Overview of current mahjong video-games

[Barticle]

Thanks, I've squeezed it in at the end of the list. I hope you're ranked numero uno in your club.

Good job on getting worldwide support for it.

[xKime]

Thanks, I've squeezed it in at the end of the list. I hope you're ranked numero uno in your club.

Good job on getting worldwide support for it.

Total number one.

[wavemotion]

While this thread has been revived a bit, let me take the opportunity to bitch about the two things I find disappointing with Mahjong Fight Club DS. It's a stunning game - probably the best of the DS games I've owned/played but it has two things that really prevent it from being a 10 in my book.

1. No seat wind indicators. It took me a bit of time to realize the little dice indicate east and it takes me a few seconds to translate E->S->W->N. Would it have killed them to include a seat wind indicator? I've played more than 50 console Mahjong games and I can't remember another one that has this missing - most give all 4 seat positions and a few just East. It doesn't help that they leave the Prevailing Wind marker (East and South) right where it starts so that my brain is trained to think that's also the Oya. I know this is a small beef and I know the game is doing it technically correct... but... ARGH!

2. The inability to disable the turn countdown timing for DS Download play. Stupid, stupid, silly-stupid! I understand why you need to have it enabled for online play, but when playing or teaching friends locally with single-cart download play the timing can't be disabled (it's fixed on). It prevents it from being used with my friends or wife at this time. It's a non-essential restriction especially since they have an option to turn it off for single play (according to Bart's guide it is fixed ON only for 'online play' but this seems to carry over to local wi-fi play as well).

So close to perfection... pity.

[Barticle]

I've just added the forthcoming Japanese HD reissue of Yakuza 1 & 2. Hopefully this will get an English release...

Total number one.

I would expect no less!

No seat wind indicators. It took me a bit of time to realize the little dice indicate east and it takes me a few seconds to translate E->S->W->N. Would it have killed them to include a seat wind indicator?

It would make it a little more user-friendly, but there is a voice that announces your seat wind.

It doesn't help that they leave the Prevailing Wind marker (East and South) right where it starts so that my brain is trained to think that's also the Oya. I know this is a small beef and I know the game is doing it technically correct... but... ARGH!

You can't really blame them for your brain being misinformed. The second function of the chiicha mark is to indicate the starting dealer so you know when to start a new wind-round as the seat winds rotate. (It also provides a third way to determine the current seat winds in conjunction with the hand counter - in East 1 the player at the marker will be east, in East 2 they'll be north, etc.)

The inability to disable the turn countdown timing for DS Download play. [...] (according to Bart's guide it is fixed ON only for 'online play' but this seems to carry over to local wi-fi play as well).

I said it's permanently enabled in online mode but I don't think I said anything about it being on or off in local multiplayer (which I've never had the opportunity to use).

This is useful information so I'll do a quick update with a credit to you. Is there anything else worth adding about Download Play?

[xKime]

Total number one.

I would expect no less!

This month's result. In 25 hanchan: not a single last place. 11-7-7-0, total +528 (avg. +21.120), avg placing 1.840, rentai 72%. Busted someone twice. One kokushi musou win.
The person in second isn't doing so bad, either.

I guess it is the name (both Nicolas). w

This is certainly a great app for any mj club to have. Or maybe even events.

[Barticle]

That's some first class Last-Place Avoidance right there.

Makes sense with the names... "Nicholas or Nikolas is a male given name, derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος (Nikolaos), a combination of the words for 'victory' (níkē) and 'people' (laós)." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas

[wavemotion]

This is useful information so I'll do a quick update with a credit to you. Is there anything else worth adding about Download Play?

Sadly I've only tried it a few times due to being unable to turn off the timer. But I was pleased that it did include music and basic sound effects on the downloaded DS units (that is, the background music and basic tile sounds were present on all units). But voice (PON! CHI!, etc) was restricted to just the unit with the cart. This is typical of single-cart download games ... they usually don't have enough RAM on the leeching DS units to hold everything so they tend to run a bit stripped down. In something like the NDS SuperLite The Mahjong they don't even give you music nor (IIRC) basic tile sounds. Anyway, NDS MFC gives you music and basic tile sounds which is better than nothing.

The Download play is always a 4 player game - filling in CPU Players as needed. DS The Mahjong, by contrast, allows 2,3 or 4 player games and only if you pick a larger number of players will it fill in CPU players if needed.

I'm tempted to pick up another DS game for DS Download play if I can find one that 1) has tiles similar in size to the non-magnification MFC ones... those seem to squeeze as much size an detail as is possible on the DS display (in two other games I've got - The Mahjong and Haou Dan-Kyuu Battle the tiles are a little small and just a little too hard on my ageing eyes). Based on some video I've seen, Custom Mahjong seems to have reasonably big/clear tiles. I'm all for suggestions on another DS game that has single-cart download play and tiles similar in size to those on MFC (I don't need the magnification - which I have turned off in MFC anyway).

[Barticle]

Thanks for the extra info, I'll do a little update soon.

The DS certainly struggles to show Craks and winds clearly, especially discards. I have the DSi XL with 4" screens but of course the inherent resolution of the games is the same - it seems to just enlarge and smooth the graphics.

The following DS games in my collection boast 2-4 player Download Play on the box: MFC DS, Custom Mahjong, Simple DS Vol. 1 The Mahjong, 1500 DS Spirits Vol. 1 Mahjong, Mahjong Taikai, Akko de Pon, Mukoubuchi and Yakuman DS. The display is relatively clear in Custom Mahjong and it keeps all the tabletop action on one screen. It lacks full wind indicators but the "table" shows the dice and the top screen shows your seat wind and a dealer button. Check my guide/s for more details.

[Moah]

Has anyone tried MFC for PS Vita?

[Barticle]

The battle of the next-generation consoles is raging at the E3 games conference this week although Playstation 4 already has a massive lead over the Xbox One by virtue of not requiring a permanent internet connection, running pre-owned games without an extra fee and being priced a whole US$100 cheaper.

With all that excitement some reporters have overlooked a key announcement from Sony Computer Entertainment boss Shuhei Yoshida on Twitter - like the PS3, the PS4 will be region-free so you will be able to run Japanese games on US/Euro consoles.

I haven't seen any mahjong games confirmed yet but I expect there will be at least one at launch. Hopefully there'll be some news at the Tokyo Game Show in September if not before.

[wavemotion]

With all that excitement some reporters have overlooked a key announcement from Sony Computer Entertainment boss Shuhei Yoshida on Twitter - like the PS3, the PS4 will be region-free so you will be able to run Japanese games on US/Euro consoles.

The big question is which games will run region-free? I didn't pick up a PS3 because it won't run Japanese PS2 or (in earlier models) PS1 games which makes lonely Panda's cry. Most of the games I want to run are Japanese PS1 and PS2 games.

[Barticle]

Won't *somebody* please think of the pandas?!

Sadly at launch the PS4 will have no backwards compatibility with any previous generation but Sony will be adding some in the future, possibly offering a cloud-based system for emulation. The PS1 and PS2 were region-locked though so even with backwards compatibility there might be restrictions.

As I noted recently however, there's around twenty PS1 mahjong games available to download through the Japanese PSN (Playstation Network) online store. They're compatible with the PS3, PSP and PS Vita* and cost 600 Yen (US$6) each. Not the same as having a physical collection, I know, but a lot more convenient.

*As I understand it, the Vita is region-free but you can only have a single user account registered in one territory (for online store access).

[Barticle]

Play Asia have listed two new JPML-licensed games (not MFC/Konami) which will be available for the Playstation Vita in September.

The official press releases and Facebook site have several screenshots and stills featuring Jenn...

http://www.kaga-create.co.jp/newsrelease/20130703_1.pdf
http://www.kaga-create.co.jp/newsrelease/20130703_2.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/naxatsoft

...and there's a promo video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTcjfQSc-Pg

EDIT: both games delayed until 28 Nov.

[XFRod]

Are there two separate versions of this coming out or, is one just a "Limited Edition" version, with extra goodies?

[Moah]

and am I the only one scared by that video?