Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category
Great Retro Halloween Games That Aren’t Scary
Happy Halloween to all of our lovely retro readers. All month we’ve been chatting about horror gaming, ominous dark rooms, and I’ve been spending one moment in Silent Hill and the next running from the Slenderman. I thought it might be fun to finally offer some retro Halloween gaming for the timid, nervous, screaming little scaredy cats out there. Yep, you read that correctly, here’s a list of fun Halloween videos games that aren’t intended to scare you.
How To Be A Japanese Import Gaming Poser
As a retro gamer, it’s inevitable that you have to acknowledge games from other countries, especially Japan. Why? Because many of the foundations of gaming began in the land of the rising sun and lets face it, there’s just something intriguing about integrating completely foreign languages and concepts to a domestic gaming collection. Well and there’s that whole thing about a long list of amazing games that we never saw on our shores. It wasn’t until this console generation that gaming started to go region free (unless you’re talking portables, which ironically just recently started segmenting by region after decades of being region free), and even now it’s really only the PS3 and 360 with plenty of exceptions. Before that games were segmented into different regions for distribution, licensing, and localization, resulting in a diverse list of releases from country to country. On a macro level your release decisions were segmented into three major regions: North America, Europe, and Japan. Import gaming skates an odd line in America because Europe has the common language (English) but a completely different broadcast standard (covered here) that requires special modifications and/or hardware to play games on. Japan has a language many Americans can’t understand (and more importantly in retro games, read) but has similar broadcast standards making most games essentially plug and play. As a result you’re more likely to import a Japanese game than a European game, most likely choosing an action platformer or fighting game over, say, a high-end RPG. But limiting yourself to just those games means all you’re going to play are licensing titles from the Super Famicom like Ultraman or PS1 games like Dragonball Z. That’s where this guide comes in – it’s a cheeky, sarcastic look at the elitist gamer that thrives on Japanese titles and gives you starting hints at how to pretend you are a Japanese gamer in the know. Those of us who love Japanese gaming are guilty of at least a few of these in our lives and who knows, maybe it’ll even give you the starting point you need to enjoy Japanese gaming.
Dissecting the Ouya or Rant and a Top 5!
So everyone’s been buzzing about that new Ouya console that managed to raise its $1 million Kickstarter goal in only 8 hours! At first glance this console looks way too good to be true especially with backed support from none other than former Xbox creator himself, Ed Fries (he also made Halo 2600 for you neo-retro fans). Ouya promises to offer a full catalog of Android-based software, online capabilities (wired and wireless), a controller, recently announced OnLive support, free games, and at only $100. All that’s missing is an “act now and you’ll save $5 off the price!” Oh, but wait, that’s exactly what they did for the first 1,000 Kickstarter donators. They even came back and said this would easily support old school gaming via emulators, opening up the possibility for even more games and essentially makes this the catch-all console for anyone not interested in contemporary console titles. Obviously we here at Gaming History 101 were going to weigh in on this and I just want to forewarn you that after I get through all the smoke and mirrors you will not only know why all of this is possible but also what they’re really selling. I may break some hearts here, but it’s all in an attempt to inform the consumer.
Is the Wii Really a Toy?
Yesterday it was announced by Beamdog’s co-founder Trent Oster that the anticipated Balder’s Gate: Enhanced Edition would not be making a trip to the Wii or Wii U. Some thought that because of Beamdog’s decent port of MDK2 on WiiWare that they might also bring the newest project to Nintendo’s next console. Oster went on a bit of a tweeting rant to Eurogamer that included the following statements: “We don’t do Nintendo development. Our previous experience with Nintendo was enough to ensure there will not be another.” Many assumed that this was in response to the experience Beamdog’s Overhaul Games had with MDK2 that was further backed by his continued statements: “My problems with Nintendo are: requiring 6000 unit sales before payment, a certification process that took 9 months and a 40 mb limit.” This is nothing new, Nintendo has historically been known to screw over 3rd party developers and include rules and business practices that net no risk to Nintendo while also reaping the benefits of successful titles. I may discuss that more in a future article but what struck me was Oster’s final statement, “[Wii] is a toy, not a console.”
Suquels: Newer Isn’t Always Better
Okay so the title (pronounced “suck-wells”) is a tad unsophisticated as is the concept it implies, but frankly I’ve had it up to my ears in recent sequels that don’t even remember what made their predecessors great. Congratulations gaming, you’ve now entered into the same dangerous realm Hollywood has where production budgets are so great that the slightest tweak can result in a hit or miss product. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a new problem – ask anyone who was around for the crankfest that was the Mega Man series on the NES and they will tell you that it peaked at either Mega Man 2 or 3 and then tapered into oblivion. Don’t misunderstand me, though, these games aren’t bad by any stretch, they just can’t live up to the quality of the previous game. I know what you’re thinking, you’re wondering how one goes about topping Uncharted 2 within the same series or competing with the achievement of Legend of Zelda. In short, perhaps you don’t. Maybe its high time that publishers, because they are the boss, understand that some games run their course. On the other hand God of War 2 was definitely the apex of that series but thanks to a console generation between the second and the third, it was refreshing to receive a sequel that looked so much better. There’s a formula that works, so stop worrying about your own personal issues or listening to too many focus groups and do your best to capture the magic of the property. Please keep in mind that like the mantra of Scream 2, trilogies are not considered sequels in my eyes and thus are awarded certain liberties as a result. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to rip into the entire trilogy once the third releases if obvious oversights weren’t dealt with.
Death of the Portable
Portable gaming has been around almost as long as gaming as a whole. Since the first moment bleeps and bloops could be captured on a screen, engineers have been hard at work trying to recreate the same experience on the go. Now with both the Playstation Vita and Nintendo 3DS this goal has, for the most part, become a reality. While neither is quite on par with the likes of their HD gaming counterparts, there’s no doubt that the smaller screen does make the distinction difficult. Having personally played Resident Evil: Revelations, Super Mario Land 3D, Wipeout 2048 and Uncharted: Golden Abyss, I admit that I feel these games are nearly identical both in gameplay and graphics to home console titles. This is nothing new, in fact many would argue that the Playstation Portable was nothing but a slew of PS2-style titles both unique and ported. Unlike the PSP, though, it appears that the gaming public claim this is what they want. The sales, of course, tell a different tale.
Super Mario Land 3D: Not Your Father’s Mario
While I’m perfectly capable of giving a review of this title, its merits and setbacks hold more value to me in a comparison to the series as a whole instead of a single title of the generation. This is not a retrospective either, I’m more than happy to compare the timeline of the series if my content slims to that point.
We’re Sorry, but Your Princess is in Another Castle
As a gamer who has been conquering Bowser Koopa – back then we called him “King Koopa” – in 1987 when I unboxed my first NES, the Super Mario franchise is as dear to me as gaming. Needless to say that for better or worse, I have at one time or another owned every Nintendo console and thoroughly completed any part of the Super Mario platforming series. As the years carried on I grew older and more mature, as did the Super Mario series. One thing always remained consistent: each new release on a Nintendo platform played to the strengths of the hardware. Super Mario Land 3D is no exception; it thwarts bold statements that the 3D hardware doesn’t enhance a game just like Super Mario Galaxy did for motion controls on the Wii. It is not, however, Super Mario Bros. 3 meets Super Mario Galaxy, not in the least.
Your 2012 History, on the 5s and 10s
Well here we are, 2012, and yet another prediction for the end of the world (haven’t we been getting those yearly since 1999?). But just like the world, history moves forward and everything gets another year older. In celebration – yes, I celebrate age, but I would as a retro gamer – I’m going to pick up an old Retronauts tradition: we’re celebrating the incremental years on the 5s and 10s. This means that we go all the way back in history as far as we can and reflect on the relevant years in 5 and 10 year intervals. In this year’s case it would be the 2s and 7s, for example: 1952, 1957, 1962, etc. I’m not sure if Parish and the crowd are doing an episode like this but I’m guessing they are not, however don’t hesitate to drop by the site and see if 1up is actually going to attempt a call in episode on this subject. Without further ado, I present your history on the 5s and 10s (or should it be 2s and 7s?):
Behold the EDSAC
1952: Debate over what the first video game was is endless thanks to the ambiguity of a video game itself. The technology is still so new that proper definition and documentation is mostly nothing more than a semantic debate amongst scholars rather than industry standard. Some people consider MIT’s Spacewar! to be the first video game, but prior to its inception came a little game called OXO or naughts and crosses in 1952. It was developed by Alexander S. Douglas at the University of Cambridge and is most notable for being the first game with a digital display. Basically an Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) had a stored program that allowed it to play tic-tac-toe, although I couldn’t find any confirmation I’m pretty sure it was you versus the calculator/computer. It used a rotary phone for its controller.
1957: Fairchild Semiconductor was established when eight very intelligent engineers left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory after only one year. Shockley had assembled the best and brightest right out of engineering school to develop diodes that would work faster than traditional transistors. The “traitorous eight” (Julius Blank, Victor Grinich, Jean Hoerni, Eugene Kleiner, Jay Last, Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce and Sheldon Roberts) established the company with funding from Sherman Fairchild to make silicon transistors and eventually ended up making microprocessors and even an early video game console.
Gaming History 101 