SlangWon

Co-op sounds cool! BUT online or offline?!

"Overly political, tedious and divisive garbage."

...and a cheap grab for attention.
This site is quickly evolving into the alternative version of IGN.

@Daggot The screen is monochrome but the whole experience is not since the overlays play a big part.
The overlay for Vector Pilot for example is a rather important part of the experience. Since it is positioned in front of the screen with a small gap, it even adds a sort of three dimensional effect. Unless you apply some sort of really cool shader effect you'll end up emulating the system but not the experience.

I own a Vectrex and play it regularly.
Difficult to judge by these short videos but if the screens used on the minis can't replicate the razor sharp glowy vector graphics 100% these things won't make any sense. The interaction between a beautiful color overlay and these timeless vector graphics is what makes the Vectrex even today completely unique.
It would make much more sense to produce some sort of Vectrex gameboy with a high resolution AMOLED/OLED screen. Even as a vectrex owner I would buy one. The graphics of a vectrex game are stylish but ultimately simple so it should be perfectly readable on a small screen.
The best games are imho the homebrew arcade titles by Kristof Tuts.

@Robocod Yeah! Uridium II was awesome, so was Battle Squadron.

Loved the original on the Amiga. Back then, the nature theme was sometihing truly different and original. Today, after experiencing the beauty of Mushihimesama I'm not sure it hits the same way...but damn, this music is still so amazing!

"The EXA version runs on a system that’s much more powerful than the Mega Drive, so it can’t be ported directly to home consoles. At this time, we don’t have any plans to bring that version to home platforms."

Hmmm, maybe something got lost in translation here...Exa games run on a pretty midrange PC-based system. Ports to PS4 and especially Steam shouldn't be a problem at all.
If Exa helped out and wants an exclusive in return, why not being transparent about it?
I bought the emulation release on Steam but decided to skip the cartridge and keep playing it from an Everdrive Pro. I'll double dip when the Exa version gets ported.

The best way to play on PC right now is newest Rom + Retroarch + Genesis Plus X + Second Instance Run-Ahead turned on. It's less laggy than the Steam emulation, gives you save states for training and more shader options for the visuals.
The best version of the game overall is the in every regard superior Exa arcade version.
Most hardcore Megadrive fans play their games from an Everdrive, preferably an Everdrive Pro.
Not offering the Rom was a bad decision.

@HammyHavoc Yeah, sure. It's always the others who are trolling.
@Exerion76 Nearly all of the fixes in patch 2.0.1 are connected to the emulator. The only two that are not are visibility and challenges. Strangely, visibility was never a problem with Exa. Btw, I compared blastem emulator to the emu used in the steam version and know for a fact that steam version has more lag. Especially after applying graphical shaders.
I stand by my opinion, not selling a rom was a bad decision and Exa-exclusive content should be timed.

@HammyHavoc No problem, I tell you again - the game is finished, these bugs you talk about are mainly emulation related. That's why the Exa version is also finished. The emulator the Steam version is using is inferior to the emulators that are available for free and have been developed over a time of many years.

@HammyHavoc "It not being ready yet is exactly why there isn't a physical version yet"
Which is clearly not the case and can be seen by everybody who plays through the whole game using Everdrive Pro or an emulator like BlastEm. You can always polish here and there but the game is obviously finished. They could have sold roms first and cartridges later which has worked for several indie studios before but the incompetent tools at Limited Run Games got greedy.

@HammyHavoc Your pretentious talk about art and patience can't mask the fact that on a larger scale these are poor business decisions. They annoy their customers by massively delaying the og version and then proceed to annoy even more by announcing a superior version that 99% of the people who were backing them can't play. Good luck with that.

@HammyHavoc What arcade? There are no arcades where I live. Outside of Japan, Exa is all about collectors. Exclusivity in video games should be timed.

Exa Version with exclusive content devalues the original version. The majority will never have the chance to play the best version without resorting to piracy. Stop the exclusivity bs and support your paying customers.

Seems the Exa version will be vastly superior to ALL home versions:
-Better sound quality, especially voices
-Better visibility
-No slowdown
-Hypermode
-A bezel around the gamescreen that has lots of actually useful info

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbsD-RRGjl4&list=FLPs-mecHyoMt7mJyRD0zc2Q

Cool product with an interesting use of ai tech. Would love to know more. The slight delay in gun movement is a bit worrying but let's wait for the final results.
Would be even more awesome to couple this tech with a ps5 in order to play some recent light gun titles...

@kirby2000 Doesn't have to be bad. Gunvein and Star of Providence have both roguelike modes and are very good shmups.
I'm really looking forward to it even if it turns out to be a mixed bag.

The gameplay of the second game didn't age well...but the music and whole presentation still rock! Awesome news:-)

@Damo When I remember correctly both the Metal Slug Anthology for PSP and the steam version of Metal Slug 3 are also emulation based and introduced autofire for the standard pistol. The reason for this was a known problem - hammering the buttons of an arcade machine might be fun but trying the same with your thumb on a pad is not, especially on a handheld. This is one of the many reasons why people love M2 - they don't ignore such details and put a lot of thought into how the player will play the game on the targeted platform.

@Damo Was a paid licence also needed for autofire in something like Metal Slug?
Seems they also managed to skip the one game suited best for quick rounds on the go - Turf Masters.

Autofire? Save states? Dip switch menus?

Yup, Rom or it didn't happen.
Honestly, these videos suggest that the MD version is pretty much finished...and yet it got pushed to the end of the line☹️
Btw, ZPF rocks on a real MD! Just saying.

Yeah, I also wish the tide to turn so TE can start publishing their AI-rants in a less shallow and childish way...

"It's a middle finger to everybody."
We will see...it's Netflix.

Dig Dug: Digging Strike for the NDS was a cool extension of the classic arcade formula and is still very playable.
Kinda strange that they never attempted to do a modern take on Mr. Do! which is the best one of all the onescreen maze arcade games imho.

@romanista And they realised that now? Come on
Btw, production time for cartridges is not a problem and I highly doubt there will be much patching outside of the PC side.
They know people are impatient and are going to double dip.

Considering that it started out as an MD oldschool shmup the massive delay is disappointing.

@Scollurio I highly doubt this. The game has been from the ground developed for the MD. If they would develop it for a modern system it'd look (and play) completely different. More likely for financial reasons - they want MD owners to double dip, which they wouldn't if they'd release the original version first. All other versions are simply ports of a MD game.

ChatGPT simply has some respect for the elderly...unlike many humans

All of their videos are high quality and very informative, even for non-gamers. These documentaries should be shown in videogame museums.

Does "HD Boosted" mean that they simply Upscaled the emulated PS1 version with a 16:9 hack on top? This classic deserves the full M2 treatment. Anything less is a waste of resources imho.

@Sketcz Thanks for the info. I'll give it a shot!
The spiritual successor Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is also highly recommended

I would rather like to celebrate with a Jet Set Radio Future remaster. The industry sucks.

I would love to see a Bartop Arcade with all 4 classic Mortal Kombat arcade games.

And once the game is on exA it will disappear again because 99% of gamers don't have access to their releases and exA will make sure it's arcade only...

What? No Balatro?!...seriously, every one of them a timeless classic.
Btw, seems Goldeneye will break out of Nintendo's prison fortress soon. Recompiled PC port incoming...

@ilovetrump Nah, won't do. I'll wait till it's on sale.

It's a licence you can do pretty much anything with as long as there's a red Ferrari in it driving really fast...so it should be easy to work with 😉 The much more interesting question is - does this mean Sega is gearing up for a new game?! Let's hope so.

@Robotoboy The US market is the biggest and most profitable market for China. They need access to this market otherwise they will take serious damage. A lot of their factories already have a hard time.
I also don't see how the Trump administration is supposed to be outnumbered in this - Japan, Korea, Europe are allies and dependent on the US. The uncomfortable truth is, it's already working and the CCP is feeling it.

It was a big mistake to let China imitate, steal and then outsource the production to them. This has to be rectified.
Btw, this is not a US-only thing. Brazil tried to force the production of electronics to their territory by imposing massive tax on game consoles. They were kind of succesful because after a while Microsoft started producing X-Box 360s and Ones in and for Brazil which reduced the prices for this region significantly. It seems they stopped doing this for Series X.
I think this tariffs will be successful in the end. China must come to the table and negotiate.

How many people reading this have access to exA-Arcadia? Just curious 😉

So the goofy stuff no fan asked for is sold via the base game and the fan favourites will be sold via Season Pass...what a d**k move.

"stealing that style"
You mean like imitating the style of another artist? I'm sure this has never happend before...
Only because you can now create a picture that looks similar to a Screenshot from a Studio Ghibli Film does not mean that suddenly "Millions of artists are being violated...". The theft analogy is overdramatised *****. Stop whining and start using it as a concept tool.

Some people are never satisfied. Console and computer versions of Gradius are nice and interesting but considering the 8 and 16bit era the arcade versions are the real deal. Heck, I grew up playing the solid c64 versions of Gradius and Salamander but would never expect them on this compilation. The origins of Gradius and Salamander are the arcade titles. IV and V marked the end of an era and belong in a separate compilation that will hopefully do them justice because V is basically the pinnacle of the franchise.

@Jimgamer8
Pretty sure it will be on the next compilation together with IV and Gaiden
Awesome news btw. I absolutely love Salamander 2. M2 sure knows how to handle these classics.

I'm sure back in the 80s I would have been a total boss with one of these on the playground, but today I'll probably have a hard time even seeing the ball in Breakout
I would however be a total boss on the train to work if it could project a hologram version of the game above my wrist Make it happen Atari!

@Starless My guess is that some sort of AI-component is used to calculate and store information on distance, position and room lighting. It may also be used for a "run-ahead"-feature in order to reduce lag, modern emulators already do this.
Looks ace, very promising! This should be the next step for mini consoles.

Taito can f themselves. All the games I bought on Android are now gone and unavailable for the newest version of Android. I will not switch to Apple just for Apple Arcade.
Also, Google should seriously address this problem. I don't buy from Play Store anymore because games you paid for can be delisted at any time.

A recompiled native PC version of Panzer Dragoon Orta would be very awesome since it doesn't look like Sega is interested in porting it.

Dante's Inferno
Asura's Wrath
Afterburner Climax
...
Oh the potential!

Instead of simply porting Scarlet Dawn to Steam and current consoles they waste money on this...why?