Joe McNeilly's "Neuromancer: 25 Years Later" looks at the connection between cyberpunk granddaddy William Gibson's work and the video game scene today. It's a lengthy read — the kind I'm more used to seeing on Gamasutra — but there's some good stuff in there about the rise of home consoles and the gamer-occupied cyberspace we're so used to navigating. Even if the history lesson bores you a bit, it's nice to know (or pretend to know) where ideas like Project NATAL come from.

Here's a good bit:

...cyberspace isn't just for boring stuff like industry and shipping. Home game consoles have all but replaced the primitive arcades that originally inspired Gibson to dream up cyberspace in the first place. Gamers project themselves into the matrix, with senses ever more immersed in the experience of HD graphics and surround sound and virtual community. Many disregard meatspace in a manner similar to Case, Neuromancer's console cowboy, forgetting to eat, sleep, drink, pee or blink during extended periods of game-trance. When neural jacks finally arrive, gamers will be the first to plug in.

Go check out the rest if you want to know where Rez fits in.

Neuromancer: 25 years later [GamesRadar]

Makes sense as the previous title was co-developed with Korean dev Phantagram doing most of the heavy lifting — and with Mizuguchi doing the interviews.

Announced last year at Microsoft's TGS press conference, N3 II will supposedly be developed primarily by Microsoft development arm Feelplus. No word if Mizuguchi will be wrangled in for press junkets.

So, what is Mizuguchi doing these days? It seems he's working on a project with Atari. Atari? But wait, think about it. Phil Harrison is at Atari. SingStar boss Paulina Bozek is now at Atari. (Hello head hunting!) This could actually be interesting. Almost as interesting as that hat he's wearing.

[Pic]

If you haven't picked up Rez HD yet, you can grab it for just 500 Microsoft Points, whatever that works out to in your currency of choice. "Death Magnetic" is just 1000 MSP. Six additional XBLA games also get a holiday drop, with paid downloadable content for Crackdown, Lips and more. You can even grab a few themes on the cheap.

For the full list, read on.

Xbox Live Arcade Games
Rez HD - 500 Microsoft Points
Arkadian Warriors - 500 Microsoft Points
Assault Heroes - 400 Microsoft Points
Catan - 500 Microsoft Points
Brain Challenge - 500 Microsoft Points
Boogie Bunnies - 500 Microsoft Points
Golf: Tee It Up! - 500 Microsoft Points

Paid DLC
GH3 Metallica “Death Magnetic” Full Album - 1000 Microsoft Points
Forza – March Car Pack - 400 Microsoft Points
Crackdown – Getting Busy Bonus Pack - 500 Microsoft Points
Rock Band All That Remains Pack 01 - 290 Microsoft Points
Lips – The Remedy (Jason Mraz) - 100 Microsoft Points

Themes
Gears of War 2 – Last Day - 180 Microsoft Points
Sonic Unleashed - 180 Microsoft Points
Castle Crashers Premium - 180 Microsoft Points

Xbox LIVE Marketplace Black Friday Sale [Majornelson.com]

Yes, I'm working on a new IP.

We've heard from sources that it may be an Xbox 360 title. Wonder what it is...

Before there was Rez, there was K-Project. That was the early code name for Tetsuya Mizuguchi and United Game Artists' musical shooter, a project that evolved over time to be very different from its original concept. While the early versions of the game may only exist on someone's hard drive, a pre-release version, then known also as Project Eden and Vibes, has been released by an anonymous source as a bootable Dreamcast disc image.

The Dreamcast version of K-Project features a different soundtrack and a slew of other differences from the retail version. Collectors and Rez enthusiasts should put the Dreamcast back on the shelf and take a look.

K-Project (Rez Beta) Dumped [Lost Levels via Siliconera]

I think most dramatic and thematic games exist, and it's really hard. This is for an example: it's really hard to cry if you play a game. You can cry when you watch movies. I have, and everyone has that kind of experience. This is an emotional movement, very strong. But we can't cry when we play a game. This is a different catharsis. This is a physical reason. This is like a basic instinct. I think the game is designed as an experience. It's designed as a catharsis experience.

You have some accomplishments all the time, but accomplishment is a very strong keyword. It's a very strong factor of the game. I think in our 40 year history, we may [continually] redesign this, maybe. But in the last five years, you can get the resolution. This kind of resolution makes you have a very effective emotional possibility, with music, effects, hi-def movie effects. I think there can be growing, growing, and growing. There's some games coming in that class.

Well worth a read through, though be prepared for more talk from the interviewer than usually shows up in interviews.

Expressing The Future: Tetsuya Mizuguchi [Gamasutra]

Oh, must remember to invest in PixelJunk Monsters, too. And No More Heroes. Damn this economic slowdown! What are you playing this weekend, ladies and gentlemen?

Rez HD Official Site

Thanks, Aokaze!

Going to meet Yoko Ono was inspiring for me.

Not unlike Q?'s Gunpey and Every Extend Extra, Space Invaders Extreme adds layers of trippy effects, filling the screen with an excessive amount of visual noise. Even more suspect, your shots will trigger sound effects that I could swear were ripped straight from Rez.

Gameplay-wise though, it does add a handful of fresh elements to make the constant shooting a bit more exciting. You'll get bonuses for destroying invaders by column, by color, by shape, or by row and be rewarded for doing so with points and alternate stages. There's a Fever Mode that's essentially a point grabbing free for all and a Roulette Shot that awards you with extra lives.

With the slight sketchiness of latching on to the Q? schtick of success, it may seem like Space Invaders Extreme is a me-too gimmick filled attempt at bringing relevance to a 30 year old arcade game. It was enjoyable for the first fifteen minutes, but it's unclear whether this simple enjoyment will last beyond that. We'll know more when the game hits early 2008.

I've heard from many who want to play the original Rez, but couldn't buy it in stores anymore. I feel that's the big reason why we're releasing Rez now. I can't say we're doing Rez 2. I am ready to go to the next level. Sequels are a good approach, and Rez is a life theme for me.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh... (grabs heart) Give me water... The Wii is special. It's not such a high def direction, but it's a fun direction as a future toy. That kind of idea always stimulates us in our ideas. This [the Wii] is another direction.

No, I wasn't nervous. He was nervous. During the filming, I had to give him direction like "relax."

My work all these years has been to entertain people through video games, but this virtual Tokyo concept could be the next step and path... The Tokyo we are trying to create is based on the image of city. How do people in Tokyo perceive the city? How about foreigners? That's what we want to express.

Not only does it look way more fun with the wii-mote, but it's also nice to see a game that was way ahead of it's time still being enjoyed today by some one who took the time out to revive it .

This is what is most exciting about the Nintendo Wii - that it has the ability to go past the novelty of the of its own console's games. For some users, it lets them revisit the way that people look at old games, or the ways in which music is made. I get a way bigger kick out of seeing what people are doing with it rather than playing it myself. Kim Phu

Rez Being Played with the Wii Remote [Arcade Resistance]

The shoot-em-up from Tetsuya "The Milkman" Mizuguchi will feature the requisite HD graphical upgrade as well as 5.1 surround sound treatment that will provide a "clubbing experience right in the living room". However, the XBLA version will also feature a mode called "S4, Wiz ur Muzik" and will allow players to use custom tracks in-game. Wicked cool.

Leaderboards, acheivements, online play, it's all there. Let's just pray that Q will find some way to get the entire game, not a crippled, money-grubbing piecemeal version up on day one. *prays* Amen. Michael McWhertor

Adding more fuel to the fire that Miz and Q? Entertainment will be bringing a version of the previously-for-PSP game Every Extend Extra is today's report from CVG that reveal this week's GDC will be the time and place for a new XBLA announcement from Q. Could it be Gunpey? Meteos? What will it be?!

We'll let you know if we corner Miz! Michael McWhertor

GDC: Mizuguchi's new XBLA game [CVG]