@X68000 So... Can you store all the games on an SD card, and then you move them in or out of the 4 slots? Sounds a bit like the NGPC flashcart - unlimited on the SD card, but you need to move / install them to built in flash to load them.
Or are the 4 slots for fast loading, versus any other game where you need to wait as it loads it into memory?
I'm not a fan of wireless controllers do will probably sell / trade those to get an OG stick or the hardwired one, if anyone prefers wireless.
From what I read... The bundled stick is hardwired. The extra sticks are wireless, but you can plug them in via a separate cable?
Is that correct?
The wording made me think the bundled sticks were strictly hardwired?
If this is a 1:1 replica, the console should easily moddable for RGB. Was reading up and the OG system produced a digital RGB signal which would then be converted to analogue.
So a simple bypass of the conversion improved the picture and removed jailbars.
I'm not involved in any managerial decisions, I'm not a member of staff, simply an independant freelancer, and my views should not be seen as indicative of or representing Hookshot Media.
My posts here are because I have a strong personal interest in SNK and the glorious Neo Geo legacy (I interviewed the original creator of Metal Slug from Nazca for example; twice!).
For the record: I also publicly spoke out in support of WayForward when users were criticising them over ModRetro reissuing their GBC games. Calling for the game's boycott, which I found ridiculous.
I don't have a personal interest in ModRetro products so don't say much - but please rest assured that as an individual, I genuinely do not care and will not judge anyone for buying their products. If I had a problem, I would not engage.
Everyone has a right to engage with and buy any legal product that interests them, and they have a right to do this without harassment.
A little basic human courtesy, and leaving people alone to live their lives, would make for a much better experience.
@metaphysician @NatiaAdamo CDI / CD-i / cd~I / seedeeeye uses the Green Book standard from the Rainbow Books, and are perfectly readable in a standard PC optical drive. One of the emulators can in fact boot the disc and run it. I think... I've never bothered. But I can definitely read and copy them in my PC.
It's not like the Dreamcast's GD-ROM format where only certain drives are capable of reading the disc.
The only tricky aspects of the CDI are the BIOS and the video cartridge.
Emulators need the official BIOS currently, which hasn't been cloned, and the video cart is not emulated, meaning several good games cannot be played.
And... I feel like very few people care about the CDI to warrant it?
EDIT: the message I was replying to was deleted. I'll leave my response unchanged below.
@Noiro
Nobody hurt my feelings. I just find moralising to be insufferable.
I will not spare anyone my attitude - not until myself and others can enjoy and engage with whatever legal media they choose, without any excrutiating, insufferable finger wagging from sanctimonious puritans.
If you don't like it, then you should not engage with it. But do not lecture others who choose to engage with it.
I want to engage with media and not be spoken down to about it.
I despise how a vocal minority are trying to force their views onto possible customers.
I want this group to keep quiet and let the rest of us live our lives.
@NeonPizza I live in the UK, I've never used component or S-Video. In fact S-video isn't a thing here. From the 16-bit generation we had RGB via SCART here in the UK. SNES and Mega Drive both running crisp and sharp through SCART. I honestly can't stand playing these through composite. I play my NES through composite, but everything else is SCART.
Even my PC Engine outputs RGB SCART.
And it's also pumped into my Sony Trinitron CRT.
I'm not convinced that the Neo Geo will benefit from composite (yellow, red, white cables) rather than RGB.
I've not actually owned a Neo Geo before. My desire for SCART is based simply on all my 16-bit and 32-bit systems using it.
@DiacloneFx Ah, yes. Ok, that makes sense. I knew the originals had micro clicks. The softness though closely matches the analogue softness of the Vectrex sticks.
I suppose the specific reason they work well for me is one of the specific reasons they don't work for you.
@X68000 Good points. In fairness I had let it go and haven't thought about it in years. This news item just triggered a surge of memories. I guess it was not let go sufficiently.
I've said my peace now.
@NOCDGAMING All on Amazon, or used copies on eBay. Just pick the cheapest.
@Banjo-
That's cool. I don't begrudge anyone enjoying his videos. The source material is quite excellent! But I have a personal grudge with his methods and way of operating, for reasons explained.
If you love his videos, that's excellent. Just be sure to dig deep to find out where that information originally came from.
In a Reddit thread on his retirement, titled "gaming historian announces his retirement from youtube", there was a user called:
Constant-Yak-918
Said user posted a link to this news article, with a screengrab.
I took a screenshot of the post.
As of this morning the post is deleted. Or at least I cannot find it in the Reddit thread.
I don't know who you are, but I salute and thank you for your efforts. I witnessed said efforts, and I also witnessed Reddit trying to censor your attempt at spreading truth.
Let me see if I can embed the image here. I may need to edit this multiple times.
Norm's channel exists because others put in the hard work.
Another example:
Hudson & Nintendo's Obscure PC Games
Volume 2, which I physically posted to him in 2015, had a detailed interview with Hudson staff on these. I would link you to his web page citing his sources, except I can't even find it. I clicked to the 4th page of his episode guide, and the 2018 video isn't even listed! The last entry I could find was a Spyro video.
They openly admit to using the books to get information from videos. Here is a verbatim copy and pasted quote from Kristin, dated 28 November 2017:
"Norm and I enjoy your books and appreciate all the research and effort that went into them. We sometimes use your books as reference material"
I am glad his channel is closing down, so he can now coast off someone else's hard work. And to be clear again: I never said I was the sole person, he's clearly doing this to multiple other writers.
The hiding of the sources is infuriating! Why not just disclose them in the text box of every single video? Why go to the effort to make a little page, hidden away, so you don't have to cite them on the YT page?
I am now going to pack for my travels. I've given hard evidence, and as stated before, Damien has scans of the emails, and also a second person who asked I remove their name from my previous post.
Everything I have to say on this matter is stated clearly in my previous separate posts.
I accused nobody of plagiarism. I accused him of relying on the work of others for his success, without proper credit. Which I have now proven, because it require 4x mouse clicks just to get to that video's citation page, and not every video even has a citation page.
And I accused him of saying yes to copies of my book, and promising a review, which two years later had never materialised and I was given the brush off. I have the email chain of these interactions. He would "LOVE" copies, and he planned to review them! Two years later he gets someone else to reply, saying they had no plans to do so. He did not even have the etiquette to reply to me himself!
@Lunethf
First of all, not once did I say the word "plagiarise". There's an important distinction here. Norm isn't publishing a book, and inside that book are pages lifted wholesale from my books. He's producing videos, using information from my books, and not crediting them in said videos - the credits are hidden behind a URL and multiple clicks, as I said in my first post.
And I specifically did not want to trawl through his video archive again, because I am so angry with him. But I did, just to prove it to you. (This feels like in a court case where the prosecution is dogpiling the witness, demanding they describe in detail the crime committed against them.)
So, important point here, Norm promised me a review in his email dated November 2015. None was ever made, despite his channel being full of book reviews (go look, I'm not citing all of them, I counted at least 10 on his page and 1x magazine review).
Now, open up any of his videos. Does he cite sources?
NO. He says for a list of sources go here, and links to his website.
He deliberately OBFUSCATES where he got the info. Who is going to go to the trouble, of clicking his website, finding the video page in question, and then going: ahh, so that's the book he used!
To be clear here: my accusation is not plagiarism, it's lazy grifting, by using info from my books and then not properly crediting it on the YT video page. Or rather, hiding the credits behind at least 3 or 4 mouse clicks. Click the sources link to his website, click the episodes guide, click to page 2 or 3 or 4 maybe, then click the episode itself.
Look at the info box. Does he list my book? No. But he does say click a link. Follow that link, click episodes, click page 2, then scroll to find the MM video, then click it, then scroll down again: https://thegaminghistorian.com/the-story-of-mega-man-on-dos/
Oh, yes, he does specifically cite my book. But how much effort does the average viewer have to go through to reach that?
Like I said. Coasting on the work of others. The Rozner brothers interview was done by me. And he tries to hide this fact.
And they are not difficult to contact either.
I passed on their contact details to this very website, Time Extension, and Jack interviewed them!
Posting again with specific facts, since I see someone highlighted my message on Reddit (many thanks, happy to talk about this). I am going away for Easter, so won't be able to reply to questions for a couple weeks.
But I sent copies of the emails to Damien and some friends, in the unlikely event anyone accuses me of fabricating this, and it needs verification while I am away.
I have an email from Norman dated 10 November 2015.
He says he would "absolutely LOVE a copy" and says he is planning to review it "sometime in the future".
He gives his address. I send him the books.
Nothing more from Norman until 28 November 2017, when I email asking for feedback on Volumes 1 and 2. (Volume 3 wasn't published until 2018 - so he only had two of them, but that's about 526 and 400 pages.)
Kristen replies, saying they both enjoy the books, admitting they use them for reference material, and saying they've scaled back their book reviews. But adds "Thanks for the understanding!"
I reply saying it's weird Norman didn't reply himself.
Kristin replies: "LOL. Sorry to disappoint."
I couldn't stomach browsing his channel for long, so I never made a note of every single video which grifted off my work, but there were multiple.
As I said earlier: good riddance to him. Absolutely detestable.
EDIT x 2: clarifying who was sent copies of the emails
@PercyChuggs I lived in Japan for three months and interviewed game developers for some books. I've been writing and interviewing for over 20 years now. Below details the books I sent to Norm.
Norman Caruso asked for physical copies of my books (Japanese developer interviews). He said he'd review them or cover them on his channel. I posted them at great expense.
Months go by and nothing. I email him politely to ask how things were. He gets someone else to reply - I don't know if it was his girlfriend, or his PA, but he couldn't even be bothered to reply himself, despite him personally saying yes to the books.
Anyway she says Norm changed his mind and doesn't want to cover the books.
I am annoyed, but what can you do?
Then I notice over the coming years, every so often he'll have a video relying heavily on my interview material - where it could not exist without my work.
No coverage of my books of course. Barely even a mention. I recall once he simply had a link to some other web page listing his sources.
As far as I'm concerned Norman Caruso is a parasite who grifts off the hard work of others, does not give credit, and he had me spend a small fortune posting him telephone sized paper books under the promise of coverage, solely so he could then harvest those books' material, while getting his GF / PA to brush me off later.
I guess he had to quit due to running out of material.
Good riddance. I personally hate that man with the fury of a thousand burning suns.
@Right_Said_Brett @slider1983 Indeed, I've left several reviews on GOG, without Galaxy.
So... Cheevos? It really does just come down to cheevos. And controller inputs on Steam. But mostly cheevos. (Toy Story meme.gif) Cheevos, CHEEVOS EVERYWHERE!
@slider1983 Ah, I have never, ever used Galaxy. Honestly I don't even understand what it is or why I'd want to use it.
I buy games on GOG, save the installer to my massive back-up HDD, write it down on a paper list, and then I want to play it I plug the HDD into whatever computer I'm using and install.
Galaxy is some sort of Steam like wrapper which... Installs stuff for me? And it needs an online connection?
Hard pass.
If GOG ever makes it mandatory, and removes the portable standalone installers, I will be very upset.
I treat the installers like digital game CDs. They sit on my shelf until needed.
@Thad Valid points. Which reminds me: another reason I prefer GOG is because their installs still work on Windows 7. Steam no longer supports Win7, and the Steam client refuses to function, with all previously installed Steam games no longer working after the update.
I'm a bit jealous Steam supports you but not me. After my Win7 laptop refused to load any pre-installed Steam games, my main powerful Win7 rig had to go offline only forever so I could at least play what was on there. But I still install new GOG games.
So, I totally get what you're saying - we both experience this albeit in opposite ways.
@Azuris I love GOG. From your wording... Do people boycott GOG for some reason? I don't really follow current events. I don't even know why anyone would choose Steam over GOG. I buy from Steam, but only if it's not on GOG first. I will always buy GOG first, and even pay more than the Steam release.
Like, why would anyone use Steam over GOG? I can see the benefits of GOG (portable offline installs; permanent ownership of said install packages). There's no benefit to Steam that I can see. Cheevos? Is it cheevos? I hope it's not something lame like "I can only get cheevos on steam and I can't play a game unless it has cheevos."
@Martin_H "What I've found over the years is that I've enjoyed far more things going in blind than I would have if I obsessively followed reviews or community advice"
Exactly this. I've found this too, especially with films. I'll enjoy something on its own terms, having zero knowledge going in, then afterwards will look up reviews for fun and be shocked at the negativity. And I'm glad I never checked before hand, because that inevitably taints one's judgement.
There is genuine benefit to ignorance when consuming a new media title.
(I knew I shouldn't have mentioned the Gundam review. 😠The import PS3 and games rocked up around 4pm, and we all got a couple hours on our game with copy due next day at 9am. As I seem to recall.)
Love this article and the movie still. Time for a rewatch. I don't understand Ebert claiming it was filmed ineptly. The video photography, lighting, etc., all seem high quality, or of equal quality to other films of 1989.
Can anyone give a specific example of inept filming? As in, not the script or story, but problems on a technical level?
I've always thought he was a bit of a jerk, praising crap for no reason, and giving scathing criticism to plenty of great films, just because something rubbed him the wrong way.
I will never understand why he is so respected as a film critic.
@SinjaNinja
Traditionally writers don't proof read. They hand it to copy editors to proof. Is this about the lineline / timeline typo? Take a chill pill. Typos happen. It's inevitable with a small team.
I'm only stepping in here to comment because every single one of my articles have a typo on first draft.
My focus is good research. And generally readers say my writing is good because it's well researched.
Your entire criticism is around a single typo, which is enough for you to condemn a writer's entire career.
Seems about right for a modern internet troll.
If your metric for quality were implemented we'd have nothing but insufferable safe guff to read, or AI slop. Both Hunter Thompson and Lester Bangs made all sorts of typos, but they brought energy, and Thompson did incredible first hand research.
That's what you should judge a journalist on.
Have they uncovered or documented things no one else has?
And I can safely say @damo has, in his long career. Interviews and information never documented before.
But by your metric it's all worthless because timeline was spelled wrong?
This article and its replies remind me of a recurring thought:
The fate of so many games in the 80s, 90s, and even early 00s, was tied to the whims of random freelance writers, most of whom had low pay, short deadlines, and bad hangovers. I know because I was one.
I wrote my own unnecessarily harsh review for Gundam on PS3, at launch. 4 / 10 maybe? Anyway, I later went back and honestly, it's not bad. 6 or maybe 7 if you're a fan is a fairer score.
And I think to myself: how many games sold poorly, lost money, missed out on sequels, ended careers, etc., because some rando was given a game and told to hand copy in less than 24 hours later? And because the internet didn't yet have ways of amplifying signal or broadcasting video through YouTube?
I've already mentioned Gunstar Heroes, and another good example is Tombi. Today: beloved classics commanding a small fortune due to the limited quantities available. Back then: crap scores, with readers told not to buy it.
How many copies went unsold and were later destroyed as a tax write off?
I'm not saying every low scoring piece of trash was actually a masterpiece. But so many of these low scoring games were genuinely not bad, and were pleasantly good or enjoyable, and deserved better.
And the bitter irony is: there was plenty of genuine trash which got high scores!
Headhunter is another example. Mags trashed the bike sections. Personally, they were the best part for me. I used to enjoy just driving around Los Angeles, taking in the sights. Sort of like a proto-GTA III. Still, mags hated these sections, so they were cut from the sequel, which ended up bring crap due to a broken aiming system.
The past is rife with the damage done by malicious and cruel reviewers.
That review is unnecessarily harsh. I for one really like collecting XP and then selling it.
Then again it's NextGen, the lukewarm leftovers of Edge magazine which were microwaved and sent over to America, so it doesn't surprise me. These same people gave Gunstar Heroes a 6 out of 10, and I am never, ever going to shut up about that.
@PopetheRev28 I've been hearing about the death of shmups since the PS2 era. We faithful few will keep the ancestral songs of Hori and Tate alive, adorned in our traditional Danmaku, while hunting the fabled one-see-see.
@SegaAges I'd agree with this. I only suggested Ninja Penguin because it was, in effect, an already finished game by a third party. Whereas the Sonic Jam level was just a level. But when I played Jam, I hoped so badly for a full game based on that. It was wonderful.
Feared that with today's political climate the sexy nymphs would be missing. Sees sexy nymphs are still included. Breaths a sigh of relief that Japan continues to be based with zero ***** given. Carry on Japan, carry on.
@-wc- As already pointed out, there are such things (fictional enhancement chips?), and which also work on my FPGA flashcart.
Tokimeki Memorial's fan-translation has an FMV intro and fancier CD style music.
And... Was it the homebrew ports of the NES Zelda games, where they stuck a cinematic in?
Basically you download these homebrew efforts and the extra gubbins are in the folder, and the flash cart does the rest.
Mostly it's been music and cinemas, or the Road Avenger port as mentioned. I suppose if someone wanted to, they could program a fancy 3D game like Starfox, which uses a non-existent chip, but would function via FPGA on a flash cart?
Eventually the question becomes, to what extent are you making a SNES game, or making a game that runs in FPGA and simply uses the SNES as a video output adapter?
There's probably some sort of bandwidth limitation at some point. (I am not a programmer.)
@profkross
His behaviour isn't completely without precedent. I find that some programmers can be arrogant - and I suppose rightfully so? Their expertise facilitates everyone else's vision. They are, or were at the time, the core link between all other staff (design, art, sound, etc). Because there were no game engines back then - raw coding skill was everything.
Other programmers, like Yoshio Kiya, also had a rep for being somewhat arrogant. But again, I can see why. By achieving things no one else had, they sort of became rockstars in their sphere.
My personal opiniated guess, is that since the concept of reusable shared engines wasn't yet commonplace, another division taking Naka's code would have felt like they were stealing his glory? Maybe?
I've never interviewed Naka, but programmers in general have that lone wolf attitude. Keep in mind, at one period in the very early 1980s, like 81 or 82, games were often made by only one person: the coder.
So it's a role that emerged as an isolated position, with collaboration arriving later.
Some coders are super nice of course. Dale DeSharone let an artist live in his house until he found accomodation. But when someone says a coder is difficult to work with, it tracks. And I'm not that surprised.
@MG4M3R Haha! Yes. I thought so too. It happens around... The 3rd or 4th stage? The one where the triple jump become mandatory to progress. Right at this level's start there's a huge gap.
At that point they start introducing platform puzzles where you need to run and triple jump on platforms filled with enemies that instantly aggro and home in, knocking you off.
Also they start putting spike traps everywhere, so you need to do blind triple jumps and hope you don't overshoot in spikes.
Spikes, homing enemies, blind jumps, triple jumps, moving platforms, death pits, a constant timer... Hoho!
Please, please do try it. And report back.
For me the triple jump was the worst, since it had such precise timing. Sometimes the 3rd jump needed you to swap directions as you jump. The cloud level's triple jump reversal on a postage stamp is the product of a sick mind.
I hacked the gravity, which slows your fall speed, but there are no hacks to increase the jump.
You better put infinite lives on too.
I did think: it looks like it's aimed at kids, and I bet many tears were shed over it.
I finished it. Then watched a long play with commentary. The streamer said in the last level something like: "Why would you do that?! Who hurt you to make you this sadistic?"
I interviewed Chris decades ago for Retro Gamer, when I was freelancing - there are so many wild anecdotes about this game. It's crazy. Another aspect was that Yuji Naka had taken a very personal dislike to it - my memory is hazy, but one of the other teams was reusing his code from something else, to make Sonic-X, and Naka flew off the handle saying no one else was allowed to use his code. He was maniacally possessive.
This latest anecdote from Chris is new - but it's fascinating, adding yet another dimension to the chaos of mid-90s Sega, and the animosity between the US and Japanese branches. I always got the feeling the JP branch was the arrogant one, since they seemed to resent that their success in the US was due to what the Americans were doing, which was different to how they did things (bundling Sonic with the Mega Drive, anti-Nintendo ads, etc.). And then of course the jealousy between sections.
There are various rough builds of Sonic X-treme in the wild, and also fan attempts to recreate it. The biggest problem is that, fish-eye lens or not, the 3D feels like Bug on the Saturn. It just does not have that free flowing movement that Mario 64, or Tomb Raider had. Or Sonic R for that matter. Or even Ninja Penguin!
Worth looking up Ninja Penguin on the Saturn. The game is insidiously difficult - like a sadistic kaizo hack. Brutal beyond description.
But!
Its 3D engine is fantastic, and its graphics glorious.
I used a bunch of Action Replay hacks to take the slight edge off the difficulty, and honestly... Sega should have just bought the entire game, and reskinned the blue penguin as Sonic, and replaced the coins with rings.
Because in a lot of ways it looks like Sonic, and the 3D is some of the absolute best on the Saturn. As in Burning Rangers / Bulk Slash quality. Great draw distance. Lots of colourful detail. Smooth.
They could have added the ring loss mechanic, kept the levels as is, made it easier, reskinned the characters to be Tails, Robotnik etc. And you'd have had a solid 8 or 9 out of 10 Sonic game, with smooth platforming.
I bet a fan-hack could even do this.
They just need to make it easier. The base game is like doing invasive dentistry on yourself.
Now, compare Sonic R and Ninja Penguin to the playable builds of Sonic X-treme, or the above video.
X-treme is kinda fun? I was playing a fan remake a while back on an actual Saturn. It's not bad. But it's like an enhanced version of Bug. Very limited.
Glad to see Chris is still around talking about stuff.
He had a website and forum where he put all his Sonic materials, but then when I checked a few years ago and he'd removed it all.
I love these ports. For example, the N64 to Dreamcast ports.
I own both an N64 with flashcart and DC with ODE. And a CRT TV. I would rather play a finely tuned DC port of an N64 game on my CRT, with improved performance, than emulating said N64 game via a PC on and LCD screen.
The port is more authentic than emulation, even though it obviously goes beyond what the N64 was capable of.
It is, for me, that perfect niche of more authentic and accurate than emulation, benefitting from a CRT display, but ever so slightly nicer than the original experience. I dare say it's probably even better than putting an N64 cart in the Analogue 3D, since that is still working with the original game, and would be upscaling for HD LCD use.
These ridiculous ports are my jam!
(Secretly hoping infidelity does a Metal Gear / Snake's Revenge port to SNES, so I can run them both side by side on my CRT.)
@NeonPizza Astute points. 20 years ago, when the PS3 came out and we got that JP unit in, I didn't even own a smartphone. Then the next year, someone from work mentioned being on "Facebook", which I'd not heard of until then.
Such a different innocent time. Everyone was broadly aware of the same cultural trends, even if they didn't follow them. As you point out, it was unified. Today everyone has broken off into their own little curated reality. They might watch someone online with an audience of 3 million that you or me have never even heard of.
@MSaturn I feel I have the same or very close POV to you. In the 90s, I would have defended the right to expression even of those I disagreed with. What I never expected was that in having such a laissez-faire attitude, it would allow people to assume positions of power in media with diametric opposite views.
I also never considered it as being a tool as you describe it. But it makes sense, given how everything has flipped around. Which is so bizarre.
I'm from the UK, but back in the day games were a smaller cottage industry with not much oversight, the same with niche magazines. It was a bit of a wild west in many ways.
I've honestly struggled to comprehend the present day. It feels like the culture I grew up in, and the norms and values I had and shared with my peers, is now gone. It's difficult to pinpoint when it happened, but maybe from around 2011 or so? It was a slow shift.
Now I don't even recognise the socio-cultural landscape any more. And speaking too loudly about the changes will incite so much rage that it hardly feels worth going online.
I never once imagined things would change like this. Change in the way you've astutely described.
I mean, I remember when Jack Thompson was yapping his mouth, and everyone banded together to protect the medium from censorial influence. And banded together when the media tried to use games as a scapegoat. Creative freedom was also paramount.
And now? We have ethics departments in American studios wagging their fingers and forcing Japanese developers to change what they're doing, and they don't know what is happening or even why.
I look at 2026 and feel like we lost the culture wars. There's an Orwellian tone of "thought crimes" pervading everything now. And should you admit to such thought crimes you get dog-piled and cancelled. I hate it so much.
I was working on Retro Gamer magazine, in the actual office, when a Japanese import PS3 was brought it in, so the other mags could do import reviews before it launched in the UK. It felt like being on the absolute cutting edge of technology and media culture. I reviewed Gundam for Play. It wasn't great, but I knew MGS4 would eventually be out.
Has it really been 20 years?
Culture seemed so vibrant and alive back then. No moralising or moral sentinels, no pearl clutching, no cancel culture, no tyranny of virtue, no ethics departments, no sensitivity training.
Just pure freedom to make, and play, and enjoy, and write whatever the **** you wanted.
God, I miss it so badly you cannot even begin to imagine.
The kids today, the new generation that entered the media based work force, are only interesting in tearing everything up and burning it down. Someone should have filtered and kept them out.
We will never have it as good again as we had it 20 years ago.
This news story makes me sad. It's like when I've read about we've lost the ability to traditional artisanal things, and just use something artificial instead thinking no one will really notice or care.
I'm thinking things like rare food flavours, but we just cheaper synthetic flavours instead, or we no longer use ambergris as a fixative for perfumes. Or moulded plastic instead of hand-carved woods or metals. Or how we're losing the knowledge to make traditional Japanese ink stones, or the wooden barrels to ferment soy sauce (kioke).
And now I see this. Transparencies it would seem are the modern day videogame equivalent of kioke soy sauce. We're literally losing the ability to use proper transparencies due to the way modern hardware and graphics works. It's too complicated, or too much of a strain, so we'll just stick some holes in and call it a day.
Older games really were better. Those transparencies you saw on PS1 through to PS3, proper artistry at work.
@Eocene84 "The people on here happy about this make me sick. Seriously, people like you should be banned and then even IP banned so you can't come back."
I like this comment so much I'm quoting it.
I fully support IP bans on toxic posters ruining things for the rest of us.
In the mean time I just put them on ignore. I've got like 20+ people on my ignore list and it's just going to keep growing every time I see such posts, ROFLMAO.
I don't understand anyone here taking glee in the destruction of someone else's property. It's sickening.
I also despise the sanctimonious, puritanical, tyranny of virtue that's being espoused due to the content.
Let consenting adults buy whatever they like from other consenting adults. Nobody was exploited in the creation of this content.
The screaming pearl clutching and virtue signaling of these morality sentinels is insufferable.
@RupeeClock "It's in the same way that people are getting accused of leaving AI generated comments in discussions, because of their writing style or just trying to give a well written response."
Exactly! More than once a comment of mine on YT was accused of being AI. My profession is writer. If I give a response it will (hopefully) be intelligent, reasoned, correctly spelled, while providing references, so as to build on the discussion.
Now I'm like: eh, ***** it. And either don't comment or just hash out something quick and mispelled. Because it is rage inducing to read some low IQ response that utterly dismisses you entirely, thinking you're not real.
I generally spend very little time online now (these articles notwithstanding).
The AI conditioning also produced something disturbing recently.
I tried to watch the original Alien film, from 1979. And throughout the film are strange arbitrary visual details which are not explained. To give it a lived in feeling. The famous "agaric fly" keyboard being one.
And I knew the backstory to the film's production, and the effort to crew put into everything.
And yet my brain was constantly having an allergic reaction to it. Because AI adds lots of non-symmetrical details, and arbitrary details. So I kept having these moments of revulsion, briefly thinking: this looks like AI! Despite knowing it is not. And having to fight this feeling and sensation.
But then there would be a wall panel. Or patterns on a helmet. Or even that agaric fly keyboard. And my neurons would scream at me, that all of these have the tell-tale signa of generative AI.
A colleague suggested that the reason could be that AI was trained on richly detailed media such as this film, hence it adopts that style.
Because look up the agaric fly keyboard in HD. Look over all the keys. Doesn't it look AI? Weird nonsensical keys. Like a fever dream hallucination. But I've read interviews on its creation in 1979, and they were just trying to create a visually interesting, lived in world, with mystical elements.
AI has severely poisoned my mind and my ability to appreciate media. And I don't know how to cure this.
Comments 892
Re: Guide: Where To Pre-Order The Neo Geo+ AES
@X68000
So... Can you store all the games on an SD card, and then you move them in or out of the 4 slots? Sounds a bit like the NGPC flashcart - unlimited on the SD card, but you need to move / install them to built in flash to load them.
Or are the 4 slots for fast loading, versus any other game where you need to wait as it loads it into memory?
What are the loading times like?
Re: Guide: Where To Pre-Order The Neo Geo+ AES
@X68000
Nice - I'll wait to hear your report.
How much was the TerraOnion?
I'm not a fan of wireless controllers do will probably sell / trade those to get an OG stick or the hardwired one, if anyone prefers wireless.
From what I read... The bundled stick is hardwired. The extra sticks are wireless, but you can plug them in via a separate cable?
Is that correct?
The wording made me think the bundled sticks were strictly hardwired?
If this is a 1:1 replica, the console should easily moddable for RGB. Was reading up and the OG system produced a digital RGB signal which would then be converted to analogue.
So a simple bypass of the conversion improved the picture and removed jailbars.
Psyched!
Re: Guide: Where To Pre-Order The Neo Geo+ AES
@X68000
Just ordered the ULTIMATE edition on the UK site - direct from Plaion.
£800 well spent
I have yearned for one for decades.
Hoping it runs flashcarts, I want to play the MVS exclusive Neo Mr Do!, which has long been a favourite on emulation.
Re: "No Emulation, No Compromise, No Comparison" - The $250 Neo Geo+ AES Aims To Be A 1:1 Replica Of SNK's Classic Console
@NeonPizza
I actually use RF for my Mega Drive, for a select few games, to get transparencies and colour blending.
Re: The Neo Geo+ AES Saves You Over $92,000 On The Real Deal
@Arcadia_Official
Fair points!
I'm not involved in any managerial decisions, I'm not a member of staff, simply an independant freelancer, and my views should not be seen as indicative of or representing Hookshot Media.
My posts here are because I have a strong personal interest in SNK and the glorious Neo Geo legacy (I interviewed the original creator of Metal Slug from Nazca for example; twice!).
For the record: I also publicly spoke out in support of WayForward when users were criticising them over ModRetro reissuing their GBC games. Calling for the game's boycott, which I found ridiculous.
I don't have a personal interest in ModRetro products so don't say much - but please rest assured that as an individual, I genuinely do not care and will not judge anyone for buying their products. If I had a problem, I would not engage.
Everyone has a right to engage with and buy any legal product that interests them, and they have a right to do this without harassment.
A little basic human courtesy, and leaving people alone to live their lives, would make for a much better experience.
Re: "Locked And Loaded" - Polymega Is Adding Support For Two New CD-Based Retro Consoles
@metaphysician @NatiaAdamo
CDI / CD-i / cd~I / seedeeeye uses the Green Book standard from the Rainbow Books, and are perfectly readable in a standard PC optical drive. One of the emulators can in fact boot the disc and run it. I think... I've never bothered. But I can definitely read and copy them in my PC.
It's not like the Dreamcast's GD-ROM format where only certain drives are capable of reading the disc.
The only tricky aspects of the CDI are the BIOS and the video cartridge.
Emulators need the official BIOS currently, which hasn't been cloned, and the video cart is not emulated, meaning several good games cannot be played.
And... I feel like very few people care about the CDI to warrant it?
Re: The Neo Geo+ AES Saves You Over $92,000 On The Real Deal
EDIT: the message I was replying to was deleted. I'll leave my response unchanged below.
@Noiro
Nobody hurt my feelings. I just find moralising to be insufferable.
I will not spare anyone my attitude - not until myself and others can enjoy and engage with whatever legal media they choose, without any excrutiating, insufferable finger wagging from sanctimonious puritans.
If you don't like it, then you should not engage with it. But do not lecture others who choose to engage with it.
I want to engage with media and not be spoken down to about it.
I despise how a vocal minority are trying to force their views onto possible customers.
I want this group to keep quiet and let the rest of us live our lives.
Re: The Neo Geo+ AES Saves You Over $92,000 On The Real Deal
Removed
Re: "Locked And Loaded" - Polymega Is Adding Support For Two New CD-Based Retro Consoles
@dustinprewitt
As someone with a huge CDI collection... I WISH!!
But CDI emulation is terrible. It's probably Jag CD, given it's near flawless currently, and 3DO since that's also pretty stable.
Re: "No Emulation, No Compromise, No Comparison" - The $250 Neo Geo+ AES Aims To Be A 1:1 Replica Of SNK's Classic Console
@NeonPizza
I live in the UK, I've never used component or S-Video. In fact S-video isn't a thing here. From the 16-bit generation we had RGB via SCART here in the UK. SNES and Mega Drive both running crisp and sharp through SCART. I honestly can't stand playing these through composite. I play my NES through composite, but everything else is SCART.
Even my PC Engine outputs RGB SCART.
And it's also pumped into my Sony Trinitron CRT.
I'm not convinced that the Neo Geo will benefit from composite (yellow, red, white cables) rather than RGB.
I've not actually owned a Neo Geo before. My desire for SCART is based simply on all my 16-bit and 32-bit systems using it.
Re: "No Emulation, No Compromise, No Comparison" - The $250 Neo Geo+ AES Aims To Be A 1:1 Replica Of SNK's Classic Console
@StyrofoamCup
Thank you! Much appreciated.
OK. So this is essentialy a fresh rerelease with all the old functionality.
Re: "No Emulation, No Compromise, No Comparison" - The $250 Neo Geo+ AES Aims To Be A 1:1 Replica Of SNK's Classic Console
Will it still be able to output to CRT via RGB SCART?
Or is it HDMI only?
Tempted, but ONLY if I can connect to CRT.
Re: Hopes Of Neo Geo Hardware Revival Triggered By ESRB Rating
@DiacloneFx
Ah, yes. Ok, that makes sense. I knew the originals had micro clicks. The softness though closely matches the analogue softness of the Vectrex sticks.
I suppose the specific reason they work well for me is one of the specific reasons they don't work for you.
Re: Hopes Of Neo Geo Hardware Revival Triggered By ESRB Rating
@DiacloneFx
Why are the mini controllers terrible? I got a modded one for my Vectrex and it's super nice. The analogue stick is perfect for Vectrex.
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
@X68000
Good points. In fairness I had let it go and haven't thought about it in years. This news item just triggered a surge of memories. I guess it was not let go sufficiently.
I've said my peace now.
@NOCDGAMING
All on Amazon, or used copies on eBay. Just pick the cheapest.
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
@Count_of_Monte_Fisto
Thanks Count, always warms my heart to know people are reading the trilogy.
@Banjo-
You are the wisest person. Not even kidding - to pause and ascertain facts first is something few do.
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
@Banjo-
That's cool. I don't begrudge anyone enjoying his videos. The source material is quite excellent! But I have a personal grudge with his methods and way of operating, for reasons explained.
If you love his videos, that's excellent. Just be sure to dig deep to find out where that information originally came from.
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
Reddit is deleting any criticism of Norm.
In a Reddit thread on his retirement, titled "gaming historian announces his retirement from youtube", there was a user called:
Constant-Yak-918
Said user posted a link to this news article, with a screengrab.
I took a screenshot of the post.
As of this morning the post is deleted. Or at least I cannot find it in the Reddit thread.
I don't know who you are, but I salute and thank you for your efforts. I witnessed said efforts, and I also witnessed Reddit trying to censor your attempt at spreading truth.
Let me see if I can embed the image here. I may need to edit this multiple times.
Justice for Constant-Yak-918!
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
Typos, typos everywhere! I'm going to stop editing these for typos, but I'm clearly so upset by this that I can barely type efficiently any more.
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
@Lunethf
MESSAGE 2 / 2
Norm's channel exists because others put in the hard work.
Another example:
Hudson & Nintendo's Obscure PC Games
Volume 2, which I physically posted to him in 2015, had a detailed interview with Hudson staff on these. I would link you to his web page citing his sources, except I can't even find it. I clicked to the 4th page of his episode guide, and the 2018 video isn't even listed! The last entry I could find was a Spyro video.
They openly admit to using the books to get information from videos. Here is a verbatim copy and pasted quote from Kristin, dated 28 November 2017:
"Norm and I enjoy your books and appreciate all the research and effort that went into them. We sometimes use your books as reference material"
I am glad his channel is closing down, so he can now coast off someone else's hard work. And to be clear again: I never said I was the sole person, he's clearly doing this to multiple other writers.
The hiding of the sources is infuriating! Why not just disclose them in the text box of every single video? Why go to the effort to make a little page, hidden away, so you don't have to cite them on the YT page?
I am now going to pack for my travels. I've given hard evidence, and as stated before, Damien has scans of the emails, and also a second person who asked I remove their name from my previous post.
Everything I have to say on this matter is stated clearly in my previous separate posts.
I accused nobody of plagiarism. I accused him of relying on the work of others for his success, without proper credit. Which I have now proven, because it require 4x mouse clicks just to get to that video's citation page, and not every video even has a citation page.
And I accused him of saying yes to copies of my book, and promising a review, which two years later had never materialised and I was given the brush off. I have the email chain of these interactions. He would "LOVE" copies, and he planned to review them! Two years later he gets someone else to reply, saying they had no plans to do so. He did not even have the etiquette to reply to me himself!
I hope this has answered your question.
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
@Lunethf
MESSAGE 1 / 2
@Lunethf
First of all, not once did I say the word "plagiarise". There's an important distinction here. Norm isn't publishing a book, and inside that book are pages lifted wholesale from my books. He's producing videos, using information from my books, and not crediting them in said videos - the credits are hidden behind a URL and multiple clicks, as I said in my first post.
And I specifically did not want to trawl through his video archive again, because I am so angry with him. But I did, just to prove it to you. (This feels like in a court case where the prosecution is dogpiling the witness, demanding they describe in detail the crime committed against them.)
So, important point here, Norm promised me a review in his email dated November 2015. None was ever made, despite his channel being full of book reviews (go look, I'm not citing all of them, I counted at least 10 on his page and 1x magazine review).
Now, open up any of his videos. Does he cite sources?
NO. He says for a list of sources go here, and links to his website.
He deliberately OBFUSCATES where he got the info. Who is going to go to the trouble, of clicking his website, finding the video page in question, and then going: ahh, so that's the book he used!
To be clear here: my accusation is not plagiarism, it's lazy grifting, by using info from my books and then not properly crediting it on the YT video page. Or rather, hiding the credits behind at least 3 or 4 mouse clicks. Click the sources link to his website, click the episodes guide, click to page 2 or 3 or 4 maybe, then click the episode itself.
But let's give you these specific examples.
Mega Man on DOS video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwt5yWJqCzU
Look at the info box. Does he list my book? No. But he does say click a link. Follow that link, click episodes, click page 2, then scroll to find the MM video, then click it, then scroll down again:
https://thegaminghistorian.com/the-story-of-mega-man-on-dos/
Oh, yes, he does specifically cite my book. But how much effort does the average viewer have to go through to reach that?
Like I said. Coasting on the work of others. The Rozner brothers interview was done by me. And he tries to hide this fact.
And they are not difficult to contact either.
I passed on their contact details to this very website, Time Extension, and Jack interviewed them!
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
Posting again with specific facts, since I see someone highlighted my message on Reddit (many thanks, happy to talk about this). I am going away for Easter, so won't be able to reply to questions for a couple weeks.
But I sent copies of the emails to Damien and some friends, in the unlikely event anyone accuses me of fabricating this, and it needs verification while I am away.
I have an email from Norman dated 10 November 2015.
He says he would "absolutely LOVE a copy" and says he is planning to review it "sometime in the future".
He gives his address. I send him the books.
Nothing more from Norman until 28 November 2017, when I email asking for feedback on Volumes 1 and 2. (Volume 3 wasn't published until 2018 - so he only had two of them, but that's about 526 and 400 pages.)
Kristen replies, saying they both enjoy the books, admitting they use them for reference material, and saying they've scaled back their book reviews. But adds "Thanks for the understanding!"
I reply saying it's weird Norman didn't reply himself.
Kristin replies: "LOL. Sorry to disappoint."
I couldn't stomach browsing his channel for long, so I never made a note of every single video which grifted off my work, but there were multiple.
As I said earlier: good riddance to him. Absolutely detestable.
EDIT x 2: clarifying who was sent copies of the emails
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
@PercyChuggs
I lived in Japan for three months and interviewed game developers for some books. I've been writing and interviewing for over 20 years now. Below details the books I sent to Norm.
https://www.timeextension.com/features/i-spent-usd75000-documenting-japans-gaming-history-and-it-was-quite-the-ride
Re: "I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits
Good. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Norman Caruso asked for physical copies of my books (Japanese developer interviews). He said he'd review them or cover them on his channel. I posted them at great expense.
Months go by and nothing. I email him politely to ask how things were. He gets someone else to reply - I don't know if it was his girlfriend, or his PA, but he couldn't even be bothered to reply himself, despite him personally saying yes to the books.
Anyway she says Norm changed his mind and doesn't want to cover the books.
I am annoyed, but what can you do?
Then I notice over the coming years, every so often he'll have a video relying heavily on my interview material - where it could not exist without my work.
No coverage of my books of course. Barely even a mention. I recall once he simply had a link to some other web page listing his sources.
As far as I'm concerned Norman Caruso is a parasite who grifts off the hard work of others, does not give credit, and he had me spend a small fortune posting him telephone sized paper books under the promise of coverage, solely so he could then harvest those books' material, while getting his GF / PA to brush me off later.
I guess he had to quit due to running out of material.
Good riddance. I personally hate that man with the fury of a thousand burning suns.
Re: More Classic Capcom Titles Have Arrived On Steam, But, Of Course, There's A Catch
@Right_Said_Brett @slider1983
Indeed, I've left several reviews on GOG, without Galaxy.
So... Cheevos? It really does just come down to cheevos. And controller inputs on Steam. But mostly cheevos. (Toy Story meme.gif) Cheevos, CHEEVOS EVERYWHERE!
Re: More Classic Capcom Titles Have Arrived On Steam, But, Of Course, There's A Catch
@slider1983
Ah, I have never, ever used Galaxy. Honestly I don't even understand what it is or why I'd want to use it.
I buy games on GOG, save the installer to my massive back-up HDD, write it down on a paper list, and then I want to play it I plug the HDD into whatever computer I'm using and install.
Galaxy is some sort of Steam like wrapper which... Installs stuff for me? And it needs an online connection?
Hard pass.
If GOG ever makes it mandatory, and removes the portable standalone installers, I will be very upset.
I treat the installers like digital game CDs. They sit on my shelf until needed.
Re: More Classic Capcom Titles Have Arrived On Steam, But, Of Course, There's A Catch
@Thad
Valid points. Which reminds me: another reason I prefer GOG is because their installs still work on Windows 7. Steam no longer supports Win7, and the Steam client refuses to function, with all previously installed Steam games no longer working after the update.
I'm a bit jealous Steam supports you but not me. After my Win7 laptop refused to load any pre-installed Steam games, my main powerful Win7 rig had to go offline only forever so I could at least play what was on there. But I still install new GOG games.
So, I totally get what you're saying - we both experience this albeit in opposite ways.
Re: More Classic Capcom Titles Have Arrived On Steam, But, Of Course, There's A Catch
@Azuris
I love GOG. From your wording... Do people boycott GOG for some reason? I don't really follow current events. I don't even know why anyone would choose Steam over GOG. I buy from Steam, but only if it's not on GOG first. I will always buy GOG first, and even pay more than the Steam release.
Like, why would anyone use Steam over GOG? I can see the benefits of GOG (portable offline installs; permanent ownership of said install packages). There's no benefit to Steam that I can see. Cheevos? Is it cheevos? I hope it's not something lame like "I can only get cheevos on steam and I can't play a game unless it has cheevos."
Re: The Making Of: The Wizard - "I Couldn't Get A Job For 7 Months After That" - An Oral History Of Nintendo's Hollywood Debut
@Martin_H
"What I've found over the years is that I've enjoyed far more things going in blind than I would have if I obsessively followed reviews or community advice"
Exactly this. I've found this too, especially with films. I'll enjoy something on its own terms, having zero knowledge going in, then afterwards will look up reviews for fun and be shocked at the negativity. And I'm glad I never checked before hand, because that inevitably taints one's judgement.
There is genuine benefit to ignorance when consuming a new media title.
(I knew I shouldn't have mentioned the Gundam review. 😠The import PS3 and games rocked up around 4pm, and we all got a couple hours on our game with copy due next day at 9am. As I seem to recall.)
Re: The Making Of: The Wizard - "I Couldn't Get A Job For 7 Months After That" - An Oral History Of Nintendo's Hollywood Debut
Love this article and the movie still. Time for a rewatch. I don't understand Ebert claiming it was filmed ineptly. The video photography, lighting, etc., all seem high quality, or of equal quality to other films of 1989.
Can anyone give a specific example of inept filming? As in, not the script or story, but problems on a technical level?
I've always thought he was a bit of a jerk, praising crap for no reason, and giving scathing criticism to plenty of great films, just because something rubbed him the wrong way.
I will never understand why he is so respected as a film critic.
Re: "This May Be The Best Keitai Fighting Game We've Preserved" - This Rare Gundam Game For Japanese Phones Is Finally Playable Again
How did I miss this article? Fascinating. Glad it was linked in the i-mode closure article.
Re: "I Hold My Work To A Strict Standard" - The Driving Force Behind Xbox 360 Recomp Tool 'ReXGlue' Speaks Out
@SinjaNinja
Traditionally writers don't proof read. They hand it to copy editors to proof. Is this about the lineline / timeline typo? Take a chill pill. Typos happen. It's inevitable with a small team.
I'm only stepping in here to comment because every single one of my articles have a typo on first draft.
My focus is good research. And generally readers say my writing is good because it's well researched.
Your entire criticism is around a single typo, which is enough for you to condemn a writer's entire career.
Seems about right for a modern internet troll.
If your metric for quality were implemented we'd have nothing but insufferable safe guff to read, or AI slop. Both Hunter Thompson and Lester Bangs made all sorts of typos, but they brought energy, and Thompson did incredible first hand research.
That's what you should judge a journalist on.
Have they uncovered or documented things no one else has?
And I can safely say @damo has, in his long career. Interviews and information never documented before.
But by your metric it's all worthless because timeline was spelled wrong?
Re: Japan-Only Sequel To "Crap In A Box" Action RPG 'Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest' Is Now Playable In English
@Daniel36 @KingMike @jojobar
This article and its replies remind me of a recurring thought:
The fate of so many games in the 80s, 90s, and even early 00s, was tied to the whims of random freelance writers, most of whom had low pay, short deadlines, and bad hangovers. I know because I was one.
I wrote my own unnecessarily harsh review for Gundam on PS3, at launch. 4 / 10 maybe? Anyway, I later went back and honestly, it's not bad. 6 or maybe 7 if you're a fan is a fairer score.
And I think to myself: how many games sold poorly, lost money, missed out on sequels, ended careers, etc., because some rando was given a game and told to hand copy in less than 24 hours later? And because the internet didn't yet have ways of amplifying signal or broadcasting video through YouTube?
I've already mentioned Gunstar Heroes, and another good example is Tombi. Today: beloved classics commanding a small fortune due to the limited quantities available. Back then: crap scores, with readers told not to buy it.
How many copies went unsold and were later destroyed as a tax write off?
I'm not saying every low scoring piece of trash was actually a masterpiece. But so many of these low scoring games were genuinely not bad, and were pleasantly good or enjoyable, and deserved better.
And the bitter irony is: there was plenty of genuine trash which got high scores!
Headhunter is another example. Mags trashed the bike sections. Personally, they were the best part for me. I used to enjoy just driving around Los Angeles, taking in the sights. Sort of like a proto-GTA III. Still, mags hated these sections, so they were cut from the sequel, which ended up bring crap due to a broken aiming system.
The past is rife with the damage done by malicious and cruel reviewers.
Re: Japan-Only Sequel To "Crap In A Box" Action RPG 'Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest' Is Now Playable In English
That review is unnecessarily harsh. I for one really like collecting XP and then selling it.
Then again it's NextGen, the lukewarm leftovers of Edge magazine which were microwaved and sent over to America, so it doesn't surprise me. These same people gave Gunstar Heroes a 6 out of 10, and I am never, ever going to shut up about that.
Re: Classic Cute 'Em Up Series 'Cotton' To Celebrate Its 35th Anniversary With New Japan-Themed Entry
@PopetheRev28
I've been hearing about the death of shmups since the PS2 era. We faithful few will keep the ancestral songs of Hori and Tate alive, adorned in our traditional Danmaku, while hunting the fabled one-see-see.
Re: "This Is A Regret In My Life" - Sonic X-treme Designer On The "Fork In The Road" That Killed Saturn's Most Famous Unreleased Game
@SegaAges
I'd agree with this. I only suggested Ninja Penguin because it was, in effect, an already finished game by a third party. Whereas the Sonic Jam level was just a level. But when I played Jam, I hoped so badly for a full game based on that. It was wonderful.
Re: Classic Cute 'Em Up Series 'Cotton' To Celebrate Its 35th Anniversary With New Japan-Themed Entry
Feared that with today's political climate the sexy nymphs would be missing. Sees sexy nymphs are still included. Breaths a sigh of relief that Japan continues to be based with zero ***** given. Carry on Japan, carry on.
Re: "I'm Officially Debunking The Myth" - Homebrew Dev Thinks A "Faithful" SNES King Of Fighters Is Possible
@-wc-
As already pointed out, there are such things (fictional enhancement chips?), and which also work on my FPGA flashcart.
Tokimeki Memorial's fan-translation has an FMV intro and fancier CD style music.
And... Was it the homebrew ports of the NES Zelda games, where they stuck a cinematic in?
Basically you download these homebrew efforts and the extra gubbins are in the folder, and the flash cart does the rest.
Mostly it's been music and cinemas, or the Road Avenger port as mentioned. I suppose if someone wanted to, they could program a fancy 3D game like Starfox, which uses a non-existent chip, but would function via FPGA on a flash cart?
Eventually the question becomes, to what extent are you making a SNES game, or making a game that runs in FPGA and simply uses the SNES as a video output adapter?
There's probably some sort of bandwidth limitation at some point. (I am not a programmer.)
Re: "This Is A Regret In My Life" - Sonic X-treme Designer On The "Fork In The Road" That Killed Saturn's Most Famous Unreleased Game
@profkross
His behaviour isn't completely without precedent. I find that some programmers can be arrogant - and I suppose rightfully so? Their expertise facilitates everyone else's vision. They are, or were at the time, the core link between all other staff (design, art, sound, etc). Because there were no game engines back then - raw coding skill was everything.
Other programmers, like Yoshio Kiya, also had a rep for being somewhat arrogant. But again, I can see why. By achieving things no one else had, they sort of became rockstars in their sphere.
My personal opiniated guess, is that since the concept of reusable shared engines wasn't yet commonplace, another division taking Naka's code would have felt like they were stealing his glory? Maybe?
I've never interviewed Naka, but programmers in general have that lone wolf attitude. Keep in mind, at one period in the very early 1980s, like 81 or 82, games were often made by only one person: the coder.
So it's a role that emerged as an isolated position, with collaboration arriving later.
Some coders are super nice of course. Dale DeSharone let an artist live in his house until he found accomodation. But when someone says a coder is difficult to work with, it tracks. And I'm not that surprised.
Re: "This Is A Regret In My Life" - Sonic X-treme Designer On The "Fork In The Road" That Killed Saturn's Most Famous Unreleased Game
@MG4M3R
Haha! Yes. I thought so too. It happens around... The 3rd or 4th stage? The one where the triple jump become mandatory to progress. Right at this level's start there's a huge gap.
At that point they start introducing platform puzzles where you need to run and triple jump on platforms filled with enemies that instantly aggro and home in, knocking you off.
Also they start putting spike traps everywhere, so you need to do blind triple jumps and hope you don't overshoot in spikes.
Spikes, homing enemies, blind jumps, triple jumps, moving platforms, death pits, a constant timer... Hoho!
Please, please do try it. And report back.
For me the triple jump was the worst, since it had such precise timing. Sometimes the 3rd jump needed you to swap directions as you jump. The cloud level's triple jump reversal on a postage stamp is the product of a sick mind.
I hacked the gravity, which slows your fall speed, but there are no hacks to increase the jump.
You better put infinite lives on too.
I did think: it looks like it's aimed at kids, and I bet many tears were shed over it.
I finished it. Then watched a long play with commentary. The streamer said in the last level something like: "Why would you do that?! Who hurt you to make you this sadistic?"
I had to agree with them.
Looking forward to your own thoughts!
Re: "This Is A Regret In My Life" - Sonic X-treme Designer On The "Fork In The Road" That Killed Saturn's Most Famous Unreleased Game
I interviewed Chris decades ago for Retro Gamer, when I was freelancing - there are so many wild anecdotes about this game. It's crazy. Another aspect was that Yuji Naka had taken a very personal dislike to it - my memory is hazy, but one of the other teams was reusing his code from something else, to make Sonic-X, and Naka flew off the handle saying no one else was allowed to use his code. He was maniacally possessive.
This latest anecdote from Chris is new - but it's fascinating, adding yet another dimension to the chaos of mid-90s Sega, and the animosity between the US and Japanese branches. I always got the feeling the JP branch was the arrogant one, since they seemed to resent that their success in the US was due to what the Americans were doing, which was different to how they did things (bundling Sonic with the Mega Drive, anti-Nintendo ads, etc.). And then of course the jealousy between sections.
There are various rough builds of Sonic X-treme in the wild, and also fan attempts to recreate it. The biggest problem is that, fish-eye lens or not, the 3D feels like Bug on the Saturn. It just does not have that free flowing movement that Mario 64, or Tomb Raider had. Or Sonic R for that matter. Or even Ninja Penguin!
Worth looking up Ninja Penguin on the Saturn. The game is insidiously difficult - like a sadistic kaizo hack. Brutal beyond description.
But!
Its 3D engine is fantastic, and its graphics glorious.
I used a bunch of Action Replay hacks to take the slight edge off the difficulty, and honestly... Sega should have just bought the entire game, and reskinned the blue penguin as Sonic, and replaced the coins with rings.
Because in a lot of ways it looks like Sonic, and the 3D is some of the absolute best on the Saturn. As in Burning Rangers / Bulk Slash quality. Great draw distance. Lots of colourful detail. Smooth.
They could have added the ring loss mechanic, kept the levels as is, made it easier, reskinned the characters to be Tails, Robotnik etc. And you'd have had a solid 8 or 9 out of 10 Sonic game, with smooth platforming.
I bet a fan-hack could even do this.
They just need to make it easier. The base game is like doing invasive dentistry on yourself.
Now, compare Sonic R and Ninja Penguin to the playable builds of Sonic X-treme, or the above video.
X-treme is kinda fun? I was playing a fan remake a while back on an actual Saturn. It's not bad. But it's like an enhanced version of Bug. Very limited.
Glad to see Chris is still around talking about stuff.
He had a website and forum where he put all his Sonic materials, but then when I checked a few years ago and he'd removed it all.
Here's a wayback link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120618184842/http://www.senntient.com/hire/s_xtreme.html
Maybe I should dig out my raw interview materials from 20 years ago and give them to @damo ?
Re: Anniversary: 25 Years Ago, Nintendo Put SNES Games In The Palm Of Your Hand With The GBA
My school trip to Japan coincided with the launch, so I picked one up and was playing it on the flight back. Epic memories.
In hindsight - I can't believe I put up with such a bad screen. LOL.
Re: "I Could Not Give Less Of A S**t If Anyone Else Plays Them" - Developers Behind 'Pointless' Homebrew Ports Defend Their Work
I love these ports. For example, the N64 to Dreamcast ports.
I own both an N64 with flashcart and DC with ODE. And a CRT TV. I would rather play a finely tuned DC port of an N64 game on my CRT, with improved performance, than emulating said N64 game via a PC on and LCD screen.
The port is more authentic than emulation, even though it obviously goes beyond what the N64 was capable of.
It is, for me, that perfect niche of more authentic and accurate than emulation, benefitting from a CRT display, but ever so slightly nicer than the original experience. I dare say it's probably even better than putting an N64 cart in the Analogue 3D, since that is still working with the original game, and would be upscaling for HD LCD use.
These ridiculous ports are my jam!
(Secretly hoping infidelity does a Metal Gear / Snake's Revenge port to SNES, so I can run them both side by side on my CRT.)
Re: Xbox 360, PS3 And Nintendo Wii U Are "Officially Retro", Says GameStop
@NeonPizza
Astute points. 20 years ago, when the PS3 came out and we got that JP unit in, I didn't even own a smartphone. Then the next year, someone from work mentioned being on "Facebook", which I'd not heard of until then.
Such a different innocent time. Everyone was broadly aware of the same cultural trends, even if they didn't follow them. As you point out, it was unified. Today everyone has broken off into their own little curated reality. They might watch someone online with an audience of 3 million that you or me have never even heard of.
Re: Xbox 360, PS3 And Nintendo Wii U Are "Officially Retro", Says GameStop
@MSaturn
I feel I have the same or very close POV to you. In the 90s, I would have defended the right to expression even of those I disagreed with. What I never expected was that in having such a laissez-faire attitude, it would allow people to assume positions of power in media with diametric opposite views.
I also never considered it as being a tool as you describe it. But it makes sense, given how everything has flipped around. Which is so bizarre.
I'm from the UK, but back in the day games were a smaller cottage industry with not much oversight, the same with niche magazines. It was a bit of a wild west in many ways.
I've honestly struggled to comprehend the present day. It feels like the culture I grew up in, and the norms and values I had and shared with my peers, is now gone. It's difficult to pinpoint when it happened, but maybe from around 2011 or so? It was a slow shift.
Now I don't even recognise the socio-cultural landscape any more. And speaking too loudly about the changes will incite so much rage that it hardly feels worth going online.
I never once imagined things would change like this. Change in the way you've astutely described.
I mean, I remember when Jack Thompson was yapping his mouth, and everyone banded together to protect the medium from censorial influence. And banded together when the media tried to use games as a scapegoat. Creative freedom was also paramount.
And now? We have ethics departments in American studios wagging their fingers and forcing Japanese developers to change what they're doing, and they don't know what is happening or even why.
I look at 2026 and feel like we lost the culture wars. There's an Orwellian tone of "thought crimes" pervading everything now. And should you admit to such thought crimes you get dog-piled and cancelled. I hate it so much.
Re: Xbox 360, PS3 And Nintendo Wii U Are "Officially Retro", Says GameStop
I was working on Retro Gamer magazine, in the actual office, when a Japanese import PS3 was brought it in, so the other mags could do import reviews before it launched in the UK. It felt like being on the absolute cutting edge of technology and media culture. I reviewed Gundam for Play. It wasn't great, but I knew MGS4 would eventually be out.
Has it really been 20 years?
Culture seemed so vibrant and alive back then. No moralising or moral sentinels, no pearl clutching, no cancel culture, no tyranny of virtue, no ethics departments, no sensitivity training.
Just pure freedom to make, and play, and enjoy, and write whatever the **** you wanted.
God, I miss it so badly you cannot even begin to imagine.
The kids today, the new generation that entered the media based work force, are only interesting in tearing everything up and burning it down. Someone should have filtered and kept them out.
We will never have it as good again as we had it 20 years ago.
Re: "The Sega Saturn Was Truly Ahead Of Its Time" - Here's Why Modern Games Use 'Dithering' Instead Of Transparency
This news story makes me sad. It's like when I've read about we've lost the ability to traditional artisanal things, and just use something artificial instead thinking no one will really notice or care.
I'm thinking things like rare food flavours, but we just cheaper synthetic flavours instead, or we no longer use ambergris as a fixative for perfumes. Or moulded plastic instead of hand-carved woods or metals. Or how we're losing the knowledge to make traditional Japanese ink stones, or the wooden barrels to ferment soy sauce (kioke).
Here's an article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20190225-a-750-year-old-japanese-secret
And now I see this. Transparencies it would seem are the modern day videogame equivalent of kioke soy sauce. We're literally losing the ability to use proper transparencies due to the way modern hardware and graphics works. It's too complicated, or too much of a strain, so we'll just stick some holes in and call it a day.
Older games really were better. Those transparencies you saw on PS1 through to PS3, proper artistry at work.
Now all gone.
Re: This Long-Running Website Has Apparently Been Nuked From Google Thanks To AI-Written Resident Evil Review
The Escapist too?!
Oh man. I started my career on that back in 2005. The absolute best website at the time.
This is all grim reading. Media is in a very sad state of affairs. I swore 2026 couldn't possibly be worse than 2025...
(monkey's paw curls a finger)
Re: "Literally Crying Right Now" - 50 Copies Of This Adult-Only Visual Novel Demo Exist, And One Just Got Destroyed In Transit
@Eocene84
"The people on here happy about this make me sick. Seriously, people like you should be banned and then even IP banned so you can't come back."
I like this comment so much I'm quoting it.
I fully support IP bans on toxic posters ruining things for the rest of us.
In the mean time I just put them on ignore. I've got like 20+ people on my ignore list and it's just going to keep growing every time I see such posts, ROFLMAO.
I don't understand anyone here taking glee in the destruction of someone else's property. It's sickening.
I also despise the sanctimonious, puritanical, tyranny of virtue that's being espoused due to the content.
Let consenting adults buy whatever they like from other consenting adults. Nobody was exploited in the creation of this content.
The screaming pearl clutching and virtue signaling of these morality sentinels is insufferable.
Re: "Definitely Not Created By AI" - How An Innocent Conker Celebration Drew Rare Into A GenAI Debate
@RupeeClock
"It's in the same way that people are getting accused of leaving AI generated comments in discussions, because of their writing style or just trying to give a well written response."
Exactly! More than once a comment of mine on YT was accused of being AI. My profession is writer. If I give a response it will (hopefully) be intelligent, reasoned, correctly spelled, while providing references, so as to build on the discussion.
Now I'm like: eh, ***** it. And either don't comment or just hash out something quick and mispelled. Because it is rage inducing to read some low IQ response that utterly dismisses you entirely, thinking you're not real.
I generally spend very little time online now (these articles notwithstanding).
The AI conditioning also produced something disturbing recently.
I tried to watch the original Alien film, from 1979. And throughout the film are strange arbitrary visual details which are not explained. To give it a lived in feeling. The famous "agaric fly" keyboard being one.
And I knew the backstory to the film's production, and the effort to crew put into everything.
And yet my brain was constantly having an allergic reaction to it. Because AI adds lots of non-symmetrical details, and arbitrary details. So I kept having these moments of revulsion, briefly thinking: this looks like AI! Despite knowing it is not. And having to fight this feeling and sensation.
But then there would be a wall panel. Or patterns on a helmet. Or even that agaric fly keyboard. And my neurons would scream at me, that all of these have the tell-tale signa of generative AI.
A colleague suggested that the reason could be that AI was trained on richly detailed media such as this film, hence it adopts that style.
Because look up the agaric fly keyboard in HD. Look over all the keys. Doesn't it look AI? Weird nonsensical keys. Like a fever dream hallucination. But I've read interviews on its creation in 1979, and they were just trying to create a visually interesting, lived in world, with mystical elements.
AI has severely poisoned my mind and my ability to appreciate media. And I don't know how to cure this.
I despise genAI so damned much.