mr_benn

It seems like rather a shame. Whilst I felt like they were overly pricey for some nicely decorated IKEA flatpack furniture, a cheap screen and some cheap joysticks/buttons, to see really the ONLY mass maker of nearly-full-size cabinets intended for domestic use disappear is quite a shame for gamers as a whole.

I bought an old PacMan cab which someone had converted to a PC-based setup and I've got one of the PacMania machines to which I'll do the same. I have to say that the original hardware does seem overly laggy to the point of affecting gameplay which isn't so good, but as a starting point for a project they've been really enjoyable.

I said this on the TFW2005 Transformers forum too (it's a bit of an issue with toys too) - but the word 'study' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I'd say it's more 'one person's anecdotal experience that can serve as a data point potentially in a wider analysis'.

My experience in peroxiding sad looking yellowed 40 year old Transformers is generally pretty positive, and I haven't seen the yellowing come back yet or the plastic become more brittle, but this is only with a few figures. I transformed some Star Wars Transformers (released in 2006) the other day and two of them literally crumbled in my hands due to the brittleness of the plastic and had to go in the bin. A bit of discolouration seems trivial in comparison!

I played on a Vectrex for the first time ever at the London Science Museum's 'Power Up' exhibition the other day which was quite fun. I can definitely see the novelty of it, but take the CRT out and reduce the size and TBH I'm going to be a bit 'meh' about it.

Plus I've just been burned on the G'AIM'E "AI powered light gun" Kickstarter not being very good, so I won't be doing that again for a while!

Don't worry Rainbow Islands, I still love you even if Taito clearly doesn't.

@benjaminer Nice one. I've e-mailed the '[email protected]' e-mail (is this the one you used?) with a similar request so fingers crossed!

@benjaminer that's great news - have you received anything back yet?

It's rather frustrating that 'Sega Racing 2' is featured in the 'Like a Dragon' series, but there's no standalone release!

@Damo thanks - I'd be delighted to be proven wrong on this one as it feels like the quality of the product, coupled with the excellent reproduction of Time Crisis and Point Blank arcade (both quite tricky to get running right on emulation devices) is really very good. It's just so sad that for many the actual playing experience doesn't really work so well.

As to that crosshair skipping around like a drunken spider on rollerskates, try playing the Point Blank level where you have all the targets in a row to hit - in the arcade you rather simply have to hold the gun very still and make the tiniest adjustments going up the line, but doing the same I can't get to the end of the line with this - very frustrating!

I am hoping that ultimately some sort of firmware update might just solve all this nausea - either that or some bright sparks on the internet do something similar.

@benjaminer my experience is exactly the same.

The Kickstarter comments section is crazy as well - a lot of people feeling conned.

There's plenty of talk that messing with TV settings improves the experience, but not all TVs are happy to do it (neither of mine do).

I am genuinely baffled how all the reviewers' collective experience seems to be positive - perhaps some have less experience with the original games but I have no doubt that @Damo has experience with the original coin-ops as well as the PS1 versions, to which this is no comparison.

I'd get a refund for it if I could, I only supported the kickstarter on the basis of positive previews from sites but clearly the GAIME team had some sort of optimal setup in their offices (though it's been subsequently pointed out even their setup cut off the top and bottom of the screen on Point Blank). If I'd purchased it at retail I could do that easily, with kickstarter I'm pretty SOL.

For this money, you could either get a lovely Sinden gun (I have one on an arcade setup and can live with the white borders if it means it's actually pretty accurate and has a MUCH better recoil than the rather pathetic ones in these guns, might as well not have bothered), or alternatively I reckon you could buy a 2nd hand CRT + PS1 + PS2 + a GCon and some games for the same price as the Ultimate edition of this and you'd be doing yourself a favour.

The collective experience of the internet is currently not great on this one. Accuracy is all over the shop, 'not always 100%' is putting it mildly. Bit frustrated at the moment, people seem to be finding different solutions mainly involving messing around with TV settings.

Overall it's sounding pretty decent. I LOVE a good light gun game and severely lament how they all but disappeared with CRTs - I hooked a PS2 up to a CRT recently and the experience FAR surpassed the (pretty good) experience of using a Sinden with an emulator.

Nevertheless, happy to see this come out - especially as I've backed it - and looking forward to getting back into both Time Crisis and Point Blank. Whilst the model of having to buy new kit for new games might seen rather old fashioned as long as next time round they just sell a box without the guns I'd be pretty happy with that. All those Time Crisis, HOTD, Point Blank games ... as well as Virtua Cop, Ghost Squad, etc etc - currently languishing in inaccessible formats would be great to play again!

Very enjoyable read. Clearly a guy in the right place at the right time, but definitely showed that he earned his place!

Anyone else remember the Amiga Power ‘win a job at Bullfrog’ competition? That’s one thing he did follow through on - I can still remember the winner was amusingly called Mike Diskett who went on to make Urban Chaos and Startopia, and they also took a runner up called Demis Hassibis, now considered a global leader in AI.

I personally am looking forward to my "collectible diorama stand".

I've backed the Ultimate on Kickstarter, all the previews seem positive - I've got a nice arcade setup on a repurposed Arcade 1up machine but the arcade versions of both Time Crisis and Point Blank don't run optimally so genuinely really looking forward to this on a nice tv. I really hope it's enough of a success they go and release further mini-consoles with the option to not have to re-buy the peripherals - HOTD collection anyone?

@HoyeBoye absolutely yes it is. Traditionally auctions run by auctioneers end when the auctioneer's hammer (a gavel) hits the block, hence the phrase, though I appreciate being 'under' said hammer does seem a little curious!

@BulkSlash I think that Gold Cliff has a continue feature as well, though I may be completely wrong. I question myself as I type this.

For me I think my favorites are DK, DK2, DK Jr and DK Jr on the Panorama - yes, they're all looping gameplay things, but it still feels like quite an adventure getting from A to B.

There is something very pure about the Game and Watch games - despite their simplicity Nintendo really seemed to nail an LCD game far better than almost anyone else. The Panorama/Desktop games are particularly impressive in just how pretty they look too! Pretty much every game I've bought has needed something replacing though - you soon get pretty good at replacing screen polarising filters or the flex cable that runs between the dual screens.

I'd love to see a Game & Watch HD collection appear on Switch - that made it look like you were looking at the real thing, not like the GBC/GBA remakes - there was a great site that replicated a whole bunch of LCD games including Nintendo a few years ago but it was flash based and I think disappeared now.

'didn't play Nintendo' is very ugly syntax for the title and hardly in keeping with this site. For the record, we don't play with Legos either (though we do hoover the carpet due to the genericide of the brand!)

Who on earth is this even for? I quite enjoyed the JP games on the Amiga, but nobody is buying this now - if the Kickstarter couldn't even succeed with Chris Sorrell's involvement this is just going to be more shovelware clogging up the e-shops.

I've backed it so keeping fingers crossed. If this can really replicate the Point Blank experience properly (and those guns had better stand up to the shooting the car challenge!) then that alone is worth it for me, the other games are a bonus.

I am sure that somewhere along the line someone has given thought to how more games could be added in the future, though given they've got Bandai Namco on board there's no chance they'll be saying anything about adding ROMs. Perhaps they might in the future sell a separate console with a few different games on - I'd happily pay for another that had say Point Blank 2 and 3, Ghoul Panic and a single screen version of Time Crisis 2 or 3 for example. especially if I didn't have to buy the guns again.

I recall I really enjoyed Tron 2.0, as did a friend I lent it to. Suspect going back to it now might feel a bit clunky though!

The constant lack of love for Rainbow Islands is a little frustrating!!

@Krambo42 the numbering of the cartridges is a very clever ploy to bring out the completist in people! I found I felt a lot more free once I skipped one of the one or two game cartridges ages ago and just get the things I want with no worries about gaps in the numbering anymore (they're all just in a massive drawer all mixed up anyway so I don't really care!

A rare Evercade skip for me, just don't really feel like the value is there with these Tomb Raider carts unfortunately.

Playing with friends on the SNES Dhalsim's stretchy arms used to drive me absolutely mad!

Great article! Just imagine being the person who could say 'I made Space Invaders' - what an amazing claim to fame.

Yes! Would love to see Daytona USA/Sega Racing 1 and 2 on the Switch 2, I do love an arcade racer!

Free to play... bleurgh.

He's made some great games though.

I'd happily have ports of SWOS on modern consoles, still my favourite football game

I really, really hope that this can work, but I'll be reserving judgement until a review. To be able to capture that proper Time Crisis/Point Blank feeling - even just the PS version - would really be something. How about Ghost Panic whilst they're at it too

@firenze I've just checked - the only update is on SF2 Champ Edition. I would assume that we should expect the rest in a later update.

The DIP switch thing is an absolute game-changer - quite literally - for some of these carts. Bravo to Evercade for implementing this - though it turns out that the default setting on the Street Fighter games was on the easier side, and I'm still just rubbish at them.

Any game called Ritmania ought to be a tribute to Jon Ritman and his wonderful isometric games like Head over Heels and Batman.

@Moroboshi876 I have the Galaga one (that happens to have Pacman/Mappy/Galaxian/Dig Dug/Rolling Thunder on it too, if you're prepared to crack it open and do some physical modding!) - I'd say it's fine as a little novelty, but realistically you're just not going to want to play on one of these for a long time.

I bought this a little while ago on the back of your recommendation, apparently it will be shipping in January now so very much looking forward to trying it out in a few weeks time!

@SlangWon given you're on this site I don't need to explain to you about the problems with old light gun games now. And tracking hardware like PS Move or the Wii Remote is pretty good but not perfect for that genuine aiming skill. Pretty much the only reason I've kept a CRT in the garage, but I'd LOVE for an official Nintendo/Sony supported Sinden-esque light gun and some retro collections on Switch 2/PS5/6/7/8 etc.

@Luminous117 Freudian slip! The teeny-tiny controls are really what baffles me about these otherwise quite nice looking little gadgets.

Massive fan of this on the Amiga, though I was never particularly proficient at it - much of the time my tactic was just to recruit as fast as possible by running around all the villages on the map, get them to make some weapons and stuff and then run at the enemy and hope to win through sheer force of numbers.

Agree with Peter, the carrier pigeon idea between generals was not a good one - at first having not read the manual very well I just thought that nobody was doing as they were told!

Not going to weigh in on the emulation debate. I quite like the Miyoo Mini+ though for its nice little form factor and ease of setup.

NIntendo - as everyone else does too - have a legal obligation to protect their copyright and IP if they don't want to see it creep into the public domain, so whilst occasionally they can seem rather heavy handed it's essentially their job to do it, so I can't feel too strongly against it.

@GravyThief agree with @romanista - the A500 mini is super easy to set up and use, and it will very happily use all the adf and WHDload file types to run from a USB stick.

Never heard of this system before… does it differ from thecA500 mini much?

Super Skidmarks is such a good game though Shame the ports messed around with it a lot.

I had an A500 back in the day… what a machine! I’m pretty happy with the A500 mini now, it’s a neat piece of kit and super easy to use which helps.

This is a nice collection, just a shame the previous one didn’t use the Amiga version (I could say this of a number of collections, including the Oliver Twins collection and the Codemasters collections too). Just wish we wouldn’t get ‘mouse’ games, pretty sure Z is one of those.

Fingers crossed we can still be doing the do with Betty Boo!

It never fails to amuse that RIchard Ridings, the voice behind Dungeon Keeper, is also the voice of Daddy Pig.

For me - who doesn't really like football that much, and can't be doing with replicating the game perfectly - this game has never been bettered, with the Amiga version remaining absolutely on top.

@Bunkerneath but you can plug in a USB keyboard. The Windows keys will even stand in for the Amiga Keys.

@LillianC14 It doesn't like .adf files (which is slightly irritating) but is happy with WHDload (.lha) files.

I think a lot of other USB sticks works for this though - I've deployed my 8bitdo Switch Arcade stick and it works brilliantly. I'm genuinely more pleased with this than I thought I would be - I love the Amiga (massive nostalgia factor!) and I've been running on WinUAE for years, but this seems to work pretty well straight out of the box and sideloading using WHDLoad works nicely too. I haven't tried it yet but hopefully can use a USB hub to have USB mouse, stick, keyboard and USB stick all plugged in at the same time.

@GravyThief - lha format games for WHDLoad should be easy to find. I might search for WHDownload if I were looking for appropriate backups. You can't find EVERY game in that format for reasons I don't fully understand, but you'll find all the essentials.

The review is right though - the choice of pad was pretty dense. Haven't tried to see if the controllers bundled with the Mini Megadrive work yet - I always used to use original Megadrive controllers on the Amiga as was the same plug configuration!

@the_shpydar ... but also the only places in the EU you can order without importing from Asia (with all the import tax that might incur). So actually quite useful if you want one of these.

I was going to be all over this until it was confirmed it was Rainbow Islands Extra. RI is one of my all-time favourite games (along with NZ story and Bubble Bobble) but the insane and uncalled for alteration of enemies for the Extra version is just a total turn off. Shame as this does look pretty cool.

@ Anyone saying 'x FPGA/emulator device is better' - well, for what you want, it probably is. This isn't trying to be that. And this is actually selling licensed games too which is a stark difference.