Cave Story Wii Coming to North America on March 22nd

@Jesus,

Now you’re making things up. I called you a troll? Please tell me the comment number so I can refresh my memory.

Do I really have to explain the whole 3 developer / 3 game thing again?

This is growing old. I’m not out to get you or give you unwanted attention, keep it up though and you won’t be doing yourself any favors.

Lets just be civil and leave it at what it was and proceed on to something new. I don’t want to rehash the whole Shakespearean influence on games over and over, cuz I just don’t see it or anything close to it really, you do I guess. We’ll leave it at that.

Cave Story is a very good game, had lots of fun with it.

I agree with Paul Eres in that I thought Aquaria was a better game though and that’s probably based on what I think would be the amount of time, care, creativity and talent (so as not to forget Jenna’s excellent V.O. work) that went into the game, and the fact that it didn’t just come into being by the hands of one developer or artist, but that doesn’t take away from Cave Story being a great indie title all on its own. I just enjoyed Aquaria more. I still wouldn’t refer to it (Aquaria) as revolutionary, but it was refreshing and a damn good site to see such a combination of sharp graphics, smooth gameplay, and excellent music and sound held together by an indie crew when in fact it looked, played, and sounded like something that a big development studio might have made.

There’s no need to start a conflict regarding this either, that is just my opinion of two “metroidvania” style titles that I’ve enjoyed out of many. I brought them up because Paul had brought up Aquaria and to this date I find Aquaria the most fun I’ve had with the “genre” since Castlevania: SOTN, but again, that’s just me and my opinion.

Please share your own, but don’t look at this as a snide against your comment.

Also he’s making pretty good progress on his RPG. There’s a thread about it on the forums. The last build I checked out looked a lot like classic Zelda on the NES and had multiplayer and a color changing mechanic. But as always, Pixel takes his time to update his games. This hasn’t changed, he’s been like this even when he was working on Cave Story. It’s always interesting to watch the progress he makes on his games though.

am i the only one who finds it hilarious that everyones getting angry at someone named Jesus.

sure hes acting like a fucktard but who cares what kind of outlandish opinionated statements he makes. you don’t have to prove him otherwise hes probably just trolling for fun from the likes of his name anyways. games are nothing like art or poetry ina sense that theyre much more holistic, and there’s no true yardstick to measure the quality of games in any case, since games can be much more varied than simply a story, an image on a canvas, or music being played. the very nature of games, something made to induce “fun” means that the quality of a game and what makes it better than another one depends entirely on the person.

“Jesus” just has a very narrow way of looking at things, and can only appreciate what many others call “perfection”. a true sheep, basing his ideas on things rooted in the opinions of others. jesus you are a great man.

And for the record, it’s pronounced Hey Zeus. It’s a pretty common name, and I really don’t get what you’re trying to insinuate. Please think before you speak next time.

This discussion has dipped off into the Twilight Zone now.

indie games lol

Kojima is a pro but he should fire the man who writes stories for most of his games, especially the MGS series.

This makes me want to go play Cave Story again. Good luck with the upcoming release!

It’s nice to see this interview. There’s some interesting material here.

I’m excited about Pixel’s RPG. I imagine his talents will apply well to this sort of project. I know it will probably be a while before it sees the light of day, but I respect how busy he is with work and family life. Best wishes, Pixel!

Ya, I was about to say that as well Paul.

Besides Jesus, as much as I love Hideo Kojima’s games, I was simply joking around since others were making comparisons between indie developers, rock stars, legends, and celebrities. Figured I’d just chime in a with a little off-the-wall comparisons myself.

“Snake?!? Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkeeee!!!”

guile: Go back to playing Street Fighter, idiot. This is a site about indie games. And I can derail topics all I want, who gives a shit? What are you going to do, ban me? Hahaha

The unique leveling-up system of Cave Story is, to me, it’s true invention. Strangely though, haven’t seen this device copied to any degree in later games.

And I agree with what you said about Untitled Story, Forte. Superb level design and very challenging gameplay, this game is way too overlooked in our community.

Whoa, this discussion almost turned into a GamFAQs thread.

That’s exactly my point. It doesn’t take exceptional skill to write a story that’s engaging. So it’s been done by Cave Story, and it’s been done by many other games. Which is why it isn’t revolutionary for that reason (I already gave that reason) and stating that that’s why Pixel (and a couple others) are the only one making good indie games ridiculous.

Back to the subject:

Cave Story reminds me of what I loved about classic NES and SNES titles. It reminded me a lot of games like Blaster Master, Xanadu and Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, and it surpassed those games on almost every level. Cave Story’s story is far more interesting than those other games I mentioned as well, but that nostalgia that it brought back was undeniable. Things were simpler back then and Cave Story is just more evidence that games (even today) can still be simple yet, engrossing and full of charm and character.

was a different ip address than you, but wasn’t anyone else (at least in the last 3 pages of comments). will ban that address.

@valzi,

I think people see Cave Story as the little engine that could, in some regards. It’s easy to like all of Cave Story’s elements and get caught up in its world. I think people found it enjoyable and charming for various reasons and the fact that it was a freeware game that contained all of that goodness made an impression on peoples expectations in terms of other freeware games and what people felt toward other developers who were charging a price for their games that perhaps didn’t feel as developed or as polished as Cave Story did to them, especially when comparing the freeware game to commercial efforts. So I think people like to make some comparisons to Cave Story based on some of those reasons and perhaps many others, but that is why they sort of want / expect that same feeling they got from Cave Story when a new game comes along, especially one that might cost money. I could be completely wrong about the general public though, but I think those are reasons for the Cave Story “hysteria” ;) I’m not entirely sure it’s that everyone sees Cave Story as the end all and be all of video games at their peak, where games simply can’t get any better, it’s just that people want every new game to have that same quality and appeal. Those are just my thoughts behind some of the peoples reasoning that you were questioning, I could be wrong though.

@Paul Eres,

Thank you, I wouldn’t mind so much if people were humorous or witty when trying to “impersonate” someone else, but in most cases they do it to create problems. You’ve experienced your fair share of the problem as well from what I remember, so thanks again.

@Jesus,

Okay, I can accept your opinion of Aquaria and other games, but, when you say certain things or make certain statements and claims I find it very hard to believe your sincerity and honesty. It’s almost as if you’ll say you didn’t like something as if to defy other peoples opinions, rather than give an honest reason for not liking that thing or those things that are being discussed. Saying things like copy-pasting in level design… you may have to elaborate on that a little because the level design was much like other “metroidvania” games, only the gameplay mechanics made the game easy to navigate and user friendly. But, perhaps that really is your opinion about the levels. Alright, I’ll accept that one. However, to say that the voice acting was bad and that the art direction was sub-par just doesn’t sound like a comment coming for an entirely sane person. I’m really not trying to paint you out to be ignorant or anything, but that’s one of the most trivial comments I’ve read in a while. We couldn’t have been further from agreeing with one another when you made that statement comparing Pixel to Shakespeare, but this comment is along those same lines. The voice acting in Aquaria was spot-on and in most cases better than dozens of triple-A titles made for mainstream console gaming. The art direction (both the audio and visual design) were big reasons for actually buying the game but they were elements that worked so well because the game was also extremely easy to get into and pick-up and play. So I really don’t know whether to trust the honesty behind your opinions. I can still respect when someone has a different opinion than my own, but when someone says something or makes a comment that really doesn’t make any sense, it usually means that what was said or the comment that was made wasn’t entirely truthful or sincere. It’s something someone might say simply to stir up or instigate, and perhaps that’s the reason for it, but otherwise it just doesn’t seem sincere. It’s almost as if I can’t believe you’ve played much of Aquaria, if any of it at all.

“I’m afraid I can’t convey…” doesn’t sound like you really believe that your English sucks.

I’ll accept your opinion that you didn’t like the art style and voice acting. But it’s one thing to say you didn’t like it and another to say that it sucks. But here’s my take on voice acting.

IMO, as far as indie titles go, Aquaria has some of the better voice acting. There aren’t too many points of comparison, since most indie games tend to use text over voiceovers.

There is one other indie game that comes to mind for me, though. In the first three King’s Quest games they use voice acting, but the quality fluctuates a lot. King Graham was great, mostly because they used the original voice actor from KQV. His style’s a little Shatnerian, but it suits the corny fun of the series. The third remake was done by a different group, and I think the voice acting suffered on account of it. There was one barmaid who had almost no expression whatsoever in her voice. I read that it was because the original girl had bailed at the last minute and one of the developers used his sister at the last moment. Those things happen, especially when it’s a small group that’s not getting paid.

Then again, a lot of commercial voice acting can be pretty weak (there are video compilations on Youtube of hilariously bad voice acting in video games), but they usually get paid at least a little. In the actors’ defense they aren’t always given the context in which the line is said, since companies cut those kinds of corners to save money.

I’m stopping now because my comment’s getting too long.

“If my English was good enough I could write a book on the greatness of Cave Story and why it’s better than anything in the world”

Yes, you could, but who would read it? ;)

Nice interview, really. I am amazed that the man has not been dragged into the indie community, maybe because it exploded first after his game?

Then again, sometimes Internet communities can become too much for some people (I feel I got enough, often), it takes a certain type of people, too.

@Paul Eres,

*”i don’t see why we can’t just enjoy both games though; the attitude of ‘these are the only indie games that are good, the rest are worthless’ are what i think people are reacting against. i may as equally well say that super mario bros 3, pikmin, and chrono trigger are the only mainstream games worth playing, and that the rest can’t live up to those three therefore they’re not worth playing. besides, if someone really felt that those three were the only indie game developers worth playing the games of, why would they come to tigsource at all? couldn’t they save themselves some time just reading the sites of those developers, since they know that no other indie game can live up to those three?”*

That was actually my point as well, Aquaria just happened to be a good example for me of a single other title because it is one of those indie games that a lot of people have heard about, was well received, and still delivered all of the necessary elements that make for a great game. I really don’t expect everyone to agree with my opinion, and I’m open to others opinions, I just have a hard time with a persons opinion when they make sweeping generalizations that don’t actually convey their own opinion, eg. saying the voice acting in Aquaria “was just bad”… that’s not an opinion, that’s a statement claiming everyone agrees.

It shouldn’t really be a competition, again, I think Cave Story just set a standard for the type of games that can be developed when the developer takes the time and puts forth the effort to create a compelling, interesting, and fun game – and it doesn’t necessarily require a large group of people to achieve such a thing as has been proven.

Maybe it is because English is my first language and not of course, not everyone else has English as their first language. This can make reading and writing comprehension between cultures and nationalities difficult through the written word. For the most part I think a majority of the people here are all doing the best they can to convey their opinions but our wires become crossed a little in translation since the comprehension of what we’re writing doesn’t always come across the same way. One example of this would be the use of sarcasm. I tend to be sarcastic a lot, but because it’s the written word we’re talking about, it doesn’t always come across the way you expected or wanted it to and so others who couldn’t comprehend what you were thinking simply by what you’ve written (hard as you might try) things sometimes come across as an insult instead of tongue-in-cheek humor or even a rolling of the eyes at times. Things like that can be difficult to express when others might take the comment in a completely different way that you had intended. I know I’m not the only offender though, and, I do try to remain open-minded regarding the opinions of others.

@Arachne,

And this is why we need Pixel, Nicalis, Derek, and Alec to work on the sequel – which I’ve purchased the rights to (which I will also be making a movie adaptation of) ;) It will be called:

Cave Aquaria 2: The Mimiga Story

And gaming sites and journalists will dub it “the game that killed all other games!”

And there will never need to be another 2d non-linear exploration game ever again because it will surpass both Cave Story and Aquaria combined.

There will be 38 different endings, branching pathways (among branching pathways) in non-linear exploratory gameplay with character leveling, singing, cooking, swimming, running and jumping, flying, puzzle solving, rhythm based gameplay, with hidden sections that will also allow you to use your rockband accessories, and it will also feature special appearances by Solid Snake, Otacon, and Shigeru Miyamoto.

edit: The game is already in development as we speak and should be in the beta stages in a 6 – 8 months. Obviously this is all very real because you just can’t make something like this up.

OH MY GAW OH MY GAWWW~~~
Cool. @ Cave story Wii release. @ Cave Story sequel @ Pixel has a wife and a kid. Aww how adorable~
YESSS~ I <3 Cave story..
subarashikonosekai~