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/vr/ - Retro Games

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2707263 No.2707263 [Reply] [Original]

Is Osamu Sato the most underappreciated/overlooked game creator of the '90s? He's basically the video game equivalent of Salvador Dali.

>> No.2707272

>>2707263
Not really. When /vr/ was first added, the board was buzzing about Tong-Nou and Chu-Teng.

Then everyone actually played them, and realized there's not really that much to discuss. They're banal point'n'clickers, with gameplay (and production values) identical to those Hidden Object games you can buy at Wal-Mart.

Let's be honest with ourselves. Literally the only reason anyone gives a shit about Chu-Teng is because it's rare. If it didn't have that "holy grail lost game" status, we wouldn't even be talking about it.

>> No.2707276

No

His games are quirky but they suck

His music is way better.

>> No.2707280

>>2707272
>>2707276
LSD Dream Emu is great tho

>> No.2707292

>>2707280
It's great when viewed through the lens of "haha, check out this weird retro indie Japanese game."

But I bet if you had paid $40 for it in 1998, you'd have been outraged.

>> No.2707306

>>2707280
I emulated it for some minutes, thought "wow what a strange japanese game" and then never touched it again

If i had bought it for my playstation instead of SotN or Final Fantasy back in the days i would be super pissed

>> No.2707317

>>2707263
That would be Kenji Eno

>> No.2707325
File: 266 KB, 639x475, violencedistrict.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2707325

>>2707292
>>2707306
Embrace the vaporwave lifestyle anons.

>> No.2707371

>>2707263
What is the easiest way of playing Tong-Nou and getting it to work on a modern computer with Windows 7?

>> No.2707385

>>2707263
is OP a loaded question spewing faggot?
Because his questions are very poorly framed.

>> No.2707391

>>2707325
Hello 2013!

>> No.2707418

>>2707263
>Where did you learn to fly?

>> No.2707520

>>2707418
lol

>> No.2707531

Fucking hipsters

>> No.2707685
File: 27 KB, 300x380, easternmind.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2707685

One thing i like about the past it's that even the weirdest games had physical releases.
Today Osamu Sato's games would be hidden in a sea of downloadable indie shit on steam.

>> No.2707762

He was just one of several Japanese multimedia producers (like Kazutoshi Iida, Haruhiko Shono, Kenji Eno, Masaya Matsuura, Gento Matsumoto, &c.) making weird games with flaws in some areas and sublimation in others. There's worse adventures to slog through than Tong-Nou or Chu-Teng, but I won't deny the latter's most important for showing that, yes, we can still find, obtain, and play mid-/late-'90s Japanese PC games once thought lost for good. Sato himself moved on from this period in his career, since his money comes mainly from art curators and whoever asks for his services doing anything but games.

I'd say Michiaki Tsubaki, the designer behind the Insiders JRPGs for NEC PCs, is lesser-known and deserves a look (once the games and the guidebooks they were shipped with have been translated). He was a graphics design freelancer who apparently got his games published by ASCII, not in a doujin context, and his standalone title Sword of Kumdor: Master of Blind Touch became a popular tool for teaching touch-typing to kids who were more familiar with Dragon Quest. At the same time it begins with you stumbling out of an alien hotel, into a rocket capsule where you get drunk and pass out, all before landing on another planet with only the ability to type fast (and without mistakes) for your defense. Insiders 2, like its prequel, doesn't have an immediate goal, forcing you to search the game for clues by navigating virtual worlds via a networked terminal. I'm reminded of what Love-de-Lic accomplished with Moon RPG, but in a Tsubaki work it's like he's going against Dragon Quest by subverting accessibility to force a different frame of mind.

Even so, the above individuals didn't make their games alone, so I can't really call them creators as much they were/are shapers.

>> No.2707778

>>2707371
playing the mac version on basiliskII

>> No.2707779
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2707779

>>2707263
Salvador Dali had a brilliant scam. He would draw on his checks when he went out to eat. The restaurants rarely cashed them because his "art/doodles" on them were worth more than the price of the bill and would appreciate in value. So basically he always ate out for free. Dude was a fucking genius. I mean Dali's art was neat but not really my taste. I wouldn't hang it on my wall. I feel the same way about Osamu Sato. Also neat but not my thing.

>> No.2707791

>>2707779

I enjoyed Dali more when I went to an expo about his art, he made some really creative stuff that went beyond just 2D art, like drawings that would reflect on silver spheres and stuff like that.

Also, he was lucky that people actually appreciate his art when he was alive and not just post-mortem.

>> No.2708092

>>2707779
>He would draw on his checks when he went out to eat. The restaurants rarely cashed them because his "art/doodles" on them were worth more than the price of the bill and would appreciate in value. So basically he always ate out for free.

That's fucking brilliant.

>> No.2708372

Eastern mind is one of my favorite games. It gives me such a strange dream-like feeling I haven't found anywhere else.

>> No.2708390
File: 472 KB, 500x293, 1442890165122.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2708390

>>2707779
I used the word "scam" when I wrote this earlier. It really wasn't though as every party benefited from it. It was more like a "loophole in the matrix" if you will. I just wanted to update because I felt bad for suggesting Dali scammed anyone.

>> No.2708882

>>2707685
This. Just the concept that something like Eastern Mind was put through a factory, rated by the ESRB, and sold in actual stores is great.

>> No.2708904

>>2707263
Nah. His games have a cool aesthetic but that's really all they have going for them. As actual games there isn't really much interesting in their mechanics and even as interactive media they don't really do much to take advantage of the interactivity outside of LSD. That all being said I'd love to see a translation for Garage someday.

>> No.2708910

>>2708904
Garage isn't by him.

>> No.2708912
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2708912

>>2708910
Well now I feel like a damn retard for running my mouth like that.

>> No.2708952

>>2707263
Possibly, but you have to remember that game development is very "behind the scenes" work. Now you wanna know who really deserves more attention? Akio, Susumu, Meeher, and Kazuma Kujo. Irem's finest.

Keisuke Abe is also pretty cool.

>>2707272
You're just a big rain cloud.