RMN SNEWS - ISSUE #14

A newsletter - Avatar, RMN Christmas Card 2009, Tale of Exile, PS: kentona: The Year In Review, Silviera

  • kentona
  • 02/01/2010 07:57 PM
  • 14126 views

..:: Issue #14 ::..






James. Cameron's. Avatar.

Pocahontas meets Fern Gully: Iiin Spaaaace


What more needs to be said, really?

Fern Gully 2: Avatar. In 3D! In Space! is currently tearing up the box office, still selling out theaters some seven weeks after its premiere, despite its bland story. (Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan once said Cameron's writing was trite and devoid of subtlety; this prompted Cameron to take out a full-page newspaper ad saying, quote, "Bite me." (The source of this information is Dave Barry, noted humor columnist and all-round funny guy, so you shouldn't take anything he says seriously. Though it is seriously funny.)) Still, it's purdy to look at.


Domestic: $ 594,472,000
+ Foreign: $1,444,750,000
________________________________
= Worldwide: $2,039,222,000


Follow the local discussion here in our neck of the woods (which is in Moronic for some unknown reason): http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/5382/

(Yes, I am aware that there is already a Fern Gully 2.)



Nothing is really going on...

...or I'm getting out of touch. Maybe I'm just missing it but it seems like there is nothing much going on, site-wise or event-wise. BQ4D is wrapping up, but that's about it!

It's probably that I am out of touch, now that I've "retired" from RMN.

BRAINSTORM SOME ENDEAVORS, PEOPLE!!



Oh yeah, catmitts was interviewed by Shinan.



Difficult Boss Battles, Skippable Cutscenes, and Rage and How tolerant are you to legitimately difficult bosses?

A spate of discussions on game design have (finally) happened!

...I'd say something poignant and informative here, but I have to admit that I'm not really following either discussion. But the View and Post counts are high!

*sigh* I'm getting bad at this...







Who made it?
YDS and AznChipmunk with contributions from a large part of the RMN community.

What is it?
RMN Christmas Card 2009 is a short holiday fun-time interactive Christmas card released just in time for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Why should you care?
Why shouldn't you care, you Scrooge?! This game is a heartwarming holiday experience with great humour, a pleasing visual style and a quirky cast of characters.



Putting the spotlight on a oft-overlooked game


Tale of Exile

Gorgeous work here. - Blindmind


Who made it?
Lastturn

What is it?
Tale of Exile is a fantasy-based jRPG.

Why should you care?
As most everyone knows by now, I don't play games. I just don't make time for it like I used to. But even so, it surprised me to come across this game in the database - a completed game with a polished look and seemingly solid writing - and see that it hasn't had much of an impact here. No reviews, no comments from any of our regular members, nothing. What gives?



This installments's Play Something! Challenge


THEME: kentona: The Year In Review
"This SNEWS may possibly be the most self-serving edition yet!" - kentona

Hero's Realm by kentona
Generica by kentona
Hellion by kentona
I Expect You To Die by kentona
Befuddle Quest Trilogy by kentona & co.



It must be obvious by now that I am running out of both ideas and mojo for the SNEWS. In any event, this Play Something! challenge is actually a reinvention of a podcast I was going to do coincidentally named "kentona: A Year In Review" which was to discuss the productive year in RM-ing that I had in 2009, but since I covered 98% of what I wanted to say in that interview with Shinan I kinda scrapped that idea, but then it came time to write SNEWS #14 and this is the best I could come up with run on sentence.

1. You don't have to actually finish the game/demo, but of course you should get far enough as to where you can say you've actually played it.
2. You don't have to like the game/demo. You're completely entitled to think that the games you picked suck ass. And that brings me to my next point, and perhaps most important...
3. After you've played the games/demos you picked, give something back! This is the most important part of the whole thing! Not just a "Looks good", or "That was fun", give something more. Write a review (and submit it to the site even), post your opinions on the gamepages, list bugs you encountered, hell, maybe we'll even get something that I couldn't even have imagined. Surprise me.

What time is it? babbytime.




Silviera

I have extremely high standards
..:: Games :: Reviews ::..


The other half of the two-headed review monster known as Solivieratayre presents himself to our community.

In his own words...

RMN HISTORY:
I've been working with RPG Maker since the days of Don Miguel. Although I've made a handful of games I've never done anything but release them to a few of my friends. A few months ago I began scouring the net for a place to host my latest game demo and get a little critical feedback. Solitayre directed me here and after comparing it to the vacuous remains of most RM sites I had come across I figured this was a good place to set up shop. While here I discovered a large number of games in the database were lacking reviews so I took some small steps to correct that.

Lately I spend most of my time hanging out in IRC. Though I do lurk through the boards and blogs every so often. I still haven't gotten around to posting that demo, but I'll have it up when I'm a little more confident in my work.

PERSONAL BLURB:
I am currently a college student pursuing a degree in Computer Science. I am not working particularly hard on that and take time off pretty frequently. I earn a meager living by writing freelance articles on random topics across various sites on the net.

SPARE TIME:
I do two things with my spare time. I play games and I work on my own. I play RPGs (of both the Japanese and Western variety), FPS, shmups, fighters, action, adventure, sim, RTS, rhythm, puzzle, MMOs, sports, survival horror, visual novel and just about anything else you can think of. People are usually surprised by just how much I have played over the years. If I'm not playing something that means I'm attempting to make my own game.

FAVORITE FOOD:
Donuts of all types. I also tend to enjoy anything else bread related.

FAVORITE SAYING:
Bolt actions speak louder than words.

PET PEEVE:
Narrow minded individuals.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT:
I used to run an IRC based tabletop RPG of my own design. It ran for a year or two and accumulated a few dozen members before I closed it down.



Recognition for a dedicated member.


Dudesoft for his kickass Captins artwork.

Posts

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Funny you should mention Tales of Exile, as if I've downloaded it a few weeks ago and started playing it. I haven't gotten very far, but so far it seems like it'll be really good. I planned to pick it back up again after I was finished with my game
I thought the point of this news thread was to encourage people to play other people's games, not to toot your own horn.
The point of this newsletter is whatever I want it to be.
Oh alright, my mistake. I assumed these newsletters were written as a means to promoting the site, not promoting yourself. I won't make that mistake again.
See that you don't.


(Man, I can't believe NicoB is the only one who called me out on this! Is the SNEWS really that irrelevant and boring? (That was a rhetorical question))
I thought it was hilarious.

I dunno, maybe you can hire some help on irc/ the forums? Have user-submitted articles or whatnot?
Your games are really great. However I can't see anyone who reads this that has not already played your games. So while I don't object to the self serving play something. I think it was probably just an easy/lazy solution. Again I could be wrong.
NicoB, really. Get over yourself.

The whole thing is obviously in jest.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
lol @ your shameless plug.

I agree about avatar, but I still enjoyed it. Is it me or is James Cameron a douche? He basically told a fan who wanted his autograph to beat it, and now he responds to critique with "bite me".
Yeah, I'm not sure how true that story is. Dave Barry often just makes stuff up in his articles (he is a humor columnist) and I couldn't find anything about this on Google. Oh, and it was for Titantic, not Avatar. I do know that Kenneth Turan DID write a scathing review on Titantic though I cannot confirm that James responded with a full page BITE ME ad.
I wish more people read the SNEWS to the point where Kentona self serving himself would be rather drama worthy.
thankfully no one reads the SNEWS
Alright, alright, you guys are right, I overreacted. I'm sorry.
i think that we are lamenting that you were the only one and that no one reads the SNEWS. :(
I think people are reading it, but they probably just aren't saying anything.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
It's not like everyone who plays a game leaves a comment! Less than 1% even! I imagine there's a similar phenomenon occurring here as well! Assume 100 people read it for every comment and you're probably close.
I think people are reading it, but they probably just aren't saying anything.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
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