinking that an Ape Escape golf game would be really cool!
I never got into Virtua Fighter, although I certainly remember the first ones being a big deal in arcades. VF games aren't bad, I just don't get into fighting games for the most part. Heck, I'm a huge Namco fan and even I don't do most of the Tekken stuff.
My favorite VF characters are Vanessa because she looks strong and Sarah Bryant because in one of the games you could dress her up like Ulala from Space Channel 5. If there are any other characters you think I'd like, you'll have to let me know.
Yesterday I just got a review code for another fighting game: Gulty Gear -Strive-. I'm not really into that series either, but somehow I've developed a strong relationship with Arc Systems Works, and get to review most of their games now.
