Editorial – Nintendo’s Biggest Problem: Us
Normally I wouldn’t be speaking to the modern gaming scene, but the overall backlash toward Nintendo is that they are failing with the Wii U and they need to fix it now. The first statement is unarguably true, and despite the second statement being more of an opinion, it’s one that Nintendo also shares. From the outset of the Wii U’s supposed and later confirmed failure, my peers on the Internet and beyond that at larger video game media venues have taken it upon themselves to suggest what Nintendo should do to fix this problem (just look at this simple search). Needless to say the vocal minority in message boards have also role-played as CEO and declared their plans on how to “fix” Nintendo with suggestions that vary from practical to downright stupid. This illustrates one of the largest problems in gaming today: the public.
I’m not sure quite when the Facebook generation took over, but ever since social media has boomed it has been handled in a very irresponsible way. At first people were just plain rude due to anonymity, however now we see people who blatantly admit to their real names and even in public have brought out this behavior. Internet rudeness has become commonplace. With it so has any sort of credibility for sources of accurate information and inevitably the whole world thinking they are important. Well Nintendo doesn’t need your help and wouldn’t do well to follow it.
Podcast: Taito Legends
This week Fred is joined by James (@Jamalais) to discuss the arcade classics released by Taito in the 1980s. They cover the company’s history and many of the staple titles like Space Invaders, Jungle Hunt, Zoo Keeper, Bubble Bobble, Darius, Rainbow Islands, and Rastan. Return to one of the arcade pioneers of gaming’s golden years.
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Please note: In the show Jam refers to a review for Rainbow Islands that was very close to him. That review can be read, unedited, here. (It is in an open document type, so I recommend using Google Docs to view.)
Polygon features “An Oral History of Street Fighter II”
Ah Street Fighter II, how you have become a beloved fighter franchise. While the celebrated fighter may hold a special place in the hearts of arcade enthusiasts or those who were teens in the mid 90s, I am always fascinated by the stories of the game’s genesis. Since I will never have access to the veteran team responsible for Capcom’s classic, Matt Leone (formerly of 1UP and now at Polygon) has covered just that in his recent Oral History of Street Fighter II. It’s an amazing and deep read that any fan of game development should definitely take in. I swear, features like this prove that true featured articles did not die with print.
PC Gamer Replays Hell
In the mid 1990s PC gaming was a bit of a wild world. Consoles were clearly embracing the 3D as an up and coming technology – Star Fox, Virtua Racing, and Donkey Kong Country were just a taste of things to come – and PC developers all had various approaches to making the next big thing. During this time a series of point-and-click adventures, often with embedded action sequences, made their way to your Windows 95/DOS platform that featured voice acting from stars, adult themes, and horrible early 3D renders.
Some of these games caught on and have quite the cult following. Sometimes it’s quality, like Tim Schaefer and LucasArts’ Grim Fandango, and other times it’s the creator’s reputation, like Roberta William’s Phantasmagoria. Still others are a complete anomaly, like D. One of the more buried projects that released was Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller, and before you think of it as a victim of circumstance it really is a terrible game. Your guard should always be up when words like “cyberpunk” and “thriller” are in the title instead of the description and the big sticker that proudly announced voice work from Dennis Hopper was a red flag even back then. I spent a lot of time and chunk of change getting my hands on a copy of this game for the 3DO – I tend to grab old PC games on this console because it’s easier to just drop the game into my 3DO than try to get it to work on a Windows 7 device. Needless to say after one hour it was a dust collector in my game closet. Fortunately for all of us, Richard Cobbett over at PC Gamer covered the entire campaign and gameplay in a more-words-than-it-deserves addition to his Saturday Crapshoot series. If you don’t know this game, this well written piece is a much better way to experience Hell and I chose to cover it because there’s no way I’m ever going to review it. Check it out!
Podcast: Guardian Heroes Game Club
This week we are joined by Horseplay podcast’s Yogi Lopez (@Yogizilla) and freelance retro writer Jam (@Jamalais) to discuss Sega’s gem for the Saturn Guardian Heroes. A surprisingly deep hack-and-slash with RPG elements and even a fully controlled NPC, this title ushered out 2D sprites and a genre that was much beloved in the early-to-mid 1990s.
Good Old Games Holds “Time Machine” Sale
If you head on over to Good Old Games right now you will see they are holding a “Time Machine” sale on the main page. It looks like each offer goes live for around 75-90 minutes with really decent discounts. Already today Tomb Raider 1-3 could be had for $1.99 and currently Carmageddon and the expansion, the Splat Pack, are $1.49. According to the press release the sale goes all day, covers 30 years of gaming, and some sales will offer games as low as 59 cents. As with all GOG content, these games come DRM-free, are optimized to work on modern day (typically Windows XP-7 at least) machines, and include plenty of goodies like PDF versions of the manual along with bonus content like wallpapers and soundtracks.
Editor comment: Unlike Steam and other digital distributors, GOG has always done an excellent job at creating a package that you can quite literally double click on and play in today’s PC gamescape. With retro gaming on PCs being plagued by incompatibility issues it can be risky to pick up your classic games elsewhere. To see sales like this shows that GOG is ready to compete with other online stores head on.
Podcast: Big Boss Man
This week Fred is joined by guests @JamesFortengard and @Xenocore to discuss the origins and some of our favorite boss battles. A dying art, we celebrate those large scale gatekeepers and rule-breaking big baddies that challenged our past and is barely kept alive today.
Podcast: Excelsior!
This week Chip Cella (@CaptinChaos) and Andy Urquhart (@damien14273) from the Agents of Shieldcast join Fred to discuss retro titles featuring Marvel Characters. They learn that the distinction of titles early in gaming were almost nonexistent and perhaps Marvel having Disney behind it may actually be a good thing. Listen on true believers!
Let’s Play Michigan: Report from Hell
Here’s our complete Let’s Play of the PS2 Japan/Europe exclusive by Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51, Michigan: Report from Hell.
Podcast: 2014 on the 5s and 10s
This year special guest Andy Urquhart (@damien12473) joins Fred to discuss the 5s and 10s of 2014 (meaning 1959, 1964, 1969, etc.) along with some additional reminiscing from the chat. Find out what happened in the ancient years leading up to and during the golden age of console gaming.
Gaming History 101 