@mariteaux
Sitting and thinking about it: I actually genuinely agree with you. Something I've found is I dislike very recent modern sports games, because they're excessively complicated and just not fun for me. But the older sports games, the good ones, are simple enough to convey a basic recognisable facsimile of any given sport while being intuitive, and thus excelling in multiplayer since it allows friends of any skill to join in. I still pick up and enjoy a game of Super Soccer on SNES, single player or two player, but when I tried the newest FIFA, I was absolutely lost and got bored quickly. Same thing with NBA Jam. Sadly, as pointed out, older sports games across the generations tend to be dismissed due to not looking very pretty compared to the newest titles, even if playing them is still fun today.
The Virtual Boy has multiple flashcarts available, and high quality repro carts are also available, as are repro boxes and manuals.
Unless you're a hardcore collector who absolutely needs to own the originals (fair play and respect to you), the rest of us have plenty of means of playing these games.
I got a flashcart, tested every single game, then bought repros of what I liked. Jack Bros was fantastic, and the repro cost £30, as did repros of other carts.
I have no moral problems owning a repro, because ***** ebay scalpers charging £1000 for Jack Bros. I'm very happy with my £30 repro.
Not owning a Gizmondo I don't know where to find it or how to get it running. But it seems like an essential thing to try finding? Like it did more with the system than anything else.
Lost Levels ran a feature on it. There's a super disturbing gameplay element where if you get arrested you can choose to bribe your way out of prison with money, or... voluntarily submit to being sexually assaulted by other inmates. The Lost Levels link below covers the game and this aspect, so consider yourself warned about the content.
As for the sticky coating, my old MP3 player had that same crap on it. I just got some 98% isopropyl alcohol and it rubbed off real easily. I would guess the Gizmondo is the same?
@wollywoo
Exactly! I'd had the Monster in my Pocket toys several years before, and they were dumb silly fun, and Pokemon leant into that psychological feeling, before playing it - at least, before it blew up and gained its own identity.
I'm just re-reading various comments from people on their feelings of discovering Pokemon as kids, and loving it, and I'm chuckling at these executives, thinking: COME ON! It's a no brainer. Just read the one line elevator pitch.
"You collect and swap monsters and they fight!"
And you had executives going: "We don't know what we're looking at? Is this a thing kids will want? Do kids like monsters? Do kids like trading stuff? There's only one Mickey Mouse!"
Like, WTF?
I'm sure everyone who "didn't get it" would be defensive now. But like, I want to sit them down and have them talk me through their thinking, in baby steps, so I can somehow understand how people in the business of toys just couldn't get it.
This is the like New Coca Cola of business mistakes!
If you wanted to convey it via what already existed, you could say:
"Imagine the world of trading cards, but it's like Monster in my Pocket. Kids trade the monsters in the game, and we can make toys, and cards, and lunch boxes, to go with it."
Pokemon wasn't even really that "new" of an idea at the time. It was a collection of pre-existing ideas mixed together and repackaged as an RPG. And it was fantastic.
I imported the US version on release day, ages before it even reached the UK. I got Red, my brother got Blue, and we both got 150 monsters, enjoying it before it went huge. (We did a trade and game restart to get all 3 of the starting monsters.)
I recall N64 magazine hyping the Japanese GB game long before it got localised.
I struggle to understand how no one saw the appeal.
Had they never seen kids trading stickers, trading cards, or other stuff? That concept is like pure opium to a kid's brain. They literally call them "trading cards". Kids also trade toys, especially if it's something where you can end up with duplicates.
So a game where you trade in-game monsters, even as a kid I knew that was going to be big.
All these big toy people going: "Derp derp, trade stuff? Kids don't like that, derp derp!"
Amusing as heck, LOL.
I'm not saying I'm smart for thinking it would be big; I'm saying that in the business of selling crap to kids, anyone who couldn't see it, is not fit for their job. A blind man with one could have SEEN the explosive potential here!
The full tweet by JayF encapsulates things perfectly. My biggest concern with a Panzer Dragoon Saga remake is that by smoothing and cleaning up the low poly, low resolution graphics, you'll lose that gritty broken feeling. The distinctive Saturn 3D actually enhances the feeling of an alien, post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The rough look is part of its identity.
I didn't like the PD1 remake, and I don't like the look of this.
@smoreon Exactly! My feelings are because so much of games history was the result of groups who couldn't predict how big or important they would become. I'd say almost every interview regarding 40 or 30 years ago has similar sentiments.
I suppose there's an argument to be made that not knowing this in a way fostered a carefree creative attitude?
It is what it is. But I still look back at some decisions and wonder... What do other timelines look like.
A little shocked, surprised, and saddened that all these games, which meant so much to so many, were partially the result of pawning them off to some clueless ad agency.
@Johnny_Arthur I forgot I'd posted here! So a while back Steam stopped supporting Windows 7, which is what my main game rig runs on. I had to permanently disable it updating, since once updated it also locked me out of running any of my Steam games on that computer. It's to do with the browser the Steam client is based on. I tested it with my laptop - updated Steam, and then every single Steam failed to load. It just auto-crashed every time. They officially said they were no longer supporting Win7, despite there at the time being more Win7 users than Linux.
Since this post I was gifted a handheld gaming PC, so I am again able to use Steam.
A remaster of Panzer Saga is my dream too. But only a gentle remaster. Increase the draw distance. Keep everything else the same - including the dirty blocky textures. They really enhanced the feeling of it being a ruined and decayed world.
I'm not sure Snatcher needs a remaster. Konami redid the PC-88 version for PCE and MCD, then redid those for PS1 / Sat. The 32-bit versions were inferior, replacing crisp pixel art with cheap CG.
Could a remaster incorporate parts from all the versions, so you can toggle between them? PC-88 synth audio with PS1 CG visuals?
Apple is a large company today with iconic logo. It's right there in full colour on the unit. Surely anyone who uses any technology today will recognise it as an Apple product, not a Microsoft or MS compatible one.
I am now convinced this has to be rage-bait to encourage viewer interaction. Like when Starbucks "hilariously" writes your name wrong so you post on social media and give them free advertising.
@MontyMole
Internet Archive has the full series of Spartakus, dubbed, uploaded by the original creator using the highest quality transfers I've seen. Enjoy!
@MontyMole Your mentioning of Cities of Gold caught my interest. Did you also ever watch Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea? It was often broadcast alongside Cities of Gold in various places.
@Soupbones Shame! Give the poor thing a blanket and some warm soup. But if it needs repairing, there are several Vectrex repair people out there. I can think of two or three in the UK (I used Rude Dog Retros). Not sure about the US. It probably just needs a full recap.
@CopyX1982 I found a Vectrex at a market for like £20 once. Bought it, loved it, sold it for £100, regretted it, and then to rebuy cost me £300+ in addition to mods and a full repair clean.
So these are extremely expensive. And PC emulation is not great - it doesn't "look" right.
I bought a flashcart where I could add homebrew, since there are... Hundreds of homebrew games? Checking my folder shows a tightly curated list of 89 games. There's lot of stuff I deleted because I didn't like them. Plus the official list. And new homebrew comes out all the time. I actually dropped £70 on A Crush of Lucifer. I even owned the 3D visor at one point.
I'm not saying all this to brag - I'm saying this because I am super happy that people who are not collector maniacs (such as myself) can now enjoy not just the games, but also the form factor. It will allow one to enjoy the experience, better than just emulation.
I hope so anyway. Emulation can't replicate the perfect lines of a vector display. But I'm wondering about this new fancy screen they're using. With a high enough resolution it might? Hopefully you get the "feel" of the device.
I dislike the controllers though. The original ones are serviceable, because they're large. Something that tiny looks very uncomfortable, especially for games that require fast reflexes.
I bought a modded NeoGeo CD controller which runs on the Vectrex, and it is sublime. Massively improved my game at the annual Vectrex tournament. About 50 enter on the Veccy forums, and I went from a position in the mid-teens to... I think 7th or 8th place last year? You need a decent controller. Hopefully if it's wireless it will allow other controllers to be used?
My only question now is: the annual Vectrex tournie mandates only original hardware. Not emulation. How will we categorise this? Perhaps we can run it alongside, OG and Mini veccies. It's a friendly community.
The homebrew coming out for the system is also incredible. There's a lot of love and passion put into creating something which only a few people can access. More need to experience it.
@PKDuckman Damn. I now have anxiety over them getting their hands on anything else. TR isn't the worst that could happen, but I keep thinking they're poisoning the well. If they botch a remaster, it's not like another company will remaster it again - that game is now forever tainted.
@Grackler I played through the Jeff Minter collection, and it was exquisite. Lots of nice photos, videos, and write ups, giving some nice historical context to the man and his portfolio. Lots of scanned documents too. I saw it got some negative reviews from people who had no idea who Minter was, but for me it was exactly what I'd want from such a collection. Good shout - Digital Eclipse are great for these very old legacy collections. I eagerly look forward to more from them. The overall package conveys a love of and respect for the source material.
@Grackler Same. Was tempted by the Soul Reaver remaster, saw it was Aspyr, read up on it, discovered they added a day/night cycle without rebalancing or checking it didn't break the game. It does break the game and can't be switched off. Decided it was a hard pass. (Same with anything by Limited Run; that CDR debacle will never be forgotten.)
At this point, it's Night Dive or nothing. I've yet to play a Night Dive release and feel anything less than complete satisfaction. They are the top tier platinum standard which all companies should look up to.
Someone called "hasnopants" worked on a NSFW hentai game.
I approve.
Glad to see adult games getting fan-translated despite the puritanical times we find ourselves in!
(I recognise the hasnopants name from the Team Innocent translation for PCFX; that was a really great job they did, so it's also nice to see further projects from the group; there's a really good podcast the team did regarding the project, which is worth a listen if you enjoy these super obscure JP titles.)
@KingMike You are very astute to think this - well done! I am a diehard enthusiast of ET on the 2600 and will always take the opportunity to discuss it.
Howard Scott Warshaw is, in my opinion, a genius level programmer and game designer. His 2600 game Raiders of the Lost Ark is to this day a fantastic complex adventure, almost bordering on Zelda-style action-RPG. It's one of a few Atari 2600 games which require TWO joysticks to play! (Another is Riddle of the SPhinx, also a great and complex game.) The 2nd joystick is just for your inventory - you even have currency to buy items.
He often says he made the best game on the 2600 (Yar's Revenge) and the worst (ET). Now, I don't like Yar's at all. It's dull and boring. Raiders is in my top 5 for the system. But his ET is in no way the worst.
As you astutely stated: for 1982, and the hardware, it's really not bad at all. But you absolutely need to read the manual! (Same with Raiders.)
ET on the Atari 2600 features a realistic 3D cuboid map. You ever play a game where you warp from the left to the right side of the map, or top to bottom? That's not how you map a sphere to a 2D plane - what you've created is a torus. It always bugged me with Skies of Arcadia, because it meant they existed not on a planet, but a weird 3D donut shape.
ET on the 2600 has a proper map, with the screens mapping to a 6 sided cube, with each screen edge correlating to the proper adjacent screen. You go off the edge and you land on the next correct screen, as if walking around the surface of a 6 sided dice / die.
So right from the start it's doing something interesting.
The rest of the game is a collect-em-up as you retrieve telephone pieces. You can also collect, if I recall, Reese's pieces, to get the boy to find a phone item for you, like a shortcut? So it has secrets or little tricks. The items are random, the enemies too, so no two games are the same - it's almost procedurally generated? There's an organic flow to the gameplay which changes every time you boot the system. You can't just learn patterns to win, you need to understand the game and adapt to changing situations.
So it's a free-roaming, non-linear, semi-procedural collect-em-up. Not quite the adventure that Raiders was, but Scott only had a few weeks to code it, and honestly I'm amazed what he achieved. That 3D map alone makes it worth looking at. Because as I say, for the next 40+ years games developers continued to fail in understanding how Euclidean space functioned. EUCLIDEAN SPACE!
This guy's page converted me. Read the words. Gain the knowledge. Join us. Join our secret cult of ET enthusiasts! Would you like a boiled egg and some prune juice?
@jamess Did he? Very good. Thank you for mentioning it.
I am happy to publicly state it: I don't care which party - I will vote for whoever unbans me in the UK and restores my freedoms. This silencing, censoring, and oppression is intolerable. I am not a criminal!
@jamess A friend pointed out to me this morning that content was being pulled due to payment providers, being lobbied by some puritan groups. A journalist trying to document it was silenced and the articles removed.
@jamess Same. Itch seems to be blocked. This is my personal games page. It won't let me access it: https://szcz.itch.io/
I get this crap:
Content unavailable in your region We're sorry — this content is not available in your region.
Due to regulatory requirements established by the United Kingdom’s communications regulator (Ofcom), this page has been restricted from access within the UK due to the Online Safety Act.
We value our users around the world and are committed to complying with local laws and regulations. While we are currently unable to provide this specific content or service to users in the UK, we continue to evaluate our offerings and compliance framework, and we hope to make more content available in the future.
@jamess
Thanks - I'm OK, it's nothing to do with here. I live in the UK and am seeing, in real time, the country descend into anarcho-tyranny.
For example... Uncontrollable knife crime and moped muggings, while the govt flounders, targetting law abiding citizens with ever greater tyrannical laws - Italy too it seems, given this article. Plus things like the Internet Archive coming under attack. In conjunction to all this, we have the rise of AI, first with visual slop everywhere, then Google becoming hopelessly broken for searches, and the looming spectre of AI being used for crime detection, benefits calculations, etc. MPs like Clegg et al are chomping at the bit for AI, despite the fact we're still reeling from the catastrophe of the Horizon postal scandal. I anticipate many such scandals under AI.
Have you seen the film Brazil? It portrays a dystopia like the one we're sliding into.
I hadn't thought too much about the risks of AI monitoring online discourse. Now I'm wondering: if I write an article and make reference to an ODE, will the pigs come knocking?
The pigs are doing less than nothing about violent crime. They want to ban kitchen knives thinking it will fix everything. But they're quite keen to come down on members of the public over trivial matters such as playing old ROMs.
Old games and reading TE are my brief respites from such lunacy. But it gets harder as time goes on.
Here's another good example:
UK govt forced through the online safety act. Total nonsense that does more harm than good.
I visit Moby Games to look up info on Creature Shock. I'm sitting at a talk being given by the programmer and want to look up some details while he speaks to the audience, and screens.
Moby Games says that under new EU rules it can't show me sections of the game's profile page unless I can verify I'm 18.
I just gave up looking at that point.
This is anarcho-tyranny.
And this is why I'm frustrated by things.
I can't walk around London browsing my phone due to moped gangs, and I can't browse Moby Games because the government is keeping me safe from a nasty videogame.
I barely have the words to articulate this insanity. And then I have AI being handed more powers, and previous champions of freedom like Int Arch and WBM being targetted.
@jamess I agree, everything is changing and increasingly faster. However I find it deeply and intensely depressing. I am increasingly tempted to sell everything, abandon modern society, and escape somehow.
@MontyMole The increase in toxic comments saddens me. I had the exact same hopes as you, that because we're probably all of an older age, there'd be less of that hot blooded teenage energy that leads to mean spiritedness and personal attacks.
Alas, I've seen this is not the case.
I want to continue enjoying the company of nicer elements here though. Several members are real life friends who I meet up with sometimes. So it's worth using the "ignore" button you can find at the bottom of each post. It will remove that poster and all of their comments from every feedback thread.
They will become invisible to you!
It's wonderful! I am curating my own reality!
And likewise I'm happy if anyone wishes to ignore me.
Better to not engage with what you dislike, rather than be confrontational.
Once we've all settled into a groove of ignoring people's views which upset us (it'll take a few weeks as your ignore list grows), we can then each exist in a peaceful, friendly, stress free, curated reality. 🥳
I don't even want to imagine what will happen once the AI hounds are released. I foresee a dark internet ahead of us, unusable, with broken AI obsessed search engines, AI visual slop everywhere, and anything remotely media related scrubbed due to copyright. Those old ROMs and ISOs you put on your flashcart and ODE? All gone.
Where will people turn? The dark web? Physically sharing USB sticks at underground meet ups?
@VGEsoterica
Love your work. I enjoy your videos regularly - one of the better channels out there. Ignore the haters. I frankly can't even begin to comprehend what's happening in this comments section. The internet is so angry in 2025. After that Sabrina article fallout from a few days ago I'm just putting haters on ignore.
Good luck with the downpayment and future vids. Be well!
@no_donatello This was indeed the one that deleted itself. This and Ghen War for Saturn, but the same developer. Ghen War was also ambitious - you could deform and destroy the 3D polygonal terrain by shooting it in certain areas. I finished Ghen War too - both of these are ambitious and technically impressive, but high anxiety games, even for the time. That save deleting was BRUTAL. I quick used my Action Replay not to back up saves, but simply cheat my way through. (No regrets!)
I realise this gets hated on. I finished it once with Action Replay cheats, and even with inf health still felt like I might not make it.
But hear me out.
It features a real-time 3D landscape deformation effect (caused by in-game earthquakes), which are not only impressive for the 32-bit era, but doubly so for the Saturn which is claimed to be weak in 3D.
Basically you see the entire landscape, and everything on, experience an enormous ripple effect. GMan Lives on YT said it caused severe motion sickness.
But! You gotta admit it's pretty impressive technically.
I love this game unironically.
It's a curate's egg. Some parts are wretched. Some parts are quite excellent.
I shall be revisiting it with these cheats!
The film is also in my all time top 10, so much fun. "STOP EATING MY SESAME CAKE!!" 🤣
This is what the GPS in Japan always fears, given stricter law enforcement over there.
The fact this happened in the UK is amazing to me.
Given these are Sega and Sonic games... I'll put a very small wager that maybe this police raid was the result of some disgruntled fan reporting them or even possibly making false allegations to force the raid.
I'm not saying it was, but I wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be the case. There have been so many examples of SWATing in the online community, which sets a precedent.
@Bakamoichigei Do you have a public email? I found your Twitch, your website, your Etsy, but no public email. If you don't want to type it here publicly maybe email Damien to pass on to me? Many thanks.
It sure says a lot that the “can’t gaming just be a safe space” crowd are real dismissive about things that make that same space feel less safe for others. Can’t imagine why that might be.
This is a fallacious and passive aggressive statement which translates to: "either pick a side or be classified as the enemy."
And it's exactly what I've been referring to in all my previous posts. People are tired of this specific kind of baiting.
I could not care less about beardy's actions. If his company releases a game I want to play, then I'd like to be able to talk about it without people hollering about "HE'S SUCH A BAD MAN THOUGH!"
Unless he's putting the game on CDRs or recycling old microchips to cut corners. Those are very bad actions, and I will be robustly arguing against them.
@LillianC14 It was A-levels "Religion & Philosophy" - we didn't debate bands. We explored different religions and philosophical teachings (Kant et al), and we debated all the heavy topics, one each week: abortion, multiple LGBT issues, gun control, capital punishment, censorship, socialism (free healthcare & education), the separation of church and state, etc. etc. etc. etc!
In our class of roughly 20 students, aged around 17 and 18, I'd say most viewpoints were covered?
No one, even those with extremely unpopular views, was attacked. We sat and discussed calmly, moderated by our teacher who took a neutral stance.
In fact fairly often we were tasked with playing devil's advocate and arguing against our own views, to see if we understood the opposition, and indeed understood ourselves. The teacher would often have two students argue against other, but playing devil's advocate when doing so. It was hilarious and educational.
We would also deconstruct POVs to understand why or how someone could come to have unpopular views. What leads to a particular set of beliefs? If you can devonstruct them to the most basic seed, can you then change someone's stance? Or at the very least understand why they are as they are.
This was 25 years ago but I loved it - was great for sharpening the mind! Alas there is little opportunity for such enlightened discourse in today's age.
In my final written exam I got a B grade for the subject. (Grades were A through F.)
@Razieluigi A valid point - one I make myself. Engage with what you enjoy, not what you hate.
So I mostly avoid forums and socmed. But I like WayForward. Maybe I'm just lurking following their updates. Playing the Shantae series... Oh, WF says an old game of theirs is veing re-released? Nice. Let me take a loo... Oh... Suddenly a wall of angry people complaining.
I suppose the alternative would be to cut out all online news. All human interaction? Just browse digital store fronts, eBay, and Computer Exchange?
Because it's feeling like I need to increasingly remove myself from the human element. Here's the thing though: I like to write about the history of games, and this is becoming more difficult, because in the process of cutting out all modern media exposure and audience reactions, it's getting harder to connect the past to modern developments.
I miss writing for audiences from 2010. I miss living in that era. Which is insane to be typing because at the time I thought 2010 sucked.
I recall studying philosophy in school. We'd have friendly debates about all sorts of hot topics. People were respectful even if a POV differed. Where has this cordial and intellectual engagement gone? All I see online is cancel culture, doxxing, threats, and angry vitriol.
It's why I increasingly am cutting out more and more online interaction. Ironically GameFAQs is now the funnest place. Just a few specialist boards talking about obscure game topics.
"Keep politics out of xxxx" is facile and tired (and tends to come only from those who disagree with the politics at hand, suggesting bias rather than principle).
I'd like to assure you, in good faith, that my words do not stem from bias or political disagreement. In the year 2025, I am honestly just exhausted from more than a decade of everything being politicised.
Games, specifically old retro games, are the last "safe space" left to me where I don't even have to think about this stuff. Because it is overwhelmingly fatiguing. (Old anime and movies too, but games were my "thing".)
@Razieluigi True. He's an official arms dealer. So is the British government - which is something I don't like. Every penny I pay in British tax is part of the large pot that enables this nation to make and sell weapons which kills people.
I have no choice or control over this. Voting won't stop them. Emigrating is an arduous hurdle.
So my escape from the horrors of the reality forced upon me is videogames.
I can block out the fact the UK gov does exactly the same thing Palmer does, by not reading about politics and engaging only with what I enjoy. IE: videogaming.
The fact I find politics being injected into my sanctuary away from politics is why I made such an absurd statement.
Videogaming until recently was my last bastion of peace and freedom. Just pure artistry, free to engage as I wished.
Now, however, there are extremely militant people online who will judge and attack you for buying and enjoying certain games.
It's why I now avoid social media.
I just want to be left alone to play my games. I don't care if funny beardman or anyone else is involved. I don't go to the houses or parliament or rallies because I specifically want to avoid all that annoying crap.
I just want to enjoy games.
Is that too much? I like WayForward and now I see they get attacked because of nonsense I could not care less about.
If militant political activists are going to infiltrate gaming and kick over tables when they don't get their way, where else do I have left? What am I allowed to enjoy without having to bear witness to such insufferable aggression?
I suspect most people are tired of the militant virtue signalling.
@Jackburton1985 I forgot to @ you in previous messages to Xenoblade. But I agree completely with your sentiment - it feels like Glorious Japan is the last line of defence in the culture wars. May they forever stand strong. Alas, the problem is things like "ethics departments" being set up in the Western branches, which then dictate demands to Japanese HQ, which devs then follow, thinking it's what Westerners want. (I'm thinking of Squeenix and Namco-Babdai here, and reports I've read.)
But it's not what the West wants. It's Fifth Columnists which have burrowed their way in and are now causing havoc.
This is why there's a rise in retro gaming. It's getting so you can only trust older games to be authentic to a developer's vision. There were focus groups before, but you read the interviews with old devs and it's clear that for many of them it was a wild west of unchained freedom.
And you know what? They made their best games like that.
@xenobladexfan The lack of negativity I would put down to good gatekeeping.
In 1999 for example, to go online you needed a desktop computer (expensive), a monthly internet subscription where you usually still paid per minute used (expensive), and you needed a bare minimum intellect to get this whole set-up running. So you needed to be rich and smart to go online.
People who "surfed the web" were seen as these weird nerds. Online communities were small. The difficulty of getting online filtered out a lot of unpleasant people (there were still trolls though; but less than today).
Today? Smartphones mean that everyone is now online. Including a lot of aggressive people who just weren't there before. Or people who don't like the old status quo and just want to tear everything down.
The result? A culture war where everyone is fighting and arguing and cancelling each other.
I remember in the 90s, studying philosophy at school, and we would have friendly debates in class. People with opposing views could engage in healthy intellectual discussion. There was no animosity.
Today there is no understanding. Everyone is so militant in forcing their politics on others.
Describing Web 1.0 is difficult. There was no YouTube, or Facebook, or Twitter. Everything was slower. But the eco system was better, less hostile.
Gen Z is growing up in a tougher world than I grew up in. Not just worse games, everything. The environment, education system, job market, housing market, dating scene, food quality, manufactured goods quality, news media, healthcare, every facet of society is grotesquely worse now compared to 10 or 20 or 30 years ago. Prices are also insane for everything now.
Comments 619
Re: These New SNES ROM Hacks Aim To Make The Super Star Wars Trilogy A Whole Lot Fairer
"Snowspeeder side scrolling level removed"
I never played this, but extra lives and continues, why remove a level?
Is it really that bad?
Re: Sega Dev Kit Raid "A Preservation Disaster" For "Collectors, Archivists, And The Gaming Community"
This latest update about private companies being given access to a civilian's place of residence is... insane and horrifying.
That's not how the law works. This isn't Shadowrun, where the megacorps own the police.
If a crime was committed only the police are allowed access to investigate.
Is this being escalated somewhere? Some sort of watchdog?
Absolute insanity.
Re: The Best-Selling Sega Saturn Game In North America Might Surprise You (But Then Again, It Might Not)
@mariteaux
Sitting and thinking about it: I actually genuinely agree with you. Something I've found is I dislike very recent modern sports games, because they're excessively complicated and just not fun for me. But the older sports games, the good ones, are simple enough to convey a basic recognisable facsimile of any given sport while being intuitive, and thus excelling in multiplayer since it allows friends of any skill to join in. I still pick up and enjoy a game of Super Soccer on SNES, single player or two player, but when I tried the newest FIFA, I was absolutely lost and got bored quickly. Same thing with NBA Jam. Sadly, as pointed out, older sports games across the generations tend to be dismissed due to not looking very pretty compared to the newest titles, even if playing them is still fun today.
Re: One Of The Virtual Boy Games Coming To Switch Is "Worth $10,000"
The Virtual Boy has multiple flashcarts available, and high quality repro carts are also available, as are repro boxes and manuals.
Unless you're a hardcore collector who absolutely needs to own the originals (fair play and respect to you), the rest of us have plenty of means of playing these games.
I got a flashcart, tested every single game, then bought repros of what I liked. Jack Bros was fantastic, and the repro cost £30, as did repros of other carts.
I have no moral problems owning a repro, because ***** ebay scalpers charging £1000 for Jack Bros. I'm very happy with my £30 repro.
Re: Here Are The Best-Selling Dreamcast Games Of All Time (In The US)
@Deuteros
Indeed! A top 25 where I stopped at 23, with Illbleed. I'm sold on it already. Cheers for the link.
A few I dislike but it doesn't matter - all 25 showcase the breadth of what was available. So many charming oddities and solid core games.
Re: Here Are The Best-Selling Dreamcast Games Of All Time (In The US)
I genuinely love so, so many games in the DC library.
Sadly very few of these are in either of the top 20 lists.
I guess I was playing weird stuff while everyone else was really into sports?
Re: "The Worst Console Of All Time" Turned 20 This Year – Is Gizmondo Worth A Look In 2025?
@Damo
I believe Colors was leaked. This guy on YT is playing it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr-rohPdYqQ
Not owning a Gizmondo I don't know where to find it or how to get it running. But it seems like an essential thing to try finding? Like it did more with the system than anything else.
Lost Levels ran a feature on it. There's a super disturbing gameplay element where if you get arrested you can choose to bribe your way out of prison with money, or... voluntarily submit to being sexually assaulted by other inmates. The Lost Levels link below covers the game and this aspect, so consider yourself warned about the content.
http://www.lostlevels.org/200609/
As for the sticky coating, my old MP3 player had that same crap on it. I just got some 98% isopropyl alcohol and it rubbed off real easily. I would guess the Gizmondo is the same?
Re: Nintendo Of America Didn't Think Pokémon "Was Going To Take Off In The US", And It Wasn't Alone
@wollywoo
Exactly! I'd had the Monster in my Pocket toys several years before, and they were dumb silly fun, and Pokemon leant into that psychological feeling, before playing it - at least, before it blew up and gained its own identity.
I'm just re-reading various comments from people on their feelings of discovering Pokemon as kids, and loving it, and I'm chuckling at these executives, thinking: COME ON! It's a no brainer. Just read the one line elevator pitch.
"You collect and swap monsters and they fight!"
And you had executives going: "We don't know what we're looking at? Is this a thing kids will want? Do kids like monsters? Do kids like trading stuff? There's only one Mickey Mouse!"
Like, WTF?
I'm sure everyone who "didn't get it" would be defensive now. But like, I want to sit them down and have them talk me through their thinking, in baby steps, so I can somehow understand how people in the business of toys just couldn't get it.
This is the like New Coca Cola of business mistakes!
If you wanted to convey it via what already existed, you could say:
"Imagine the world of trading cards, but it's like Monster in my Pocket. Kids trade the monsters in the game, and we can make toys, and cards, and lunch boxes, to go with it."
Pokemon wasn't even really that "new" of an idea at the time. It was a collection of pre-existing ideas mixed together and repackaged as an RPG. And it was fantastic.
I imported the US version on release day, ages before it even reached the UK. I got Red, my brother got Blue, and we both got 150 monsters, enjoying it before it went huge. (We did a trade and game restart to get all 3 of the starting monsters.)
Re: Nintendo Of America Didn't Think Pokémon "Was Going To Take Off In The US", And It Wasn't Alone
I recall N64 magazine hyping the Japanese GB game long before it got localised.
I struggle to understand how no one saw the appeal.
Had they never seen kids trading stickers, trading cards, or other stuff? That concept is like pure opium to a kid's brain. They literally call them "trading cards". Kids also trade toys, especially if it's something where you can end up with duplicates.
So a game where you trade in-game monsters, even as a kid I knew that was going to be big.
All these big toy people going: "Derp derp, trade stuff? Kids don't like that, derp derp!"
Amusing as heck, LOL.
I'm not saying I'm smart for thinking it would be big; I'm saying that in the business of selling crap to kids, anyone who couldn't see it, is not fit for their job. A blind man with one could have SEEN the explosive potential here!
Re: "Reject This Ugly Husk And Play The Original" - Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Remake Isn't Going Down Well With Fans
The full tweet by JayF encapsulates things perfectly. My biggest concern with a Panzer Dragoon Saga remake is that by smoothing and cleaning up the low poly, low resolution graphics, you'll lose that gritty broken feeling. The distinctive Saturn 3D actually enhances the feeling of an alien, post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The rough look is part of its identity.
I didn't like the PD1 remake, and I don't like the look of this.
Re: How Super Mario 64 Fixed Princess Peach's Ad-Agency Induced Naming Mishap
@smoreon
Exactly! My feelings are because so much of games history was the result of groups who couldn't predict how big or important they would become. I'd say almost every interview regarding 40 or 30 years ago has similar sentiments.
I suppose there's an argument to be made that not knowing this in a way fostered a carefree creative attitude?
It is what it is. But I still look back at some decisions and wonder... What do other timelines look like.
Re: How Super Mario 64 Fixed Princess Peach's Ad-Agency Induced Naming Mishap
A little shocked, surprised, and saddened that all these games, which meant so much to so many, were partially the result of pawning them off to some clueless ad agency.
Re: 'Chasm' Creator's World War II Metroidvania 'Wolfhound' Looks Better Than Ever In This New Footage
@Johnny_Arthur
I forgot I'd posted here! So a while back Steam stopped supporting Windows 7, which is what my main game rig runs on. I had to permanently disable it updating, since once updated it also locked me out of running any of my Steam games on that computer. It's to do with the browser the Steam client is based on. I tested it with my laptop - updated Steam, and then every single Steam failed to load. It just auto-crashed every time. They officially said they were no longer supporting Win7, despite there at the time being more Win7 users than Linux.
Since this post I was gifted a handheld gaming PC, so I am again able to use Steam.
But I will never forget Gabe's turncoat betrayal!
Re: "Life's Too Short, You Know?" - Atari's CEO Wants To Remaster Snatcher And Panzer Dragoon Saga
A remaster of Panzer Saga is my dream too. But only a gentle remaster. Increase the draw distance. Keep everything else the same - including the dirty blocky textures. They really enhanced the feeling of it being a ruined and decayed world.
I'm not sure Snatcher needs a remaster. Konami redid the PC-88 version for PCE and MCD, then redid those for PS1 / Sat. The 32-bit versions were inferior, replacing crisp pixel art with cheap CG.
Could a remaster incorporate parts from all the versions, so you can toggle between them? PC-88 synth audio with PS1 CG visuals?
Re: Random: "Surely They're Trolling" - After The NES-Cart-In-A-SNES Debacle, The BBC Marks Windows 95's 30th With An Apple Mac
Apple is a large company today with iconic logo. It's right there in full colour on the unit. Surely anyone who uses any technology today will recognise it as an Apple product, not a Microsoft or MS compatible one.
I am now convinced this has to be rage-bait to encourage viewer interaction. Like when Starbucks "hilariously" writes your name wrong so you post on social media and give them free advertising.
Re: "With Love, Anything Is Possible" - Could Parodius Finally Get A Genesis / Mega Drive Port?
As pointed out by @RupeeClock - Treasure games explode with colour.
I was playing Gunstar Heroes today on a CRT.
If the MD can run GSH and Dynamite Heddy, it can run anything.
It's less about raw colours, and more about clever visual design and using what's available.
Re: Vectrex Mini Is The Next Micro Console You'll Need To Own
@romanista
https://vectorgaming.proboards.com/board/20/vectrex
Re: "It's The Game We Wish Had Existed 40 Years Ago" - Ulysses 31 Is Finally Getting A Video Game
@MontyMole
Internet Archive has the full series of Spartakus, dubbed, uploaded by the original creator using the highest quality transfers I've seen. Enjoy!
Re: "It's The Game We Wish Had Existed 40 Years Ago" - Ulysses 31 Is Finally Getting A Video Game
@MontyMole
Your mentioning of Cities of Gold caught my interest. Did you also ever watch Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea? It was often broadcast alongside Cities of Gold in various places.
Re: Vectrex Mini Is The Next Micro Console You'll Need To Own
@Soupbones
Shame! Give the poor thing a blanket and some warm soup. But if it needs repairing, there are several Vectrex repair people out there. I can think of two or three in the UK (I used Rude Dog Retros). Not sure about the US. It probably just needs a full recap.
@CopyX1982
I found a Vectrex at a market for like £20 once. Bought it, loved it, sold it for £100, regretted it, and then to rebuy cost me £300+ in addition to mods and a full repair clean.
So these are extremely expensive. And PC emulation is not great - it doesn't "look" right.
I bought a flashcart where I could add homebrew, since there are... Hundreds of homebrew games? Checking my folder shows a tightly curated list of 89 games. There's lot of stuff I deleted because I didn't like them. Plus the official list. And new homebrew comes out all the time. I actually dropped £70 on A Crush of Lucifer. I even owned the 3D visor at one point.
I'm not saying all this to brag - I'm saying this because I am super happy that people who are not collector maniacs (such as myself) can now enjoy not just the games, but also the form factor. It will allow one to enjoy the experience, better than just emulation.
I hope so anyway. Emulation can't replicate the perfect lines of a vector display. But I'm wondering about this new fancy screen they're using. With a high enough resolution it might? Hopefully you get the "feel" of the device.
I dislike the controllers though. The original ones are serviceable, because they're large. Something that tiny looks very uncomfortable, especially for games that require fast reflexes.
I bought a modded NeoGeo CD controller which runs on the Vectrex, and it is sublime. Massively improved my game at the annual Vectrex tournament. About 50 enter on the Veccy forums, and I went from a position in the mid-teens to... I think 7th or 8th place last year? You need a decent controller. Hopefully if it's wireless it will allow other controllers to be used?
My only question now is: the annual Vectrex tournie mandates only original hardware. Not emulation. How will we categorise this? Perhaps we can run it alongside, OG and Mini veccies. It's a friendly community.
The homebrew coming out for the system is also incredible. There's a lot of love and passion put into creating something which only a few people can access. More need to experience it.
Re: "Not Cool. Not Classy" - Tomb Raider Co-Creator Responds To Remaster AI Accusations
@PKDuckman
Damn. I now have anxiety over them getting their hands on anything else. TR isn't the worst that could happen, but I keep thinking they're poisoning the well. If they botch a remaster, it's not like another company will remaster it again - that game is now forever tainted.
Re: "Not Cool. Not Classy" - Tomb Raider Co-Creator Responds To Remaster AI Accusations
@Grackler
I played through the Jeff Minter collection, and it was exquisite. Lots of nice photos, videos, and write ups, giving some nice historical context to the man and his portfolio. Lots of scanned documents too. I saw it got some negative reviews from people who had no idea who Minter was, but for me it was exactly what I'd want from such a collection. Good shout - Digital Eclipse are great for these very old legacy collections. I eagerly look forward to more from them. The overall package conveys a love of and respect for the source material.
Re: "Not Cool. Not Classy" - Tomb Raider Co-Creator Responds To Remaster AI Accusations
@Grackler
Same. Was tempted by the Soul Reaver remaster, saw it was Aspyr, read up on it, discovered they added a day/night cycle without rebalancing or checking it didn't break the game. It does break the game and can't be switched off. Decided it was a hard pass. (Same with anything by Limited Run; that CDR debacle will never be forgotten.)
At this point, it's Night Dive or nothing. I've yet to play a Night Dive release and feel anything less than complete satisfaction. They are the top tier platinum standard which all companies should look up to.
Re: NSFW Dating Sim 'Gambler: Queen's Cup' Has Been Translated Into English
Someone called "hasnopants" worked on a NSFW hentai game.
I approve.
Glad to see adult games getting fan-translated despite the puritanical times we find ourselves in!
(I recognise the hasnopants name from the Team Innocent translation for PCFX; that was a really great job they did, so it's also nice to see further projects from the group; there's a really good podcast the team did regarding the project, which is worth a listen if you enjoy these super obscure JP titles.)
Re: Random: This PS1 E.T. Game Includes An Insult Directed At A Terrorist Leader, But You'll Need A Cheat Code
@Daniel36
Not a war! The cult welcomes all. Come, sit Daniel. One of the acolytes will take your coat. No need to be afraid.
Re: Random: This PS1 E.T. Game Includes An Insult Directed At A Terrorist Leader, But You'll Need A Cheat Code
@Daniel36
@KingMike
EUCLIDEAN SPACE MADE MANIFEST!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8bR4xsNgIA&t=1s
Not even Skies of Arcadia thought to do this.
Re: Random: This PS1 E.T. Game Includes An Insult Directed At A Terrorist Leader, But You'll Need A Cheat Code
@KingMike
You are very astute to think this - well done! I am a diehard enthusiast of ET on the 2600 and will always take the opportunity to discuss it.
Howard Scott Warshaw is, in my opinion, a genius level programmer and game designer. His 2600 game Raiders of the Lost Ark is to this day a fantastic complex adventure, almost bordering on Zelda-style action-RPG. It's one of a few Atari 2600 games which require TWO joysticks to play! (Another is Riddle of the SPhinx, also a great and complex game.) The 2nd joystick is just for your inventory - you even have currency to buy items.
He often says he made the best game on the 2600 (Yar's Revenge) and the worst (ET). Now, I don't like Yar's at all. It's dull and boring. Raiders is in my top 5 for the system. But his ET is in no way the worst.
As you astutely stated: for 1982, and the hardware, it's really not bad at all. But you absolutely need to read the manual! (Same with Raiders.)
ET on the Atari 2600 features a realistic 3D cuboid map. You ever play a game where you warp from the left to the right side of the map, or top to bottom? That's not how you map a sphere to a 2D plane - what you've created is a torus. It always bugged me with Skies of Arcadia, because it meant they existed not on a planet, but a weird 3D donut shape.
ET on the 2600 has a proper map, with the screens mapping to a 6 sided cube, with each screen edge correlating to the proper adjacent screen. You go off the edge and you land on the next correct screen, as if walking around the surface of a 6 sided dice / die.
So right from the start it's doing something interesting.
The rest of the game is a collect-em-up as you retrieve telephone pieces. You can also collect, if I recall, Reese's pieces, to get the boy to find a phone item for you, like a shortcut? So it has secrets or little tricks. The items are random, the enemies too, so no two games are the same - it's almost procedurally generated? There's an organic flow to the gameplay which changes every time you boot the system. You can't just learn patterns to win, you need to understand the game and adapt to changing situations.
So it's a free-roaming, non-linear, semi-procedural collect-em-up. Not quite the adventure that Raiders was, but Scott only had a few weeks to code it, and honestly I'm amazed what he achieved. That 3D map alone makes it worth looking at. Because as I say, for the next 40+ years games developers continued to fail in understanding how Euclidean space functioned. EUCLIDEAN SPACE!
Read this:
https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et.html
This guy's page converted me. Read the words. Gain the knowledge. Join us. Join our secret cult of ET enthusiasts! Would you like a boiled egg and some prune juice?
@Daniel36
You may enjoy that page too.
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
Did he? Very good. Thank you for mentioning it.
I am happy to publicly state it:
I don't care which party - I will vote for whoever unbans me in the UK and restores my freedoms. This silencing, censoring, and oppression is intolerable. I am not a criminal!
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
I hope there's pushback. I've just sent a bulk email to all my contacts that I'm going off grid for a while.
The fact I am now banned in the UK, effectively illegal in my own country, has enraged me more than I can even describe.
I'm not going to be writing or doing anything for a while. I'm sickened by it all.
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
A friend pointed out to me this morning that content was being pulled due to payment providers, being lobbied by some puritan groups. A journalist trying to document it was silenced and the articles removed.
Article one:
https://archive.ph/USxe6
Article two:
https://archive.ph/x5cGQ
Now you see why I hate 2025. I'll add this charred corpse to the rest of the dumpster fire.
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
Same. Itch seems to be blocked. This is my personal games page. It won't let me access it:
https://szcz.itch.io/
I get this crap:
Content unavailable in your region
We're sorry — this content is not available in your region.
Due to regulatory requirements established by the United Kingdom’s communications regulator (Ofcom), this page has been restricted from access within the UK due to the Online Safety Act.
We value our users around the world and are committed to complying with local laws and regulations. While we are currently unable to provide this specific content or service to users in the UK, we continue to evaluate our offerings and compliance framework, and we hope to make more content available in the future.
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
Thanks - I'm OK, it's nothing to do with here. I live in the UK and am seeing, in real time, the country descend into anarcho-tyranny.
For example... Uncontrollable knife crime and moped muggings, while the govt flounders, targetting law abiding citizens with ever greater tyrannical laws - Italy too it seems, given this article. Plus things like the Internet Archive coming under attack. In conjunction to all this, we have the rise of AI, first with visual slop everywhere, then Google becoming hopelessly broken for searches, and the looming spectre of AI being used for crime detection, benefits calculations, etc. MPs like Clegg et al are chomping at the bit for AI, despite the fact we're still reeling from the catastrophe of the Horizon postal scandal. I anticipate many such scandals under AI.
Have you seen the film Brazil? It portrays a dystopia like the one we're sliding into.
I hadn't thought too much about the risks of AI monitoring online discourse. Now I'm wondering: if I write an article and make reference to an ODE, will the pigs come knocking?
The pigs are doing less than nothing about violent crime. They want to ban kitchen knives thinking it will fix everything. But they're quite keen to come down on members of the public over trivial matters such as playing old ROMs.
Old games and reading TE are my brief respites from such lunacy. But it gets harder as time goes on.
Here's another good example:
UK govt forced through the online safety act. Total nonsense that does more harm than good.
I visit Moby Games to look up info on Creature Shock. I'm sitting at a talk being given by the programmer and want to look up some details while he speaks to the audience, and screens.
Moby Games says that under new EU rules it can't show me sections of the game's profile page unless I can verify I'm 18.
I just gave up looking at that point.
This is anarcho-tyranny.
And this is why I'm frustrated by things.
I can't walk around London browsing my phone due to moped gangs, and I can't browse Moby Games because the government is keeping me safe from a nasty videogame.
I barely have the words to articulate this insanity. And then I have AI being handed more powers, and previous champions of freedom like Int Arch and WBM being targetted.
Ugh.
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
I agree, everything is changing and increasingly faster. However I find it deeply and intensely depressing. I am increasingly tempted to sell everything, abandon modern society, and escape somehow.
Re: Super-Rare 3DO M2 Console Worth Over $20,000 Withdrawn From Sale Following Online Abuse
@MontyMole
The increase in toxic comments saddens me. I had the exact same hopes as you, that because we're probably all of an older age, there'd be less of that hot blooded teenage energy that leads to mean spiritedness and personal attacks.
Alas, I've seen this is not the case.
I want to continue enjoying the company of nicer elements here though. Several members are real life friends who I meet up with sometimes. So it's worth using the "ignore" button you can find at the bottom of each post. It will remove that poster and all of their comments from every feedback thread.
They will become invisible to you!
It's wonderful! I am curating my own reality!
And likewise I'm happy if anyone wishes to ignore me.
Better to not engage with what you dislike, rather than be confrontational.
Once we've all settled into a groove of ignoring people's views which upset us (it'll take a few weeks as your ignore list grows), we can then each exist in a peaceful, friendly, stress free, curated reality. 🥳
Peace and goodwill to all. 🤝
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Appears To Have Shared ROM Details
@jamess
@EggSlayer
It's already happening, even without AI. Internet Archive and Wayback Machine are facing extinction right now:
https://blog.archive.org/2025/04/17/take-action-defend-the-internet-archive/
I don't even want to imagine what will happen once the AI hounds are released. I foresee a dark internet ahead of us, unusable, with broken AI obsessed search engines, AI visual slop everywhere, and anything remotely media related scrubbed due to copyright. Those old ROMs and ISOs you put on your flashcart and ODE? All gone.
Where will people turn? The dark web? Physically sharing USB sticks at underground meet ups?
2025 is a dumpster fire in every possible regard.
Re: Super-Rare 3DO M2 Console Worth Over $20,000 Withdrawn From Sale Following Online Abuse
@VGEsoterica
Love your work. I enjoy your videos regularly - one of the better channels out there. Ignore the haters. I frankly can't even begin to comprehend what's happening in this comments section. The internet is so angry in 2025. After that Sabrina article fallout from a few days ago I'm just putting haters on ignore.
Good luck with the downpayment and future vids. Be well!
Re: 30 Years On, A Bunch Of Cheat Codes Have Been Discovered For One Of Sega Saturn's Most "Notorious" Games
@no_donatello
This was indeed the one that deleted itself. This and Ghen War for Saturn, but the same developer. Ghen War was also ambitious - you could deform and destroy the 3D polygonal terrain by shooting it in certain areas. I finished Ghen War too - both of these are ambitious and technically impressive, but high anxiety games, even for the time. That save deleting was BRUTAL. I quick used my Action Replay not to back up saves, but simply cheat my way through. (No regrets!)
Re: 30 Years On, A Bunch Of Cheat Codes Have Been Discovered For One Of Sega Saturn's Most "Notorious" Games
I realise this gets hated on. I finished it once with Action Replay cheats, and even with inf health still felt like I might not make it.
But hear me out.
It features a real-time 3D landscape deformation effect (caused by in-game earthquakes), which are not only impressive for the 32-bit era, but doubly so for the Saturn which is claimed to be weak in 3D.
Basically you see the entire landscape, and everything on, experience an enormous ripple effect. GMan Lives on YT said it caused severe motion sickness.
But! You gotta admit it's pretty impressive technically.
I love this game unironically.
It's a curate's egg. Some parts are wretched. Some parts are quite excellent.
I shall be revisiting it with these cheats!
The film is also in my all time top 10, so much fun. "STOP EATING MY SESAME CAKE!!" 🤣
https://youtu.be/8fbGbPwKbQA?si=R4-4THOJjXB4wO8v
Re: Rumour: Seller Of Undumped GBA, DS, DSi And 3DS Beta Carts Raided By British Police
Raided by the police.
This is what the GPS in Japan always fears, given stricter law enforcement over there.
The fact this happened in the UK is amazing to me.
Given these are Sega and Sonic games... I'll put a very small wager that maybe this police raid was the result of some disgruntled fan reporting them or even possibly making false allegations to force the raid.
I'm not saying it was, but I wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be the case. There have been so many examples of SWATing in the online community, which sets a precedent.
There's something weird about all this.
Re: Atari Is Re-Releasing Its 2600+ To Celebrate Pac-Man's 45th Birthday
@Atariboy THANK YOU!
I should have kept an eye on things. This is going back on my list of wants. Well, the original woodgrain one anyway. Cheers.
Re: Random: I Was Pranked By These Metroid Barcode Battler Cards, And Now I Wish They Were Legit
@Bakamoichigei
Do you have a public email? I found your Twitch, your website, your Etsy, but no public email. If you don't want to type it here publicly maybe email Damien to pass on to me? Many thanks.
Re: Atari Is Re-Releasing Its 2600+ To Celebrate Pac-Man's 45th Birthday
Tempted by this, but am I still correct in thinking that Pitfall 2 does not work on it?
I mean, at that price, it's not far off buying an original 2600 for use on my CRTs, and that def will work with Pitfall 2.
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
@theconstellationiris
It sure says a lot that the “can’t gaming just be a safe space” crowd are real dismissive about things that make that same space feel less safe for others. Can’t imagine why that might be.
This is a fallacious and passive aggressive statement which translates to: "either pick a side or be classified as the enemy."
And it's exactly what I've been referring to in all my previous posts. People are tired of this specific kind of baiting.
I could not care less about beardy's actions. If his company releases a game I want to play, then I'd like to be able to talk about it without people hollering about "HE'S SUCH A BAD MAN THOUGH!"
Unless he's putting the game on CDRs or recycling old microchips to cut corners. Those are very bad actions, and I will be robustly arguing against them.
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
@LillianC14
It was A-levels "Religion & Philosophy" - we didn't debate bands. We explored different religions and philosophical teachings (Kant et al), and we debated all the heavy topics, one each week: abortion, multiple LGBT issues, gun control, capital punishment, censorship, socialism (free healthcare & education), the separation of church and state, etc. etc. etc. etc!
In our class of roughly 20 students, aged around 17 and 18, I'd say most viewpoints were covered?
No one, even those with extremely unpopular views, was attacked. We sat and discussed calmly, moderated by our teacher who took a neutral stance.
In fact fairly often we were tasked with playing devil's advocate and arguing against our own views, to see if we understood the opposition, and indeed understood ourselves. The teacher would often have two students argue against other, but playing devil's advocate when doing so. It was hilarious and educational.
We would also deconstruct POVs to understand why or how someone could come to have unpopular views. What leads to a particular set of beliefs? If you can devonstruct them to the most basic seed, can you then change someone's stance? Or at the very least understand why they are as they are.
This was 25 years ago but I loved it - was great for sharpening the mind! Alas there is little opportunity for such enlightened discourse in today's age.
In my final written exam I got a B grade for the subject. (Grades were A through F.)
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
@Razieluigi
A valid point - one I make myself. Engage with what you enjoy, not what you hate.
So I mostly avoid forums and socmed. But I like WayForward. Maybe I'm just lurking following their updates. Playing the Shantae series... Oh, WF says an old game of theirs is veing re-released? Nice. Let me take a loo... Oh... Suddenly a wall of angry people complaining.
I suppose the alternative would be to cut out all online news. All human interaction? Just browse digital store fronts, eBay, and Computer Exchange?
Because it's feeling like I need to increasingly remove myself from the human element. Here's the thing though: I like to write about the history of games, and this is becoming more difficult, because in the process of cutting out all modern media exposure and audience reactions, it's getting harder to connect the past to modern developments.
I miss writing for audiences from 2010. I miss living in that era. Which is insane to be typing because at the time I thought 2010 sucked.
I recall studying philosophy in school. We'd have friendly debates about all sorts of hot topics. People were respectful even if a POV differed. Where has this cordial and intellectual engagement gone? All I see online is cancel culture, doxxing, threats, and angry vitriol.
It's why I increasingly am cutting out more and more online interaction. Ironically GameFAQs is now the funnest place. Just a few specialist boards talking about obscure game topics.
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
@Razieluigi
"Keep politics out of xxxx" is facile and tired (and tends to come only from those who disagree with the politics at hand, suggesting bias rather than principle).
I'd like to assure you, in good faith, that my words do not stem from bias or political disagreement. In the year 2025, I am honestly just exhausted from more than a decade of everything being politicised.
Games, specifically old retro games, are the last "safe space" left to me where I don't even have to think about this stuff. Because it is overwhelmingly fatiguing. (Old anime and movies too, but games were my "thing".)
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
@Razieluigi
True. He's an official arms dealer. So is the British government - which is something I don't like. Every penny I pay in British tax is part of the large pot that enables this nation to make and sell weapons which kills people.
I have no choice or control over this. Voting won't stop them. Emigrating is an arduous hurdle.
So my escape from the horrors of the reality forced upon me is videogames.
I can block out the fact the UK gov does exactly the same thing Palmer does, by not reading about politics and engaging only with what I enjoy. IE: videogaming.
The fact I find politics being injected into my sanctuary away from politics is why I made such an absurd statement.
Videogaming until recently was my last bastion of peace and freedom. Just pure artistry, free to engage as I wished.
Now, however, there are extremely militant people online who will judge and attack you for buying and enjoying certain games.
It's why I now avoid social media.
I just want to be left alone to play my games. I don't care if funny beardman or anyone else is involved. I don't go to the houses or parliament or rallies because I specifically want to avoid all that annoying crap.
I just want to enjoy games.
Is that too much? I like WayForward and now I see they get attacked because of nonsense I could not care less about.
If militant political activists are going to infiltrate gaming and kick over tables when they don't get their way, where else do I have left? What am I allowed to enjoy without having to bear witness to such insufferable aggression?
I suspect most people are tired of the militant virtue signalling.
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
@jamess
My reaction too. Why does everyone care so much about some dude with a goatee. You want the game? Buy the game.
I stand with jamess ✊
Keep politics out of gaming.
Re: BBC Recently Covered The Rise Of Retro Gaming - See If You Can Spot The Problem
@Jackburton1985
I forgot to @ you in previous messages to Xenoblade. But I agree completely with your sentiment - it feels like Glorious Japan is the last line of defence in the culture wars. May they forever stand strong. Alas, the problem is things like "ethics departments" being set up in the Western branches, which then dictate demands to Japanese HQ, which devs then follow, thinking it's what Westerners want. (I'm thinking of Squeenix and Namco-Babdai here, and reports I've read.)
But it's not what the West wants. It's Fifth Columnists which have burrowed their way in and are now causing havoc.
This is why there's a rise in retro gaming. It's getting so you can only trust older games to be authentic to a developer's vision. There were focus groups before, but you read the interviews with old devs and it's clear that for many of them it was a wild west of unchained freedom.
And you know what? They made their best games like that.
Re: BBC Recently Covered The Rise Of Retro Gaming - See If You Can Spot The Problem
@xenobladexfan
The lack of negativity I would put down to good gatekeeping.
In 1999 for example, to go online you needed a desktop computer (expensive), a monthly internet subscription where you usually still paid per minute used (expensive), and you needed a bare minimum intellect to get this whole set-up running. So you needed to be rich and smart to go online.
People who "surfed the web" were seen as these weird nerds. Online communities were small. The difficulty of getting online filtered out a lot of unpleasant people (there were still trolls though; but less than today).
Today? Smartphones mean that everyone is now online. Including a lot of aggressive people who just weren't there before. Or people who don't like the old status quo and just want to tear everything down.
The result? A culture war where everyone is fighting and arguing and cancelling each other.
I remember in the 90s, studying philosophy at school, and we would have friendly debates in class. People with opposing views could engage in healthy intellectual discussion. There was no animosity.
Today there is no understanding. Everyone is so militant in forcing their politics on others.
Describing Web 1.0 is difficult. There was no YouTube, or Facebook, or Twitter. Everything was slower. But the eco system was better, less hostile.
Gen Z is growing up in a tougher world than I grew up in. Not just worse games, everything. The environment, education system, job market, housing market, dating scene, food quality, manufactured goods quality, news media, healthcare, every facet of society is grotesquely worse now compared to 10 or 20 or 30 years ago. Prices are also insane for everything now.
Is it any wonder retro games are so popular?
Humanity yearns for better days!