StyrofoamCup

Just as Billionaire Slop Moguls had hoped, the ponzi investment has caused the peons to infight on another front once enjoyed by all (videogames) question all of existence, and people will eventually surrender to the nothingness because all lines are now blurred. The Matrix was correct: humanity loves misery.

To each their own controllers.

Being a Dreamcast vet from start to end of retail life, not once did I say "I sure wish this controller had a second stick.", and I never held it against the system that it lacked controller options. I have sticks, pads, analogue gadgets, and a fishing rod/tennis racket to vouch for my play time.

But, I love trying new things if it leads to new playtime on a classic platform.

As a PC-FX owner, I can say it's more form than function. The tower design, all those panels to open for expansions, and the reused 6-bitton controller design all showcase a machine that would evolve with development. But the decision to focus so aggressively on anime-centric FMV at launch killed all momentum when the new kid on the block was getting near real-time arcade hits and some elaborate 3D experiences. However, Zenki does deliver a taste of what could have been with a decent side-scroller with in-gameplay fmv running at an impressive framerate.

Now, I will re-watch Stuart Ashens' Old Joystick Roundup video to complement this news. Wow, it's been 13 years since it premiered. Those were simpler, happier times.

What incredible timing. It's been a Shining Winter for me. At this moment, I'm very attached and enjoying The Sword of Hajya thanks to a newly acquire and heavily modified GameGear. And, I recently found SFIII in a thrift shop which I'll play soon enough.

Snape killed CeX!

@RenderSpotlight As a US citizen (until the Emperor changes the rules again), let me say that even the after pictures showcase clean streets and tasteful graffiti. I feel for your loss though. I've seen dozens of lovely game shops over here fold from the march of time.

AI has made the 1% now the .1%. In this, AI has been a massive success.

Artistically, emotionally, productivity, and in simple human etiquette, it is a blight with no redeeming value. So, time to market deep learning for a more appropriate form of entertainment: P@RN!

I have so much respect for these Master Composers. Their works elevated gaming at a time the hobby was still getting respectable footing in the entertainment world.

I love all news regarding Virtua Racing. Hearing more doors have been opened using VRD warms my heart as I had this and Doom constantly in my 32X back in the 90s.

Rewatching the Digital Foundry Retro video also hits hard when you realize Reiko Kodama, aka Phoenix Rie, had a direct hand in the Switch release before her passing in 2022. I give countless thanks for her contributions on so many SEGA games I love.

The Raiden Project has been in my game library for 30 years. I obtained the original release from a HS friend in a shady deal on summer day in 1995.

The game is a fixture in my life when I have literally bought and sold HUNDREDS of games over the time period. I purged so much stuff, and yet I kept TRP.

I have no specific reason for this relationship lasting so long and consistently. I loved Raiden II for sure (it is my favorite of the franchise), but I've played dozens of shooters I can say I equally liked. But, here I have TRP still in its 1995 release state in the Sega Saturn style case Sony bought because they needed boxes.

It's also amazing to think TRP is the only official way to play Raiden II on any console after 30 years. Not even Arcade Archives has it available. The spell on Raiden II would be a videogame investigation I'd love to read.

Thanks for this piece and interview. It's given me much to absorb.

This would be PERFECT for the Phillips CD-i that I have sitting here awaiting a long lost Mario game.

My game shopping and hunting experiences have shown every corner if gaming has seen massive spikes in opportunistic prices. Multiple local retail stores now gladdly price items at MSRP from 30 years ago at the low end and double from there. A Sega Genesis in a nice box for $500? Sure. Why not.

All gaming is now labelled as a luxury, and there are now enough people with no price reference data and wanting that luxury experince who will pay the asking price. And thus, the price increases will only spread as demand stays healthy.

And for better and worse, COVID made classic gaming mainstream. The 3DS is now classic nostalgia bait falling into this pricing reality.

There's been one success story: employment is in chaos with layoffs and insecurity in future employment. And this is exactly what the investors wanted for the holidays.

Write a prompt for thoughts and prayers.

I'm going to be "that guy".

I liked Knuckles Chaotix and its flagrant disregard of the Sonic formula. It felt like another 90s experiment to stomp on tradition with counter-culture attitude.

"Honestly, this is more like an HDMI modded N64 bought off of TEMU which brings me to this video's sponsor, TEMU!"

Well played, sir. Well played.

This feels like the Atari identity crisis started in the 90s has now infected Commodore. The next 20 years will be quite intriguing.

"...but it would seem to have finally come to an end."

Insert the Ron Burgundy 'I don't believe you'" smoking gif here.

@Guru_Larry Maybe if Arcade1Up were releasing it.

My guess is Polybius.

This is an incredible screw over for people who pre-ordered or fought for the second pre-order. Analogue lives by the anti-consumer tactic of withholding purchase options to let FOMO consume the first machine stocks.

But, gamers will game, and no doubt the hardware will fly to Youtube channels and resell listings aplenty. So, the tactic works. You is winner, Analogue.

My cats create better art in their litter boxes than GAIS (Gen AI Slop) sweatshops.

@Deuteros

I hadn't, but I have today. What an elegant documentary and impressive feat to talk to so many pivotal members of Midway's history and talk on the ins and outs of their projects. A few of the interviews are surprises for sure.

Thanks greatly for the suggestion.

I cherish my gaming life from the late 80s into 2001.

EB was extra fascinating because my stores had imports! All those exotic games with "symbols" I didn't recognize filled me with wonder. And this was a time when brand new games from previous generations were MARKED DOWN to make shelf space for upcoming releases. Somethibg called a "Play Station" was coming, so they marked down all those SNES games by 50%.

And nobody called games "cult favorite" or "hidden gems". They were just "fun" games.

The demise of the Dreamcast is the moment the fun ended for me punctuated by GameStop absorbing all the gaming entities I loved. Sad in the end, but I'm always overjoyed to go back to a decade of fun and wonder.

I will never encourage adding to the Slop Centers draining our energy, love of creativity, and our basic human decency that makes us a community instead of a den of backstabbing opportunis.

I will not touch AI for work or play, and I'm glad to die on that hill.

I still to this day after nearly 30 years of playing MK since a tween love the sound of the original MK trilogy. It was as much a parody as the action itself of the kung-fu movies of the era. Hyperkinetic punchs, screaming, moody music, and those stingers make MK a pilar of my gaming life. And for months in 8th grade, every player asked "Did you hear about Toasty?" My thabks to Forden and Boon for helping forge these memories.

A legend and rebel of the highest honor. Itagaki made the Xbox cool with Ninja Gaiden, and then he made the Xbox serious with Ninja Gaiden Black. You will be missed. Thanks for a hell of a ride.

Add "vibe-slop" into the AI slop bucket.

Simpson, eeeeeh?

We'll see about that. Release the hounds.

That beautiful *****, Krikzz, never fails to impress me and push the boundaries of flash cart tech on so many classic systems I have.

Good speed on adding another feather to the Mega Everdrive Pro's cap.

I've had the Capcom CvS2 branded version for over 20 years in my Dreamcast collection. And, honestly, it wasn't my favorite pad on the DC. That honor goes to the Saturn pad connected to the DC via a controller converter.

I'm getting nostalgic now. I haven't booted the DC in a year. Time to give it some love this weekend.

This is a funny space-time anomaly. I used to go by account "CptProtonX" which I retired months ago and subsequently deleted my comments. I also found the stock images years back and provided the source link. Comments #20, 23, amd 30 would be evidence to that.

@Bod2019 It was not luck.
1.) It's a living legend. Yes, there should be some prep before meeting.
2.) That outfit...sublime.
3.) The makeup artist...sublime.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

10/10 for his audacity in this project/swindle. He's certainly getting attention, and that's all that matters in this world now.

I'm in most of those categories except playing a cassette tape and using a fax machine unless having my prescription company fax my doctor's office counts. And yes, they still do that.

I've been on the hunt for a nice portable cassette player though. I want a nice, shiny red one.

Also, I have over 15 consoles in my entertainment center predating the Xbox 360.

My experience thus far with the MemoryCard Pro 2 and a 512 GB micro sd card has been above and beyond my expectations.

I'm currently using a Japanese PS2 Slim (Ceramic White) which I had in storage since I have a Test OG PS2 unit in my entertainment setup. This machine is not compatible with the FMCB since its BIOS is not re-writable.

Of the 30 game thus far tested spanning US and Japanese games, only Gran Turismo 4 Spec II (hack) shows noticeable stuttering in the intro that I gladly skip over (Not a fan of Van Halen). But the game performance is flawless.

For Gradius V, I feel it has some off-spec configuration that requires reading the intro data from disc. I've messed with all the settings in OPL, turned on skipping videos, but Gradius V just loads to a black screen which I haven't experienced with any other games yet This isn't a new issue either with OPL, but the Internet is a bit devoid of a deepdive review of the game's ELF boot file. Only time will tell if future updates to this OPL experience can address the loading problem.

Overall, for about $50, this is an outstanding loading method that finally makes me enjoy the PS2 after 25 years.

@MegaManFan Yeah, but it was never at a convenient time. Usually, I had to decline since I had to go to work.

Truly a remarkable response from Yoshida regarding respecting an opposing view and evidence being the foundation in a counterargument.

I do recall an age of American distrust in Japan's economic strength as globalization was in its naissance. The most evident battleground was the automotive industry. This even crept into the 1987 Hollywood film "Gung Ho" with Michael Keaton and centering around a Japanese company buying a US factory resulting in culture clashes but also learning from both perspectives.

But, for me, Ken vs Ryu is a friendly, even brotherly rivalry about the purpose of a warrior and always pushing each other to the next level. I've never perceived any negative aggression from the art or lore around them. Ryu's own headband is a testament of that friendship. Still, the perspective is a thinker.

The 3DO and the CD-i were multimedia machines launched at a time when CD based technology was still quite expensive for the average consumer. A basic audio CD player was still in the hundreds in the early 90s. 3DO then includes video playback that's stages above the Sega CD/Mega CD plus early 3D power not seen outside very expensive PCs of the time, and the cost of the architecture is a luxurious $700.

As for the PS3 price, the machine was the flagship for the newer Blu-Ray format, and Sony was going for a return on that investment. Also included was PS1 and PS2 playback and a plethora of multimedia storage support on the high-end model. As Sony removed options, plus with technology improvements with the passage of time, subsequent models saw price reductions.

Saying we've seen these prices before without giving context why those prices existed feels like an attempt to excuse Sony's lackluster effort to sell the PS5 Pro to people whom already invested hundreds in a machine that I can only describe as another PS4 player. And for people focused on owning physical releases, that option is removed by default unless you go all digital or spend even more money for an added disc drive. Sony at their Sonyest.

@-wc-

After 30 years, the 3DO version of SSFIIX is still the love of my Street Fighter life.

Sega Saturn Shiro had a similar interview with Tosaki two years ago. There is some great insight about his ideas and contributions during his time with SEGA. Also, images are provided of the motion controller proposal:

https://www.segasaturnshiro.com/2022/06/03/interview-kenji-tosaki-talks-saturn-dreamcast-peripheral-design/