The game Billy Hatcher was pretty decent back in the day, in the post Dreamcast experimental stage for SEGA, having a bit of a Sonic vibe about it for younger players and a bit of a crazy soundtrack plus gaming mechanism.
I was always upset the XBOX got Jet Set Radio Future which was ideally suited for Nintendo's platform and Gun Valkyrie plus Crazy Taxi 3 then the PS2 got the big hitter of Virtua Fighter 4 at the time instead of a true multi platform strategy like EA across all three new consloles SEGA picked and chose where each went for some reason. (Only had the Cube first then PS2 added later)
I think there were some deals in place at time if I recall and a strategy of thinking what would sell on each but XBOX got the best original titles I would argue overall, plus Cube some of the most fun.
Beach Spikers was a nice title for Cube, trying to think of the rest of the cancelled Dreamcast games that ended up elsewhere...
The strategy was all over the place PS2 got Rez, Headhunter, Sega GT2002, Aero Elite, Vampire Night, F355 Challenge, Sega Bass Fishing 4, Shinobi, Space Channel 5, Virtua Striker 3, Virtua Tennis 2.
Cube got Phantasy Star Online, Monkey Ball, Sonic Adventure 2, Home Run King, Skies of Arcadia Legends, Monkey Ball 2, Sonic Mega Collection, and Amazing Island
XBOX got Panzar Dragoon Orta, Shenmue 2, House of the Dead III, Toe Jam and Earl 3 as well.
Only Sega Soccer Slam was released across all 3 consoles in 2002 as a unique title bar their 2K sports series and NCAA College games.
Then Billy Hatcher kind of marks the end of the post Dreamcast title splurge from SEGA out in mid 2002 on Cube, and I recall it being a title made from the ground up for Gamecube not Dreamcast legacy project.
I played Gradius III on the SNES complete with slowdown originally, then V on PS2 from Treasure with the snazzy graphics and then picked up the Collection on PSP last year filling in the gaps!
Oh that is not as good, but it does say they stayed alive making usb boards, 2002 was maybe the handhelds and last of proper lineage?
"In later years, it struggled with the move to the seventh generation of video game consoles so pivoted to developing USB development boards and displays for industrial purposes.
World Cup USA 94 in all its glory would be more appropriate surely for true World Cup retro nostalgia!
First ever Widescreen mode on the 16 bit Genesis/Megadrive ever! 😱
"World Cup USA '94 is an association football video game developed by Tiertex and published by U.S. Gold in 1994. It was released for Genesis, Sega CD, Super NES, Master System, MS-DOS, Game Boy, Commodore Amiga and Game Gear. The game gives official groups, teams, and the fidelity schedule of the championship.
The MS-DOS and Sega CD versions have digitized stadium photos.
The Genesis version carries the PolyGram Video logo across the stadium advertisement boards in the game. The Genesis version was also the first console game to support a 16:9 widescreen mode."
Plus holy cow Tiertex lasted until just a few years ago in 2021, amazing!
"Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms.
It developed over 200 titles, including many under license from companies such as THQ, Disney Interactive and BBC Multimedia.
In later years, it struggled with the move to the seventh generation of video game consoles so pivoted to developing USB development boards and displays for industrial purposes.
On 5 August 2021, the company closed its doors"
A 35 years innings much longer than so many from the 80s/90s plus did I mention the first ever widescreen game ever on SEGA systems!
"Seeing the flipping screen open for the first time took me right back to the movie theater in 1999, watching Neo snap open the Nokia 8110 phone to answer a call from Morpheus."
Core late 90s memory unlocked.
I hunted around for ages to find the exact Neo and Trinity black sunglasses shades to wear, and a friend went after the Agent Smith ones for contrast, as he always liked the villains more...
Everything was better in the 80s and 90s, world has gone backwards or become flat and genuinely uninteresting IMO.
00s blended to 10s with no distinct fashion styles, technology plateaued, becoming less experimental and innovative, pop culture landmarks ceased to exist, music became non existent and fewer films and tv shows defined eras then shared culture events and experiences evaporated.
Personally I blame it all on Steve Jobs and the smartphone plus social media as things were okay up until 2008 and the noughties does have its own flavour!
Plus more experimentation and genuine fun with adverts, marketing, boxart, manuals and industry was new and young, plus unafraid to offend...
Dead End Drive the board game as an avatar always wanted to play that along with Mysteries of Old Peking!
Oh disaster their is a leaderboard, second fastest to complete but last at 20 with 6/15, the humiliation!
I think that is the most disturbing aspect of the technology. It is going to be, and already is used in this way, on many levels and lay people will not/cannot be able to tell the difference...
Would recommend reading Empires of AI by Karen Hao on this topic.
Nice feature. Enjoyed reading it, sometimes it is easy to forget the videogames industry was still relatively young in the 90s in many ways, and on a learning curve in multiple areas. Lost a little of its charm and innocence compared to the present for sure..
Fun article, good read, I quite like learning about regional and continental differences of previous console generations, and there is not too much historical information on South America with Nintendo.
I am trying to think of what SNK games from the original run founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku (新日本企画; 'New Japan Project') would be politically incorrect or get them cancelled/into trouble in this more enlightened age we live in now!
● Ikari Warriors = (Cultural Appropriation/Colonization or Commando rip off)
● Beast Busters (Zombie/Undead Demonization)
● NAM 1975 (Controversial Vietnam Conflict exploitation)
● Ghost Pilots (Money made from WW2 and evil N*zis)
● Fatal Fury (Making fun of orphans)
● Mutation Nation (Genetic Engineering/Experiments run amok and encouraged)
Things were simpler in the 90s with just the SEGA v Nintendo console wars it seems, and finding extra batteries for your handheld...back in the day when prices of consoles went down instead of up and your greatest weekly concern was catching the next Gamesmaster episode.🤷
You could say that is one of the worst traits of the AAA game space on consoles for the last decade and a half odd years for sure though.
The industry instead of forging its own path fully, fell back and mimicked the film industry approach as many more game designers wanted to be digital film directors.
Both structurally in terms of a select number of super studios and developer numbers eventually, as well as aesthetically in terms of grandiose cinematic and dialogue heavy adventures, that were all frankly becoming rather indistinguishable from one another.
I think that's one of the reasons why the PS2/XBox/Cube/Dreamcast Era is still so fondly remembered as this style of game had yet to fully dominate while others reached their logical conclusion and apex.
Arcade style and twitch games plus traditional evolutions of the 80s and 90s reached their apotheosis and were still relatively plentuful on certain consoles, you got the last true coin op/arcade console from SEGA, Microsoft innovated online and were a fresh player so certain elements still felt new, Nintendo refined their 3D N64 output with flashier graphics and gameplay and SONY double downed on what made Playstation work.
Yet the begginnings of narrative heavy interactive cinematic games have their routes predominantly in SONY's approach to games, I would argue and the birth of the emotion engine start here for sure 100%
PS3/360/Wii was sort of a transition era to what was to come next in terms of cinematic game styles over the last 10-15 years with Nintendo's console of that generation being a little bit of an outlier waggle and everything else included as Nintendo purposefully went out to disrupt elements.
This trend continued with Mario and co playing by their own more traditional or innovation based rules and Microsoft basically followed the SONY approach to gaming as the innovation space I felt contracted before the indie scene emerged and the rise of Steam on PC opened a new door...
Has he basically become the James Cameron of videogames though and not in a good way?
Kojima spent what two decades iterating on only one franchise Metal Gear Solid very similar to Cameron's Avatar juggernaut now, the parallels are a little scary.
William Gibson at least writes new fiction in conjunction with the changing world around him to this day.
I always felt Kojima was somewhat stuck in the 80/90s influences of his youth... (not saying that is a bad era to be obsessed about or take inspiration from)
He easily could have such a wider and more varied portfolio of games through his career I believe especially from mid 90s to 2012.
Why he was never allowed or even considered to make a next generation sequel to Snatcher or even give it an experiment/concept is a big question.
It is also noticeable that he appeared during the same era as the filmaker and has been less original as time went on and the industry imitated his approach...(for the worse in my opinion)
Comparing Kojima to say Shigeru Miyamoto it is like night and day always to me in terms of output and originality, and a little bit of a case of style over substance once the 21st century got going... but I guess that is the Kojami MO in the end. I prefer his earlier work.
I think his career would have been more varied and interesting if MGS had not been such a worldwide success, and he was able to experiment to a greater degree under Konami from say late 90s/early 2000s onwards.
Then again Sony and Playstation needed it to be a big seller, and to and extent created that landscape then conditions that kept him coding sequels for nearly two decades and the money arriving at intervals for Konami and shareholders.
A victim of own success with that series in the end, after all he basically left Konami as he was sick of creating the same game over and over again for every new Playstation hardware.
Thanks for the article though, hopefully get some conversation going about his true place in the pantheon of great video game designers.
The other text was 'Home Computers 100 Icons that defined a Digital Generation' if you are into computers and all things micro over consoles, this is the book to get with amazing photography!
Good review. I am ordering this book I'd also recommend another one about the visual history of obscure computers from the late 70s, 80s and 90s that I cannot find on Amazon or recall the name of edited by Alex Wiltshire...will update once foud name...
Here's my review and that Olympic Fencer blonde was not up to speed in Die Another Day anyway!
"Yet another early film choice (this seems to be a growing trend for Dwayne's worst films). Based off the hugely popular 1990s ID Software FPS video game about battling monster sent directly from a hell dimension, Doom was reworked a little from the original concept. The plot involves a portal to Mars buried deep within the Nevada desert and a squad of Marines sent out that reads like a loose reinterpretation of James Cameron's Aliens.
The fantastic Karl Urban and Bond Girl Rosmaund Pike turn up as co-stars, and The Rock plays The Sarge who gets to yield the destructive and distinctive weapon of choice from the games. It is lighthearted horror science fiction fun, and easily digestible, with it taking a decade for the film to come to screens."
I picked up the triple pack on Wii for around a fiver recently and had a blast for the weekend, although the boss shootouts are really tricky due to the remote, but still a lot of fun.
Gamecube had the nicest graphics of all that generation, lovely and crisp...playing Rogue Squadron 2 at launch made a friend join NASA, they were that good!
I want an updated modern version of this in both 16 or 32 bit style to make games of the quality like Thunderforce, or Ranger-X, Axelay, UN Squadron, R-Type, Einhander and so on plus a CAPCOM System I game generator...
The Megadrive is his greatest work IMO, still an all time classic and I believe it contributed a massive amount to the success of that console, as it literally looked amazing to what had arrived before it. I wish videogame industrial design was still this interesting...
Well I looked at Belmont's Curse appears yet another Metroidvania despite being very pretty, was sincerely hoping for a straight arcade scroller like Castlevania IV!
I cannot even get to the end of level 1 in Super Ghouls and Ghosts anymore! Tried playing the GBA version and it was rock hard...plus set to easy, the zombies were everywhere, everywhere I tell you!
@slider1983 There are also the Retro Collectors Edition with the Panini Stickers design artwork, a great artistic touch and specific one off magazines on PC, Cube, XBOX and PS2 from this era that you should read/pick up plus some other specials...
Sanches Era, 1999 to late 2003, the interesting string of covers and features happens around late 2001, 2002 and 2003 coinciding with Gamecube/XBOX launch and a new generation/landscape evolving...
Funnily enough that era produced a lot of great content, some in fact consider it the final hurrah of a golden period of the first decade with many specials and extra one offs created on specific systems plus interesting articles...
I think Mott is back as Editor now again as well according to my Nov 2025 issue.
I would say 1993 to 2003 is the best of the magazine personally, however not as familar with it from early 10s to present just jump in from time to time...however there are sometimes interesting articles that crop up to this day...
The Culture Era is very easy to recognise due to different size/format of magazine from 2004, definitely a left turn.
It was redesigned again more in keeping with original ethos and the future of interactive entertainment tagline was brought back after 2004-11 which remains to this day.
Comments 380
Re: "I Am Not Making Up This Story" - You Won't Believe What Yuji Naka Wanted To Call Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
The game Billy Hatcher was pretty decent back in the day, in the post Dreamcast experimental stage for SEGA, having a bit of a Sonic vibe about it for younger players and a bit of a crazy soundtrack plus gaming mechanism.
I was always upset the XBOX got Jet Set Radio Future which was ideally suited for Nintendo's platform and Gun Valkyrie plus Crazy Taxi 3 then the PS2 got the big hitter of Virtua Fighter 4 at the time instead of a true multi platform strategy like EA across all three new consloles SEGA picked and chose where each went for some reason. (Only had the Cube first then PS2 added later)
I think there were some deals in place at time if I recall and a strategy of thinking what would sell on each but XBOX got the best original titles I would argue overall, plus Cube some of the most fun.
Beach Spikers was a nice title for Cube, trying to think of the rest of the cancelled Dreamcast games that ended up elsewhere...
The strategy was all over the place PS2 got Rez, Headhunter, Sega GT2002, Aero Elite, Vampire Night, F355 Challenge, Sega Bass Fishing 4, Shinobi, Space Channel 5, Virtua Striker 3, Virtua Tennis 2.
Cube got Phantasy Star Online, Monkey Ball, Sonic Adventure 2, Home Run King, Skies of Arcadia Legends, Monkey Ball 2, Sonic Mega Collection, and Amazing Island
XBOX got Panzar Dragoon Orta, Shenmue 2, House of the Dead III, Toe Jam and Earl 3 as well.
Only Sega Soccer Slam was released across all 3 consoles in 2002 as a unique title bar their 2K sports series and NCAA College games.
Then Billy Hatcher kind of marks the end of the post Dreamcast title splurge from SEGA out in mid 2002 on Cube, and I recall it being a title made from the ground up for Gamecube not Dreamcast legacy project.
Re: "The GBA Is So Back" - Gradius Advance Gets A Comprehensive Fan-Made Upgrade
I played Gradius III on the SNES complete with slowdown originally, then V on PS2 from Treasure with the snazzy graphics and then picked up the Collection on PSP last year filling in the gaps!
Re: Celebrate World Cup 2026 With The '90s Classic Soccer Kid
Oh that is not as good, but it does say they stayed alive making usb boards, 2002 was maybe the handhelds and last of proper lineage?
"In later years, it struggled with the move to the seventh generation of video game consoles so pivoted to developing USB development boards and displays for industrial purposes.
On 5 August 2021, the company closed its doors"
Re: Sacré Bleu! Atari Is No Longer A French Company
Just like Amazon 😱
Re: Celebrate World Cup 2026 With The '90s Classic Soccer Kid
@mjparker77
Somehow lasted to 2021 as well, I would never have guessed that!
Re: Celebrate World Cup 2026 With The '90s Classic Soccer Kid
World Cup USA 94 in all its glory would be more appropriate surely for true World Cup retro nostalgia!
First ever Widescreen mode on the 16 bit Genesis/Megadrive ever! 😱
"World Cup USA '94 is an association football video game developed by Tiertex and published by U.S. Gold in 1994. It was released for Genesis, Sega CD, Super NES, Master System, MS-DOS, Game Boy, Commodore Amiga and Game Gear. The game gives official groups, teams, and the fidelity schedule of the championship.
The MS-DOS and Sega CD versions have digitized stadium photos.
The Genesis version carries the PolyGram Video logo across the stadium advertisement boards in the game. The Genesis version was also the first console game to support a 16:9 widescreen mode."
Plus holy cow Tiertex lasted until just a few years ago in 2021, amazing!
"Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms.
It developed over 200 titles, including many under license from companies such as THQ, Disney Interactive and BBC Multimedia.
In later years, it struggled with the move to the seventh generation of video game consoles so pivoted to developing USB development boards and displays for industrial purposes.
On 5 August 2021, the company closed its doors"
A 35 years innings much longer than so many from the 80s/90s plus did I mention the first ever widescreen game ever on SEGA systems!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BefScA19Cw0&pp=0gcJCToCo7VqN5tD
Re: Review: Anbernic RG Rotate - The Most Charming Handheld I've Seen In Years
"Seeing the flipping screen open for the first time took me right back to the movie theater in 1999, watching Neo snap open the Nokia 8110 phone to answer a call from Morpheus."
Core late 90s memory unlocked.
I hunted around for ages to find the exact Neo and Trinity black sunglasses shades to wear, and a friend went after the Agent Smith ones for contrast, as he always liked the villains more...
Re: Can You Match These Konami Arcade Flyers With Their Games?
@PKDuckman
Compared to 66 secs for others! 🤣
This person must have been employed by Konami in the 80s, or owned their own arcade back then!
Re: Can You Match These Konami Arcade Flyers With Their Games?
@OorWullie Yes more obscure retro quizes please Time Extension!
Re: Can You Match These Konami Arcade Flyers With Their Games?
@WaveBoy
Everything was better in the 80s and 90s, world has gone backwards or become flat and genuinely uninteresting IMO.
00s blended to 10s with no distinct fashion styles, technology plateaued, becoming less experimental and innovative, pop culture landmarks ceased to exist, music became non existent and fewer films and tv shows defined eras then shared culture events and experiences evaporated.
Personally I blame it all on Steve Jobs and the smartphone plus social media as things were okay up until 2008 and the noughties does have its own flavour!
Plus more experimentation and genuine fun with adverts, marketing, boxart, manuals and industry was new and young, plus unafraid to offend...
Dead End Drive the board game as an avatar always wanted to play that along with Mysteries of Old Peking!
Oh disaster their is a leaderboard, second fastest to complete but last at 20 with 6/15, the humiliation!
Re: Can You Match These Konami Arcade Flyers With Their Games?
Now I want 80s TV shows of all of these flyers!
Re: Check Out Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood Running On The Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Mega Drive v SNES Sound Wars in 2026 😱
I thought "Genesis does what Nintendon't" but are you not "meant to be playing with Super audio power now."..
The playground conflict that never ends, and is eternal it seems!
Next you'll be telling me Super Streetfighter 2 Turbo cannot possibly be converted to the Megadrive, but the SNES can handle Akuma!
Sega had much better marketing though 100% FACT
🤟🏻🫵🏻👊🏻
Re: "A First-Of-Its-Kind Collaboration" - You Can Now Own Sonic, Dreamcast And Genesis Office Chairs
No Cyber Razor Cut version = no sale
Re: Random: "This Isn't Real, Is It?" - These Annoying Gen AI Adverts For Retro Consoles Are Fooling A Lot Of People
@gojiguy
"The AI misinformation culture war begins"
I think that is the most disturbing aspect of the technology. It is going to be, and already is used in this way, on many levels and lay people will not/cannot be able to tell the difference...
Would recommend reading Empires of AI by Karen Hao on this topic.
Good read and objective.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/460331/empire-of-ai-by-hao-karen/9780241678923
Re: Interview: "It Was An Amateurish Company In A Good Way" - Capcom Japan's First Localisation Lead Talks Marvel, Resident Evil, & Working With Shinji Mikami
Nice feature. Enjoyed reading it, sometimes it is easy to forget the videogames industry was still relatively young in the 90s in many ways, and on a learning curve in multiple areas. Lost a little of its charm and innocence compared to the present for sure..
Re: More Neo Geo Games Are Coming To Evercade In 2027, And It's One Of The Cheapest Places To Play Them
@slider1983 Is it a licensing issue to do with the cars?
Re: "It's Almost Like A Religion" - The Incredible Journey To Document Nintendo's History In Brazil
Fun article, good read, I quite like learning about regional and continental differences of previous console generations, and there is not too much historical information on South America with Nintendo.
Re: Talking Point: "We, The Consumers, Need To Vote With Our Wallets" - The Moral Dilemma Of Supporting SNK In 2026
I am trying to think of what SNK games from the original run founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku (新日本企画; 'New Japan Project') would be politically incorrect or get them cancelled/into trouble in this more enlightened age we live in now!
● Ikari Warriors = (Cultural Appropriation/Colonization or Commando rip off)
● Beast Busters (Zombie/Undead Demonization)
● NAM 1975 (Controversial Vietnam Conflict exploitation)
● Ghost Pilots (Money made from WW2 and evil N*zis)
● Fatal Fury (Making fun of orphans)
● Mutation Nation (Genetic Engineering/Experiments run amok and encouraged)
● Windjammers (Frisbee exclusive Elitist sport, unrealistic lifestyle pursuit and possibly steriod use)
● Voltage Fighter (Using Natural Disasters and Criminality as major plot points)
● Neo Turf Masters (More Elitist sport excluding the unwashed plus no real players)
● Mark of the Wolves (Promotion of Geese Howard's late stage Capitalism uber plan by Kain at the expense of socialism)
Re: Talking Point: "We, The Consumers, Need To Vote With Our Wallets" - The Moral Dilemma Of Supporting SNK In 2026
Things were simpler in the 90s with just the SEGA v Nintendo console wars it seems, and finding extra batteries for your handheld...back in the day when prices of consoles went down instead of up and your greatest weekly concern was catching the next Gamesmaster episode.🤷
Re: "No Emulation, No Compromise, No Comparison" - The $250 Neo Geo+ AES Aims To Be A 1:1 Replica Of SNK's Classic Console
Another release of the obligatory Magician Lord!
It is literally Altered Beast levels of rising from the grave with this title!
Re: "Pond Versus Bond" - James Bond's IP Owner Opposes Trademark For Cult UK Video Game Character
@KingMike It is probably an Amazon/MGM edict no doubt.
Re: The DNA Of Hideo Kojima, Video Gaming's Greatest Auteur
@slider1983
You could say that is one of the worst traits of the AAA game space on consoles for the last decade and a half odd years for sure though.
The industry instead of forging its own path fully, fell back and mimicked the film industry approach as many more game designers wanted to be digital film directors.
Both structurally in terms of a select number of super studios and developer numbers eventually, as well as aesthetically in terms of grandiose cinematic and dialogue heavy adventures, that were all frankly becoming rather indistinguishable from one another.
I think that's one of the reasons why the PS2/XBox/Cube/Dreamcast Era is still so fondly remembered as this style of game had yet to fully dominate while others reached their logical conclusion and apex.
Arcade style and twitch games plus traditional evolutions of the 80s and 90s reached their apotheosis and were still relatively plentuful on certain consoles, you got the last true coin op/arcade console from SEGA, Microsoft innovated online and were a fresh player so certain elements still felt new, Nintendo refined their 3D N64 output with flashier graphics and gameplay and SONY double downed on what made Playstation work.
Yet the begginnings of narrative heavy interactive cinematic games have their routes predominantly in SONY's approach to games, I would argue and the birth of the emotion engine start here for sure 100%
PS3/360/Wii was sort of a transition era to what was to come next in terms of cinematic game styles over the last 10-15 years with Nintendo's console of that generation being a little bit of an outlier waggle and everything else included as Nintendo purposefully went out to disrupt elements.
This trend continued with Mario and co playing by their own more traditional or innovation based rules and Microsoft basically followed the SONY approach to gaming as the innovation space I felt contracted before the indie scene emerged and the rise of Steam on PC opened a new door...
Re: "Pond Versus Bond" - James Bond's IP Owner Opposes Trademark For Cult UK Video Game Character
Better change my username back just in case, you never know these days in the world of gaming!
Re: The DNA Of Hideo Kojima, Video Gaming's Greatest Auteur
Has he basically become the James Cameron of videogames though and not in a good way?
Kojima spent what two decades iterating on only one franchise Metal Gear Solid very similar to Cameron's Avatar juggernaut now, the parallels are a little scary.
William Gibson at least writes new fiction in conjunction with the changing world around him to this day.
I always felt Kojima was somewhat stuck in the 80/90s influences of his youth... (not saying that is a bad era to be obsessed about or take inspiration from)
He easily could have such a wider and more varied portfolio of games through his career I believe especially from mid 90s to 2012.
Why he was never allowed or even considered to make a next generation sequel to Snatcher or even give it an experiment/concept is a big question.
It is also noticeable that he appeared during the same era as the filmaker and has been less original as time went on and the industry imitated his approach...(for the worse in my opinion)
Comparing Kojima to say Shigeru Miyamoto it is like night and day always to me in terms of output and originality, and a little bit of a case of style over substance once the 21st century got going... but I guess that is the Kojami MO in the end. I prefer his earlier work.
I think his career would have been more varied and interesting if MGS had not been such a worldwide success, and he was able to experiment to a greater degree under Konami from say late 90s/early 2000s onwards.
Then again Sony and Playstation needed it to be a big seller, and to and extent created that landscape then conditions that kept him coding sequels for nearly two decades and the money arriving at intervals for Konami and shareholders.
A victim of own success with that series in the end, after all he basically left Konami as he was sick of creating the same game over and over again for every new Playstation hardware.
Thanks for the article though, hopefully get some conversation going about his true place in the pantheon of great video game designers.
Re: We Find Out What The 'Evercade Nexus' Is Tomorrow
Gizmondo compatibility announced!
Re: Gallery: Leaps + Bounds - A Visual Guide To Nine Console Generations
The other text was 'Home Computers 100 Icons that defined a Digital Generation' if you are into computers and all things micro over consoles, this is the book to get with amazing photography!
MIT Press
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262044011/home-computers/
"A celebration of the early years of the digital revolution, when computing power was deployed in a beige box on your desk."
Re: Gallery: Leaps + Bounds - A Visual Guide To Nine Console Generations
Good review. I am ordering this book I'd also recommend another one about the visual history of obscure computers from the late 70s, 80s and 90s that I cannot find on Amazon or recall the name of edited by Alex Wiltshire...will update once foud name...
Re: DOOM Star Says The Movie Was "Probably One Of The Worst Films Ever Made"
Here's my review and that Olympic Fencer blonde was not up to speed in Die Another Day anyway!
"Yet another early film choice (this seems to be a growing trend for Dwayne's worst films). Based off the hugely popular 1990s ID Software FPS video game about battling monster sent directly from a hell dimension, Doom was reworked a little from the original concept. The plot involves a portal to Mars buried deep within the Nevada desert and a squad of Marines sent out that reads like a loose reinterpretation of James Cameron's Aliens.
The fantastic Karl Urban and Bond Girl Rosmaund Pike turn up as co-stars, and The Rock plays The Sarge who gets to yield the destructive and distinctive weapon of choice from the games. It is lighthearted horror science fiction fun, and easily digestible, with it taking a decade for the film to come to screens."
Re: Bodice-Ripping Epic 'Defender Of The Crown' Is Getting Remastered For Its 40th Birthday
I bought Defender of the Crown and Wings for GBA recently as I wanted an easy way to play them on go.
Or it might have on been on watching Knight of Seven Kingdoms with all the jousting.
This remake looks pretty lush from screenshots and graphics.
They really should remaster all their games now, as the majority have stood the test of time due to presentation and flair...
An Evercade cart or steam collection I think would sell well...
Still to play a few of them though like Lords of the Rising Sun, Sinbad and S.D.I. then select others.
Re: FMV Western 'Mad Dog McCree' Now Playable In ScummVM, Alongside Six Other Titles
I picked up the triple pack on Wii for around a fiver recently and had a blast for the weekend, although the boss shootouts are really tricky due to the remote, but still a lot of fun.
Re: A Lost Sega Saturn Port Of An FMV Boxing Game From Night Trap's Developer Has Just Been Preserved Online
Michael Buffer appearance! Must have cost a bit to get him involved!
Re: "I Was Their 'Man In Japan', But In Reality, I Was A Teenager In Putney" - Shintaro Kanaoya Talks Raze, Bullfrog And Rare
Long article, yet good read. I am collecting the original Raze at the moment only 2 issues to go of the 12.
Re: New Cheat Codes Discovered In SNES Baseball Game, Almost 30 Years After Its Original Release
Had no idea this was a Rare game until quite recently just last 12 months and a couple of nice copies on ebay have slipped through my fingers curses!
Re: Pure FX Appeal - Unpicking The History Of The PC-FX, One Of Japan's Biggest '90s Console Flops
Nice article, please make obscure 90s hardware a series of columns!
Re: Random: Mortal Kombat Made An Unexpected Appearance At This Year's Winter Olympics
Just booked my tickets for "Mortal Kombat on Ice" for Christmas to tie in with new movie!
Re: Review: The Turrican Collection (Evercade) - A Proper Anthology
Super Turrican 1 and 2 prices on SNES might get cheaper at last!
Re: GameCube & Wii Emulator Dolphin Adds Support For Triforce Arcade Platform From Namco, Nintendo, & Sega
Gamecube had the nicest graphics of all that generation, lovely and crisp...playing Rogue Squadron 2 at launch made a friend join NASA, they were that good!
Re: Ever Fancied Creating Your Own Shoot 'Em Up? This Week's Console Archives Release Has You Covered
I want an updated modern version of this in both 16 or 32 bit style to make games of the quality like Thunderforce, or Ranger-X, Axelay, UN Squadron, R-Type, Einhander and so on plus a CAPCOM System I game generator...
Re: "The Father Of Sega Hardware", Hideki Sato, Has Passed Away
The Megadrive is his greatest work IMO, still an all time classic and I believe it contributed a massive amount to the success of that console, as it literally looked amazing to what had arrived before it. I wish videogame industrial design was still this interesting...
Re: Check Out This Complete Overhaul Of The Original Castlevania While You Wait For Belmont's Curse
Well I looked at Belmont's Curse appears yet another Metroidvania despite being very pretty, was sincerely hoping for a straight arcade scroller like Castlevania IV!
Re: This Is The Best Way To Play Fan Translations On Original Hardware We've Seen So Far
I like getting USA expert fan made versions of untranslated games with new maps and inserts...
Alcahest
Secret of Mana 2
Final Fantasy 5
Lufia Series
Live a Live
Bahamut Lagoon
Front Mission Series
Treasure of the Rundras
This device does appear pretty neat though especially as Super Famicom versions are a fraction of English originals...
Example Boxed
Chrono Trigger USA = 500-1000 pounds
Chrono Trigger JAP = 50 pounds
Re: Community Challenge: How Far Can You Get In Ghosts 'N Goblins NES Without Taking A Hit?
I cannot even get to the end of level 1 in Super Ghouls and Ghosts anymore! Tried playing the GBA version and it was rock hard...plus set to easy, the zombies were everywhere, everywhere I tell you!
Re: This New "Dark Science-Fiction" Shoot 'Em Up Aims To Push The SNES Hardware
Space Megaforce/Super Aleste is still an amazing title on SNES for vertical shooters 30+ years later.
Re: "We'll Never Be Able To Reach That Level" - Final Fantasy Legend Nobuo Uematsu's Reaction To Yuzo Koshiro's SNES Debut
The vinyl and cd are in my collection. The music is outstanding for such an early title.
Re: "Yes, It Was Elitist, And No, That Wasn't A Bad Thing" - EDGE Alumni On Why The Mag Is Still Going Strong, Over 30 Years On
@slider1983 Not sure the current trend but if it is EDGE the ethos will remain consistent throughout, that does not change despite its 30+ history
EDGE does love games just in its own unique way.
Re: "Yes, It Was Elitist, And No, That Wasn't A Bad Thing" - EDGE Alumni On Why The Mag Is Still Going Strong, Over 30 Years On
@slider1983 There are also the Retro Collectors Edition with the Panini Stickers design artwork, a great artistic touch and specific one off magazines on PC, Cube, XBOX and PS2 from this era that you should read/pick up plus some other specials...
Re: "Yes, It Was Elitist, And No, That Wasn't A Bad Thing" - EDGE Alumni On Why The Mag Is Still Going Strong, Over 30 Years On
@slider1983
Sanches Era, 1999 to late 2003, the interesting string of covers and features happens around late 2001, 2002 and 2003 coinciding with Gamecube/XBOX launch and a new generation/landscape evolving...
Re: "Yes, It Was Elitist, And No, That Wasn't A Bad Thing" - EDGE Alumni On Why The Mag Is Still Going Strong, Over 30 Years On
@slider1983
Funnily enough that era produced a lot of great content, some in fact consider it the final hurrah of a golden period of the first decade with many specials and extra one offs created on specific systems plus interesting articles...
Re: "Yes, It Was Elitist, And No, That Wasn't A Bad Thing" - EDGE Alumni On Why The Mag Is Still Going Strong, Over 30 Years On
@slider1983
I have not read it full time really since around 2012...
Culture Era is just different they tried something new, to change with times, some of it worked, some did not...
I think it will depend on your age and interests, nostalgia, favourite systems and games, when started playing and so forth...
You may get more out of post 2012 than self as a result.
The journalism is of a high quality throughout, but the industry changes through the decades/years...and that is reflected in the magazine...
Re: "Yes, It Was Elitist, And No, That Wasn't A Bad Thing" - EDGE Alumni On Why The Mag Is Still Going Strong, Over 30 Years On
@slider1983
It is best probably to go with different Editoral Shifts...
So it is something like...
1993-99 Brookes
99-03 Sanches
03-06 Mott
06-07 Robertson
07-12 Mott
12-13 Wiltshire
13-20 Brown
20+ Simpkins
I think Mott is back as Editor now again as well according to my Nov 2025 issue.
I would say 1993 to 2003 is the best of the magazine personally, however not as familar with it from early 10s to present just jump in from time to time...however there are sometimes interesting articles that crop up to this day...
The Culture Era is very easy to recognise due to different size/format of magazine from 2004, definitely a left turn.
It was redesigned again more in keeping with original ethos and the future of interactive entertainment tagline was brought back after 2004-11 which remains to this day.