Paul Brownlee

One of Square Enix’s best character designers is leaving ⊟

I love Akihiko Yoshida’s work. You’ve seen his distinctive style in Bravely Default, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy XII, The Four Heroes of Light, the Final Fantasy III remake, and other games. Look at this gallery — everything’s beautiful!

He announced his departure in a personal message printed in The Art of Bravely, a Bravely Default art book that released in Japan today. Though he’ll no longer be at the company, Yoshida expects to continue his relationship with Square Enix and work on the Bravely Default series. In fact, we saw his name attached to the Bravely Second announcement yesterday.

We don’t know yet where Yoshida’s headed next or if he will remain in the game industry. You can see more of his work at this wonderful Tumblr dedicated to Yoshida’s art.

PREORDER Bravely Default, upcoming games, our holiday gift guide

Quickie deal alert on this. GameStop has a few deals on PS Vita titles and memory card for Cyber Monday. (Heck, as I’m writing the 32GB memory card deal went out of stock).

Read PS Vita 16GB Memory Card Cyber Monday Deals from GameStop on Siliconera!

1 in 20 obey 55 mph limit while average speeds rise above 70

As Illinois gets ready to allow speed limits to rise to 70 mph, the research stirs debate about just what the speed limit should be on the Tollway.

PS Vita with Uncharted, Retro City Rampage, and more for $175 ⊟

All right, I’m not apologizing for the deal posts anymore. It’s going to happen this weekend. Amazon has the PS Vita Walking Dead pack, which includes all five episodes of the game, a system, and a 4GB Memory card, for $174.99, $25 off.

And as a bonus, it comes with free copies of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Sly Cooper, and Retro City Rampage! That’s… well, that’s that 4GB memory card taken care of. Also worth noting: you can get a 1-year PS Plus membership at Amazon for 40% off today, making it $29.99 (comes with $5 Amazon Instant Video credit too).

BUY PS Vita, upcoming games 

Black Friday deals are live on Amazon and you can get Ni no Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch for $15 now. Also, Level-5's game sold enough to reach Greatest Hits in North America. Good for Drippy!

Read Grab Ni no Kuni Or Kingdom Hearts Games For $15, SMTIV Is $30 on Siliconera!

Zelda 3DS XL bundle $150 at Target ⊟

Well this deal is wacky. I can’t handle this deal. We even double-checked with Nintendo to make sure it didn’t mix up its bundles because this sounds too good to be true, but the company says this sale is for sure gonna happen.

[Update: Target’s customer service Twitter account claimed the bundle will not be a part of the retailer’s 3DS XL sale, but then reversed that stance.]

Between November 28 and November 30, all 3DS XL hardware will be discounted to $150 at Target… including the new Zelda 3DS XL, according to Nintendo. Which comes with A Link Between Worlds. And looks super nice.

I’m not sure you want to be in a store at this time of year, but man, it’s a great deal if you happen to end up in one (I have a feeling these things will be sold out instantaneously).

The good news is that $150 is a great price for whatever 3DS XL you can find! Image via miggggg.

BUY The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, upcoming games

This is the exact reason I don’t play any MMORPGs. I’m pretty convinced that if start playing World of Warcraft, now that it’s free to play, that a half-hour in I’ll be shelling out a few hundred real world dollars just to see my troll wearing a bikini. That’s the way those types of games get you, their advertisements offer promises of scantily clad women, but the reality seldom delivers. That’s why I only play games with very low review scores. That way my since my expectations are already low, I’m never disappointed by expecting too much.

Sony's Playstation 4 comes with a slow, but swappable hard drive. How much faster is it with a high-end SSD? tl;dr: significantly, but probably not enough to bother with given the prices involved. Nice upgrade, though!

The Washington Post reports on "super zips"--postcodes that rank highly for income and college education levels. A striking interactive map is included in the article, to show what money looks like from space.

November has been a huge month for PlayStation, and there’s never been a better time to join PlayStation Nation. We’ve got some incredible Black Friday deals for PS3, PS Vita, PS Plus and more, to keep November going strong.

PS3

We’re putting two of the most popular PS3 titles of 2013 together to bring you the PS3 Black Friday Bundle for only $199 (MSRP). This bundle includes a 250GB PS3, Batman Arkham Origins, and The Last of Us — one of the highest-rated games of the year. That’s $165 worth of savings.

So Black Friday is the perfect time to pick up a PS3, and we’re continuing to bring you great content on the platform. Gran Turismo 6, the latest entry in one of the most popular franchises in PlayStation history, will launch exclusively on PS3 on December 6th. Not to mention blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, Battlefield 4…

PS Vita

It’s also a great time to pick up a PS Vita, so you can play Tearaway — which launched today to stellar reviews — and recent hits like Killzone Mercenary, Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition, and Spelunky.

PS Vita is the ultimate companion device for PS4 through key features like Remote Play, letting gamers play most PS4 titles on their PS Vita via Wi-Fi on their home network, freeing up the television for other uses. Check out the various deals below:

• Best Buy — All PS Vita systems available (11/24 – 11/28) — $169.99
• GameStop — PlayStation Vita 3G/Wi-Fi Bundle (11/29 – 12/1) — $179.99
• Target — All PS Vita systems available (11/28 – 11/30) — $179.99
• Toys R Us — All PS Vita systems available (11/28 – 11/29) — $179.99
• Walmart.com — All PS Vita systems available (11/28 – 11/29) — $179.99

PS Plus

There will also be a special Black Friday deal for PlayStation Plus at select retailers nationwide. Pick up 1 year of PS Plus for only $29.99* — that’s 40% off the regular price of $49.99. With PS Plus, you’ll get new games every month with Instant Game Collection. You’ll also get access to online multiplayer on the PS4 system. Best of all, one membership will cover you across your PS4, PS3, and PS Vita… for just $29.99* on Black Friday only.

*Limit 2 per person, per purchase. Offer valid 11/29/13 only, while supplies last.

Games

Black Friday is a huge day to pick up games at great prices. First-party games like The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls will be available for $39.99 each (additional days and savings at some retailers). Check your local retailers for additional deals on more than 20 first-party titles.

There will also be special pricing available for DualShock 3 wireless controllers at select retailers nationwide. Check your local retailers for pricing and availability.

These deals won’t be around for long, so mark your calendar for next Friday and get ready to rake in the savings. Have a happy holiday, PlayStation Nation!

Combat is a mix of using weapons such as swords, martial arts and sorcery, with three different skill trees to invest in as Wyatt levels up in the course of his adventures.

Read Side-Scrolling RPG Valdis Story Channels Bits Of Castlevania on Siliconera!

Tiny Review - Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ⊟

You don’t need us to tell you The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is amazing. Almost every reviewer (except maybe Destructoid) agrees it’s top tier, and you likely have the 3DS game shipping your way if it’s not already in your hands anyway. But since some of you insisted on Twitter, we’ll play our part as the arbiters of what’s fun on handhelds.

We’ve previously talked at length about all the changes Nintendo’s made to the Zelda formula have all been for the better: the Link-turns-into-a-drawing mechanic allows for new and creative puzzles, immediate equipment rentals let you explore the way you want to, and the game is full of welcome tweaks to streamline the experience. Since we’ve gone over all that, let’s just get to the usual bullet list of arbitrary observations.

Four things that are fab:

1. Rumor Guy. I wish he had more gossip, or that he was in every single Nintendo game just talking a whole bunch of mess about other characters.
2. The music that plays during that minigame in which you have to rush across the map before time runs out. Actually the whole soundtrack is choice.
3. Everything about the Thieves’ Hideout. The clever way you sneak in (piece together a tune sung by nearby hoodlums), the escort puzzles, and the boss. One of the best Zelda dungeons of all time.
4. A collect-a-thon I enjoyed! The game makes you actually want to find Mother MaiMai’s 100 children and trade them in for weapon upgrades.

thousands of pro bloggers care to differ

Two things that are butt:

1. Predictable weapons. Most of them are carried over from A Link to the Past. I prefer having weird items, like Phantom Hourglass' Bombchu Bag or Twilight Princess' Spinner.
2. The Swamp dungeon was no fun. No surprise there.

Score:

image via hellfire_dj

BUY The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, upcoming games

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Tiny Cartridge’s review of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is based on a copy provided by Nintendo.

These mashups of the Disney Princesses with Final Fantasy classes reminds me of two things. One, that The Princess and the Frog is a very underrated movie and two, that I completely forgot all about Atlantis: The Lost Empire because it isn’t. Sorry, Cree Summer.

So here’s how the Disney Princesses break down:

Ariel (The Little Mermaid) – Red Mage
Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) – Black-Mage
Belle (Beauty and the Beast) – Beastmaster
Cinderella (Cinderella) – Paladin
Jasmine (Aladdin) – Summoner
Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) – Dark-Knight
Merida (Brave) – Archer
Mulan (Mulan) – Monk
Pocahontasv(Pocahontas) – Warrior
Rapunzel (Rapunzel) – Thief
Snow-White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) – White-Mage
Tiana (The Princess and the Frog) – Lancer

mrspoonsi writes "The Xbox One controller went through many radical designs, including a built-in pico projector and a cartridge designed to release smell. Apparently, 'the core base didn't appreciate them,' so these wacky features were dropped in favor of a standard controller. According to VentureBeat, over $100 million worth of research went into the design they ended up using. 'Microsoft’s first tweaks for a new controller focused on the overall size and how it’d fit into hands, golden or otherwise. Using the Xbox 360 controller as a starting point, the engineers would make plastic-molded or 3D-printed prototypes that were each 1 millimeter wider or narrower than the last, testing a full range of up to plus or minus 8 millimeters. “That gave us the ability to test, with actual users including women and children, which width feels best,” said Morris. “We tested with more than 500 people throughout the course of the project. All ages, all abilities.” ... Morris and his team then looked at different thicknesses and shapes of the grips (or “lobes,” as he calls them), plus the angle of the triggers, different styles of analog sticks, and more.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Rogue archivist Carl Malamud writes, "Something pretty rare happened last week. City officials of Chicago got together with hackers from around the country to unveil a vastly better new online version of the Chicago City Code. Public.Resource.Org worked with the City to make bulk data available, the folks at the OpenGov Foundation turned that into the popular States Decoded format that folks are using in DC, Virginia, San Francisco, and other locations around the country. The code, the data, and the formats are all open source and we were there to celebrate the unveiling and encourage volunteers in Chicago to take it even further."

The idea that citizens work with their government to make the laws more accessible shouldn't be a big shocker, but it is really rare. My speech at the event, The Virtuous Pipeline of Code, explained why it's so rare and how if you're in the business of promulgating the law to promite an informed citizenry, you can find yourself on the business end of a subpoena. (Recent examples on Boing Boing: threats Public.Resource.Org received from Mississippi and for reading the National Electrical Code without a license.)

The Virtuous Pipeline of Code

(Image: Carl Malamud presents the Honorable Susana Mendoza, City Clerk of Chicago, with a Professional-grade rubber stamp inscribed "If a law isn't public, it isn't a law.") (Thanks, Carl!)

Contrast, our PS4 launch title, is out today. If you were born in the ’70s (as I was), or have watched “Arrested Development,” you’ll know the song “The Final Countdown.” It is cornily (Is that a word?) appropriate when your game is close to launch status. It can pump you up and can also bring you back to all the good and bad that was the ’80s. Much simpler times when two programmers would make all of the design, art, animation, sound, and code for a game. And back then, game design counted for something. Be damned you kids these days and your fancy save games and discs you don’t have to blow on to play.

Games like Paperboy, Dig Dug, and — one of my personal favorites — Racing Destruction Set were profoundly fun because they were simple. But simple didn’t mean easy. These games somehow got made because of a genuine fire to develop something new and have fun in a brand new industry. These early Godfathers of video games were passionate because they accomplished something special, were published, and people responded to their creations.

Just as I suspect these early developers found, we learned really quickly that it was difficult to create puzzles with a new mechanic — in our case, being able to shift in and out of your shadow, swapping from 3D to 2D and back again. This was not only because the designers had to retrain themselves in a different way of thinking, but had to also better understand how the player will interpret and use the new mechanics. Some puzzles became too hard, some were just completely insane, and some even we couldn’t understand what to do with them.

There were some tough days and weeks as we worked and iterated through the myriad of new ideas and concepts, trying to get them all to work nicely together. With each step along the way we were able to confidently move forward, mainly thanks to the positive support we received and knowing (hoping) we were going in the right direction. We demoed to friends and family, invited play testers to give it go, and got in front of the big-wigs who told us “this is the best thing we’ve seen at GDC.” This feedback was crucial to us in fuelling our inner creative fire, that positive reinforcement that gets burned deep down to keep us going through the tougher times as we hit points in the development where we realized “well that is clearly never going to work.”

The team uses that fuel as their inner strength that keeps growing with each positive Tweet, Facebook message, and simply seeing the response after putting a controller into the hands of a brand new player. We funnel it like Imhotep (well maybe not quite like that…) and maybe our hearts would grow two sizes that day. Either way, it’s what’s kept us going.

A pivotal moment for us where I knew we had made it was when we had our first cosplayer.

Four years into a two year project, Contrast — along with Dawn & Didi — will finally get the performances they’ve been waiting behind the curtain to deliver. The fire has been burning for quite some time, and it took a lot of fuel to keep it going. It’s time to replenish that fuel.

As Producer, I’m generally the one to hang back and make sure things got done while the other team members got to travel to faraway and exotic places like Boston and Seattle. Living the high life, mixing it up with the gaming public at large, making some new friends, and generally basking in the positive feedback of what we had done thus far, is something I missed out on.

I didn’t get to either PAX East or Prime this year, nor did I get to Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show — or Bay to Breakers for that matter!

But our project is finally done, and I get the honor of taking part in the PS4 launch extravaganza this week in NYC. It’s an epic event, and getting to show off Contrast to journalists and select consumers for the last time before we go live on November 15th will go down as one of the best payoffs of this project.

At this point it really is a game that we are very proud of. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the best game that we could have put out there. Now I’m looking forward with a sense of accomplishment and a big-ass smile, standing proud that our small, rag-tag group of seven devs could pull off such a showing at the launch of PS4! We’re grateful to PlayStation for supporting us. And while we may have fooled some people along the way, there will be no fooling the public when they get their hands on it. And that’s what will once again fuel my fire.