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Kurt Kalata

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Do you think it was Stupid/Hypocritical for SOA to not include the SOR trilogy in Sonic Gems Collection because of ESRB reasons? I ask, because originally Shadow the Hedgehog was going to be rated T, but edited down to an E10 rating at the last minute because a T rated Sonic game would not sell?

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Kurt Kalata
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From a consumer standpoint it was disappointing, but I don't think it was stupid or hypocritical. It all boils down to marketing.
In Japan, the Sonic Gems collection (and Sega collections in general) are marketed to more general Sega fans. In North America, they are marketed primarily towards kids, or casual Genesis fans, who are familiar with Sonic. You can see this with how they put Sonic front and center in that PS3/Xbox 360 Genesis compilation. If they view the Sonic Gems collection as being marketed towards kids, then it doesn't make much sense to increase the ESRB rating for games that are, technically, just hidden bonuses. On the other hand, Shadow the Hedgehog was specifically aiming for a (very) slightly older audience, so the increase in an ESRB rating was acceptable.

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Are there any neat game concepts you've had in your head that you would like to see realized one day?

I had an idea for a game called Apocalypse Forever, where every stereotypical apocalypse scenario was happening simultaneously (zombies, aliens, rapture, Shin Megami Tensei demons, etc) and you had 30 real time minutes to do whatever you wanted. Try to stop them, run off and hide, beat up your childhood bully, invent a time machine, join an orgy, just find a nice mountainside and chill with a picnic, whatever. The game would keep track of your actions and create a basic text file based on your narrative to compare it to others. Figured the game would be something like King of Dragon Pass, a sort of RPG / illustrated text adventure with randomized elements.
Also, an adventure game taking place on a frontier, after a civilization collapse, where the only currency is SNES carts. (This idea came from an inspiring tweet from someone who I unfortunately forget!) The ultimate goal is to find the undergroud ruins of a Best Buy containing hundreds of boxed, unsold copies of Earthbound. In the meantime, you could run a mine to dig for buried carts, flush copies of Shaq Fu down the toilet to increase their value, etc.
If anyone wants to fund my stupid ideas, please let me know.

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Hey Kurt, would an article on oddworld be ok? (if it hasn't been done)

lt would definitely be okay! Though I have no personal interest in the series.

Looking back at ganbare goemon, do you think the franchise will ever make a comeback?

Probably not. Goemon was not seen as having appeal outside of Japan so its Western market is niche. Maybe they'll appear in some casual Japan only mobile game or something. But the series has not been especially good since the N64 days anyway.

Kurt Kalata, witch is more/most sexist, Dead or Alive series, Senran Kagura series, the many sexist Carls Jr commercials, and/or Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues and why?

Is this a contest? They're all pretty sexist, but at the same time, while it's kind of juvenile and embarassing, they're harmless. There's nothing wrong with enjoying some cheese. Fan service is really only a problem when it's at the expense of a decent game. The core Dead or Alive series are great fighting games, and even Senran Kagura is fairly decent as a beat-em-up. The less said about DoA Xtreme though...
As for Sports Illustrated, when I was younger we used to joke that it, along with Maxim, was basically just for teenagers who couldn't buy Playboy. This was back in the days when people actually paid for their porn.
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What's your favorite cheesy video game commercial?

I honestly can't remember too many of the 8/16/32-bit commercials, but of anything remotely recent, I really enjoy the "Mad World" Gears of War commercial. Made the whole game seem like it would be much more poignant than it actually was. So knowing its dudebroness nowadays, it seems incredibly cheesy in retrospect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccWrbGEFgI8hg_101’s Video 132280605896 ccWrbGEFgI8hg_101’s Video 132280605896 ccWrbGEFgI8

I dunno any of Micronics' other games, but the soundtrack is quite nice ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpy2yCODbLE ) but the rest of the game does seem to suck. I might try writing about it later (after the holidays); what is an appropriate way to contact for that?

Micronics was mostly a port house, they were responsible for Capcom's early janky NES ports like Ghosts n' Goblins. If you'd like to pitch just send an email to kurt@hardcoregaming101.net

Have you heard of Miracle Ropit's Adventure in 2100? It looks like it could be decent material for a Your Weekly Kusoge entry.

No but it looks like it would be quite appropriate. Did Micronics even do anything right?

Do you have any idea if you'll produce more of the The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers DVDs?

It's all up to John. Since it took a long time for the original run to sell through, I don't think there will be a second run.
I did look into finding a way to add it to a streaming or video download service, but due to a variety of factors, it can't be sold on Amazon or iTunes. But there might be other venues now that I think about it...maybe Youtube?

Is there a purpose having multiple accounts on HG101's forums (or am I wrong in assuming that you are both Discoalucard and Colonel Kurtz)?

Nope. I'm just Discoalucard, Colonel Kurtz is someone completely different.

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