NewBond

And here I just received my Tomb Raider Collection 1 order yesterday!

I'm glad they are able to do some of the more "modern" titles, as the current zeitgeist is focusing on 5th and 6th Generations. I think Blaze might need new hardware for the 6th, but there is so much yet available from the PS1/Saturn/N64 era that will hopefully be able to get out on their Giga Cart format.

They are skirting dangerously into analog-stick gaming, which itself is trivial to upgrade from a hardware perspective, but much more difficult from a user-base standpoint - making it required for some carts will cause a split that they really haven't needed to worry about much yet.

They were able to port Glover from N64, which is great, but there is a certain level in inevitability to it. Look forward to their continued success, because consumers benefit from having a place in the market between the Big Three and the DIY consoles.

@kgbkgb This is true, and while Atari's device is really an emulator, it and the Modretro Chromatic are pretty much the example of the form I would like to see on a more broad scale.

Lots of FPGA and emulation systems, like the Chromatic, Hyperkin's Retron series and Superstation One by Taki Udon, are still coming out, which shows the hardware manufacturers are missing out on potentials to benefit without having to put much effort beyond drawing up a mutually-favorable contract.

Atari is doing first-party what others could do second-party.

@HoyeBoye In a way, yes, but that was for a current-gen system, and the reason it didn't work was the actual cost of current-gen hardware, compared to the price point the market is willing to bear, is very close if not upside-down, hence the proprietary "razor/razorblade" business model we have to recover thin margins or losses in hardware sales through high software margins.

With older hardware, the costs of production can be significantly reduced to make the retail price palatable to the consumer, which would allow licensing to outside hardware partners (or, I would imagine, hardware partner as singular to better control the market) financially viable.

To be honest, my (pipe) dream is to see the end of console "generations" and have hardware stock of consoles that had previously reached consumer and developer fatigue replenished as the market allows. Licensing the copy-protection mechanisms in consoles and media to vendors that want to produce new stock doesn't seem like a money-losing proposition on the surface, and would not only give novel markets like Iran an opportunity to do this above-board, but also give consumers in legacy markets a chance to refresh hardware and discover new/old software without piracy or legal gray areas of abandonware.

It could potentially also give greater purpose to the Anbernics, Hyperkins, Evercades, and Analogues of the retro-manufacturing market as well (though probably not without cost).

The GBA was also the last handheld to rely on alkaline batteries, and I see the GBA platform as the last "true" console, period - no overlying "Operating System" of built-in software and no abstraction layer between the game and the player.

One of the values of a book like this is it shows off some under-appreciated art in the "maps". The Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets street, in the last example, cannot be viewed as a single image, and some of the richness can be lost when zoomed in to the GBA's screen resolution.

I've been on a re-discovery of my GBA this past year, and seeing books like this furthers my appreciation.

SPELLING CORRECTION: Rebelstar was developed by Julian Gollop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Gollop

Edit: Thank you!

@KitsuneNight This is a reasonable assessment. I consider the 3DO version the better "simulation" compared to the other versions; my friend had the PC version and not only did the cars cover the same segments is less time, but the field of view was widened to provide an additional sensation of speed.

The 3DO version still felt intense when dodging traffic for that perfect run, and the cars had characteristics comparable to their real-life counterparts (never dive so deep into a corner with a 911 Turbo that you have to dump out of the throttle while turning; there is a reason they were called "widow makers").

I think it still stands as my favorite 3DO game, even with Return Fire, Space Hulk, and BattleSport...

@Guru_Larry Speaking of far less traffic, I want new technology to make old games have tons of agents and assets, saving the RAM and processor cycles for tens of thousands of NPCs instead of improved graphics and polygon count. It would be neat to try and navigate a "fully-populated" London!

@Guru_Larry I'd only visited that part of London from the States for the first time a couple years prior to the game's release, and I was immediately able to navigate by memory from Picadilly to St. Pancras/King's Cross! The city was definitely the highlight of the game for me, and this type of 'interactive digital geographic preservation' is something society should consider as a practice, now that we have the technology to make it possible on a larger scale. Street View just isn't the same as stealing a virtual car and going for a drive in the past...

Since it took 10 years to get Playdate from concept to delivery, I can understand how challenging it must have been to make the decision to put it on hold... they have the patience to work through problems, so it must have been a serious issue, with no real solution, to have stopped them.

I can imagine they will pivot at least into a simple contact-charging cradle at some point, but making systems themselves is important. So many people outside these circles that still don't know it exists, so there's work to be done with the device itself.

I was wanting this, as I thought they could make a great interface that sounds lovely, but I'll admit I'm relieved I don't have to worry about storage limits if I tried to install my music library on it!

With Wade Rosen's recent track record, and Digital Eclipse on his side (there's a storied history there), I can't imagine this wouldn't happen if the game is found to be fun.

It'll work out, but I would call a DE-10 MiSTer clone, "DEXter".

Mind you, if it works, it doesn't matter what the name is.

This article pretty accurately describes my experience with the GB Operator.

I found this to be a great tool to complement an Everdrive - I can travel with my Analogue Pocket (and either install them for save states or use the Everdrive to get the cool screen emulators) or original GBA and play from where I left off on my Game Paks.

Sure, I'd have to manually sync back later, but being able to archive my collection means that's less likely in the short term.

@Ristar24 Honestly, I think that's OK if you're no longer interested, and it is great that early adopters like you were there to get the company on its feet.

It seems they are looking to push a little more mainstream, finding those folks outside of the "retro" niche and on to untapped markets of that next generation of nostalgia.

I do think they are going to get deeper into the PS1, N64, and Pentium crowd over the next few years, and I hope they have success because there's room for something between the "Big Three" and Jakks Pacific...

@boatie I agree that it's nice to not be obsoleting the previous generation, and I'm hoping this excites another new group of players to join the Evercade family!

It's disappointing to see some who interpret this as a cash grab or marketing ploy to get existing users to buy more hardware.

I'm sure they make higher margins on software, so the better play is to get the hardware in more hands, thus increasing the attach rate. This new refresh should help reach a more "impulse buy" crowd when under $100US!

In a way, I'm sad for Evercade's management that their announcement might have been spoiled, but the buzz surrounding the leak might provide greater exposure in the long run.

I'm now more certain than ever their upcoming 2024 hardware announcements will include analog joysticks.

I won't blame you for criticizing me, but I'm sorry to see the Amico struggle to get started.

I still see it as a viable platform for casual family and party games. I wouldn't be afraid to get the system out when guests came over for a half-hour of fun with the Evel Knievel game and couple of rounds on a Jackbox trivia game.

I have other consoles for hardcore stuff, and I think the second (and third, and fourth)-screen controller is a nice cross between a Dreamcast and a Wiimote.

Fiscal and ethical issues aside, I think the vision has merit, and though I cancelled my pre-order before they had a chance to deny it from me, I'd still buy that lovely woodgrain-and-gold model the day it's available.

EDIT: OK, I looked online and they now have a no-deposit pre-order available. I'm in...I have a Magnavox Odyssey^2, a 32X, a 3DO, a Dreamcast, and a Playdate, so it's pretty much right up my alley of quirky and/or questionable systems.

@TeamBigRig I got to visit Seattle while GT2 was still contemporary (the Viaduct was still intact), but it is amazing how we can develop a sense of a place mentally without having been there, and further still, be able to retain that sense for decades!

Now we need to find the perfect mountain around which to build Deep Forest Raceway...

@Banks Sorry for being late. I loved Gamepads instantly when they arrived! The first one I owned was a Master System one I got somehow that I used with my Amiga 500, but I remember thinking the NES pad was basically left-handed at the time.

I hadn't finished Wind Waker at the time, so I skipped Twilight Princess to keep my backlog down...I'm so responsible and stupid.

I think that is the last 3-D, left-handed Link (which, if you know German makes it even more ridiculous). He still had to be left-handed for remakes of games like Link's Awakening, because the combat would feel completely different, but it'll be interesting to see if they phase it out everywhere-look at "plain Link" in Smash For vs. Smash Ultimate...

@Burningwithit
With all due respect, I would not have seen the article without Time Extension's report, nor is linking to an article out of order for a news aggregator website, in a similar vein to reprinting Associated Press Articles.

I would rather discuss such an article here with a more "seasoned" audience than on The Guardian's website, because the opinions expressed here will more accurately reflect a context with which I can identify.

You have the freedom to be disappointed, but for me this type of "engagement bait" is not without merit or value.

As for the article itself, I can see the criteria for "Greatest" being more akin to "Most Commercially Important" rather than "Greatest Balance between Immediate Reward and Return on Engagement", which is how I would describe Sega Rally, a popular alternative mentioned in this discussion.

@Banks Not really! I could, technically, just swap hands, but then the cannon is on the "wrong" side to what I was aiming...there's no way to make Samus shoot left-handed in game, and Link definitely couldn't hold the sword in the left hand for Skyward Sword, for example, which is why the world in Twilight Princess is mirrored between GameCube (traditional left-handed Link) and Wii (now standard right-handed Link).

Those asymmetries are a fundamental game design feature that don't swap trivially, especially sword play.
It's really crazy the work that's being done in the background to make shooting in 3D look natural...see Star Fox Zero for what happens when you remove those tricks...

Nos. 10, 4, 3, 2, and 1 all present certain challenges to left-handers! I'm thankful the modern standard control scheme supports using a left-hand/right-brain for spatial movement, which is neurologically appropriate, but many asymmetries put left-handers at a disadvantage.

The Playdate crank is not explicitly uncomfortable compared to the others (I'm looking at you, Atari Action Button on both Joystick and Paddle), but the others are awkward at best and at worst genuinely stopped me from considering games like Skyward Sword and Metroid Prime Trilogy. I understand it's possible to swap handedness in Guitar Hero et al., but in a party setting that never seemed viable.

(Oh, I meant to say that while scoring more goals is the main objective in Battlesport, blowing up your opponent by shooting them with lasers and missiles is a critical tactic in the game.)

Battlesport was an excellent, unique title for the 3DO. Like a mix of Battlezone, Twisted Metal and Rocket League played from a first-person perspective, Battlesport was smooth and enjoyable, especially in split-screen multiplayer.
The primary objective is to score more goals than your opponent by picking up a ball in an Arena and shooting it toward the single goal. With several different types of goals, arenas, and tanks to pilot, the game has enough variation and difficulty to keep pushing further into the single-player mode, but local one-on-one multiplayer is the killer feature. There are handicaps to let different skill levels compete closer, and there are many power-ups to mix up the action during match.
The similarities to Battlezone are definitely felt in the controls, which by modern FPS standards feel "sloppy", but given the hovertanks it makes sense and you do get used to the chaos that feel provides. This version is superior to the PlayStation version in terms of visuals, at least.

Another game that's superior to the PlayStation version is Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels. The definitive version of the game, this blend of real-time strategy and First-Person Shooter surprisingly holds up in a couple ways to today's standards. Slow, methodical, and difficult, this game plays close to the original board game's blend of horror and dread, and pays off the player's investment in mapping and planning two or three moves in advance.
Combat is similar to Wolfenstein 3D as a single-level FPS, but when the Genestealer enemies get close, combat switches to very good-looking video/QTE-style melee not terribly dissimilar to what's found today in Metroid Dread.

While neither of these games made a big splash elsewhere, I think the 3DO versions are the best ones and deserve a deeper look.