@Razieluigi “ I love that these right-wingers will spend their days freaking out about immigrants taking their jobs — something that literally doesn't happen — but will hold the door open for software algorithms to do exactly that.” Perfectly said.
The irony of that is so rich you could cut it with a knife.
If it was in regards to something more trivial, it would be amusing. But when these folks do this kind of mental gymnastics/exhibit such stunning cognitive dissonance on subject matters that impact other’s livelihood, general wellbeing, and core principals of our country, it loses it’s humorous aspect real quick.
I’ve not played this game since the 1990s, but as a kid/teen I usually could barely get past the dam and then I fell shortly thereafter. Never went back as an adult to try be more strategic about it, but I suspect I’d be able to get further. Maybe I’ll fire up my Analogue Pocket later on and give this game a whirl for the first time in literal decades.
Battletoads was a semi-regular rental of mine growing up. I got pretty decent at the game, but could never complete it. Level 8 (Intruder Excluder) is the wall I could never climb over, and could only get there by taking the warp in the last section of the Turbo Tunnel and the warp in the snake pit (Karnath’s Lair). There was also a warp on the first level that’s not too hard to hit, but there is some value in not using that one to help build up some extra lives on the earlier easier levels.
I decided to give Battletoads a go again the other day on the NES Switch Online service. Despite having not played it in at least 15-20 years, I still mostly retained my old skills (shocking myself). On my very first attempt I got to back to Intruder Excluder, but just barely. By the time I reached it, I was on my last lives and hit game over in short order. I thought for sure the Turbo Tunnel was going to kill my first run.
I rented Battlemaniacs a few times but never got very far. The arcade game was a fun diversion on an emulator with a buddy, but a real quarter muncher if you try to make any progress on a real cabinet. But overall, none of the other games in the franchise quite grabbed me the way the first one did.
Edit: forgot to mention that I can beat Turbo Tunnel without hitting the warp, but the muscle memory for that warp is so deeply ingrained in my brain (along with counting off the walls), that I subconsciously will always hit it. I have to actively try to avoid it.
If the game had unlimited continues, I am pretty confident I could have cleared the game as a kid, without warping at all. Having such constrained lives and continues definitely amped the difficulty if it substantially. Even when you got really good at the earlier levels, it was still really easy to take a lot of accidental damage (not to mention those obnoxious space invaders that would steal bits of your health). Always ended up with a pitiful amount if life reserves by the time I got to the Intruder Excluder level.
Many fond memories of playing Road Rash on the 3DO kiosk at my local toy store growing up. None of the other versions, sequels, or spiritual successor/similar games ever quite nailed it in the same way that 3DO version did for me. Let’s see how this one shapes up, I’ll probably give it a whirl.
When I finally convinced my parents it was OK for me to have a portable console in our house, I chose the Game Gear route because I had played a fair bit of friend’s Gameboys already, and the color screen/marketing sold me on the Game Gear.
I liked the Game Gear quite a bit, dumped untold hours into thing like Lemmings, Prince of Persia, and that weird version of Sonic 2 (low key kind of hated that game, but still played it a ton). But, between the utterly crap battery life (even with the massive pill shaped external battery pack), the larger size (and subsequently larger carrying case, especially the one that held the aforementioned external battery), and a game library that is meager compared to Nintendo’s handheld offering, I always regretted my decision and wished I had gotten a Gameboy instead. Hail to the king, baby.
It was at least more entertaining than Atari Lynx one friend of mine actually owned. Also a super cool system for what it offered, portable A.P.B. was awesome as was the port of California Games, but it suffered from all the same cons as a Game Gear while having an even slimmer game library.
Anyways, back on point, certainly interesting think how a monochrome Sega handheld would have done back then had it released instead of the Game Gear. Once the Game Gear hit the market though, there was no way Sega could have ever tried to sell most of the gaming public a seemingly “worse” device (no color).
As someone else here mentioned though, I do think it would have fared better in South America, given their long held and continued love of the Brazilian variants of Sega’s 8bit and 16bit consoles. Too bad it exists only in memories and documents these days.
@FR4M3 ah, beans. Only other option really would be if you had a computer powerful enough to run PCSX2 and a means of obtaining the game files. It is listed as “Playable” on their compatibility chart.
@FR4M3 all three games got a release on PS4/5 and Xbox last year, digital download only. $9.99 each, at least in the US. Looks like they’re $4.99 on sale on PS store right now.
Weirdly, only the first one is showing up on a search on the PS mobile app right now, but 2 and 3 are still listed for sale on the PS shop webpage. Haven’t checked on console directly, but if you’re not seeing them there then check Sony’s website.
@Eocene84 in this specific case, they were actually given permission to make this from the rights holders of Timesplitters IP as long as they didn’t charge for it.
I suppose there could still be some risk, as this project was started about 13 years ago, and I think the IP holder has changed hands in that time. But, I think a C&D is still unlikely with this project.
Generally speaking though, I think when people are making fanmade games based on other people’s IP, they’re foolish if they publicize it before it’s done.
@kingmustard reading between the lines, the truck likely wasn’t packed for long term storage, as it sounds like the truck was part of their events division. While it’s possible they were storing stuff in there long term, it seems more likely it was either prepped for an upcoming event or hadn’t been unloaded from a previous one. Given that they have a dedicated “events division” with a fleet manager, it’s likely this company drives cabinets all over the Seattle region for things like conventions, private parties, and likely rental services as well.
I know in my city, there’s a small handful of companies that own most of the arcade cabinets, ticket games, and pinball tables that are in various bars, restaurants, and other locations around town. While one of them also run a most excellent arcade, a majority of their business is renting games to other entities.
Comments 9
Re: "The Fine Arts Were Always A Massive Grift" - Controversial Earthworm Jim Creator Goes All-In On Generative AI
@Razieluigi “ I love that these right-wingers will spend their days freaking out about immigrants taking their jobs — something that literally doesn't happen — but will hold the door open for software algorithms to do exactly that.” Perfectly said.
The irony of that is so rich you could cut it with a knife.
If it was in regards to something more trivial, it would be amusing. But when these folks do this kind of mental gymnastics/exhibit such stunning cognitive dissonance on subject matters that impact other’s livelihood, general wellbeing, and core principals of our country, it loses it’s humorous aspect real quick.
Re: Community Challenge: Can You Overcome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Deadly Technodrome Level?
I’ve not played this game since the 1990s, but as a kid/teen I usually could barely get past the dam and then I fell shortly thereafter. Never went back as an adult to try be more strategic about it, but I suspect I’d be able to get further. Maybe I’ll fire up my Analogue Pocket later on and give this game a whirl for the first time in literal decades.
Re: Community Challenge: Can You Beat Battletoads' Most Notorious Level?
Battletoads was a semi-regular rental of mine growing up. I got pretty decent at the game, but could never complete it. Level 8 (Intruder Excluder) is the wall I could never climb over, and could only get there by taking the warp in the last section of the Turbo Tunnel and the warp in the snake pit (Karnath’s Lair). There was also a warp on the first level that’s not too hard to hit, but there is some value in not using that one to help build up some extra lives on the earlier easier levels.
I decided to give Battletoads a go again the other day on the NES Switch Online service. Despite having not played it in at least 15-20 years, I still mostly retained my old skills (shocking myself). On my very first attempt I got to back to Intruder Excluder, but just barely. By the time I reached it, I was on my last lives and hit game over in short order. I thought for sure the Turbo Tunnel was going to kill my first run.
I rented Battlemaniacs a few times but never got very far. The arcade game was a fun diversion on an emulator with a buddy, but a real quarter muncher if you try to make any progress on a real cabinet. But overall, none of the other games in the franchise quite grabbed me the way the first one did.
Edit: forgot to mention that I can beat Turbo Tunnel without hitting the warp, but the muscle memory for that warp is so deeply ingrained in my brain (along with counting off the walls), that I subconsciously will always hit it. I have to actively try to avoid it.
If the game had unlimited continues, I am pretty confident I could have cleared the game as a kid, without warping at all. Having such constrained lives and continues definitely amped the difficulty if it substantially. Even when you got really good at the earlier levels, it was still really easy to take a lot of accidental damage (not to mention those obnoxious space invaders that would steal bits of your health). Always ended up with a pitiful amount if life reserves by the time I got to the Intruder Excluder level.
Re: Road Rash Is Getting A Spiritual Successor Called 'Bash Moto'
Many fond memories of playing Road Rash on the 3DO kiosk at my local toy store growing up. None of the other versions, sequels, or spiritual successor/similar games ever quite nailed it in the same way that 3DO version did for me. Let’s see how this one shapes up, I’ll probably give it a whirl.
Re: "It Would Have Been A Huge Success" - The Pitch Behind The Sega Handheld That Might Have Rivalled The Game Boy
When I finally convinced my parents it was OK for me to have a portable console in our house, I chose the Game Gear route because I had played a fair bit of friend’s Gameboys already, and the color screen/marketing sold me on the Game Gear.
I liked the Game Gear quite a bit, dumped untold hours into thing like Lemmings, Prince of Persia, and that weird version of Sonic 2 (low key kind of hated that game, but still played it a ton). But, between the utterly crap battery life (even with the massive pill shaped external battery pack), the larger size (and subsequently larger carrying case, especially the one that held the aforementioned external battery), and a game library that is meager compared to Nintendo’s handheld offering, I always regretted my decision and wished I had gotten a Gameboy instead. Hail to the king, baby.
It was at least more entertaining than Atari Lynx one friend of mine actually owned. Also a super cool system for what it offered, portable A.P.B. was awesome as was the port of California Games, but it suffered from all the same cons as a Game Gear while having an even slimmer game library.
Anyways, back on point, certainly interesting think how a monochrome Sega handheld would have done back then had it released instead of the Game Gear. Once the Game Gear hit the market though, there was no way Sega could have ever tried to sell most of the gaming public a seemingly “worse” device (no color).
As someone else here mentioned though, I do think it would have fared better in South America, given their long held and continued love of the Brazilian variants of Sega’s 8bit and 16bit consoles. Too bad it exists only in memories and documents these days.
Re: The TimeSplitters Series May Be On Ice, But This Impressive Fan Project Will Help Soothe The Pain
@FR4M3 ah, beans. Only other option really would be if you had a computer powerful enough to run PCSX2 and a means of obtaining the game files. It is listed as “Playable” on their compatibility chart.
Re: The TimeSplitters Series May Be On Ice, But This Impressive Fan Project Will Help Soothe The Pain
@FR4M3 all three games got a release on PS4/5 and Xbox last year, digital download only. $9.99 each, at least in the US. Looks like they’re $4.99 on sale on PS store right now.
Weirdly, only the first one is showing up on a search on the PS mobile app right now, but 2 and 3 are still listed for sale on the PS shop webpage. Haven’t checked on console directly, but if you’re not seeing them there then check Sony’s website.
Re: The TimeSplitters Series May Be On Ice, But This Impressive Fan Project Will Help Soothe The Pain
@Eocene84 in this specific case, they were actually given permission to make this from the rights holders of Timesplitters IP as long as they didn’t charge for it.
I suppose there could still be some risk, as this project was started about 13 years ago, and I think the IP holder has changed hands in that time. But, I think a C&D is still unlikely with this project.
Generally speaking though, I think when people are making fanmade games based on other people’s IP, they’re foolish if they publicize it before it’s done.
Re: More Than $25,000 Of Rare Coin-Op Components Stolen From North American Arcade
@kingmustard reading between the lines, the truck likely wasn’t packed for long term storage, as it sounds like the truck was part of their events division. While it’s possible they were storing stuff in there long term, it seems more likely it was either prepped for an upcoming event or hadn’t been unloaded from a previous one. Given that they have a dedicated “events division” with a fleet manager, it’s likely this company drives cabinets all over the Seattle region for things like conventions, private parties, and likely rental services as well.
I know in my city, there’s a small handful of companies that own most of the arcade cabinets, ticket games, and pinball tables that are in various bars, restaurants, and other locations around town. While one of them also run a most excellent arcade, a majority of their business is renting games to other entities.