Martin_H

I had Fable for Windows (I must still have Fable for Windows, somewhere), which I bought on a recommendation. I went through the tutorial level and found a bug where I had this big fireball in my hand which I couldn't get rid of which then prevented me from completing the tutorial.

I've never been back.

@cawley1 I think that's true, but I think Campbell was also arguing about the types of experience people would want from mobile gaming. So for example, if you're waiting for a bus do you want to play a multi-hour rpg or would you be satisfied with a quick go on something simpler and more focused, like Fruit Ninja?

Adding physical controls to phones can be done, though. I was rummaging in the cupboard of forgotten tech the other week and found my iControlPad which was released in 2011. A very early attempt to add physical controls to phones with a number of flaws. Now of course you can get your GameSirs and Abxylutes and away you go.

This may well be anecdotal, but I get a lot of public transport. Planes, trains, busses, trams, ferries, you name it. Very rarely do I see people with Switches or any sort of handheld console. I don't think think I've ever seen anybody with a phone controller. But I'm always seeing people with their phones playing games.

I can understand why Nintendo (and Sony, with its Vita) wanted to cram as much technology as possible into the 3DS, given at the time the big disruptor to mobile gaming was the iPhone.

Stu Campbell wrote an excellent article on his blog just before the Vita released, where he argued that the iPhone replaces the need to carry around separate devices (phone, mp3 player, camera, movie player, computer for browsing etc etc.) so why would you want to carry around another device to play games?

I do wonder how many more units 3DS and Vita would have sold had the iPhone (and smartphones more generally) didn't have games.

@The_Nintendo_Expat I think it's a combination of competition, the way these companies source parts, and the (comparatively) low productions runs.

I think there's also the factor that none of these companies actually make games, so they're either locked in an arms race to provide the best bang for buck, designing to a given price, or hoping that some novel feature pays off.

@Guru_Larry Shiny Dave Perry it is, then!

@Guru_Larry was that bandana Dave Perry or Shiny Dave Perry?

@AnonUser thanks, I'll check it out!

Excellent news! I'll be sticking the Linux version on my Steam Deck - widescreen Mario 64, with boosted resolution, at 60 FPS, on the go. What's not to like?

Well it took a couple of hours, but yes I have now beaten Turbo Tunnels in Battletoads.

It was definitely a remember-them-up type of level. I reckon I could have done just on reactions in my early 20s, but those days are long gone.

@Sn0w There are of course many serious criticisms of Marx to be made, but you do have to wonder that if Western freedom, democracy, and capitalism is so great... Why is most of the stuff you own made in Communist China?

@jojobar Well unless your TARDIS is parked out back, what we're dealing with here is predictions rather than truth.

My prediction is that this stuff keeps improving and keeps disrupting. Yours is that it has plateaued. We'll have to wait and see... but I get a sense of what's coming down the road, so I'm going to hedge.

As for the technical and financial aspects: Manned flight was thought to be impossible by experts at one point. I will also mention that Amazon - that high-street destroying behemoth - took 7 years to post a profit, and took a full 9 years to record a yearly profit.

I didn't spot that it was created by AI either, not that I'm an expert in detecting such things. However it's only a matter of time - months, if not weeks - before even the experts can't tell the difference.

This technology isn't going away. It's already disrupting entire industries and careers, including my own. I expect to be almost completely redundant by the end of the year.

I'll admit, it's actually quite scary. Not the technology itself, but the pace of change. A couple of years ago I would have expected to be employed doing the same thing until retirement. Not any more.

So for my part, I'm going to adapt and adopt: retrain in something else and integrate AI as much as possible.

The Boaty McBoatface of Metacritic scores!

Apart from that, it's quite an interesting top x list. I was surprised to see how well represented the Heroes of Might & Magic games are in the top 100.

I've never played an Animal Crossing game. My wife, on the other hand, nicked my 3ds and refused to give it back for months to play that infernal game. To make matters worse, she then lent the 3ds and game to her bloody sister!

Eventually I caved in and bought another 3ds

Lots of people mention the lack of an auto map, but that thought never occurred to me back then. I think I was so used to making my own maps having played lots of text adventures and computer RPGs I didn't know it was missing.

@HammerGalladeBro well back when I was collecting it was a buyers market. Master System games were cheap as chips, so I could be a bit choosy.

To each his own, I suppose, although I don't understand how locking the essential essence of a thing away thus preventing it from being that thing gives anybody any pleasure.

That said, when I was assembling my (far from complete) PAL Master System collection many years ago I insisted on CIB in very good to mint condition. So perhaps I just have different standards.

This year I'd like to explore more of the PSPs library. It had so many great games I've never played.

DOS gaming is also on the list, particularly the early to mid 90s. My GOG library has some classics I've yet to play and they have a ton more I'd like to play.

I should probably give my Steam library a bit of attention too. I've got games I don't even remember buying!

Finally, I'm going to curb my retro emulation handheld buying. Unless something truly groundbreaking comes out, I'm done buying new ones!

I've noticed that Vita prices have been steadily creeping up. You used to be able to get a nice boxed example for around £90, now it's more like £120-150.

It's worth picking one up if you've never had one. Very easy to mod, with both the Vita and PSP catalogues "available" to download, plus mods, homebrew, conversions etc.

@h3s Virgin Megastores was the place for Sega in the 80s. I think I'm right in saying Virgin had the distribution rights in the UK.

I thought Analogue said 100% compatible, not 100% accurate.

Electronics is all about tolerances. Take two real N64s and put them side by side and they'll be different, but within the tolerance.

I hope somebody runs with this - I'd love a steam punk themed handheld!

This looks and is specified like a PowKiddy device from 2 years ago.

$70 is way too much for this. I wouldn't recommend it at $30, when there are so many sub $100 options that are far better.

@Sketcz Ah, but classic car collectors will remove rust, repair panels, reupholster, repaint and generally get rid of the patina.

@axelhander I agree. I've been using AI to explore various concepts that I've struggled with in the past and it has been immensely helpful.

The tech around AI isn't bad, but the corporate interests might be. We need to claim it for the many, not the few.

So sad. That's no age at all.

RIP Nick.

Reminds me of that time Miyamoto-san came round my house for tea and brought all the Mario with him.

Sadly my mum had employed King Alfred to do the cakes. Fortunately everybody was too polite to mention how burnt they were.

Golden times.

"So we found one company in Taiwan — I don't remember the name — that had this product they were interested in selling."

I'd put money on that being the Watara Supervision (or one of its many aliases).

I've told this tale before, but a friend and I were into GTA 1 and 2 and I mentioned wouldn't it be great if they did a 3d version...

... He texted me some time later "they're doing a 3d version!"

I had to get a Playstation 2!

What always fascinates me about old secondhand manuals is the comments/user notes sections. Most of the time - well in my experience - these are never filled in. Once in a while you get some bits and pieces about puzzles, tactics, winning the game etc. And rarely you get some real gems...

For instance, one of my big box crpg manuals is filled with (some pretty awful) unrequited love poetry dedicated to the author's sixth form belle. I say unrequited, but it actually appears the author never seemed to pluck up the courage to speak to the young lady in question!

Poor chap. I hope he eventually found the love he was looking for.

@nocdaes Because what I'm relating are my exact experiences of attempting to do business with Analogue over many years.

The fact you're hearing similar from other people simply proves I'm not alone. Your experience might be completely different, but that doesn't negate the experiences that many other people have had.

The other big catch is that you'll be dealing with all the scalpers rushing to buy machines. If you really want one, I hope the gods of internet latency are on your side during the 45 second window you'll have to snag one.

This is one of those things that I'm glad exists, even if I can't justify the cost myself.

I'll be picking this up after Christmas. It looks like Nightdive have done another fantastic job

For those on a tighter budget, I bought a couple of DataFrog 360 wireless pads from AliExpress. At £8 each, shipped, the quality is amazing. The button, stick, and trigger feel is great. They feel well made, too.

@Honkshot yes! That's it!

I must still have it somewhere... I'll have to go rummaging.

This sounds very cool. I remember years ago (it must be 20+ years ago now) having a similar kit and book that led you through creating an 8/16bit video game system. My brother eventually ended up building it for me as I never seemed to find the time.

I think it was called the XGS.

Modern GTA London would be too easy. Nick bikes from train stations and the police won't investigate. Steal goods from shops and the police won't investigate. Sell drugs to youngsters and the police won't investigate. Steal cars, strip em and ship em and the police won't investigate. Rob people of their phones, wallets and watches and the police won't investigate.

Stay of Twitter, though. Because if you tweet something rude the fuzz'll be round to kick your door in at 5am.

/End scathing critique of modern Britain.

Very impressive, although I'm not sure about the farty music.

The correct title for this article: "Pedants take the fun out of everything, as per usual". As we all know, the real 'console war' was between Eniac and Colusus!

I thought this question had been answered back in 1995 with the Mega Drive release of Toy Story. Whether you like the game or not, it's a graphical showcase of technical wizardry.

Jon Burton, via his YouTube channel, did a couple of videos on how it was done. Very much worth a watch.

@brakeman90 I have an Odin 2, which has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It runs Gamecube, Saturn, and PS2 superbly and with resolution bumps. The processor isn't actually the weak link when you get to this level of performance, but the emulators themselves.

I'm not sure what the Retroid Pocket G2 will be able to do, but the RP6 will almost certainly have the same performance as the Odin 2.

I'd wait for some reviews to come in before deciding. The high-end Android space is getting fairly crowded with options at the moment. It does appear that Retroid are going for the more budget conscious consumer, though.

Looks like my evening is sorted - been looking forward to this for months!

@romanista Yes, but only released in Japan. It is region free though.

@mjparker77 I have it for the XBox 360, courtesy of Play Asia a long time ago, but it's weird that so many Cave games never seem to get released in the West. Even the ones we do get never seem to get a premium treatment from publishers.

I'm also still bitter that the Android ports of DoDonPachi and Espgaluda 2 were released behind a downloader frontend, which eventually stopped working, and was finally delisted entirely.

This reminds me so much of a flight sim we had for the ZX81. I don't recall if it was set at night, but given the machine was only black and white and we only had a black and white TV back then, I don't suppose it mattered!

I had hours of fun attempting - and failing - to land the plane. When you crashed you got a cool screen breaking effect and a "crash report" would display telling you hit the ground at 200 knots!

I'll have to give this one a try.

What strikes me is how we're all connected these days, but are far more isolated. The days when you could talk to staff in shops to ask about games, books, films, albums etc were far superior to today's product reviews (5 Stars! All the wheels fell off, but it came quickly!)

If I had a time machine I'd go back to the 90s in an instant.

If this was $99 I'd be on it, but not at $180. You can forgive a lot of wonkiness at the sub ton price point, but when you're paying the same amount as an actually good handheld from China not so much.

Sounds exciting! I do love a good level editor, my favourite being Duke 3D's.

I wonder what chip they'll go for? Given the inclusion of the Anbernic button suggests this will be Android, it might need something more than an H700. But at less than $100, well who knows?