It was a bit of a surprising announcement; I was expecting a Commodore-themed tablet or something like that.
I do get why the newly-resurrected Commodore are doing this, though. The brand/company isn't going to survive on nostalgia alone. There's a cap on how many people want a C64 (or Amiga, if that happens) who don't already have a solution or are prepared to buy something new in addition to what they have. So that means new products.
Whether or not this will be a huge success is anyone's guess. Let's say they've done some market research and estimated there's a world-wide market for about 5,000 of these. At $500 a pop that's sales of... checks maths... $2,500,000. If you have all the supply chains, manufacturing, marketing and all the rest of it ready to go it's worth a roll of the dice.
I haven't played a train game in... wow... well over 40 years at this point.
We had two on the Beeb. Southern Belle and I want to say Eastern Star. Southern Belle was particularly memorable as it was the London to Brighton line I travelled on a lot, and featured some of the real world landmarks including Battersea Power Station.
What still stands out to me is that both games played out in real time, so chugging along at 30 mph it would take two hours to do the complete journey! I wish I had that sort of focus/concentration power now. I reckon if I can stay on task for 40 minutes or so now I'm doing ok.
@Deuteros You probably want something with a bit more poke for N64 and Dreamcast. The Cube XX can play both, but the harder-to-emulate titles won't be full speed.
My current go to device is the TrimUI Smart Pro S. That does N64 and Dreamcast almost flawlessly, with the occasional dips. It can also do a good deal of PSP. I did need to buy a grip for it to make it more comfortable to use.
Another couple of options that reviewed well - but I don't have either - are the Mangmi Air X and the Ayaneo Pocket Air Mini. They both float around the $100 mark and are more powerful than the TrimUI. Both are Android based and will require a bit more setup, which can be a put off.
12 months ago there were a lot of decent options in the $150-$200 range that would have been ideal. But what with RAM prices etc. that mid-range market has practically vanished and the next step up is around $200-$250, which is a big jump. If you can find them on sale the Retroid Pocket 5 and Flip 2 are good shouts, although it might be worth spending the little bit extra on the Pocket 6.
For me going above about $250 isn't worth it. I made that mistake with the Odin 2. It was so expensive that I don't really like taking it out of the house and although it's a very capable machine it turns out that I'd much rather play PS2 and Gamecube on a big screen, with my other handhelds for everything else, so it doesn't get used very much.
Another option to consider is a controller for your phone. I've got a couple of good ones from Game Sir and Abxylute. I do prefer the bespoke handhelds, but if I've got a phone with me most of the time anyway taking a controller isn't too much extra bother.
As a speaker of only one language - English, and that poorly - I can't comment on the quality of translations. But isn't there an additional technical constraint that the translation has to fit in the space occupied by the original text or else you get allsorts of overflows and crashes?
The real villain of the piece is the Trade Mark system itself. I think most people would think it's reasonable to protect a company or product from competitors, imposters, or those seeking to profit from an established name. But as is usually the case, the law is an arse and far too permissive in the favour of the TM holder.
If you want to see some examples of real Trade Mark trolling, checkout the antics of any big global brand. They go after people that no reasonable person would consider fair or appropriate.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. "
@Hexapus Not even remotely? So no triangles or wings in a certain configuration? You could have fooled me.
I'm arguing for consistency in how we criticise multi-billion dollar corporations. I'm not saying that the AI wasn't influenced by the Triforce symbol, but that the Triforce symbol is at best a pastiche of other works, forms and styles, none of which Nintendo created. So when you say the AI generated a 1:1 facsimile of the symbol (it didn't, by the way), I say it created a derivative work in exactly the same way Nintendo did.
Bored? Far from it. We're living in an unprecedented time. No humans before us (as far as we know, anyway) have ever experienced anything like AI. The potential, the dangers, the ethics - it's a fascinating topic. AI is here, though, and I truly believe the only way we're going to navigate the future is by discussing it. What we should not lose sight of, however, is that the world wasn't all milk and honey before it arrived, especially when we're talking about multi-billion dollar companies and their practices.
@Hexapus Well let's consider the rest of the design. What I can see is a stylised eagle. Those have appeared in countless cultures around the world from the distant past to the current day, so I don't think Nintendo can claim any ownership of that either.
I will concede that Nintendo may have created a derivative work... but I think the Freemasons got there first!
@Bot_Bot_69 It doesn't really matter either way. The substantive point is: You cannot be accused of plagiarising Nintendo's "work" if Nintendo did not, in fact, create that "work".
@Thad I just happen to think we should be consistent in our criticism of mega-corporations. If the claim is plagiarism then Nintendo has no more right to the Triforce than anybody else, including AI.
Ah, but even the Triforce is a rip off of the Hojo clan's family crest.
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9
@Deuteros The Morph 2K will work fine with your 4K (or likely u-HD) TV.
Here's my understanding of the state of play:
There's a lot of FUD and confusion about upscaling. But really it's all about taking a small image (say 240p) and blowing it up fast enough so it looks good on a modern display. That's the magic of the upscaler - it does this and more besides - very fast.
TVs have their own built-in upscalers, but they aren't optimised for old video game consoles (and most new TVs don't support legacy AV connectors). What they are good at is taking a 720p or 1080p feed and upscaling that signal to something bigger. In the case of 1080p to 2160p (or U-HD or consumer 4k) it's simply a cheap doubling operation that adds practically zero latency.
So the benefit of a 4k upscaler is that it avoids the TVs upscaler entirely. So what you really need to consider is input options (sources supported), output options (scanlines, glow, picture adjustments etc), latency, and how much you want to spend.
For what it's worth I currently use a Mcbazel ODV-GBS-C, which is < £80, for my Mega Drive and PS2. I have no complaints on a 4k(U-HD) display.
"I had fully expected the language barrier to present problems"
As I get older I'm starting to question some of my life choices. I suspect I'm like other people in that I've spent the last 35 odd years wanting to play some Japanese games, but couldn't due to the language barrier. So why is it it that I spent precisely 0 of those years learning the language? You'd think 35 years would be more than enough time to become fluent, and probably a lot less than that.
@-wc- "You are in control of how many games you download, and which games, specifically!"
While this is undoubtedly true, it took me an almost embarrassingly long time to realise that truth. When I first got in to emulation I downloaded full rom sets for just about every system I could find. The state of rom dumps and collections at the time meant this included bad dumps, hacks, multiple regions and so on. So many games, yet so few of them played - and a lot of the games I did play were only for a few minutes each at best.
My advice for anyone who wants to start emulating, but doesn't know where to begin is:
1) Start with games you remember from the past.
2) Seek out top x games for system y lists. These can reveal some true classics.
3) Have a look at some properly curated retro collections (eg Taito Legends). The best of these have gem after gem.
4) See if you can find a "Let's play..." community. Not only will you find great games you've never heard of, but I find it's more fun to play a game with other people either competitively or just for fun.
5) Have a hunt through magazine archives to see what was well reviewed at the time. I've found lots of games this way.
6) Don't overload yourself. I suggest having a list of 5-10 games that you're actually going to play is more than enough for most people. Some games you're just going to keep going back to, so you can put those on your keepers list and cycle something else into your list of games to try.
If this comes to anything, which I doubt, it'll be a lazy Christmas market thing. Something you get for that older male relative who's difficult to buy for.
I remember years and years ago wandering the North Laines in Brighton and happening across a fantasy/sci-fi shop, a bit like a Forbidden Planet but more shabby-chic. Inside was a complete treasure trove of fantasy books, artwork, models, figurines, games, trinkets and pretty much you name it.
Anyway, amongst those treasures was a complete set of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! illustrated by John Blanche, which I snapped up for about £7. An absolute steal given how much they go for now.
@Sketcz Amazing! A mystery solved... but with many questions!
What was the deal with all the secrecy? That episode of Bad Influence went out on 8th December 1992, two weeks after Sonic 2sDay. I guess the Japan feature was recorded well in advance, so maybe Sega were genuinely concerned about leaks? Or maybe Bad Influence was just trying to be cool?
I thought the GG and MS versions of Sonic 2 were developed by a different company than Sega. Makes me wonder how closely Sega worked with its partners give our man Hiroshi seems to be heavily involved and gets a "thanks" in the credits.
Why show Bad Influence the GG and/or MS version of the game? Secrecy again? Giving Bad Influence the fob-off? Maybe Hiroshi was the only person available or willing on the day?
Anyway, thanks very much @Sketcz for digging into this! Big thanks to your contact as well. I feel we've uncovered a bit of gaming archaeology that may otherwise have been lost to time.
I still rate the Taito Legends collections as some of the best value retro compilations. I picked them both up for PS2 on ebay still shrink-wrapped for £5 each. That's where I first played Cameltry, although as I recall it wasn't compatible with the paddle controller in the special version of Cleopatra Fortune for PS1.
I must get around to getting some sort of paddle affair for my PC, then I can MAME it.
A colour LCD screen in 1987 would have been ambitious... and likely pretty awful! Had it come about it might have forced Nintendo's hand along the same lines.
Still, a fascinating look at what could have been. I get the sense that 40 years from now it will be much harder to find gems like this from the current day.
It does make you wonder what the point of AI is if nobody can afford a device to interface with it.
I saw the other day that somebody's been rattling Tony Blair's cage, and he's very in to AI. Probably as a means of the state spying and prying and generally interfering with people.
As I've said before, I'm generally optimistic about how AI can be a benefit to humanity. But we do need to make sure that is what it is being used for.
@Daniel36 A hidden object game? It looks more like a Choose Your Own Adventure/Fighting Fantasy type book very popular back in the day.
Speaking of which, does anybody else remember the two Prince of Shadows books (Mean Streets and Creatures from the Depths) by Chalk and Kerrigan? They were absolutely amazing adventures with a really gritty dark fantasy undertone. I don't know what happened to my copies, but I wish they'd be reprinted or brought back for the digital age in some form.
@mjparker77 You couldn't go wrong at that price. I remember a mate of mine thinking I was unwell as I hadn't been down the pub for more than a week. I was perfectly fine, just playing Tempest 2000 into the early hours!
When I bought my Jaguar from (EB, Game, Virgin?) in the mid to late 90s for £40 and please take as many of these games as you can carry, this was one of them. Still haven't played it.
@-wc- Reminds me of that lunatic anti-piracy "campaign" 'You wouldn't steal a car'. To which my answer was always, 'I just might, depending on the circumstances'.
@heligo It's going to be horizontal, with a 4:3 screen. They're planning to make the controls modular so you can swap them about to suit your preference / the game.
A request I made was to make the screen swivel so it can do Tate and mate modes. Not sure if that will happen, though.
@h3s they are fun games, but really I was comparing the experience we all thought we were missing back then to the actual experience. I think if I had an AES back then I'd also want a SNES or Mega Drive (both!) too.
@gmar "Come to think of it, the exchange between East and West wasn't as active back then as it is now."
Not sure I agree. Japanese companies, games, and systems had an enormous impact on British gaming in the 90s. I think the difference is by the time SNK were really hitting their stride 3D games were the big news, arcades were becoming less important, better than arcade experiences could be had at home, and almost nobody had an AES due to the price.
Comments 423
Re: "This Isn't Your Granny's Flip Phone" - Commodore Defends Its $500 Dumbphone
It was a bit of a surprising announcement; I was expecting a Commodore-themed tablet or something like that.
I do get why the newly-resurrected Commodore are doing this, though. The brand/company isn't going to survive on nostalgia alone. There's a cap on how many people want a C64 (or Amiga, if that happens) who don't already have a solution or are prepared to buy something new in addition to what they have. So that means new products.
Whether or not this will be a huge success is anyone's guess. Let's say they've done some market research and estimated there's a world-wide market for about 5,000 of these. At $500 a pop that's sales of... checks maths... $2,500,000. If you have all the supply chains, manufacturing, marketing and all the rest of it ready to go it's worth a roll of the dice.
Re: Developer Of Densha De Go "Tribute" Admits To Using AI, Considers Halting The Project Over "Online Hate & Accusations"
I haven't played a train game in... wow... well over 40 years at this point.
We had two on the Beeb. Southern Belle and I want to say Eastern Star. Southern Belle was particularly memorable as it was the London to Brighton line I travelled on a lot, and featured some of the real world landmarks including Battersea Power Station.
What still stands out to me is that both games played out in real time, so chugging along at 30 mph it would take two hours to do the complete journey! I wish I had that sort of focus/concentration power now. I reckon if I can stay on task for 40 minutes or so now I'm doing ok.
Re: Review: Super Pocket Rare Edition - Banjo-Kazooie Alone Makes This A Must-Buy At £50
@Deuteros No problem. Happy gaming! 👍
Re: Review: Super Pocket Rare Edition - Banjo-Kazooie Alone Makes This A Must-Buy At £50
@Deuteros You probably want something with a bit more poke for N64 and Dreamcast. The Cube XX can play both, but the harder-to-emulate titles won't be full speed.
My current go to device is the TrimUI Smart Pro S. That does N64 and Dreamcast almost flawlessly, with the occasional dips. It can also do a good deal of PSP. I did need to buy a grip for it to make it more comfortable to use.
Another couple of options that reviewed well - but I don't have either - are the Mangmi Air X and the Ayaneo Pocket Air Mini. They both float around the $100 mark and are more powerful than the TrimUI. Both are Android based and will require a bit more setup, which can be a put off.
12 months ago there were a lot of decent options in the $150-$200 range that would have been ideal. But what with RAM prices etc. that mid-range market has practically vanished and the next step up is around $200-$250, which is a big jump. If you can find them on sale the Retroid Pocket 5 and Flip 2 are good shouts, although it might be worth spending the little bit extra on the Pocket 6.
For me going above about $250 isn't worth it. I made that mistake with the Odin 2. It was so expensive that I don't really like taking it out of the house and although it's a very capable machine it turns out that I'd much rather play PS2 and Gamecube on a big screen, with my other handhelds for everything else, so it doesn't get used very much.
Another option to consider is a controller for your phone. I've got a couple of good ones from Game Sir and Abxylute. I do prefer the bespoke handhelds, but if I've got a phone with me most of the time anyway taking a controller isn't too much extra bother.
Hope that has given you some ideas!
Re: Romhack.ing Disables AI-Translated Patch Downloads Following Langrisser V Upset
As a speaker of only one language - English, and that poorly - I can't comment on the quality of translations. But isn't there an additional technical constraint that the translation has to fit in the space occupied by the original text or else you get allsorts of overflows and crashes?
Re: Review: Super Pocket Rare Edition - Banjo-Kazooie Alone Makes This A Must-Buy At £50
@-wc- "On an unrelated note, I got an Anbernic RG Cube XX the other day and it's fantastic!"
An excellent choice, sir!
If you haven't already, I recommend putting the custom Knulli firmware on it.
Then buy Pico-8 and install on device.
Enjoy!
Re: 'Diggy Diggy Mole' Is "A New Metroid-Like NES Platformer" About A Mole With A Pickaxe Embedded In Its Skull
I don't know about anybody else, but that styrofoam block is a real deal maker.
The game? That looks pretty good too.
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
@Right_Said_Brett Well, let's talk about it then.
What do you mean by creativity?
Re: "We Have The Means To Fight This Case To The End" - Gaming's Most Infamous Trademark Troll Is Back
@ShawnsterOZ But Microsoft did sue a 17 year old Canadian for registering a domain called MikeRoweSoft dot com.
Re: "We Have The Means To Fight This Case To The End" - Gaming's Most Infamous Trademark Troll Is Back
The real villain of the piece is the Trade Mark system itself. I think most people would think it's reasonable to protect a company or product from competitors, imposters, or those seeking to profit from an established name. But as is usually the case, the law is an arse and far too permissive in the favour of the TM holder.
If you want to see some examples of real Trade Mark trolling, checkout the antics of any big global brand. They go after people that no reasonable person would consider fair or appropriate.
Re: "It Was Extremely Hard To Say Goodbye To Crash" - Naughty Dog Founder On That "Abysmal" Universal Studios Deal
If they gave him over 100 million dollars in the first few weeks, why didn't he just rent a better space?
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
@Bot_Bot_69 Define creation.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. "
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
Removed
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
@Hexapus Not even remotely? So no triangles or wings in a certain configuration? You could have fooled me.
I'm arguing for consistency in how we criticise multi-billion dollar corporations. I'm not saying that the AI wasn't influenced by the Triforce symbol, but that the Triforce symbol is at best a pastiche of other works, forms and styles, none of which Nintendo created. So when you say the AI generated a 1:1 facsimile of the symbol (it didn't, by the way), I say it created a derivative work in exactly the same way Nintendo did.
Bored? Far from it. We're living in an unprecedented time. No humans before us (as far as we know, anyway) have ever experienced anything like AI. The potential, the dangers, the ethics - it's a fascinating topic. AI is here, though, and I truly believe the only way we're going to navigate the future is by discussing it. What we should not lose sight of, however, is that the world wasn't all milk and honey before it arrived, especially when we're talking about multi-billion dollar companies and their practices.
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
@Hexapus Well let's consider the rest of the design. What I can see is a stylised eagle. Those have appeared in countless cultures around the world from the distant past to the current day, so I don't think Nintendo can claim any ownership of that either.
I will concede that Nintendo may have created a derivative work... but I think the Freemasons got there first!
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/17/6d/74/176d74833713a272ee778e2acb99e16b.jpg
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
@Bot_Bot_69 It doesn't really matter either way. The substantive point is: You cannot be accused of plagiarising Nintendo's "work" if Nintendo did not, in fact, create that "work".
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
@Thad I just happen to think we should be consistent in our criticism of mega-corporations. If the claim is plagiarism then Nintendo has no more right to the Triforce than anybody else, including AI.
Re: 'The Tetris Story' Aims To Chart The Incredible History Of "The One Game Nobody Can Ever Put Down"
Reminds me, I haven't seen Tetris: From Russia with Love for a long time. Might have to do that this evening.
Re: "This Is From Zelda, If You Didn't Know" - Test Footage Highlights The Danger Of Using GenAI In Video Game Development
Ah, but even the Triforce is a rip off of the Hojo clan's family crest.
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:9
Re: Review: Pixel FX Morph 2K - For $200, This Is Amazing Value For Money
@Deuteros The Morph 2K will work fine with your 4K (or likely u-HD) TV.
Here's my understanding of the state of play:
There's a lot of FUD and confusion about upscaling. But really it's all about taking a small image (say 240p) and blowing it up fast enough so it looks good on a modern display. That's the magic of the upscaler - it does this and more besides - very fast.
TVs have their own built-in upscalers, but they aren't optimised for old video game consoles (and most new TVs don't support legacy AV connectors). What they are good at is taking a 720p or 1080p feed and upscaling that signal to something bigger. In the case of 1080p to 2160p (or U-HD or consumer 4k) it's simply a cheap doubling operation that adds practically zero latency.
So the benefit of a 4k upscaler is that it avoids the TVs upscaler entirely. So what you really need to consider is input options (sources supported), output options (scanlines, glow, picture adjustments etc), latency, and how much you want to spend.
For what it's worth I currently use a Mcbazel ODV-GBS-C, which is < £80, for my Mega Drive and PS2. I have no complaints on a 4k(U-HD) display.
Re: "How Embarrassing" - Sega's Getting Some Serious Blowback For Using GenAI In Crazy Taxi: World Tour
@Ducklizard When the Dot Com bubble burst it didn't take the Internet with it. Like it or not AI is with us...
... unless there's some sort of Butlerian Jihad.
Re: "How Embarrassing" - Sega's Getting Some Serious Blowback For Using GenAI In Crazy Taxi: World Tour
Well I'm still excited for the game, that trailer was awesome!
Re: Random Game Saturday: Langrisser III (Sega Saturn)
@smoreon I just might try that... check back with me in 35 years 😁
Re: Random Game Saturday: Langrisser III (Sega Saturn)
"I had fully expected the language barrier to present problems"
As I get older I'm starting to question some of my life choices. I suspect I'm like other people in that I've spent the last 35 odd years wanting to play some Japanese games, but couldn't due to the language barrier. So why is it it that I spent precisely 0 of those years learning the language? You'd think 35 years would be more than enough time to become fluent, and probably a lot less than that.
Re: "I Think They Are Missing A Trick" - Evercade Boss Says The Games Industry Is Failing Older Players
@-wc- "You are in control of how many games you download, and which games, specifically!"
While this is undoubtedly true, it took me an almost embarrassingly long time to realise that truth. When I first got in to emulation I downloaded full rom sets for just about every system I could find. The state of rom dumps and collections at the time meant this included bad dumps, hacks, multiple regions and so on. So many games, yet so few of them played - and a lot of the games I did play were only for a few minutes each at best.
My advice for anyone who wants to start emulating, but doesn't know where to begin is:
1) Start with games you remember from the past.
2) Seek out top x games for system y lists. These can reveal some true classics.
3) Have a look at some properly curated retro collections (eg Taito Legends). The best of these have gem after gem.
4) See if you can find a "Let's play..." community. Not only will you find great games you've never heard of, but I find it's more fun to play a game with other people either competitively or just for fun.
5) Have a hunt through magazine archives to see what was well reviewed at the time. I've found lots of games this way.
6) Don't overload yourself. I suggest having a list of 5-10 games that you're actually going to play is more than enough for most people. Some games you're just going to keep going back to, so you can put those on your keepers list and cycle something else into your list of games to try.
Re: Rumour: Sega Might Be Releasing A Low-Cost Handheld With Removable Game Carts
If this comes to anything, which I doubt, it'll be a lazy Christmas market thing. Something you get for that older male relative who's difficult to buy for.
Re: "The Best To Ever Do It" - Warhammer And Fighting Fantasy Artist John Blanche Has Died
I remember years and years ago wandering the North Laines in Brighton and happening across a fantasy/sci-fi shop, a bit like a Forbidden Planet but more shabby-chic. Inside was a complete treasure trove of fantasy books, artwork, models, figurines, games, trinkets and pretty much you name it.
Anyway, amongst those treasures was a complete set of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! illustrated by John Blanche, which I snapped up for about £7. An absolute steal given how much they go for now.
Re: "I Am Not Making Up This Story" - You Won't Believe What Yuji Naka Wanted To Call Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
@Sketcz Amazing! A mystery solved... but with many questions!
What was the deal with all the secrecy? That episode of Bad Influence went out on 8th December 1992, two weeks after Sonic 2sDay. I guess the Japan feature was recorded well in advance, so maybe Sega were genuinely concerned about leaks? Or maybe Bad Influence was just trying to be cool?
I thought the GG and MS versions of Sonic 2 were developed by a different company than Sega. Makes me wonder how closely Sega worked with its partners give our man Hiroshi seems to be heavily involved and gets a "thanks" in the credits.
Why show Bad Influence the GG and/or MS version of the game? Secrecy again? Giving Bad Influence the fob-off? Maybe Hiroshi was the only person available or willing on the day?
Anyway, thanks very much @Sketcz for digging into this! Big thanks to your contact as well. I feel we've uncovered a bit of gaming archaeology that may otherwise have been lost to time.
Re: "Spin the Maze, Roll the Ball!" - Taito's Quirky Puzzler 'Cameltry' Is Heading To Switch, PlayStation, & Xbox
I still rate the Taito Legends collections as some of the best value retro compilations. I picked them both up for PS2 on ebay still shrink-wrapped for £5 each. That's where I first played Cameltry, although as I recall it wasn't compatible with the paddle controller in the special version of Cleopatra Fortune for PS1.
I must get around to getting some sort of paddle affair for my PC, then I can MAME it.
Re: "I Am Not Making Up This Story" - You Won't Believe What Yuji Naka Wanted To Call Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
Thanks @Sketcz - hopefully your contact can clear this up for us!
Re: "A Bold Mechanical Timepiece" - This Limited Edition Missile Command Watch Could Be Yours, If You Have £455 To Burn
@ojisan Yeah, but in the world where everybody is skint it costs a small fortune!
Re: "Commodore Can't Survive Solely On Nostalgia" - C64 Ultimate Creator Will Announce Its Next Product Later This Month
A Commodore branded tablet straight from China is my guess.
Re: Before The Game Boy, Ninja Gaiden & Klonoa's Director Had His Own Vision For The Future Of Handheld Gaming
A colour LCD screen in 1987 would have been ambitious... and likely pretty awful! Had it come about it might have forced Nintendo's hand along the same lines.
Still, a fascinating look at what could have been. I get the sense that 40 years from now it will be much harder to find gems like this from the current day.
Re: "I Am Not Making Up This Story" - You Won't Believe What Yuji Naka Wanted To Call Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
@Sketcz nice one, thanks!
Re: "I Am Not Making Up This Story" - You Won't Believe What Yuji Naka Wanted To Call Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
Thanks @Guru_Larry - I wonder if Sketcz can identify him...
@Sketcz Do you recognise the Sonic 2 team member who appears at about 7 minutes into the Bad Influence episode linked by Guru_Larry?
Re: "We Were Hoping To Have A Better Update Than This" - Hyperkin's Portable Genesis, The Mega95, Has Been Delayed Again
"Delays like this are frustrating, especially when the community is excited and ready for the product."
I don't think you can call the three people who actually want this a "community",
Re: "I Am Not Making Up This Story" - You Won't Believe What Yuji Naka Wanted To Call Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
@Guru_Larry You're bound to know this: Who was it Violet Berlin interviewed when she visited Sega's Sonic team on Bad Influence?
Re: "The Most Miserable Person I Have Ever Worked With" - This Former Sega Exec Has A Dim View Of Yuji Naka
I think we've all worked with somebody like that during our careers.
Re: Thanks To AI, The Steam Deck Now Costs As Much As $300 More
It does make you wonder what the point of AI is if nobody can afford a device to interface with it.
I saw the other day that somebody's been rattling Tony Blair's cage, and he's very in to AI. Probably as a means of the state spying and prying and generally interfering with people.
As I've said before, I'm generally optimistic about how AI can be a benefit to humanity. But we do need to make sure that is what it is being used for.
Re: "Over 300 Illustrations Drawn By Hand" - Vanillaware Vet's 'Veritas Tales' Is A Lavish Fantasy Book You Play
@Daniel36 A hidden object game? It looks more like a Choose Your Own Adventure/Fighting Fantasy type book very popular back in the day.
Speaking of which, does anybody else remember the two Prince of Shadows books (Mean Streets and Creatures from the Depths) by Chalk and Kerrigan? They were absolutely amazing adventures with a really gritty dark fantasy undertone. I don't know what happened to my copies, but I wish they'd be reprinted or brought back for the digital age in some form.
Re: Celebrate World Cup 2026 With The '90s Classic Soccer Kid
@mjparker77 You couldn't go wrong at that price. I remember a mate of mine thinking I was unwell as I hadn't been down the pub for more than a week. I was perfectly fine, just playing Tempest 2000 into the early hours!
Re: Sacré Bleu! Atari Is No Longer A French Company
Atari won't actually be moving there of course, they'll just have a nice brass plate on the front of some anonymous building.
Re: Celebrate World Cup 2026 With The '90s Classic Soccer Kid
When I bought my Jaguar from (EB, Game, Virgin?) in the mid to late 90s for £40 and please take as many of these games as you can carry, this was one of them. Still haven't played it.
Re: "You Don't Need To Commit Piracy" - It's Now Possible To Dump N64 Carts Using Your Flash Cart
@-wc- Reminds me of that lunatic anti-piracy "campaign" 'You wouldn't steal a car'. To which my answer was always, 'I just might, depending on the circumstances'.
Re: Review: Anbernic RG Rotate - The Most Charming Handheld I've Seen In Years
I really want one - it just looks like something I want to hold, even if that isn't the most rational position to have.
One for the Christmas list.
Re: A Handheld MiSTer Is Coming, But This Darius-Playing Widescreen Prototype Isn't It
@heligo It's going to be horizontal, with a 4:3 screen. They're planning to make the controls modular so you can swap them about to suit your preference / the game.
A request I made was to make the screen swivel so it can do Tate and mate modes. Not sure if that will happen, though.
Re: Random Game Saturday: Shining The Holy Ark (Sega Saturn)
This is next on my list after replaying the Phantasy Star games (upto 4). And I've been saying that for at least the last 15 years.
Re: "Very Few Franchises Of This Era Have Stayed Relevant" - After More Than A Decade Of Rumours, Broken Sword Could Finally Be Coming To The Big Screen
@Santar The acting, the script, the fiendish puzzles, the beautiful music, Mr. Shiny, the Templars!
I'm such a fan of Broken Sword, especially the first game... but this news fills me with trepidation. I hope they don't ruin it.
Re: The Making Of: Metal Slug - "I Never Thought That It Would Have Sequels"
@h3s they are fun games, but really I was comparing the experience we all thought we were missing back then to the actual experience. I think if I had an AES back then I'd also want a SNES or Mega Drive (both!) too.
Re: Gallery: "Fatal Fury Is My Street Fighter II" - Leafing Through Bitmap Books' Ultimate Guide To SNK's One-On-One Slugfest
@gmar "Come to think of it, the exchange between East and West wasn't as active back then as it is now."
Not sure I agree. Japanese companies, games, and systems had an enormous impact on British gaming in the 90s. I think the difference is by the time SNK were really hitting their stride 3D games were the big news, arcades were becoming less important, better than arcade experiences could be had at home, and almost nobody had an AES due to the price.