A Look at the Cliffhanger LaserDisc Arcade Game

In 1983, an arcade videogame called Dragon's Lair featured fully animated movie scenes that were streamed off LaserDisc. It was a great success and spawned a mini-boom of likewise imitators. Stern Electronics, the US publisher known for many successful video and pinball games, sought to get in on the action, but lacked the resources to finance a million-dollar production of their own. Instead, they turned to Japan in search of animated movies to use.

They found two anime films based on the popular Lupin the 3rd franchise: The Mystery of Mamo and The Castle of Cagliostro. After securing the rights, Stern hired Evanston, Illinois-based production company Associated Audio Visual, Inc., who assembled action scenes from both movies into an interactive game, and the resulting product was dubbed Cliffhanger.

Like most LaserDisc videogames, Cliffhanger is an interactive movie where you move a joystick or press buttons at key moments when prompted by on-screen displays. This provides the illusion of participating in the action, by dodging enemies, attacking foes or driving a car through crowded roads. Any actual interaction is minimal, and you are really just responding to flashing lights while a movie plays in the background. For the time, it was an impressive feat, but the lack of true immersion combined with high production costs doomed the genre to extinction. By 1984, the US videogame industry was in complete collapse, including the arcades, leaving only a few publishers to survive.

Miyazaki fans will be interested to know that the dubbed segments for Cagliostro were recorded exclusively for this game and appear nowhere else. An effort was made to include these scenes in the Discotek Blu-Ray package, but were unsuccessful due to rights and contracts.

The Cagliostro dub is almost cartoonishly bad. It almost sounds like the pimply teenager from The Simpsons recorded the voices and that all the dialog was riffed on the spot, without any scripting. You can also hear the original Japanese soundtrack playing faintly in the background. The names have also been changed: Cliff (Lupin), Jeff (Jigen), Samurai (Goemon), Clarissa (Clarisse) and Count Draco (Count Cagliostro).

Today, a Cliffhanger arcade is extremely rare and expensive, but the game is playable on MAME, the arcade emulator. It remains an interesting curio from a bygone era, one that could never be allowed to happen again. Miyazaki would probably slap you upside the head if you even mentioned the subject in his presence.

Animal Crossing Meets Studio Ghibli

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the newest installment in Nintendo's beloved series of cartoon virtual communities, where you move into a small town, build a house and spend your days and nights running errands, catching fish, growing trees and making arts and crafts. Its world is an idyllic rural dreamscape where you can relax, chat with friends, share fabric patterns and chase fireflies.

Studio Ghibli makes a perfect match for this laid-back videogame, and it's a joy to see fans bring the two worlds together. I found a sampling of screenshots from Animal Crossing that show off players' Ghibli creations, including costumes, flags and paintings. Some have even recreated the characters from the movies themselves, as shown in these photos. It's cute, it's fun and it's the perfect remedy for  the continuing quarantine.

So consider that your homework assignment: stay indoors, play videogames and create some Ghibli artwork to share with others.

Photos: Ni no Kuni 2

Ni no Kuni 2 (Another World 2) is a sequel to the popular videogame released on Playstation 3 and Nintendo 3DS. This new title will arrive on Playstation 4 and Windows PC on March 23. It features art designs and animation from many former Studio Ghibli artists, many of the very same people who worked on the original, including a musical score by Joe Hisaishi.

The software studio is Level-5, is best known for the Professor Layton and Inazuma Eleven series of videogames, and has been extremely successful since its founding in 1998. Ni no Kuni 2 is receiving a great amount of positive buzz, and it's clearly easy to see why from these screenshots.

The character and art designs practically scream Ghibli, which is understandable given the involvement of studio alumni. Veteran director Yoshiyuki Momose is once again directing the animation scenes in this sequel, as he has done with the first Ni no Kuni. I always wondered what could have happened if he was given the chance to direct a feature film at Ghibli. His Capsule music video trilogy remains among the most exciting animation the studio has ever produced.

It is nothing short of miraculous that modern videogames can appear virtually indistinguishable from animated films and television series. The days of having to look at blocky squares and stare at the cover illustration for imagination are long gone. I can't imagine any kid looking at this videogame and scoffing in disgust. "Ugh, these graphics suck. I can't wait for Playstation 5 to finally show up." Honestly, at this point, I see no rational reason why a "Playstation 5" should even exist. We are living in the promised land. Of course, I've been saying that since the days of the Sega Dreamcast, so maybe I'm just easily impressed.

Ni no Kuni 2 will be available in just four weeks, kids. Start saving your quarters.

Mimi's Delivery Dash: The Unofficial Studio Ghibli Videogame

Now this is just too cool for words. Ghibli Freaks of all ages have been screaming, pleading, begging for years to have videogames based on their beloved movies. Now a small team of indie developers have delivered the goods.* And it's awesome.

Mimi's Delivery Rush is a loving tribute to Hayao Miyazaki's classic 1989 movie Kiki's Delivery Service, with names changed to protect the penniless. In this game, you play "Mimi" (wink, wink) as she flies around town on delivery runs. I am partially reminded of all the great Castlevania games over the years, but I'm also reminded of Sega's Crazy Taxi, one of the all-time great quarter munchers.

The graphics are presented in a classic 16-bit side-scrolling platforming style, and everything looks terrific. There's a lot of color and detail, and the software team wisely avoided the popular trend of making "retro" graphics that are massively over-pixelated. This is much closer to how videogames looked a quarter century ago, and it looks as charming and inviting today.

This videogame was created for Movie Game Jam 2018. If you click the Mimi link above you will visit the team's website where you can cast your vote for this little gem. A number of prizes will go to the winners, but these sort of things are created purely for love. It's a thrill to be celebrated as part of a community of artists and fans.

Mimi's Delivery Dash is available on Windows (PC). The developers are Nathan Scott (programming, sound and music), Sako (pixel art and additional programming) and Martin Wright (key art and additional pixels). Kudos for all their great work. I would definitely love to see this project expanded into a full-length game, and would gladly pay for the privilege. And while we're at it...can we please have a Sega Dreamcast version? Pretty please with cherry on top?

(*Ugh, did I really sneak a lame-o pun into this article? Oy froynlavin. I blame the GamePro Writers' Guidelines, which instructed me to always employ "heavy alliteration and witty word play.")

Future Boy Conan: The Videogame (PC Engine CD-ROM)

Hayao Miyazaki fans have been screaming for videogame adaptations of his classic animated movies for years. Thankfully, our prayers have been answered...in Japan, at least. This is Future Boy Conan on the PC Engine CD-ROM, which was released in the West as the Turbografx-16 and TurboDuo. It is based, obviously, on the 1978 Miyazaki television series, which is just about the greatest cartoon series ever made.

Unfortunately, neither the anime series nor the videogame ever made it to our shores, but thanks to the magic of import shops (and internet downloads, cough, ahem), we can enjoy Conan in all his greatness.

I will freely admit that, strictly on the standards of videogame criticism, Future Boy Conan is a somewhat standard, almost rudimentary side-scrolling action-platformer. Its layouts and level designs are nowhere near the genre's greats, and if you're expecting the next Super Mario or Sonic, you'll be greatly disappointed. The game largely exists for players who wish to relive the TV series, by walking from Cut Scene A to Cut Scene B. For these reasons, this game will probably only appeal to fans of the series.

 That said, fans will have a terrific time. The many cut-scenes use the in-game graphics engine to depict its scenes, instead of merely playing compressed MPEG video clips. This means that graphics are extremely clean, sharp and colorfully detailed. The animation is a touch limited but very impressive, and the programmers did an exemplary job in recreating many of our favorite Future Boy Conan scenes, including the title sequence ('70s anime always had the best opening credits).

Hudson Soft made a strong push to promote the PC Engine/Turbografx library on Nintendo's Virtual Console, including a number of CD titles. I do wish that Konami (who now owns the Hudson name and library) would continue the good work and bring us more games, especially the many CD titles that never left Japan. Like the Sega Saturn, the PCE is an endless treasure trove for classic gamers at a time when videogames and anime were practically joined at the hip. Today's most game designers are trying to mimic Hollywood blockbuster movies. They should mimic Miyazaki anime instead.

Just tell me you wouldn't go completely gaga over a videogame version of your favorite Studio Ghibli movie just like this one. Indie developers, assemble!

I previously wrote a post about this game way back in 2010, but only shared a few screenshots. Now we can watch an extended gameplay video that really shows you the guts of this wonderful little gem.

Download My Ebooks For FREE on Amazon

Update: The free ebook promotion has ended, but the prices are now only 99 cents. Please pick up a copy. You can also purchase a paperback for $19.99, which is the ideal format for these great books.

Good news, everybody! My ebooks are FREE on Amazon from now until Sunday, December 10. Please download a copy of each and leave a reader review.

Zen Arcade: Classic Video Game Reviews features 140 classic video game reviews for NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Genesis, NEC Turbografx and Neo-Geo. Do you love retro games? Did you score that awesome Super NES Mini? Here's your guide. You've played the games, now read the book.

Pop Life features essays and stories on movies & television, music & audio, classic & modern video games, and politics & life. Oh, and there are a number of chapters on Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Ghibli and anime. This book is awesome. It's funny and grouchy and feels like a classic rock double album.

Greatest Hits: An Anthology in Four Volumes is an anthology of stories, reviews and essays on pop culture and life. Read 26 chapters about Studio Ghibli. Read 20 chapters about the greatest video games ever made. Read about vinyl records and cool albums and great movies you shouldn't miss.

Remember, kids: the sooner you download my books, the sooner I'll get off your case and go back to posting Totoro pictures. I think that's a pretty fair bargain, don't you?

Studio Ghibli Mii Characters

Nintendo created Mii Characters are player avatars for their home video game systems. They first appeared on the Wii in 2006 and continue to this day. Players can mix and match "Miis" and trade them with family and friends, and there options for creating characters is virtually limitless.

The Mii Characters fan website has been around almost since the very beginning, and they continue to post their creations and allow visitors to rate them (Nintendo once had an excellent Wii Channel called "Check Mii Out" that is, sadly, no longer available). And wouldn't you know it, there are some Studio Ghibli characters to check out.

At the present time, there aren't very many Ghibli Miis out there. I've had No-Face in my collection for years, which was fairly common. Hayao Miyazaki is new, as is Porco Rosso and Totoro, which is especially inspired. Great jaerb!

I really do wish I could download these to my Wii system, but as I've said, Check Mii Out was closed down by Nintendo, who have a notorious habit of killing successful ideas while endlessly repackaging and reselling the less successful ones (Pikmin, 3D Mario versus 2D Mario). I really don't understand their logic sometimes.

Oh, well. Enjoy these Ghibli Miis, and good luck recreating them for your Nintendo consoles.

Bocanada: A Journal of Pop Culture and the Arts - The New E-Zine From Ghibli Blog

Have you downloaded your free e-zine yet?

Many years ago (longer than I care to admit), I created zines to nourish my love of writing and popular culture. I wrote about Star Trek and science-fiction, video games, music, art, and the ups and downs of daily life. They were created on simple desktop publishing software, word processors, and an assortment of clip art and marker pens. It was very low-tech, but highly enjoyable. I even managed to score some freelance writing work at GamePro, which was tremendous fun

Ever since then, I wanted to return to zines. I even had recurring dreams about finding an old computer with long-forgotten websites that were still active, and communicating with old friends. 21 years later, while working on my multiple book projects, I thought it would be fun to finally take the plunge again and create a zine that I could share with my readers and fans. And so Bocanada Issue 1 was born.

Bocanada: A Journal of Pop Culture and the Arts. That long-winded title means, simply, that I get to write about whatever the heck I want, but mostly aimed in the same direction as my writings on Ghibli Blog and the new books: Zen Arcade, Pop Life and Greatest Hits.

For Ghibli Freaks, this issue includes essays on Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbors the Yamada. For classic and retro video game fans, there are reviews of Altered Beast (Genesis), Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis), Bonk's Adventure (TG-16), Mega Man (NES), and Street Fighter 2 Turbo (Super NES). For music lovers, we have articles on Miles Davis' 1974 jazz-fusion album Get Up With It and Sony's PS-X75 Biotracer Turntable. Finally, we have an art gallery of zine-worthy graffiti works created by me back in 2002.

The cover image is another one of my artworks, a 2005 digital painting created entirely on computer. The title is an homage to Gustavo Cerati's 1999 album, a glorious mashup of trip-hop (remember that?), Radiohead's Kid-A and The Beatles. The pages are "half-size," meaning that they are standard 8.5" x 11" pages folded in half. The zine is 48 pages in total, which matches the output of my old zines perfectly (they were 245 pages at standard size).

Bocanada was created for both physical and digital formats. I find the half-size format works perfectly for tablets and even smartphones. The pages are very readable and neatly designed without becoming too cluttered or dense. I created everything on Scribus, a freeware tool, which I suppose would disqualify me in the eyes of many zine publishers -- it's not a "real zine" unless everything is created on a typewriter, scissors and markers. Whatever.

Bocanada is available as a "perma-free" download, meaning the digital version will always be free. All you have to do is join my mailing list. In addition to receiving the zine, you will also receive regular email newsletters that feature the latest news and developments from DT Media (my indie publishing label) and Ghibli Blog, including the new books!

When is Bocanada Issue 2 coming? Soon. I'm still very busy with releasing the books, assembling the new DT Media website, and doing the usual promotional work (translation: hassling everyone with review copies and appearance requests). If we can assemble and publish the second issue in time for Thanksgiving, I'd be thrilled.

As always, thank you very much for your continued support of Ghibli Blog.

P.S. I keep mentioning the new books: Zen Arcade, Pop Life and Greatest Hits. Well, the books are finished and ready to roll out! As for release date, availability and price...join my mailing list and I'll share all the answers in my next newsletter.

Update (10/4 8:23pm): Bocanada now has a new cover design! I like it a lot, and hope you will, too.

Future Boy Conan: The Playstation 2 Video Game

Future Boy Conan is the 1978 NHK anime series directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and is a thrilling combination of adventure, romance and comedy, with strong doses of political and environmental themes that would become icons of the Studio Ghibli era. It's a fantastic show and might possibly be the director's greatest work in animation.

And here is the one thing Ghibli Freaks everywhere have begged and pleaded for years: a Miyazaki video game! D3, a software publisher dedicated largely to cartoon-videogame tie-ins, brought Future Boy Conan to the Playstation 2 in Japan.

If you're familiar with the TV series, then you'll love this game, which recreates the entire series from start to finish. Playing as Conan, you explore fully three-dimensional environments, fulfilling mission requirements, searching for objects, meeting characters, and beating up bad guys. In other words, you get to do pretty much everything you saw on the show.

D3 recreates the world of Future Boy Conan with an almost obsessive attention to detail. You can tell the programmers and designers were true fans and not just cashing in a paycheck. Animations are supremely fluid and aim to capture the stylings of the show. I especially enjoyed watching Conan running recklessly, just like he does in a dozen TV episodes.

The graphics are rendered in a style called "cel shading," in which 3D polygon models are layered with a thick black outline that mimics that look of 2D cartoon drawings. It became famous in Sega's Jet Set Radio (or Jet Grind Radio in the US), but the technique was pioneered previously in Wacky Races and Fear Effect on Dreamcast and Playstation 1, respectively. You may also recognize this style with Ni No Kuni, which was jointly produced with Studio Ghibli (the sequel uses many of the same animators, even though the studio was on hiatus at the time).

Despite my best investigations, I could not find an English-language patch for PS2 Conan. It was released exclusively in Japan and features a fair amount of text. You may need to consult a FAQ guide for assistance. Physical copies can be found on Ebay for $34.00 - $75.00, but this appears to be a slightly obscure release.

Here are a couple gameplay videos to show off Future Boy Conan. Now give us more Miyazaki videogames! And somebody release this series in the States!

Video: Heidi Meets Super Mario Kart

This Heidi-meets-Super-Mario-Kart video never gets old. It always leaves me with a big, silly grin. Why can't somebody make a real video game like this? I'd pay good money to play. Wouldn't you? Of course, you would.

My Neighbor Totoro Theme in Taiko Drum Master (Wii U)

Well, this is an unexpected surprise. Just when I was lamenting how Studio Ghibli would never lay a ten-foot pole on anything to do with videogames, along comes this gameplay video of Namo's Taiko Drum Master for Nintendo Wii U. This rhythm-based game involves striking a large drum in beat to a series of popular songs, in keeping with the popular "bemani" genre that remains popular in Japan.

The song in this video: the theme song to My Neighbor Totoro! Yay!

It seems like such a simple idea to feature a music-rhythm videogame that is exclusively devoted to music from Studio Ghibli movies. Goodness knows we have enough theme songs and pop hits to choose from. You could even use some of the licensed songs that appear in such movies as Omohide Poro Poro and Mimi wo Sumaseba. The possibilities are endless. Someone needs to make a formal proposal to Ghibli and see if Hayao Miyazaki or Toshio Suzuki would show interest. The odds are long, but the studio needs money, and this is an easy way to earn revenue while building the brand.

Taiko Drum Master never really took off outside Japan, and that's really too bad. Isn't it really just Guitar Hero with one button? Yes, but it's colorful and cheerful and gets your butt off the couch. It's good exercise, and you get to bounce along to the Totoro theme song. A win on all fronts.

8-Bit Cinema: Princess Mononoke

Continuing the "8-Bit Cinema" series from Spirited Away, we find this equally fascinating and compelling mock videogame dedicated to Hayao Miyazaki's 1997 blockbuster hit Princess Mononoke.

I think Mononoke works better as a videogame than Spirited Away. The structure of the movie fits squarely with the conventions of classic action-adventures, you have a hero on a quest and a wide cast of characters, you have a dramatic arc with many twists and turns, you have many lush environments and locales, and you have the potential for a lot of terrific action.

This video does a great job condensing the two-plus hour movie into a 2D side-scrolling game, similar to what you would expect to find on NES, Sega Master System or Turbografx-16.

Hayao Miyazaki is notoriously hostile to most modern technology, and this goes double for electronic games. He would never allow for such a project as this, but he should. Perhaps a small team of indie game developers should just go ahead and make this Mononoke a reality. Heck, somebody send an email to Vanillaware and tell them to use the Muramasa engine.

Here are some screenshots of key moments in the video:

My Neighbor Totoro in Minecraft

This is just too cool to pass up. Alan Becker, a Minecraft enthusiast and Ghibli Freak, assembled a team that faithfully recreated the world of My Neighbor Totoro in Minecraft down to the smallest detail. The latest shaders are used to provide extremely detailed graphics, albeit with the classic 1-meter blocks. Everything looks terrific.

In this video, you will find the rural town on which the movie is based, the family house and yard, and the secret forest path that leads to the giant camphor tree that is home to the Totoro Family. Big Totoro, of course, is found waiting at the bus stop in the rain. Catbus can be found on the top of the tree.

You can see how this world could make for a terrific videogame, in the style of Super Mario 64, all about exploration and discovery and surprises around every corner. I definitely want to play around in this vast garden, don't you? There actually is a website where you can download the texture pack for Minecraft, but it appears to be down at the time of this writing. Hopefully, that will be fixed soon, but it's also possible that copyright issues with Studio Ghibli have forced Becker's team to close down their links.

Here's the video, enjoy:

Spirited Away: The 8-Bit Videogame

This is just super cool. The Spiriting Away of Sen and Chihiro has been recreated as an NES-style 8-bit videogame. The video progresses through the major scenes of the movie, as Chihiro/Sen and her family arrive at an abandoned Japanese theme park, which leads to a haunted bath house for the spirit world, and many exciting adventures for the young girl who must rescue her lost parents (who have been turned into pigs).

I really enjoyed this video.  Apart from some 3D effects, it could easily be created for the NES. I could see this working as a side-scrolling adventure game, like Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, or perhaps a graphical adventure like Maniac Mansion. Somebody should make this happen. It clearly would never receive the official blessing of Studio Ghibli, but at least Miyazaki might respect the effort. He probably wouldn't tear your head off the way he famously did to those CG programmers who created the mutant zombie demo. Ouch. That was just brutal.

Kudos to the programmers who created this demo. This is a great work of classic digital art.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - All the Studio Ghibli Animated Cut-Scenes

Here are all the Studio Ghibli-animated scenes from the Factor 5 videogame Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.  At least, that's what the author of this YouTube video promises.  It's a good opportunity to watch the anime clips without having to spend weeks playing an RPG.  Okay, you should probably play the game, too, it looks really good.

Ni no Kuni suggests a possible future for Studio Ghibli - quicker, shorter and less expensive projects in other mediums.  The studio is built to handle Hayao Miyazaki films, which are enormously expensive to create, but are guaranteed to be monstrously successful in Japan and earn another $20 million overseas.  Those days are now over.  And that means the studio, in one fashion or another, will have to downsize, and more aggressively pursue smaller projects.  Working with video game developers is one possible option.

If you haven't seen Ni no Kuni and you're curious to see what Studio Ghibli created, here's your chance.  Enjoy!

Studio Ghibli "Fighting Game" and T-Shirt

Now this is a pretty cool discovery.  These are a pair of artist renderings of an imagined "Studio Ghibli fighting game.  The first one is the newer design, reminiscent of SNK's King of Fighters series, and looks pretty stylish.  The second one is older, and more classically 8-bit (one could easily imagine such a game on Commodore 64).

This does raise an interesting question: which of the Miyazaki characters would win in a fair fight?  Personally, I'd go with Nausicaa and Mononoke San, if only because they have a genuine psycho-killer streak.  But a Totoro vs. No Face vs. Ohmu battle would be pretty impressive.  Hmm...now that I think about it, a Ghibli fighting game could work.  Maybe we should hire an indie video game studio to design it, snark.

Now here's the really cool part of this story: the 8-bit graphic is available as a $25 t-shirt, any size, front or back.  Nice!  The artist, Drewwise, has created a series of video game-related shirt designs.  My favorite one, aside from this one, would have to be the Apollo shirt, obviously inspired by Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece, The Shining.  I may have to order one myself.  Who wants one of these?

Panda Kopanda Gets a Video Game, Sorta

We can always count on the videogames industry for innovation and original ideas.  Right?  Here's a shameless ripoff of Carnival Games (Nintendo Wii) for Sony's failed Move platform.  And starring the Papa Panda from Panda Kopanda, heh.

Speaking of which, the North American rights to Isao Takahata's two Panda Kopanda films have long since expired. Will any distributors pick up the rights and bring back the DVD?  These were great movies, and not just in that "I am Totoro's grandfather" sense.

Ni no Kuni - More Gameplay Videos from TGS

I promised to show more gameplay videos of Ni no Kuni from the Tokyo Game Show, and these two videos are absolutely perfect, and quite lengthy, too.  I'm interested in hearing your impressions.

The game follows the old school RPG formula, with a few interesting wrinkles like day/night.  When I see that, I'm obviously thinking of Minecraft.  Will players have to battle monsters at night?  That would be cool.  I wonder if I could chop down those trees and build a house?  Yeah, then I could build a train station and lay down some tracks, so I can get to....ah, whoops, wrong game.

The combat looks very interesting.  This is an area where RPG game mechanics haven't changed in 25 years.  It appears that instead of directly fighting, your characters can send pets who will do the fighting for you.  Shades of Pokemon, but also the great Phantasy Star Online, and it does raise a lot of possibilities.  Will you have to train your pet?  Can they be bred and grown?  Can they evolve into new forms?  I think this could be the key element that could enable Ni no Kuni to break out from a very old and tired genre.

Yes, I know that Ni no Kuni has already been released for the Nintendo DS in Japan, but I haven't seen it, so I'm choosing to follow the PS3 version as a new video game.  I'm looking forward to the surprises.  Until then, I have Saturn, Dreamcast and Minecraft to keep me happy. But, hey, that's me. Enjoy the videos!

Ni no Kuni (PS3) Gameplay Trailer

More Ni no Kuni: Queen of the White Holy Ashes Videos

Alright, now I'm interested.  Ni no Kuni (Another World) on Playstation 3 is looking very impressive, indeed.  I think this system is a better venue for a game of this caliber than a portable, where larger TV screens can really bring this world to life.  This latest footage suggests that the gameplay will be deeply integrated with Studio Ghibli's animated scenes, and the heavily-populated environments and cel-shaded graphics are very promising.  I've recently been playing Phantasy Star Online for Sega Dreamcast, so I'm in a suitably receptive mood.

When it comes to upcoming video games, I am, by nature, skeptical.  It does you no good to become part of the hype machine.  If the final game is good and we're having fun, that's all that counts.  Until then, we should do no more than cross our fingers and hope for the best.  Just knowing that we're actually getting a brand new video game is an event, instead of Cinematic Gun Sequel #2459 and Yearly Franchise Rehash #3196.  Please please please don't let this become yet another generic, formulaic clone.  Surprise us.  Show us something new.

Ni no Kuni is headed to the US just in time for Christmas and New Year's, which is welcome news.  Now if the fine folks at Level 5 would only be so kind as bring Ni no Kuni to the Dreamcast, then we'll really be rolling.

Ni no Kuni (Another World) Trailer for PS3

As Ghibli Freaks everywhere are well aware, Studio Ghibli is working in tandem with videogame studio Level 5 to create the adventure/RPG title, Ni no Kuni, or Another World.  The game first emerged in Japan for the Nintendo DS, and now is being ported to the Playstation 3.  I'm sure you'll agree that this is the better platform, as we'll be able to enjoy the vivid artwork and skillful animation on our television screens.

To be honest, I haven't really spent any time on Ni no Kuni because it doesn't appear very inspiring.  Yes, it's always great to see something new from Ghibli, and it's especially nice to see the younger staff involved in side projects.  But there's something rather predictable in the character designs and art direction.  It feels a bit formulaic, almost stereotypically "Miyazaki-esque."  I'm reminded of the Disney movies that followed after Walt Disney's death: competent, skilled, yes, but uninspiring and lacking that creative gusto that made the original classics, well...classics.  Fantasia was an act of courage, a work of mad genius.  Direct-to-DVD sequels are just cynical cash-ins.

I feel the same way towards Ni no Kuni.  Richly colored fantasy worlds, tending towards the surreal, cutesy animal sidekick, elements that could have been swept off the cutting room floor from Howl's Moving Castle.  But Howl was a great movie by a great artist, one who knows how to transcend the banalities of children's fantasy.  Miyazaki is a deeply personal storyteller with a strong Kurosawa and Fellini bent, and he is willing to take creative risks when necessary.  And he honestly doesn't care if he alienates everybody in the process; he's lost money on movies before, he's survived.

Ni no Kuni is a work-for-hire, one that deliberately cashes in on the Ghibli name, without really adding to its legacy in any meaningful way.  It's an interesting experiment, and perhaps a template for future video game projects; I can see the studio expanding its output considerably in the post-Miyazaki era.  At this point, anything is possible, so this is a valuable learning experience, if nothing else.

Anyway, these are only my fleeting opinions on the matter.  If you enjoy this video game, by all means,  buy it for the DS or PS3 and have fun.  If Level 5 releases a Sega Saturn or Dreamcast version, I would be interested.  Hey, stranger things have happened, kids.