As regular readers and fans of important video game composers everywhere are aware, today was the day of Richard Jacques’s SEGA: A Retrospective concert in Nottingham’s St Mary’s Church. How was it? I’ll tell you!

SE-GA!

Sitting at the piano a little after two, Mr Jacques began with his specially-arranged version of the medley to the end credits of Sonic the Hedgehog. He played piano whilst his laptop and some very nice kit provided the rest of the orchestration, and it sounded awesome. I would have loved to have heard what he could have done with more Sonic music, but perhaps that’s next year!

Second up was Shenmue: Improvisations, another medley of all the main themes from AM2’s Shenmue. During this particular piece I was struck by how identifiable and yet versatile these themes are, as Richard transposed and intertwined them expertly.

Richard Jacques: Defender of the Future (of video game music)

After these two undeniably “big” tracks we had two perhaps lesser-known tunes: the main theme from Ecco: Defender of the Future and a very playful rendition of Diamond Dust zone from Sonic 3D: Flickies Island on the Saturn. The latter was the first Richard Jacques soundtrack I ever heard, and I learnt today he composed, recorded and mixed it all in just two weeks, which is frankly incredible considering its quality and the number of strong themes and melodies it possesses.

Following this Richard had a special guest join him on stage, long-time collaborator and voice of many Jacques tracks (this doesn’t work now I know how his name is really pronounced, but never mind), T.J. Davis! I was glad she made the concert as I don’t think any other singer would be able to do the tracks justice, but she proved she’s as good live as on record with two great versions of Sonic R’s all-time classic “Can You Feel the Sunshine?” and Metropolis Street Racer’s most poppy tune, “I Can Still Believe”. Neither of these are easy tracks to sing with lots of high parts, modulations and so on, but they did a great job between them and seemed to enjoy revisiting tracks that they recorded almost five or ten years ago! The arrangements for these tracks were also great, with a lovely crisp acoustic guitar in the background and a little gentle percussion; perfect.

A one-man Anti Music-Crime Network

Okay, so the references are a little laboured, but Richard’s performance is going from strength to strength. Of all the impressive themes from his rightly celebrated Headhunter soundtracks, he chose to perform the gentle yet evocative “Jack’s Dream”, wisely avoiding the bombast of Jack’s Theme for a more atmospheric track that sounded great again. All the main Headhunter themes were there, and again I was struck by how clearly he creates and states his themes, yet how versatile they are too. People sometimes assume classical music and video game music are closer than people would like to admit, but I find video game music tends to be more overtly emblematic and thematic than classical music; in that regard it certainly has more in common with film scoring. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there.

Had I not snuck a look at the next track in the – very nice – programme, I would have been very shocked and possibly even taken to hospital. The brushes, the piano, the drums… it’s Dreams Dreams! I was sincerely hoping T.J. would join him for this one, but it was an instrumental rendition instead; a little disappointing, but Richard did a great job of capturing the nuances and flavour of the original vocals. As with Sonic, I would have loved to have heard more NiGHTs music – as complex as it is, I’m sure Richard would have done an awesome job. I hereby make an extremely request for more NiGHTS music at GameCity 2007!

Last Wave

Had it been that kind of concert I would have been up and dancing like a madman to the next two tunes, a seamless medley between Richard’s Euro remixes of Magical Sound Shower and Passing Breeze. The tunes themselves are a joy to listen to in any form, but the Euro remixes are exemplary, with wonderful Latin percussion, bold brassy colours and
huge amounts of sheer fun and joy. Seeing and hearing them played live was a similar joy, and demonstrated Mr Jacques’s amazing piano skills, both tracks involving very fast modulations and fingerwork. Perhaps the best part was the awesome jazzy breakdown between the two tracks that absolutely stunned me. Tremendous.

Crikey

I haven’t even got to the best part yet. Before leaving the church I spotted T.J. Davis at the front signing an autograph for a young gentleman (who lent us his pen; much obliged!), and so Phil and I both strode forward and received lovely personalised autographs on our very nice programmes. Thanks, T.J.!

The piece de (UK) resistance

A little way away from the venue, Lee Rosie’s Tea Rooms hosted Sonic’s birthday party. The birthday boy himself attended – and gave me a hug, cheers Sonic! – as did Mr Jacques at 4pm. He was quite happy to sit and chat to anyone who came up to him, not getting near his coffee for a good half hour or so! Of course, about twenty of those minutes were taken up by Phil and I as we – mostly Phil, actually – engaged Mr Jacques in topics such as prepared pianos, who had the best Sonic shirt and how often people mispronounce his name. For years I assumed it was “Jaxx”, but recently found – thanks to UK:Resistance – that it is in fact “Jakes”. Many blushes spared there.

I can’t remember the entire conversation we had, but I do know that he was a very interesting and friendly man who seemed interested in what we had to say, gave his thoughts on various matters – we discussed how I might achieve a moody Max Payne sound for my soundtrack – and shook our hands and said perhaps we’ll catch up at GameCity next year.

Thank you

Well, with a day such as today it’s only right I make a long, detailed post. The concert itself was wonderfully arranged and performed and I would have been very happy just with that, but actually getting to talk to someone whose music I have listened to and been inspired by for years was an honour, especially as he was a really nice bloke.

Mr Jacques, thank you for the concert and taking the time to meet and talk to us. Also, if you don’t want that “spare” t-shirt, I’m sure I could find a home for it!

LINKS:

Richard Jacques’s homepage
GameCity
UK:Resistance – fuelled with Jacques love.

That’s right readers, the console timeline as you know it has been rewritten.

Watching the repeat of the British Video Game Awards 2006 – I promised I wouldn’t, but how bad could it be? – I came to have a better understanding of games. Vernon Kay made jokes about joysticks, some bunged-up woman asked “are games just for geeks?” and the most annoying of them all gave a rundown of gaming history that included the usual clichés:

• E.T. – copies buried in the desert? Check.
• Made-up technical jargon like “super-real photoanalytic gouraudalising polygons”? Of course.
• Jokes about “waggling your joystick” and “playing with yourself”? Check.

So far, so expected.

However, as the Exhumed voiceover guy says, something has gone terribly wrong.

At 1990 in the gaming timeline presented by renowned gaming journalist “some cockney guy from MTV”, the Mega Drive was praised to high heaven. It was “beefier [than the SNES], with more hard-hitting arcade ports”. Good, – this is accurate, although SNES did have some good ports from Konami, Taito and so on.

“In 1995 Sony released their PlayStation, with amazing games like [Insert titles of 3D games here], gaming would never be the same again.

Then, in 1997, Nintendo released their Nintendo 64. Blah blah Mario 64 blah blah GoldenEye. Cartridges blah 3D blah.

Sega weren’t done though. They waited patiently and, in 1998, released their Dreamcast that looked like something you would ‘find in your kitchen'”

Quite apart from the Dreamcast looking nothing like any piece of kitchen equipment EVER – what was he getting at? Does it look like his cooker? A pair of scales? The sink? – we’re sort of missing something out here.

It’s that little guy to the right there. I know it’s small because it’s only a model, but that, there, is the Sega Saturn. Just because it wasn’t a huge success doesn’t mean it should be written out of history. It gave birth to some of the greatest games of all time and, worldwide at least, hardly gave Sony the clear playing field that lots of people think they had.

Of course I’m being very selective here. They also missed out the Amiga CD32, the CDi, the NeoGeo and, I’ve just realised, the GameBoy, although perhaps these were covered in a separate segment – I switched off in outrage after realising there was no Saturn.

Games on TV – getting worse.

An even worse abuse of videogames on TV was evident in the programme “Don’t Make Me Angry” this week, in which some lad with anger management issues was offered the chance to pitch a game idea to Ubisoft.

That’s right – UBISOFT. In Paris. We’re not talking one of those crap developers who makes rubbish games like Ultimate Downhill Racer and FIFA, we’re talking about one of the world’s best videogame houses, responsible for, as I’m sure you know, Beyond Good and Evil, among others. Or, according to the voiceover:

“Developers of King Kong, Rayman and Resident Evil.”

Er, come again? How come Capcom’s name is all over the Resident Evil games? I can imagine the researcher or presenter asked Ubisoft a few questions.

Presenter: So what games have you made then?

Ubisoft: Well, we did Rayman, Peter Jackson’s King Kong and Beyond Good and Evil.

P (writing notes): … and Resident Evil. Great, thanks.

U: No no, Beyond Good and Evil.

P: Yeah, Resident Evil. That’s a game. You make games. You made Resident Evil.

In the end the angry boy didn’t even sketch or write anything down before getting the once-in-a-lifetime chance – he was on the Eurostar to Paris (you know, on his way to visit UBISOFT) and just had a blank sheet of paper. The word that springs to mind is “ungrateful“.

Following the absolutely abysmal “report” about games on the ITN news this week – in which a presenter pretended to be a character in a 16-bit platformer ON THE NEWS – I was going to make a post about why games, in fact, shouldn’t be allowed on TV, not even if they’re made by people who know what they’re doing. By comparison, my own videos seem totally winning.

Tell me what you think about games on TV, the Saturn and so on underneath.

I’m listening to Gateway To Your Dreams, from NiGHTS Into Dreams [Sega Saturn] by Sonic Team. Yes, it DID exist, DAVE BERRY.

In the Beginning

This is the second of my “Player P.O.V” series of articles, that examines the way the best games involve and entertain the player. The previous article, Shining Force III, is here.
It’s a joint project between myself and my brother, Phil over at Sodaware. My articles will focus on player experience, and his deal with lessons game developers can learn from these great games.

You can read his article here.

Both our articles are featured in October’s Carnival of Gamers, which you can find at Man Bytes Blog. If you’re here from Man Bytes Blog, welcome! Bookmark us with Ctrl + D, subscribe to the RSS feed and enjoy your stay!

This time I’m looking at the Ubisoft classic Beyond Good and Evil.

Beyond Good and Evil
Developer: Ubisoft
European release: November 2003
Platform: PC, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube

Find at Amazon.co.uk Find at Amazon.com

Ancient Chinese Secrets

The deepest way BG&E creates its connection with the player is by locking the story onto the main character, the journalist Jade. Although it’s a third-person adventure, we see through Jade’s eyes when using her camera to photograph animals, or during her IRIS reports. This creates a true sense of discovery, as neither player nor character is ahead of the other; you find out the truth at the same instant by sharing the same view.

Home Sweet Home

You never lose your connection with Jade. As far as I recall, she is present in every scene in the game. Aspects of the story come from other characters, of course, but they’re all delivered to Jade, not without her:

• News bulletins are used by the Alpha Sections;
• M-disks – essentially DVDs – reveal security footage and personal messages from absent friends;
• Emails – newsletters, notes from friends and those assisting your quest.

All this helps Beyond Good and Evil to achieve the focus it needs. Although its story deals with an entire planet under threat, it has the emotional clarity due to its total devotion to this one character. It reminds me of what was wrong with The Day After Tomorrow, where the viewer was so often separated from its main character that the film’s core was misplaced. Here, Ubisoft maintain this tight grip on Jade, making her the game’s driving force.

Dancing with Domz

The game starts almost instantly, with the player taking control of Jade at the first opportunity. The short intro works brilliantly well, not just because it means you get to play more quickly – which is absolutely crucial – but by playing on certain conventions and player awarenesses.

As soon as the pompous horns blurt out their tune and the overbearing Alpha Sections begin their speech, the game has made you aware you’re watching a news bulletin, something we’re all familiar with, regardless of whether the subjects are Domz and Hyllis or something slightly more Earthly.

The media I listed earlier are used to present this strange world to the player in much the same way as our own. We watch news bulletins, films, read emails and so on about our own world, so why not Hyllis? Rather than create a bizarre and arbitrary way of communication, Ubisoft use the best mankind has collectively designed in its history. Pretty smart, and much cheaper too, I’m sure.

Thoughtful Reflections

The deeper point to presenting Hyllis like Earth is to emphasise the game’s major issue, that of received information. Through its journalist elements BG&E promotes independent thinking, and the importance of being active in meaning and knowledge. It might not be tackling global warming or trying to unearth a huge Government conspiracy, but any game with an actual, proper moral other than kill/steal/pimp has to be worth celebrating.

Organic Beauty

This is all well and good, but what makes Beyond Good and Evil fun to play? In amidst all the multimedia intertextuality and the talking rhinos, did Ubisoft put any good gameplay in there?

Yes, they did. And you get to it almost straight away. The first time the game hands control over to you is in a multi-enemy battle, with nothing more than a useful icon in the corner indicating which button is “fight”. Jade’s already an Aikido master who carries her staff with her all the time, which Ubisoft thankfully realised would make a training section pretty redundant. Far be it from me to come over all “Game Design Lessons”, but certain game developers could learn a lesson from this.

The battling is fun, and plays out like Darth Maul in a Zelda game. Spins, smashes and flips are all carried off with the analogue stick and that useful “fight” button. There’s one special move which you carry off by holding down attack, and that’s pretty much it; no need for finger-knotting attacks, just simple, intuitive controls.

Travelling around Hyllis in your hovercraft is also pretty awesome, as you’d expect from a sea-and-land vehicle with lock-on lasers, guns, boosts and jump jets. Most of these you buy with your precious pearls, which lets you get to new areas and animals.

Say Cheese, Fellas

Taking photos of the many animals on Hyllis provides you with both forms of the game’s currency, namely credits and pearls. Credits buy you little things (and sometimes pearls), and the pearls buy you upgrades at Mammago garage, they of the talking Jamaican rhinos.

The camera’s interface is again very simple, with just point, zoom and click. A certain icon appears on screen when you point it at specific things – a paw for an animal, for example – and a bar fills until it’s in focus. Unfortunately you can’t look back over your entire album unless you photograph every single animal on the planet, but you can look over shots on your current roll, and previous assignments. A more extensive gallery would have been nice, or some form of scoring system, but you can’t argue with a game where you uncover secret identities not with a gun but a very long zoom lens.

Redemption

Beyond Good and Evil is a tremendous game, which is perhaps wider than it is deep. The mixture of different gameplay styles naturally means some excel – combat is often a highlight – and others do less well – stealth mode’s Flying Death Lasers.

On the whole, its pin-sharp focus on the main character and the player’s relationship with her creates a bond that is strong enough to paper over some of the game’s flaws.

If you’d like to read more about Beyond Good and Evil, check out Phil’s fantastic Game Design Lessons article over at Sodaware, or my previous article on the game, “The best game of this generation“.

The best 2D Sonic game since 24th February, 1994.

Sonic Team finally brought the winning Sonic formula back to life with Sonic Rush on Nintendo’s DS last year. Very fast, very bright and very cool, it perfectly reflects what Sonic games are all about. That’s not to say it’s a rehash, though.

Although the game doesn’t make best use of the DS’s features – the touch screen is only significantly used during yet another tube special stage – the dual-screen approach helps to give back that pinball feel of fast transport while still keeping Sonic in view at all times. Your eyes zip back and forth, but the mechanic works well, particularly when running up or down huge inclines or vertical walls, contributing to that precious Sonic feeling.

I don’t usually say things like this, but if you like Sonic games you’ll love this. Just as New Super Mario Bros. is a classic Mario game, Sonic Rush is a classic Sonic game.

Verdict: Mixes new technology with classic adrenaline gameplay. Exhilarating.

Click the box to buy the game cheaply at Amazon.co.uk!

I’m listening to Anaesthetic, from Tunde [UK] by Tunde

Live in a town filled with talking animals. Pick fruit and sell it to a raccoon. Fish, catch bugs, plant and water flowers. Buy furniture. Send letters. Visit other players’ towns. Watch fireworks. Go shopping. Design clothes. Listen to a guitar-playing dog. Watch colours change as the seasons go by.

Animal Crossing is a game that survives on length rather than depth. You play it over a period of time, rather like a game of skill, although there’s next-to no skill involved. You improve by mastering emotions – sadness! Surprise! – and paying off your mortgage. I think it’s fair to say Animal Crossing perhaps isn’t the most exciting game in the world.

Playing it with friends is even better, and what really lifts this above the Gamecube version. Although the trading sadly doesn’t extend to animals, you can swap patterns, villagers, phrases, constellations, furniture… quite a lot, really.

Animal Crossing is almost impossible to review because it either appeals to you or it doesn’t. I’ve tried at great length to talk two of my best friends into appreciating it, but it’s not a game that can be taught; only learnt.

In short: A parallel, beautiful world of wonder and charm.

Phrases and arguments like this really irritate me:

It has been well established that playing violent video games aggression in players.

(Nicholas L. Carnagey, “In Video Games, Not All Mayhem Is Created Equal“)

I’m sure you know the argument by now; playing violent games increases aggression in players, and there’s a theory that increased exposure to these games can permanently program someone to behave more aggressively. That’s certainly what this “well-established” – though typically anonymous – data proves, isn’t it? Well, no, not really.

Having played – and lost! – more than my fair share of games, I’ll testify that I experience a rise in aggression when playing certain kinds of games; mostly Pro Evolution actually, when my LAZY DONKEY PLAYERS won’t do what they’re told. Aggression probably does rise whilst playing games, but then it goes away.

The study itself spectacularly fails to take into account the way game players’ brains are already programmed. The study gave three different versions of a racing game – one where all violence was punished, one where it was rewarded, and a non-violent one. To nobody’s surprise, the version that rewarded punishment led to “increased hostile emotion, aggressive thinking and aggressive behaviour” in the players. No details of what this “aggressive behaviour” entailed are given, other than gamers following the words “K I” with “L L” or “S S  O F F, P U N K”.*

The study

All this study has proven is that gamers respond to rewards, which isn’t any surprise to anyone. If we get more points for driving around a track backwards, we’ll drive around a track backwards. If it’s hitting someone over the head with a baseball bat, we’ll do that. Hardly a breakthrough, even Pavlov got that far.

The worst part about all this is that I haven’t been this angry in a very long time, and I’m not even playing a game! I’d like to think this could be the final word on the topic, but I live on Planet Earth, so it’s not going to be. However, here goes anyway:

People who have trouble controlling anger in any situation will have trouble controlling anger arising from playing games. Those of us who are well-adjusted, with clearly-set moral boundaries and ethical guides from our parents and friends will be just fine.

* – super-points for anyone who can tell me what game this is from!

Absolutely one of the best-written games EVER. It’s a cross between a courtroom drama and a police investigation game, with you piecing together evidence and then cross-examining witnesses until you find out what really happened. It starts out easy but gets hard very quickly, but the feeling of intelligence when you get something right is hard to beat.

Only the fifth and final chapter truly uses the DS’s capabilities, as the first four are actually from an existing GameBoy Advance game, but they’re all so intricate and involving it’s hard to care if you just use the stylus to tap on questions or evidence.

It’s such a hard game to sell because there’s not much else like it. Someone sold it to me as like being able to be a character in a really great book, which is a good way of looking at it because the characters and dialogue are amazing.

In short: Clever cases, funny dialogue, great experience.

This occurred to me whilst watching “Snakes on a Plane” last week (watch those hits skyrocket!). Whenever I watch a film and a character plays games, it’s rarely a normal part of their character – they’re either kids who won’t do their homework, grown-ups that wildly thrash about, tongues flapping, or have some other form of abnormality that stops them functioning normally. Probably caused by games, but that’s another story.

I wrote a CV a few weeks ago, and didn’t feel that “playing videogames” was a good hobby, even though “reading books” and “watching films” would be fine, and are arguably more passive activities (contradiction?). I like to believe that you shouldn’t feel ashamed of anything you enjoy, but when writing that CV I felt ashamed to say I enjoyed playing games. That’s sort of upsetting.

Games are bigger business than ever, and will be all over the media this Christmas with the new console launches. Does this validate the existence of games? Are games acceptable now that everyone knows about them?

I really want to know your take on this, which is why I’m hosting a special “The Collected Writings of James Newton” podcast – catchy name not included! – for you to air your views. You can get in touch in these ways:

Skype – JamesProsody. Leave a voicemail!

Email – mail@prosody.co.uk. Either attach a sound file (mp3 please!) or just write your comments down. I’ll be happy to hear them.

Leave a comment here on this post.

However you do it, do get in touch – I’d love to know if you think games are – or will ever be – acceptable and “normal”. Here’s another thought – would you want them to be?

I am listening to Can You Feel The Sunshine? by T.J. Davis.

Beyond Good and Evil is a grown-up’s game. IGN called it “Zelda for grown-ups”, and although in typical IGN style they’re half-right, there’s so much more to Beyond Good and Evil (BG&E) than a Zelda clone (see my next article on Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy for more on that front.) Beyond Good and Evil is brilliant because it likes the player, which I’ve always thought is the most important aspect of a game – if the game enjoys being played, people will enjoy playing it. It really is that simple. BG&E loves to be played because it wants to show you its ideas, how different it is and how much it likes you. It wants to be your friend.

It wants to be your friend because it knows you’re going to be impressed with what it can do. First of all, it’s not like any friend you’ve had before – it’s a stealthy photographer that pilots a laser-shooting hovercraft. The game switches between different game modes smoothly, and although they’re not all winners – the stealth sections aren’t great, though I dislike stealth anyway – the overall effect is a pleasing range of things to enjoy.

Of these gameplay sections, my favourite is the photojournalistic drive of the game. The idea of a photography game appeals to me greatly, but up until now I’d only played Pokémon Snap on the N64; these two are very different kettles of fish (likewise Tecmo’s Project Zero series, which I’m far too wimpy to play!). Your character is sent on missions to photograph the hidden secrets of Hyllis, including aliens, torture and exactly what the Alpha Sections are shipping around in crates. Whipping out your camera and taking aim is easy, and can also be used to “scanalyse” maps or, in a really enjoyable sidequest not unlike Wind Waker’s figurines task, document all the animals living on the planet for the Science Centre, which is a very lucrative hobby. When you’re slinking around bases or zooming around the open waters, managing to grab a shot of an elusive animal is really satisfying. It makes me wonder why we haven’t seen more photography games – perhaps an opportunity for the Wii?

One thing I haven’t mentioned so far is the game’s sublime art and music. The visuals’ use of greens and blues give the game an almost aquatic feel, and the many aliens, corals and crystals glow and filter light beautifully. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ubisoft’s alien world was inspired by the depths of our own oceans.

The game’s soundtrack is one of the most varied I’ve come across, with beautiful piano tracks (“Home Sweet Home” being possibly the best game tune since Headhunter’s “Jack’s theme”) sitting alongside the rhinos’ reggae, drum’n’bass and others. It’s good to hear the French and European influences in the music as a whole (the reggae being an obvious exception), and another point is the game’s voice acting, which is certainly higher quality than some I’ve heard.

Plot-wise the game makes a number of more serious points – or even accusations – than your typical 3D adventure, particularly in questioning the information handed down to us. This is brilliantly done by contrasting a subscription to the official Hyllis Word with the emails and newsletters of the rebellious Iris Network. When your reports are published it’s wonderful to read how the Alpha Sections spin and cover it up to make you look like the bad guy, which also somewhat unnerves you; who can be trusted? I won’t say that the game is a massive political satire, but there are certainly subtexts of uncertain trust and Government manipulation.

Unfortunately for me and many others, despite its good review scores and press praise, Beyond Good and Evil did so poorly in shops that it’s unlikely to see a sequel. It was released on the PC and all consoles, so you can play it if you want to. I’m told the Xbox version can go for a fair old price on eBay, but if you flick through the second-hand racks of your local game shop hopefully you’ll chance upon a copy (if not, send me an email – I have my sources).

Please, please do hunt it down and give it a chance. It’s a very warm and charming game with so much to recommend it, from its fantastic dialogue and characterisation (I can never decide whom I like more, Pej’y or Double H…) to its inventive direction and above all its smooth, enjoyable gameplay. I really took to Beyond Good and Evil in a way I haven’t felt for many years, and I hope you’ll think it’s worth your time and try it yourself.

www.beyondgoodevil.com

I wrote about Boktai last summer. I absolutely fell in love with it, but had to say goodbye to it – along with Mr Sun – when summer ended. Now, with the sun once again out I can get into Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django. Is it the innovative life experience Konami – and I – want it to be?

You might not know anything about Boktai – that’s okay, I won’t judge you for it. There’s an article about it here, or here’s a very short summary:

• Boktai uses a solar sensor to detect how bright the sun is;

• You use the sunlight to battle vampires, power weapons and interact with all kinds of other features.

As I write in my original Boktai article, the best thing about the solar sensor is the way it brings about a merging of the in and out-of-game settings and scenarios. By covering the solar sensor or running somewhere dark, you create shadows within the game you can use to hide.

Some rooms are windy when it’s sunny, making them treacherous to cross. What do you do? Run inside, out of the sun and wind, of course.

Boktai 2 takes this a few steps further by making the sun impact upon you as a player and character, not just your surroundings and enemies. Staying out in the strong sunlight for too long causes Django to faint from heat exhaustion. Although it might seem counter-productive for a game that relies on sunlight to discourage its players from staying outside, imbuing the character with these human qualities further strengthens the link between the actual and virtual.

All the healthy and safety notices and parental cries of “don’t stay in the sun too long or you’ll get sunburnt” to warn you are all well and good, but you’re playing a game – it’s important. If Django’s fine, you’re fine. However, if your character starts to have the same kind of needs as you, things begin to change. If your helper Otenko tells you to seek shade, you do it for Django’s sake.

Of course, forcing the player to get out of the sun does seem a little like conscientious interference, but I suppose a game like this has certain responsibilities. Besides, to me the very fact that you will run into the shade because a GameBoy sprite is too hot is incredible.

I haven’t got very far in Boktai 2 yet, but it still makes me smile, and now the sun is out – and I’m out of Uni – I’m looking forward to making some genuine headway. The even better news is that Konami are developing “Lunar Knights” for the DS, which seems to be a reimagining of the Boktai characters and situations, and will be able to suck in sunlight by inserting an original Boktai GBA game into the DS. Bring it on!