Strange mix of pixel art and live action but it looks pretty good.

I thought this kind of thing would happen way back when I ordered my LDK Landscape. I was sure it would all get banned because of the ROMs. That was at the end of 2019.

Little did I know the handheld market would churn out a new console every other week and sellers would advertise "10,000 games included".

@Kumatz I think the Ayn would be more expensive than Anbernic but maybe have higher quality parts. I have two Anbernic devices and they're pretty great in my opinion, but I mainly play 8bit and 16bit games and some PS1. It really depends on what you want to emulate.

Check out this site that has all the specs for each device.
https://www.retrodock.com/finder/

I think importing games in the US, ordering a game from Japan for example, was definitely a rarity for the average kid in the 80s/90s. I drooled over screenshots in Gamefan but never ordered one(or had the money to order)or knew anyone that imported games from Japan. Once you get outside of the big cities of America, I feel like it was pretty rare to see imports in a shop, ordering them even more so, unless your parents were well off.

As stated above, there should be a distinction between buying new or second hand at a specialty shop VS actually importing an item from another region of the world. I think buying imports in the US, especially in a big city like NYC or LA was probably pretty common but actually "importing" was a niche within a niche in the US at least.

@sdelfin Yeah Vallejo is a master for sure. I do like a lot of Western art/artists and I don't hate the SF2 cover or the NES Castlevania covers as another example. Another one that comes to mind is the Alisia Dragoon cover, I like the more traditional fantasy painting that we got, it's good but that Japanese art... it's just so much more dynamic and it perfectly matches the game.

But I think you're right about different sensibilities and aesthetics from previous decades. The Turbo Grafx-16 marketing and design, what a disaster. It could have been a huge hit. I've only come to appreciate what a great console the PC Engine was in the last ten years or so. They really could have given Nintendo and Sega a run for their money in the '90s with better marketing.

"In North America, Japanese art styles like that just won't be accepted." What absolute nonsense.

I couldn't get enough Japanese art in my life at the time and I wasn't the only teenager getting into anime and manga in the early '90s. It seemed like Japanese culture and pop culture was getting more popular by the day. Suncoast video's anime section was expanding. Even Blockbuster had an anime section. Arcades were arguably at their peak.

It just shows how out of touch corporate execs were at the time. They were definitely thinking "baby boomers" won't like it and didn't consider that Gen X were the target consumers.

In my opinion and experience, you keep people informed with regular updates, period(I saw my own printing costs rise 83% between printings). It takes all of ten minutes and 99% of people will be understanding if there's a delay.

Good news? Post an update. Bad news? Post an update. The worst thing you can do is go silent for months, especially when you collected 1.8 million dollars.

It doesn't matter that "you can't please everyone", that's a given.
It's situations like this that make Kickstarter seem like a scam even though actual scams on KS are pretty rare.

This is a cool idea. Wish I still had all the big box DOS games from back in the day.

The only problem with printing them at home is the originals had some serious paper/board boxes. Publishers really went all out back then and it was like getting a board game box, usually with extras like maps or posters.

Well this is a nice surprise. Looks like an impressive upgrade.
Gley Lancer is such a great game. Really made use of all the MD's capabilities.

It's frustrating that Twitter won't even let someone view an image without an account.

Here's some of Yamada's work -https://magnvsrpgjourney.substack.com/p/the-art-of-akihiro-yamada-a-black

This looks incredible. I wasn't expecting much as I've only briefly played the NES game but wow, they really went all out.

@AxioMaxiM I hope you're right. Hopefully whatever changes they wanted to make are worth the wait. The alpha version seems nearly complete though, at least from what I've played so far.

At least we can play the game in the mean time.

I backed this campaign because I really liked the demo. It was a Sword & Sorcery action platformer that looked and played like something from the early '90s. Simple yet fun.

I knew it would take longer than expected but I didn't think the development would still be in question 4+ years later.

When I saw the itch.io post I was confused since the KS updates are posted by.... PSCD games. So "PSCD games" says it out of their hands but "PSCD games" says it's all good.

They need to just be transparent about what's going on and who's involved.

Looking at the video update "PSCD" posted and how primitive the footage looks, I'm more inclined to believe the itch.io post.

This looks great! I'm glad they already made their goal. There's been a serious lack of SNES indie/homebrew compared to other systems in the last decade or so. Some great romhacks but not much in the way of new games.

Hopefully this will make romhacking easier as well.

@sdelfin Glad to hear that they let you turn off camera shake! It's incredibly distracting and overused in modern video games and animation. Also good to hear that I'm not alone in my dislike of that effect. "There are dozens of us! Dozens!"

It looks like they also added the option to turn off the voices too which would be a big improvement and makes me more likely to buy the game.

I don't know why but I don't mind the beat 'em up mechanic or "belt-scrolling" mechanic in beat 'em ups like SoR or one of the many Capcom games from the '90s. I guess maybe because that's what I'm expecting from that type of game.

I'm not even opposed to new directions in gameplay, I played a lot of "Shinobi" on PS2 and every game has had some major shifts from the OG arcade game to the Saturn.

Watching some of a playthrough of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and the developers seem to have found a good balance from what I can tell. They really honored the NES games style while modernizing the graphics and music for new and old fans.

I guess that's what I was hoping for with the new Shinobi. But like you said, it's a balancing act.

Revenge of Shinobi is my favorite MD game, with Shinobi III and Shadow Dancer close behind. I didn't really expect much from AoV and just going off the video footage, I kind of lost interest. I plan on playing it eventually, when it's on clearance.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like they incorporated the "locked on one screen until you defeat all the enemies" mechanic(does that have a name?). I find that style of game to be a real chore and not fun in long stretches.

I was reminded of the 2D Blood Rayne game that was on PS3. It looked like Castlevania, it sounded like Castelvania but it wasn't anywhere near as enjoyable as the games it was trying to imitate. Locked to one screen, defeat waves of enemies, move on to next screen, repeat.

It just becomes dull after a short time, no matter how many combo attacks they give you.

Watching some footage now and I still feel underwhelmed by what I see. The art/animation is good, the music sounds okay, but the constant voice acting is unnecessary and bad. Add in regular "camera shakes" on almost every hit and I've lost almost all interest in the game.

Not saying people shouldn't play it or like it, but the complaints are valid in my opinion. It's not just "old man yells at cloud" because things changed. Trying to "appeal to everyone" is a sure way to end up with something that's mid-tier at best.

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.'"