Podcast: Tabletops and D20s
Oh yeah and it’s Fred’s birthday and listener SieOne was kind enough to send a card.
This week we ring in the new year with guest Gary Butterfield from duckfeed.tv and the Watch Out For Fireballs podcast to discuss video games based on tabletop games. Of course the big one, Dungeons & Dragons, takes up a chunk of the conversation but there are others that make their way in. We also track the history and progression of taking earlier stat-based games and being able to integrate them properly onto the screen.
Syphon Filter – PSone Review
Platform: Playstation
Released: 1999 (worldwide)
Developer: Eidetic
Publisher: 989 Studios
Digital Release? Yes, this is available as a PSOne classic on PSN for $5.99
Price: $2.89 (disc only), $4.95 (complete), and $9.99 (new/sealed) per Price Charting
In the late nineties stealth was becoming a big deal in the game industry, a lot of this was thanks to games like Metal Gear Solid on PSone and Thief on PC. Along comes 989 studios with a little game called Syphon Filter. I knew very little about this game before it was released. In the UK this game received very little coverage in the magazines even though it ended up reviewing quite well. My first experience of the game was actually playing the demo which came free with Official Playstation Magazine. The demo was just of the first level but I found it enjoyable enough to sought the game out on release and I kinda enjoyed the game. It seemed like I was the only one of my circle of friends that knew about this game but that didn’t stop the game receiving two additional sequels on the PSone as well as additional games on the PS2 and PSP. For now lets revisit the original and see how it fairs now.
Secret of Mana Review
Platform: Super NES
Released: 1993 (Japan, US) 1994 (Europe)
Developer: Squaresoft (aka Square)
Publisher: Square
Digital Release? Yes, Secret of Mana is available on the Wii Virtual Console for $8.00 or iOS/Android for $3.99
Price: $45.75 (cart only), $99.99 (complete), and $999.99 (new/sealed) per Price Charting
Please Note: As discussed in both reviews, we played through this game on the Wii Virtual Console and not the SNES.
Jam’s Take
This year I’m finally catching playing games on that much loved system, the Super Nintendo. So far I’ve been very happy with the games I have played. Earlier in the year on GH101 I managed to finally playthrough the fantastic Super Metroid. Its amazing how well these games play today despite never owning a SNES back when I was younger and better looking. For this November/December game club I played through Secret of Mana. This game is uncommon and kind of forgotten in Europe. Released from Squaresoft the game came out very late in the SNES life cycle, so its time to get ready to grind and see how Secret of Mana fairs today. Since I don’t own a SNES I played through Secret of Mana on the Wii virtual console.
Extra Credit: 2014 Game Clubs – A Year in Review
Jam goes solo on this short show to round up all the Game Clubs we did over 2014
Podcast: Secret of Mana Game Club
This week Fred and Jam re-live the adventures of Hero, Girl, and Sprite as they uncover the mana sword and take on a dark empire. Originally developed as the first SNES Playstation CD game, business decisions obviously forced this back onto a cartridge with impressive results. Oh yeah, and we never played it in full until now.
Rock Boshers DX Director’s Cut Review
Jam’s Take
With the ever increasing improvements to video games – top of the range PCs with graphics cards that are able to show realism that get closer and closer to the real thing – as a gamer you really start to question how games could get any better. Then comes along a game called Rock Boshers that shows us that the evolution in gaming of not necessarily going forward, but backwards.
Rock Boshers is very much a love letter to the ZX Spectrum gaming days. The game happily advertises that it pulls from a palette of just 15 colours and even mimics the music the old micro computers from the eighties was capable of. Rock Boshers is not the first game to give love to the old microcomputer, the ZX Spectrum still gets a lot of love to this day with homebrew games being regularly released (Retro Gamer magazine which is a popular read in the UK, discusses popular homebrew released every month). Rock Boshers is one of the few ZX Spectrum inspired games as far as I am aware that has made it to Steam and even the PS4 and PSVita (the latter being the version I’ve reviewed).
Tech: Comprehensive Capture Device Review
First and foremost, let me preface by saying that this entire post is in no way promotional. While I may link to a slew of items – using Amazon because it’s the only location to find all of these items, but many can be found elsewhere and sometimes at better prices – there is nothing in it for myself of Gaming History 101. We did not receive any of these items, all were purchased by the reviewer (ie: me, Fred Rojas) and none of the links here involve any kickback for purchasing through them as I’m told you can do with Amazon and of course, Gaming History 101 remains completely ad free. I am writing this piece because when I looked for buying advice online it was nothing but paid promotion, a few hardware reviews that are years old and speak nothing to the current state of these capture devices, and of course none of them had accurate information when it came to capturing retro devices. In a world where we want screenshots, streaming, video capture, and just to have fun with the prized possessions in our collection and share it with the world, capture devices are a great way to do so. I have also been told that capturing and streaming emulation, especially if you generate ad revenue (we are ad-free on GH101 as well as our YouTube channel), can be illegal and get your videos taken down so use caution if going that route. We only capture actual consoles with actual game carts/discs, and use flash carts when necessary for items like homebrew. Therefore, here is the most comprehensive review I can give with about as much geeky tech background as I can provide.
As stated in the intro, I wanted a device where I could both capture retro and modern consoles that also supported streaming, commentary, and a myriad of content creation options. I should also point out that my plans were, and currently consist, of importing almost all gameplay into Sony Platinum Video Suite 13 (formerly Vegas) for editing and rendering, so that does play a part in my opinions. I tested these devices on three computers, all of which I will provide basic spec for you now. In reviews, these will be labeled as Computers 1, 2, or 3.
Podcast: Twas the Night Before Xmas Pt. 3 (1994-1997)
This week was supposed to feature tons of guests like Trees from EZMU, Yogi from Horseplay, and Shawn from Knuckleballer and Zombiecast, but of course Fred screwed up and lost the recording from the live show. As a result Jam and Fred got back together to re-record and I must say we’re quite pleased with the outcome. Doesn’t make up for the lack of guests, but we did manage to get in most of their comments along the way.
Download this episode (right click and save)
If you missed parts 1 and 2 in previous years, here are the links!
Retro Game Night: Die Hard Trilogy and Arcade
This week for Retro Game Night it’s a double header from the greatest Christmas movie of all time: Die Hard. When the PS1 and Saturn launched Fox Interactive released a series of trilogy video games from its properties, one of which was Die Hard Trilogy, combining a 3rd person isometric shooter for the original film, an on-rails Virtua Cop style light gun shooter (controllers work too) for the second film, and somewhat of a Crazy Taxi clone for the third film. We play it here (in HD) to give you a taste of all three.
Then, around the same time Sega decided to release its arcade brawler Die Hard Arcade (which started life as Streets of Rage 4) exclusively on the Saturn. With no other ports (thanks to Sega’s publishing and distribution rights) and a so-so version on MAME, this is truly the only plug-and-play home port of the game. Check it out.
Spyro The Dragon Review
Platform: Playstation
Released: 1998 (worldwide)
Developer: Insomniac
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA)
Digital Release? Yes, this is available as a PSOne classic on PSN for $5.99
Price: $13.99 (disc only), $19.98 (complete), and $55.00 (new/sealed) per Price Charting
Jam’s Take
The Sony Playstation was well known for having a generous supply of 3D platformers. You had Crash Bandicoot, Gex (other than the first) and Croc but there was also another animal who made a name for himself on the system and later rose to greater popularity, probably even more so than Crash. I am of course referring to Spyro the Dragon. For this review we are going back to the origins of the character with the very first game on the Playstation that was developed by Insomniac games.
Gaming History 101 