Wonder if he was involved in the sound design of 1982's Tutankham. From what I understand it uses two AY-3-8910 sound generators, but it doesn't sound like it uses more than 3 sound channels at the same time (and two AYs has a total of 6 channels)
What it does sound like is that the sound is sort of "beefed up"! Did they do a sort of "flanging" effect by slightly altering the voltage level of one of the AYs (or something?), while they were playing the same sound?
Lords of Shadow 2 has its issues (stealth sections not being very good; sometimes it was hard figure out where to go next etc.). But you can't take away that the game has some really good boss fights and is quite a bit of a "looker" too.
Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate is way underrated too imo. It wasn't what the Igavania fans wanted (but they're really a vocal minority if you ask me - there's a reason Konami didn't continue making those games), but was really good in its own right.
The first Lords of Shadow game is not my cup of tea though; I don't like not to be able to control the camera in a 3D game (plus it was a bit too much of a God of War (1-3 etc.) clone.
Thanks for the head up! Mine still works, but I noticed another "issue" with the Gamepad; it seems to have the same problem with its battery as the PSPs: It runs out of power fairly quickly (through natural depletion) if noy used.
I had a PSP battery go swollen because I hadn't used it for a long time and had to replace it. It seems the Wii U Gamepad has the same issue and you have remember to charge it fairly often (I charge my PSP every 1 or 2 month)
Strangely enough it's not really an issue with my DS, 3DSs, Vita or Switch Lite (my Steam Deck did run dry though at one point), but just so you're warned; it's not good for a rechargeable battery to run completely dry.
Lords of Shadow 2 and Mirror of Fate is two of my favorite Castlevanias. Are they perfect? No especially the former has its issues, but it still have some of the best boss fights ever imo to counter that.
The Igavanias are not my cup of tea, but of the 2D action Castlevania I do like the two Gameboy titles; The Adventure and II Belmont's Revenge plus Bloodlines and Rondo of Blood.
"Unethical emulation" is basically a no go for me (although I HAVE got a few Sinclair ZX Spectrum illegal roms myself - Jetpac, Commando 128k and Enduro Racer springs to mind - so I'm not completely innocent).
Having these roms downloaded from chinese internet sites is not something I'm particular proud of. And I did contemplate buying the cassette originals from Ebay at some point, but I don't really play them that much so.. (definitely a moral dilemma).
"Ethical emulation" poses some basic problems too though:
1. Does it entitle you to play a game on any platform (through emulation) just because you happen to own the rom for one system? I would probably say no, because you could argue that your rom is tied to the system it was intended for (example: Street Fighter Alpha 2 has got both a SNES and a PS1 version, but does that make it legal/right to play the SNES version on a PS1 through emulation? If it's possible that is)
2. The change of a publisher re-releasing old games on newer systems dwindles the more people chooses to play said games illegally (people get to try out a lot of games that way for free and are only willing to pay for a select few they really like - I've been there myself with Mame many years ago)
Generally I would say emulation is a no go, because too many people don't even own the roms. I do emulate the ZX Spectrum on my PSP though as more than 99% of the games are available to download for free.
Mame is not for me personally anymore as I can't defend it morally anymore (I still have a few arcade games like Zaxxon, Pengo, Tutankham, Amidar and Up 'n Down I would like to have on my Switch Lite and would pay the 7.5 € Hamster charges for an arcade game).
The original PlayStation (one) controller (not the dual shock version), because it simply was miles a head of its time ergonomically and functionally and worked really well with the best PlayStation (one) games, like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil etc.
Other really good ones are the SNES controller (I own the 8bitdo clone of it and it's excellent) and the Xbox 360 one (it was much better than Playstation 3's Dual Shock 3 for the action games of the time imo).
@Derpie1 As a 95% handheld gamer these days that would be awful. As much as I don't really like the Switch I guess I could be converted if Nintendo made a Switch Mini AND had it backed up with some good 3rd party software. But I would 100% prefer a successor to the 3DS (and the Vita - but that is just not going to happen).
In fact I would prefer if they made a 480p "4DS" for the sole reason that the games would be less expensive to make, leaving room for more "experimentation" in the gameplay department and thus making the games more interesting to play.
@Damo That's true, but it's the Vita that is "dragging" the numbers down. The 3DS, with a bit of luck, will probably end up selling 80 million units when all is said and done, and in broader perspective that is actually not bad at all.
I understand that many wants the Switch to succeed, but I can't help myself feeling that Nintendo kind of took the 3DS crowd hostage with the Switch, probably thinking that the 3DS owners would migrate to the Switch (I'm not so sure they will as it seems as a lot of 3DS - and Vita - owners just doesn't seem to find the Switch that attractive).
@get2sammyb I don't know, Nintendolife had an article a couple of days ago saying that Nintendo's new president was considering a successor to the 3DS, as it "Still has advantages over the Switch".
Also didn't the 3DS have one of its best "christmas" quarters last year?
The Vita on the other hand probably never will get a direct successor, that's pretty much a given, but the "4DS" as budget line handheld at maximum 200$, maybe.
Comments 61
Re: Round Up: "One Hell Of An Adventure" - Resident Evil 4 Remake Reviews Are In
Didn't like the demo (and Leon's "new" look - he looks more or less like he did in RE2 remake), so it's a pass for me (for now at least)
Re: Interview: Konami Legends Reveal The Secrets Of The Arcade Hit Factory
Wonder if he was involved in the sound design of 1982's Tutankham. From what I understand it uses two AY-3-8910 sound generators, but it doesn't sound like it uses more than 3 sound channels at the same time (and two AYs has a total of 6 channels)
What it does sound like is that the sound is sort of "beefed up"!
Did they do a sort of "flanging" effect by slightly altering the voltage level of one of the AYs (or something?), while they were playing the same sound?
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want From A New Castlevania?
Lords of Shadow 2 has its issues (stealth sections not being very good; sometimes it was hard figure out where to go next etc.).
But you can't take away that the game has some really good boss fights and is quite a bit of a "looker" too.
Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate is way underrated too imo. It wasn't what the Igavania fans wanted (but they're really a vocal minority if you ask me - there's a reason Konami didn't continue making those games), but was really good in its own right.
The first Lords of Shadow game is not my cup of tea though; I don't like not to be able to control the camera in a 3D game (plus it was a bit too much of a God of War (1-3 etc.) clone.
Re: Not Used Your Wii U In A While? It Might Be Dead
Thanks for the head up! Mine still works, but I noticed another "issue" with the Gamepad; it seems to have the same problem with its battery as the PSPs: It runs out of power fairly quickly (through natural depletion) if noy used.
I had a PSP battery go swollen because I hadn't used it for a long time and had to replace it. It seems the Wii U Gamepad has the same issue and you have remember to charge it fairly often (I charge my PSP every 1 or 2 month)
Strangely enough it's not really an issue with my DS, 3DSs, Vita or Switch Lite (my Steam Deck did run dry though at one point), but just so you're warned; it's not good for a rechargeable battery to run completely dry.
Re: Best Castlevania Games - Every Castlevania Game Ranked, By You
@BloodNinja This list is based on average user scores after all so it can't have been THAT hard to put together, just saying.
Re: Best Castlevania Games - Every Castlevania Game Ranked, By You
Lords of Shadow 2 and Mirror of Fate is two of my favorite Castlevanias. Are they perfect? No especially the former has its issues, but it still have some of the best boss fights ever imo to counter that.
The Igavanias are not my cup of tea, but of the 2D action Castlevania I do like the two Gameboy titles; The Adventure and II Belmont's Revenge plus Bloodlines and Rondo of Blood.
Re: Talking Point: Where Do You Stand On "Ethical Emulation"?
"Unethical emulation" is basically a no go for me (although I HAVE got a few Sinclair ZX Spectrum illegal roms myself - Jetpac, Commando 128k and Enduro Racer springs to mind - so I'm not completely innocent).
Having these roms downloaded from chinese internet sites is not something I'm particular proud of. And I did contemplate buying the cassette originals from Ebay at some point, but I don't really play them that much so.. (definitely a moral dilemma).
"Ethical emulation" poses some basic problems too though:
1. Does it entitle you to play a game on any platform (through emulation) just because you happen to own the rom for one system?
I would probably say no, because you could argue that your rom is tied to the system it was intended for (example: Street Fighter Alpha 2 has got both a SNES and a PS1 version, but does that make it legal/right to play the SNES version on a PS1 through emulation? If it's possible that is)
2. The change of a publisher re-releasing old games on newer systems dwindles the more people chooses to play said games illegally (people get to try out a lot of games that way for free and are only willing to pay for a select few they really like - I've been there myself with Mame many years ago)
Generally I would say emulation is a no go, because too many people don't even own the roms. I do emulate the ZX Spectrum on my PSP though as more than 99% of the games are available to download for free.
Mame is not for me personally anymore as I can't defend it morally anymore (I still have a few arcade games like Zaxxon, Pengo, Tutankham, Amidar and Up 'n Down I would like to have on my Switch Lite and would pay the 7.5 € Hamster charges for an arcade game).
Re: Poll: So, What's Your Favourite Controller Of All Time?
The original PlayStation (one) controller (not the dual shock version), because it simply was miles a head of its time ergonomically and functionally and worked really well with the best PlayStation (one) games, like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil etc.
Other really good ones are the SNES controller (I own the 8bitdo clone of it and it's excellent) and the Xbox 360 one (it was much better than Playstation 3's Dual Shock 3 for the action games of the time imo).
Re: Feature: It's Time to Celebrate the PSP, Sony's 21st Century Walkman
@Derpie1 As a 95% handheld gamer these days that would be awful. As much as I don't really like the Switch I guess I could be converted if Nintendo made a Switch Mini AND had it backed up with some good 3rd party software. But I would 100% prefer a successor to the 3DS (and the Vita - but that is just not going to happen).
In fact I would prefer if they made a 480p "4DS" for the sole reason that the games would be less expensive to make, leaving room for more "experimentation" in the gameplay department and thus making the games more interesting to play.
Re: Feature: It's Time to Celebrate the PSP, Sony's 21st Century Walkman
@Damo That's true, but it's the Vita that is "dragging" the numbers down. The 3DS, with a bit of luck, will probably end up selling 80 million units when all is said and done, and in broader perspective that is actually not bad at all.
I understand that many wants the Switch to succeed, but I can't help myself feeling that Nintendo kind of took the 3DS crowd hostage with the Switch, probably thinking that the 3DS owners would migrate to the Switch (I'm not so sure they will as it seems as a lot of 3DS - and Vita - owners just doesn't seem to find the Switch that attractive).
Re: Feature: It's Time to Celebrate the PSP, Sony's 21st Century Walkman
@get2sammyb I don't know, Nintendolife had an article a couple of days ago saying that Nintendo's new president was considering a successor to the 3DS, as it "Still has advantages over the Switch".
Also didn't the 3DS have one of its best "christmas" quarters last year?
The Vita on the other hand probably never will get a direct successor, that's pretty much a given, but the "4DS" as budget line handheld at maximum 200$, maybe.