Can someone Japanese clarify this for me? I understood that Jaleco (City Connection) no longer owns the rights to Shatterhand and that they reverted to Natsume sometime in 2009. Why can City Connection release Shatterhand now as part of the JALECOlle Famicom version? By the way, City Connection listed its entire portfolio of franchises available for licensing on its website, and Shatterhand was never among them.
When I saw the NERD episode about this game, I skipped it from my shopping list because I'm not interested in suffering through it like I have with other games, but now I am interested in seeing what they fixed here.
By the way, it wouldn't be a bad idea if several bad games received updates, improvements, and other things, although I'm already more than grateful for the Spanish translation parks.
Although I'll play them on my Afterplay account, I'd like them to release the Robocop arcade game on SNES too; it would benefit greatly from the 6 buttons.
From what I've read, many consider it the worst Wolfenstein game in the entire series because it didn't surpass RTCW, or rather, they just took the same elements and improved the graphics.
Personally, I liked its weapon customization and leveling system, although the gameplay was very clunky. The RTCW and Wolfenstein 2009 era was more adventure-oriented, almost like an Indiana Jones game, unlike the disaster they committed with The New Order onward. At first, I applauded the decision to continue the saga by creating an alternate history, but when they politicized the background, added unnecessary gore, empowered characters who would be the first to die in a real war, contradicted their own plot, and even had the audacity to portray communism positively (all influenced by the aesthetic of Inglourious Basterds), I felt disgusted by the direction they took.
A remake of this game would at least warrant an apology.
I tried it a month ago and I'm fascinated, although when I wanted to play Orc Attack and BC's Quest For Tire for Atari, I couldn't because they didn't integrate the 800XE model, so I had to use the Commodore 64 ROMs, which are more limited. But in Orc Attack, the attack button doesn't work on my phone; I can only play it from my laptop or browser.
Other games like Junglehunt worked perfectly on the Atari 5200.
Unfortunately, not all games work on the two most powerful consoles in the catalog (PSX and N64). I tried Juggernaut for PSX and Resident Evil 2 for N64, and they didn't run. I suspect that the Juggernaut BIN file (which is three discs of over 700MB each) doesn't upload completely because the upload gets stuck, but AfterPlay recognizes it as uploaded. Some modified ROMs, like Goldfinger 64, run slowly and then freeze, never to run again. However, the modified ROM of Sin & Punishment (which was translated and even dubbed in Spanish) worked perfectly and didn't slow down.
I suggest they integrate more cores. The N64 version only has one, and the PSX version only has two. I hope they can integrate DuckStation in the future.
By the way, there's a game in the store called Tryptic that doesn't run perfectly. I replaced the cores, but there's still a slight slowdown. It's more noticeable on my phone, but it runs a bit better on my laptop's launcher. Please look into that.
Even so, I highly recommend Afterplay because it's a wonderful system, and I've only mentioned the few games that have had issues. Ever since I saw it, I haven't stopped wondering if they'll create dedicated hardware for it. To fully enjoy it on my phone, I bought a gamepad for mobile devices, and I've been glued to playing NES and SNES games translated into my language for hours. I've dedicated more time to it than to my own Steam Deck, and that's given me a lot to think about.
3DO isn't exactly my favorite company, but when the company went bankrupt and they decided to become third-party developers, they at least supported the N64 with several games in the Army Men and BattleTanx series, which were quite good. Because of that, I see a very promising future for them if they were to return to the hardware market, whose conditions aren't favorable at the moment.
I admit I missed this company and I'm glad to hear they're back, but I'm disappointed to learn it's not in the way we'd hoped. Sega, at least, has done wonderfully as a third-party developer, and they should learn from them.
Sunsoft is one of the few developers I give my money to unconditionally, as long as they can keep releasing projects and surprising us with great games like in the old days. After the financial difficulties they faced in the 90s, they've been on a long road to recovery. First, they released very few games on consoles, then they focused on mobile games, made a weak return to consoles, but only on digital platforms... and a little over four or five years ago, they came back stronger, adapting their old franchises, including those that weren't released in America, and sometimes even creating new sequels.
T.R.A.G. is one of those games I didn't play when it came out. All I ask is that they translate it into my language.
I've always wondered if the developers of the original game receive any payment when it's re-released after 30 years, especially if they're not the ones working on the compilation.
On another note, I'd love to see the game based on the movie The Shadow re-released in the future. In my opinion, it was very promising, but they never finished it because the movie flopped, and they released an unfinished ROM with pixelated sprites.
nnnooooOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! The man who shaped my childhood with Wolfenstein and Doom on the SNES... I truly can't believe it.
The strange thing is that he didn't compose anything else after 2014, and I was hoping to see him again in Doom 2016 and The New Order, but sadly, he didn't. Even so, none of id Software's games felt the same without him.
I've been asking for a sequel to Legend Of Kage for decades (don't even mention the Nintendo DS sequel, that game was a joke), and I see they're still making money off the original arcade version and the NES adaptation.
I discovered this franchise thanks to the SNES port, and I must say that even though they removed all the World War II references, I enjoyed the game much more than when I played the original. I liked the Staat Meister character more than the mustachioed artist.
Hudson Soft made a similar 3D game for Wii called Kororimpa, and when you rotated the Wiimote, the entire stage rotated except for the ball. On the Ball is a game I searched high and low for SNES and could never find; I think there was also a version for Gameboy.
It seems unbelievable that to this day I still feel more like playing Goldeneye than a COD or a Bioshock, and if I don't it's to avoid damaging my N64 controllers. XD
@CO_Andy I see you still haven't realized that London's native population has fallen to 37% because of immigration policies. So the last thing you should be worrying about is "racism."
@BLAZINOAH How curious, I only knew Jontron from the meme, but I didn't know about the controversy with Playtonic and now that I decided to investigate a little you're absolutely right, it's incredible that just for having an opinion about something they come and censor you.
@slider1983 That Rare is dead, and Microsoft doesn't know it yet. The real Rare is now called Playtonic, and even then, it's far from being what it once was.
I'm a huge fan of Incube8 Games. The simple fact that they've dedicated themselves entirely to Game Boy games motivated me to promote them on any channel where I talk about retro games. They've been kind enough to provide me with some games to review on the site where I write, and they've been very pleased with the scores I've given them. I reviewed the demo of Dracula: Dark Reign some time ago and was impressed by all the technical achievements they accomplished, especially considering it has the blessing of Bram Stoker's descendants. When it could have easily been a more ambitious game for current consoles, they chose to put all their hopes on a Game Boy Color game, and that makes me feel that even older platforms are an excellent business, especially since the Game Boy Color never had a Metroidvania.
But years passed and I never found out what happened to this game. For a while, Incube8 Games didn't even show any signs of life with new releases, which worried me, so I wrote to them asking what happened (they didn't reply). Now this news has come up and given me hope. I visited Incube8 Games and they've updated their website. This year will definitely be one of their best (and I hope I can live up to expectations if they let me review the game).
Of all the developers I still miss to this day (Rare, Silicon Knights, Free Radical, Left Field), I can't leave out Factor 5 for any reason. It's true they returned in 2017, but it's been almost nine years and they still haven't announced anything new. I understand that Julian Eggebrecht is working at Epic Games as Chief Technology Officer, but if he brought Factor 5 back, I hope it wasn't just to relaunch the official website (which is outdated, by the way). People want to see new releases, not just revisit past games.
And finally, if he's so busy that he can't dedicate himself to new games, why not re-release Lair or the Rogue Squadron trilogy on Nintendo Switch? People still remember them and long to hear something from Factor 5 again. Back in the '90s and 2000s, they never ceased to amaze us with games that seemed technologically cutting-edge, but more importantly, were enjoyable.
@Tasuki We'll never know the full story of what really happened inside Rare and why they decided to leave Nintendo, especially when the Stampers seemed to be comfortable. But I've also read that it was Rare's management that betrayed the Stampers and made decisions behind their backs, especially since we know that Ken Lobb was the first to leave Rare for Microsoft and gave a pathetic interview explaining his decision. But it's implied that it was Lobb who must have initiated talks with Rare's management to separate from Nintendo.
On the other hand, buying developers doesn't guarantee anything. Microsoft has bought several, and then the creative team left, leaving them with just an empty office, and that happened to them several times.
Nintendo understands this and therefore does not make purchases unless they are assured that there will be no programmer leaks; they already made the mistake of buying Retro Studios, although with Monolith the move worked out wonderfully for them.
@N00BiSH Gregg was the last programmer at the original Rare before leaving the company last year, but he can't have an opinion now that all the programmers are gone, the Stampers are gone, and the magic of the company is gone. I'm sure that if they had stayed with Nintendo for another 5 or 6 years, the Stampers would have said, "Let's close this trilogy."
Their arguments didn't convince me at all. I believe the Stampers might have been frustrated with Nintendo, since they were among the few who dared to contradict Yamauchi and Miyamoto by pursuing their own ideas. Even Rare was competing against Nintendo itself, creating the same type of game but improving it in their own style. I still think about Donkey Kong Racing (I was dying to try that underwater race with Enguarde), Kameo in its original form (which was a more mature Pokémon; I'll never know if Monster Hunter drew inspiration from those ideas), or Perfect Dark Zero with the original design of Johanna Dark.
But the Stampers ended up twenty times more frustrated when they went with Microsoft. They made fewer games, several were canceled, and even finished ones were delayed. In the end, all that frustration they were going to unleash on Microsoft left them worse off.
You can't say Nintendo creates new IPs at a slower pace while Rare is constantly experimenting, especially when their release rate is practically zero compared to Nintendo's. This guy is clearly defending the company he worked for. Dennis Dyack at least admitted that leaving Nintendo was the worst mistake of his life.
Let's face it, Rare was never the same again. They were never in the spotlight again, and many former members have said that going with Microsoft was a fatal error, something they still can't get over. What would Rare have done if they had stayed with Nintendo? What could they have achieved with the Wii and now with the Nintendo Switch 2?
I don't usually buy retro games unless they're digital. I only buy digital copies from Limited Run Games, and I've often been tempted to buy physical copies... but I want to know why it's always the same production problem.
Is there not enough plastic left in the world to make cartridges?
Have the chips used to make the cartridges gone up in price?
Do they make things too complicated when designing the manuals and boxes?
Weren't Software Creations the same people who programmed Tom & Jerry for the NES, which turned out to be better than the SNES version?
Among other games, they also made Terminator 2 for the NES, Cutthroat Island, Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety, Hexen 64, and others. Looking through their game history, I hadn't realized they were a big part of my teenage years. Are they really going to be worried about losing 40 million, when they made several important cult classics? By the way, I have a habit of collecting logos of companies that no longer exist, and Software Creations' logo is one of the few I haven't been able to find in a decent resolution.
This kind of hardware should be sold and not just left as a tricked-out car. I still have my old NES and I have no plans to modify it; at most, I'll buy another one and make the necessary changes.
@Thad I don't know if your message is serious or sarcastic, but I'm one of those who thinks that as long as I don't use insults or disrespect anyone, I'm free to say what I think, and here I've already been expelled twice without disrespecting anyone.
@Thad If they hadn't deleted my post you would surely understand, but they don't even respect my right to express myself; that was two or three months ago, I don't remember.
The last time I touched on a political topic here, I was banned for two days, but the editors come in and talk about it at length. I suppose the ban could apply to them too. Anyway, the reason I'm here is precisely because I want to get away from political news and talk about video games.
The funniest thing is that back in '97 I was so obsessed with Doom that I decided to make a comic in a graph paper notebook, drawn with a graphite pencil. I had the whole story written in my head and I stuck as closely as I could to the story in the SNES manual. Sadly, it all ended up being two or three pages because I didn't have enough information (I didn't have internet at home back then, not until 2002) and I felt awkward calling the protagonist "marine" all the time.
Why am I telling this?
Because after I saw the movie (the worst part is that I can't remember if I saw it in theaters) and compared the story to the one I had written, I couldn't help but wonder how people get paid to write and direct something they don't understand or care about, while I, out of love for a franchise, give my best effort and have something that makes much more sense.
In my comic, at least I had explained why man came to Mars, why the toxic waste, why the demons used metallic implants and the need to use interdimensional doors; I had even created a narrative arc for the protagonist that explained his hatred, his anger and how he used it to survive.
I think Atari is the only company with a record of bankruptcies throughout its history, but the curious thing is that some bright spark always appears to save them, only to repeat the same mistake... and the cycle repeats itself with each successor.
It still pains me to see a company like Infogrames, which was doing everything right and could have been a direct competitor to Ubisoft (which would have generated quality products in France), irrationally adopt the Atari name. At first, they were doing well (especially when they acquired the licenses for movies like The Matrix, Terminator, and Mission: Impossible), but out of nowhere, they fizzled out, and then bankruptcy again. Thankfully, Atari revived Infogrames independently, although they lost all their licenses and are starting from scratch.
And just now, when Atari is starting to do things—not exactly well, but at least with the purchase of NightDive Studios—they make the stupid mistake of investing in things outside the realm of video games.
Years ago, Sunsoft disappeared in America for the same reason: the president of the Japanese branch decided to invest in golf courses in the USA, and that caused bankruptcy.
I still remember when Nintendo announced FX Fighter and Star Fox 2 for the SNES and I was thrilled to see those graphics in the magazine, but they never mentioned those games again. Later, when a reader asked them about them, I finally found out they'd been canceled.
Years later, I was able to play Star Fox 2 emulated, but with FX Fighter... I've only just learned that they did release it, but for PC, and that it had much better graphics than the screenshots shown for the SNES. I would love to see this game completely remade, especially with gameplay improvements and, if possible, the implementation of new mechanics.
Awww... 1993, what a great year! I finished difficult video games like Street Fighter 2010, Tom & Jerry, Castlevania III, Double Dragon 2, Contra Force, and of course, Battletoads.
In the case of the Rare game, it originally belonged to my cousins. They hated it because they never got past the Turbo Tunnel stage, and in fact, when we played with two people, we kept losing lives and continues.
One day they lent me the game, and I played it at home. I lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, UNTIL I started memorizing every single path. It was a difficult and arduous task, but I managed to finish the game in mid-1993, and although the ending was disappointing, at least I had the satisfaction of having completed it 100%.
And although I haven't played Battletoads for years, I know it like the back of my hand and in fact I finished it the last time without any problems. The same thing happens to me with Street Fighter 2010; it was like learning to ride a bicycle. Sometimes you might forget some things, but it doesn't take long to correct them.
It's incredible how a Bond game from the '90s still hasn't been surpassed, despite all the subsequent films that raised the bar and all the technological advancements that could have overtaken GoldenEye. The EA era is perfectly forgettable because none of their games convinced me in the slightest (I might mention Nightfire on the GBA, since seeing an FPS running so well on that hardware was revolutionary).
While during the Activision era, I'd highlight Quantum of Solace. From the beginning, its developers declared their intention to surpass GoldenEye. The idea of mixing first-person with third-person when Bond was close to a wall always fascinated me, as did the melee attacks when you had an enemy nearby. That, to me, felt like a true evolution of GoldenEye. Unfortunately, the game was left unfinished due to pressure and haste from Activision, who didn't allow their programmers to continue exploring ideas and rushed the game out. I hoped the sequels could improve the formula, but no, Bloodstone was another fascinating game, but it ended up being too simplistic, and Activision didn't allow their programmers to implement more ideas either. To make matters worse, they overshadowed both games with the unnecessary GoldenEye remake, which I personally would have liked to see continue in the footsteps of QoS, but they only clumsily implemented melee combat, and the weapons they added were all identical, with minimal differences like a laser sight, a telescopic sight, or no sight at all.
And First Light will sadly be another game where we see beautiful graphics but no intelligent gameplay.
P.S.: I miss Pierce Brosnan so much, the last real Bond.
I'd like someone to explain why Natsume allowed Tecmo to modify the game that was originally intended to be the sequel to Shadow of the Ninja, ultimately resulting in Ninja Gaiden Shadow. Is there a story behind this? Is it legal for one company to know another company's internal plans and modify one of its projects?
@GodlessPreservation My apologies, I didn't mean to be offensive, but if I had any knowledge of programming and design, I would include the two missing characters from Megaman Powered Up, complete with their music.
That would make the NES game more interesting and make people want to replay it.
Comments 84
Re: Cancelled Quake 4 Expansion 'The Awakening' Surfaces Online, With An Unbelievable Backstory To Boot
Quake 4 disappointed me because it was essentially the same as Doom 3, but with less light and very uninspired level design.
It's strange, but the first Quake is unbeatable. Regardless of all the bad decisions, I like that Doom-esque aesthetic applied to a 3D environment.
Re: Jaleco's NES Action Sidescroller 'Shatterhand' Punches Its Way To Nintendo Switch Next Month
Can someone Japanese clarify this for me? I understood that Jaleco (City Connection) no longer owns the rights to Shatterhand and that they reverted to Natsume sometime in 2009.
Why can City Connection release Shatterhand now as part of the JALECOlle Famicom version?
By the way, City Connection listed its entire portfolio of franchises available for licensing on its website, and Shatterhand was never among them.
Re: This New NES Patch Overhauls One Of The Console's Most "Difficult" Games
When I saw the NERD episode about this game, I skipped it from my shopping list because I'm not interested in suffering through it like I have with other games, but now I am interested in seeing what they fixed here.
By the way, it wouldn't be a bad idea if several bad games received updates, improvements, and other things, although I'm already more than grateful for the Spanish translation parks.
Re: "The Most Gorgeous Game Boy Emulation I've Ever Seen" - Brick Boy Goes The Extra Mile To Copy The Console's Nostalgic Display
Is it possible to export it to Afterplay?
Re: Third Time's A Charm As Data East's RoboCop Comes To Genesis / Mega Drive
Although I'll play them on my Afterplay account, I'd like them to release the Robocop arcade game on SNES too; it would benefit greatly from the 6 buttons.
Re: Fans Are Convinced This Wolfenstein Game Is Getting A Remaster
From what I've read, many consider it the worst Wolfenstein game in the entire series because it didn't surpass RTCW, or rather, they just took the same elements and improved the graphics.
Personally, I liked its weapon customization and leveling system, although the gameplay was very clunky. The RTCW and Wolfenstein 2009 era was more adventure-oriented, almost like an Indiana Jones game, unlike the disaster they committed with The New Order onward. At first, I applauded the decision to continue the saga by creating an alternate history, but when they politicized the background, added unnecessary gore, empowered characters who would be the first to die in a real war, contradicted their own plot, and even had the audacity to portray communism positively (all influenced by the aesthetic of Inglourious Basterds), I felt disgusted by the direction they took.
A remake of this game would at least warrant an apology.
Re: "PSP And Dreamcast Are The Most Likely To Land Next" - Afterplay Creator On Pushing The Limits Of Browser-Based Emulation
I tried it a month ago and I'm fascinated, although when I wanted to play Orc Attack and BC's Quest For Tire for Atari, I couldn't because they didn't integrate the 800XE model, so I had to use the Commodore 64 ROMs, which are more limited. But in Orc Attack, the attack button doesn't work on my phone; I can only play it from my laptop or browser.
Other games like Junglehunt worked perfectly on the Atari 5200.
Unfortunately, not all games work on the two most powerful consoles in the catalog (PSX and N64). I tried Juggernaut for PSX and Resident Evil 2 for N64, and they didn't run. I suspect that the Juggernaut BIN file (which is three discs of over 700MB each) doesn't upload completely because the upload gets stuck, but AfterPlay recognizes it as uploaded. Some modified ROMs, like Goldfinger 64, run slowly and then freeze, never to run again. However, the modified ROM of Sin & Punishment (which was translated and even dubbed in Spanish) worked perfectly and didn't slow down.
I suggest they integrate more cores. The N64 version only has one, and the PSX version only has two. I hope they can integrate DuckStation in the future.
By the way, there's a game in the store called Tryptic that doesn't run perfectly. I replaced the cores, but there's still a slight slowdown. It's more noticeable on my phone, but it runs a bit better on my laptop's launcher. Please look into that.
Even so, I highly recommend Afterplay because it's a wonderful system, and I've only mentioned the few games that have had issues. Ever since I saw it, I haven't stopped wondering if they'll create dedicated hardware for it. To fully enjoy it on my phone, I bought a gamepad for mobile devices, and I've been glued to playing NES and SNES games translated into my language for hours. I've dedicated more time to it than to my own Steam Deck, and that's given me a lot to think about.
Re: "I'm Currently Of The Opinion That This Is Not Legitimate" - There's Something Weird Going On With 3DO Right Now
3DO isn't exactly my favorite company, but when the company went bankrupt and they decided to become third-party developers, they at least supported the N64 with several games in the Army Men and BattleTanx series, which were quite good. Because of that, I see a very promising future for them if they were to return to the hardware market, whose conditions aren't favorable at the moment.
I admit I missed this company and I'm glad to hear they're back, but I'm disappointed to learn it's not in the way we'd hoped. Sega, at least, has done wonderfully as a third-party developer, and they should learn from them.
Re: Sunsoft's Cult Classic PS1 Game 'Hard Edge / T.R.A.G' Is Coming To Modern Consoles This Week
Sunsoft is one of the few developers I give my money to unconditionally, as long as they can keep releasing projects and surprising us with great games like in the old days. After the financial difficulties they faced in the 90s, they've been on a long road to recovery. First, they released very few games on consoles, then they focused on mobile games, made a weak return to consoles, but only on digital platforms... and a little over four or five years ago, they came back stronger, adapting their old franchises, including those that weren't released in America, and sometimes even creating new sequels.
T.R.A.G. is one of those games I didn't play when it came out. All I ask is that they translate it into my language.
Re: "It's Always Disappointing When A Game You've Been Working On Doesn't Come Out"
I've always wondered if the developers of the original game receive any payment when it's re-released after 30 years, especially if they're not the ones working on the compilation.
On another note, I'd love to see the game based on the movie The Shadow re-released in the future. In my opinion, it was very promising, but they never finished it because the movie flopped, and they released an unfinished ROM with pixelated sprites.
Re: "A Loss To The World" - Legendary Doom & Wolfenstein 3D Composer Bobby Prince Has Passed Away
nnnooooOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
The man who shaped my childhood with Wolfenstein and Doom on the SNES... I truly can't believe it.
The strange thing is that he didn't compose anything else after 2014, and I was hoping to see him again in Doom 2016 and The New Order, but sadly, he didn't. Even so, none of id Software's games felt the same without him.
Re: Taito's Space Invaders Follow-Up 'Space Cyclone' Is Heading To Modern Consoles, Alongside 'Legend Of Kage' NES
@MoriyaMug Spiritual sequel.
Re: Taito's Space Invaders Follow-Up 'Space Cyclone' Is Heading To Modern Consoles, Alongside 'Legend Of Kage' NES
I've been asking for a sequel to Legend Of Kage for decades (don't even mention the Nintendo DS sequel, that game was a joke), and I see they're still making money off the original arcade version and the NES adaptation.
Re: 34 Years Later, Wolfenstein 3D Just Got "One Hell Of An Impressive Port" For The Atari Lynx
I discovered this franchise thanks to the SNES port, and I must say that even though they removed all the World War II references, I enjoyed the game much more than when I played the original.
I liked the Staat Meister character more than the mustachioed artist.
Re: "Spin the Maze, Roll the Ball!" - Taito's Quirky Puzzler 'Cameltry' Is Heading To Switch, PlayStation, & Xbox
Hudson Soft made a similar 3D game for Wii called Kororimpa, and when you rotated the Wiimote, the entire stage rotated except for the ball. On the Ball is a game I searched high and low for SNES and could never find; I think there was also a version for Gameboy.
Re: "That's The Magic Sauce" - GoldenEye Designer Explains Why It Feels So Good To Shoot Baddies In The N64 Classic
It seems unbelievable that to this day I still feel more like playing Goldeneye than a COD or a Bioshock, and if I don't it's to avoid damaging my N64 controllers.
XD
Re: Turrican: Director's Cut Gets Another Chance To Shine, In New Cartridge Release From Columbus Circle
@CO_Andy I see you still haven't realized that London's native population has fallen to 37% because of immigration policies.
So the last thing you should be worrying about is "racism."
Re: Turrican: Director's Cut Gets Another Chance To Shine, In New Cartridge Release From Columbus Circle
@BLAZINOAH How curious, I only knew Jontron from the meme, but I didn't know about the controversy with Playtonic and now that I decided to investigate a little you're absolutely right, it's incredible that just for having an opinion about something they come and censor you.
Re: Turrican: Director's Cut Gets Another Chance To Shine, In New Cartridge Release From Columbus Circle
@slider1983 That Rare is dead, and Microsoft doesn't know it yet.
The real Rare is now called Playtonic, and even then, it's far from being what it once was.
Re: "The First-Ever Stoker Family-Authorised Dracula Video Game" - 'Dracula: Dark Reign' Is A Castlevania-Style Title For Your Game Boy
I'm a huge fan of Incube8 Games. The simple fact that they've dedicated themselves entirely to Game Boy games motivated me to promote them on any channel where I talk about retro games.
They've been kind enough to provide me with some games to review on the site where I write, and they've been very pleased with the scores I've given them. I reviewed the demo of Dracula: Dark Reign some time ago and was impressed by all the technical achievements they accomplished, especially considering it has the blessing of Bram Stoker's descendants. When it could have easily been a more ambitious game for current consoles, they chose to put all their hopes on a Game Boy Color game, and that makes me feel that even older platforms are an excellent business, especially since the Game Boy Color never had a Metroidvania.
But years passed and I never found out what happened to this game. For a while, Incube8 Games didn't even show any signs of life with new releases, which worried me, so I wrote to them asking what happened (they didn't reply). Now this news has come up and given me hope. I visited Incube8 Games and they've updated their website. This year will definitely be one of their best (and I hope I can live up to expectations if they let me review the game).
Re: Turrican: Director's Cut Gets Another Chance To Shine, In New Cartridge Release From Columbus Circle
Of all the developers I still miss to this day (Rare, Silicon Knights, Free Radical, Left Field), I can't leave out Factor 5 for any reason. It's true they returned in 2017, but it's been almost nine years and they still haven't announced anything new. I understand that Julian Eggebrecht is working at Epic Games as Chief Technology Officer, but if he brought Factor 5 back, I hope it wasn't just to relaunch the official website (which is outdated, by the way). People want to see new releases, not just revisit past games.
And finally, if he's so busy that he can't dedicate himself to new games, why not re-release Lair or the Rogue Squadron trilogy on Nintendo Switch? People still remember them and long to hear something from Factor 5 again. Back in the '90s and 2000s, they never ceased to amaze us with games that seemed technologically cutting-edge, but more importantly, were enjoyable.
Re: "That Made Me Feel Good" - Xbox Co-Founder On The Rare Game "Strongly Echoed" By Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
@N00BiSH Hopefully Playtonic will hire him; his talent will be very important for future sequels and new games.
Re: "That Made Me Feel Good" - Xbox Co-Founder On The Rare Game "Strongly Echoed" By Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
@N00BiSH The answer is quite obvious: Yooka Re-Playlee.
That leads me to the conclusion that Gregg Mayles was wrong.
Re: Interview: "The Stampers Had Been Frustrated Working For Nintendo" - Xbox Co-Founder Ed Fries On The Deal That Shook The Industry
@Tasuki We'll never know the full story of what really happened inside Rare and why they decided to leave Nintendo, especially when the Stampers seemed to be comfortable. But I've also read that it was Rare's management that betrayed the Stampers and made decisions behind their backs, especially since we know that Ken Lobb was the first to leave Rare for Microsoft and gave a pathetic interview explaining his decision. But it's implied that it was Lobb who must have initiated talks with Rare's management to separate from Nintendo.
On the other hand, buying developers doesn't guarantee anything. Microsoft has bought several, and then the creative team left, leaving them with just an empty office, and that happened to them several times.
Nintendo understands this and therefore does not make purchases unless they are assured that there will be no programmer leaks; they already made the mistake of buying Retro Studios, although with Monolith the move worked out wonderfully for them.
Re: "That Made Me Feel Good" - Xbox Co-Founder On The Rare Game "Strongly Echoed" By Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
@N00BiSH Gregg was the last programmer at the original Rare before leaving the company last year, but he can't have an opinion now that all the programmers are gone, the Stampers are gone, and the magic of the company is gone. I'm sure that if they had stayed with Nintendo for another 5 or 6 years, the Stampers would have said, "Let's close this trilogy."
Re: Game Boy Color Spin-Off 'Mega Man Xtreme' Gets New Fan "Revamp," With A Range Of Cool Features
I'm disappointed that it wasn't an improved ROM like they did with the colored Mega Man games for GBC.
Re: Interview: "The Stampers Had Been Frustrated Working For Nintendo" - Xbox Co-Founder Ed Fries On The Deal That Shook The Industry
Their arguments didn't convince me at all. I believe the Stampers might have been frustrated with Nintendo, since they were among the few who dared to contradict Yamauchi and Miyamoto by pursuing their own ideas. Even Rare was competing against Nintendo itself, creating the same type of game but improving it in their own style. I still think about Donkey Kong Racing (I was dying to try that underwater race with Enguarde), Kameo in its original form (which was a more mature Pokémon; I'll never know if Monster Hunter drew inspiration from those ideas), or Perfect Dark Zero with the original design of Johanna Dark.
But the Stampers ended up twenty times more frustrated when they went with Microsoft. They made fewer games, several were canceled, and even finished ones were delayed. In the end, all that frustration they were going to unleash on Microsoft left them worse off.
You can't say Nintendo creates new IPs at a slower pace while Rare is constantly experimenting, especially when their release rate is practically zero compared to Nintendo's. This guy is clearly defending the company he worked for. Dennis Dyack at least admitted that leaving Nintendo was the worst mistake of his life.
Let's face it, Rare was never the same again. They were never in the spotlight again, and many former members have said that going with Microsoft was a fatal error, something they still can't get over. What would Rare have done if they had stayed with Nintendo? What could they have achieved with the Wii and now with the Nintendo Switch 2?
Re: Limited Run Games Announces Widespread Delays, Concedes Delivery Dates Were "Too Aggressive" & "Overly Optimistic"
I don't usually buy retro games unless they're digital. I only buy digital copies from Limited Run Games, and I've often been tempted to buy physical copies... but I want to know why it's always the same production problem.
Re: 37 Years After Its Release, Friday The 13th's Notorious NES Game Has Been Recreated For A Classic Nintendo Handheld
@Serpenterror ummm...creative freedom?
Re: "I'd Never Seen My Boss So Angry" - How A Family Holiday Cost A Studio Mortal Kombat & "$40 Million In Royalties"
Weren't Software Creations the same people who programmed Tom & Jerry for the NES, which turned out to be better than the SNES version?
Among other games, they also made Terminator 2 for the NES, Cutthroat Island, Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety, Hexen 64, and others.
Looking through their game history, I hadn't realized they were a big part of my teenage years. Are they really going to be worried about losing 40 million, when they made several important cult classics?
By the way, I have a habit of collecting logos of companies that no longer exist, and Software Creations' logo is one of the few I haven't been able to find in a decent resolution.
Re: "Is This My NES' Final Form?" - Retro Gamer Shows Off The Most Pimped-Out Nintendo Entertainment System You've Ever Seen
This kind of hardware should be sold and not just left as a tricked-out car.
I still have my old NES and I have no plans to modify it; at most, I'll buy another one and make the necessary changes.
Re: "War Is Not A Video Game" - White House Social Media Post Mixing Iran War Footage With Nintendo's 'Wii Sports' Triggers Outcry
@Thad I don't know if your message is serious or sarcastic, but I'm one of those who thinks that as long as I don't use insults or disrespect anyone, I'm free to say what I think, and here I've already been expelled twice without disrespecting anyone.
Re: "War Is Not A Video Game" - White House Social Media Post Mixing Iran War Footage With Nintendo's 'Wii Sports' Triggers Outcry
@Thad If they hadn't deleted my post you would surely understand, but they don't even respect my right to express myself; that was two or three months ago, I don't remember.
Re: "War Is Not A Video Game" - White House Social Media Post Mixing Iran War Footage With Nintendo's 'Wii Sports' Triggers Outcry
The last time I touched on a political topic here, I was banned for two days, but the editors come in and talk about it at length.
I suppose the ban could apply to them too.
Anyway, the reason I'm here is precisely because I want to get away from political news and talk about video games.
Re: DOOM Star Says The Movie Was "Probably One Of The Worst Films Ever Made"
The funniest thing is that back in '97 I was so obsessed with Doom that I decided to make a comic in a graph paper notebook, drawn with a graphite pencil. I had the whole story written in my head and I stuck as closely as I could to the story in the SNES manual. Sadly, it all ended up being two or three pages because I didn't have enough information (I didn't have internet at home back then, not until 2002) and I felt awkward calling the protagonist "marine" all the time.
Why am I telling this?
Because after I saw the movie (the worst part is that I can't remember if I saw it in theaters) and compared the story to the one I had written, I couldn't help but wonder how people get paid to write and direct something they don't understand or care about, while I, out of love for a franchise, give my best effort and have something that makes much more sense.
In my comic, at least I had explained why man came to Mars, why the toxic waste, why the demons used metallic implants and the need to use interdimensional doors; I had even created a narrative arc for the protagonist that explained his hatred, his anger and how he used it to survive.
Re: Hewson's Puzzle Platformer 'Nebulus' Is Getting A Brand New Cartridge Release For The Game Boy Advance
Is it just me, or did they use the source code from the last level of Battletoads to create a whole game?
Re: "We Are Going Where No Slamming Death Metal Band Has Gone Before" - Party Cannon Is Releasing An Album On The N64
@The_Nintendo_Expat But this isn't a traditional format, boy.
Re: Atari's Grand Hotel Plan Is Reduced To A Single "Glowing Monolith Of Light And Motion" In Downtown Phoenix
I think Atari is the only company with a record of bankruptcies throughout its history, but the curious thing is that some bright spark always appears to save them, only to repeat the same mistake... and the cycle repeats itself with each successor.
It still pains me to see a company like Infogrames, which was doing everything right and could have been a direct competitor to Ubisoft (which would have generated quality products in France), irrationally adopt the Atari name. At first, they were doing well (especially when they acquired the licenses for movies like The Matrix, Terminator, and Mission: Impossible), but out of nowhere, they fizzled out, and then bankruptcy again. Thankfully, Atari revived Infogrames independently, although they lost all their licenses and are starting from scratch.
And just now, when Atari is starting to do things—not exactly well, but at least with the purchase of NightDive Studios—they make the stupid mistake of investing in things outside the realm of video games.
Years ago, Sunsoft disappeared in America for the same reason: the president of the Japanese branch decided to invest in golf courses in the USA, and that caused bankruptcy.
Re: Argonaut Has An "Exciting Announcement" Coming "Very Soon"
I still remember when Nintendo announced FX Fighter and Star Fox 2 for the SNES and I was thrilled to see those graphics in the magazine, but they never mentioned those games again. Later, when a reader asked them about them, I finally found out they'd been canceled.
Years later, I was able to play Star Fox 2 emulated, but with FX Fighter... I've only just learned that they did release it, but for PC, and that it had much better graphics than the screenshots shown for the SNES.
I would love to see this game completely remade, especially with gameplay improvements and, if possible, the implementation of new mechanics.
Re: "We Are Going Where No Slamming Death Metal Band Has Gone Before" - Party Cannon Is Releasing An Album On The N64
And they're releasing it in the most expensive format, geniuses.
Re: "You'll Be Missed, Friend" - Retro Gamer Pays Tribute To The Late Nick Thorpe
I remember that in the news about his death I dedicated a few words to him, but I never found out what he really died of.
Re: Community Challenge: Can You Beat Battletoads' Most Notorious Level?
Awww... 1993, what a great year! I finished difficult video games like Street Fighter 2010, Tom & Jerry, Castlevania III, Double Dragon 2, Contra Force, and of course, Battletoads.
In the case of the Rare game, it originally belonged to my cousins. They hated it because they never got past the Turbo Tunnel stage, and in fact, when we played with two people, we kept losing lives and continues.
One day they lent me the game, and I played it at home. I lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, UNTIL I started memorizing every single path. It was a difficult and arduous task, but I managed to finish the game in mid-1993, and although the ending was disappointing, at least I had the satisfaction of having completed it 100%.
And although I haven't played Battletoads for years, I know it like the back of my hand and in fact I finished it the last time without any problems. The same thing happens to me with Street Fighter 2010; it was like learning to ride a bicycle. Sometimes you might forget some things, but it doesn't take long to correct them.
Re: IO Interactive Says 007 First Light Is "Completely Different" To The "Fantastic" GoldenEye 007
It's incredible how a Bond game from the '90s still hasn't been surpassed, despite all the subsequent films that raised the bar and all the technological advancements that could have overtaken GoldenEye. The EA era is perfectly forgettable because none of their games convinced me in the slightest (I might mention Nightfire on the GBA, since seeing an FPS running so well on that hardware was revolutionary).
While during the Activision era, I'd highlight Quantum of Solace. From the beginning, its developers declared their intention to surpass GoldenEye. The idea of mixing first-person with third-person when Bond was close to a wall always fascinated me, as did the melee attacks when you had an enemy nearby. That, to me, felt like a true evolution of GoldenEye. Unfortunately, the game was left unfinished due to pressure and haste from Activision, who didn't allow their programmers to continue exploring ideas and rushed the game out. I hoped the sequels could improve the formula, but no, Bloodstone was another fascinating game, but it ended up being too simplistic, and Activision didn't allow their programmers to implement more ideas either. To make matters worse, they overshadowed both games with the unnecessary GoldenEye remake, which I personally would have liked to see continue in the footsteps of QoS, but they only clumsily implemented melee combat, and the weapons they added were all identical, with minimal differences like a laser sight, a telescopic sight, or no sight at all.
And First Light will sadly be another game where we see beautiful graphics but no intelligent gameplay.
P.S.: I miss Pierce Brosnan so much, the last real Bond.
Re: This Promising New Action-Platfomer Is Built From The Ashes Of A "Massive" Unreleased ROM Hack For An SNES Classic
added to my wishlist just in case.
Re: Mega Cat Studios Is Kicking Off The Year With A "Triple Launch" Of New NES & SNES Games
Anything that comes from Mega Cat Studios will always be an honor to play.
Re: "It's Been A Pleasure Meeting You All Over The Years" - Brooklyn Games And Arcade Is Closing Its Doors
The pleasure has been all mine.
Re: Game Boy Title 'Ninja Gaiden Shadow' Is Getting The Unofficial DX Treatment
I'd like someone to explain why Natsume allowed Tecmo to modify the game that was originally intended to be the sequel to Shadow of the Ninja, ultimately resulting in Ninja Gaiden Shadow.
Is there a story behind this?
Is it legal for one company to know another company's internal plans and modify one of its projects?
Re: This Classic Game Boy Tiny Toons Adventure Is Now Available In Colourised 'DX' Form
The people at Limited Run Games: "Damn, they beat us to it."
Re: The Original NES Mega Man Has Just Got A New "Revamped" Version, Courtesy Of A Fan
@GodlessPreservation My apologies, I didn't mean to be offensive, but if I had any knowledge of programming and design, I would include the two missing characters from Megaman Powered Up, complete with their music.
That would make the NES game more interesting and make people want to replay it.
Re: The Original NES Mega Man Has Just Got A New "Revamped" Version, Courtesy Of A Fan
When they include Time Man and Oil Man, then we'll talk.