Update 1/22 - Agness Kaku interview, Dynamite Deka, Hungry Ghosts, Little Samson, Corpse Killer

We've been teasing it for a little awhile now, but we're finally ready to post it - an extremely long interview with Agness Kaku, the translator of Metal Gear Solid 2, amongst the other titles we've posted translation files for lately (Hybrid Heaven, Metal Gear Solid GBC). It's a bloody fantastic interview, if mostly because you don't see this kind of candor and honesty in an interview about old video games. Also in the interview are links to the translation documents for MGS2, which may provide for some very interesting reading.

On the usual article side, I've followed up my review of Dynamite Dux for a few weeks ago with Dynamite Deka, which functionally has not much to do other than sharing a similar name (and being beat-em-ups, and being made by Sega). This is a series more commonly known as Die Hard Arcade in North America, with the sequel being known as Dynamite Cop. I have a special relationship with this game, because the movie theater I worked at in high school had this game in the lobby, so I heard the attract screen ("I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE SWAT MEMBERS...WHERE IS THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER?") countless times over the course of at least a few summers. The main reason I wrote this article now is because I discovered that Naomi emulation is pretty good nowadays, so I could play the "lost" third game, Dynamite Deka EX, which was only released in arcades in Japan. As it turns out, it's not a new game so much as a reskinning of the second game to take place in Hong Kong, but it's super bizarre and worth reading about.

Also up is Little Samson, the NES Mega Man-style platformer which is one of the most valued official US release games (not counting ridiculous stuff like Stadium Events), and is actually quite good, as well as Hungry Ghosts, a first person horror game only released on the PlayStation 2 in Japan. Your Weekly Kusoge is Corpse Killer, another FMV game by Digital Pictures. This article bummed me out a bit because I didn't realize Vincent Schiavelli, prolific character actor, had passed away. Our spotlight article is Syndicate, mostly because the game was recently released for a mere $6 on GOG.com, which is undoubtedly part of the marketing plan to prep everyone for the new reimagining coming in a few months courtesy of Starbreeze.

Finally, added a few new book reviews, including Replay: The History of Video Games, Masters of Doom, and Family Computer 1983-1994.