Archive for 2016
E3 2016: All Games EA Press Conference Impressions
Electronic Arts had its annual press conference that featured announcements on Titanfall 2, Madden ’17, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Fifa ’17, Fe (EA Originals), Star Wars titles, and finally Battlefield 1. A team from All Games Radio consisting of Fred, Esgee, Andy, Derrick H, Yogi, and Jam got together to have heavy discussions on the announcements and the upcoming year with EA.
E3 2016: All Games Pre-E3 Show
We know that E3 2016 is not retro, but for some of us contemporary games can hold as much value as games of the past. For that reason, and because GH101 hosts are involved in the All Games E3 coverage, we will be providing those shows here. If you are not interested, just skip anything that starts with “E3 2016.” We will be back to retro after E3.
This episode touches on the pre-E3 announcements and brief pressers including Destiny: Rise of Iron, Watch Dogs 2, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. There is a brief discussion on Sony’s choice to not bring the PS4 Neo to E3. All music is from the games listed above.
Wonder Boy the Dragons Trap Remake in the works
I’m a little late to the party reporting on this announcement but I thought it warranted discussion.
People: we are currently living in great times in gaming. Not only are we getting a spiritual successor to the Wonder Boy series in the form of Monster Boy being developed by German developer FDG entertainment, but we are also getting a remake of what some may consider the best entry in the Wonder Boy series, Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Trap from French developer Lizardcube. Of course the remake has removed the “III” to eliminate confusion. The Wonder Boy chronology is incredibly confusing for gamers and is a topic I will be addressing very soon on the site. The reveal trailer so far of The Dragons Trap showcases some beautiful artwork as well as some actual gameplay which appears to closely resemble the feel of the original game. In fact there were scenes I noticed in this game that appeared the same as the original just with the updated graphics. The simple 2D gameplay remains intact. The Dragons Trap also allows you to transform into various animals like a dragon, a mouse, a Lion as well as several others. Surprisingly I saw no human form of Wonder Boy in the trailer.
I think what makes me happiest about The Dragons Trap and Monster Boy is both games are being developed independently without the use of crowd funding. It’s almost as if developers read my open letter to Sega. Both games also seem to be in very good hands looking to develop a product that is faithful to the original series. My only critique is the games do look dangerously similar as both feature animal transformations. However, if the developers are as passionate as they say they are then I’m still on board. Monster Boy really is a new tale entirely whereas The Dragons Trap appears to mirror the infamous Master System/Game Gear game.
Original Wonderboy III: The Dragon’s Trap on Master System
I really can’t stretch how giddy I am that The Dragons Trap and Monster Boy are coming out. I’ve been waiting for a sequel to the Wonder Boy series for years and now we’re spoiled with two. I’ll buy both these games day one possibly on multiple systems (especially if they’re handheld versions) and cover them on the site. But hey, if any other developers want to jump in any release another game then I’ll buy that too – some name suggestions include Wonder Otter and Monster Planet.
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile Review
Some titles just never seem to fair well in the West. Klonoa is a cute cuddly anthropomorphic animal, he kinda looks like he’s a cross between a dog, a cat and maybe a rabbit. In Japan this cute fella was incredibly popular and his Playstation game rocketed to the top of the charts for sales. Then Klonoa made his happy debut in the West and things just didn’t seem to fair well for the poor guy. The problem you see is we are horrible people over here in the West. Gamers here are hungry for blood like vicious hyenas, and that’s why games like Tomb Raider did well. If we have a platformer it better have attitude like Crash Bandicoot or be in 3D like Spyro the Dragon. Klonona failed to perform well and in turn the game become very rare and sought after to Playstation collectors in the West. I was lucky enough to rent this game back in 1998. Fortunately with the power of PSN, I was able to download the game to my PSP and see what this cuddly adventure has to offer and what we folk in the West failed to see.
Gaming History X: E3 2016 Predictions
While it doesn’t traditionally fit in the retro beat, E3 is a significant topic for all gamers because it marks a look ahead to what the next year will bring. Fred, Jam, and special guest Andy Urquhart from 42 Level One and Agents of Shieldcast joins to discuss predictions as to what next week’s conference could bring.
Podcast: Bringin’ It Back – Reboots (Part 2)
Our reboot discussion continues after a some listener mail and random discussion. This episode Jam and Fred move into the 360/PS3 era and some of the bigger named franchises that rebooted during a glut from 2007-2010.
Download this episode (right click and save)
Although Andrew was kind enough to post the comment and Fred of course forgot to post the link, here’s the Twin Perfect Silent Hill HD link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wya4XhTPMcc
Let’s Talk About Game Length
When I was younger and talked to friends about games I was often asked the question that would come up regularly, “how long is it?” If I followed up, “well, not that long bu…” I would usually have lost their interest and they would dismiss the game entirely despite me possibly recommending the game whole heartily. In this article I wanted to explore the topic of game length and give some personal thoughts.
As I’ve grown older I went through a few phases with my perception of game length. When I was very young without a care in the world and I messed around on the Amstrad and the Mega Drive, I didn’t care diddly squat about game length. I was small and just happy to mess around with this fascinating medium. To quote Dylan Moran from a a episode of the hilarious Black Books TV show, “He looks surprised, all children look surprised, the world is new to them.” This was absolutely me as a youngster everything just amazed me. I wasn’t allowed to play games for extensive lengths of time because my dad did accounts on the Amstrad computer and I was interested in other things like rocks and bugs. When I did game I didn’t care about length, I didn’t care about completing the game I was just having fun. I rarely would finish a game because I was young and pretty dumb, this probably pleased my parents as it meant that they didn’t have to buy a whole lot of new games.
ChronCD Episode 2
The high quality version can be downloaded at: https://archive.org/details/chroncd_ep2
ChronCD is the comprehensive coverage of all CD-based console games in chronological order. Episode 2, while shorter, covers more games that make up the holiday season of 1989. More historical context is provided and a plan for regular future episodes is outlined.
00:00-00:42: Opening Credits
00:43-01:59: Episode 2 Intro
02:00-07:15: RomRom Karaoke (Vols. 1-5)
07:16-09:31: Gambler Jikochushinha
09:32-14:10: HyperDyne Side Arms Special
14:11-23:52: Ys Book I & II
23:53-26:08: RomRom Stadium
26:09-30:15: Last Alert
30:16-31:52: Closing Remarks and Future Episodes
31:53-32:17: Credits
CD player sound effect by user NLM from Freesound.org and used under Creative Commons license for non-commercial use. Sound can be found here: https://www.freesound.org/people/NLM/sounds/144054/
Why Retro Games Still Matter
Recently I came across an article which called into question the point of playing older games when there are plenty of better newer games released today. I’m not going to link this article since it seems to be gaining a lot of negativity on the Internet, which is a shame as everybody is entitled to there opinion. In this article I’m going to simply give my personal take on the subject and why I still play retro games to this day.
I’ve mentioned in previous podcasts and articles that I started playing retro games even when I had modern systems. When I used to play the Mega Drive when I was younger the two games that got a lot of play time from me were the Midway Arcade Collection (which included Defender 1 & 2, Joust, Sinistar, and Robotron 2084) and another collection of older games that included Pong, Centipede, and Missile Command. I’ve always had this fascination with the past. Outside of gaming I love to go to museums and watch historical documentaries. For me personally, its always just been a general interest to learn about the games I play and see how they have evolved over time.
Altered Beast Reboot – How Bad Could It Be?
Altered Beast is a somewhat sacred part of Sega’s arcade past that fans will blindly defend. Some of those fans may be surprised to know that there was a reboot of the franchise on PS2, but it never came to the states. This video takes a look at this Europe/Japan only title and discusses why it never coming to North America was probably a good thing.
Gaming History 101 