Dragon Quest day is a long known . . .eh, tradition? issue? for Japan. There are shades of truth on both sides if it was a real thing and the gov or Enix decided to do something about it. I've read stories and fact checking that kinda go both ways. There was certainly influence regardless of the matter-of fact reason behind it.
But, really, who cares? It's a great piece of social tribal knowledge and works better if we simply believe it was a thing. DQ is a great series that has done a lot to contribute to the genre, gaming in general and how a game spills over into other media, spin-offs, concerts, etc, etc, etc.
Oh, my, the era of super scaler games! Space Harrier and Thunder Blade are forever etched in my memories - but taking a quick glace a list of games I see there are more that are technically SS games than I realized. Quite a few I loved.
This is such an odd move though. I mean, cool? I guess. Will be super interesting to see what they do with modern hardware. Streets of Rage 4 is nothing like this, but it help show what a old school game can do on modern hardware, and it was EPIC. I guess I'm hoping we get a similar love letter kinda game like that, but for super scaler. Now I'm kinda pumped to see what they do!
I always wanted to play Shining Force. The action scenes were epic at the time. I never did get a chance though.
Just, ugh, come on Sega. You've got such LEGENDARY IP in your back catalog. You're sitting on a massive gold mind. Do something! I was really hoping the rumors about MS buying Sega might be true, only because you know MS would milk that back catalog for something. Some moves by Sega even kinda seemed like they were getting ready for a sale, but it never happened. BAH! I have little faith in the IP reboot they've mentioned. Seems too limited in scope.
Anyways, glad someone was able to preserve these classics. So sad it has to be this way though.
Look, this is the inevitable result of the raise of AI. It's a black box for the most part. YouTube probably really doesn't know why the AI decided it needed to be removed. You have to specifically design the system to determine a value and then the next system perform the action, not have the AI do both steps. I encountered this while talking to someone who worked with credit bureaus. They cannot have a fully automated system determine something about your credit w/o being able to state the why. Similarly here, the AI should be designed to generate the decisions and justification, record it, but then a second system perform the action. This way there is a log of what the decision was and why.
But, that is a more expensive solution than allowing the AI to do the whole process in one shot. It's also less accountable. The solution is to push for legislation for to require any/all automated decision systems to be required to record both the decision and the reasoning. It's a harder problem to solve for with AI, but not impossible. "Why did you give the famous person 6 fingers and only half a palm?" AI: "IDK, because yo' momma?" Then the world would see we're really not ready for AI to run so much of what we're allowing it to do.
Fun read. The speed was unbelievable back then. It blew my mind how it was able to go so fast, or at least convey the sense of speed so well. I guess I missed that the music made so much headway into the club scene. It was FF III on the SNES that opened the door for me about game music. I ordered the 3 CD set, and I still treasure that today. So, I was more aware of game music. Awesome that the music got such recognition.
Game ads have always been at odds. From the early days, the box art and ads never really matched the game, especially the really early days. But, that didn't really matter. It's odd how we relied so much on our imaginations based on those ads/art. I think we've lost some of that magic with everything being so realistic now, even the ads. AI could push us farther from that magic as well.
I got an email about this kickstarter yesterday. It has a really interesting look about it. The art style is almost like a Sierra adventure game, but with way smoother animation and obviously the two RPG style combat mechanics. I can appreciate the technical aspect of this game, which I think will help it feel more like a real new retro-style game. Despite all that positive stuff, it hasn't grabbed me. I'm fine with the price points on the backing levels, even if they are a little rich. Maybe it is the odd mix of Sierra style art design just messing with my head.
I may not be the only one since they haven't crushed their goal yet.
I feel the same other comments. Not sure Polymega is for me, but I like the concept here. Physical license ownership is the better way to go for sure. That price those. Ehhh. I mean, if you're really into it, then having those alternate version is probably the right way to do this. Seems like a rather niche audience though.
@sdelfin You put that very well. And ya, comparing them to more like a rhythm game makes sense to me too. I just want a game where you're an ultimate machine of destruction off to blowup the bad guys, aliens, whatever. It's cathartic.
@Servbot_EJ Oh that would totally suck if that's true. I hadn't really felt the need to do the region shop thing, but that might be the first one to get me to do it. Is that confirmed for the western release, or still speculation? Also, why would they remove the characters? Stupid licensing tomfoolery is to blame I assume.
Haven never played this, but looking at some YT videos, I think this is an impulse purchase for sure. Love these old style shoot 'em ups that aren't pure bullet hell. I've just never gravitated to the Cave style where the genre ended up at. I want the old style mass destruction games. This seems to fit that.
@LowDefAl i don't think HG owns the gaming rights. It's so convoluted though, I'm sure they don't even know. Glad to hear a lot of that has gotten untangled recently. Hopefully we can see most stuff released in the US. Eventually.
Wait, wait, wait. So back in '93 we had a game about 4 dudes that get isekai'd, given special powers, and are sent off to defeat some evil force? LOL '93 would be some serious OG isekai if they decided do an anime of the IP.
Never heard of this, but if it's from the Mystic Warrior team and hardware, should be worth a look.
The Steam reviews make me want to impulse buy this. It sounds wonderfully old school without being annoying because it's rather short and face-paced. That has high appeal. Love the chip-tune soundtrack in the video on Steam. Great vibes!
I've been saying for a while that Sega has been doing a poor job of utilizing its back catalog of legendary IP; especially from the arcade division. I'm at least mostly glad this guy kinda gets how Sega has more to be proud of and known for. That said, ya, other comments cover the concerns. There is real opportunity, but Sega is also infamous for missteps.
When the rumors kinda circulated the someone might buy Sega, I kinda hoped it might be MS. Not that MS would know exactly what to do with the legendary IP available, but they had money to explore it. However, after MS's buying spree we can see the really don't know how to utilize great IP at all. sigh.
The partnership with Dotemu for SoR4 was fantastic. I would love to see Golden Axe get the same love letter treatment, and other classic titles. It's clear Sega is going in a different direction though, and probably not for the better.
Sega used to do what Nintendon't, but Nintendo is firing on nearly all cylinders - with that Game "Freak" leak not withstanding. Serious, GF, what were you thinking even writing that stuff??????
This does present any interesting idea. What if SEGA partnered with Lego like Atari did for a few sets of classic IP. I loved that Atari 2600 on with the different cartridge themes. I wasn't able to buy it, but it was so awesome. I always say Sega has so many legendary IP in their back catalog, doing a collection of select IP in Lego would be brilliant.
Trailer looks amazing. Nintendo recently added Super R-Type to online and it's been a blast to revisit the game. I TOTALLY suck at now. I used to have the whole thing memorized and could finish it in one sitting. Now I can barely get through stage 1 on easy. LOL!!! But the music is still as epic as ever.
It isn't just games either. Just look what happened with anyone that "bought" digital content from PSN store. Poof. Gone. Same with Amazon toon. Stories that Kindle books were revoked. I've seen it myself where a season of a TV series I "bought" suddenly was missing episodes because they got locked behind P+ licensing.
I fear eventually all media will come down to a pay per use model. We're mostly there with music streaming, and are a part of the way through with video streaming. I assume all buy buttons will evolve into n-year viewing rights and after those n years have elapsed the title disappears from your library. Or worse, the extreme is that all displays have hardware to track eyeballs so the fee is per viewer per each time viewed, or by the minute. Watching the extended versions of LOTR would end up costing you a full day's pay. Think of the shareholder value that brings!
Just watching the video, idk if I'd say the sound should have been better. It seems fitting for both that style of game and the era it's trying to relate to. Not my type of game, but it looks like someone put a lot of passion in the project.
I mean... uh, on the surface and at that time, yeah, kinda. It's true that for a period of time when Japan was kicking it into gear and dominating the global market, ya, there were some US and Japan stuff going on. It's why Die Hard uses a Japanese company and leader in its story, right? I remember back then think I should learn Japanese because they might take over the world. I should have pushed to learn Japanese anyways because now who doesn't love anime in the original language? But, for a Japanese dev to put that in their game? IDK. It was a game based on world characters. Why center just on the US vs Japan like that? Yes, the timing fits, but it also feels like she's reaching just to have something to say. A quick google on her I see she's not just a fly-by-night commentator, so maybe she knows more than I'm giving her credit for.
And another that I just cannot remember. I think I played off Amazon's app store when things were free. It was some giant robot fighting game with vector graphics like that. Total blank and google is no help. OH! Robotek. Eh, maybe not so much now that I see it.
@Poodlestargenerica The audience for these PC-xx releases seems pretty small outside of Japan. Initially I was excited about some of the titles that were announced since I had played the MS-DOS versions. But, I found out after some research those are not the same. The graphics and presentations are different from what I experienced. Thinking back, some of the titles I'd want were distributed by Sierra. Who knows where the NA publishing rights are with now, if they didn't revert back to the original owner. Hopefully the original devs are getting just enough money to be willing to do some wider releases of other versions of their games (Silpheed and Thexder for me). I played those on a Tandy 1000 with the enhanced graphics and sound options.
The key thing will be if the enhancements can be realized or not. And, not just in terms of slight upgrades from existing titles. Hopefully that will come, but it needs to be talked about a lot starting in like March or early Q2. The problem with consoles today is they're too similar to a PC and it's getting harder to separate them in terms of platforms. I feel this is where MS is getting bogged down and Sony is feeling it too with how much they've been moving to support PC ports more and more. MS's original intent with DirectX and such tech was to make it easier to develop game and easier for end users for the game to just work. 20+ years later we're still not there (is it closer to 30+ years?) in terms of drop-in and play on the PC. That's kind of the last mile to make it nearly ubiquitous between console and PC in terms of tech.
Stillllllllll, I wouldn't mind owning a Pro. I didn't upgrade the PS4 Pro. I was expecting to get a PS5 launch system. That didn't pan out (stupid scalpers), and the launch lineup never got me to come back to get one later. I was hoping the Pro might push move to do it, but not at that price. Maybe if the slim was dropped by $100, maybe I'd do that.
I wish the soundtrack was available at a lower tier, or maybe as an addon. They can do that later when you can adjust the pledge. Still super tempted especially since I didn't play most of this and didn't play anything on the Amiga.
I didn't own a Dreamcast, and I only had one friend that had a system back then. I can't even remember which games we played on it. There's so much love for this system that there are times I'm tempted to pick one up just to experience it. But, collecting has gotten a lot harder; especially if you try to go with original hardware. There are definitely key titles I want to pickup. Is it really worth it these days? I guess 5min on Ebay would tell me. Too the one great used game store in town that wasn't GameStop gave up and switched to pure tabletop games. I loved that store, but I get that sales were just declining too much for them not to pivot.
Nothing to share here other than it's obvious there is still a lot of love for this system. I know Sega will never make another system. I would like for Sega to do a deep partnership with MS and come up with a killer system seller for the next Xbox. MS can't seem to do it. Maybe Sega and one of their legendary teams with an established IP can.
This was unexpected. I haven't played since the first C64 game. I have no idea why I never played the others. I still remember the first time I saw the screens for the game. I was totally blown away the C64 could have graphics like that. I didn't see mention of QoL enhancements or features like music players, etc. I hope those aren't overlooked for a collection like this. For the moment, I'm pretty tempted to back this, but I'd like some more details.
How awesome. I wonder how he handled the backgrounds. Some of them look like they could be simplified a little more. I wish I had the energy to do something like this. Love to see someone's passion project get finished like this. Kudos!
@-wc- That's what I'm thinking. I don't see a lot of reason to buy this unless you're just at the right age to have missed the 2600 and this was first system. Otherwise, you'd just get the 2600 version.
I assume there's a market for this. Given that EA has pretty much wrecked all sports games to be only retreads, there needs to be a lower entry point. This is a decent IP to give it a shot. Wanting to release on lots of platforms is a big challenge. I hope they've invested well into the games themselves. Updating visuals and QoL enhancement to the originals might not be enough. I didn't play much of these games when they came out. I was already on the EA Sports bandwagon in the early days; back when it was Madden and NHL, etc.
I'll have to try this, but I love that someone thought to give this kind of idea a shot. With the mass layoffs happening in the gaming industry, I'm kinda worried the games for the next couple of years are going to be pure sequels and rethreads. There will be few fresh ideas and all games will be safe bets. I guess it's time to double down on indie or we're going to keep getting the same games over and over.
I wonder if you can pause this game if you don't type fast at all.
I had re-read and read the kickstarter to make sure I understood the digital tier. tl;dr: the digital tier is really a 3 mo sub to a site that hosts the digital version - NOT a digital copy of the rag for you to keep. Meh.
If they do what they setout to do, then I'd want to keep a copy of it and maybe even save it and pass it to my kids later to help reflect back on the influence of games and gaming to their generation, etc. But, that would have been easier to do if it was digital. I'm kinda tired of having to make room for boxes of mags. I eventually threw out my entire collection of Next Gen, Boot, and Maximum PC mags. I had a select collection of other stuff from EGM, PC Gamer, etc, but got rid of everything when I just got tired of having to deal with storage and never taking the time to look back on any of it.
Give me digital so I can keep it mostly forever, find it easier, and not have to worry about running on space so easily. I haven't decided if I'll back the print tier. That price tag is def on the premium side.
If it's meant to be irony, then it's actually a little funny. But, I can't help think this was really just the normal cost saving move. While emotionally I would have wanted that Sierra-era style box, it's not a Sierra game originally and not made by Sierra. We're kinda inferring that because it's the Williams that made the, uhh, is it fair to call it a remaster? Reimagining? Oh well. I bought the VR version on Steam, but I think I may need to get the regular version instead. Not really enjoying it in VR, but that might be because I don't really have enough room for VR so most games don't "feel" right to me. I stopped playing Ancient Dungeon when I had a near miss knocking something over.
Never played the N64 game, but I remember the SNES title fondly. I think I was on the hunt for more games that pushed the graphics beyond the basic color sets and I stumbled upon Legend of the Mystical Ninja. I see the character from time to time in articles, but most don't mention the localized version. Maybe it'll make the online service.
Putting the internet connection aside for a second, to me the biggest issue that it's emulation. We have an awesome retro arcade chain in the area that is adamant about using hardware vs emulation. It makes a different. Yes, they have upkeep costs, but the games all play correctly. No issues with input lag, dropped frames or wonky controls that aren't part of the game itself. That and playing on real CRT screens so the graphics blend as the designers intended the pixels to do.
You just cannot replicate any of that with online emulation. Ya, it's nice to remember some games, and it probably works better for console games. Just not arcade games that were designed with switch based controls, sticks, knobs, trackballs, etc. In addition to emulation latency and having to translate controls to a gamepad. And then you've got your crappy ISP who doesn't want to spend a penny to keep their network modernized or optimized for the sake of all the all mighty shareholder value. "Won't someone please think of the shareholders!" All of that makes it worse. Even if the ISP wasn't an issue at the very least you're still dealing with gamepad vs original controls.
Anyways, fine to remember a game and knock around the first level for a bit. Better for console games of yore. But, this is not the way to preserve the arcade game experience. In truth, we really need a solution for the CRT part. That is growing as the most significant issue to keep old cabinets alive. I think there aren't any new CRTs of the right size for most games being made any more. LCD will give you a display, but it's such a different experience. I'm sure some 12yr old right now will dream up a solution in some English class, patent it and make some money off of it. Hopefully before I'm too old still enjoy playing on real hardware.
I LOVE this. I have quiet dream to do something similar for a game starting to roll around in the far back of my mind. I'm not likely to ever even start on that idea since it's just an idea to see if I could even build the tool/engine to make it work - no idea for a game. But, point is someone took the time to create something like this for a game that doesn't get a lot of attention. This is awesome. Enjoyed seeing how he approached a few different things. I'd want to tinker with the game's engine, and well really tile engine specifically to see if I could find a way to squeeze even more detail out of a more efficient memory design - it's all just data to me and I work in data al day long.
Now I gotta go find the old game and fire it up. It's been so long I don't think I remember much of the game at all.
LOL, I watched the whole thing too. So much glue. I'm glad there are people that know how to do stuff like this, are brave enough to do something like this, and are in a position to not worry too much if stuff goes wrong. Or at least are willing to mess up on camera.
@Hydra_Spectre I picked Under Cover on the Quest 2. It plays a lot like a TC style shooter. It's ok. I couldn't put my finger on why it didn't grab me. Probably that the controllers don't have enough feedback/recoil. I'm not entirely sure.
Rats, was hoping for Amiga. Having played a lot, most?, of the games on the Amiga it's the version I'm most familiar with. I keep getting tempted by Evercade, but the decision to go with 2nd tier console ports of these games keeps turning me off. It might be different if I first played the games on a Sega system, but I was a big Amiga fan when it hit the A500 era.
I would love to see Bluth's designs come to life in a game world. His world building is great. While not all of his films were commercial successes, the worlds he developed for those films were fun to explore. I suspect there might have been budget concerns to bring his vision to life especially during that restructuring time.
Forever the first thing that will always pop into mind when I read anything about U VII is Voodoo Memory Manager. I remember feeling like a total genius being able to get my system to run this game with as many system components still enabled as possible. Master level autoexec.bat and config.sys stuff to make it run right.
I never got far in the game. It was truly next level stuff and I just didn't have the time to invest to learn the systems, but man it looked it at the time. I may need to start a full retro run of some classic games. Yars Recharged has already gotten the itch going, then the article about Epyx Rouge is fanning the flames, and now this... uuuggghhhh
Co-op Rastan? Yes please! This looks hopeful. I do wish the movement looked a bit tighter. Hopefully the controls aren't floaty, but it kinda looks like they might be. But, I really like the idea behind this. I need to go ring up the ol' gaming group that I used to hang with and do local Halo era stuff together.
@smoreon I think I still have it installed. LOL. I'll give it another shot. I def don't remember the soundtrack, but my friend and I were talking so much smack at each other I wouldn't have heard any part of it.
The Dreamcast did not get the life span it should have. Just too bad for the business decisions that Sega made; specifically Sega US. Several great games on the platform and it's amazing to think they were thinking bigger picture with some concept that we're just now finding out about.
Comments 208
Re: Remember When Dragon Quest III's Launch Triggered Arrests In Japan?
Dragon Quest day is a long known . . .eh, tradition? issue? for Japan. There are shades of truth on both sides if it was a real thing and the gov or Enix decided to do something about it. I've read stories and fact checking that kinda go both ways. There was certainly influence regardless of the matter-of fact reason behind it.
But, really, who cares? It's a great piece of social tribal knowledge and works better if we simply believe it was a thing. DQ is a great series that has done a lot to contribute to the genre, gaming in general and how a game spills over into other media, spin-offs, concerts, etc, etc, etc.
Re: A New Night Striker Game Is In Development At M2
Oh, my, the era of super scaler games! Space Harrier and Thunder Blade are forever etched in my memories - but taking a quick glace a list of games I see there are more that are technically SS games than I realized. Quite a few I loved.
This is such an odd move though. I mean, cool? I guess. Will be super interesting to see what they do with modern hardware. Streets of Rage 4 is nothing like this, but it help show what a old school game can do on modern hardware, and it was EPIC. I guess I'm hoping we get a similar love letter kinda game like that, but for super scaler. Now I'm kinda pumped to see what they do!
Re: Three "Lost" Shining Force Games Have Been Preserved
I always wanted to play Shining Force. The action scenes were epic at the time. I never did get a chance though.
Just, ugh, come on Sega. You've got such LEGENDARY IP in your back catalog. You're sitting on a massive gold mind. Do something! I was really hoping the rumors about MS buying Sega might be true, only because you know MS would milk that back catalog for something. Some moves by Sega even kinda seemed like they were getting ready for a sale, but it never happened. BAH! I have little faith in the IP reboot they've mentioned. Seems too limited in scope.
Anyways, glad someone was able to preserve these classics. So sad it has to be this way though.
Re: "A Slap In The Face Of All Creators" - YouTube Terminates Popular Retro Gaming Channel Without Warning
Look, this is the inevitable result of the raise of AI. It's a black box for the most part. YouTube probably really doesn't know why the AI decided it needed to be removed. You have to specifically design the system to determine a value and then the next system perform the action, not have the AI do both steps. I encountered this while talking to someone who worked with credit bureaus. They cannot have a fully automated system determine something about your credit w/o being able to state the why. Similarly here, the AI should be designed to generate the decisions and justification, record it, but then a second system perform the action. This way there is a log of what the decision was and why.
But, that is a more expensive solution than allowing the AI to do the whole process in one shot. It's also less accountable. The solution is to push for legislation for to require any/all automated decision systems to be required to record both the decision and the reasoning. It's a harder problem to solve for with AI, but not impossible. "Why did you give the famous person 6 fingers and only half a palm?" AI: "IDK, because yo' momma?" Then the world would see we're really not ready for AI to run so much of what we're allowing it to do.
Re: Flashback: "The S**t Absolutely Hit The Fan" - When WipEout (And Sara Cox's Bloody Nose) Shocked A Nation
Fun read. The speed was unbelievable back then. It blew my mind how it was able to go so fast, or at least convey the sense of speed so well. I guess I missed that the music made so much headway into the club scene. It was FF III on the SNES that opened the door for me about game music. I ordered the 3 CD set, and I still treasure that today. So, I was more aware of game music. Awesome that the music got such recognition.
Game ads have always been at odds. From the early days, the box art and ads never really matched the game, especially the really early days. But, that didn't really matter. It's odd how we relied so much on our imaginations based on those ads/art. I think we've lost some of that magic with everything being so realistic now, even the ads. AI could push us farther from that magic as well.
Re: Interview: How NES RPG Former Dawn Is Bringing CD-ROM Power To Nintendo's 8-Bit System
I got an email about this kickstarter yesterday. It has a really interesting look about it. The art style is almost like a Sierra adventure game, but with way smoother animation and obviously the two RPG style combat mechanics. I can appreciate the technical aspect of this game, which I think will help it feel more like a real new retro-style game. Despite all that positive stuff, it hasn't grabbed me. I'm fine with the price points on the backing levels, even if they are a little rich. Maybe it is the odd mix of Sierra style art design just messing with my head.
I may not be the only one since they haven't crushed their goal yet.
Re: Polymega Gets Classic Arcade Games Via Physical "Polymega Collection" Series
I feel the same other comments. Not sure Polymega is for me, but I like the concept here. Physical license ownership is the better way to go for sure. That price those. Ehhh. I mean, if you're really into it, then having those alternate version is probably the right way to do this. Seems like a rather niche audience though.
Still, I like the concept.
Re: 'Super Spacefortress Macross' Arrives On Switch & PS4 This December
@sdelfin You put that very well. And ya, comparing them to more like a rhythm game makes sense to me too. I just want a game where you're an ultimate machine of destruction off to blowup the bad guys, aliens, whatever. It's cathartic.
Re: 'Super Spacefortress Macross' Arrives On Switch & PS4 This December
@LowDefAl Ya, it's been several years since I dug into all that mess. I may need to re-watch the Secret Galaxy episodes that cover the whole thing.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCYSDJQezavKQNm6zCRKJ6Lur9cE-sfCY
Re: 'Super Spacefortress Macross' Arrives On Switch & PS4 This December
@Servbot_EJ Oh that would totally suck if that's true. I hadn't really felt the need to do the region shop thing, but that might be the first one to get me to do it. Is that confirmed for the western release, or still speculation? Also, why would they remove the characters? Stupid licensing tomfoolery is to blame I assume.
Re: 'Super Spacefortress Macross' Arrives On Switch & PS4 This December
Haven never played this, but looking at some YT videos, I think this is an impulse purchase for sure. Love these old style shoot 'em ups that aren't pure bullet hell. I've just never gravitated to the Cave style where the genre ended up at. I want the old style mass destruction games. This seems to fit that.
Re: 'Super Spacefortress Macross' Arrives On Switch & PS4 This December
@LowDefAl i don't think HG owns the gaming rights. It's so convoluted though, I'm sure they don't even know. Glad to hear a lot of that has gotten untangled recently. Hopefully we can see most stuff released in the US. Eventually.
Re: Obscure Beat 'Em Up 'Metamorphic Force' Is This Week's Arcade Archives Release
Wait, wait, wait. So back in '93 we had a game about 4 dudes that get isekai'd, given special powers, and are sent off to defeat some evil force? LOL '93 would be some serious OG isekai if they decided do an anime of the IP.
Never heard of this, but if it's from the Mystic Warrior team and hardware, should be worth a look.
Re: Dungeon Antiqua Is A New Steam RPG Inspired By Final Fantasy & Wizardry
@Daniel36 Impulse'd! Will fire it up later tonight.
Re: Dungeon Antiqua Is A New Steam RPG Inspired By Final Fantasy & Wizardry
The Steam reviews make me want to impulse buy this. It sounds wonderfully old school without being annoying because it's rather short and face-paced. That has high appeal. Love the chip-tune soundtrack in the video on Steam. Great vibes!
Re: "You Don’t See Sega Enough" - Sega’s Transmedia Boss Wants To "Elevate" The Brand
I've been saying for a while that Sega has been doing a poor job of utilizing its back catalog of legendary IP; especially from the arcade division. I'm at least mostly glad this guy kinda gets how Sega has more to be proud of and known for. That said, ya, other comments cover the concerns. There is real opportunity, but Sega is also infamous for missteps.
When the rumors kinda circulated the someone might buy Sega, I kinda hoped it might be MS. Not that MS would know exactly what to do with the legendary IP available, but they had money to explore it. However, after MS's buying spree we can see the really don't know how to utilize great IP at all. sigh.
The partnership with Dotemu for SoR4 was fantastic. I would love to see Golden Axe get the same love letter treatment, and other classic titles. It's clear Sega is going in a different direction though, and probably not for the better.
Sega used to do what Nintendon't, but Nintendo is firing on nearly all cylinders - with that Game "Freak" leak not withstanding. Serious, GF, what were you thinking even writing that stuff??????
Re: Sega's OutRun Gets Fan-Made Lego Kit, And It Could Become A Reality
This does present any interesting idea. What if SEGA partnered with Lego like Atari did for a few sets of classic IP. I loved that Atari 2600 on with the different cartridge themes. I wasn't able to buy it, but it was so awesome. I always say Sega has so many legendary IP in their back catalog, doing a collection of select IP in Lego would be brilliant.
Re: Sega's OutRun Gets Fan-Made Lego Kit, And It Could Become A Reality
@Blofse Without question.
Re: Unofficial Sega Genesis R-Type Port Is Getting Closer To Release
Trailer looks amazing. Nintendo recently added Super R-Type to online and it's been a blast to revisit the game. I TOTALLY suck at now. I used to have the whole thing memorized and could finish it in one sitting. Now I can barely get through stage 1 on easy. LOL!!! But the music is still as epic as ever.
Re: New Storefront Law Tells Us What We All Should Know: We Don't Own Digital Games
It isn't just games either. Just look what happened with anyone that "bought" digital content from PSN store. Poof. Gone. Same with Amazon toon. Stories that Kindle books were revoked. I've seen it myself where a season of a TV series I "bought" suddenly was missing episodes because they got locked behind P+ licensing.
I fear eventually all media will come down to a pay per use model. We're mostly there with music streaming, and are a part of the way through with video streaming. I assume all buy buttons will evolve into n-year viewing rights and after those n years have elapsed the title disappears from your library. Or worse, the extreme is that all displays have hardware to track eyeballs so the fee is per viewer per each time viewed, or by the minute. Watching the extended versions of LOTR would end up costing you a full day's pay. Think of the shareholder value that brings!
Re: Review: Rocket Panda (Mega Drive) - A Cute And Cuddly New Addition To Your Sega Library
Just watching the video, idk if I'd say the sound should have been better. It seems fitting for both that style of game and the era it's trying to relate to. Not my type of game, but it looks like someone put a lot of passion in the project.
Re: Game Researcher Says Street Fighter II Was "USA Vs. Japan" And Japanese People Aren't Happy
I mean... uh, on the surface and at that time, yeah, kinda. It's true that for a period of time when Japan was kicking it into gear and dominating the global market, ya, there were some US and Japan stuff going on. It's why Die Hard uses a Japanese company and leader in its story, right? I remember back then think I should learn Japanese because they might take over the world. I should have pushed to learn Japanese anyways because now who doesn't love anime in the original language? But, for a Japanese dev to put that in their game? IDK. It was a game based on world characters. Why center just on the US vs Japan like that? Yes, the timing fits, but it also feels like she's reaching just to have something to say. A quick google on her I see she's not just a fly-by-night commentator, so maybe she knows more than I'm giving her credit for.
Re: 'Utopia Must Fall' Is A Stylish Vector-Based Shooter Inspired By Missile Command
Eh. Missile Command meets Centipede meets Asteroids? I can't see why you'd mix those game mechanics. Seems rather unintuitive.
The visuals instantly took me back to an old mobile game I had to really hunt for:
https://youtu.be/fYTYHiwdb7A
And another that I just cannot remember. I think I played off Amazon's app store when things were free. It was some giant robot fighting game with vector graphics like that. Total blank and google is no help. OH! Robotek. Eh, maybe not so much now that I see it.
Re: The Original PC-88 Version Of Star Cruiser Is Coming To Switch Next Week
@Poodlestargenerica The audience for these PC-xx releases seems pretty small outside of Japan. Initially I was excited about some of the titles that were announced since I had played the MS-DOS versions. But, I found out after some research those are not the same. The graphics and presentations are different from what I experienced. Thinking back, some of the titles I'd want were distributed by Sierra. Who knows where the NA publishing rights are with now, if they didn't revert back to the original owner. Hopefully the original devs are getting just enough money to be willing to do some wider releases of other versions of their games (Silpheed and Thexder for me). I played those on a Tandy 1000 with the enhanced graphics and sound options.
Re: Think PS5 Pro Is Too Much At $700? The 3DO Would Like A Word
The key thing will be if the enhancements can be realized or not. And, not just in terms of slight upgrades from existing titles. Hopefully that will come, but it needs to be talked about a lot starting in like March or early Q2. The problem with consoles today is they're too similar to a PC and it's getting harder to separate them in terms of platforms. I feel this is where MS is getting bogged down and Sony is feeling it too with how much they've been moving to support PC ports more and more. MS's original intent with DirectX and such tech was to make it easier to develop game and easier for end users for the game to just work. 20+ years later we're still not there (is it closer to 30+ years?) in terms of drop-in and play on the PC. That's kind of the last mile to make it nearly ubiquitous between console and PC in terms of tech.
Stillllllllll, I wouldn't mind owning a Pro. I didn't upgrade the PS4 Pro. I was expecting to get a PS5 launch system. That didn't pan out (stupid scalpers), and the launch lineup never got me to come back to get one later. I was hoping the Pro might push move to do it, but not at that price. Maybe if the slim was dropped by $100, maybe I'd do that.
Re: Last Ninja Collection Hits Initial Funding Goal In Just 40 Minutes
I wish the soundtrack was available at a lower tier, or maybe as an addon. They can do that later when you can adjust the pledge. Still super tempted especially since I didn't play most of this and didn't play anything on the Amiga.
Re: A Bunch Of Taito Arcade Archives Titles Are Currently On Sale On Nintendo Switch & PS4
Metal Black is tempting. I'm not familiar with the game, but the video looks interesting and it's near an impulse price.
Re: Anniversary: It's Been 25 Years Since The Dreamcast's North American "9.9.99" Launch
I didn't own a Dreamcast, and I only had one friend that had a system back then. I can't even remember which games we played on it. There's so much love for this system that there are times I'm tempted to pick one up just to experience it. But, collecting has gotten a lot harder; especially if you try to go with original hardware. There are definitely key titles I want to pickup. Is it really worth it these days? I guess 5min on Ebay would tell me. Too the one great used game store in town that wasn't GameStop gave up and switched to pure tabletop games. I loved that store, but I get that sales were just declining too much for them not to pivot.
Nothing to share here other than it's obvious there is still a lot of love for this system. I know Sega will never make another system. I would like for Sega to do a deep partnership with MS and come up with a killer system seller for the next Xbox. MS can't seem to do it. Maybe Sega and one of their legendary teams with an established IP can.
Re: Last Ninja Collection Will Bring The Classic Beat 'Em Up Series To PC & Switch
This was unexpected. I haven't played since the first C64 game. I have no idea why I never played the others. I still remember the first time I saw the screens for the game. I was totally blown away the C64 could have graphics like that. I didn't see mention of QoL enhancements or features like music players, etc. I hope those aren't overlooked for a collection like this. For the moment, I'm pretty tempted to back this, but I'd like some more details.
Re: This King’s Quest VI Demake Took 18 Years To Produce, And Is Free To Download
How awesome. I wonder how he handled the backgrounds. Some of them look like they could be simplified a little more. I wish I had the energy to do something like this. Love to see someone's passion project get finished like this. Kudos!
Re: Yes, This Is Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night On The Sega Mega Drive
@RetroGames If I remember right, wasn't Sonic's main trick for speed just DMA? It wasn't widely used yet so it was a leap from a technical standpoint.
Re: The Atari 7800+ Resurrects Another Classic Atari Console
@-wc- That's what I'm thinking. I don't see a lot of reason to buy this unless you're just at the right age to have missed the 2600 and this was first system. Otherwise, you'd just get the 2600 version.
Re: 'Backyard Sports Is Set To Make A Comeback "In The Coming Months"
I assume there's a market for this. Given that EA has pretty much wrecked all sports games to be only retreads, there needs to be a lower entry point. This is a decent IP to give it a shot. Wanting to release on lots of platforms is a big challenge. I hope they've invested well into the games themselves. Updating visuals and QoL enhancement to the originals might not be enough. I didn't play much of these games when they came out. I was already on the EA Sports bandwagon in the early days; back when it was Madden and NHL, etc.
Re: Terminal City Is An Auto-Runner Inspired By Classic Sierra-Style Text Adventures
I'll have to try this, but I love that someone thought to give this kind of idea a shot. With the mass layoffs happening in the gaming industry, I'm kinda worried the games for the next couple of years are going to be pure sequels and rethreads. There will be few fresh ideas and all games will be safe bets. I guess it's time to double down on indie or we're going to keep getting the same games over and over.
I wonder if you can pause this game if you don't type fast at all.
Re: New Book Dives Into The History Of Classic '80s Arcade Games
@gingerbeardman It's on the Kickstarter page
Re: New Premium Magazine To Explore "How Gaming's Past Shaped our Future"
I had re-read and read the kickstarter to make sure I understood the digital tier. tl;dr: the digital tier is really a 3 mo sub to a site that hosts the digital version - NOT a digital copy of the rag for you to keep. Meh.
If they do what they setout to do, then I'd want to keep a copy of it and maybe even save it and pass it to my kids later to help reflect back on the influence of games and gaming to their generation, etc. But, that would have been easier to do if it was digital. I'm kinda tired of having to make room for boxes of mags. I eventually threw out my entire collection of Next Gen, Boot, and Maximum PC mags. I had a select collection of other stuff from EGM, PC Gamer, etc, but got rid of everything when I just got tired of having to deal with storage and never taking the time to look back on any of it.
Give me digital so I can keep it mostly forever, find it easier, and not have to worry about running on space so easily. I haven't decided if I'll back the print tier. That price tag is def on the premium side.
Re: Sierra's Ken Williams Is As Confused As You About Colossal Cave's Tiny Box
If it's meant to be irony, then it's actually a little funny. But, I can't help think this was really just the normal cost saving move. While emotionally I would have wanted that Sierra-era style box, it's not a Sierra game originally and not made by Sierra. We're kinda inferring that because it's the Williams that made the, uhh, is it fair to call it a remaster? Reimagining? Oh well. I bought the VR version on Steam, but I think I may need to get the regular version instead. Not really enjoying it in VR, but that might be because I don't really have enough room for VR so most games don't "feel" right to me. I stopped playing Ancient Dungeon when I had a near miss knocking something over.
Re: The Making Of: Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, Konami's Underrated N64 Classic
Never played the N64 game, but I remember the SNES title fondly. I think I was on the hunt for more games that pushed the graphics beyond the basic color sets and I stumbled upon Legend of the Mystical Ninja. I see the character from time to time in articles, but most don't mention the localized version. Maybe it'll make the online service.
Re: Interview: Antstream's Steve Cottam On Bringing Retro Gaming To The Masses Via The Cloud
Putting the internet connection aside for a second, to me the biggest issue that it's emulation. We have an awesome retro arcade chain in the area that is adamant about using hardware vs emulation. It makes a different. Yes, they have upkeep costs, but the games all play correctly. No issues with input lag, dropped frames or wonky controls that aren't part of the game itself. That and playing on real CRT screens so the graphics blend as the designers intended the pixels to do.
You just cannot replicate any of that with online emulation. Ya, it's nice to remember some games, and it probably works better for console games. Just not arcade games that were designed with switch based controls, sticks, knobs, trackballs, etc. In addition to emulation latency and having to translate controls to a gamepad. And then you've got your crappy ISP who doesn't want to spend a penny to keep their network modernized or optimized for the sake of all the all mighty shareholder value. "Won't someone please think of the shareholders!" All of that makes it worse. Even if the ISP wasn't an issue at the very least you're still dealing with gamepad vs original controls.
Anyways, fine to remember a game and knock around the first level for a bit. Better for console games of yore. But, this is not the way to preserve the arcade game experience. In truth, we really need a solution for the CRT part. That is growing as the most significant issue to keep old cabinets alive. I think there aren't any new CRTs of the right size for most games being made any more. LCD will give you a display, but it's such a different experience. I'm sure some 12yr old right now will dream up a solution in some English class, patent it and make some money off of it. Hopefully before I'm too old still enjoy playing on real hardware.
Re: Sick Of Waiting For A New Landstalker? Then Build Your Own With This Tool
I LOVE this. I have quiet dream to do something similar for a game starting to roll around in the far back of my mind. I'm not likely to ever even start on that idea since it's just an idea to see if I could even build the tool/engine to make it work - no idea for a game. But, point is someone took the time to create something like this for a game that doesn't get a lot of attention. This is awesome. Enjoyed seeing how he approached a few different things. I'd want to tinker with the game's engine, and well really tile engine specifically to see if I could find a way to squeeze even more detail out of a more efficient memory design - it's all just data to me and I work in data al day long.
Now I gotta go find the old game and fire it up. It's been so long I don't think I remember much of the game at all.
Re: Random: Crazy Modder Adds A CRT Screen To The Game Boy
LOL, I watched the whole thing too. So much glue. I'm glad there are people that know how to do stuff like this, are brave enough to do something like this, and are in a position to not worry too much if stuff goes wrong. Or at least are willing to mess up on camera.
Re: Did You Know You Can Play Time Crisis 5 On Your PC?
@Hydra_Spectre I picked Under Cover on the Quest 2. It plays a lot like a TC style shooter. It's ok. I couldn't put my finger on why it didn't grab me. Probably that the controllers don't have enough feedback/recoil. I'm not entirely sure.
Re: Old Enough To Remember The Original Game Boy? Then Think About Screening For Cancer, Says Charity
IDK, if those people were licking GB carts back then, maybe the system/games did give them cancer.
Re: The Bitmap Brothers Collection 2 Brings Amiga Classics To Evercade
Rats, was hoping for Amiga. Having played a lot, most?, of the games on the Amiga it's the version I'm most familiar with. I keep getting tempted by Evercade, but the decision to go with 2nd tier console ports of these games keeps turning me off. It might be different if I first played the games on a Sega system, but I was a big Amiga fan when it hit the A500 era.
Re: Namco Once Hired Dragon Lair's Don Bluth To "Bring New Life" To Pac-Man
I would love to see Bluth's designs come to life in a game world. His world building is great. While not all of his films were commercial successes, the worlds he developed for those films were fun to explore. I suspect there might have been budget concerns to bring his vision to life especially during that restructuring time.
Re: New Fan Project Aims To Solve Ultima VII's "Greatest Problem"
Forever the first thing that will always pop into mind when I read anything about U VII is Voodoo Memory Manager. I remember feeling like a total genius being able to get my system to run this game with as many system components still enabled as possible. Master level autoexec.bat and config.sys stuff to make it run right.
I never got far in the game. It was truly next level stuff and I just didn't have the time to invest to learn the systems, but man it looked it at the time. I may need to start a full retro run of some classic games. Yars Recharged has already gotten the itch going, then the article about Epyx Rouge is fanning the flames, and now this... uuuggghhhh
Re: 'Abathor' Is A New Retro Hack 'N' Slash For 'Rastan Saga' & 'Golden Axe' Fans
Co-op Rastan? Yes please! This looks hopeful. I do wish the movement looked a bit tighter. Hopefully the controls aren't floaty, but it kinda looks like they might be. But, I really like the idea behind this. I need to go ring up the ol' gaming group that I used to hang with and do local Halo era stuff together.
Re: Interview: Say Hello To Jocelyn Benford, The First Person To Give Princess Peach A Voice
That was a fun read. It's great to get some bit of history that most of us hadn't heard before. More like this please!
Re: A Double Dragon Revival Is Coming To Modern Consoles In 2025
@smoreon I think I still have it installed. LOL. I'll give it another shot. I def don't remember the soundtrack, but my friend and I were talking so much smack at each other I wouldn't have heard any part of it.
Re: New Videos Of The Unreleased Dreamcast MMORPG 'Farnation' Appear Online
The Dreamcast did not get the life span it should have. Just too bad for the business decisions that Sega made; specifically Sega US. Several great games on the platform and it's amazing to think they were thinking bigger picture with some concept that we're just now finding out about.