Diogmites

Me and a buddy spent plenty of time ogling the CD-X in game magazines, pining over it in hushed, breathy tones.
We frequently rented the sega cd and i can’t help but think, we need another mini with way more sega cd games than the last one, and the CD-X and the Multi-Mega(i love this name) would be the perfect sculpt.
I’m always wanting more minis.
Lovely piece of hardware and thanks for the images and article!
That little display at the front of the console is so cool…

I never owned an og Game Boy, but knew a fellow student who had one, and he lent it to me frequently during school. Unlike me, he had not been blessed with the unquenchable will to game.
One day, we had a substitute teacher (supply teacher), who saw fit to deprive me of that legendary handheld.
However, as this teacher was only working for a day, i was able to retrieve it from its internment in a desk drawer and successfully abscond.
I await and accept any forthcoming high fives.
Happy Birthday, Game Boy!

Man, i remember when there were just a few video game history/retrospective books out there. Now there’s so many.
It’s awesome. I have the first Handheld History book and it is beautiful and filled with words from talented writers.
The Console Chronicles is going to end up on my shelf.

The description makes me want to try it, but i see an airborne mouse in my future.
Still, too intriguing to pass up. Must get to my PC.
(Note-tried it and i like it)

@Sketcz I can only imagine the thrill of the event and the mammoth task it put before you, but i will say: quest fulfilled to great effect, friend!
I spent some time with a Langrisser community on reddit but lost touch with them in 2020. I severed many ties that year.
I just checked back in and while the community is no longer familiar to me, and i didn’t see any old pals, i did drop a link and a positive recommendation. Hopefully, it gets noticed. I’ll put the word out elsewhere but my social media accounts are pretty dormant. I just hope more fans can see this too.
Thanks for the reply!
Update: i’m heading to sleep now, and the post has 10 upvotes on the subreddit now, so fans are surely reading it!!😀

Thanks for spotlighting this, Damien!!
This is going in my next Amazon order. It only has a couple user reviews, but they seem to be from discerning Saturn fans, and are positive.

@Jhena have you played the Panzer Dragoon remake for Switch? It drew a lot of criticism from fans at launch, but they patched it and i purchased it after that. I dig it and have gone through it many times now.

From a Golden Axe toon i want something all-out like Korgoth of Barbaria.
Don’t think this will be like that, but i’ll still take a look.

@OldManHermit That 80s corniness is endearing to me too, and i feel it’s not replicable in modern films.
I remember there’s a fat dude with a baseball cap and suspenders in the Streets of Rage games.
I gotta watch Roadhouse again and i will definitely get on Precinct 13. It’s been on my watchlist forever, and i needed a little kick. Also, i really dug Streets of Fire when i was a kid, though haven’t seen it since.
The Thing is great! ✌️

@OldManHermit Roadhouse lol … “I used to [play Capcom games with] guys like you in prison!” I loved that movie! The warriors too. I don’t think i ever saw Carpenter’s original Assualt on Precinct 13. I need to watch that sometime as i love his horror films, and some of his other stuff, like Big Trouble In Little China and Escape From New York.

@Sketcz I wasn’t around at the time this article ran, and just noticed this. As a fan of Warsong on the genny and Langrisser 1 and 2, as well as Satoshi Urushihara's art, this was awesome.
Also, your translation notes in the documents are entertaining and useful.
Must have been an incredible day!
Thank you for your work!

Great to see an article featuring Noriyuki Iwadare! I have a cd of this guy’s work in my car right now. It’s from the excellent Langrisser 1 and 2 collector’s edition that was released from NISAmerica for Switch years back.
I’ve never played Grandia or heard its music. His crowning achievement? Considered my arm twisted!
Going to investigate that HD collection on Switch and, at the least, listen to Grandia’s soundtrack where i find it.
Thanks for the article!

Garriot, always the personality, had been publicly talking about going to space since i could remember. Of course, he finally did it in 2008. He married in 2011 and now has two kids.
I like to imagine that when pressed to settle down before 2008, his response, delivered cooly, was, “I gotta go to space first, baby.”
These two are legends, and to have the writer of Bard’s Tale and creator of Ultima team up, would be cool.

Never heard of this game. Looks like Track and Field with over-the-top-anime characters 90s style.
This sounds more exciting to me than being shot out of a cannon.
Next week and i’m checking this out.
Thanks for the news!

I’m surprised this didn’t exist yet. I don’t regularly read comics, but i do have an Udon omnibus with a collection of Street Fighter comics in it. And a ton of their art books.
The have a talented stable of artists and that’s Udon’s main draw for me.
I’ll have to check out the free crossover in May.
Digressing heavily, i had udon for the first time in my life last week.

@Sketcz You’re not alone! I know of two others who prefer Prince’s soundtrack besides myself. Prince’s opening track, which sounds like some badass 80s metal riff, is indeed potent in its ability to induce the desire to kick demon butt.
Though, i must confess, i haven’t given the 32bit music much of a chance.
I enjoy your comparison!
Also, the phrase, “chainsaw enema”, kinda makes one squirm, yeah? haha i like it

@Damo I know this is an old piece, but read this for the first time over lunch and adored it! Love how you interwove the history of the genny and snes Mortal Kombat ports with two seperate interviews. Thank you!

@DestructoDisk I really dig your description of Crossed Swords. Yeah, back in high school, i got a call from a friend and he was all “Drop what you’re doing. We’re going to the arcade to play this new neo geo game NOW!!” It was great and we spent a lot of time on it for a couple of years. I still boot it up and blast through it occasionally, though i’ve played it an excessive amount . There is a sequel (and i think it’s on Switch) that i’ve not played.
But yeah, it would be really sweet if they were all on steam. I like to keep my games all in one spot too. I forgot that LotR2 existed!
I owned and played it lot and so i thank you! I’ve played so many games over my lifespan, some just fall through the cracks in my memory. Gonna buy that!
I have a bunch of the gold box collections on steam and spent a lot of time with them last year. Loved those games!
Thanks for the reply!

I’ve never really internalized who Code Mystics were, but i’ve seen the logo so many times i automatically pictured it upon reading.
That’s a nice sale! I think it’s around half off each title’s current common price.
I just realised i never bought Crossed Swords on Switch. Man, i loved that game.
Just ramblin’.
Thank you for the heads up!

I didn’t need to be aware of this. But i’m glad i am!
S’all i got. Thanks, Damien!

P.S. i have never played Crazy Taxi, despite owning a Dreamcast for a period of time, gonna go change that later today

@Zenszulu I see! The store we have here never has anything all that rare. At least that i’ve seen. I did get a sealed Lunar Silver Star Story Complete way back in like 2005… which had been difficult for me to find even a few years after it was released.
Anyways, thanks for replying to me about the pricing and availability of Saturns and retro stuff in general in your area! I enjoy reading about different experiences!

@sdelfin Thank you, that is good knowledge! And keen spot! 👍✌️

@sdelfin Glad you mentioned the Turbografx! Though i never saw a Saturn, i have an old gaming buddy i still play with on Steam nowadays, and he had a Turbografx (he got it for a port of his favorite arcade game, Cadash) growing up, and i recall seeing a few of those in stores.

But, we had a Kay Bee, and a Software Etc., and didn’t get a Toys R Us until the early 2000s. I would think that any store that would stock a Turbografx would stock a Saturn, but i could be wrong. Either way, yeah PSX ‘s were everywhere to your point of Sony having huge distribution advantages.
All great points you make about the 32x being a financial drain and how that was a substantial detriment to the Saturn in its struggle against the PlayStation! Yeah, i remember Sega marketing the heck out of the 32x … tv ads were and are spendy!

I wasn’t super cognizant of the PSX during its lifetime and wouldn’t own it until near the end of the PS2’s era. I do remember some griping about the system not coming with a memory card, i had not realized or forgotten it didn’t come with a game!
I wasn’t really aware how close the Sega and Sony consoles actually were in price.
Anyways, thanks for the interesting reply!

@Zenszulu Equally interesting to hear you couldn’t find one in England either! Unlike you though, i never see them around today. We have a local game shop that sells New and Used and i used to know all the dudes there and i would have them reserve stuff for me. They never acquired one in the many years i patronised their establishment. They have a website where you can check their inventory and inventory history and i checked before i typed this, and they still have never had one in stock(that they documented anyways). That’s kinda blowing my mind a little, as my town has grown considerably in the last couple decades or so.
Thanks for the reply!

@Sketcz Thanks for the link! Was unaware of this guy until now.

Yeah, the 32x… i’m going to type about my aggressively limited knowledge and experience of and with the Saturn.
The Saturn is a console that not only have i never played, but i never even saw it on store shelves. So small was its presence in my backwater U.S. town that there are people who i gamed with growing up, who are still gamers, are still most likely unaware of this console’s existence.
There were a few Saturn games on shelves here back then, and i asked a store owner once about the console, and he said he probably couldn’t get one. After trying to sell me Saturn games. So i was late to that party apparently.
When i finally decided to hop online in the late 90s to chat with fellow gamers, the Saturn was already revered, and there was a lot of anger towards a certain US exec.
I did consider the Saturn a failure, but when i said that, i meant to say in the way it was marketed, distributed and how many were made and sold.
I would freaking LOVE to play one, and i’ve heard nothing but great things about its library over the years. Heck, i always wanted one.
As a game console that sold very little in comparison to its monstrously popular competitors and ultimately died too soon, the Saturn is still beloved by those who played it and the only negative things i’ve heard about the console, have nothing to do with its library of games.
And it’s common to say now, but software is what really matters, so no, i guess the Saturn wasn’t a failure. At least not where it counts to me.
Mini it please.

Thanks for the article, Damien!✌️

Christopher Sawyer is a pretty cool genre legend. I’ve never actually played Rollercoaster Tycoon or his seminal, Transport Tycoon.
Appreciate Time Extension highlighting these deals. It’s been a good month of gaming for me, thanks to you guys!

This is an interesting story, and i’m glad Cookie’s Bustle found its defenders.
Thanks for the happy and strange tale!
Also, i didn’t know what the “Streisand Effect” was!

This is tempting, but i should hold off. I dunno though, there’s a handful in there i’ve never played before.
Regardless , thanks for the heads up!

I think Pikachu is the most known video game character, but that lil shockmouse is more associated with Pokemon multimedia than with actual gaming.
I would guess that more people globally are familiar with Pac Man and Mario than Lara. And i think one of the one of the criteria for icon status should be a certain amount of visibility outside of your immediate sphere.
I would not have picked Lara. Mrs. Pac Man would have been a better choice even.
(Note- i might of gone too far on that last sentence)

The first time i played Wily Wars i loved it. I had been through the first 3 Mega Mans so many times, i has happy to have a different feeling game.
This looks cool!

I think anytime a storyteller adds “boozed up” to the characteristics of a protag, be it knight or toll booth attendant, they’re spinning a more interesting yarn.

Happy early Birthday to Tomohiro Nishikado! Great article and thank you!

I chose the N64 over the PS1 too…
deep sigh

@MetaCrystal Thanks for the explanation! I was wondering the same thing.

This is cool. I’ve actually been getting back into adventure gamebooks recently, particularly Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf books, and while i never read the Fighting Fantasy books in my youth, i did read Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! , which i believe is similar.
Great to see Sir Ian Livingstone’s still writing fantasy!

@-wc- I’ll check out RC Pro Am 2! Don’t think i’ve ever played it. Thanks for the recommendation!
Super Sprint is excellent! Used to play it in the arcades.

@-wc- That’s great, man. I remember when RC Pro Am released… for a couple weeks it was all me and my pals could jaw about.
I still love that game! 👍

@Poodlestargenerica ah. How unfortunate.

@Adol-Bannings @Poodlestargenerica
So are you guys like enemies now or what?

@JackGYarwood Thank you! Love your articles!

@JackGYarwood In the second image on this page after the first two paragraph there is an image with this caption: “Alpine Racer, released in 1994, featured a handlebar controller with rotating foot pedals to emulate real skis”
Yet the image shown is of the Prop Cycle cabinet. I’m just wondering if this is an error or if you are just using that image ‘cuz it’s the only one available and Prop Cycle had the same control mechanism?

“….I’ve enjoyed the Legend of Zelda games of late.
Time Extension: That’s a shame.”

XD

I know it’s out of context and that’s not actually what the interviewer is lamenting, but it caught my eye and i got a good chuckle out of it.

Excellent interview and thanks to Jerry Momoda and Time Extension!

I remember reading this back when. Not Miyamoto’s finest moment.
1. He could only make Halo if someone showed him how to
2. Clearly a response from a man who feels threatened by Halo
3. Not a good look when someone who has so many incredible achievements in the industry, verbally diminishes someone
else’s work
4. Bungie’s response was a class act

I showed that video to my Genesis and it wet its pants.
It is very old, so no judgment.

I bought it and it’s a solid platformer.

@RossoftheRobots Ah! Thanks for the info!

I just realized i have never seen a Saturn controller before.
Huh.

Some real choice artifacts here. I always wanted to check out one of those Computer Space uprights. They look so rubbable.

This looks really cute and cool. I wish i had a gameboy all of a sudden.