John and Crystal ease in with news about the bewildering VR remake of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies. Then, we fill out on-mic The 9 Games That Shaped Who I Am, a recent games-listing trend that asks us not merely to consider what games are good, but to look deep into ourselves and connect who we are to the games we have played.

The 9 games that shaped John are:

The 9 games that shaped Crystal are:

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on social media @gamesline.net, John, and Crystal

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions, send them to our email podcast@gamesline.net!

You can also join our Discord channel at gamesline.chat!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Edited by Crystal

The post The Gamesline Podcast Episode 108: The 9 Games That Shaped Who I Am appeared first on Gamesline.

New Mario & Luigi RPG. Has the Bros. Moves and abilities like the classic games! Mario and Luigi are trying to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. November 7th 2024, “Mario & Luigi: Brothership“.

Nintendo World Championship: NES Edition trailer. This was announced before. There are online leaderboards. A lot of the tricks are things actual speedrunners do. Out July 18th. There’s also a physical deluxe edition.

Fairy Tail 2. Pretty standard looking JRPG. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who likes Fairy Tail. Out this Winter.

Fantasian! Thank god it’s off Apple Arcade. You can bend spells to hit multiple enemies, and send foes “to another dimension” to deal with later. Out Holiday 2024.

Nintendo Switch Sports update. Basketball will be added. Two-on-two and three point challenges. Out Summer 2024.

Mio: Memories in Orbit. Looks cool, not a lot of info. Might be a Metroidvania?

New update for Disney Illusion Island. Detective themed. Out today.

Girlies rejoice! Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which is basically Animal Crossing plus Sanrio, is free from Apple Arcade jail and will come out for the Switch.

Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports, has soccer, basketball, golf and tennis. There were some solid Looney Tunes sports games on SNES, so hopefully this follows suit.

Among Us update. This got leaked a bit ago, thanks IGN. New roles. Noisemaker, Tracker, and Phantom. Noisemaker puts out a sound when killed, tracker can plant a tracking device on specific crewmates, and phantom can turn invisible at will. Update out today.

Farmagia, monster raising and farming RPG. Has more of a Pikmin thing going. November 1st 2024.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. Seems like a very straight port. Includes the levels from the 3DS version. Out January 16th, 2025.

Dragon Quest III remake! The remake for III is out November 14th, and they’ve announced a separate remake for the first two games is due in 2025.

Funko Fusion. C’mon man. Out September 13th.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD trailer. We already know how this will go. Out June 27th.

THE NEW DENPA MEN. I guess we know what Genius Sonority has been up to. Free to play, out July 22nd.

Metal Slug Attack Reloaded. Tower defense Metal Slug. Tons of units, over 300 characters in five factions. Has VS mode. Out today.

Darkest Dungeon II out for Switch.

Switch Online games. A Link to the Past Four Swords, Metroid Zero Mission, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark has online multiplayer.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. A new game in the series! Combine with items or with your buddies to power up.

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. Has all the classic vs Capcom games and The Punisher. Has rollback netcode! And a ton of concept art and music. Out this year, also on Steam and PS4.

Super Mario Party Jamboree. They detailed a few of the boards. Also includes old boards from the first two games. There’s also a 20-player mode as well. Out October 17th.

2D Zelda game. But it’s actually a ZELDA game. You play AS Zelda. It’s called Echoes of Wisdom. Women can do things. Zelda uses a staff to echo items so she can clone things. You can even echo monsters you defeat. Out September 26th. There will also be a Switch Lite based on Zelda as well.

Just Dance 2025 Edition. 40 new songs including Ariana Grande, Enur, Sia, Green Day, Lady Gaga, and more. Out October 25th.

Another trailer for Lego Horizon Adventures. Actually, I think it’s the same trailer. Out Holiday 2024.

Stray‘s coming to Switch as well. Out Holiday 2024.

Tales of the Shire, a Hobbit game with decoration and city building. Holiday 2024. Gandalf is confirmed. #Gandalf

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection—finally Investigations 2 officially out outside Japan! Has the original sprites as an option as well. Out September 6th.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, new game from Kodaka and co. Tactics game, but the story is basically just DanganRonpa again.

Romancing SaGa 2 remake. All the classic battle actions are available. Revenge of the Seven, out October 24th.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It’s going to be on regular Switch, huh. Sylux from Hunters seems to be the villain here. Out 2025.

The post Bulletin+: Nintendo Direct 6/18/24 appeared first on Gamesline.

Tribeca Games Fest

The Tribeca Games Fest is part of the much bigger lineup of the annual Tribeca Festival, featuring programming that has been spanning across a whole week. The Fest has been steadily growing with a smattering of not only games demos, but films and workshops since the induction of games as a distinct, recognized category in Tribeca since 2021.

Interviewed by filmmaker Mike Flanagan, Sam Lake of Remedy Entertainment talked about the influences behind the upcoming Alan Wake 2, and the two shared their thoughts on horror as a storytelling medium.

Games like Chants of Sennaar, Despelote, Goodbye Volcano High, Stray Gods, and A Highland Song were exhibited at Tribeca with playable demos.

Telltale Games’ adaptation of The Expanse, serving as a sequel to the Amazon series, was accompanied by both an industry talk with some members of the team and a game demo as well.

And one of the big talks of Tribeca is a screening of Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds, a documentary on Hideo Kojima.

The Wholesome Games Direct

As usual, the Wholesale Games showcase delivers a vast catalog of titles that try to tap into something cute and comfy.

There were several titles have been already previously published, but are anticipating a wider console release, such as Button City and Witch Beam’s Unpacking.

There were games about being small, such as Frogsong, Smushi Come Home, and Garden Buddies. Frogsong is a roleplaying adventure game that puts you in the role of a frog, putting you out in a fantasy world filled with combat and creatures much bigger than you.

Meanwhile, there were other games about looking at the bigger picture, such as Flutter Away, The Guardian of Nature, and Let’s Revolution! Let’s Revolution! is a tactics-style, roguelite puzzle game that works similarly to a classic round of Minesweeper.

And lest we not forget whole influx of games where gardening and farming mechanics are at the heart of their narrative, such as further developments unveiled behind Fields of Mistria, Garden Witch Life, and even a shout-out to the upcoming Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, a remake of the Harvest Moon title of the same name. On top of some new cosmetic updates, Story of Seasons fans can anticipate this remake being the first game in the whole franchise that will allow same-sex marriage and broader gender options.

Ubisoft Forward

Ubisoft elaborated further on some titles already showcased during the Summer Games Fest, such as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. But the Forward presentation went on to debut some new things Ubisoft had up its own sleeve, such as gameplay footage of Star Wars Outlaws.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is set to be a first-person action shooter where players will be put in the role of a Na’vi.

An extended look was also given to Assassins’ Creed Mirage, as well as Nexus and Codename Jade, Ubisoft’s first foray into VR and mobile gamign respectively.

The PC Gaming Show

The PC Gaming Show featured mostly a slew of sequels and further expanses tied to large franchises.

Frostpunk, Path of Exile, Citizen Sleeper, and Brethedge are all getting sequels.

Vampire Survivors is getting an update, and the Pathfinder name is earning itself its own Vampire Survivors riff with Gallowspire Survivors. More gameplay footage was shown of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin. And further content was also introduced to Baldur’s Gate 3.

Some behind the scenes developments were shown with the ongoing progress of the Dune: Awakening MMORPG.

There was a significant huge round-up of new, original strategy titles, such as Fabledom, Nova Roma, Last Train Home, and Earthless.

With even many other original titles that were teased in the mix, we managed to get gameplay of Bloomtown, a dark RPG that subverts the initial facade of a wholesome life sim.

Most importantly, we got a glimpse of Ebenezer and the Invisible World, a Metroidvania set in some whacky interpretation of Charles Dickesn’ A Christmas Carol. Tiny Tim has a dive kick.

Capcom Showcase

The Capcom showcase wasn’t a heap of new info, but we did get some new looks at games that we have seen before.

The new series Kunitsu-Gami got a gameplay trailer, showing the slick combat and fantastic art style. You’re seemingly tasked with removing curses from people and places, and having those freed people join you in your quest. No release date for it just yet, but it’ll be on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.

Megaman X Dive is a gacha game that is getting shut down in the coming months, but Capcom has decided to release an offline version to let people play the game without worry of its impending collapse. Most of the playable characters will be available as well as over 900 stages. No word on how character unlocks will work here, but hopefully the gacha mechanics from the original release are removed smoothly. It’ll be released on Steam and mobile phones.

Pragmata, Capcom’s mysterious sci-fi action game, has been delayed indefinitely after its previous two delays. We really don’t know much about this, except that you’re a guy in a cool space suit fighting robots and protecting a little girl. There’s some gameplay shown in this trailer, and it does look cool! Guess we’ll be left waiting quite a while to know what’s really going on here.

Shu Takumi’s franchises, Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, both had some pretty big updates. Ghost Trick has a demo available now, and a new Ace Attorney collection, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, has been announced. Ghost Trick is due out June 30th and Apollo’s Wacky Adventures will ship some time at the start of 2024.

We got some information about Exoprimal, the dinosaur killing EDF-like as well. Some story was shown off, then modes such as a five-player weekly challenge that changes its structure each week. There will be an open beta from June 16th to the 18th, and the game launches July 14th on PS4/5, PC, and Xbox Series.

Finally, we got a look at Dragon’s Dogma 2. The game’s director, Hideaki Itsuno, talked a bit about Dragon’s Dogma‘s gameplay structure, revealing that the beloved pawn system would be returning, allowing you to have a pawn of your own plus two sub-pawns from your friends. There was also talk of map size, which Itsuno claims is four times the size of the original game. No release date, but expect Dragon’s Dogma 2 on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5.

Devolver Direct

Devolver’s showcase was another “comedy” event (which personally, some of us didn’t watch as the last few have been excruciating.) They did show off four games that are daring to be something different compared to everything else we have seen so far, so we can give them some credit where it’s due here!

Baby Steps, the new game from the team behind Ape Out and Bennett Foddy of QWOP and Getting Over It fame, is a “walking simulator” where a manchild named Nate has to leave his parents’ basement and literally learn to walk on his own again.

Human Fall Flat, a goofy physics-based puzzler from 2016, is getting a sequel.

The Talos Principle 2, which was already shown at the PlayStation showcase, got a new gameplay trailer.

Finally, Wizard with a Gun, a game about. Just. That. It debuted a story trailer as well as the release of a demo on Steam.

Grasshopper Direct

The Grasshopper Direct was hyped for over two months, with a webpage promising that “something’s gonna happen” and a countdown running until June 15th at midnight. Once the clock struck midnight, however, the post was delayed around an hour and a half because they seemingly didn’t pre-upload the video to YouTube.

Once the video was posted? A small amount of Shadows of the Damned news (they’re projecting to release it on all current consoles) and a blurred out shot of their next game. And a new merch store. That’s it. There might’ve been some other teases in there, but other than an admittedly cool showcase of 25 years of their games, this felt like a waste of time.

The post The Bulletin: Everything Else But an E3 appeared first on Gamesline.

Hey, last chance to avoid viewing true suffering – go look at some nice wholesome games!

Verizon (“Gaming for good”)

5G gaming will revolutionize mobile gaming, or so Verizon says. In what way? That’s not important! But during the presentation Verizon specifically marked developers and esports teams specifically for Verizon-sponsored projects. They brought out Derwin James, Free Safety for the LA Chargers (one of the least successful NFL franchises in the league) to talk about Verizon’s Super Bowl Fortnite map. This doesn’t matter to anyone, anywhere other than the people on stage and some shareholders somewhere, but the E3 presentation isn’t overly loud or offensive so I can’t be too mad. I’m here to be advertised to. Big ups to the Verizon crew for spending a large portion of their presentation talking about building mentorships and scholarships for women in esports and professional gamescasting.

Intellivision

Intellivision is jumping back into the console world with Intellivision Amico which is a WiiU-styled handheld plus console hybrid specifically positioned for families with young children. The games announced on it look like one of those plug n’ play TV consoles, with asteroids styled games and whatnot. But the controller has an interesting design to it in the same way that home-karaoke systems usually have a wacky controller with them. Even if this is some kind of huge miss, hey it’ll be a funky collectible piece later!

Take-Two Interactive

Take-two and 2K hosted a panel featuring organizations like Girls Make Games, Gay Gaming Professionals, as well as groups like USC and Private Division to talk about initiatives they are making to help bridge gaps of inequity within gaming. Gordon Bellamy of GGP at one point shouted “We are the batter, not the frosting!” and I really enjoyed that line. This ain’t games advertising, but this was way better than anything I thought I was asking for from something called the “Take-Two Interactive Panel”. The right people in the right room on a big stage!

Mythical Games

[VIDEO DESTROYED FOR REASONS OF TASTE]

The Blankos vinyl-toy game website says: “WE ARE CREATING UNIVERSAL ECONOMIES DRIVEN BY PLAYER OWNERSHIP. WE BELIEVE THAT TRUE OWNERSHIP OF DIGITAL ASSETS, VERIFIABLE SCARCITY, AND INTEGRATED SECONDARY MARKETS ARE THE FUTURE OF GAMES.” so fuck them. Private ownership is theft, and these people are in the business of scamming children. I will go Iron Sheik on this crew; break their back, and make them humble.

Indie Showcase

Renee Gittens of the IGDA hosted another group-panel speaking with a small selection of indie game developers. Normally, this would be a nice refreshing break from E3’s AAA-heavy content, but I found the discussion dangerously reductive and coming from a privileged headspace. I want to push against the IGDA advocating for hustle culture, financial risk, and ‘passion-driven development’. Especially since that nearly lead to panelist Edmund McMillan’s destitution multiple times. The IGDA has been very successful under new leadership the last few years moving away from the boys-club AAA-wishing mentality it used to have a decade ago and building a more diverse community and diverse selection of events for all types around the world, but there is still more work to be done if the IGDA wants to be seen as an equitable organization advocating for indie developers, and this showcase proved that.

After the panel, they showed a selection of IGDA-curated trailers in rapid succession, but speaking about any one of the games as I’d like to probably wouldn’t end up being very professional. The kindest thing I could say about them is that they’d probably be right at home on the Intellivision Amico. It was a presentation that looked like the rejected options from the other indie showcases. The un-cool kids table, as Elvie very fairly put it.

Freedom Games

GAMES! This tiny, brand new publisher got into the E3 conference! Good for them. And they showcased some games when people were desperately asking for something good! Here’s a list:

• Dreamscaper
• Airborne Kingdom
• Coromon
• Cat Cage Manager
• To The Rescue
• Slaughter League

Maybe one of these names appeals or looks cool to you? For me, after the previous couple of days, they seem very uninspired and un-challenging. Freedom Games is managing a selection of the whitest male-est indie games you could think of. That said, I asked for games, and this little crew gave some games that I can suppose people will play, and that’s at least the bare minimum! Anyways, let’s continue lower the bar:

VENN presents: Origin Stories with Hector Martinez

I want to be critical about a vanity talk show for the dudebro-est pro gamers talking about celebrities they’ve met, but NRG owner and pro CoD player, Hector Martinez, is a charming host. The presentation of the show isn’t overproduced or trying too hard, and the spotlight interview we were shown with 100 Thieves owner, Matthew Haag, is produced to be fast and engaging. Nobody cares though. This is when the E3 channel on Twitch finally dipped below 100k viewers, hemorrhaging about 20% of the entire viewing audience over 20 minutes. Folks are completely done with E3 being completely disconnected from games in any real way and have lost faith in the ESA’s production. Not even gamer-to-the-gamers, Nadeshot making cusses and referencing Justin Beiber can bring them back. I was a bit entertained, but nobody cares one bit.

Limited Run Games

ARE YOU READY? You know what you are getting, you don’t need me editorializing this one (and I’m really tired at this point, thank you for your patience)

Physical Releases coming soon for:

• Zombies Ate My Neighbors/Ghoul Patrol (Switch)
• SuperHot (PS4/Switch)
• Double Dragon/Kunio-kun Collection (PS4/Switch)
• River City Girls (PS5)
• River City Girls Zero (Switch) (Though important to note this is simply just a re-titling of the fourth game of the Kunio-kun series!)
  
• River City Girls 2 (All consoles)
• Strife Veteran Edition (Switch)
• Shantae: all of em, technical name (PS5)
• Bloodrayne Betrayal Remaster (PS4/Switch)
• Haven (Switch/PS4/5)
• SkateBird (Switch)
• Huntdown (Switch)
• Axiom Verge 2 (PS4/5/Switch)
• The Takeover (PS4/Switch)
• Dusk (Switch)
• République (PS4/PSVR/Switch)
• Going Under (PS4/Switch)
• One Step From Eden (PS4/Switch)
• RWBY: Grimm Eclipse (Switch)
• Retromania Wrestling (PS4/Switch)
• Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night + Rondo of Blood (PS4)
• Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Turbo Duo)
• Contra Anniversary (PS4/Switch)
• Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties (Switch/PS4/5/PC)
  

Capcom

Capcom announced nothing. Let me help you understand this as I say it again: CAPCOM ANNOUNCED NOTHING, AT E3. So after an incredibly hot fire year that definitely has had no bad moments or rough speed bumps you’d think they’d be ready for a great show with announcements of the properties they’ve been developing over the last few years. They did not, and that’s because every company has no faith in E3. It’s not even that they just have no faith that E3 can survive into 2022, but many companies like Capcom are simply playing nice with the ESA so they can hold their spot for future shows. This is why every presentation looks so cheaply put together and doesn’t announce anything. No faith, no reason, and no pressure from the abysmally pathetic ESA. Anyways, let’s talk Capcom’s E3 2021 lineup:

Resident Evil: Village uhh did you know this was out? I sure did, and it was a decent game! But this sure isn’t the place for old games, and so folks were Big Mad seeing this. We also already knew that the multiplayer mode, Resident Evil RE:Verse, is going to be out in a few days. They couldn’t even get it to come out today and get people playing, so great work all around everyone.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a new game and would be a good announcement for folks if this weren’t the fifth different trailer we’ve seen and SECOND TIME THIS WEEK. This trailer had a crying lady. I still think it’s a cute looking game and am happy to see it! The demo comes out on June 25th. (You missed by a week again, Capcom!!) As a little sprinkle on top though, they did show the Monster Hunter Rise roadmap for the next year of development. HOWEVER, the announcement they brought was that they were doing collabs with themselves. Wings of Ruin characters will be added to Monster Hunt Rise! Isn’t that great? It’s like they announced adding Luigi to the Mario game– we know, you dorks! Not really a reason to buy into the DLC and not newsworthy in any way, when it would’ve been greatly appreciated right now. PLEASE just ONE PERSON please surprise us. I’m begging here!

The final announcement Capcom had was for The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, which comes out next month on July 24th. We’re looking forward to this so much, and although it isn’t set in America this time, it will still bring so much culture coming from England with the ever-elusive Herlock Sholmes teaming up with Phoenix’s ancestor Ryunosuke Naruhodo. During the new trailer, we got to see the jury throwing some hot fireballs at the scales of justice to delegate their votes which is really engaging and fun. The details that were shown in this new trailer were substantial and almost thawed our frozen and decaying hearts as we are technically now six hours into the proceedings. Well, it almost did until–

Razer

So, funny story about Razer. Actually, it’s not funny, it’s really kinda sad. Every Razer product I’ve bought since 2009 was overpriced, poorly designed, and broke very quickly. I’ve tried keyboards, headphones, mice and even the big gamer mousepads after really liking the $13 razer mouse I got in 2009. Only disappointment. Today’s presentation was exactly as expected. Here’s the details:

• Razer Blade 14 gamer laptop – AMD powered, 14” – $1,799 up to $2,799

For the gamer who settles for less, but pays the most.

• Razer GaN Charger for up to four different usb devices – $179

GaN charging seems like neat technology! Avoid Razer.

• Razer Raptor 27 gamer display – $799

It tilts straight up to look at the sky and scream why

Raptor 27 has RGB lights in the base that you cannot get rid of

Does not include a +$99 adapter to connect it to a multi-display mount for freaks

• Project Hazel

Hey remember that meme Razer mask with the RGB? I guess it was a ‘joke’ before because today’s announcement is that it’s Real and coming out in ~8 months. One of the planet’s worst horrors is on its way out of America due to vaccinations; however, it’s very on brand for Razer to be announcing old technology, late into the cycle, for an audience that is basically rich people who just buy the first thing that shows up on Newegg and Amazon. Anyway here’s the incredibly epic gamer details that made me laugh incredulously to end E3 today. (No Price Given, HAH)

• • Replaceable N95 filters (no price listed)
  • Secure Silicon Mouth seal (oral pleasure)
  • Clear transparent face design (accessibility-first design for mouth lookers)
  • Interior lighting for your mouth (gamer mouth lookers)
  • Anti-fog coating (KEEP LOOKING INTO MY MOUTH)
  • Project Hazel filter on Instagram and tag @Razer (Cross branding promotion synergy!)
  • 1st drop is in Q4 2021 (I can almost assure there won’t be a 2nd)
    

Hi Scott! Looking good, and thanks for wearing a mask!

We did it! We survived Day 5 of E3 2021! They say no news is good news, and yet here I am suffering. Now I need a stiff beer, or maybe I’ll settle down by watching how the rest of the Video Game Choo Choo crew “enjoyed” the day on the Twitch channel!

The post E3 2021 Day 5 – The ENTIRE Variety Day Roundup #Beer3 appeared first on Gamesline.

It is the year 2021. We are currently in the dark age of the law.

Fans of Capcom’s Gyakuten Saiban — known as the Ace Attorney series in English-language speaking regions  — have expressed both sighs of relief and shock at the announcement of the international release of the The Great Ace Attorney games as a collection.

The Great Ace Attorney titles have long been a contentious topic, with many fans wondering whether they would ever be made available outside of Japan more than five years after their initial release. For those who were able to play or watch someone else play, these games brought a refreshing take on the series with an entirely new cast of characters and location. Carrying a story set in a radically different setting, The Great Ace Attorney boldly pushes to explore more socially charged themes, all while still being faithful to the more sillier aspects that define Ace Attorney’s world. As a result, it inspired a fan group to translate the games in an effort to broaden this accessibility that Capcom seemed to not want to bring to players outside of their country.

The fandom had always felt at odds with Capcom’s marketing and international distribution of the games. If you look up “ace attorney” on Google, one of the leading questions you will first see is, “Is Ace Attorney Dead?” (And if you keep scrolling down even further, meanwhile, the Pandora’s box of fan content from memes to fanfic to doujinshi are endless; there’s truly a disconnect!) The latency between games’ releases, which some would blame as being detrimental to the game’s potential for wider success, inspired a much earlier endeavor that ended up producing a complete American-fan translation of Ace Attorney Investigations 2.

One of the speculated hurdles on what may have delayed The Great Ace Attorney’s international release is a conflict between the series’ previously established localization and its new setting. The Great Ace Attorney takes place in Japan near the culmination of the country’s Meiji period, a locale that defines each facet of its identity. The announcement trailer makes this clear, with hints of the game possibly even having dual audio options in both Japanese and English with a multilingual cast, reflecting  a crucial time when Japan was facing the impact of Westernization. With a story centered around issues like nationalism and racism, it would be ridiculous to strip it from its Japanese context in any fashion,  even more absurd than 4Kids Entertainment’s changing of the onigiri to the non-equivalent “jelly donuts” in the earlier seasons of the Pokémon anime.

Meanwhile, the official English translation of mainline Ace Attorney games have been completely removed from their native Japan setting to take place in the United States —  California specifically  and other countries’ own respective versions of the games follow suit. Characters’ Japanese names have been changed into Westernized equivalents, thus implying they are no longer Japanese but American. This would not raise questions if not for the fact that all of these games are directly connected: the central character of The Great Ace Attorney, Ryuunosuke Naruhodou (成歩堂 龍ノ介), is an ancestor to Phoenix Wright, the iconic main character of the series. He is otherwise known as Ryuuchi Naruhodou (成歩堂龍一) in the original Japanese script.

Their shared surname references an expression that roughly means “I understand” or any response of affirmation — hence the settlement on “Wright” sounding like “right” in English. However, this is one of few easier puns to tackle across the game, and more complexities arose when it came time to preserve the integrity of Japanese characters. Their first names reference the dragon, which is typically a benevolent symbol in East Asia, yet one that carries more sinister and miserly connotations elsewhere. Numerous names like these had to be swapped out with completely different equivalents, and thus “Phoenix” rose from the ashes, sourced from Greek myth instead.

With plenty of technicalities like these, excitement for The Great Attorney was muddled with confusion. It now seems like the settings of these interconnected games are completely at odds with each other! It’s great that this game is now getting localized, but does it now contradict this canon we have been fed due to the translation decisions made in the other ones? From my perspective, I think these concerns are making assumptions about a problem that does not even exist.

In an interview with USgamer, Alexander O. Smith, who led the localization for the very first game in 2005, discussed the difficulty alone in just maintaining the wordplay of the characters’ names. But with each passing case and each new entry in the series, it was no longer the names and gags that were the crux of translation hurdles. From the ever-increasing presence of social customs and religious traditions tied to character backstories and even turning points in the narrative, the game’s very blatant Japanese setting masqueraded as a fictional United States was getting harder and harder to ignore. Sure, the gimmick that your dead mentor’s ghost now occasionally inhabits this teenage girl’s body to help your pathetic self is a little much, but there is at least a very specific cultural justification for it.

“Normally, what you do in a situation like that is leave [the location] vague”, Smith said. “[Y]ou adapt the cultural references that will go over the heads of your audience”. Smith later ran into a particular case in which the specificity of the game’s original Japanese setting tied to an important piece of evidence. Even more cases later depended on referring to actual time zones and locations, which are key in how these scenarios would be solved and could no longer be “[left] vague.” “I know this has become an issue in later games, especially—the difficulty in selling where the game is set”, he said. “The Japanese references have gotten layered on heavier and heavier and heavier.” While Smith is currently based in Japan, and continues to do translation work for games and even other industries, there was a disconnect to this idea that these Japanese references could not find a place in an American setting. Smith perhaps struggled with the possibility of a “melting pot” concept for the games while not living in the States himself.

It was clear that the series’ English-language localization needed a pivot under someone who had the proper background and touch to balance the game’s now fully embraced American setting while respecting its Japanese intent. When Janet Hsu took over localization of the games starting with Justice For All in 2006 (Adam Smith briefly returned to Capcom to lead the localization for Apollo Justice in 2008), she wanted to “recreate the feeling and experience Japanese gamers had in a way that is understandable to a Western audience”. Hsu has written several blog posts chronicling her localization adventures and communication with Shu Takumi, the creator of the series. By projecting her own experiences having lived in different countries as an Asian woman, she was able to approach the games that interpreted the world of Ace Attorney taking place in “an alternate universe where anti-Japanese sentiments and anti-immigrant laws were not enacted, and Japanese culture was allowed to flourish and blend into the local culture in the same manner as other immigrant cultures”.

In an effort to simply fill in the gaps previous localization decisions have created, Hsu redacted one of many ugly parts of American history in an effort to instead imagine a more idealized, but still imperfect society. As an Asian American myself, to see a lot of thought put into navigating a tricky canon by turning it into something meaningful for the Asian community is a huge deal.

There were slivers of this cultural flavor that constantly popped up in the games, and it remains unclear to me as to why dramatic changes to undo its presence were necessary. One example of this is the recurring joke that Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato 綾里真宵) is obsessed with burgers. In the original Japanese text, she is obsessed with ramen. Why was this necessary to swap out to begin with? Even if more authentic ramen and all of its variants are more commonly found on the blocks and within pantries of Asian communities, it’s safe to say knowledge of this food item is not unknown to our globalized world. As if ramen has not been a known food staple in the United States entering the latter half of the 21st century? As if college students everywhere don’t eat and breathe Nissin Cup Noodles as the high sodium fuel to procrastination?

Although mostly a comedic bit, this is poignantly used as a storytelling thread to refer back to Phoenix Wright’s connection with Maya when she is not present in Apollo Justice. The second case in the game introduces a ramen noodle vendor in which Maya and Phoenix were frequent customers to his father. In this same case, we learn that Phoenix’s life has plummeted to an all-time low, but he still goes to this ramen stand with his adopted daughter — as if trying to pass on a positive tradition to her and to fill a gap he no longer has. At this point in the chronology of the series, the player is supposed to feel all sorts of emotions from this information! The titular character of the game, Apollo Justice (Housuke Odoroki 王泥喜 法介), constantly resisted trying the ramen and his slow acceptance of it (albeit still with disdain) serves as a symbolic acknowledgement of his role as a new main character in this series. But because we have been fed up to this point that Maya specifically loves burgers, that this whole time ramen has been a symbolic food for all of these characters might come off as very sudden.

The impact of these small relationships is lost because the original trilogy swapped Maya’s gluttony for noodles with a different type of food. Maya’s eventual return to the games poked fun at this, commenting at some point she would like to try an “extra-large” Hamburg steak — a German-originated beef patty dish since absorbed into Japanese cuisine and other Asian cultures that is basically just a burger without the bun — over a ramen bowl. The script made both ends meet to pretty much suggest she is obsessed with both burgers AND ramen. US-based marketing content for the game have also occasionally made fun of this now permanently fixed gag. This might very well be Ace Attorney’s “jelly donuts” equivalent.

I would like to imagine a world where the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 did not happen, banning migration from China for the sake of “racial purity”. I would like to imagine a world where the Immigration Act of 1924 also never happened, a federal law that banned immigration from Asia and the Eastern hemisphere to “to preserve the ideal of US homogeneity.” As a Filipino, where would I be in this universe if the exclusionary terms set by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 did not perhaps influence the decisions made by earlier generations of my family?

If not for these racist barriers that have heavily influenced migration trends from Asia to the United States in the modern century, how different would the country look like today? These are lost generations of “hyphenated Americans”, and this interpretation of the Ace Attorney localization has considered the possibilities that these people could have been Phoenix Wrights, Apollo Justices, and many others. If it wasn’t for the manufactured obstacles that stopped so many people from professing the right to be vocal about their identity in our world, at the very least, these video game characters can be validated and build legacies in their worlds.

History ended up taking a different turn and Asian Americans now make up a huge portion of California’s population. The state has the largest concentration of Asian Americans living within the mainland region of the United States. It should not be difficult to imagine a slightly different scenario where Asian Americans would make up the dominant demographic of an alternate reality California instead, if not funneled by some history revisionism. On the other hand, instead of that reality, we unfortunately live in one where some people can’t imagine a more multicultural world where the experience of white Eurocentrism is no longer the default option.

It should not be weird to imagine a city where shrines adorn the every few blocks you walk by. It should not be weird to see storefronts donning vibrant, red decorations and cute, gilded illustrations of animals on a cold day in February. Some people also prefer to start hanging their Christmas lights in September! It should also not be weird to immediately remove your shoes, dirtied and worn from the outside, when you enter a home. (Please, I beg of you!)

These may be unfamiliar concepts to others, but to me, they are just a few examples of things that are normal to my everyday way of living, my upbringing, and my own integration and interaction with other Asian cultures — all while still tied to an existence living in the United States. When confronted with a different image of what “American” can be, it is considered the incorrect one. There exists a conditioned mindset that expresses a genuine terror over becoming the new “minority”, which only speaks to the hurdles that marginalized communities continue to still face while being othered to this day.

Elements of Phoenix Wright as a character are intentionally left blank due to his nature as a “cipher” character for the player (This even gets to a point in which something as mundane as what his bedroom looks like is controversial). It is hard not to fill in those empty pages wondering if he is a first-generation immigrant that adapted a new name distinct from his original Japanese name. I know many people in my own life that have two names, simply choosing to use one over the other on paper. Although no longer a mandated practice, some people immigrating to the United States still debate about anglicizing their names in fear of scrutiny and being subjected to bias. Many change their names on their resumes, especially Asian-language based names, in fear of discrimination in the workforce. What if his Japanese parents just wanted to give him a non-Japanese name without any pressing reason? Surnames can also easily naturally change across generations. This opens up another door to the idea that Phoenix Wright could be of mixed race. The possibilities of ever further exploring his (now canonical) Japanese ancestry should be a non-issue.

This tiny revision can also apply to a plethora of other cast members, a simple gesture that undoes the accidental erasure of their racial identities of being Japanese where it can now be made significant once again. What about the “German” von Karmas? Guess what? They’re Japanese too!

I do not blame the few who saw The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles announcement only to react with confusion, immediately jumping to the dire conclusion that the localization team ended up digging a hole for themselves for the rest of the series by displacing its original setting. For me however, it was easy to imagine a man who was stripped of his Asian roots to be commodifiable in both the land he now lives in, and to the players of his own game. We are so used to the consumption of media where the protagonists are white-passing characters or of some sort of ambiguous fictional ethnicity as to not rustle particular feathers, that I myself often fall into the trap of feeling like something is wrong in cases where a character is depicted otherwise.

Although more Asian Americans are now increasingly practicing and studying law, there still remains a gap when it comes to their numbers in more visible leadership positions. Not only would it be interesting to see this representation of Asian Americans in law, but it is an affirmation to see more Asian Americans in video games at large.

There are numerous Asian characters in fighting games like the Street Fighter franchise and Mortal Kombat, but those characters come from a different experience compared to diasporic Asians who do not live in or were not raised in their ancestral countries. Games like these are also set in the mainland Asian region or something allegorical to it, like the Yakuza franchise, Sleeping Dogs, and Shenmue. The few characters that do remain coded as Asian in Ace Attorney’s localization have been presented as foreigners to the game’s setting in the United States. For instance, several significant characters in the Investigations games hail from Zheng Fa, a fictional country that might be inspired by China.

Characters in major releases like Metal Gear and Ada Wong from the Resident Evil series are Asian American, but that representation still remains few and far in-between. Other names that I can think of off the top of my head are: Faith Connors from Mirror’s Edge, Ashley Mizuki Robbins from the now relatively obscure Another Code games, and Chell from Portal.  It would be a significant inclusion to finally bring to the table this everyday man who fights less with his fists and more with his wits, all aided with the power of (usually unfortunate) luck. (He also still manages to fulfill the stereotype by being in a fighting game in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3!)

Just make it canon: Phoenix Wright is a Japanese American man. The series’ localization team cannot reset the path they have laid in front of them without destroying it, completely obliterating the composition established in Ace Attorney games for English-speaking fans. Instead, this should be taken as an opportunity to move forward and establish a new normal in order to imagine a future and America where these characters rightfully deserve to be unequivocally and unapologetically Asian without scrutiny or censorship.

It is the year 2021. We are still currently in the dark age of law. The scent of dill from a fresh batch of borscht fills the restaurant’s chilly air as a Japanese American man tinkers with a piano’s keys. He thinks about the dire circumstances of his present. He realizes it has been one whole year since becoming a father. He wonders how much he can make later that night. He is unaware that several years from now, he will be able to reclaim his future and once again, be himself.

The post Making Phoenix Wright Canonically Asian American and Why That is Important (to Me) appeared first on Gamesline.

They talk about all this weeks important news with Timespliters 2 being in Homefront, the Another Eden gatcha having kernel level anti-cheat garbage, the new The World Ends With You media empire being on the Epic Games Store. The crew also go into Twitch’s new off stream conduct policies, Sony’s obsession with The Last of Us and Naughty Dog properties, and most importantly, Gabe Newell’s life being lived sitting on a yoga ball.

As always you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, and @horngal

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

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The post VGCC Episode 353: Gabe Newell’s Yoga Balls appeared first on Gamesline.

As always you can support us on our patreon, and follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo and @john_michonski and keep up with Tristan over at TopTier.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download, or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 343: Balan Gonzo Cup appeared first on Gamesline.

As always you can support us on our patreon, and follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, and @judgementscythe

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download, or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 322: Pitmaster’s Privilege appeared first on Gamesline.

As always you can support us on our patreon, and follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @YourPalNiall and @John_Michonski.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com, via twitter with the hashtag #AskVGCC or into our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask

You can also join our discord channel at thegamezone.zone !

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 263: Solon Wants Swanswers appeared first on Gamesline.

As always you can support us on our patreon, and follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @horngal, @solonface, @YourPalNiall and @John_Michonski.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com, or into our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask

You can also join our discord channel at thegamezone.zone !

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 261: You Jestin’? appeared first on Gamesline.