@Poodlestargenerica Did I actually genuinely spoil FF7 for you? If so then I'm very surprised, shocked even. I am sorry.
That specific FF7 spoiler is so well documented, it's become the cornerstone of gaming pop culture. I've seen so many examples where people ask: can a videogame make you cry? And people start bawling over this scene. A magazine spoiled it for me in the day. I felt nothing - I was glad to have one less party member to grind!
The answer to your question is in the question itself. FF7 is so popular, I felt everyone knew this example. It has become gaming shorthand. You can't watch a Dorkly comedy video, or browse internet memes, without risking seeing THAT scene satirised. How were you able to not know it? In the last 25 years I must have seen it mentioned over 100 times.
Whereas Suikoden I&II are less known, less played, and I really want people to play them. A lot. I spoiled the "death of your father" because that happens like... 4 hours in? The pacing is so quick. In FF7 you're still rolling around in garbage in Midgar at that time - it's slow and padded. I like FF7, finished it twice; but I love Suikoden I&II.
I feel bad spoiling Suikoden 1 like that, but I did it with the promise that both games contain so many more emotional moments. I did it to entice players, like a taster. As for spoiling FF7, I'm sorry I was the one to break it for you. I honestly thought no one alive who plays games would be unaware.
If anyone has not played S1 or S2, please try them. The PS1 games were on PSN a while back (not sure now?), plus the remasters are coming. I'm going to put my hand up and say: in the year 2024 they are still fantastic, and some of you may actually find them to be better than their peers (such as FF7 et al).
I really want people to care about these games, because they deserve it.
If I'm recalling correctly, that tree chopping game was actually one of SNK's very earliest arcade titles, and they lost the game (everything - there is no known archive of the arcade version), meaning the conversion to this console is the last existing remnant of the original.
I think. These memories are half faded from something I read somewhere. I think it was in the SNK compilation which had VGHF info in it.
The port seen in the video was unauthorised, and it had an official port as a secret minigame on NGPC.
I love how dinky and primitive this is. I'd love to have the technical knowledge to poke under the hood and seeing what it was capable of with 40 years hindsight and coding knowledge. Fascinating.
Tempted, but only on the condition that at random and unpredicted times Tommy will run through my new house jubilantly screaming: "HEY I'M TOMMY TALLARICO! I INVENTED GAME MUSIC! HAVE YOUR HEARD IT?!"
I saw it in EGM and always wanted to own it. The story was crazy. Later played a demo and loved the level. Never bought it because I was young and lacked the funds. Someday I will put it on my PSIO.
I briefly skimmed those pages (way too much to read everything), and... Apparently someone, I'm unsure if it was a forum user or a dev, was suggesting replacing the islanders with lizard men.
Changing or censoring the content is a terrible idea. It's like digitally removing cigarettes from old films. You can't undo or change the past - it is what it is, and it forms part of the creative vision that reached the market.
Keep in mind that everything you see anyway had already gone through filters, and changes, and revisions, before being finalised for market.
I strongly dislike the idea of post-market changes (which is also why I cannot stomach George Lucas' meddling with the original trilogy - thank the gods someone took them away from his meddling little hands.)
A game which would take an hour on the Internet Archive took 3 to 4 seconds on CDR.
It allowed me to fill my ODE for multiple systems.
As said, the site owner was super cool. When a rare DC game wasn't loading for others, I sent one I had from years ago, and that same day he replaced it.
This off site hosting. Is it as fast? How long will it last?
I'm tired of the "but it's piracy" excuse used by companies. As a creative I've issued take downs for my books being hosted. But they are still sold. There are CD games from 30+ years ago no one even remembers, the rights holders are gone, and the only way to experience them is spending a fortune to buy a copy off speculative scalpers.
The law needs to delineate between something still available, and something forgotten to limbo.
I'm going to miss CDR, like Emu Paradise before it.
It's not their best game, but A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES) is definitely a really, really fun NES game. It's great in single player, but it becomes absolutely MAJESTIC in simultaneous four player mode.
I bought a multitap just for Elm Street and MULE on the NES.
I feel like not many people played it like this though.
Imagine you and three friends, all sharing the same screen, a pad each, co-operating and jumping around getting bones and beating bad guys. It's complete mayhem and it's wonderful.
Sadly I only ever had enough people to do it once. If you can, try it.
In a funny way... I can't help but look at Elm Street in 4P, and look at Goldeneye, and think... Yeah, those guys knew all along that four friends around a TV is the magic ingredient to fun.
I doubt many (anyone?) will vote for A Nightmare on Elm Street, but I gave it 10. I'd certainly put it in any top 10 list for Rare, at least the 4P mode.
I highly recommend DICING KNIGHT. Technically it was a hobbyist game that sent commercial. But if you like Zelda style action it's great. I've been playing it on my Analogue recently. Lovely forgotten gem.
I have never trusted public voting. The 2004 voting in Japan for the Famicom's top 100 resulted in absolute trash results. Not reflective of the nation's creative output at all.
I'll reserve judgement of this for when the full translated list of all 100 is done (I'm too lazy to read it in Japanese - but I saw Culdcept made the list).
The top 10 at least shows some inventive or considered voting.
@Banks The loudness just means his little heart is beating strong!
I missed out on an auction for the colour block matching game. As someone who owns both and find them fun, is it worth it? Based on videos I feel like Gyromite gives you the majority of the ROB experience.
@Mario500 Did you ever watch Ducktales? You know how Scrooge McDuck had that big money bin he'd swim around in? The gigaleak is that giant bin. Except instead of money, it's filled with rich and delicious Nintendo goodness. Especially unreleased or pre-release goodness.
Interesting they did a fresh localisation. Vic retained the rights to all of his - has there been any official statement as to why they weren't licensed? I'm thinking of this and the Mega CD games on MD Mini 2.
We're each given a finite quantity of time on this planet, so I don't want to suggest anyone spends this finite time on a game they ultimately end up hating. I can only describe what I experienced and hope it resonates with others.
I approached Robotrek with less than zero expectations. I also share the same feelings on EarthBound - the battle system is just reheated Dragon Quest, and what makes the game good is the stuff other than the battles. Towards the end it was a massive grind.
The others you mention I've not played (Xeno, BoF, etc.).
Robotrek's battle system is versatile. One of the reasons I love the game is just how different it is. People draw parallels to Pokemon, and sure I guess. But for me it was all about tinkering and customising. It felt very Western in that regard - you can do some wacky things.
The map system is also excellent. It gets complaints for being linear, but actually... Each spot on the map offers exploration. The "linear" overworld however prevents you getting lost. I actually took a two month break in the middle due to real life. When I came back: instantly knew what to do and where to go, because it meant going to next red dot on the line.
Within those areas though there's plenty to uncover.
I understand your scepticism. I feel it too. So many RPGs are just reskins of Dragon Quest, or a game which copied Dragon Quest. And really isn't DQ just Ultima and Wizardry at its core?
I can't promise you'll have the same experience I did. But my motivation for writing this was born of the same scepticism you describe.
If anyone emulates it, I recommend finding scans of the poster that came with the game. Print it off. One side lists the run commands, the other side the items to combine.
Also make it a priority to unlock all 3 robots. Once you do, the whole strategic field is open.
The localisation starts off pretty good, quite sweet and nostalgic, though the last 10% of the game is sadly gibberish. I actually have no clue what the last few screens of dialogue before the very end were meant to be saying.
If you play it, report back! If you hate it, fair enough, at least you gave it a shot.
I saw someone on Twitter commenting on how the writing in this connects it to Quintet's Souls trilogy. I never overtly stated it, there was so much to cover in the piece, but I agree with that assessment.
When playing Robotrek, it doesn't feel like some odd duck out, it very much feels a part of the spirit of Quintet's other games, which Yokota alluded to when describing Miyazaki's motivation. No one has been able to find Miyazaki, so we can't ask. But having played all of them you get that impression.
As also stated, it has the same experimental nature as other Quintet games. For example, Illusion of Gaia has no currency system, and the entire game world has only a finite number of healing items to find. Which surprised me when I first realised it. Apart from Actraiser 2, all the 16-bit games were inventive and fresh.
It's always been about discovering games I'd never played before.
Each era of games will have particular and distinct styles of design, controls, visuals, and audio. I play old games to experience these. Modern retro styled games tend to feel inauthentic; I much prefer discovering something from the time.
I rarely play games I rinsed in my youth. Why would I? There's more excellent games in existence than I can experience before I die. I don't have time to retread what I already know.
Almost tempted to reinvest in a printer. I recall my brother taking our GB Camera to school and photographing friends and teachers; we took a bunch of our family.
We printed them all off before selling the printer and camera, but sadly that heat paper has faded over time. Miss the little thing.
We never did get much other use out of the printer.
@PasokonDeacon Good call on Star Cruiser! I played the X68k and Mega Drive remix, and it was massively ahead of its time.
And they say Japan can't do FPS.
Which reminds me, if we can vote for X68k games: GEOGRAPH SEAL.
It's basically heavy metal Jumping Flash! Released around the same time as Doom on Western computers, this to me is Japan's Doom. In some ways, in terms of height, it might even be a little more accomplished than Doom.
Tempted by this, but have a question: Many years ago I tried HIGAN on a PC hooked up to a 720p HDTV. It's the "flawless" SNES emulator.
Despite the many CRT filters it offered, every single option still resulted in the most awful horizontal motion blurring possible.
In that instance I was playing the Deep Space 9 platformer. On my actual SNES, on a CRT TV, the screen scrolled left and right with no motion blur at all. The backgrounds were constantly crisp.
On HIGAN it looked good when static, but moving left or right caused terrible blur. Yuck.
I decided then and there to abandon ever trying to upscale retro consoles. If a flawless emulator with filters couldn't do it, nothing could.
Does this 5X fix this?
If you play a SNES platformer, will the bsckground scroll with crystal clear sharpness of an RGB SNES on CRT?
@Asaki I finally had a moment to give this a go and it's a thing of beauty.
Is it possible, using this format, to insert "game logic" into it? By which I mean, have it recognise when someone has 3 lose symbols, and classifies that as a lose?
On the flip side, if we're being up authentic, there was nothing stopping kids in the back scratching everything off, even if they lost.
No further news on my end, but whoever suggested the forum, that's a good idea, since can keep track of developments a little easier, rather than checking if an old article has a new post.
@KingMike Thanks for these, I'll add them to my list to check out.
As for Quintet, I loved pretty much their entire 16-bit portfolio. (Are we counting Actraiser 2?) Each hit similar notes, while still retaining a distinct flavour.
No one ever gives Robotrek any love. I did a Quintet binge last year, replaying the entire SNES catalogue - Robotrek was done last given how negatively it's spoken about. (I also tried Granstream Saga, but hot damn, that game is trash!)
I discovered Robotrek to be the forgotten gem in Quintet's crown, with a story that had similar beats to Earthbound, and play mechanics which are seemingly unlike anything else (your 3 robots can be be repeatedly recustomised to suit any combat situation; you can hotkey combo attacks!).
It might be my favourite of Quintet's entire catalogue.
@Yoshif3 I played the GBA version when writing this - the resolution is very low and it loses something in the conversion. DS would have been perfect - dual screens! There's MAME if you're ok with emulation. Donkey Kong G&W is supported by the Analogue core and works well, so I'm hoping for an update that supports Zelda.
But you're right. Nintendo should release the ultimate compilation of all their G&W bavk catalogue. There's a lot. Some are still great, like Bomb Disposal.
@Asaki Someone emailed with a huge stack of packs they were considering opening. They offered to provide scans or anything else needed. I asked them to record some audio if they did.
@Asaki Yeah, measuring the coordinates for the buttons is what made me go with a text parser and text results - it prints to the same position each time, below the cards.
I only purchased a single card - #5 in the spider woods, because I had to see for myself if those arrows were on the right side in every card, or if there was a misprint.
There are a few people on YouTube opening the sealed packs. You could listen and then make a best guess approximation of unfolding or tearing paper. My scratching fx was just me rubbing my fingernail on my laptop's microphone. Be like old movies that dub sound effects in. Sawing through bone for example I've heard was replicated by slicing through cabbage.
Good call on zooming. I have "zoom text only" activated, but I can disable for this. A splashscreen instructing players would fix this without needing to calculate everything.
Good luck! A full set of 60 plus variants would be quite the undertaking.
@Asaki My version is on Itch and it has the card images. I did a search of "Zelda" before uploading, an there's like 30 other Zelda games. So unless someone reports it, they seem to turn a blind eye.
Also, HOLY CRAP! Your demo is amazing. It's basically how I imagined my version in my imagination.
Asaki, I am officially abandoning development of my inferior version, and instead vow to playtest yours and help as best I can. Once you've finished, and uploaded it, I'll put a link to your Itch page from my Itch page, and we can update this article.
The resolution might need tweaking, I need to scroll the page horizontally to see the backside of the card on the right. My desktop runs at 1280x720, out of choice, not due to an inferior monitor or rig. Higher resolutions make the icons and text small to the point where it's painful to read anything. 1280 is comfortable for me. What does everyone else use?
I like the idea of purchasing more packs. I like this idea a lot. It's kinda why I put a dollar count with inflation - it's interesting to me to consider how much one might have spent on these, when a full NES game cost... Was it $40 to $60 back in 1989? Because $40 is like 800 cards at 5 cents a card.
Would you end up doing the entire 60 card set (+variants), or just Zelda?
I suppose, if you acquire cards through purchasing, using in-game currency, you could have like a portfolio of cards, showing how many of each. And each time you play a card it decreases by one? So you might have 3x Zelda scene #4, but after playing it once it goes down to 2x? But successful memorisation and completion unlocks it permanently?
I dunno, I'm just throwing ideas out. Your version should be YOUR vision. But since it's better than my vision, you have my full support for this.
Mine took 25 hours. How many hours did you put into that scene one demo?
It uses the mouse and everything. Well done! I love it.
Everyone - I'm officially retiring my project, we have a new contender in town.
@KingMike That was Patrick Scott Patterson. Now, just to play devil's advocate here: I followed events from when he found them, and I spoke to him for a statement in The Untold History of Game Developers Volume 5, where I collected all my Akira interviews (Tom Meigs chats about making the Game Gear version, for example).
Now, I suspect some will think I'm being an apologist for him, but having followed the buying and selling of protos since the ASSEMbler days, back in 2005, I've witnessed countless time how game fans tend to be very aggressive when it comes to unreleased material. My god, the "scene drama" is off the scale!
I love the idea of the Akira games, and have dreamed of playing them (I even helped get the Genesis version leaked), but based on PSP's statement I can understand why he decided to sell them. I saw the anonymous threats online, and that stuff is scary and wrong. He put the legwork in to find these relics, and the community should have been calmer rather than immediately threatening him.
Ultimately it's a downgraded port of the horrendous Amiga version. No one really lost much. Be happy the US developed Genesis prototype was leaked - it's obviously very early, but I strongly believe that if it finished development it had the potential to one of the best games on the system.
I secretly fantasise about someone taking the incomplete Genny / MD ROM and finishing it using the suite of homebrew dev tools now available. If someone can port Arcade Simpsons to the Mega Drive, then someone can finish Akira. It's pretty well fleshed out. The ROM is out there, give it a go.
(The guy who leaked it was able to find and contact a programmer who had a test cartridge, after I gave them the contact details of this programmer's former colleague.)
Anyway...
PSP's statement, from page 317, is below:
The story of the Akira Game Boy prototypes isn't as sexy as many want to believe. Basically, I got introduced to a former THQ programmer who told me he had a bunch of "old work stuff" in his attic. He said I was welcome to it if I wanted to come by, as he figured otherwise it would just sit there until he passed away, likely to be junked by his family at that time. I took him up on his offer and as I left, I only knew of one development cart that was present in the batch, memorable by his 20 foot toss of it into one of the boxes. I live-streamed my exploration of the stash when I got home and found several protos. Right there, live... I was as stunned as the viewers to find FOUR different Akira prototypes. My plan was to get legal permission to release them, with one version combining the most complete parts of them all to give a relative idea of what could have been. The incomplete versions would have also been included. But fans of this stuff are a unique type. False narratives and assumptions lead many to demand I dump them or give them over to them. One even threatened to come break into my home and take them by force. Once it got there, I scrapped my plans and found them a new home. But it was cool for a time to play - a game that many thought was long lost forever and maybe someday the new owner will complete what I started to do with them.
Comments 592
Re: The Making Of: Suikoden II, A JRPG To Match 'Game Of Thrones' In Intrigue And Impact
@Poodlestargenerica Did I actually genuinely spoil FF7 for you? If so then I'm very surprised, shocked even. I am sorry.
That specific FF7 spoiler is so well documented, it's become the cornerstone of gaming pop culture. I've seen so many examples where people ask: can a videogame make you cry? And people start bawling over this scene. A magazine spoiled it for me in the day. I felt nothing - I was glad to have one less party member to grind!
The answer to your question is in the question itself. FF7 is so popular, I felt everyone knew this example. It has become gaming shorthand. You can't watch a Dorkly comedy video, or browse internet memes, without risking seeing THAT scene satirised. How were you able to not know it? In the last 25 years I must have seen it mentioned over 100 times.
Whereas Suikoden I&II are less known, less played, and I really want people to play them. A lot. I spoiled the "death of your father" because that happens like... 4 hours in? The pacing is so quick. In FF7 you're still rolling around in garbage in Midgar at that time - it's slow and padded. I like FF7, finished it twice; but I love Suikoden I&II.
I feel bad spoiling Suikoden 1 like that, but I did it with the promise that both games contain so many more emotional moments. I did it to entice players, like a taster. As for spoiling FF7, I'm sorry I was the one to break it for you. I honestly thought no one alive who plays games would be unaware.
If anyone has not played S1 or S2, please try them. The PS1 games were on PSN a while back (not sure now?), plus the remasters are coming. I'm going to put my hand up and say: in the year 2024 they are still fantastic, and some of you may actually find them to be better than their peers (such as FF7 et al).
I really want people to care about these games, because they deserve it.
Re: The Incredibly Rare GBA Title 'Ninja Five-O' Is Getting A Rerelease For Switch, PS4, & PS5
This was one of the best GBA games ever released. I actually held the cartridge in my hands once.
It might even be my #1 favourite GBA game.
Re: 43 Years On, And Epoch's Cassette Vision Is Finally Playable Via Emulation
If I'm recalling correctly, that tree chopping game was actually one of SNK's very earliest arcade titles, and they lost the game (everything - there is no known archive of the arcade version), meaning the conversion to this console is the last existing remnant of the original.
I think. These memories are half faded from something I read somewhere. I think it was in the SNK compilation which had VGHF info in it.
EDIT:
Not quite accurate:
https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Yosaku
The port seen in the video was unauthorised, and it had an official port as a secret minigame on NGPC.
I love how dinky and primitive this is. I'd love to have the technical knowledge to poke under the hood and seeing what it was capable of with 40 years hindsight and coding knowledge. Fascinating.
Re: Review: Under The Castle (Playdate) - An Essential Roguelike Adventure
@gingerbeardman Thank you! I had not checked out the original page - appreciated!
Re: Review: Under The Castle (Playdate) - An Essential Roguelike Adventure
This reminds very strongly of Cave Noire on Game Boy. I wonder if the devs were fans?
Re: You Can Own Tommy Tallarico's House If You Have $3 Million To Spare
Tempted, but only on the condition that at random and unpredicted times Tommy will run through my new house jubilantly screaming: "HEY I'M TOMMY TALLARICO! I INVENTED GAME MUSIC! HAVE YOUR HEARD IT?!"
Re: Obscure PS1 Platformer 'Spider' Gets Remastered Soundtrack Release
I saw it in EGM and always wanted to own it. The story was crazy. Later played a demo and loved the level. Never bought it because I was young and lacked the funds. Someday I will put it on my PSIO.
Re: Poll: Should Retro Game Remasters Carry Warnings About "Offensive" Content?
I briefly skimmed those pages (way too much to read everything), and... Apparently someone, I'm unsure if it was a forum user or a dev, was suggesting replacing the islanders with lizard men.
Changing or censoring the content is a terrible idea. It's like digitally removing cigarettes from old films. You can't undo or change the past - it is what it is, and it forms part of the creative vision that reached the market.
Keep in mind that everything you see anyway had already gone through filters, and changes, and revisions, before being finalised for market.
I strongly dislike the idea of post-market changes (which is also why I cannot stomach George Lucas' meddling with the original trilogy - thank the gods someone took them away from his meddling little hands.)
Re: Fan Translation And ROM Hack-Sharing Site CDRomance Forced Underground After Legal Threat
Speeds seem OK with the new method. Grabbed the translations of Linda3 and Boku Natsu 2.
Re: Fan Translation And ROM Hack-Sharing Site CDRomance Forced Underground After Legal Threat
It had the fastest downloads I had ever seen.
A game which would take an hour on the Internet Archive took 3 to 4 seconds on CDR.
It allowed me to fill my ODE for multiple systems.
As said, the site owner was super cool. When a rare DC game wasn't loading for others, I sent one I had from years ago, and that same day he replaced it.
This off site hosting. Is it as fast? How long will it last?
I'm tired of the "but it's piracy" excuse used by companies. As a creative I've issued take downs for my books being hosted. But they are still sold. There are CD games from 30+ years ago no one even remembers, the rights holders are gone, and the only way to experience them is spending a fortune to buy a copy off speculative scalpers.
The law needs to delineate between something still available, and something forgotten to limbo.
I'm going to miss CDR, like Emu Paradise before it.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Handheld Of All Time?
I voted for Gizmondo.
I actually think it's terrible, but I wanted to wield the power of democracy to mess with people's minds.
I have not been bribed or coerced by the Swedish mafia.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Yakuza / Like A Dragon Game?
KENZAN!
I don't know if it's actually the best. But as a Japsn exclusive title most have probably not played it.
I finished and loved it despite the language barrier.
Re: Poll: What Is Rare's Best Game?
It's not their best game, but A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES) is definitely a really, really fun NES game. It's great in single player, but it becomes absolutely MAJESTIC in simultaneous four player mode.
I bought a multitap just for Elm Street and MULE on the NES.
I feel like not many people played it like this though.
Imagine you and three friends, all sharing the same screen, a pad each, co-operating and jumping around getting bones and beating bad guys. It's complete mayhem and it's wonderful.
Sadly I only ever had enough people to do it once. If you can, try it.
In a funny way... I can't help but look at Elm Street in 4P, and look at Goldeneye, and think... Yeah, those guys knew all along that four friends around a TV is the magic ingredient to fun.
I doubt many (anyone?) will vote for A Nightmare on Elm Street, but I gave it 10. I'd certainly put it in any top 10 list for Rare, at least the 4P mode.
Re: Best WonderSwan Games Of All Time
I highly recommend DICING KNIGHT. Technically it was a hobbyist game that sent commercial. But if you like Zelda style action it's great. I've been playing it on my Analogue recently. Lovely forgotten gem.
Re: Japanese Saturn Fans Pick The Console's Best Games
I have never trusted public voting. The 2004 voting in Japan for the Famicom's top 100 resulted in absolute trash results. Not reflective of the nation's creative output at all.
I'll reserve judgement of this for when the full translated list of all 100 is done (I'm too lazy to read it in Japanese - but I saw Culdcept made the list).
The top 10 at least shows some inventive or considered voting.
Re: Gaming's Best 'Leftfield' Control Interfaces, Ranked
@Banks The loudness just means his little heart is beating strong!
I missed out on an auction for the colour block matching game. As someone who owns both and find them fun, is it worth it? Based on videos I feel like Gyromite gives you the majority of the ROB experience.
Re: New High-Quality Spaceworld Footage Features Early Look At GBA & "Lost" N64 Game
@Mario500 Did you ever watch Ducktales? You know how Scrooge McDuck had that big money bin he'd swim around in? The gigaleak is that giant bin. Except instead of money, it's filled with rich and delicious Nintendo goodness. Especially unreleased or pre-release goodness.
Re: Silhouette Mirage's Demo Disc Contains The Full Game, And Here's How To Unlock It
The demo of Keio on Mega CD is the same. The level select cheat allows you to access the whole game in the demo.
Re: Edia's 'Cosmic Fantasy Collection' Is Out Now On The Switch eShop
Interesting they did a fresh localisation. Vic retained the rights to all of his - has there been any official statement as to why they weren't licensed? I'm thinking of this and the Mega CD games on MD Mini 2.
Re: New High-Quality Spaceworld Footage Features Early Look At GBA & "Lost" N64 Game
Ahh, Super Mario 128. Forgot about that tech demo. Had a quick look and... Apparently it's not in the gigaleak?
Re: In Memory Of Memory Cards
I have a horror story about memory cards:
Early into owning a PS1, a friend lent me a game.
So I'm playing, and the options say "Format Memory Card".
And I had never owned a PC before, so hadn't heard the term.
So I checked the manual, and it said: use this to format memory card. That's all it said.
And I'm like: I suppose I should select which format it is, so the game can save correctly.
I think I was like 12 maybe? I checked the card to be sure, and it was an official Sony 15 block PS1 format card.
I'm gonna need to know that after I click format card and I need to select from the list of available formats! 🤓
So click format.
And it says formatting.
And then nothing happens.
That's weird.
This game is boring, let's play another.
Huh... I can't find my save.
The whole card had been ERASED.
I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.
Up until then every cartridge game I'd owned had used the word ERASE or DELETE.
I had no idea what the word FORMAT meant.
I learned a painful lesson that day.
Re: Is Quintet's Robotrek The Most Underrated SNES JRPG Ever?
@Akibiyori Scepticism is good! It's healthy.
We're each given a finite quantity of time on this planet, so I don't want to suggest anyone spends this finite time on a game they ultimately end up hating. I can only describe what I experienced and hope it resonates with others.
I approached Robotrek with less than zero expectations. I also share the same feelings on EarthBound - the battle system is just reheated Dragon Quest, and what makes the game good is the stuff other than the battles. Towards the end it was a massive grind.
The others you mention I've not played (Xeno, BoF, etc.).
Robotrek's battle system is versatile. One of the reasons I love the game is just how different it is. People draw parallels to Pokemon, and sure I guess. But for me it was all about tinkering and customising. It felt very Western in that regard - you can do some wacky things.
The map system is also excellent. It gets complaints for being linear, but actually... Each spot on the map offers exploration. The "linear" overworld however prevents you getting lost. I actually took a two month break in the middle due to real life. When I came back: instantly knew what to do and where to go, because it meant going to next red dot on the line.
Within those areas though there's plenty to uncover.
I understand your scepticism. I feel it too. So many RPGs are just reskins of Dragon Quest, or a game which copied Dragon Quest. And really isn't DQ just Ultima and Wizardry at its core?
I can't promise you'll have the same experience I did. But my motivation for writing this was born of the same scepticism you describe.
If anyone emulates it, I recommend finding scans of the poster that came with the game. Print it off. One side lists the run commands, the other side the items to combine.
Also make it a priority to unlock all 3 robots. Once you do, the whole strategic field is open.
The localisation starts off pretty good, quite sweet and nostalgic, though the last 10% of the game is sadly gibberish. I actually have no clue what the last few screens of dialogue before the very end were meant to be saying.
If you play it, report back! If you hate it, fair enough, at least you gave it a shot.
Re: Is Quintet's Robotrek The Most Underrated SNES JRPG Ever?
I saw someone on Twitter commenting on how the writing in this connects it to Quintet's Souls trilogy. I never overtly stated it, there was so much to cover in the piece, but I agree with that assessment.
When playing Robotrek, it doesn't feel like some odd duck out, it very much feels a part of the spirit of Quintet's other games, which Yokota alluded to when describing Miyazaki's motivation. No one has been able to find Miyazaki, so we can't ask. But having played all of them you get that impression.
As also stated, it has the same experimental nature as other Quintet games. For example, Illusion of Gaia has no currency system, and the entire game world has only a finite number of healing items to find. Which surprised me when I first realised it. Apart from Actraiser 2, all the 16-bit games were inventive and fresh.
Re: Going Back In Time - Do You Play Retro Games To Reconnect With Your Past?
For me it's never been about nostalgia.
It's always been about discovering games I'd never played before.
Each era of games will have particular and distinct styles of design, controls, visuals, and audio. I play old games to experience these. Modern retro styled games tend to feel inauthentic; I much prefer discovering something from the time.
I rarely play games I rinsed in my youth. Why would I? There's more excellent games in existence than I can experience before I die. I don't have time to retread what I already know.
Re: New Game Boy Title Gives You A Reason To Dust Off Your Game Boy Printer
Almost tempted to reinvest in a printer. I recall my brother taking our GB Camera to school and photographing friends and teachers; we took a bunch of our family.
We printed them all off before selling the printer and camera, but sadly that heat paper has faded over time. Miss the little thing.
We never did get much other use out of the printer.
Re: Gaming's Best 'Leftfield' Control Interfaces, Ranked
I quite like ROB and the Gyromite set for NES.
You control the game using a remote control robot and pair of weighted spinning tops.
It's like nothing else I've ever experieced and a lot of fun.
Re: New Project Aims To Replicate N64 Stick "As Close As Possible"
@BulkSlash thanks! (Great name btw - big fan of the Saturn game I take it?)
Re: New Project Aims To Replicate N64 Stick "As Close As Possible"
@BulkSlash where did you get the steel bowls? I need some myself...
Re: Fan Developer Creates New Metal Gear Solid 2 Prototype For Sega Dreamcast
Multiple kids at my school at the time eschewed the DC in favour of the PS2, soley because MGS2 was coming out on PS2.
Me and one other guy bought a DC and loved it. And we praises it to those who hadn't yet made the generational jump.
All of them were waiting to get a PS2 for one reason only: Metal Gear Solid 2.
I can't vouch for if this was the whole UK, but Kojima's game definitely helped Sony attract buyers.
I try to imagine a world where MGS2 was a DC exclusive...
Re: Who Created Dreamcast's Logo? We Spent A Year Trying To Find Out
I never liked how the JP and US logo was red.
Anyone else think that the blue logo in Europe just feels right, given how the Sega logo was always blue?
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
Plot twist: The cards were rigged!
I'm loving seeing how these cards are being resurrected.
Re: Random: Did You Know About This Hilarious Easter Egg From Street Fighter Alpha 2?
Someone in that background is seriously enjoying eating a shank of some variety.
I love old sprite backgrounds.
Re: Does Your SNES Have A Ticking Time Bomb Inside?
Caps. I've had to have systems recapped, and snipped a few redundant dead caps (og Xbox has one cap that likes to leak and destroy boards).
Caps are easy though.
Hopefully my stuff lasts longer than my meatshell body. I don't care what happens after I die.
Re: Saturn Fans Can Now Play The Ultimate Version Of Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Am I the only one who prefers the original PS1 voices, with the "What is a Man?" line?
Re: Does Your SNES Have A Ticking Time Bomb Inside?
I've been enjoying my modded SNES a lot in recent days. Thanks for making my new year utterly terrifying now.
Jeez, it's only 30 years old. Why is this happening?
My Vectrex is older than that and still going strong (after a £150 refurb).
Re: D4 Enterprise Wants To Know What Classic Japanese Computer Games It Should Bring To Switch
@PasokonDeacon Good call on Star Cruiser! I played the X68k and Mega Drive remix, and it was massively ahead of its time.
And they say Japan can't do FPS.
Which reminds me, if we can vote for X68k games: GEOGRAPH SEAL.
It's basically heavy metal Jumping Flash! Released around the same time as Doom on Western computers, this to me is Japan's Doom. In some ways, in terms of height, it might even be a little more accomplished than Doom.
Re: Review: RetroTINK 5X Pro - RetroTINK 4K's Cheaper Sibling Is Still Worth A Look
Tempted by this, but have a question:
Many years ago I tried HIGAN on a PC hooked up to a 720p HDTV. It's the "flawless" SNES emulator.
Despite the many CRT filters it offered, every single option still resulted in the most awful horizontal motion blurring possible.
In that instance I was playing the Deep Space 9 platformer. On my actual SNES, on a CRT TV, the screen scrolled left and right with no motion blur at all. The backgrounds were constantly crisp.
On HIGAN it looked good when static, but moving left or right caused terrible blur. Yuck.
I decided then and there to abandon ever trying to upscale retro consoles. If a flawless emulator with filters couldn't do it, nothing could.
Does this 5X fix this?
If you play a SNES platformer, will the bsckground scroll with crystal clear sharpness of an RGB SNES on CRT?
Re: D4 Enterprise Wants To Know What Classic Japanese Computer Games It Should Bring To Switch
Ashe for PC-8801, by Quasar Soft. Remade as Energy for PC Engine, but that wasn't very good.
The original fpr Japanese computers is like a proto Metroidvania.
Re: A New Shenmue Fangame "Dreams Of Saturn" Has Released Just In Time For Christmas
Given just how expensive it was, I wonder how different Sega's fortunes would have been if they'd just said "no" to Suzuki's idea. Hypothetically.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki I finally had a moment to give this a go and it's a thing of beauty.
Is it possible, using this format, to insert "game logic" into it? By which I mean, have it recognise when someone has 3 lose symbols, and classifies that as a lose?
On the flip side, if we're being up authentic, there was nothing stopping kids in the back scratching everything off, even if they lost.
No further news on my end, but whoever suggested the forum, that's a good idea, since can keep track of developments a little easier, rather than checking if an old article has a new post.
Did you want to start it or shall I?
Re: Flashback: When Hideo Kojima Argued Over Policenauts' Bouncing Boobs With Sony
lol. Everyone getting worked up about Hideo Kojima games has clearly not played Onechanbara Z2 with the fruity feeldoe DLC.
His stuff is mild.
Never change Japan, never change.
Re: Square Enix, Yuzo Koshiro Really Wants 'Illusion Of Gaia' And 'Terranigma' Remakes, Thanks
@KingMike Thanks for these, I'll add them to my list to check out.
As for Quintet, I loved pretty much their entire 16-bit portfolio. (Are we counting Actraiser 2?) Each hit similar notes, while still retaining a distinct flavour.
Re: Square Enix, Yuzo Koshiro Really Wants 'Illusion Of Gaia' And 'Terranigma' Remakes, Thanks
No one ever gives Robotrek any love. I did a Quintet binge last year, replaying the entire SNES catalogue - Robotrek was done last given how negatively it's spoken about. (I also tried Granstream Saga, but hot damn, that game is trash!)
I discovered Robotrek to be the forgotten gem in Quintet's crown, with a story that had similar beats to Earthbound, and play mechanics which are seemingly unlike anything else (your 3 robots can be be repeatedly recustomised to suit any combat situation; you can hotkey combo attacks!).
It might be my favourite of Quintet's entire catalogue.
Re: How Many Of These "Lost" Zelda Games Have You Played?
@Yoshif3 I played the GBA version when writing this - the resolution is very low and it loses something in the conversion. DS would have been perfect - dual screens! There's MAME if you're ok with emulation. Donkey Kong G&W is supported by the Analogue core and works well, so I'm hoping for an update that supports Zelda.
But you're right. Nintendo should release the ultimate compilation of all their G&W bavk catalogue. There's a lot. Some are still great, like Bomb Disposal.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Someone emailed with a huge stack of packs they were considering opening. They offered to provide scans or anything else needed. I asked them to record some audio if they did.
Re: MSX Cyberpunk RPG 'Illusion City' Finally Gets An English Translation
Secretly hoping this gets inserted into the Mega CD port.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Yeah, measuring the coordinates for the buttons is what made me go with a text parser and text results - it prints to the same position each time, below the cards.
I only purchased a single card - #5 in the spider woods, because I had to see for myself if those arrows were on the right side in every card, or if there was a misprint.
There are a few people on YouTube opening the sealed packs. You could listen and then make a best guess approximation of unfolding or tearing paper. My scratching fx was just me rubbing my fingernail on my laptop's microphone. Be like old movies that dub sound effects in. Sawing through bone for example I've heard was replicated by slicing through cabbage.
Good call on zooming. I have "zoom text only" activated, but I can disable for this. A splashscreen instructing players would fix this without needing to calculate everything.
Good luck! A full set of 60 plus variants would be quite the undertaking.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki My version is on Itch and it has the card images. I did a search of "Zelda" before uploading, an there's like 30 other Zelda games. So unless someone reports it, they seem to turn a blind eye.
It's linked in the above article:
https://szcz.itch.io/game-pack-simulator
Also, HOLY CRAP! Your demo is amazing. It's basically how I imagined my version in my imagination.
Asaki, I am officially abandoning development of my inferior version, and instead vow to playtest yours and help as best I can. Once you've finished, and uploaded it, I'll put a link to your Itch page from my Itch page, and we can update this article.
The resolution might need tweaking, I need to scroll the page horizontally to see the backside of the card on the right. My desktop runs at 1280x720, out of choice, not due to an inferior monitor or rig. Higher resolutions make the icons and text small to the point where it's painful to read anything. 1280 is comfortable for me. What does everyone else use?
I like the idea of purchasing more packs. I like this idea a lot. It's kinda why I put a dollar count with inflation - it's interesting to me to consider how much one might have spent on these, when a full NES game cost... Was it $40 to $60 back in 1989? Because $40 is like 800 cards at 5 cents a card.
Would you end up doing the entire 60 card set (+variants), or just Zelda?
I suppose, if you acquire cards through purchasing, using in-game currency, you could have like a portfolio of cards, showing how many of each. And each time you play a card it decreases by one? So you might have 3x Zelda scene #4, but after playing it once it goes down to 2x? But successful memorisation and completion unlocks it permanently?
I dunno, I'm just throwing ideas out. Your version should be YOUR vision. But since it's better than my vision, you have my full support for this.
Mine took 25 hours. How many hours did you put into that scene one demo?
It uses the mouse and everything. Well done! I love it.
Everyone - I'm officially retiring my project, we have a new contender in town.
Re: I've Just Resurrected This Zelda Scratch Card Game From 1989
@Asaki Link #10 has a similar need to get swordstrikes on the left first. Could be deliberate.
For hosting how about Itch? It's free.
What is your card randomiser and how does it work?
Re: Flashback: How An American Businessman Tried To Turn Akira Into A Blockbuster Game
@KingMike That was Patrick Scott Patterson. Now, just to play devil's advocate here: I followed events from when he found them, and I spoke to him for a statement in The Untold History of Game Developers Volume 5, where I collected all my Akira interviews (Tom Meigs chats about making the Game Gear version, for example).
Now, I suspect some will think I'm being an apologist for him, but having followed the buying and selling of protos since the ASSEMbler days, back in 2005, I've witnessed countless time how game fans tend to be very aggressive when it comes to unreleased material. My god, the "scene drama" is off the scale!
I love the idea of the Akira games, and have dreamed of playing them (I even helped get the Genesis version leaked), but based on PSP's statement I can understand why he decided to sell them. I saw the anonymous threats online, and that stuff is scary and wrong. He put the legwork in to find these relics, and the community should have been calmer rather than immediately threatening him.
Ultimately it's a downgraded port of the horrendous Amiga version. No one really lost much. Be happy the US developed Genesis prototype was leaked - it's obviously very early, but I strongly believe that if it finished development it had the potential to one of the best games on the system.
I secretly fantasise about someone taking the incomplete Genny / MD ROM and finishing it using the suite of homebrew dev tools now available. If someone can port Arcade Simpsons to the Mega Drive, then someone can finish Akira. It's pretty well fleshed out. The ROM is out there, give it a go.
(The guy who leaked it was able to find and contact a programmer who had a test cartridge, after I gave them the contact details of this programmer's former colleague.)
Anyway...
PSP's statement, from page 317, is below:
The story of the Akira Game Boy prototypes isn't as sexy as many want to believe. Basically, I got introduced to a former THQ programmer who told me he had a bunch of "old work stuff" in his attic. He said I was welcome to it if I wanted to come by, as he figured otherwise it would just sit there until he passed away, likely to be junked by his family at that time. I took him up on his offer and as I left, I only knew of one development cart that was present in the batch, memorable by his 20 foot toss of it into one of the boxes. I live-streamed my exploration of the stash when I got home and found several protos. Right there, live... I was as stunned as the viewers to find FOUR different Akira prototypes. My plan was to get legal permission to release them, with one version combining the most complete parts of them all to give a relative idea of what could have been. The incomplete versions would have also been included. But fans of this stuff are a unique type. False narratives and assumptions lead many to demand I dump them or give them over to them. One even threatened to come break into my home and take them by force. Once it got there, I scrapped my plans and found them a new home. But it was cool for a time to play - a game that many thought was long lost forever and maybe someday the new owner will complete what I started to do with them.