@Poodlestargenerica I was thinking in the way spies have a large assortment of gadgets and items, and also physical skills / knowledge they acquire. These could lend themselves to RPGs - in a way, the 2D Metal Gear games fit this. MG, SR, MG2, and MG:GB are all sort of like action-RPGs with a spy theme.
@Zenszulu Exactly. As a concept, it feels like a "spy RPG" is a no brainer. And yet... When you sit down and try to think of some...
There's a few point-and-click adventure games, but like the Bond GB game, they're not a proper fit. (Even ISOE on DC isn't an exact fit, since it's mechanically very strange.)
Posting for one reason only: when it came out, someone on a forum very excitedly asked, "could this be the first spy RPG?"
I hadn't heard of it at the time, so could not reply, but years later I discovered "Industrial Spy Operation Espionage" on Dreamcast, which predates it.
So for this random forumite from over a decade ago, there was one earlier example you may enjoy. Or not. I hated Industrial Spy. Alpha Protocol is definitely the better "spy RPG". Did anything predate IS though? (Possibly 007 on GB?)
But yes, 10 years ago I was asked to redact the name over concerns about how some of the larger companies may react.
Since then I spoke to John Ray of Atari / Time Warner, and Stefan Gancer has interviewed multiple Sunsoft staff on their side of the license, so it's sort of an open secret by now.
If you check out the quiz in Surprise Attack, the woman looks a lot like Kim Basinger. About 60% of the original planned game went into Surprise Attack.
If you check out the publishing credits of the games, around mid-1992 they stop being published by Sunsoft. Sega handles the Sega versions, and Konami handles the Nintendo versions.
@TransmitHim There was a slight miscommunication here - apologies, and I'll try to clarify.
The crowdfunding was for a document scanner to facilitate scanning entire magazines quickly after de-stapling and separating all pages. It's a new scanner for a new project.
The other scanner they had was an A3 flatbed scanner, which they'd been using for 10 years when it broke. Hence the charity auction.
Ultimately they hope to end up with two scanners:
a workhorse for high volume bulk magazine page scanning
a replacement A3 flatbed scanner for other bespoke jobs
I was also told the 25% extra on the magazine scanner crowdfunding will be used to purchase a paper cutting machine and other expenses related to the magazine archive work. Which is being treated as it's own large side project (literally several thousands of magazines are sitting in their archives).
Short version: Two different types of scanner for different jobs, funded via different means.
I had problems with carts coming loose with WarioWare Twisted (the GBA game you need to move around a lot), so I use a bit of blue-tack to keep it fixed down. Would that fix your problem here?
Also I'm still secretly holding out for a Barcode Battler scanner adapter (or possible camera to photograph the barcodes).
I agree with @LowDefAl on the shipping. The prices are absolutely insane and a mean way to gouge extra profit from customers. Raphnet ships similar adapter items from Japan for $5 airmail. Just think about that.
@OldManHermit I do like 80s horror. Poltergeist and Elm Street are favourites. I think part of it is I like the production veneer these Hollywood films have.
If you play Sweet Home post back here and quote me so I get notification - curious to hear your thoughts in the context of liking the film. Will you love the game because the two resonate so well? Or will you feel the gameification of the narrative detracts from it?
"Square was planning to invest 70% of the company's capital (roughly £2 million)"
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what capital is. But this sounds like Square only had roughly £3 million of capital to start with? Which seems quite small...
@smoreon I avoided the main bug fans complain about (you can leave stuff in the metal detector and then end up on disc 2 with no way of getting it back). Also a lot of people end up in the boss fight at the end of Disc 1 with not enough supplies to beat the boss (luckily as a veteran of RE1, 2, and 3 by this point, I always kept myself overstocked).
The weapons access problem is less a bug and more bad design, in how the game itself functions, swapping characters at key points, which leaves certain items in the non-playable character's inventory, or the item boxes. This could be avoided by reading a guide and being prepared. For my replay I decided to do the whole thing blind, and basically forgot this was the case - so towards the end of the second disc, for the end game, I didn't have the gas grenade launcher. (I forget the specifics, but there was a long stretch of acquiring grenades, and thinking: huh, it sure would be nice if I had proper access to my inventory again.) I may be misremembering exactly how this worked.
I guess my advice is: if you play Code Veronica, spoil it by reading a guide and making sure you are prepared for the disc change (if on Dreamcast), and certainly prepped for the characters changes (DC and PS2). Otherwise it's quite possible to end up in bad situations.
In terms of old school Resi, 2 is my favourite, closely followed by 1, with CV coming below 3 after a recent replay.
Gaiden is the king. Everyone should play Gaiden. Remember: it saves literally everywhere, not just as checkpoints - reviewers who complain about only saving at checkpoints didn't read the manual.
I replay it semi-regularly and love it to bits. My favourite GBC game alongside MGS.
I used to think Code Veronica was my favourite, but replayed it a coupke years back, and hated it. Was shocked at how dramatic my change of feeling was.
As someone said, it's a slog. Also buggy (you can perma lose key items accidentally). Also it pulls annoying tricks leaving you without access to vital weapons. In my recent replay I never got to use the gas grenades because it swapped characters and left the launcher innaccessible.
@RaeDawnChonglingBay Nah, I'd have placed the controller near several spider webs, in the shed for example, or a beehive, then put a boombox nearby pumping out wrestlmania music. Let the match of titans commence.
So I rewatched this. As a film I still think it's godawful. But!
After the first viewing I went and replayed the entire game (maybe 10 hours?). The last time was around 2001 after the fan-translation. I loved it at the time - Sweet Home on Famicom is an 8-bit masterpiece.
But I had enjoyed it devoid of context.
Watching the film and playing the game again, however, elevates the game to god-tier status. (Even though the film still sucks.) Because as supplementary material, the films adds context to in-game events, subverts certain expected events, and makes the game experience even better.
Thus making Sweet Home possibly the greatest film/game tie-in the history of either medium.
Great film adaptations like Platoon, Batman, Robocop, Die Hard... Whatever. Etc. They all worked without the film, and knowing the film only improved the experience moderately. Here, the film feels like it was meant to be part of the game experience (which was fantastic anyway).
There have been a few similar attempts over the years. Exile on the BBC Micro had a novella included. Antiriad had a comic. Galaxy Odyssey had an audio novel on cassette. The Matrix games years later pitched themselves as missing segments from the movie, meant to dovetail together. That was more than a decade later though.
Sweet Home came out in 1989 and does the above far more elegantly.
On my second playthrough I renamed the characters to match how I saw them in the film (the reporter was renamed April). Knowing the character relations also improved the experience. I kept the father and daughter together, and I paired the pervy cameraman and reporter off, since they had a thing going on in the film
And you know what? Following the groupings in the film made the game easier - it was meant to be played like this. The cameraman and reporter work so well as a pair for reading the frescos.
I was also able to visualise each character as in the film, and imagine their voices. And items, such as the dress which heals mental power, made so much more sense now. Before it was just an arbitrary game item, now I mentally align it with the film, where the dress was Emi's late mother's, and gives them the will to fight on.
The game also adds a little more backstory to the film - notably what happened to the mysterious painter, which wasn't explained in the film itself!
Plus it alters some things, such as the coffin location, and other bits, to keep you on your toes.
I hated my 2nd viewing even more since I knew what happened. But by virtue of improving the game, I have to recommend it - watch it, then play the game. Consider it like reading the manual.
This might actually be the perfect film/game symbiosis. Not because the film is good, but because of how well the two are integrated.
I would buy the adapters, but not when the postage is literally a zillion-gajillion-quintrillion dollars for what should be no more than $15 tops. Raphnet can ship from Japan for $5!
Is it accepted knowledge they're using postage to profit gouge buyers? Or is this just my imagination?
The whole thing reeks of American style medical costs, where life-saving cancer treatment is extortionate, but they know people will just shut up and pay because they have no other choice, even though the actual costs are negligible.
I've been wanting to watch this for around 20 years now. At last I have.
Personaly... I hated it. Dreadful film. Bad pacing, stilted dialogue, and a weird surreal atmosphere that feels more like theatre than film.
Also nonsensical scenes that make no sense. What was that throne of neon honey? The pointless sing song bit?
It's like randomised video salad.
Mostly it's just boring though.
Compared to something like Poltergeist it's just laughable, mediocre guff whose main claim to fame is its much better videogame adaptation. Poltergeist had great pacing, great dialogue, and it made coherent logical sense within the rules of the film. Poltergeist was exciting! Sweet Home was not.
Paywall? **** paywalls - that data on MobyGames is meant to be free.
I have personally donated huge volumes of privately taken photos of developers who had no photos before, and filled in gaps for games where no one knew the creators.
I did not do that for it to be paywalled!
Granted, that data is still freely accessible currently, and this paywall seems to be for useless extras. But I am going to burst a blood vessel if I find them paywalling stuff I donated for free public access.
I've not followed 3D scanning developments. Do we have an agreed consensus on proper measurements / quality levels of scans?
I recall that a huge volume of magazine scans from the early days of archiving were scrapped after the community decided they needed to reach a higher minimum DPI threshold.
Is there a similar set of criteria for 3D scans? Is the data future proof? In 10 years, if there is a new technology for 3D printing, are these old scans of sufficient resolution that they will still be usable?
(OK, that last hypothetical is hard to answer - but old celluloid / acetate film can be scanned at 10k resolution, so it's not like we need to reshoot old films using modern digital cameras, the acetate itself is future proof; likewise, current high DPI scans of magazines continue to work well in new and higher resolution digital reading devices, often better since you don't need to scroll. So future proofing is doable. I just don't fully understand the techniques here.)
@GhaleonUnlimited I wanted to like Granstream so badly. I loved the faceless art style and the sky island setting. Sadly the combat does suck SO BADLY. I restarted to get the secret sword, with the highest stats, which one shot kills any enemy. And... I still found myself button mashing for several minutes per battle because enemies constantly blocked. A battle just never ended! And killing them gives no reward. And they respawn. And dungeons are complex mazes with no map. So you get lost, and have to fight dozens of battles over and over, and they drag on forever, because you can slash an enemy a hundred times but oh hey they just block and receive zero damage. Even the Soulsborne games allow one to brute force enemies as long as you can break their stamina gauge.
No. I hate Granstream Saga with every fibre of my being. It's not a Quintet game. Quintet died at the end of its 16-bit run. It died young and beautiful and with an immaculate portfolio and will remain so forever in our hearts.
@GhaleonUnlimited I went back to play Lego FF7 using the fan retranslation, and it makes it less nonsensical. I always liked it more for its mechanics than story, but the retranslation makes it much easier to follow. For the first few hours I played it alongside the original, loading saves to reread key dialogue - I was kinda shocked at how the official localisation is borderline gibberish.
Ultimately that FF7 spoiler scene did nothing for me. While multiple scenes in S1 and especially S2 hit so hard - and still do today. There are mutiple endings, and I honestly cannot bring myself to see the sadder ones. Maybe with the Remaster...
Given that some readers genuinely didn't know about FF7, I should have kept the spoiler warning, but for both games, and not revealed the FF7 one at the top.
But like I said: I have grown accustomed to veteran players using it as short hand when discussing emotional games. And I find it frustrating how a majority of older gamers will say "that's the most emotional scene in games".
And I'm like: really? Have you not played Suikoden 2, or Panzer Dragoon Saga? There's a rich portfolio of deep games out there. FF7 by comparison is emotionally shallow and kind of nuts. I like it, but only for the complex battle system and way you can manipulate the materia system.
@Poodlestargenerica I'm sorry I spoiled a key moment in FF7 for you - please rest assured that while this event is a key plot point, the entire game contains numerous other surprises, a couple even on par with this. It's still worth experiencing.
@Poodlestargenerica Did I actually genuinely spoil FF7 for you? If so then I'm very surprised, shocked even. I am sorry.
That specific FF7 spoiler is so well documented, it's become the cornerstone of gaming pop culture. I've seen so many examples where people ask: can a videogame make you cry? And people start bawling over this scene. A magazine spoiled it for me in the day. I felt nothing - I was glad to have one less party member to grind!
The answer to your question is in the question itself. FF7 is so popular, I felt everyone knew this example. It has become gaming shorthand. You can't watch a Dorkly comedy video, or browse internet memes, without risking seeing THAT scene satirised. How were you able to not know it? In the last 25 years I must have seen it mentioned over 100 times.
Whereas Suikoden I&II are less known, less played, and I really want people to play them. A lot. I spoiled the "death of your father" because that happens like... 4 hours in? The pacing is so quick. In FF7 you're still rolling around in garbage in Midgar at that time - it's slow and padded. I like FF7, finished it twice; but I love Suikoden I&II.
I feel bad spoiling Suikoden 1 like that, but I did it with the promise that both games contain so many more emotional moments. I did it to entice players, like a taster. As for spoiling FF7, I'm sorry I was the one to break it for you. I honestly thought no one alive who plays games would be unaware.
If anyone has not played S1 or S2, please try them. The PS1 games were on PSN a while back (not sure now?), plus the remasters are coming. I'm going to put my hand up and say: in the year 2024 they are still fantastic, and some of you may actually find them to be better than their peers (such as FF7 et al).
I really want people to care about these games, because they deserve it.
If I'm recalling correctly, that tree chopping game was actually one of SNK's very earliest arcade titles, and they lost the game (everything - there is no known archive of the arcade version), meaning the conversion to this console is the last existing remnant of the original.
I think. These memories are half faded from something I read somewhere. I think it was in the SNK compilation which had VGHF info in it.
The port seen in the video was unauthorised, and it had an official port as a secret minigame on NGPC.
I love how dinky and primitive this is. I'd love to have the technical knowledge to poke under the hood and seeing what it was capable of with 40 years hindsight and coding knowledge. Fascinating.
Tempted, but only on the condition that at random and unpredicted times Tommy will run through my new house jubilantly screaming: "HEY I'M TOMMY TALLARICO! I INVENTED GAME MUSIC! HAVE YOUR HEARD IT?!"
I saw it in EGM and always wanted to own it. The story was crazy. Later played a demo and loved the level. Never bought it because I was young and lacked the funds. Someday I will put it on my PSIO.
I briefly skimmed those pages (way too much to read everything), and... Apparently someone, I'm unsure if it was a forum user or a dev, was suggesting replacing the islanders with lizard men.
Changing or censoring the content is a terrible idea. It's like digitally removing cigarettes from old films. You can't undo or change the past - it is what it is, and it forms part of the creative vision that reached the market.
Keep in mind that everything you see anyway had already gone through filters, and changes, and revisions, before being finalised for market.
I strongly dislike the idea of post-market changes (which is also why I cannot stomach George Lucas' meddling with the original trilogy - thank the gods someone took them away from his meddling little hands.)
A game which would take an hour on the Internet Archive took 3 to 4 seconds on CDR.
It allowed me to fill my ODE for multiple systems.
As said, the site owner was super cool. When a rare DC game wasn't loading for others, I sent one I had from years ago, and that same day he replaced it.
This off site hosting. Is it as fast? How long will it last?
I'm tired of the "but it's piracy" excuse used by companies. As a creative I've issued take downs for my books being hosted. But they are still sold. There are CD games from 30+ years ago no one even remembers, the rights holders are gone, and the only way to experience them is spending a fortune to buy a copy off speculative scalpers.
The law needs to delineate between something still available, and something forgotten to limbo.
I'm going to miss CDR, like Emu Paradise before it.
It's not their best game, but A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES) is definitely a really, really fun NES game. It's great in single player, but it becomes absolutely MAJESTIC in simultaneous four player mode.
I bought a multitap just for Elm Street and MULE on the NES.
I feel like not many people played it like this though.
Imagine you and three friends, all sharing the same screen, a pad each, co-operating and jumping around getting bones and beating bad guys. It's complete mayhem and it's wonderful.
Sadly I only ever had enough people to do it once. If you can, try it.
In a funny way... I can't help but look at Elm Street in 4P, and look at Goldeneye, and think... Yeah, those guys knew all along that four friends around a TV is the magic ingredient to fun.
I doubt many (anyone?) will vote for A Nightmare on Elm Street, but I gave it 10. I'd certainly put it in any top 10 list for Rare, at least the 4P mode.
I highly recommend DICING KNIGHT. Technically it was a hobbyist game that sent commercial. But if you like Zelda style action it's great. I've been playing it on my Analogue recently. Lovely forgotten gem.
I have never trusted public voting. The 2004 voting in Japan for the Famicom's top 100 resulted in absolute trash results. Not reflective of the nation's creative output at all.
I'll reserve judgement of this for when the full translated list of all 100 is done (I'm too lazy to read it in Japanese - but I saw Culdcept made the list).
The top 10 at least shows some inventive or considered voting.
@Banks The loudness just means his little heart is beating strong!
I missed out on an auction for the colour block matching game. As someone who owns both and find them fun, is it worth it? Based on videos I feel like Gyromite gives you the majority of the ROB experience.
@Mario500 Did you ever watch Ducktales? You know how Scrooge McDuck had that big money bin he'd swim around in? The gigaleak is that giant bin. Except instead of money, it's filled with rich and delicious Nintendo goodness. Especially unreleased or pre-release goodness.
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Re: Obsidian's Spy RPG Alpha Protocol Lands On GOG, 5 Years After Licensing Issues
@Poodlestargenerica I was thinking in the way spies have a large assortment of gadgets and items, and also physical skills / knowledge they acquire. These could lend themselves to RPGs - in a way, the 2D Metal Gear games fit this. MG, SR, MG2, and MG:GB are all sort of like action-RPGs with a spy theme.
Re: Obsidian's Spy RPG Alpha Protocol Lands On GOG, 5 Years After Licensing Issues
@Zenszulu Exactly. As a concept, it feels like a "spy RPG" is a no brainer. And yet... When you sit down and try to think of some...
There's a few point-and-click adventure games, but like the Bond GB game, they're not a proper fit. (Even ISOE on DC isn't an exact fit, since it's mechanically very strange.)
Re: Obsidian's Spy RPG Alpha Protocol Lands On GOG, 5 Years After Licensing Issues
Not a bad game - the clunkiness was charming.
Posting for one reason only: when it came out, someone on a forum very excitedly asked, "could this be the first spy RPG?"
I hadn't heard of it at the time, so could not reply, but years later I discovered "Industrial Spy Operation Espionage" on Dreamcast, which predates it.
So for this random forumite from over a decade ago, there was one earlier example you may enjoy. Or not. I hated Industrial Spy. Alpha Protocol is definitely the better "spy RPG". Did anything predate IS though? (Possibly 007 on GB?)
Re: Konami's Sci-Fi Sidescroller Surprise Attack Heading To Switch & PS4
@RootsGenoa
@Poodlestargenerica
@PKDuckman
The film, Batman, was actually revealed here:
https://www.timeextension.com/features/interview-konami-legends-reveal-the-secrets-of-the-arcade-hit-factory
But yes, 10 years ago I was asked to redact the name over concerns about how some of the larger companies may react.
Since then I spoke to John Ray of Atari / Time Warner, and Stefan Gancer has interviewed multiple Sunsoft staff on their side of the license, so it's sort of an open secret by now.
If you check out the quiz in Surprise Attack, the woman looks a lot like Kim Basinger. About 60% of the original planned game went into Surprise Attack.
If you check out the publishing credits of the games, around mid-1992 they stop being published by Sunsoft. Sega handles the Sega versions, and Konami handles the Nintendo versions.
Re: Bitmap Books Celebrates 10th Anniversary, And We Were There
@BionicDodo Bitmap produced a very nice PCE box art book - I bought a copy and it's helped me fill out my collection of PCE games.
Re: The Japanese Game Preservation Society Is Selling Off Rare Items To Fund Its Vital Work
@gingerbeardman true, but thankfully there's like three+ different proxy companies for people interested.
Buyee was used in the above.
But there's FromJapan, which I signed up with, plus Google is showing me ZenMarket and Jauce.
Obviously readers need to see which services meet their needs best.
Re: The Japanese Game Preservation Society Is Selling Off Rare Items To Fund Its Vital Work
@TransmitHim There was a slight miscommunication here - apologies, and I'll try to clarify.
The crowdfunding was for a document scanner to facilitate scanning entire magazines quickly after de-stapling and separating all pages. It's a new scanner for a new project.
The other scanner they had was an A3 flatbed scanner, which they'd been using for 10 years when it broke. Hence the charity auction.
Ultimately they hope to end up with two scanners:
I was also told the 25% extra on the magazine scanner crowdfunding will be used to purchase a paper cutting machine and other expenses related to the magazine archive work. Which is being treated as it's own large side project (literally several thousands of magazines are sitting in their archives).
Short version:
Two different types of scanner for different jobs, funded via different means.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Shinobi Game?
I know it gets hate, but I personally love the Saturn game.
Re: The Japanese Game Preservation Society Is Selling Off Rare Items To Fund Its Vital Work
Neat - that was fast! I'm currently chatting with Joseph about translating their full list of rarities, and when they'll be going up.
Re: You Won't Believe How Little Ocean Paid For RoboCop's Global Video Game Rights
For anyone interested, there's some nice remasters of the Robocop games recently:
http://www.parkproductions.co.uk/robocop2dreloaded.htm
Re: Review: Analogue Pocket Adapters - Lynx, PC Engine And NGPC Support Is Finally Here
I had problems with carts coming loose with WarioWare Twisted (the GBA game you need to move around a lot), so I use a bit of blue-tack to keep it fixed down. Would that fix your problem here?
Also I'm still secretly holding out for a Barcode Battler scanner adapter (or possible camera to photograph the barcodes).
I agree with @LowDefAl on the shipping. The prices are absolutely insane and a mean way to gouge extra profit from customers. Raphnet ships similar adapter items from Japan for $5 airmail. Just think about that.
Re: Sweet Home, The Movie That Inspired Resident Evil, Just Got Remastered
@OldManHermit I do like 80s horror. Poltergeist and Elm Street are favourites. I think part of it is I like the production veneer these Hollywood films have.
If you play Sweet Home post back here and quote me so I get notification - curious to hear your thoughts in the context of liking the film. Will you love the game because the two resonate so well? Or will you feel the gameification of the narrative detracts from it?
Re: Square Had Huge Plans For The N64 Before It Fell Out With Nintendo
@sdelfin Ah! Yes, I see it now. That's what I get for skimming. Thanks.
Re: We Almost Got The "Definitive" Version Of Blaster Master In Arcades
Why would I want to play shorter linear levels?
That removes what I like about the game!
Re: Square Had Huge Plans For The N64 Before It Fell Out With Nintendo
"Square was planning to invest 70% of the company's capital (roughly £2 million)"
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what capital is. But this sounds like Square only had roughly £3 million of capital to start with? Which seems quite small...
Re: Best Resident Evil Games, Ranked By You
@Damo No Bio Hazard bootleg for the Famicom? I guess fan-games shouldn't really count... Though it's an amusing oddity.
https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Bio_Hazard_(Famicom)
Re: Best Resident Evil Games, Ranked By You
@smoreon I avoided the main bug fans complain about (you can leave stuff in the metal detector and then end up on disc 2 with no way of getting it back). Also a lot of people end up in the boss fight at the end of Disc 1 with not enough supplies to beat the boss (luckily as a veteran of RE1, 2, and 3 by this point, I always kept myself overstocked).
The weapons access problem is less a bug and more bad design, in how the game itself functions, swapping characters at key points, which leaves certain items in the non-playable character's inventory, or the item boxes. This could be avoided by reading a guide and being prepared. For my replay I decided to do the whole thing blind, and basically forgot this was the case - so towards the end of the second disc, for the end game, I didn't have the gas grenade launcher. (I forget the specifics, but there was a long stretch of acquiring grenades, and thinking: huh, it sure would be nice if I had proper access to my inventory again.) I may be misremembering exactly how this worked.
I guess my advice is: if you play Code Veronica, spoil it by reading a guide and making sure you are prepared for the disc change (if on Dreamcast), and certainly prepped for the characters changes (DC and PS2). Otherwise it's quite possible to end up in bad situations.
In terms of old school Resi, 2 is my favourite, closely followed by 1, with CV coming below 3 after a recent replay.
Gaiden is the king. Everyone should play Gaiden. Remember: it saves literally everywhere, not just as checkpoints - reviewers who complain about only saving at checkpoints didn't read the manual.
Re: Best Resident Evil Games, Ranked By You
Anyone else love RE: Gaiden on the GBC?
I replay it semi-regularly and love it to bits. My favourite GBC game alongside MGS.
I used to think Code Veronica was my favourite, but replayed it a coupke years back, and hated it. Was shocked at how dramatic my change of feeling was.
As someone said, it's a slog. Also buggy (you can perma lose key items accidentally). Also it pulls annoying tricks leaving you without access to vital weapons. In my recent replay I never got to use the gas grenades because it swapped characters and left the launcher innaccessible.
Re: 3DS Emulator Citra Is Dead, Along With Switch Emulator Yuzu
@MrModerate You could, but then you'd be... BREAKING THE LAW! BREAKING THE LAW! BREAKING THE LAW!
edit: lol, the backwards slash vanishes when posting, meaning I can't do the devil horns emoji. /m/ /m/
Re: 3DS Emulator Citra Is Dead, Along With Switch Emulator Yuzu
I ran Ocarina of Time on Citra, upscaled to 1080p, with 360 controller, mapping screen touches to hotkeys.
It was glorious!
Re: This Dreamcast Controller Full Of Ants Is Your Nightmare Fuel For Today
@RaeDawnChonglingBay Nah, I'd have placed the controller near several spider webs, in the shed for example, or a beehive, then put a boombox nearby pumping out wrestlmania music. Let the match of titans commence.
Re: Sweet Home, The Movie That Inspired Resident Evil, Just Got Remastered
So I rewatched this. As a film I still think it's godawful. But!
After the first viewing I went and replayed the entire game (maybe 10 hours?). The last time was around 2001 after the fan-translation. I loved it at the time - Sweet Home on Famicom is an 8-bit masterpiece.
But I had enjoyed it devoid of context.
Watching the film and playing the game again, however, elevates the game to god-tier status. (Even though the film still sucks.) Because as supplementary material, the films adds context to in-game events, subverts certain expected events, and makes the game experience even better.
Thus making Sweet Home possibly the greatest film/game tie-in the history of either medium.
Great film adaptations like Platoon, Batman, Robocop, Die Hard... Whatever. Etc. They all worked without the film, and knowing the film only improved the experience moderately. Here, the film feels like it was meant to be part of the game experience (which was fantastic anyway).
There have been a few similar attempts over the years. Exile on the BBC Micro had a novella included. Antiriad had a comic. Galaxy Odyssey had an audio novel on cassette. The Matrix games years later pitched themselves as missing segments from the movie, meant to dovetail together. That was more than a decade later though.
Sweet Home came out in 1989 and does the above far more elegantly.
On my second playthrough I renamed the characters to match how I saw them in the film (the reporter was renamed April). Knowing the character relations also improved the experience. I kept the father and daughter together, and I paired the pervy cameraman and reporter off, since they had a thing going on in the film
And you know what? Following the groupings in the film made the game easier - it was meant to be played like this. The cameraman and reporter work so well as a pair for reading the frescos.
I was also able to visualise each character as in the film, and imagine their voices. And items, such as the dress which heals mental power, made so much more sense now. Before it was just an arbitrary game item, now I mentally align it with the film, where the dress was Emi's late mother's, and gives them the will to fight on.
The game also adds a little more backstory to the film - notably what happened to the mysterious painter, which wasn't explained in the film itself!
Plus it alters some things, such as the coffin location, and other bits, to keep you on your toes.
I hated my 2nd viewing even more since I knew what happened. But by virtue of improving the game, I have to recommend it - watch it, then play the game. Consider it like reading the manual.
This might actually be the perfect film/game symbiosis. Not because the film is good, but because of how well the two are integrated.
Re: Analogue Pocket Firmware Update 2.2 Now Available
Hoping for Lynx and NGPC core soon.
I would buy the adapters, but not when the postage is literally a zillion-gajillion-quintrillion dollars for what should be no more than $15 tops. Raphnet can ship from Japan for $5!
Is it accepted knowledge they're using postage to profit gouge buyers? Or is this just my imagination?
The whole thing reeks of American style medical costs, where life-saving cancer treatment is extortionate, but they know people will just shut up and pay because they have no other choice, even though the actual costs are negligible.
Re: Sweet Home, The Movie That Inspired Resident Evil, Just Got Remastered
I've been wanting to watch this for around 20 years now. At last I have.
Personaly... I hated it. Dreadful film. Bad pacing, stilted dialogue, and a weird surreal atmosphere that feels more like theatre than film.
Also nonsensical scenes that make no sense. What was that throne of neon honey? The pointless sing song bit?
It's like randomised video salad.
Mostly it's just boring though.
Compared to something like Poltergeist it's just laughable, mediocre guff whose main claim to fame is its much better videogame adaptation. Poltergeist had great pacing, great dialogue, and it made coherent logical sense within the rules of the film. Poltergeist was exciting! Sweet Home was not.
Loved the game. Hated the film sadly.
Re: Anniversary: Video Game Database MobyGames Celebrates 25 Years
Paywall? **** paywalls - that data on MobyGames is meant to be free.
I have personally donated huge volumes of privately taken photos of developers who had no photos before, and filled in gaps for games where no one knew the creators.
I did not do that for it to be paywalled!
Granted, that data is still freely accessible currently, and this paywall seems to be for useless extras. But I am going to burst a blood vessel if I find them paywalling stuff I donated for free public access.
That was not part of the deal!
Re: Atari CEO Claims Bubsy Response Was "Greater Than Anticipated"
@N00BiSH This was it! Thank you!
Everyone, check out Bubsy and the James Turrel Retrospective. It's weird and cool.
Re: Atari CEO Claims Bubsy Response Was "Greater Than Anticipated"
Did that infinite scroller from a few years back actually sell well? It was awful.
I did once play a good 3D Bubsy game. It was fan made and cel shaded kinda surreal. I forget the name. You had to find an art gallery or something.
Re: Archivist Preserves Full Set Of Super Mario Bros. Toys From The '80s
I've not followed 3D scanning developments. Do we have an agreed consensus on proper measurements / quality levels of scans?
I recall that a huge volume of magazine scans from the early days of archiving were scrapped after the community decided they needed to reach a higher minimum DPI threshold.
Is there a similar set of criteria for 3D scans? Is the data future proof? In 10 years, if there is a new technology for 3D printing, are these old scans of sufficient resolution that they will still be usable?
(OK, that last hypothetical is hard to answer - but old celluloid / acetate film can be scanned at 10k resolution, so it's not like we need to reshoot old films using modern digital cameras, the acetate itself is future proof; likewise, current high DPI scans of magazines continue to work well in new and higher resolution digital reading devices, often better since you don't need to scroll. So future proofing is doable. I just don't fully understand the techniques here.)
Re: Is Quintet's Robotrek The Most Underrated SNES JRPG Ever?
@GhaleonUnlimited I wanted to like Granstream so badly. I loved the faceless art style and the sky island setting. Sadly the combat does suck SO BADLY. I restarted to get the secret sword, with the highest stats, which one shot kills any enemy. And... I still found myself button mashing for several minutes per battle because enemies constantly blocked. A battle just never ended! And killing them gives no reward. And they respawn. And dungeons are complex mazes with no map. So you get lost, and have to fight dozens of battles over and over, and they drag on forever, because you can slash an enemy a hundred times but oh hey they just block and receive zero damage. Even the Soulsborne games allow one to brute force enemies as long as you can break their stamina gauge.
No. I hate Granstream Saga with every fibre of my being. It's not a Quintet game. Quintet died at the end of its 16-bit run. It died young and beautiful and with an immaculate portfolio and will remain so forever in our hearts.
Re: The Making Of: Suikoden II, A JRPG To Match 'Game Of Thrones' In Intrigue And Impact
@GhaleonUnlimited I went back to play Lego FF7 using the fan retranslation, and it makes it less nonsensical. I always liked it more for its mechanics than story, but the retranslation makes it much easier to follow. For the first few hours I played it alongside the original, loading saves to reread key dialogue - I was kinda shocked at how the official localisation is borderline gibberish.
Ultimately that FF7 spoiler scene did nothing for me. While multiple scenes in S1 and especially S2 hit so hard - and still do today. There are mutiple endings, and I honestly cannot bring myself to see the sadder ones. Maybe with the Remaster...
Given that some readers genuinely didn't know about FF7, I should have kept the spoiler warning, but for both games, and not revealed the FF7 one at the top.
But like I said: I have grown accustomed to veteran players using it as short hand when discussing emotional games. And I find it frustrating how a majority of older gamers will say "that's the most emotional scene in games".
And I'm like: really? Have you not played Suikoden 2, or Panzer Dragoon Saga? There's a rich portfolio of deep games out there. FF7 by comparison is emotionally shallow and kind of nuts. I like it, but only for the complex battle system and way you can manipulate the materia system.
Re: The Making Of: Suikoden II, A JRPG To Match 'Game Of Thrones' In Intrigue And Impact
@Poodlestargenerica I'm sorry I spoiled a key moment in FF7 for you - please rest assured that while this event is a key plot point, the entire game contains numerous other surprises, a couple even on par with this. It's still worth experiencing.
Re: The Making Of: Suikoden II, A JRPG To Match 'Game Of Thrones' In Intrigue And Impact
The lesson I'm taking from this is there is no statute of limitations on story spoilers, no matter the age or popularity of a game.
I seem to recall either Edge, or GamesTM spoiling FF7 in a making of, so I'm not the first. I hope all other examples receive equal treatment.
In future I will apply the same blanket rule to all games - no spoilers. Not even a warning, simply no spoilers.
If I've offended anyone, that's on me. Please don't let such negative feelings reflect the games being discussed.
Re: Random: Why Are American Game Journalists In The Credits Of Road Avenger?
It would not be the first time a developer grabbed random text in a foreign language and inserted it in their games.
Re: The Making Of: Suikoden II, A JRPG To Match 'Game Of Thrones' In Intrigue And Impact
@Poodlestargenerica Did I actually genuinely spoil FF7 for you? If so then I'm very surprised, shocked even. I am sorry.
That specific FF7 spoiler is so well documented, it's become the cornerstone of gaming pop culture. I've seen so many examples where people ask: can a videogame make you cry? And people start bawling over this scene. A magazine spoiled it for me in the day. I felt nothing - I was glad to have one less party member to grind!
The answer to your question is in the question itself. FF7 is so popular, I felt everyone knew this example. It has become gaming shorthand. You can't watch a Dorkly comedy video, or browse internet memes, without risking seeing THAT scene satirised. How were you able to not know it? In the last 25 years I must have seen it mentioned over 100 times.
Whereas Suikoden I&II are less known, less played, and I really want people to play them. A lot. I spoiled the "death of your father" because that happens like... 4 hours in? The pacing is so quick. In FF7 you're still rolling around in garbage in Midgar at that time - it's slow and padded. I like FF7, finished it twice; but I love Suikoden I&II.
I feel bad spoiling Suikoden 1 like that, but I did it with the promise that both games contain so many more emotional moments. I did it to entice players, like a taster. As for spoiling FF7, I'm sorry I was the one to break it for you. I honestly thought no one alive who plays games would be unaware.
If anyone has not played S1 or S2, please try them. The PS1 games were on PSN a while back (not sure now?), plus the remasters are coming. I'm going to put my hand up and say: in the year 2024 they are still fantastic, and some of you may actually find them to be better than their peers (such as FF7 et al).
I really want people to care about these games, because they deserve it.
Re: The Incredibly Rare GBA Title 'Ninja Five-O' Is Getting A Rerelease For Switch, PS4, & PS5
This was one of the best GBA games ever released. I actually held the cartridge in my hands once.
It might even be my #1 favourite GBA game.
Re: 43 Years On, And Epoch's Cassette Vision Is Finally Playable Via Emulation
If I'm recalling correctly, that tree chopping game was actually one of SNK's very earliest arcade titles, and they lost the game (everything - there is no known archive of the arcade version), meaning the conversion to this console is the last existing remnant of the original.
I think. These memories are half faded from something I read somewhere. I think it was in the SNK compilation which had VGHF info in it.
EDIT:
Not quite accurate:
https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Yosaku
The port seen in the video was unauthorised, and it had an official port as a secret minigame on NGPC.
I love how dinky and primitive this is. I'd love to have the technical knowledge to poke under the hood and seeing what it was capable of with 40 years hindsight and coding knowledge. Fascinating.
Re: Review: Under The Castle (Playdate) - An Essential Roguelike Adventure
@gingerbeardman Thank you! I had not checked out the original page - appreciated!
Re: Review: Under The Castle (Playdate) - An Essential Roguelike Adventure
This reminds very strongly of Cave Noire on Game Boy. I wonder if the devs were fans?
Re: You Can Own Tommy Tallarico's House If You Have $3 Million To Spare
Tempted, but only on the condition that at random and unpredicted times Tommy will run through my new house jubilantly screaming: "HEY I'M TOMMY TALLARICO! I INVENTED GAME MUSIC! HAVE YOUR HEARD IT?!"
Re: Obscure PS1 Platformer 'Spider' Gets Remastered Soundtrack Release
I saw it in EGM and always wanted to own it. The story was crazy. Later played a demo and loved the level. Never bought it because I was young and lacked the funds. Someday I will put it on my PSIO.
Re: Poll: Should Retro Game Remasters Carry Warnings About "Offensive" Content?
I briefly skimmed those pages (way too much to read everything), and... Apparently someone, I'm unsure if it was a forum user or a dev, was suggesting replacing the islanders with lizard men.
Changing or censoring the content is a terrible idea. It's like digitally removing cigarettes from old films. You can't undo or change the past - it is what it is, and it forms part of the creative vision that reached the market.
Keep in mind that everything you see anyway had already gone through filters, and changes, and revisions, before being finalised for market.
I strongly dislike the idea of post-market changes (which is also why I cannot stomach George Lucas' meddling with the original trilogy - thank the gods someone took them away from his meddling little hands.)
Re: Fan Translation And ROM Hack-Sharing Site CDRomance Forced Underground After Legal Threat
Speeds seem OK with the new method. Grabbed the translations of Linda3 and Boku Natsu 2.
Re: Fan Translation And ROM Hack-Sharing Site CDRomance Forced Underground After Legal Threat
It had the fastest downloads I had ever seen.
A game which would take an hour on the Internet Archive took 3 to 4 seconds on CDR.
It allowed me to fill my ODE for multiple systems.
As said, the site owner was super cool. When a rare DC game wasn't loading for others, I sent one I had from years ago, and that same day he replaced it.
This off site hosting. Is it as fast? How long will it last?
I'm tired of the "but it's piracy" excuse used by companies. As a creative I've issued take downs for my books being hosted. But they are still sold. There are CD games from 30+ years ago no one even remembers, the rights holders are gone, and the only way to experience them is spending a fortune to buy a copy off speculative scalpers.
The law needs to delineate between something still available, and something forgotten to limbo.
I'm going to miss CDR, like Emu Paradise before it.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Handheld Of All Time?
I voted for Gizmondo.
I actually think it's terrible, but I wanted to wield the power of democracy to mess with people's minds.
I have not been bribed or coerced by the Swedish mafia.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Yakuza / Like A Dragon Game?
KENZAN!
I don't know if it's actually the best. But as a Japsn exclusive title most have probably not played it.
I finished and loved it despite the language barrier.
Re: Poll: What Is Rare's Best Game?
It's not their best game, but A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES) is definitely a really, really fun NES game. It's great in single player, but it becomes absolutely MAJESTIC in simultaneous four player mode.
I bought a multitap just for Elm Street and MULE on the NES.
I feel like not many people played it like this though.
Imagine you and three friends, all sharing the same screen, a pad each, co-operating and jumping around getting bones and beating bad guys. It's complete mayhem and it's wonderful.
Sadly I only ever had enough people to do it once. If you can, try it.
In a funny way... I can't help but look at Elm Street in 4P, and look at Goldeneye, and think... Yeah, those guys knew all along that four friends around a TV is the magic ingredient to fun.
I doubt many (anyone?) will vote for A Nightmare on Elm Street, but I gave it 10. I'd certainly put it in any top 10 list for Rare, at least the 4P mode.
Re: Best WonderSwan Games Of All Time
I highly recommend DICING KNIGHT. Technically it was a hobbyist game that sent commercial. But if you like Zelda style action it's great. I've been playing it on my Analogue recently. Lovely forgotten gem.
Re: Japanese Saturn Fans Pick The Console's Best Games
I have never trusted public voting. The 2004 voting in Japan for the Famicom's top 100 resulted in absolute trash results. Not reflective of the nation's creative output at all.
I'll reserve judgement of this for when the full translated list of all 100 is done (I'm too lazy to read it in Japanese - but I saw Culdcept made the list).
The top 10 at least shows some inventive or considered voting.
Re: Gaming's Best 'Leftfield' Control Interfaces, Ranked
@Banks The loudness just means his little heart is beating strong!
I missed out on an auction for the colour block matching game. As someone who owns both and find them fun, is it worth it? Based on videos I feel like Gyromite gives you the majority of the ROB experience.
Re: New High-Quality Spaceworld Footage Features Early Look At GBA & "Lost" N64 Game
@Mario500 Did you ever watch Ducktales? You know how Scrooge McDuck had that big money bin he'd swim around in? The gigaleak is that giant bin. Except instead of money, it's filled with rich and delicious Nintendo goodness. Especially unreleased or pre-release goodness.