Hexapus

Trinea features art by the great Masamune Shirow.

"their approach is the ideal solution, and if I had the time and resources available, it is one I would have loved to pursue myself"

Then leave it alone.

This guy handed his work off to a clanker and then has the audacity to blame the audience for not liking the awful results.

@Gonzalo_fz Nice! I'll check it out!

@Gonzalo_fz Just checked out the gallery on your site, great stuff. Are you a fan of John Romita Jr? Your ink work reminds me of his early '90s style.

The website design is cool too.

@Martin_H Yeah that doesn't even remotely resemble the Zelda triforce logo. I'm not sure why you're even arguing with people about this, are you bored? It's obviously a 1:1 of the symbol from Zelda. It's not kind of like it, it is the symbol.

From the article "I have told the developer that there was art resembling the Zelda emblem in the pillar. That asset will be regenerated. Thanks for noting me about it!"

@AxioMaxiM I've never personally used any of the Ai generative software out there. I know Midjourney and Stable Diffusion were the big ones a few years ago but I think people also ask ChatGPT to make art for them.

I'm guessing there's probably a lot of options now(apps and websites), based on the amount of Ai images I see on social media, which seems constant.

Most of the Ai comic stuff I've seen were mostly disconnected images, which is not ideal for a comic/manga. So you would have to edit it heavily if you want the art to tell a story.

I've seen plenty of Ai images that look amazing, well beyond my own skill level, but I'm not sure where they come from.

You might be able to find an artist to do clean lines for you for cheap. There's a lot of artists out there that are "open for commissions". But I get that it can be costly and time consuming.

Good luck with your project!

@Martin_H The symbol you reference is just 3 triangles, while you conveniently ignore the rest of the design that's clearly from the Legend of Zelda franchise.

I use to have the Atgames Ultimate handheld and although it was kinda cool back 2014, it was also very flawed like most Atgames products.

I'm guessing this might have something to do with the Hyperkin Mega95? But I hope it is actually Sega making a new more powerful Game Gear type of device.

@smoreon Thanks for confirming! I thought I must have been wrong since I only see people online talk about how green it was.

I sold my DMG Gameboy around 1999 so I can't just fire it up and check. I still regret selling it even though I'm sure it would be unplayable now.

The website is a nice touch too. I don't know if it's intentional or not but it took a bit to load the page, adding to the '90s internet feel.

When I saw the headline I was expecting some early '90s 3D style dungeon crawler but this looks really cool.

In my memory the DMG Gameboy wasn't nearly as green as the overlays make it look. It was always more beige than green to me.

This is still the Tetris I think of whenever the game is mentioned. I played DOS clones and maybe even the real thing but the GB version has a special kind of quality to it. Maybe it's just nostalgia.

@rshmglsky my dude, what crusade? You brought up reference material(photos, other art, 3d models, etc.) equating it to tracing, as if they're the same. That's all I was talking about.

@rshmglsky There's a huge difference between using a reference image for a drawing/painting and just tracing an image. The artist for Metal Gear obviously used the promotional image of Reese from The Terminator as a reference image but I highly doubt it was traced, I don't think a Japanese developer would tolerate it either.

Tracing takes little to no skill. If you have zero drawing abilities, you can trace something and have it look decent. Tracing was also seen as cheating by everyone as far back as I can remember. Even little kids would ask "Did you trace that?" because they knew it was not the same thing as actually drawing.

If you don't believe me, try drawing from a photo, any photo and then trace the photo and compare. It may not matter to you but if you call yourself an artist or "art director" you should strive to be a competent illustrator that can draw from imagination or a reference image without needing to trace.

It's just basic competency that the consumer expects if they're paying money for your products.

Romhacking is one of the best things to happen with retro gaming. Even if the changes aren't that great or welcome, it's still cool that stuff like this exist. There have been many great romhacks to come out over the last 5+ years.

@Bot_Bot_69 I keep meaning to play the SMS Sonic games.

It does seem like MD Sonic is flying through the levels sometimes, especially in Sonic 2, and the player is just watching everything whiz past. Once you get the hang of the timing though, they're really great games.

The music, the graphics, the overall vibe. I'm not even that big of a Sonic fan but Sonic 2 is easily in the top 10 MD games for me.

If you own the game, just download the rom.

You're not "committing piracy". No one cares, it's not hurting anyone, and you're saving yourself time and money. You don't even have to convert ISO/Bin/Cue to CHDs anymore, someone has already done it and uploaded it to the web.

"it is not recommended that you use this if you are worried about damaging your console." Then it's not a viable alternative to just downloading a small rom file is it?

Enough with the moral panic.

I remember wanting this game for DOS. Anything that looked like anime got my attention and being a teen, the content didn't hurt either.

In retrospect, it was probably for the best that I never got it, as truly good fighting games were few and far between.

@jygsaw That must have been cool to play one back in the day. I didn't see an AES in person until around 2009 when a co-worker had one next to his PS3.

I also played Samurai Shodown at a corner store. It was a 7-11 near my high school. First time I played Darkstalkers was at the same store.

I miss the days when you could randomly see an amazing arcade game at a convenience store.

@gmar SNK/NEOGEO was popular in the US but not as popular as SF/Capcom. Mortal Kombat was just kind of notorious because of the blood/gore. The US loves a spectacle and our government loves to pretend to "save the children". Rap and Heavy Metal were similar in controversy and were seen as "deviant" or violent.

Before that it was comic books and horror movies. Before that it was Elvis and Rock 'n Roll allegedly "corrupting the youth".

The first time I played SF2 in an arcade, Fatal Fury was just a few feet away. SNK was a constant in the '90s at least in my midwestern home town. The NEO GEO AES was just priced out of reach for a home console.

Love seeing the character designs and concept art. I was never the biggest FF fan but I have a special place in my heart for the FF2 OVA anime. Still have it on VHS which includes a few Japanese TV ads for the game at the end.

@Damo As an artist, I would be honoured if someone said my work was an "antidote to Ai slop". High praise indeed.

The sad thing about the people that seem to only comment on Ai articles, they're not even in the proverbial game and never will be. They're spectators screaming from the stands at the players on the field, desperate for some attention.

I played this game for the first time about a year ago. I really enjoy it, especially the part in level one where the city gets destroyed. I think that part of the level was removed from the PCE version.

Underrated game for sure.

@Thomystic The PS Classic is the Playstation "mini" console. Not to be confused with PSOne, PSX, or Playstation.

Unless you softmod it, the PSc is just kind of uninspired with an odd selection of games.

@-wc- lol Yeah the mini consoles look pretty cool on a shelf for sure.

Modding it is well worth it in my opinion. There's some more recent tutorials on the whole process on Youtube.

You can back up a file that will revert it to stock if you ever feel like going back. You can also have multiple builds on different thumb drives.

I get why people don't like the stock version, it was seriously underwhelming, even the user interface was just bland as hell. The community really saved the PS Classic. Madlittlepixel on Youtube has covered most of the popular builds over the years.

I got a PS Classic for $25 new at Best Buy when they were trying to unload their stock. People hated it so much but once you soft-mod it, it's a great emulation device, at least in terms of 2018 SBCs. I've been using a Magnus RC build with emulation station/retroarch for years. IIRC the PS Classic is slightly more powerful than the other mini consoles.

Not to take away from the Superstation One, it looks really cool and is obviously far more powerful than a PS Classic. An affordable FPGA option has been a long time coming.

My first encounter with a SNES was seeing Actraiser on display at a video rental store called Video Hut about a mile from where I grew up. It was probably a standard SNES kiosk but in my memory it was a small arcade cabinet.

I had my Genesis/MD for a little while but Actraiser seemed like the next level of gaming at the time. I went to the store a couple of times just to play it for a minute but was eventually asked to leave unless I was going to rent something. Being 13 years old or so, I wasn't going to be able to rent anything, but seeing Actraiser left quite an impression on me.

@bufke Nice, I'll try that. Thanks for the tip!

I really want to like Arcus Odyssey, it checks all the boxes for me, so to speak, but damn if it isn't tough as nails. Maybe I'm playing it wrong but I get "game over" really fast.

Love the art style regardless though.

@Sketcz Honest question, do you not see the irony in writing long, essay like comments, telling people what they can and can't say about a product?

I would suggest that if reading facts about a company/distributor/manufacturer makes you upset or feel guilty, then that's on you to reconcile those feelings within yourself. You don't get to dictate what people say or do with their time and money, just as we don't get to tell you to boycott mod-retro. How do you not see the irony here?

"If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise." -Noam Chomsky

As an American, I can confidently say that the Japanese are very perceptive.

All jokes aside, it's honourable that he admits that the game should have been 2D instead of 3D. I've been saying this about a lot of things since the late 90s.

Holy ****! I was not expecting this. I might actually be able to afford what is possibly the coolest looking console ever created.

"Sony could punish them." that's rich coming from Microsoft.

For those that aren't aware, look up "Microsoft monopoly 1990s".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.#Judgment

"Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect.'"

The long loading time was fixed with the latest version. I played it and wanted to keep playing but it's only world 1-1. I was surprised at how accurate the sound was, I thought it was going to sound completely different.

Would love to see this finished.

@iheartpizzallc "Our games take years to develop, and cost us lots of money. We've invested heavily into our dream, and put our livelihood on the line to make it a reality."

Well said, and I've heard many successful creators say the same thing. Not just in video games but in film, music, and visual arts.

There will always be interest in real human work.
Stuff like this and all the people casually using Ai and calling themselves "creators" will only make your efforts more valuable.

People want the real thing, they value authenticity. There's a big difference between having true passion/drive to create and Cosplaying as a game dev/artist/musician. People that use Ai want the reward without the struggle, which is impossible.

People will recognize the difference in the long run.
I wish you all the best in your endeavors.

I wouldn't post the incredibly detailed list of sources in the video description either. Just visually it would be a nightmare and no one would read it anyway.

Better to have it just two clicks away, prominently on a website.

Looks like Norm did his due diligence by listing every source for each video.
https://thegaminghistorian.com/category/episodes/

If he ghosted someone, that's unfortunate, but sometimes people have the best intentions but they can't follow through for one reason or another. That's life.

I've sent my own work to people, that reached out to me, only to have them never follow up. It comes with the territory.

Some of the highest quality retro gaming content on Youtube.

A million subscribers, 9,039 comments 47k upvotes on the farewell video, some from prominent retro gaming Youtubers.
Hundreds of comments and thousands of upvotes on Reddit in support and admiration of his work.

I'd say Norm's work speaks for itself but I don't have to since the outpouring of love for this guy is crystal clear.

The Gaming Historian will be missed.

"Norman is one of the all time greats. No fluff, no scandal, no corpo sponsors blasting ads mid video. Just quality content made with integrity and care. This is what true service looks like. Thank you for your creations."

Sites I visit pretty regularly besides the sites already mentioned-
Hardcore Gaming 101
Retronauts
Sega Saturn, Shiro!
Retro News
Retrolike.net
Segabits.com

Youtube Channels I like-
Retro Bird
Classic Gaming Quarterly/CGQ+
SNESDrunk
Strafefox
Jeremy Parish | Video Works
The Video Game History Foundation
Gaming Historian
Gamesack

And a bit of a parody channel but Rose Tinted Spectrum has videos covering the UK gaming shows from the '90s.

Definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And it still plays the games too.

I was thinking maybe I should check these games out since I've only played the NES/SMS/GB Ninja Gaiden games, then I looked at the length of this video. I guess I'm good.

I have always appreciated their art style though.

@AllieKitsune Yeah I really suck at these games when using the d pad. About once a year I'll try Arknoid or similar game and quit after a few minutes.

Oh wow this this is a nice surprise. I loved Popcorn on DOS back in the day. Played a shareware version or possibly a pirated copy. It's one of those games that feels like no one knew about or at least no one remembers. I had no idea that the developers went on to create Alone in the Dark.

The MD version looks great, too bad there's no ROM option on Kickstarter. Can't really justify $70 for a game I liked when I was 12 but hopefully they can reach their goal. Might back it without a reward just for the memories.

The mech looks cool but I don't knw what's going on with the character that I'm guessing is piloting the mech. Not feeling that look at all. She looks like a baby with a woman's body. To each their own I guess.

@metaphysician You're probably right, they would have to come up with some different game mechanics to make it stand on it's own.

My feelings about the Gunsmith Cats meets Predator style aside, the art does look pretty cool. They could easily get this crowdfunded with the amount of work they've already put into it.

It would reach its goal in about 30 seconds.

Capcom isn't interested? Make it yourselves. Get a license from Disney/Fox and make it happen.

To the soulless ghouls occupying Washington D.C., it is a game.
"Seeking no truth. Winning is all."

Iran doesn't have the capability to launch an ICBM anymore than Iraq did in 2003. Anyone believing the outright lie that Iran is an imminent threat to anyone but Israel is woefully ignorant of the facts.

This is about all I can say without going into a vitriolic, expletive filled rant about these war pigs. I hope Nintendo takes some sort of legal action.

While I kind of hate the content, I see nothing about this art that makes me think it's Ai.

I certainly don't see "eyes they're not perfectly round and kinda jitter". They look pretty perfect to me.

"both tongues are in two different art styles with the line crease at its center." No one has a highlight and extra line on the tongue, they are not different styles.

To the untrained eye a work of art may look flawlessly executed but the artist always knows there are flaws or at least "could have been better" areas of the work. It's the double edged sword of being able to create art of any form.

I had Battlefront on PC but this looks far superior.

Remember when George Lucas sold Star Wars "in order to negate the risk that his thousands of employees would become jobless."?

I 'member.

Never really been a fan of digitized backgrounds/graphics but I think it works in this game.

Some of the levels toward the end of the video looked pretty cool.