cstGaming

DcS, this one’s for you…

A little back story goes a long way so i figured i’d let the people behind the magic explain it best…

Pulled Directly From http://crimsonechoes.com/

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Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes was a fan project modification of the Chrono Trigger ROM begun in late 2004. Development continued thanks to a dedicated group of fans through 2009. By May 2009, the game featured ~35 hours of game play, 10 multiple endings, and 23 chapters, much like the original Chrono Trigger; it was around 98% complete. The plot featured the original cast as they struggled against a new villain risen from the legacy of Zeal.

The team planned to release Crimson Echoes on May 31, 2009 as the first feature-length fan Chrono series game, and an unprecedentedly exhaustive work in the ROM modification community. On May 8, 2009, Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes received a cease & desist letter, along with all other game modification activity (even research) at the Chrono Compendium. In compliance with the letter, the development team ceased development on the game, and existing modifications (including Prophet’s Guile) were taken down.

We thank those fans who followed the game’s development, and also those who poured countless hours into the vision of a fun, new Chrono game, made by fans for fans without copyright claim or intent to make profit.

We understand the frustration. I sincerely hope this action is a sign that Square Enix cares about the franchise and intends to produce future titles, and not merely a shortsighted legal exercise that will further alienate a tired, neglected fan-base.

As a matter of public record, you may view the cease & desist letter here.

Signed ZeaLitY, Saturday, May 9th, 2009

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So here’s my take on it: I’m not a Chrono fan-boy so i had no idea that this project even existed up until this all went down, but what did they expect to happen? I can see them going about this and creating this ROM’d game and everyone getting to play it and be happy, but not on the level that they went about it. There was nothing legal about this…especially with the exposure that this thing had. These kids took a game that Square-Enix (SE) still had the legal rights to and decided to make their own game based on the same characters and basic story without consent from the owning party. Haven’t you people learned, if you’re going to do something blatantly illegal keep it on the DL.

Now, from what I’ve read about this SE has been a pretty big asshole about the Chrono series. They embrace the world of Final Fantasy but leave this huge Chrono fan base to wither and die. And from that i see why that fan base would decide to take action into their own hands and make a new game themselves to continue playing something they obviously love. The problem resided in the fact that the exposure of the project got too out of hand. That’s also why the latest news beyond the “Cease and Desist” letter was so huge.

Apparently this game was in Alpha/Beta testing for several months. After the news surfaced that the team had to shut down the project, surfaced so did the game. We’re lead to believe that a higher up Alpha tester decided to leak the game to spite SE, which i have no qualms in seeing. The production team recognizes that the game was leaked and that it was only an Alpha version but it still allows the public to have a taste of what could have been.

Actual Game Footage

Seeing that i’m one of problem 1000 other blogs/websites reporting on this same story i’m not really worried about the legal ramifications of hosting the links to get the game, so here you go:

Get it while you still can…

and the fans respond…

Max Payne 3 from Rockstar Games has been officially announced on March 23rd 2009. Due for release Winter 2009, most likely during the Holiday Season. Developing company Remedy, who took part in the creation of Max Payne 1 & 2, will NOT be involved in the creation of the third installment to the series. A branch of Rockstar, labeled Rockstar Vancouver, shall be taking the development reins. Max Payne 3 has been long awaited by many die-hard fans of the series. Unfortunately, surprisingly lackluster sales of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, is to blame for the 6 year hiatus of Payne. But rest assured, Max is back. Its time to put all the rumors to rest once and for all. Winter 2009. Stay up to date with all your MP3 news at http://www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3/. They also have some cool downloads so check it out

Here at cstGaming we love our video game art and after some searching today i came across a website that apparently likes to catalog Chun-Li illustrations. So, for all you Street Fighter fan-boys or all you freaks that just like to stare at Chun-Li, here you go…

In the wake of the 09′ Stanley Cup Final’s we dive into the first game that will be showcased on our Retro Games page.

NHL 94′ was released in North America March 13th 1993 on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo and Sega Mega CD by EA Sports. It’s hailed as one of the greatest NHL games to ever be released and has a “cult following” still 10 years later. While the latest NHL releases strive to make the game as “real” as possible NHL 94′ skipped that idea and instead nailed game play like it had never been seen before in a hockey game. This 3 button classic was the first hockey game to introduce the “one timer”, an authentic hockey move where a player shoots the puck directly off of a pass. The game also included better all-around control of players, breaking the glass, automatic line changes, a stupid kid that sits in the stands and stands up to bang on the glass, and being able to save your records. This was also the first hockey game to allow 4 players on the ice at the same time.

This game was very in depth as compared to other sports games from this era. It included an 88 page instruction manual. 88 pages! This thing covered everything from basic controls to skating, penalties, scoring and the complexities of line changes. The also had the “Rosters and Ratings” section. They go through every single team and list all of the player and team ratings. This is, hands down, the best part. You could spend hours with this thing.

The best players in the game are Mario (he is the only 100), Bourque (99), Belfour (98), and after them it is goes Molgilny, Yzerman, Oates, LaFontaine, Selanne, Roenick, Gilmour, and then Gretzky. That’s right, The Great One is an 87. How can this be? Well in fairness to EA Sports, he is not the easiest player to assign quantitative value too. The best teams in the game are The Chicago Blackhawks, The Boston Bruins, The Calgary Flames, The Detroit Red Wings, and The Pittsburgh Penguins.

The game has been featured on “IGN’s Top 100 Games of All Time” twice: #47 in 2005 and #56 in 2007. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if it remains in 2009. Recently http://www.boston.com/, the Boston Globes website had a playoff of the greatest sports game of all time and NHL 94′ made its way through the trenches to hold the title. This game was considered to be so good that NHL 06′ had to include a copy of the orginal NHL 94′ game (lacking player names) to get anyone to buy it.

This game is still played all over the world especially in the U.S but the neat thing is how it’s played. Via emulation software on your computer you can play the game competitively online against other people. Grab a Gravis Gamepad and Go.NHL94 Online.com has provided us with a nice how-to guide to setup you computer to be able to do this. They even have updated rom’s of the game with the current rosters. I’ve included below a link to the Emulator and Game if you want to simply try out this all time classic. Oh and one last thing, GO PENS~!!!

Have you ever been standing in the grocery isle and managed to pick up one of those wonderful celebrity gossip magazines? Ever flip to those pages that show the celebs “très naturel”? Pretty scary. So, i wonder what the big time gaming stars look like on their off days?

Flickr user miramarlongboards decided to let us take a look.

looks like sonic's got the "itch"...