Gaming off the Beaten Path

Video games have been around for a relatively short time when you consider the grand scheme of things. They are certainly one of the newer media formats and their time as a respected medium has been incredibly short. However, they have also made major strides in their 50–60-year lifespan. There have been a lot of revolutionary titles that have pushed the limits of what games can achieve. Typically, those games receive the recognition they deserve as landmarks in the industry's growth. Sometimes though, even games that made huge technological strides can slip through the cracks. Just because a game is technologically impressive for its time doesn't make it good, and sometimes these revolutionary titles are forgotten because they are simply not fun to play. However, that wasn't the case for our subject this week. I will never forget the first time I experienced Jumping Flash!, one of the playable demos on the notable PlayStation Picks CD. I've talked a little bit about th...

In recent weeks, I've been doing a lot of research into RPGs that never left Japan. I haven't covered a game that never came to the U.S. in quite a while, so I figured now is as good a time as any. There are always going to be games that get stuck in Japan or only get ported to PAL regions, whether its for financial, cultural or other reasons. But during the 5th generation, it was extremely common for games to stay on the mothership, especially when it came to RPGs. Simply put, the genre just wasn't as popular in the west and it was often not worth the time and effort to localize them. I talked a little bit about this with Sweet Home (though that stood zero chance of ever being released here) and Terranigma (which was not released in North America for more business related weirdness), but it still amazes me how many games never made their way to the West and how many of them I had never heard of until much later. When I started GOTBP, I kind of made it a point to not focus ...