#Bionic Commando 2009

[poz-patrol]

Bionic Commando 2009

[joshuasumter]

What if...The Cross Zone got a lot bigger?

From the creative minds that bought you Namco X Capcom, Project X Zone was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012 in Japan and worldwide in 2013, receiving great praise as it bought characters from three legendary game developers -- Capcom, Sega, and Namco Bandai -- to crossed worlds, dimensions, and the fabric of time for the ultimate cross-over tactical RPG mashup!

But what if the cross zone had gotten a whole lot bigger with even MORE titles and are joined by even more characters from surprising guest companies.

What if...The Cross Zone got a lot bigger? explores what would happen if the events of Namco X Capcom, Project X Zone, and Project X Zone 2 occurred differently with the inclusion of characters, worlds, and universes of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Square Enix, and much more. For example, my fan-made original story movie inspired by the crossover RPG.

The Project X Zone Movie (Capcom x Sega x Bandai Namco x Cartoon Network x Nickelodeon x Disney x Pixar x Square Einx x Channel Federator x Channel Awesome)

The Project X Zone Movie 2: Fate of Many Worlds (Capcom x Sega x Bandai Namco x Cartoon Network x Disney x Pixar x Square Einx x Marvel x Star Wars x Level-5)

NAMCO BANDAI

Namco X Capcom (Reiji Arisu, Xiaomu)

Project X Zone (Mii Koryuji, Kogoro Tenzai)

Tekken (Jin Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, Ling Xiaoyu, Alisa Bosconovitch)

.hack// (Kite, BlackRose)

.hack//G.U. (Haseo)

Tales of Versperia (Yuri Lowell, Fylnn Scifo, Estelle Sidos Heurassein)

Summon Night 3 (Aty)

Adventure of Valkyrie (Valkyrie, Kurino Sandra, Sabine)

Bravoman (Arnold/Bravoman)

Wonder Momo (Kanda Momo/Wonder Momo)

Soulcalibur V (Natsu)

Soul Edge (Taki, Mitsurugi Heishiro)

Tales of Destiny (Rutee Katrea, Stahn Aileron)

Xenosaga (KOS-MOS, MOMO, Shion Uzuki)

Tower of Druaga (Gilgamesh, Ki)

Shadow Land (Tarosuke)

The Genji and the Heike Clans (Taira no Kagekiyo)

Baraduke (Masuyo Tobi)

Burning Force (Hiromi Tengenji)

Ordyne (Miyuki Chan)

Dig Dug (Taizo Hori)

Klonoa (Klonoa, Guntz)

God Eater (Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, Soma Schicksal, Lindow Amamiya, Ciel Alencon, Nana Kouzuki)

Yumeria (Neneko, Neito)

CAPCOM

Street Fighter (Ryu, Ken Masters, Chun-li, Guile, Cammy White, Ingrid)

Ghosts n' Goblins (Sir Arthur)

Okami (Amaterasu, Issun)

Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe, Sexy Silvia)

Monster Hunter (Monster Hunter, Felyne, Palico, Gore Magala)

Breath of Fire III (Ryu, Nina, Momo, Garr, Rei, Peco, Honey)

Resident Evil Revelations (Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine)

Resident Evil 6 (Leon S. Kennedy, Helena Harper, Ada Wong)

Resident Evil: Dead Aim (Bruce McGivern, Fong Ling)

Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes)

Darkstalkers(Morrigan Aensland, Demitri Maximoff, Felicia, Hsien-Ko, Donovan Baine, Anita, Jon Talbain, Victor Von Gedenheim)

Dead Rising (Frank West)

Devil May Cry (Dante, Trish, Lady, Nero, Nico)

Bionic Commando (2009) (Nathan Spencer)

Captain Commando (Captain Commando, Hoover (Baby Head), Jennety (Mack the Knife), Sho (Ginzu the Ninja))

Dino Crisis (Regina)

Final Fight (Guy, Mike Haggar)

Mega Man (Rock/Mega Man, Roll, Blues/Proto Man, Rush, Tango, Eddie, Beat)

Mega Man X(X, Zero, Axl)

Mega Man Legends (Tron Bonne, Servbots, Mega Man Volnutt, Roll Casket)

Star Gladiator (June Lin Milliam)

Strider (Strider Hiryu)

Forgotten Worlds (Unknown Soldier 1P, Unknown Solider 2P, Sylphie)

Cyberbots (Jin Saotome, Princess Devilotte de Death Satan IX)

SEGA

Billy Hatcher (Billy Hatcher, Chick Poacher, Rolly Roll, Bantam Scrambled)

Golden Axe (Ax Battler, Gilius Thunderhead, Tyris Flare)

Panzer Dragon (Keil Fluge, Blue Dragon)

Alex Kidd (Alex Kidd, Stella)

NiGHTS into Dreams (NiGHTS)

Skies of Arcadia (Vyse, Aika, Fina, Cupil, Gilder, Enrique, Drachma)

Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog)

Sonic Boom (Sticks the Badger)

Bayonetta (Bayonetta, Jeanne, Viola, Luka)

Virtua Fighter (Akira Yuki, Pai Chan, Kage-Maru)

Fighting Vipers (Bahn)

Shenmue (Ryo Hazuki)

Shinobi (Hotsuma)

Shinobi: Nightshade (Hibana)

Space Channel 5 (Ulala)

Streets of Rage (Axl Stone)

Sakura Wars (Ichiro Ogami, Sakura Shinguji, Gemini Sunrise, Erica Fontaine)

Yakuza/Like A Dragon (Kazama Kiryu, Goro Majima, Ichiban Kasuga)

Resonance of Fate (Zephyr, Leanne, Vashyron)

Valkyria Chronicles III(Kurt Irving, Riela Marcellis, Imca)

Sega Saturn Advertisements (Segata Sanshiro, Sega Shiro (Segata's son))

Shining Force EXA(Toma, Cyrille)

Dynamite Cop (Bruno Delinger)

Zombie Revenge (Rikiya Busujima)

NINTENDO

Fire Emblem Warriors (Rowan, Lianna)

Fire Emblem: Awakening (Chrom, Lucina)

Xenoblade Chronicles (Fiora, Shulk)

DISNEY

Gravity Falls (Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines)

Kim Possible (Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Rufus)

American Dragon: Jake Long (Jake Long, Trixie, Spud, Fu Dog, Lao Shi)

Darkwing Duck (Drake Mallard/Darkwing Duck)

DuckTales (2017) (Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby Vanderquack, Launchpad McQuack)

Phineas & Ferb (Phineas Flynn, Ferb Fletcher, Isabella Garcia-Sharpio, Burford Van Stromm, Baljeet Rai, Candace Flynn, Agent P)

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja (Randy Cunningham)

Mighty Med (Oliver, Kaz)

Sofia the First (Princess Sofia the First)

Disney's Descendants (Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos)

Wreck-It Ralph (Vanellope Von Schweetz)

The Simpsons (Bart Simpson)

The Lion Guard (Kion, Bunga, Fuli, Besthe, Ono, Anga)

PIXAR

Brave (Princess Merida of DunBroch)

The Incredibles (Mr. Incredibles, Elastigrl, Violet Parr, Dash Parr, Jack-Jack Parr, Frozone)

MARVEL

Captain America

Iron Man

Thor

Hulk

Black Widow

Hawkeye

Falcon

Vision

Wasp

Captain Marvel

Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel

Black Panther

Spider-Man

Doctor Strange

Iron Fist

Ghost Rider

She-Hulk

Wolverine

Storm

X-23

Future Avengers (Makoto/Hurricane, Chloe/Charade, Adi/Codec, Bruno/Twister)

STAR WARS

Rey

Finn

Poe Dameron

BB-8

CARTOON NETWORK

Ben 10(Ben Tennyson, Gwen Tennyson, Kevin Levin)

Generator Rex (Rex, Six, Bobo)

The Life & Times of Juniper Lee (Juniper Lee)

The Powerpuff Girls (Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup)

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (Mac, Bloo)

Dexter's Labratory(Dexter)

Samurai Jack (Samurai Jack)

Ed, Edd, n Eddy (Ed, Double D (Edd), Eddy)

OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes (Kaio O. Kincaid (K.O.), Radicles X, Enid Mettle)

NICKELODEON

SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks)

Fairly OddParents (Timmy Turner, Cosmo, Wanda, Poof)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko)

Winx Club (Bloom, Stella, Aisha, Techa, Musa, Flora)

El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (Manny Rivera/El Tigre, Frida)

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (Jimmy Neutron)

Danny Phantom (Danny Fenton/Danny Phantom, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Jazz Fenton)

My Life as a Teenage Robot (XJ9/Jenny Wakeman)

Glitch Techs (Miko "Me_K.O." Kubto, Hector "High Five" Nieves, Ridley, B.I.T.T., Zahra Rashid)

SQUARE EINX

Kingdom Hearts (Sora, Riku, Kairi, Ventus)

The World Ends with You (Neku Sakuraba, Shiki Misaki, Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito, Raimu “Rhyme” Bito, Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu, Rindo Kanade, Tosai “Fret” Furesawa, Nagi Usui, Shoka Sakurane)

Final Fantasy (Warrior of Light)

Final Fantasy II (Firion)

Final Fantasy III (Onion Knight)

Final Fantasy IV (Cecil Harvey)

Final Fantasy V (Bartz Klauser)

Final Fantasy VI (Terra Branford)

Final Fantasy VII (Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie) (Kingdom Hearts incarnation)

Final Fantasy VIII (Squall Leonheart) (Kingdom Hearts incarnation)

Final Fantasy IX (Zidane Tribal)

Final Fantasy X (Tidus)

Final Fantasy XI (Shantotto)

Final Fantasy XII (Vaan)

Final Fantasy XIII (Lightning)

Final Fantasy XIV (Y'shtola)

Final Fantasy XV (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

OTHER TITLES

CHANNEL AWESOME

Nostalgia Critic (Nostalgia Critic)

Angry Video Game Nerd (Angry Video Game Nerd)

Atop the 4th Wall (Linkara)

The Angry Joe Show (Angry Joe)

LEVEL-5

Professor Layton (Professor Hershel Layton, Luke Triton)

CHANNEL FEDERATOR

Bravest Warriors (Chris Kirkman, Beth Tezuka, Danny Vasquez, Wallow, Plum, Catbug)

[ultrace]

For a while now I've been auctioning off my video games, soundtracks, even an anime shirt or three. I'll be moving soon to include practically anything else in our basement, and that includes our PAX swag.

We attended PAX [Prime] for four years (2009-2012) before ultimately deciding that, for a variety of reasons, the experience was no longer working for us. However, during each of those years, we scoured the convention floor, played games and collected all manner of free (at least monetarily free) stuff. At the end of each PAX, our booty would be carefully boxed for storage. [Pictured above: the PAX 2010 collection]

Now the results can be yours. If you're into unusual and rare video game memorabilia, or just the time capsule of where popular domestic gaming was, this is for you. And there are indeed some interesting items. Fake moustache from Bionic Commando: Rearmed? Yup. One Ring on a Chain from Lord of the Rings Online? Check. Lenticular art card for Katamari Forever? Sure. There are also some ultra-rare items, such as the die-cast metal GM-authorized toy cars from the XBox Live Arcade game Scrap Metal, and the complete set of three Firefall miniature figures (but you will not get my shot glass!)

All of this should be coming to my eBay listings sometime over the next week or so. For those interested, good luck and happy bidding!

[sapphire-mage]

One of the funny things about Marvel vs Capcom, as a series, is that not all characters are created equal, but they impact they make are still there. Like if you were to ask me, the number one character that has been such a waste of a character slot is Nathan Spencer.

I have never met a single fan of Bionic Commando 2009 in my life. Any time that game or him are mentioned, it's typically to make fun of his whole 'His metallic arm is actually his dead wife' plot line.

But I don't even think about that with Spencer, when I first see him. Cause the first thing I think of when I see Spencer is...

Like, there is a 80% Spencer is not coming back if we get Marvel vs Capcom 4. It is super unlikely.

But to say Spencer was a complete waste of existence is kind of a lie. Cause every character brings SOMETHING. Cause everything leaves an impact.

[zeether]

Playing Bionic Commando (2009) and of course Super Joe is voiced by Steve Blum

[breakingarrows]

Morbid Curiosity: Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

When I first published a video with the title, "Morbid Curiosity" it was described as, "Morbid Curiosity will be a inconsistent series of visiting older titles I have always been drawn to despite no commercial or critical acclaim." The first, and only, video published underneath that title was GRIN's final gasping release Bionic Commando (2009), but the idea behind the series has remained on my mind long before and after that date. Edwin Evans-Thirwell in his review of Wanted: Dead, makes several mentions of the bygone era of "double-a" games,

...basically, games from the dawn of the broadband era, before Naughty Dog and Ubisoft forced every third-person rival to learn parkour and court comparison with HBO, before the ubiquity of Steam and the death of trade-ins, before every game had to involve a loot treadmill and a season pass. This was a time when mid-tier 3D action experiences in particular were free to be raw, brutish, unpolished, shamelessly smashed-together and, very often, an absolute bunch of arse, because there were fewer settled notions about what any videogame should do.

For Edwin this curiosity for games released around 2004 is something I have for games around the 2008 period. The "HD" generation whose titles were, a majority of the time, hitting 720p, 30fps. It was the generation that saw the "death" of the licensed movie tie-in game and of double-A retail releases. It was this generation I am most interested in with its releases of games such as Alice: Madness Returns, Wolfenstein (2009), WET, Afro Samurai, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Bionic Commando, Homefront, Singularity, Medal of Honor (2010), Dead to Rights Retribution, The Saboteur, and Frontlines: Fuels of War to name but a few that I own due to this curiosity.

Some of these games have received acknowledgement in our contemporary times, but others have been all but forgotten save for the few fans who will chime in whenever a new YouTube video covering it is released.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway was the third mainline entry in a burgeoning franchise underneath Ubisoft and Gearbox that has been long abandoned despite this game's "To Be Continued" that graces the black screen upon completion (and despite Pitchford's claims of another entry being in development). With Hell's Highway I don't think we have a game deserving a critical reevaluation, but instead is a game that, "craves to be understood and acknowledged, if not celebrated."

Two components of Hell's Highway that were crafted by the developers and recognized by most reviewers that separate this game from others of its ilk are: 1.) "emotional" story/storytelling, Band of Brothers-like focus on individuals during wartime, and 2.) "tactical" squad controlling gameplay that de-emphasizes the player as an unstoppable individual. Despite appreciating specific aspects of both, neither truly stay true to its intent.

One of the major hurdles in finding its characters interactions and the internal conflict of our main character, Staff Sergeant Matt Baker, is that the voicework is standard VO work but the facial animations are lacking entirely. Frequently the voices and their emotion, ranging from voice-breaking grief to rageful yelling, is undercut by faces that are just not capable of displaying the proper range and nuance to match the emotion being performed in the audio. Stunted plotlines also undercut intended effects. A sniper is mentioned as having killed a fellow soldier in the past only to be encountered and executed in the following level. A new recruit kisses a Dutch woman and later that night has the obsessive need to run into the bombed out city to "save" her, only to lead to both of their death's. His earlier comforting of a dying priest mid-firefight has the appearance of setting up this compulsive need, but you don't get sufficient time to invest emotionally in him as a person leading to his insubordination and ultimate fate not hitting the emotional target aimed for. It also doesn't help that it took me quite some time, and some reading on prior entries, to begin to learn who was who among the many similar faces of the cast.

Baker's internal conflict revolves around guilt of the death of a Private Kevin Legett, who was responsible for the death of two squadmates and subsequently ordered by Baker to keep it a secret lest he be executed by fellow soldiers. Legett ultimately died during a previous engagement and Baker keeps his guilt, and the secret source of that guilt, bottled up within him for a majority of the game. Legett will frequently appear in flashes, pairs of glasses found will summon his image, and he even begins to appear to Baker, first as a corpse, and finally as a sort of Tyler Durden-esque projection, complete with a POV switch to another soldier watching Baker seemingly talking to himself in the distance. This haunting made sense up until the point of Baker's admission of the truth to his squad, as even after he opens up Legett's haunting continues. It may be commentary on Baker's guilt being carried forward, despite his honesty and throwing away the "cursed" silver pistol that served as an anchor point, but we will likely never know considering a follow up never happened.

Hell's Highway has a heavy emphasis on controlling squads of fellow soldiers to suppress and flank enemy squads. Your machine gun squad can lay down long stretches of suppressing fire, your bazooka squad can destroy MG nests and destructible cover, and your assault squad can throw a grenade when close enough. While this is presented as a cooperative campaign of soldiers rather than something like Call of Duty where your lone player character performs every key action and achieves more kills than every other soldier combined, Hell's Highway still devolves into your player character racking up the highest kill count out of the whole regiment. This is due to the allied AI never really achieving much without your direct intervention. Leave them behind cover to do their thing and they'll trade bullets with nary a casualty for either side all day. Flanking maneuvers frequently require you to be in the optimal position before rallying the chosen squad to take up a position alongside you, by which point you will have already gunned down the enemy.

A few missions even push you into solo excursions anyway, abandoning entirely the squad-based mechanics. Despite this, I still appreciated some key points of the gameplay, namely: you do not rack up hundreds of bullets and shrug them off via a regenerating health system. Instead, your screen becomes increasingly red the longer you remain exposed, thereby giving the enemy more of a chance to finally achieve a hit and your death. I also liked the inaccuracy of guns, relative to other shooters. Too frequently online gamers will cry out for "authentic" recreations but god forbid this be reflected in weapons not always hitting where you're aiming. While the first person aim-down-sights retains this pinpoint accuracy expectation, a majority of the time you will be engaged in cover, bringing the camera to third person perspective and your aiming reticule will need some time to get smaller as you take aim to try and hit your target.

These mechanics, though small, were enough when coupled with the simple yet unique squad system and setting of Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands to keep me interested and playing until the bitter end. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway isn't some underappreciated masterpiece, but I don't think it has to be in order to be worth playing and appreciating for what it is.

[vgprintads]

‘Bionic Commando’

[PC / PS3 / X360] [SPAIN] [MAGAZINE] [2009]

Official Xbox 360 Magazine (ES), June 2009 (#31)

Scanned / Uploaded by Sketch the Cow, via The Internet Archive

[tinysamm]

The extended reach and improved mobility that the player’s bionic arm provides in Bionic Commando (2009) allows the game to build environments and encounters with a greater level of width and verticality. Because the player is expected to swing through environments and draw themselves towards enemies frequently, the game leans into this with it’s level design, by spacing out enemies, platforms, and objectives to such a degree that swinging and fighting with the arm feels not only helpful, but necessary. 

[thankskenpenders]

I'm sure someone could mod a Bunny skin into Bionic Commando

Bunnie with the Bionic Commando 2009 Wife Arm is the bisexual rep we need

[poz-patrol]

Bionic Commando 2009 Ending

[wessasaurus-rex]

Games that are or will be 10 years old (2019 edition)

Amagami - Mar 19, 2009

Angry Birds - Dec 11, 2009

Assassin’s Creed II - Nov 17, 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Aug 25,2009

Bayonetta - Oct 29, 2009

Bionic Commando (sequel) - May 19,2009

Borderlands - Oct 20, 2009

Brutal Legend - Oct 13, 2009

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Nov 10, 2009

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - June 30, 2009

Demon’s Souls - Feb 5, 2009

Dissidia Final Fantasy - Aug 25, 2009

Divinity II - Nov 20 ,2009

Dragon Age: Origins - Nov 03 ,2009

Final Fantasy XIII - Dec 17, 2009

Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Jun 16, 2009

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - March 17, 2009

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony - Oct 29, 2009

Halo Wars - Feb 26 ,2009

Infamous - May 26 ,2009

Killzone - Feb 26, 2009

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - Sep 29, 2009

League of Legends - Oct 27, 2009

Left 4 Dead 2 - Nov 17, 2009

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story - Feb 11, 2009

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 - Sep 15, 2009

Plants vs Zombies - May 5, 2009

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - Sep 12, 2009

Prototype - June 09, 2009

Resident Evil 5 - Mar 05, 2009

Saw - Oct 6, 2009

Steins;Gate - Oct 15, 2009

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Oct 13, 2009

feel free to add more 

[inventors-fair]

What We Know ~

I mean, examples from this week are kinda moot, aren’t they? I do love to show some of my designs and I love to see what our other judges come up with, but at the same time, this particular one doesn’t necessarily need explanation.. Or does it? Let’s look at this one card in particular: One Man’s Sacrifice by @mistershinyobject.

I’m actually going to ignore the art for a second, and base this on all I’ve been told, that this is from a game called Transistor and that it’s a hack-n-slash kinda deal. It’s a nonpermanent card, so I know it’s a story moment. One man’s sacrifice, which man? Well, presumably I’d have to play the story, but what do we see on the card? He is dealt damage as opposed to the player character (you, presumably) and returns as a weapon. I don’t know a thing about the game, but what I can glean is that in the world of the game, something like this could have happened quite literally. Is it a gun? Is it a sword? Is it a Bionic Commando (2009) kind of deal? Either way, possessed weaponry or legacy weaponry is an uncommon but understandable fantasy/scifi trope, and this card allows me to glean something about this piece of media despite not having played it.

For my own card, though, Ocean of Possibility, I chose to go with a kind of...weird notion, from the Netflix show Dark (which I highly recommend). If you have NOT seen this show, based on this card, what do you think the show is about in general terms? What does this moment depict?

And in terms of appropriate media, I’ll concede the point that perhaps Dark isn’t exactly MTG’s audience, but it’s possible that a new fantasy Netflix show could have a UB tie-in. And for video games, well, I’m sure a lot of people would be interested to see cards based on games. There’s a massive market, especially for established franchises. It’s okay to get some low-hanging fruit in here, if that fruit means something to you! I mean, imagine Minecraft biome land cards...

— @abelzumi

[wightwulf-a]

this is a semi-complete timeline for my canon of my portrayal of bucky. it consists of mcu events/inspiration, comic inspiration, and my own personal headcanons. specific dates will also only be included here and there as the exact timelines of the movies aren’t super clear, aside from years.

DISCLAIMER : events may shift from verse to verse, possibly even not happening altogether. it depends on the plot and the situation. if you have any questions, just ask.

THIS POST IS SUBJECT TO BEING UPDATED OR CHANGED.

1917

March 10 -- James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes is born in Shelbyville, Indiana to George and Winifred Barnes.

1920 - 1929

1920 -- Rebecca Barnes is born. 1923 -- The Barnes move from Shelbyville to Brooklyn, New York. 1925 -- Violet Barnes is born. 1926 -- Bucky meets Steve Rogers. (more info here) 1929 -- Theodore Barnes is born.

1930 - 1939

1936 -- Sarah Rogers passes away. 1937 - 1938 -- Bucky attends art classes with Steve. (Bucky is Not good at art.)

1940 - 1949

December 7, 1941 -- The Attack on Pearl Harbor ; the United States enters the Second World War. December 1941 - January 1942 --  Bucky is drafted into the Second World War ; Bucky trains Steve at Goldie’s Boxing Gym before Bucky goes to an enlistment office with Steve ; Steve is rejected. February 1942 - April 1943 -- Bucky trains at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin (with periodical leaves back to New York) with the rest of the 107th Infantry, where he meets and befriends both Gabe Jones and Dum Dum Dugan ; Bucky is promoted to the rank of sergeant. June 14, 1943 -- Flag Day ; Bucky’s last night before his shipment out to England. August 1943 -- the “Captain America” comics debut to the public, to great success! September 1943 -- The Battle of Azzano ; survivors of the 107th Infantry are captured by Hydra and taken to a weapons facility in the Austrian Alps. October 1943 -- Bucky meets James Montgomery Falsworth and Jacques Dernier, both fellow POWs ; Bucky becomes ill and is beaten by Hydra Colonel Lohmer for his inability to perform manual labor ; the future Howling Commandos band together to orchestrate an accident that kills Lohmer ; Bucky, ill and weak, is taken to Arnim Zola to be used for experimentation. November 1943 -- Bucky and the other POWs held by Hydra are rescued by Steve, now Captain America. November 1943 -- The Howling Commandos are formed : Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Gabriel “Gabe” Jones, Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader “Dum Dum” Dugan, James Montgomery “Monty” Falsworth, James “Jim” Morita , Jacques “Frenchie” Dernier. 1944 -- The Howling Commandos travel across the European theater, performing raids on Hydra bases, weakening their forces. January 1944 -- a new character is introduced in the thrilling “Captain America” comic series: his right-hand and sidekick, Bucky Barnes, a boy wonder! ; overseas, Bucky endures weeks of mockery after being turned into a kid sidekick in these comic books. February 2, 1945 -- during a mission on a train in the Swiss Alps, Bucky unfortunately fell from the train into the Danube river and was presumed dead ; Zola’s experimenting on Bucky over a year earlier is the reason for his survival ; Soviet soldiers find Bucky still alive, taking him as a P.O.W. 1945 - 1949 -- the Winter Soldier Program is born with Bucky as the only subject ; with state of the art technology, the most modern of its time, he is given a bionic prosthetic as the next steps of the program are planned ; they begin the process of testing human cryostasis.

1950 - 1959

1950 - 1954 -- using technology stolen from the supposedly-fallen Hydra, the Soviets begin testing brainwashing technology on Bucky, with underwhelming results ; cryostasis has proven successful in the last decade, therefore Bucky has barely aged within this time. 1954 -- after the KGB is formed, the organization formally joins the Winter Soldier Project and introduces conditioning methods, both accelerating the brainwashing techniques and physical combat training ; the use of trigger words are employed for efficiency. 1955 - 1959 -- Bucky is continued to be trained, conditioned, and tortured ; the title of “The Winter Soldier” is given to him by the KGB ; he loses all memory of himself and his life and is turned into “the perfect soldier”, now an assassin for Soviet use.

1960 - 1964

November 22, 1963 -- Bucky, as The Winter Soldier, successfully assassinates American President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.

1965 - 1989

years unknown -- the Soviets take The Winter Soldier out of cryostasis suspended animation in order to use him to aid in training girls of the Red Room Academy ; The Winter Soldier meets and trains with Natalia Romanova, later known as Natasha Romanova ; they work together on many missions for the Soviet Union during The Cold War.

NOTE : while i am using comic influence here, i will not be acknowledging any romantic or sexual relationship between bucky and natasha during this time. while i am mixing canons and using much headcanon, i am taking influence from the mcu in regards to bucky’s brainwashing. in short, he was in no mental position to be involved in any romantic or sexual relationship.

1986 -- a Soviet scientist removes Bucky from cryostasis without authorization ; the scientist tells Bucky he is going to help him get home to America ; confused, fearful, and conflicted from his mental conditioning, Bucky kills the scientist ; he is found with the man’s body and is immediately put back into cryostasis.

1990 - 1999

December 16, 1991 -- The Winter Soldier is sent to assassinate Howard and Maria Stark in order to obtain Howard Stark’s super soldier serum ; he is successful. 1991 -- in a last-ditch attempt to preserve The Winter Soldier Program after the fall of the Soviet Union, this serum is used on five former-KGB operatives in an attempt to turn them into super soldiers not unlike Bucky ; they are defective however and disposed of ; Bucky remains the only successful subject of The Winter Soldier Program ; Bucky is left in a Soviet base in cryostasis, forgotten.

2000 - 2009

2003 -- former member of the KGB Aleksander Lukin, who inherited The Winter Soldier Program from Vasily Karpov before the fall of the Soviet Union, reactivates The Winter Soldier as he begins to build his buiness, The Kronas Corporation. 

2010 - ?

2012 -- The Winter Soldier is sent to Sokovia by Hydra to assassinate a high-ranking political official and seize a superhuman artifact from the country known as The Cosmic Cube ; he successfully does so with a timed detonation -- there are many casualties ; EKO Scorpion, of the Sokovian Armed Forces, being posted at the site for security of sorts, is sent to either apprehend or kill The Winter Soldier before he escapes ; Colonel Helmut Zemo is among the agents sent ; The Winter Soldier kills most of EKO Scorpion, save for Zemo and one other member. 2014 -- The Winter Soldier resurfaces and sent to assassinate Steve Rogers ; he is unsuccessful when Steve instead recognizes Bucky, this recognition tampering with the programming put in Bucky’s mind decades before ; unbenknownst to anyone else, Helmut Zemo learns of The Winter Soldier’s return and independently discovers the identity of The Winter Soldier, a truth he shares with the public ; exposed, a wanted criminal, and his mind broken, Bucky fails a second time to assassinate Steve, whose life he ultimately saves from drowning ; he begins a life on the run. 2014 - 2016 -- Bucky, now free from Lukin, successfully leaves the United States and makes his way to Europe where he travels around, running from anyone who might be following him ; he never stays in one place more than a month. 2016 -- in yet another act of revenge, Helmut Zemo bombs a U.N. meeting ; Zemo frames Bucky for the bombing in order to flush him out of hiding ; he is found in Bucharest, Romania, where he is apprehended and taken to Berlin by SHIELD ; Zemo, posing as a psychiatrist, triggers The Winter Soldier conditioning, leading him to kill multiple SHIELD agents in escaping ; he is saved by Steve and Sam Wilson and they all soon go on the run ; they are lured to an abandoned Soviet base in Siberia by Zemo ; Bucky and Steve go to Siberia ; Zemo has the intent to activate The Winter Soldier yet again and force Bucky to kill Steve ; Zemo is apprehended by Bucky and Steve and handed over to SHIELD. 2016 - 2018 -- Steve, familiar with Prince T’Challa of Wakanda, asks if Bucky can have sanctuary in Wakanda, as he knows Bucky will be safe and hidden there ; there, Bucky is put into suspended animation while Shuri, princess of Wakanda, devises a way to remove the Soviets’ programming ; over the course of a year, this is done and Bucky is truly on a path of healing and recovery from the years of torture from the Soviets ; Bucky receives a new prosthetic, vibranium arm, designed by Princess Shuri. 2018 - ? -- Bucky chooses to leave Wakanda and return to the United States ; upon returning, seeing that he is still a wanted criminal and terrorist, Bucky turns himself in ; in turning himself in, Bucky is not arrested nor incarcerated at this time, but is willing to undergo monitoring to prove he is not and will not be a threat to public safety or the country’s security ; Bucky is put on trial for his crimes as The Winter Soldier (the trial is not made public -- everything is kept closely under wraps) ; during the trial, the terms of a pardon were negotiated and, when no official verdict in the trial is reached, Bucky is granted a (conditional) pardon ; as a condition of his pardon, he is required to attend mandated therapy to assess his psychological state and to ensure he will not be a public threat in the future ; he is no longer considered an enemy of the state or terrorist and lives as a civilian.***

*** this is my main verse and the time in which MOST threads will be set.

[icpe]

I see people suggest many games to you, but what games would you suggest? We know of Witcher and DA, of course, but are there any you have close to your heart that may not be mentioned yet?

I don’t want to suggest these games, just my favorites or perhaps games like personal stuff lol: Star Wars: Republic Commando, Subnautica, Bionic Commando Rearmed (+BC 2009), Mini Ninjas, Portal 2...

[pixelpoppers]

River City Girls’ Boss Fights Punish the Player for Learning

I've started playing River City Girls and I mostly like it, but there are some really strange decisions around boss fights that came close to ruining the game for me.

The fights themselves are basically fine (at least the first two, which are all I've seen so far). You go up against a powerful enemy with unique attack patterns. They have a lot of health and they hit very hard, so you need to figure out their pattern and the best way to apply your own tools to get in sustained damage while avoiding nearly all of their attacks. They also change their patterns and become more dangerous twice - once when you've depleted a third of their health, and then again when you've depleted a second third.

It's really not feasible to predict their patterns and vulnerabilities in advance - at least, I wasn't able to. They have their own telegraphs but they can usually whip out attacks very quickly and you just have to learn through experience what their attacks are and what their areas of effect are. In short - I'd expect even very skilled players to die a couple of times in the course of learning each new boss.

If I'm correct, then dying to a boss isn't necessarily a failure. It's just part of the learning process. If that's the case, then it's bizarre how heavily punished it is.

As you defeat enemies in River City Girls, they drop money which you collect. This money is very important to progression, as it's how you buy stat-boosting and health-restoring items, bonus-granting accessories, and new moves. Dying costs you one third of your cash on hand. (This is at least gentler than in the original River City Ransom where you lost half your money.) I don't love this, but I can get used to it. I recognize that it encourages the player to take danger seriously, and also creates some of that sweet, sweet risk/reward trade-off. Like, let's say you're running low on health - do you spend your money on some healing food, or try to survive long enough to save up for a new move? Although this is undercut somewhat by the fact that you can only buy things in certain places, there isn't really a fast travel system, and even when backtracking you can trigger "screenlock" battles where you have to defeat a few waves of enemies to be allowed to progress.

When you're fighting a boss, though, you're going to die a couple of times, and you're going to lose money doing it. One could respond that clearly you should just spend all your money before entering a new boss fight - fair enough, except the first boss comes before you have a chance to spend any money. I entered that fight with over $100 burning a hole in my pocket; in the course of learning to beat her (remember, this is the first boss, when players will have the most learning to do and fewest options, especially since they couldn't have bought any food or new moves) I died four times and was left with $19.

But okay, later bosses don't have that problem. You can spend your money before triggering any subsequent boss fight. But here's a problem they do still have: intro cutscenes.

For a long time now, games have recognized that making the player sit through boss intros repeatedly is a bad idea. It's a waste of their time and it destroys the tension and drama. Heck, all the way back in 2009, Bionic Commando had a "shut up" button for skipping boss chatter on repeat attempts. This isn't a new idea, but River City Girls apparently didn't get this memo, because the bosses have multiple introduction scenes that must each be skipped individually by holding down a button for a full second or so, even on repeat attempts. So the process is this:

Enter boss room.

Watch intro cutscenes.

Fight boss and start learning their patterns.

Die. Lose 1/3 of your money and get kicked out of the boss room.

Re-enter boss room.

Hold button to skip cutscene.

Hold button to skip cutscene.

Hold button to skip cutscene.

Fight boss again and continue learning their patterns.

Go back to 4 another few times.

Finally beat boss and move on.

This would be dumb even if most players could reasonably be expected to beat each boss on their first attempt. But when it's very likely you're going to die multiple times on each boss just as part of learning them? It's downright player-hostile.

In my first play session, I had a great time until I got to the first boss. By the time I beat her, I was so frustrated that I nearly abandoned the game. But there was enough I liked about it that I decided to give it another shot, and again had a good time until I got to the next boss, which again ended up being a serious spike of unenjoyable frustration.

And again, the fights themselves were fine. In principle I enjoyed learning their patterns and figuring out how to overcome them. I'd rather do it without losing a bunch of money, but mostly I wish I could do with without the game wasting my time and punishing me for learning.

[blazehedgehog]

What do you think of the new FF game or Chaos Fantasy one remake?

It has a very specific vibe of, like, a 2009 Xbox 360 game. That era of like, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, or Silent Hill Homecoming, or Bionic Commando, or DmC. When Japanese developers were trying to "crack the western market" and doing it in the most hamfisted, bizarre ways.

"Oh no Americans don't like how weird Silent Hill is, so we'll have someone else make a Silent Hill where you play as an expat with military training, or a hardened criminal on his way to prison, those are things Americans like, right?"

"In the old Devil May Cry games, Dante looks like a gay cowboy. We want a Dante who looks like he has sex with women, guzzles alcohol, swears a lot, and fights Fox News, because that's the Western ideal of cool."

So now we have Final Fantasy Origin, starring the most stereotypically American-sounding protagonist, JACK. And Jack's whole thing is that he's ANGRY. And he BRUTALIZES the monsters. And there's BLOOD. And it stinks of "This is what we think America wants."

Except that, y'know, those four games I named at the start of this post mostly aren't remembered super fondly. Even the best ones (Lords of Shadow and Bionic Commando) aren't, like, outstanding or amazing games, they're just okay.

And like, I get it. Speaking personally, sometimes I look at these Final Fantasy games, and I think "Wow, that character looks really overdressed."

Boots, thigh highs, knee pads, pants, belts, straps, keychains, zippers, bracers, gauntlets, fingerless gloves, a trenchcoat, shirt, choker, neck tattoos, and probably an earring or two. On top of a sword that is also a gun with a grenade launcher, apparently. And feathery silver hair. This dude probably spends at least an hour getting dressed every morning before going out to kill trash mobs all day.

People have been making fun of it for years. Decades, even. And that FF14 guy there isn't even the worst example. I'd consider him conservatively dressed compared to, say, Tidus from Final Fantasy 10.

So it's telling when the key art for Final Fantasy Origin features Jack in a half-tucked shirt.

Again, it is deeply, deeply "this is what America wants, right?" This is their Final Fantasy for people who don't usually like Final Fantasy. It's Final Fantasy Mystic Quest 2.

I don't have a PS5, so I can't really comment much on the way the demo plays. Watching footage on Youtube, I think I agree with people that say it's a bit hard to read enemies. It's a dark environment with dark enemies and the whole thing is very difficult to see.

It also feels like the absolute worst case for all of Square-Enix's dialog and localization woes. Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3 had what I think was supposed to sound like conversational dialog, but instead it just sounded super disjointed and alien, based on what I've heard (I don't own either game, but I've finished their demos).

We laugh at how the trailer for Final Fantasy Origin was obsessed with saying CHAOS over and over, but I think it's just a symptom of this same localization problem. Dialog that's supposed to sound natural and casual ends up feeling robotic and weird.

Curious to see how it turns out. If it leans in to being stupid on purpose, it could be strangely entertaining.