JJtheTexan

I kind of wish Warner Bros. would just step in and C&D this entire debate into the surface of the sun

@Zeebor15 I assumed what they meant to say was "the largest limited print game publisher in the world" but yeah, not even close to the largest publisher. I imagine that would have to be Nintendo, in terms of units sold.

Some GameStop executive: "What if DKOldies was a chain of retail stores?"

Great story, and a fascinating look at a somewhat forgotten chapter of Japanese gaming history. I never would have guessed that GTA3 played much the same role in Japan that Mortal Kombat did in the U.S. with respect to the creation of industry game content ratings.

I have a Taito Egret II Mini, and I'm more or less happy with it... but I skipped both of the previous expansion cards, because the value proposition is lousy: around $60 U.S. for what amounts to ten arcade ROMs, none of which is what I would call a stone-cold classic.

I could perhaps justify paying $60 for an SD card with every single Taito arcade game that is not already built into the machine or included on the rotary controller card... but $60 for ten games that have not aged particularly well is not something I can stomach.

"Were you diagnosed with cancer after playing Game Boy? You may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Law Offices of Phoenix Wright today for a free consultation."

This game looks really good! Like a lot of American kids in the 1980s, I missed out on the C64 and other microcomputer games, since we were all about Nintendo. I love R-Type, so I am optimistic I will enjoy X-Out as well.

This is great! I am especially looking forward to Pinball Quest. It's right up my alley, so to speak

@LuigiBlood thanks for all you do in the emulation and preservation community!

I imagine if it had been a Chrono Trigger fighting game, it would be worth about 10x as much today on the collecting market. (Unless it had been a best-seller or something)

@Azuris I like your thinking, though those sprites were drawn to be viewed from an overhead isometric angle. Perhaps someone will create SMRPG-inspired "pre-rendered" sprites that can be dropped into this ROMhack.

One of my most-anticipated games! I cannot wait to get my hands on this. Thank you @Damo for staying on top of Earthion updates!

To me, JRPG is a useful term in much the same way as Metroidvania: it's clunky and overgeneralized, but it still gets the point across, in a broad sense, of what a player can expect. Some folks know immediately they won't be interested. "JRPG" tells me I should give the game a look.

If you're not already subscribed to Game Sack, you should be! One of the best channels on YouTube for retro games.

Very timely, considering the Mega Man Game Boy games were just recently added to the Nintendo Switch Online service.

I thought it might be a typo, but it really was a $1 funding goal. Nice!

It's a shame they can't or didn't want to port the SEGA Master System release, since that's already fully-localized and just looks nicer.

@-wc- I enjoyed Detective Pikachu and The Super Mario Bros. Movie for what they are - "junk food" entertainment for kids and the young at heart. Hardly great films, but I liked them. The recent Mortal Kombat film was OK. I felt it was really carried by Sub-Zero as opposed to the forgettable protagonist. The Sonic movies were fine, and it seems like hardcore Sonic fans are pleased by them.

The bar is pretty low, I will admit. The 1993 Super Mario movie is definitely interesting but incoherent and a poor representation of the source material. The most recent direct-to-streaming DOOM film was awful. Wing Commander was one of the worst movies I ever saw. Double Dragon was really bad. I didn't care for any of the Resident Evil movies I saw.

I haven't watched any of Uwe Boll's game-to-movie adaptations (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, Postal, Far Cry, Rampage, etc.) but it seems like they had mostly negative reviews.

I've never read a kind word about Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

So I guess my point was that it feels, to me, like gaming movies have mostly been better-received over the past several years, wtih Detective Pikachu being something of a turning point.

They couldn't do worse than the original live-action film, so I'll give this a shot. Video game movies have been much better in recent years.

@Mario500 wouldn't want any share edges at McDoland's.

Better than pachinko, I guess! (But only just barely)

I have purchased dozens of Nintendo Switch releases from Limited Run. My biggest complaint is that, as a collector with a finite budget, I have to make tough decisions on which games I will buy because I only have a few weeks to buy from Limited Run, whereas I can usually wait months or years to order a copy of games from major publishers. I don't like being forced to make this choice, and in the last couple of years I have basically given up on getting physical editions of every game that I really want.

I have never had a problem with any Limited Run merchandise I've received, but I have grown weary of their anti-consumer practices. As a collector, I used to get excited when a game I wanted was announced to be getting an LRG release; now, I cringe and wait until the last possible minute to order (if I do at all).

One thing I've found that helps is the discovery that many Limited Run games are also getting physical releases from other publishers in Asia. I check PlayAsia to see if they're taking pre-orders and go with them whenever that option is feasible.

At least MadCatz actually produced and sold its controllers, eh Rerez?

(Re: All Controller Kickstarter debacle)

I only recently learned about Matt Barry in the absolutely brilliant What We Do in the Shadows. One of the funniest shows I have EVER seen. After binging the entire first five seasons / series, my girlfriend and I are now watching through Toast of London and Year of the Rabbit.

I can't recommend Matt Barry enough to my fellow Americans. He is extremely funny and talented!

For those who think comedy is an odd choice for a Golden Axe TV adaptation: recall the ending of the arcade game. The various enemies leap out of an arcade cabinet and chase some kids around a city, followed by the heroes. It's always been a comedy! xD

I am interested for sure and willing to give it a chance. It could be fun!

Why doesn't anyone just ask the Stampers? Do they not give interviews or respond to emails?

@-wc- I like this idea. $8 USD / month seems reasonable, since that's the full-price cost of a game. I could see it being problematic with the number of rights-holders, though.

I may have read about it at the time but forgot about it over the years. Quite a surprise to learn about it again!

@-wc- Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition is one of the absolute best Wii U games that never made the jump. I doubt it will ever happen now. Triste.

"Alex T bags amazing 16,248,080 score"

I see what you did there, Damien.

@alexybubble ordinarily I would react with a "Huh?" but I watched a 6-hour documentary on Tokimeki Memorial by Tim Rogers, so yeah, I'm sold.

@Damo thanks. I always appreciate your willingness to reconsider!

I feel like you're being unfair to PlatinumGames with the headline. He worked there for only two years, hasn't worked there in 12 years, and his employment there has nothing whatsoever to do with the crimes of which he is accused.

@-wc- beat me to it xD

I'm very fond of this aesthetic running at 60fps. It's almost like how we "remember" those earlier games vs. how they actually played.

Oh, I thought this was a ranking of hard-to-find games, like Little Samson and Ninja Five-O. My mistake. (Har de har har)

@SuntannedDuck2 until 2018, Germany banned any depictions of Nazism / Hitler in most entertainment media, including video games. Older Wolfenstein games had Nazi symbols removed and replaced.

@Damo has TE ever done any features on the history of Nazi censorship in Germany? Could be an interesting topic!

It's a toss-up between '98 and '99 for me. I love 'em both. Probably very slightly more partial to '99 for some of its music and stages.

I never noticed it before. It looks like a rotted tree stump to me.

I love the form factor, but the price is a nonstarter for me.

SNEG has my gratitude. I recently picked up Blade of Darkness, having never played it when it originally released. It's pretty solid, and the porting team did a nice job bringing it to modern platforms! I hope SNEG and other like-minded publishers continue to find success in reviving lost games.

I guess this is a little bit like how audiocassette drives worked for older microcomputers like the Commodore 64

I love the Silpheed games on SEGA CD and PS2, and I had no idea they started on something as "primitive" as the PC-88. I will definitely pick this one up!

I absolutely love Steel Empire, and I pre-ordered the Steel Empire Chronicles physical game for Nintendo Switch earlier this year. (It's through Strictly Limited, so who knows when I'll get it.) Legend of Steel Empire looks pretty sweet, too!

Heck yes! I played both Pole Position games a lot in arcades as a kid. I wish I could somehow replicate the classic steering wheel at home.

I remember this very well from when it happened. The Spirit of Christmas video had been making the rounds online for some time by that point, so it was kind of shocking to see it had made it into something as mainstream as a video game disc.

Nintendo's trademark on "Super Mario" for all video games and related products would easily have defeated this guy's misguided idea.

Reminds me of the situation on the opposite end of the legal spectrum, when Edge Games studio founder Tim Langdell forced Namco to rename Soul Edge as Soul Blade (later Soulcalibur). He claimed, dubiously, that he owned all gaming-related trademarks to the word "Edge."

Great article! Minor correction: the Nintendo 64 released in North America in 1996. I got mine for Christmas that year.

I will also recommend Pleasure Hearts, a jaw-dropping 1999 homebrew shmup from the designer who would go on to create cult favorites Eschatos and Judgment Silversword. I played Pleasure Hearts on an MSX-2 and I was astonished by by what they were able to do with that hardware. It's REALLY fun, too!

Treasure is one of my absolute favorite developers. It pains me that they don't make new things anymore, but most of their titles still have tremendous replayability.