Why Don't We Talk About Playstation Mobile?

Two separate posts that appeared in my twitter feed a few nights ago inspired a momentary bit of rage at their misleading titles, but it struck me as odd afterwards since they were not, in essence, lying about anything.  I'm not going to link them, but the separate posts each basically were titled something to the extent of "(Game) is coming to Playstation Vita!" in which the two games were Chaos Rings and Tokyo Jungle.  Chaos Rings is one of Squeenix's Cell Phone RPGs that I haven't put a single bit of looking into, but Tokyo Jungle is something...different.  Tokyo Jungle is something that I would very much like to see on my Vita.  The only thing is, when you actually -read- the posts, the turns out the context is that of a Playstation Mobile release for each of the two, not one that goes through the channels that makes it an official Playstation Network game.  So, as stated, I was annoyed by that at first and thought to write it off completely.

Then I wondered -why- though.  Why was the fact that they were Playstation Mobile titles and not PSN titles a -bad- thing?  Since if I reacted negatively, it has to mean that they're a bad thing.  I have to say, though, that I do think I've figured it out, and it's a little disheartening as to what I think the reasons are.

Playstation Mobile, if you're unaware, is a side-platform available to developers/publishers to bring their smaller games, generally from the iOS/Android market to Playstation-Certified devices which doesn't specifically mean Vita, but the Vita is one of the devices that PSM works well with.  I think that distinction itself harbors a little ill-feeling towards it since we generally don't -like- the smaller, casual phone games that proliferate the iOS/Android market.  Cell phones aren't gaming devices, they're not made to be one and they're not specialized for the task (or customizable to be so), they're simply things that -can- run games...for a couple hours and then the cell phone batter dies and completely kills the reason for its existence. 

It certainly doesn't help that the limited architecture of the devices means for games that, in general aren't nearly as deep as we're used to in terms of story, length of play (though, given some AAA titles, this could be argued heavily) and things of that nature.  There are exceptions of course, and that list grows longer by the day, but the stigma for now is Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and to some extent even Plants Vs. Zombies as fun little 'time-wasters' and not generally 'games' in a broader, deeper sense.  (I'm not looking to get into the pedantry that evolves from that type of statement.  Yes, Angry Birds is a game, but it's also shallow in comparison to 95% of the games, even downloadable titles, that are released on 3DS/Vita.)

So, in opening a storefront for that specific type of product that is literally housed in the same application in which you can buy full Vita games that offer the type of experience that we're used to, you're sort of asking for trouble.  It also doesn't help that PSM is sort of Playstation's version of the whole XBox Live Indie Game scene in that it simply doesn't get a lot of advertisement and the games don't benefit from things that everything else on the platform -can- (aside from PSP games).  We were assured long ago that Playstation Mobiles would eventually be able to support things such as trophies, leaderboards and the other niceties that we're used to these days, but that was almost a year ago and I haven't heard a peep about it since.  Perhaps it is a bit difficult considering PSM covers the PSP and Playstation-Certified Phones, but it should be possible.  Basically what this means is that, even if you don't -care- about those types of things, you might see their lack of inclusion as them being a lesser game, which makes you less-inclined to buy it and play it when that $3 or so could be spent towards something else that feels more 'supported' in the grand scheme of things.

Still, I remind myself that games like Dragon Fantasy Book I were born on iOS, meaning great things -can- come from that sort of device.  These two titles, I think, are a boon for the platform since Chaos Rings is something I could not play otherwise, but I just might.  I'd like to see what kind of UI changes are made considering the game doesn't have to have giant buttons all over the screen before I make a judgment call on that.  However, the version of Tokyo Jungle that is coming to Playstation Mobile seems...like something rather 'interesting'.  In other words, more Tokyo Jungle than Tokyo Jungle already was.  It's not going to be the same game as on PS3, the wander-around roguelike in which you can have a pomeranian take down a dinosaur eventually, but it will be close.  Shane Bettenhausen, someone who seems close to the Indie side of Playstation, describes screenshots of the Playstation Mobile version of Tokyo Jungle as "FFT with gazelles and pomeranians" which is...enticing in its own way.  Thankfully enough, the release date for the American version of Tokyo Jungle's Mobile iteration is Next Week (I believe the 10th) same as Japan's release, so we'll get to try it out then.  And you can bet I'm going to give it a shot.

basically I just need more SRPGs like FFT in my life and bonus points if they're exceedingly weird like Tokyo Jungle

Tokyo Jungle Has a Western Release Date

Last December, a little game called Tokyo Jungle was more or less thrust onto a lot of radars thanks to the absolute pure absurdity running through its veins, so to speak, as well as the real, undeniable uniqueness the game holds.  I was....confused about the game and I still am, but I can say with some certainty that it's definitely grown on me a little bit.  I don't know what it is in particular - perhaps just that it's one of those silly little titles that embraces absurdity and runs with it (which you know I am a fan of, despite how I wobble on that stance sometimes) or perhaps it's just that the game will allow me to play as 50 different animals at base, including a goddamn dinosaur, which, let's be honest, enough games do not do this.  I don't really think you can disagree with me on this either, because "You get to play as a dinosaur" is a goddamn bullet-point if I've ever seen one, and I look at a lot of game boxes.  Guess what?  THEY DON'T SAY THAT.

Ahem.  Anyways.  Speaking of game boxes, this game will not have one when it releases as a PSN-exclusive on September 25th which is a -really- bad day because sorry Tokyo Jungle, I will be playing LittleBigPlanet Vita for the next few months starting on exactly that day.  I believe that means you don't have to have a permanent mental break, Chance.  Well...I dunno, it was a retail release in Japan (possibly retail/PSN both), but not here or in PAL territories so....take that for what you will.  The game launches here at $15 which is a lot less than said retail release in Japan, and probably makes it a -lot- more palatable over here for those folks on the fence about it.  Which I can only imagine is just about everybody, so with any luck, there will be a demo for it up on day one or shortly thereafter.  There was for the Japan PSN, but then again, Japan's PSN seems to get -everything-, so it's not that farfetched to think that they got it solely for that reason.

Still, to recap, since I am actually interested in this game and want it to succeed, the game is pretty awesome in premise.  If you looked in the Playstation Blog post to check out the trailer (which is exactly the same trailer as last year with english text) then you'll know this already, but Tokyo Jungle is a survival-based game at its core.  In a world where at least Tokyo has become completely uninhabited by people for some reason, nature steps in and fills in the gap by involving a rather diverse assortment of creatures; at least 50 of them.  Everyone has to fight for their spot in the fragile eco-system and you, as the player, will likely be doing that fighting for them.  Or, rather, as them, since that 50 number is the number of creatures playable in the game.  I assume the story mode has a limited assortment of them (something in the 15-25 range) on focus as they establish their dominance in an area while also finding out just what the hell has happened.  I assume that is more for the player's benefit, as I'm not quite sure just how smart the animals in the game will be, but I'm just not sure on a whole lot of the game, really.

In addition to the Story Mode, there's another mode called "Survival Mode" which seems to stick to its guns with that title, tasking you with taking to an area, making it yours, and going on the hunt not only to survive, but to look for a mate to create future generations that I assume you step into as well once your initial animal has passed on.  Seems almost RTS-like in a sense, since you will likely end up losing because you have been over-taken by another species that has done the same thing, or will win because you reign supreme, though 'Survival' leads me to think more of the former for whatever reason.  Basically just lasting as long as you can until you just can't anymore, I mean.  Ecosystems are hard things to manage after all, especially when you're an animal in the middle of a ruined city with other animals.  Really, it seems simple enough as a system, and the intricacies likely just come in with how you use it.  Since it is basically "Run around, attack, consume", though overkill in some areas is likely a bad idea, as an example.

I really don't know what else there is to say about the game.  It looks neat, even though it's not really a good-looking game, especially for the year 2012, but knowing there's 50 differently modeled animals plus all sorts of costume pieces for them all to wear softens that a little since, -yeah- that is going to be a little hard to manage, especially for this niche of a title.  Seeing your dog run around in a construction hat as he passes by hippos, baby chicks, a crocodile and a kangaroo likely beats seeing your expertly textured dog running by similarly textured dogs that are basically just clones, but hey, at least they look good, right?  I'll take variety over looks super-duper any day of the week, though both is quite nice as well.  Perhaps next generation we'll finally get that level of variety and detail at the same time, since it seems we just won't with this gen quite yet.  Glad to see we still get some of these quirky games rather than mostly just different takes on 'sure sells'.  Because this one surely won't sell all that much, but it'll be unique indeed for the people that play it.

Tokyo Jungle......What?

As gamers, we sometimes take a look at something completely different and unique (which aren't mutually inclusive) and generally those things are looked upon favorably if just for not being 'yet another (genre) game', as we often express disinterest in.    Just one of those things we (we as a broad, general term, obviously not indicative of us all) think we know better about and may or may not be correct about.  (Specifically 'trends'.)  Sometimes deservedly so, sometimes not, but that's a whole other conversation all together.  And I'm going to admit that this isn't the first time I've heard of Tokyo Jungle, but it's the first time I've taken a look at it, at least in a trailer and I'm going to be completely honest with you here:  I don't even know what the fuck.

I mean, its concept is pretty obvious from everything it's shown so far:  Civilization as we know it is gone and nature is taking over in our stead.  Nary a human in sight means the animals roam free and take to the natural order in unfamiliar environs to just try and get by.  Which is, by all means, a pretty neat concept for a video game and is genuinely interesting; so much so that if/when Tokyo Jungle comes out over here I would be willing to take a look at it, much as I have said I would be interested in getting my hands on Afrika at some point.  Of course, the games are worlds apart, but are generally 'different' games with a main cast starring completely of animals, hence the loose comparison.  Since I'm not really all that sure what else it -could- be compared to without knowing more.

However, for as cool as the concept is, I don't know just what to think of this trailer.  For one the graphics, and this is coming from someone who doesn't really care a lot about graphics, are horrible.  I mean, even in 720p, the textures and models range from only 'decent' to 'what the -hell-', which is really unfortunate.  I mean, I guess I should understand given that this is a niche game even by niche standards, but at the same time it just looks poor and doesn't give a good opinion of the game, given that we only have looks to judge by.  I can't even suggest that the game is still in an alpha build since, until just recently, it was slated for release in 2011.  I mean, even in that trailer right there it says '2011'.  Of course the official site has since changed the date to '2012' because, and I'm just guessing on this, the game hasn't gone gold yet which means releasing in the next, uh, week is not going to happen.

Of course, that's not the only thing that's a bit wonked in the trailer, which I'm sure you noticed well enough on your own.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe, just maybe, the tone of the game isn't going to be as entirely serious as you might think on premise alone.  Throughout the entirety of the gameplay trailer you see:  a dog dressed in....uhh....I don't know what that is, specifically, something with a giant rope and robes, a hyena wearing a hardhat, PANDA COMBAT, a dog mounting another dog, a kangaroo punching a tiger, and dogs(again, this game must really like dogs) fighting a hippo (and winning).  Which for some reason, for me, doesn't really tickle my "so absurd it's awesome" senses so much as it just bewilders me.  If I didn't know better, I'd swear the folks behind the Disaster Report games were behind this as their not-always-spectacular graphics, yet insanely-attractive ideas (with equally insane execution) is a very particular brand of crazy that seems to intersect with this game based on what I have before me.

Regardless, this is a thing that obviously exists, though in what fashion is quite unsure for now.  Being that it was announced in 2010 and looks like this in the year it was supposed to release doesn't instill one with a lot of confidence.  However, as we all know, games should not be judged by graphics alone and this has the potential for being something special if only on merit of being so out there.  Animals in a large, broken-down version of our world is a sight worth it to see as is, and if things get silly on top of that, then perhaps it's all the better.  Hopefully they tighten it up a bit before they announce an actual release date, though, as I'm looking forward to this, albeit a little reluctantly.