no_donatello

@JJtheTexan That is funny that they don't list Vita.

But that page is interesting when you look at the software sales. PSP sold "More than 331.0 million" software units. Whereas the PS3, which only sold about 11 million more units sold "More than 999.4 million" software units. So people bought the PSP but then didn't buy any games. Probably more accurately, people in Japan bought games for it, but no one did anywhere else (barring a few exceptions everyone points to, God of War, GTA, etc). I can kind of see why some would argue it's a failure when the attach rate is so low.

I think there are a number of factors. Obviously the staggering numbers that the Nintendo DS did hurt the perception of the PSP. But it also had a lot of negative press. It started with the stuck pixels, and then it was all about piracy. I knew tons of people that had a DS, but I can only think of a couple people who had a PSP back then.

But I don't consider PSP a failure. Perhaps more popular in Japan, but it did well everywhere. The Vita was a failure, but I love it.

Nintendo sure loves confusing naming conventions. So we have the DS, and then we skip a number and go to 3DS (and yes, I understand the three refers to 3D, but grandma doesn't). And then we go BACKWARDS to 2DS. Fortunately, the console was successful enough that people got it, but seriously messed up naming.

The console itself I respect for its insane concept and durability. I feel like I could abuse it forever, and it would keep trucking. I do feel like, with that much mass, they could have made it more ergonomic, but it's okay. Also seems like it was the last time Nintendo tried to make their consoles "affordable." Blows my mind thinking about how handheld consoles used to debut at under $100.

With content like this, how in the world did the Vita fail??

I love this, and I can't wait! Ecco was such a cool, weird game. Not really a fan of "hard" games... except for Ecco the Dolphin.

My first and main experience with Animal Crossing is the GameCube version. I played it a lot and really enjoyed it. I probably still have my save, since it came with its own memory card 59. Really enjoyed searching for the NES games. Emulating old games in retail releases was still kind of novel at the time. You could even transfer them to a GBA, I think? I know I used my GBA to go to the special island. It was awesome. I did play the DS version a fair amount, but it was mostly more of the same, and I haven't really played any since. My wife does still enjoy them though.

Not sure how useful that laser is going to be, but otherwise, I am all about this!

@FR4M3 Yeah. A worthwhile project. I have soldered many new batteries into game cartridges,which is pretty simple work. The most complex thing I've done was replace some caps in a Game Gear, and that turned out fine. Will give it a look!

Good! My OG Xbox barely works. The disc drive only comes out when it wants to, and it will randomly turn off. So many great sega games trapped on a huge and not terribly reliable console.

My older son will turn four later this year, and so I think he will start being able to make some progress in games. At the moment, I've shown him some light gun games, and, with unlimited continues, he's able to enjoy them without being terribly accurate. But I hope to start introducing him to more retro games this year, starting with 8/16 bit game and Sonic in particular, since he already likes Sonic a lot. I know I won't be able to dissuade him from playing modern games that I see my nephews play, like Fortnite, Roblox, smartphone trash, etc, but hopefully he can appreciate classic games. And hopefully a side effect might be I play some more games this year than I have been able to in recent years as well.

Makes sense. The thing about DS and 3DS games is they are uniquely difficult to port with their dual screen and reliance on touch controls (and 3d if that interests you). Even if they are ported or emulated, the original hardware will always feel better. I always think back to Trace Memory and the puzzle where you had to close the screen so the one reflects on the other. Basically impossible to appreciate on anything other than real hardware.

Back when I was just starting to explore the Saturn's Japanese exclusives, I always noted how insanely cheap this game would go for on eBay and a couple times almost convinced myself I should buy it. Never did because I know I'd never play a kind of bad RPG in a language I can't read. But still, major thanks to the translators. I don't know that I'll ever get around to this one, but I love lesser games getting attention. Still need to play through Seven Mansions on Dreamcast, which I believe was also translated by the same person.

I kind of wanted their Golden Axe arcade machine, but I just could not justify the space it would take up against how much I'd realistically use it.

@KingMike It's very easy to visually see whether a disc is a GD-ROM or not. There's always an inner ring that can be read by a standard CD-ROM drive and then the outer ring is the actual GD-ROM data. A few games actually put extras on that CD portion (like Shenmue). But, yeah, commercially released indie games use regular CDs.

Pretty heavy handed response to a fan made trailer.. Hmm..

These are obviously working for them because they keep releasing more. However, I want my light gun! The G'aim'e was announced, Kickstarted and now in my hand before the Polymega gun I preordered.. two years ago or something? I can't even remember at this point.

Well, the Lunar 1 and 2 releases from Working Design had hard cover books that came with them. But they didn't actually fit in the jewel case, so maybe that doesn't count. PAL manuals are definitely unique. I do own a few PAL Dreamcast games, and I guess every game released in double disc cases with the manual in the second compartment? At least all of mine do. Shenmue II included two separate double disc cases for the four discs.

@MontyMole haha. Honestly, that's fair.

Love Tail of the Sun. Not sure I'd call it anti-Mario. Maybe in the same way that Tetris is anti-Mario, as in it's not similar in any way. But great that more people will get to play it! Aquanaut's Holiday... I think I like the idea of it more than I like actually playing it, but still cool.

It's an impressive number of sales for Switch for sure, but when you consider that that 150 million DS units sold alongside 100 million Wii units, it makes you realize how on fire Nintendo was back then. I am always surprised by the "Nintendo is more profitable than ever" posts that I see. How can that be when they had two of their best selling consoles ever AT THE SAME TIME back in 2006-2010?

I echo what everyone says! I feel like we lived through the last great days of retail, when you basically had to rely on your local stores for the latest releases. Yes, there was mail order, but it was cumbersome. Also it felt like retail actually cared about presentation. Those shelves are so orderly! Electronics Boutique was my store at the closest mall to where I grew up, so I spent a huge chunk of my childhood there. Bought a lot of M rated games there while obviously being a kid — ah, the good old days.

Too bad no Saturn or PS1 version. The thing I found interesting is how different each release of this game is, and it obviously spanned multiple generations, too. I'm not familiar with the DOS game, but I suspect that's the one shown at the very beginning of the video. I know people really like the Saturn version, with its 8-player multiplayer. Everyone got a little postage stamp sized window on your 13-inch TV in the 90s!

@w1p3out Well, thanks for telling me what my eyes should/should not do. Anyway, it's just the 3ds I was talking about, which is not a couple screens, just one weird but fascinating screen. I suspect that's why it happened. Anyway, I just favored my glasses when playing and problem solved. I have used VR headsets and my contacts stay in just fine.

I would not call it ahead of its time. Really just a bad idea. I do to this day marvel at the 3DS. Yes, I had a hard time playing with contacts in because the 3D seemed to make my eyes do something that made them fall out, but I still think it's crazy to see a 3D image on a flat screen. The new 3DS's "stable" 3D seemed to help a little. I also still like the 3D movie/game fad that faded out after the PS3. I'm glad I have a projector that can still display it, since most TVs dropped support. Virtual Boy continues to be the only Nintendo console I never owned/played. So, so, so stupid Nintendo did not release its library virtually on 3DS, since Wario is supposed to be genuinely good.

Kind of surprised to not see Saturn Bomberman on this list. But I guess that's why it costs so much today. Saturn is a great console and doesn't deserve the hate it gets online. Yes, the Japanese library is much better, but there were great games available in the US. It just all can be kind of hard to go back to when viewed from a modern gamer lens.

@Cyber_Akuma My favorite is ESP Ra.De. Ψ (with the last character apparently being Latin and pronounced psi). It's just really easy to remember... and say... and write out...

The names of Japanese shmups are so crazy sometimes. Great music and graphics, but I bet it sucked to play on an old flip phone...

I thought the first remake was okay. The Saturn's unique 3d is iconic for me, so I don't need remakes. But I thought they did an interesting job fleshing out some of the more primitive parts of the background. The game is noticeably easier than the original. I did not love the hotd remake. And, yeah, particularly when I saw the header image on this article, yikes. The character looks almost completely detached from the environment. Holding judgment though. I appreciate an effort to honor these franchises that Sega clearly doesn't care much about.

It looks good, and I really enjoy the blocky DS models being retained. But one of the things that I personally found really compelling about Sonic Rush and its sequels was the fact that it spanned both screens, and your character would seamlessly transition from one screen to the other throughout a stage. It made the stages a lot more vertical, and you could see where you were jumping and if there was an enemy up/down there.

From everything I've heard, it seems like game development in the 90s was the real wild west. I'm sure it sucked in a lot of ways but also pretty exciting to be in the middle of a really rapidly expanding industry. Certainly was fun being a gamer back then. And at least he made a great game for the near death experience!

The art is so similar that I wonder if Nintendo won't want to have a word with him. He mentioned Astal. Should have made it look like that. Sega probably doesn't even remember making that game!

Looks pretty cool. I can definitely see the influences from the games they mentioned. I honestly only ever dabbled in the Chao Garden in SA2. Don't think I ever touched it in SA1. I remember trying out the Little Chao Garden on GBA once or twice. It's a cool idea, and I know it can get pretty complex if you're into it.

Wow. Looks like I missed some excitement!

I played through Pocket Tales when it came out and before Conker became an alcoholic. I remember thinking it was okay, and I think there was an annoying timed event at the end maybe... Probably not playing it again. But the arcade version of Battletoads is intriguing.

Back in the day, I used to complain when my games had password save versus battery. Nowadays, it really future proofs the cartridge. I have basic soldering ability, so I can replace the batteries, but I'm honestly happy when I don't have to worry about the battery save dying. Ecco for the Sega CD still featured the password save from the cart game, but it also stored the last password on the Sega CD's internal storage. A convenient solution (though the SCD battery is the WORST when it needs replaced). Can't wait to play this on an actual Genesis. I think releasing it on the target platform last is kind of unfortunate, but it's okay.

@jamess Indeed. There was a small renaissance brought on by the Wii's popularity (and there were a few that used PlayStation Move controllers on PS3), but they've been basically dead since. The couple on Switch just don't feel good with gyro aiming.

The game is actually pretty ambitious and has some diverse level objectives. I think all FPS from that generation are tough to return to. I can't recall if this was the game that actually deleted your save after you ran out of lives? It could be bypassed by copying our save to a memory card, but that's pretty annoying.

A new RE light gun arcade game?? I need this!! I went to Galloping Ghost a few years ago, and one of the titles I wanted to play was Gun Survivor 2. Unfortunately, I think it must have been being repaired at the time. Still had a great time, so it's cool.

I think most who criticize it probably never played it. I thought it was pretty fun.

I hobbled my way through the first disc of El Dorado Gate once. It's a very traditional RPG with incredible art. I've always found it interesting how little info there was online about these games, given Amano's connection and it being an early example of "episodic" releases. Each disc is a few hours long, and your save carries forward. I hope this translation happens!

On the one hand, I mean, sure, what's the point? On the other hand, it's fine if people want this. There is obviously no such thing as Super FX 3. Whether it was a Raspberry PI or something different, it was going to be a chip not of the SNES era. I don't need another way to play Doom. I already have too many. But it's good for people that do. Also that is a very cool looking PCB.

Policenauts! Yes! Cannot wait to finally play that.

@PKDuckman Indeed. The Japanese market is not the prize it once was. Even Sony focuses on the west anymore. Closing Japan Studio made that clear. A real shame. But even outside of abandoning the Japanese market, Xbox hasn't been too concerned with a diverse library for a while.

The 360 is the last Xbox I had any interest in. While I'm not big on the core offerings of FPS and online multiplayer, Microsoft worked really hard to cover all bases and create a really interesting library of exclusives. Since 360, they mostly abandoned trying to appeal to the Japanese market, and any exclusive I may be interested in (not many) are available on other platforms. I was kind of surprised they would be making new hardware at all. I thought they'd go all in on streaming.

I used to wonder about the rumored Sega buyout back in the OG Xbox days and the possibility that Sega could have continued their hardware ambitions with the backing of Microsoft. Seeing how these studio purchases have gone... I am forever thankful that deal (if it was legit to begin with) did not go through.

@Fallingshadow I suspect you're right. I don't know where I read it, but I recall reading that the initial print in the US was indeed 5,000, but due to demand, they ended up doing another print, so it was about 20,000 in the end. Not sure the veracity, but indeed, there are always copies on eBay, so 5,000 seems unlikely.

It's a game that definitely matches the hype that it receives. In an alternate universe, this game would be spoken about among the greatest RPGs of all time, but unfortunately so few have played it. The game pushes the Saturn hardware graphically, and the battle system is probably its best feature, actually doing a great job adapting the rail shooter gameplay to a turn-based system. And of course the soundtrack is amazing, like all Panzer Dragoon games.

I was looking at an old Game Informer magazine, and I found their "review" of Panzer Dragoon Saga. It was a paragraph. A sad but not surprising state for a game that they admitted was one of the best games that year.

Kind of makes me think of The Legend of Valkyrie.

Kid gets stranded on desert island... within two minutes, is already mercilessly punching bunny rabbits.

Great work preserving this. The game looks really slow, but the art is great!

Submitted. More arcade, more shmups and how about some lesser-known survival horror from the 32 bit era. I would also love to see them localize some more games. They did it once with Mappy Kids.

Honestly could do without the indie stuff, but I just don't buy it. Problem solved.

Let me play actual carts and CDs, and then we'll talk, Polymega. (Also give me my light guns already!)

Interestingly, Tempest 2000 on the Saturn is one of the only games I can't get the Polymega to recognize — at least since I last tried it.