A-Train9: First impressions

What a start to the weekend! I’ve spent most of this evening toying about with my copy of A9. It’s almost bedtime now so I wanted to share a few initial impressions and screen shots of the full game before I turn in. Read more »

A列車で行こう9 – Tracks and power plants!

It looks like A9 release has be pushed back slightly (thanks to Alex on the forum for bringing this to attention). It often happens, I guess – either tweaks to the code of the game (though it seems a little late for that), or else some distribution issue. Whatever.

Thought I’d share this new video I have from the December 2009 preview. The various new features are explained and demonstrated. Here we see the flexibiltiy of track and building constructuion as well as the new Power Plant feature.

Please note that I have added some basic translation of my own (read: my wife’s) to the video so it’s worth watching the entire film if you’re curious about what is being explained.

Boku wa Plarail Untenshi – Nintendo DS

Every so often I consider the purchase of a Nintendo DS because I really like the quirky Japanese titles. Obviously anything that’s quirky and train-related really interests me. Last year I realised A-Train DS was available. This year, this month, in fact, there’s this new Boku wa Plarail Untenshi.

This is an example of a gaming staple in Japan: the train driving simulator. As you might have guessed from the title “Plarail” indicates this is a toy train simulator (“plarail” being an example of the of the Japanese tendency to create new “Japanese-English” words by combining elements of both languages into a new word that doesn’t exist in English. Other examples include:  “remocon” remote control, and “persocon” personal computer. In this case “pla-” refers to “plastic”).

Anyway, I literally just discovered this game during a browsing session and have only the most basic of information at the moment. It has echoes of an old favourite of mine, Densha de Go! since you’re placed in the driver’s seat of either a toy shinkansen or steam locomotive and need to pick up little playmobile-like people. A second player can join in to deal with passenger boarding, run the windscreen wipers or use other controls.

Release schedualled for 05.01.2010 – that’s next Tuesday!

What do you think?

Download A-Train 8 Maps

There are now a few A-Train 8 maps for download over on the Fan Site.

Just follow the link, read the instructions and enjoy. At the moment there are just two: One from Renfro and another from me which was based on the A-Train HX map ‘Clear River and Rice Paddies’. I hope you enjoy them. It should help to extend the life of A8 for those still playing and enjoying it since I know that most people have neither the time nor patience required to get the maps made.

If you happen to make a map of your own you can email it to me (using the email address provided on the Fan Site). I’d prefer maps that have at least a little creativity to them, to be honest, since plain, flat landscapes are very easy to create.

New A-Train 9 screens

Here are a few screens of A9 that I found the other day. They were taken by someone in the audience at the A9 preview in Tokyo. The game was projected onto a huge screen in an auditorium, this explains the oblique angle of some of the shots.

Looking at them I’m really pleased with how natural and organic the cities will look.

Compare these two city shots of A9 and A8 and immediately you see how Artdink are moving away from the trademark blocky, toy-like quality. I found A8 roads a bit too inflexible and only really suitable for creating the squares that the AI builds automatically around clusters of buildings.

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A-Train 9 details unveiled

UPDATE:  My copy of A-Train 9 arrived the other day. A post outlining my initial impressions can be found HERE

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Yesterday, Cyberfront president Huzihara Humi and Artdink CEO Tatsuo Nagahama unveiled A-Train 9 to an audience of gaming journalists and specially selected members of the public. I would’ve loved to have been there. Sadly, I was here, in London.

A9 is looking and sounding really, really interesting. Visuals have been updated and gameplay, whilst retaining the familiar mechanics, has some great new additions. A selection of screen shots and promo videos have been made available. See for yourself…. Read more »

A-Train DS

As far as I know Artdink have no plan to release A-Train DS in the West. It’s a shame, really, since for fans of the A-Train series, it looks to be offering a refreshing approach to the standard gameplay.

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