My thoughts on Playstation Move Ape Escape

Although I don't have as much interest as I used to back when I was using my previous deviantART account, I can't help but express what I think of the new Playstation Move Ape Escape game for the Playstation 3's Move.

Before I saw any pictures or videos of the game, I thought it would be a great comeback for Ape Escape in North America and places outside Asia. It has been a while since Sony released an Ape Escape game (Ape Escape 3) outside of Asia. To them, it's probably time to bring it back to North America and Europe, but to me, they are somewhat too late. I mean, they didn't released 3 Ape Escape games outside of Asia over the past 5 years, and those are frigging good games (Ape Academy 2 came out in Europe, so it's not counted).

I could go on with how the other 3 games should be released outside of Asia, but I don't want to get carried away and focus more on this game.

Gameplay (2.5/5):

After watching the gameplay footage of the game, I was somewhat disappointed with the new gameplay. I am not going to jump on the bandwagon and hate this game. To be honest, the gameplay is not that bad, but it doesn't feel like a big game. It's more like a mini game in Wii Play or Wii Party.

It's great for new gamers or casual gamers, it's questionable for an Ape Escape fan, but I don't recommend it for hardcore gamers.

The rail-on shooter gameplay is not bad, but couldn't they make the game harder? This game is way too easy. To make it even more easy, they removed the health bar. You would be bored after swinging the Move controller for an hour and you can only swing in 2D. Why can't I use my net to reach out for a monkey from a far distance (3D depth) and why are they coming to you? Shouldn't the monkeys be running away from you because you have a net? Instead they are just mindlessly running at you. I thought those Pipo Helms have made them smarter, but in this game, they made them dumber. From what I heard the difficulty increases constantly, and that the last levels can make you swing your Move controller all over the place.

I think Sony should made more use of the motion sensing. Ape Escape has so much potential when it comes to motion-sensing. Back when the Wii came out, I had so many great ideas about how Ape Escape can revolutionize the gaming world with motion sensing. After all of these years, is this the best Sony can come up with?! A rail-on shooter game style and all you have to do is wait for those crazy monkeys come to you so you can catch them? This game makes the Wii Remote look more superior than the Move and Mario Party 8 more fun.

Story (4/5):

I was looking at the game's main website and I was surprised that the only character that came back was Specter. There are four new characters in the game, two teenage female twins named Touko (Did the name made you think of Touko/Hilda from Pokemon Black and White) and Tsukushi, a professor named Haru and this mysterious blue-haired guy. I don't know who is that, but I assumed it's Kei/Satoru from Ape Escape 3 due to their similarities in appearance. The characters are not bad, but I would like to see characters from previous games.

The storyline is surprising heartwarming. Specter doesn't seem like an evil villain but more of a lost and confused monkey who was launched into space by mankind in order to win the space race to the moon. I have to admit, the story does compensate for the gameplay.

Controls (3/5):
The controls for this game isn't really much of a big deal. If you have played Wii titles like Zelda Twilight Princess or Super Mario Galaxy, this game would be super easy. Judging from the gameplay videos, I think there are only three to four gadgets to use in the game. I think the gadgets could have been better. The net needs a big improvement, the slingshot is not so bad, and I would rather use a fan to hit those
monkeys instead of debris in the air. Why are there ONLY three gadgets? In Ape Escape 2, you had 12 gadgets. In Ape Escape 3, you only have 8 gadgets but they compensate the missing four gadgets with a variety of transformations, but in the game there are ONLY THREE TO FOUR?!

Graphics(4/5):
The graphics for the PS3 is not that bad. It's really colorful for an Ape Escape game.

Overall Impression:
Overall, the game is more of an experiment and Sony playing around with since this is the first Ape Escape game that uses motion sensing.
I think this game would have done better if it was released in 2006. However this is 2011, NOT 2006.
By now, gamers already have an idea what a good motion sensing game is, since the Wii made a huge breakthrough
with motion sensing with games like Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Party, and etc. For fans of Ape Escape in the US and Europe
who have dying for a US release of an Ape Escape game for 5 years, this game would only pleased a small number of them. I do not recommend getting the game, but I do recommend watching the cutscenes from the game. The story melts your heart. I don't think this game is a sequel to Ape Escape 3. At least this game is NOT as brutal and cruel as Ape Escape Academy. It's more of a spin-off, so fans of Ape Escape, please don't take this game too seriously and give this game a chance.

For the final grade, I give Playstation Move Ape Escape:
(3 out of 5 stars).

Now let's hope they release Piposaru Racer and Saru Saru Daikusen here before PSP retires.

My Other Comments:

When I watched IGN's review, I was terribly surprised that IGN or any of the game reviewers did not make any mentions about the 4 Ape Escape games that never got released outside of Japan over the past 5 years. D8

My impression of IGN's review of this game:
I think they are too harsh on this game especially by comparing this game to superior on-rail shooter games in the PS3 library of games. I saw the walkthrough of the game and I think it's an okay game.
It's not revolutionary, but it's not too bad. I think western video game critics and western fans of Ape Escape expect too much from Sony because it has been 5 years since Ape Escape 3. We were just too desperate for another Ape Escape game that our expectations for a new Ape Escape game has skyrocketed.

My recommendation is to listen to what the owners of this game have to say. They are better critics than IGN and myself. My review is based more on research, my own opinion, and people who own this game's opinion. I never own or played the game, but I have encountered games that have similar game to Playstation Move Ape Escape.

*Update as of July 20th 2011*
I decided to change my score on this game to 3 stars because 2.5 stars out of 5 is close to 3 stars out of 5, and decimals don't sound appealing in a 5-star rating system.

Playstation Move Ape Escape cutscenes

Specter's Music Video 10: In the Finale of the Night

Youtube Poop-No Dinner For You

Don't ever be late for dinner.

Specter's Music Video 10 Final Update

This is the last update for Specter's Music Video 10 until its release.

I can finally confirm that Specter's Music Video 10 will be out by July 16th midnight.

The official title for Specter's Music Video 10 will be called:
"Specter's Music Video 10: In the Finale of the Night".

I think the title somewhat gives away the song that will be in this final music video if you happen to be a fan of Don Bluth movies, and that it's really the final music video in the Specter's Music Video series.

*UPDATE* As of July 12th 2011
 -For Japanese viewers-

スペクターのミュージックビデオ１０のオフィシャルタイトルは：　

スペクターのミュージックビデオ１０：　イン　ザ　ファナレ　オブ　ザ　ナイト。

ドンブラフの映画を見たら、タイトルはたぶん歌のなまえを漏らすんだよ。

スペクターのミュージックビデオのほかのビデオを見ることがないと、僕の古いユーチューブのアカウントに、スペクターのミュージックビデオ１からスペクターのミュージックビデオ９までがあります。

このリンクは僕の古いユーチューブのアカウントのだ。
http://www.youtube.com/user/PipoMadness1992 

-For English viewers-
Specter's Music Video 1 and 2 has been updated to have their own titles to keep up with the series.
Specter's Music Video 1's new title is called Specter's Music Video 1: Monkey of Mystery
-Name is based off the Mystery Movie from Ape Escape 3.
Specter's Music Video 2's new title is called Specter's Music Video 2: Duel of the Apes
-Name is based off the song's name.

Important notice about future サルゲッチュ manga translations

This is a important post that concerns about the サルゲッチュ manga translations.

As a fan of Japanese mangas, I really like to translate mangas in English because I want everyone to know how great the mangas I read. As much as I want to translate these mangas from Japanese to English, I also want to respect the publishers and the authors of the サルゲッチュ manga volumes and the other mangas series that I have.

I am not going to stop translating them into English. I am going to perform a style of translating these mangas that will not let me get into trouble with copyright laws and satisfy western readers.

Instead of having to get my butt from the chair and scan each page from the volumes I own, I will be typing out a fully translated version of each volume in a Microsoft text document file.

How would this work?

I will be having one manga volume on one side of my keyboard, with Microsoft Office 2007 opened, an online Japanese dictionary and a hardcover Japanese dictionary (in case the online one doesn't know the word I am looking for). I will translate the Japanese text from the volumes and type them out in English on my computer.

Not only I will be translating the dialogue from the panels, I will also translate every single thing in each panel, including signs and etc. Explanations will be provided if I find a joke that can only be understood by the Japanese language such as puns.

Page numbers will be included in the document file so you can read along with the translation and have the actual book in your hand. I will make sure that it's organized so you won't easily get lost or confused.

The text document will be saved in .doc since not everyone has Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010.

I hope to get Volume 1 of サルゲッチュ translated into English.

If you happen to know a language other than English, it will be great if you can translate it to other languages like French or German.

*UPDATE* July 12th 2011
I removed the post that has a page from Volume 1 of サルゲッチュ to avoid getting in trouble with Corocoro Magazine.

Prepare for trouble

and let's make it double by showing a hint of a remake of Freaky Monkey Five and Specter's Double Trouble at the end of this video!

I made a video like this a few years ago but with Ape Escape 2 and 3 clips. Now with Saru Get Chu ~On Air!~ 2nd episodes! 8D

Future videos will be posted like this on this blog.

If this video can't be found, notify me and I will upload the video that is not linked to Youtube on this blog.

The most terrible and NOT legit removal notification I have ever seen in my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Khf2D_Yyo

I was looking at Saru-Getchu-FC's latest journal entry on deviantART a few days ago and saw a link to one of the trailers for the new Fury Fury Ape Escape game for the PlayStation Move. When I went to that link, I saw the most ridiculous removal notification I have ever seen. It's so bad that it's not even funny.

Of all of the removal notifications I have seen in my life, this notification is COMPLETELY made up of bullshit. First of all, Sega and Square Enix DO NOT own Ape Escape. Ape Escape is owned by Sony. Second, the word "sega" doesn't have a capital letter at the beginning. If they were to put Sega in the notification, they should put Sega Corportation, which is the official name of the company NOT "sega". Third, what the hell is "SEGA Ministry of Justice"? For crying out loud! Sega is a company, NOT a country. I even looked up on google and it didn't say anything about it.

This removal notification is a insult to the Ape Escape franchise, Ape Escape fans and the Sony Corporation. Whoever made typed this notification and made up this false crap needs to be brought to justice!