Razieluigi

I've bought a few of Remute's albums and I have yet to regret one. Good stuff.

Intrigued and subscribed!

Probably a fair deal as far as absolute dollars and cents go, especially with the $700 payout, but the stuff he traded is likely to continue appreciating in value while the stuff he got will not (especially if his plan is to use that Switch).

But assuming he's a collector (which is a fair assumption if he's got these things in his possession), it's an absolutely baffling trade. The Pokemon set is a crown jewel, and I'm not even a big Pokemon or N64 fan.

Shame that this guy has been reduced to contributing absolutely nothing to gaming except clickbait hot takes from the peanut gallery.

I'd suggest he put up or shut up, but the last time he put up was Drawn to Death and that didn't really impress anybody with its visuals or its gameplay.

Really conflicted about this. If Analogue can get back to basics with a purpose-built console as nice as the Super NT and Mega SG, then I'd love to have one of these.

But just knowing this thing will be saddled with Analogue OS is a big flashing warning sign that even after it ships late (anybody who thinks this is actually shipping in 2023 is delusional) it's going to spend a good 18 months with an incomplete feature set.

"the PS3 version proves that the game can exist without Kinect"

The XBox version didn't require Kinect either. I played it and loved it with a standard controller.

Rediscovering this game has been one of the unexpected pleasures of getting a Series S.

@graemebuchan It's a really lovely device from a hardware standpoint, but the support and customer communication have been shameful.

I adore my Mega SG and Super NT. They are some of the nicest pieces of consumer electronics I have ever purchased, and will probably remain centerpieces of my gaming setup for the rest of my life. They are feature-complete devices that do exactly what they are meant to and do it well.

But the Pocket feels like world-class hardware saddled with beta software. Features remain absent almost 2 years after release. Dock functionality remains limited, especially if you want to adjust resolution (Analogue's own OS spills off the TV screen!). Lynx, NGP, and PCE adapters remain nowhere to be found. And against this backdrop, Analogue provides absolutely no communication to buyers. They just post animated GIFs of games that may or may not even be playable on hardware they currently sell.

And that's before you get to the insane business model of discontinuing all but one of your products. Their store page feels less like a store and more like a museum.

I know I'm a broken record about Analogue, but it's only because I used to be a massive fan and now I don't understand what the hell is going on over there. The Pocket will likely be the last Analogue device I buy unless they get it together.

Considering it's been 4 months (!) since the last Pocket update, this seems like a pretty scant list of improvements with too many promised features (DAC support, display modes for FPGA) still unfulfilled.

Man, I've been looking forward to this.

Was lucky to find a cartridge in-box at a used game store 2 years ago. A little more expensive than I wanted (especially given the poor condition of the manual), but as a huge GB fan it always felt like a hole in my collection.

@HammerGalladeBro Thou must!

I'm sure it's a combination of both reasons, but yeah... that name should be changed.

@TransmitHim I was wondering this, too.

Regardless, I'm surprised to hear Atari has enough cash lying around to buy a sandwich.

Fantastic article!

I love this game and just played through it again last year. I had a Genesis in those days and EGM gave this a solid review. I was so excited to see a well-regarded "Zelda-like" that I could play.

Sadly, this game also represents one of the most regretful gaming-related decisions I've ever made. I sold the cartridge on eBay back in grad school. It hadn't skyrocketed in value at that point, so I didn't get much for it. Probably just used the money to buy a different used game.

Maybe if it ever gets a reprint, I'll be able to add it back to its rightful place. But the original carts are idiotically expensive, so I doubt I'll otherwise ever be able to plug such a glaring (and self-inflicted) hole in my collection.

It's still Tetris DS for me. It controls great (setting aside arguments about infinite spin), and I'm a sucker for the branding.

But Tetris Effect gets an honorable mention. It's an excellent rendition. The only problem is that it's so vibey that I really have to be in the right headspace to enjoy it compared to more pick-up-and-play versions. Even more so if I want to play it on PSVR, which is a hell of an experience.

@Geonjaha It really is difficult. I really like mine and I'm glad I have it, but it's taken almost a year for it to reach a fraction of its potential and almost entirely due to the work of others.

It really wish they had just continued focusing on their core strength of good hardware with even better FPGA hardware emulation. But they've gotten lost in the weeds the past few years.

The Pocket has been let down by a needlessly complex OS and half-assed support, and is now literally the only thing they sell (if you're willing to wait). The excellent Super NT and Mega SG (easily their best products) are sold out and being discontinued with no stated plan to replace them, just like the NT Mini before them. The only new piece of hardware they've announced is the Analogue Duo which shows no sign of even existing despite being revealed 3 years ago. And their customer communication is nonexistent outside of a constant barrage of teaser posts featuring games that may or may not be playable on any device currently available from the company.

Perhaps they have reasonable answers to every one of these concerns, but you'd never know since their company policy is to never say anything ever.

Even forgiving the challenges of the pandemic, I don't understand what Analogue thinks their own future looks like with this insane business model. You can't build a brand around discontinued hardware and IOUs.

I'm glad external developers are actively working on the Pocket. There hasn't been a firmware update in 3 months. It's a great piece of hardware, but Analogue's support has been embarrassing.

I used to happily sing their praises based on my top-notch experiences with the Mega SG and Super NT. But they really bit off more than they could chew with this "Analogue OS" thing, and I'll think twice about buying anything else from them in the future.

One of the side-effects of Nintendo releasing so many versions of the 3DS is that I ended up with several units. My plan is to leave my NEW 3DS the way it is, and hack my Zelda LBW 3DS to do what I want with it. I had to sever it from my account when I upgraded anyway (another annoying anti-consumer Nintendo thing), so it just sits there empty and unused.

I still frequently buy old games and collections when they're made available, and I believe firmly in supporting developers. But I have less interest in protecting corporate license-holders that are just squatting on intellectual property. I've spent such an insane amount of money on games over the years that I really have no moral compunction against this kind of thing.

@bryce951 Yeah, it's not worth spending $20 knowing that they might just disable it there eventually, too.

That's the problem with trying to do this kind of thing on a console. The manufacturer has too much power to reach in to your hardware and make changes without your permission.

Shame. I was hoping to set my Series S up with PS2 emulation, but I guess that's no longer in the cards.

This would look great on my shelf next to the OUYA and Intellivision Amico.

I mean, I don't have such a shelf because I'm not an imbecile with more money than sense. But if I did, it would look great there.

@Hydra_Spectre Thanks — good clarification.

I meant that the 3DS can play DS games, so you can jailbreak one and pretty much get the whole shebang.

@Hydra_Spectre At this point, you're better off just jailbreaking a DS/3DS than fussing around with flash carts for either one.

I haven't been thrilled with the magnetic closure on my Waterfield Analogue Pocket case, but it's at least just at one end and the case is snug enough that it's not going to slide out on its own.

Makes me nervous about a clamshell case relying on magnets alone.

Waiting for the inevitable v.2, but I look forward to getting one of these eventually.

Definitely looking forward to giving this a try.

Analogue has done a pretty poor job of supporting the Pocket since its release, but they did make a nice piece of hardware. I'm glad other developers are stepping in to make this thing shine.

I don't know what's sadder. Suzuki's involvement, or his pathetic attempt to compare using cutting-edge graphical technology in a video game to using cutting-edge blockchain technology to scam people out of money. The two have nothing to do with each other.

Setting aside that his statement was obviously ghost-written by some corporate tech bro that was running out of place to store all his meaningless buzzwords, Suzuki should be ashamed.

Hopefully it's just the DS collection. A new game sounds great in theory, but Konami has spent the last few decades driving away all the talent it would need to make one. Let's not sit here pretending Contra: Rogue Corps didn't happen.

The only reason to be excited about a new Castlevania game would be if the rights were handed off to smaller developer with the passion and skill to make one worth playing. Maybe the recent Dead Cells DLC suggests they'd be open to that happening.

Modern Konami can't be trusted with anything except compilations of what used to make them great.

Weird to name an RPG after meat jell-o, but still cool to see fans doing this kind of hard work.

@OwningYou I'm not sure exactly how you managed to turn this thread into a rant about China, but I have no doubt that there are plenty of shady Americans taking advantage of people on Amazon and Walmart's marketplaces.

The laptop I mentioned above certainly wasn't shipped in a FedEx box from China.

I love the Dreamcast dearly, and one of my prized possessions is one that I modded with a MODE.

But you just can't deny the impact the Genesis/Mega Drive had. It has a fantastic library of games, and the punchy arcade-like vibe of most of them really makes the console feel fun and accessible — ready to go any time you want to just have some fun for an hour or two.

The Genesis is probably my most-played classic console. It's an easy winner here.

There's always something to quibble about in lists like this, but I can't wrap my head around the N64 being ranked so highly.

The N64 has a tiny handful of classics, for sure. But it overall aged like milk with very few games worth revisiting today while consoles like the NES, GBA, DS, and 3DS still have large and compelling libraries decades later.

Amazon should be stopping a lot of nonsense happening through their marketplace. This isn't the only example of people getting shafted because they think they're buying a product from well-known retailer, but they're actually buying some worthless knock-off from a shady third party.

Walmart, too. I once took a chance on buying a cheap laptop through their website. I ended up getting a FedEx box with a completely different and very used model of laptop and a charging cable just rattling around loose inside the box.

It's ridiculous that these massive companies allow this to happen under their name, and that we put the onus on consumers to avoid it.

It would be nice to see F-Zero on Switch, although it would be hard to match the quality of GX without analog triggers.

Great to see projects like this, though. Fast Racing Neo has long been my GX fix when I don't want to bother hooking up the Gamecube.

No great way to answer this. I feel like I have to go with the NES, just for how successfully it resurrected the video game industry and redefined console gaming. It is the foundation for everything we play today.

But it seems crazy not to acknowledge that the Switch plays a pretty hefty number of games from those earlier eras along with newer experiences. It's almost empirically the best Nintendo console. It's certainly the one I'd choose if I could only have one.

Kind of cool? But it's really different from the console version, so I'm not sure who they're trying to please. Purists and the preservation-minded won't be thrilled with any changes to the original arcade ROM. And those who want to see the Mega Drive intro recreated on arcade hardware are going to be disappointed with all the changes they made.

As someone who generally prefers JRPGs to western ones (WRPGs?), I've certainly never thought of it as derogatory. But like most genre designations, it is necessarily reductive and can be misleading if that's the only thing you know about a game.

Especially as RPG elements have seeped into nearly every genre from action games to sports titles, the lines are incredibly blurry.

It would be hard to dispense with genres altogether. People like a bit of structure to help make sense of so many choices. But I think that most players understand that genre is a broad top-level categorization and that they'll have to read some reviews to get a deeper understanding of what the game is really about.

Heartfelt fan projects like these are the best kind of advertising. Sega isn't just cruel for shutting this down. They are foolish, too.

@Coalescence Agreed. The main thing that differentiates products like Analogue or the RetroUSB NES is the FPGA hardware emulation. Even if you choose to run extra cores and play without physical media, you're still benefitting from hardware emulation.

And I'm not a purist. There's nothing wrong with software emulation for most people. But if you're going that route, you already have so many other options without buying into the Polymega ecosystem.

Genuinely having trouble understanding the point of this. Just seems like software emulation, but with an extra piece of hardware thrown into the mix. Charging a subscription fee for something that I can already do for free seems like a dubious business model.

I guess the cloud aspect is novel, but call me crazy for being skeptical of their supposed lag-killing technology.

@chefgon It's not just that it was too small (which it was). It's that, unlike the GBA, your thumb doesn't fall naturally on it when holding the device. Speaking personally, I like to have the d-pad in the "high" position in games that use them for primary movement.

While its use was limited, I have (and love) my old Hori controllers for d-pad heavy games like Soul Calibur 2 or Alien Hominid.

It was a little tricky to set this up. Much like the NeoGeo core, you can't just plop a bunch of ROMs in a folder and have them work.

But I can confirm that it does work once you get it going, and Rondo plays flawlessly as best as I can tell. This is going to be my new go-to way of enjoying this game.

These ongoing summary posts are great. I don't have a MiSTer (yet), but the Analogue Pocket page is also excellent and I use it all the time. Thanks!

Pretty funny in hindsight considering the little blue hedgehog has remained incredibly popular despite being ground through 2 decades of mediocre games.

This game has been at the top of my Analogue Pocket wishlist for a while now! The VC release of Rondo is like 90% of the reason I still keep my Wii U connected. The Requiem port was disappointing, so this will pretty much handle my needs instead.

"I was told they'd have Frogger!"

Fun read!

It's hard to remember after three decades of Super Mario Bros iconography, but when turtles first appeared in Mario Bros, jumping on them wasn't an option. They could only be bumped from below.

When a revision of Mario Bros was included with all the Super Mario Advance games, turtles were replaced with Spinys to prevent confusion.

Good digging! I had never heard of this until it was briefly mentioned in the previous Sega Channel article, so it's nice to get a little more background on the project.

It's wild to think how far back these ideas go, and that the concept really wasn't fully realized until more than 20 years and 5 console generations later.

It's not clear what "Dreamcast 2" would even mean today. Just another console?

The Dreamcast is mostly defined by being graphically ahead of its time and having an arcade-centric library. Those are the reasons I still love mine today, but they also can't really be replicated in 2023.

@Hordak I struggled with this for a while, too. NeoGeo ROMs are just more complicated than the single-file ROMs that older consoles use.

1. Make it easier on yourself and use the Pocket Sync application to install it. This helps make sure you have all the relevant files in the right places.

2. Make sure you're using the "Darksoft" romset or it probably won't work. They need to be unzipped into the main "assets/ng/common" directory with each game getting its own folder. Just preserve the names as they were in the romset with no changes.

3. You choose games from the included list of JSON files, not from the ROMs themselves.

Once it works, it works great. But I definitely found it more confusing than other cores.

Nintendo's current online network feels like it was designed in the '80s, so this story checks out.