A Genesis/PC hybrid, as well as Myst-like CD-ROM games releasing in 1989 (predating Ys Book I&II, but following the TG16/PCE's first CD games)? Must've been a really exciting time for those who could afford cutting-edge tech (and who were old enough to play games back then)!
@RetroGames Yeah, I'd agree that there have been some cultural changes (including the internet's role in our lives) since around 2010, but things like YouTube, online gaming, gaming discussion, and social media were alive and well even before then. Doesn't the very existence of these videos on a major gaming channel make that self-evident? (I don't know, I suppose this could vary depending on perspective and age. But 2010 wasn't that long ago!)
Good point about Doom 2016: until that, the last entry was what, Doom 3? That was definitely not a "rip and tear", speedy, action shooter! (The more action-heavy "BFG Edition" didn't exist back in 2010, either!)
@Lanmanna I don't remember, as it's been a full year since then. It might have had something to do with seeing multiple "Shining Rogue" stories/articles lately, as more than one game had that title.
@RetroGames Er, that "older footage" is only from 2010.
Aside from that, as a total n00b at Doom, I can appreciate where you're coming from! Jumping in for a first playthrough a few years back, I had to tread carefully, looking around for keys and traps, and using resources and the level layouts to my advantage in combat. In terms of later FPSes, I'd put my Doom experience more in Goldeneye territory, as opposed to Call of Duty. Someone who grew up with the game might see it differently, though!
Later games (including Doom II) might amp up the "rip and tear", but the first one does a good job of balancing the tension of navigating creepy environments and being ambushed by powerful enemy forces- and I think the soundtrack generally fits well, with the metal tracks showing up more often in simple, combat-oriented levels, and the more spooky, atmospheric stuff accompanying exploration.
Haven't played the PlayStation version of Doom 1, but Doom 64 similarly tips things further in that horror/exploration direction, and both the atmospheric soundtrack and coloured lighting work in tandem to enhance this. But you probably won't find me humming the soundtrack afterwards!
@KingMike Is the dynamite actually less forgiving, or is the issue just that it has such a deceptively small sprite for the explosion? (IIRC, the SNES uses some kind of scaling trickery to make the explosions ridiculously huge, like the arcade version.)
The Genesis version is the weakest of the three, and I don't think many would debate that, but I like how it has so many changes and additions which make it unique- kind of like TMNT: Hyperstone Heist.
Richard Jacques has done some great soundtracks, but I didn't know he worked on Headhunter- I never got the chance to build up much of a Dreamcast collection, unfortunately.
This is supposed to be one of the most modern-feeling Dreamcast games, isn't it? (Launching alongside the likes of GTA3 and MGS2, as opposed to what was out when the DC launched, like MGS1 and Ocarina of Time, probably has something to do with it.)
@PKDuckman That's unfortunate. There really is no definitive version of this game for English speakers: the PAL version only works well on a proper 50Hz setup (and plays a bit slower than the NTSC), and the Virtual Console versions have broken audio (as they simply run the PAL ROM at 60fps, making the music go too fast and the PCM samples play off-key).
Well, unless you patch the original Japanese version of Hebereke with an unofficial translation patch- I can confirm that's a great option! I wonder if the ROM can be easily extracted from Enjoy Edition.
Recca for NES had an opening sequence with the "S?GA" logo getting blown up and replaced with "Nint?ndo". It even has the Sega jingle from Sonic the Hedgehog, recreated in Recca's soundfont!
Someone at Naxat (or Nintendo) must have shot this little gag down at the last minute, though, as it's only accessible with a Game Genie code.
@SuntannedDuck2 Strange, I either hadn't heard of this 2025 limit before, or I forgot. At any rate, I see that people have tested this and found that the clock naturally rolls into 2026 and beyond- it just can't be manually set higher, which could prove to be a small problem when the servers are down, and the internal battery dies. But at that point, I guess you can just set it to 2005 again, and the system will keep running. They really should have patched it to include 2099, though.
About the 2038 problem, I'd hope that a 64-bit console from the 21st century already uses a 64-bit number for the date. Not sure if anyone has confirmed this, however!
I expect that back compat on 360 would allow you to play your OG Xbox games indefinitely, if you install all of the patches before the servers go offline.
These cases are kind of niche (even compared to other game preservation topics), and not a lot of people will care, but I can see why it's frustrating!
@RG-Riven To play the Phil's advocate, the Xbox 360's store and online services have been open for a very long time. The 360 is turning 19 years old this year, and it predates the Wii and PS3 by a full year!
Consider that Nintendo has already pulled the plug on the Wii (2006) and its successor (2012), and MS is doing quite well by comparison. Even more so, when you consider that a decent percentage of 360 games can still be purchased, re-downloaded, and played on a brand-new Series X!
I would prefer that every game stay available indefinitely, though it's understandable that licensing and technical issues sometimes prevent that. Microsoft's approach has been far from perfect (esp. around older generations), but it's a big step in the right direction, and well ahead of what anyone else has done!
Weird, I thought this was fairly common knowledge, at least back when the game was new(ish). It's like the recent "discovery" of the alternate GameCube startup jingles, all over again.
And it's true: you do only need to get the Venom medal in Expert mode. Not sure I would have been able to unlock this feature, otherwise!
The Halo remarks don't ring a bell, but I distinctly remember Miyamoto taking shots at the outsourced F-Zero and Star Fox games. I interpreted this as partially a jealous jab thrown at Sega, especially in light of Nintendo's seeming inability to top the brilliance and production values of F-Zero GX.
Shinobi III is the obvious answer, but Shadow Dancer and especially Revenge of Shinobi have a special place in my heart. The latter is really tough, but satisfying to get right. And where else can you fight blatant rip-offs of Rambo, Batman, Spider-Man, Godzilla, and the Terminator, all in one game?
(Er, I mean, bald flamethrower dude, devil dude, Marvel™ Spider-Man™, a dinosaur skeleton, and an inexplicably uncensored Terminator... at least that's how it is in my copy.)
Still need to give the GG and PS2 games a proper try- they both look good!
This is throwing around a heck of a lot of polygons for a Nintendo 64 game, and staying above 30fps to boot! It's safe to say that the N64 could handle a pretty good port of Sunshine, with enough work. Didn't someone (probably Kaze) already port a lot of the FLUDD functionality into the SM64 engine, anyway?
Of course, water and objects are all missing here, but the N64 should be able to handle those as well, especially after some more optimization.
What is the bottom portion of this? I don't recognize those buttons, but there must be some purpose to it. Does it have switching hardware for the video and power? (And speaking of power, maybe at least one of the PSUs is hidden in there?)
If this device is a simple N64+Wii hybrid, you'd think it'd be simpler to put the Wii directly under the N64, but there must be some reason for the layout here.
Looks great, but- and I know this is probably sacrilege- I hope there's an option to play in HD. There's an old-school survival horror game on Steam, called Vaccine Rebirth, which does the same pseudo pre-rendered trick, and it looked amazing when I played it with an HD graphics mod. It retained the PS1 aesthetic, but was crystal-clear and way easier on the eyes.
Similarly, games like Lunistice and A Short Hike make the pixelation filter optional (though they do more of a general PS1/DS style, not mimicking pre-rendered graphics), and I really appreciate that the option is there, even if it's not the intended way to play!
It's neat to see Lugosi's likeness used officially, though pretty much every depiction of Dracula prior to Symphony of the Night (which gave the character a very different look) was based on him, anyway!
There are already so many games out there that fit that description (of "a 2D-pixel art platformer", and so on), but Triple Trouble 16-bit was really good. I'll want to keep an eye on this studio's output in the next couple of years!
Looks like the gameplay of previous games, mixed with the graphics of that one map from Perfect Dark Zero (I mean similar era/style/techniques, not literally the same assets). This seems to be faithful to the series, and quite promising as well. It's a shame it didn't go anywhere.
Always glad to see interesting prototypes being dumped, at least!
@Azuris 8192 bytes is 8 KB. That's too small for even the smallest NES games, unfortunately. Unless you meant 8192 KB, but a quick search didn't turn up any evidence of cards that large (let me know if these do exist)!
"Another issue is with Software Development Kit (SDK) libraries embedded inside the original ROMs," he says. "We developed tools that replace these libraries so the copyrighted code doesn’t remain on the ROM"
This is an interesting point that I've never heard mentioned before. The obvious examples that come to mind are the drivers/libraries bundled in a folder on PS1 and PS2 discs, but this kind of thing is probably more widespread and complex than that, even!
@HammerKirby Yeah, the GameCube would have had to knock it out of the park on all counts, in order to have any hope of beating the PS2. It also had the N64's failings, its own "kiddy" and toy-like image, and a so-so launch to overcome.
What do you think it would have sold, though, had it used full-size DVDs (all other factors staying the same)? Considering how narrowly it missed the #2 spot in console sales, I'd say beating the Xbox is a given, if nothing else. Or would the larger discs even provide a real advantage in sales, considering that Nintendo surely wouldn't be willing to shell out for movie playback? (See also: Wii and Wii U.) At least it would have allowed for more and better multi-platform games, and that must count for something.
FWIW, I played Code: Veronica for the first time last year, and thought it was a solid entry. Not able to touch 1 or 2, but I think it edges out 3, and is way better than Zero (now that one is a slog). So, right about in the middle of the classic RE series.
I didn't get hit with any bugs or other game-breaking issues like Sketcz mentioned, but I'm sure my opinion would be much harsher if I had!
Nintendo being awful as usual. Emulators like Citra have been an amazing way for me to enjoy the games that I already own, unshackled from the hand-cramping controllers, low resolutions, and sluggish performance that Nintendo hardware tends to bring.
Couple of nitpicks: Daytona USA 2001 hit Japan in 2000, ironically enough! Also, the original Daytona USA saw a limited release in 1993, making it even older than most people think. I know test/beta releases don't usually "count" (unless it's the NES for some reason), but it's worth mentioning, as a lucky few gamers got to witness this when it was even more futuristic!
But anyway, about the game itself: I'd heard of this legendary Sega racer for a while, but never actually saw it in action until maybe 8 years ago. It was thoroughly "old" compared to 2010s tech, but I was still blown away! It's no secret that arcade machines were better than anything you could get at home back in the '80s and '90s, but I didn't know that Sega had stuff quite so advanced, that long ago. (And of course, the Model 3 took it to the next level, introducing PS2-like graphics in 1996, the same year as the N64's launch!)
@DestructoDisk I hope so, too. Good to hear that there's hope!
I do have mobile devices I could play on, but I don't especially like the portable gaming experience, not to mention that these closed platforms are generally terrible for backwards compatibility (see Apple's recent purge of 32-bit support across all platforms). If Lunar works on Bluestacks, then that could be a decent Plan B... though for now, I plan to wait and see if a PC version comes along instead!
@Poodlestargenerica That comment is spot-on. I'm not familiar with the show (it probably doesn't help that I'm Canadian), but looking it up now, the premise and the topics of choice sound fun!
@wiiware I know this is getting off-topic, but I find it funny how Bond is impossibly good at everything except being a spy. Whether it's motorcycle riding, fencing, piloting a plane, skiing, playing video games, or knowing exactly which buttons and levers he can kick to operate a proprietary machine he's never seen before, 007 is a master of all skills, all sports, and all technology- no matter how tangentially related (or unrelated) to his job.
But he makes no effort to conceal his identity, is seduced by the enemy on every second mission, and gets ambushed every single time he searches a room! (He also seems to be better at fencing and swordfighting than some more relevant skills like marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, but I'll let that one slide, given all the variables there.)
@Poodlestargenerica I was mainly poking fun at the convenient coincidences that drive so many stories, but you're right. I recall this being mentioned directly in From Russia With Love (with one of SMERSH's officers sending Tanya out to seduce Bond), but it's probably intended by the writers in half of the movies, at least.
Strange and unfortunate that these are stranded on mobile OSes. I've been curious about Vay for a while, and Lunar is especially legendary, but these really need to get ported to other, more future-proof platforms such as PC!
@RetroGames You're definitely not alone- the vicarious aspect of 007's media comes up often (as does the idea that "you are James Bond", when video games are involved). I've never really found that side of it quite so appealing, though, especially the part about being in a different, shallow relationship every week or so. I think I can see where Barwood is coming from, despite never being in a relationship quite as long as he has!
PS: How many times have Bond's relationships actually been an intentional part of the mission? Twice, maybe? Most of the time, they just put him in danger and jeopardize the mission, since he's apparently magnetically drawn to Russian spies and the like. This was played up for laughs in the 1967 version of Casino Royale, but it didn't stop mainline 007 from doing the same thing in subsequent movies. Ah, well, it's part of the cheesy charm, I suppose.
@-wc- I don't know... there's something oddly eerie about this one, even if it is the size of just two Stonehenges. However, I think we've solved the mystery: when Dracula was having his castle built, one of the boneheaded skeletons messed up the measurements and ended up with this. Drac dropped the model castle on the edge of a remote cliff, and set about building another evil lair.
PS: Yeah, I used to play Metal Storm as a kid. Very cool stuff going on there, with both graphics and gameplay!
@-wc- The possibility of being nerds had briefly crossed my mind, but was promptly denied and dismissed. Moving on...
Somewhat more seriously, what I meant earlier was that the parallax effect, if done correctly, gives an element of realism (a fairly convincing illusion of depth) that anyone should be able to appreciate, even if they don't understand the technical aspect of it. Or, if done incorrectly, it results in people writing about it, analyzing it, and arguing over it endlessly after 30+ years!
@-wc- I think we had the capacity to understand parallax effects intuitively back then, even if we didn't have the words to describe them! (Not that I'd personally know, as I'd only ever played 8-bit games back then.)
Still, you're probably right about it being the castle: either someone slipped up and put it in the wrong layer, or there's some technical limitation nonsense that forced their hand. (I don't know too much about the SNES's VRAM allocation... maybe they couldn't easily reuse foreground tiles in the background... or even visually speaking, the castle and cliff may not have blended with the repetitive patterns back there.)
PS: Come to think of it, I used to read a lot of gaming-related books in the late '90s, and I distinctly remember one SNES-era strategy guide book having a section that went into considerable detail about modes 0-7, palettes, layers, bits, and all that fun stuff. So that info wasn't entirely unknown to gamers!
@DestructoDisk The scrolling is also an issue here, not just the sprite animations. Most console and arcade games were 60fps back then, as you said, but most '80s PCs didn't have smooth scrolling capabilities built in, and so a lot of their games were really jerky like this. Judging by the way the screen is refreshing in chunks here (with a vertical tear line appearing at times), the single-digit performance we're seeing here is most likely an accurate representation of Ys, and it's not just a video encoding issue.
PS: The Turbografx version was a little bit juddery as well, despite running at a decent framerate- it may have been 60fps, actually, but Adol's walking speed was not a multiple of 60 pixels per second (e.g., moving exactly 1 pixel on every frame), so it looked uneven.
It's quite cool to see that the original version of Ys is being rereleased, especially if it's also coming to the west, but on the other hand, is there any reason (besides novelty or nostalgia) to play this over the brilliant Turbografx version?
This footage is extremely jerky, fluctuating between 6-10fps by my count. And it otherwise looks very similar to the TG16, unlike, say, the Chronicles remake on Steam- which is good in its own way, but different enough that it can't replace the 16-bit version.
@BulkSlash Yeah, that frog mini-game was brutal, even through Nintendo's own mapping on GameCube. I wish 6-button layouts were available on modern dual-stick controllers, as all of the 6-button controllers seem to be made for 2D fighting games only. Well, I guess there's the Xbox's Duke controller... but it's the Duke.
Agreed, regarding repros! Someone once brought their repro N64 controller to me, and asked why it didn't seem to control as accurately as the real thing. It turned out that the stick only supported 8 directions, with no analogue!
All that said, I've played plenty of N64 games through emulation, and most of them (at least 75%) are perfectly fine with an Xbox controller and that right stick mapping that you described. It's not always ideal, but it's a good place to start.
@gwyntendo I'm a little behind the curve on the status of N64 emulation, but until someone comes in with a better answer: Any of the most popular emulators (like PJ64, Mupen, and whatever core Retroarch uses) should do a good, reliable job with most games, right out of the box. Mupen, at least, comes with the GlideN64 plugin installed, and that one is quite accurate, while also allowing for plenty of enhancements such as HD resolutions. There are also low-level (LLE) plugins that allow for maximum accuracy, but you'll be limited to the N64's native 240p resolution.
Personally, I mostly use Project64, since it's what I'm used to, and it's really good at overclocking, allowing for a consistent 60fps in games such as Goldeneye. It supports GlideN64 as well. Unfortunately, it has a nag screen that asks for money every time you start it- this can be worked around, but it makes PJ64 harder to recommend.
As for controllers, you should be okay to just start with whatever Xbox controllers you have lying around, as they work well with probably 75% of games, and the analogue sticks are so much smoother than the N64's. But like BulkSlash mentioned, some games (which map actual actions to the C buttons) do play poorly unless you have that genuine 6-button layout.
I hope this is more helpful than overwhelming! N64 emulation is admittedly a little more fiddly than something like GameCube (which has set a very high bar in its accuracy and ease of use), but I think you'll find that it's not as difficult, glitchy, or intimidating as it was in the past.
Seeing as it's only certain packages being delisted, with the games still being available in some form, I wonder if Capcom just decided to consolidate their back catalogue a bit.
As for why... my best guess is fewer SKUs for them to inject their sketchy new DRM into, but who knows?
@DwaynesGames Frankenstein's Monster will be an assist trophy, and then everyone can complain that he's barred from ever becoming a playable character as a result.
Not a fan of these unexpected delistings. It would be much better if they were announced well in advance... or you know, not delisted at all (yeah, I know that's not always possible).
Comments 383
Re: Sega TeraDrive Version Of Myst Forerunner 'The Manhole' Found And Preserved
A Genesis/PC hybrid, as well as Myst-like CD-ROM games releasing in 1989 (predating Ys Book I&II, but following the TG16/PCE's first CD games)? Must've been a really exciting time for those who could afford cutting-edge tech (and who were old enough to play games back then)!
Re: PS1 Doom Has Been Backported To PC, Along With Its Amazing Soundtrack
@RetroGames Yeah, I'd agree that there have been some cultural changes (including the internet's role in our lives) since around 2010, but things like YouTube, online gaming, gaming discussion, and social media were alive and well even before then. Doesn't the very existence of these videos on a major gaming channel make that self-evident? (I don't know, I suppose this could vary depending on perspective and age. But 2010 wasn't that long ago!)
Good point about Doom 2016: until that, the last entry was what, Doom 3? That was definitely not a "rip and tear", speedy, action shooter! (The more action-heavy "BFG Edition" didn't exist back in 2010, either!)
Re: The Making Of: Soleil / Crusader Of Centy, Sega's Answer To Zelda
@Lanmanna I don't remember, as it's been a full year since then.
It might have had something to do with seeing multiple "Shining Rogue" stories/articles lately, as more than one game had that title.
Re: Descent 3's Source Code Has Been Released Online, 25 Years Later
I somehow ended up with half a copy of Descent 3 in the past.
It looked cool, but I never did get to play it, thanks to one disc being missing.
Good to know that it's being future-proofed, so if I buy it on GOG and it doesn't run well or look good, there'll be a better way to play.
Re: PS1 Doom Has Been Backported To PC, Along With Its Amazing Soundtrack
@RetroGames Er, that "older footage" is only from 2010.
Aside from that, as a total n00b at Doom, I can appreciate where you're coming from! Jumping in for a first playthrough a few years back, I had to tread carefully, looking around for keys and traps, and using resources and the level layouts to my advantage in combat. In terms of later FPSes, I'd put my Doom experience more in Goldeneye territory, as opposed to Call of Duty. Someone who grew up with the game might see it differently, though!
Later games (including Doom II) might amp up the "rip and tear", but the first one does a good job of balancing the tension of navigating creepy environments and being ambushed by powerful enemy forces- and I think the soundtrack generally fits well, with the metal tracks showing up more often in simple, combat-oriented levels, and the more spooky, atmospheric stuff accompanying exploration.
Haven't played the PlayStation version of Doom 1, but Doom 64 similarly tips things further in that horror/exploration direction, and both the atmospheric soundtrack and coloured lighting work in tandem to enhance this. But you probably won't find me humming the soundtrack afterwards!
Re: This New Sunset Riders Genesis' Hack Lets You Record Your High Scores
@KingMike Is the dynamite actually less forgiving, or is the issue just that it has such a deceptively small sprite for the explosion? (IIRC, the SNES uses some kind of scaling trickery to make the explosions ridiculously huge, like the arcade version.)
The Genesis version is the weakest of the three, and I don't think many would debate that, but I like how it has so many changes and additions which make it unique- kind of like TMNT: Hyperstone Heist.
Re: F-Zero ROM Hack Brings SNES Tracks To Maximum Velocity
Nice! I might actually be most intrigued by that fourth cup (which is apparently not based on the SNES game?), though!
Re: Ex-Sega Composer Richard Jacques On Headhunter, The First Game Score Recorded At Abbey Road
Richard Jacques has done some great soundtracks, but I didn't know he worked on Headhunter- I never got the chance to build up much of a Dreamcast collection, unfortunately.
This is supposed to be one of the most modern-feeling Dreamcast games, isn't it? (Launching alongside the likes of GTA3 and MGS2, as opposed to what was out when the DC launched, like MGS1 and Ocarina of Time, probably has something to do with it.)
Re: Sunsoft's "Enhanced" Port Of Hebereke Is Out Now On Steam & Switch
@PKDuckman That's unfortunate.
There really is no definitive version of this game for English speakers: the PAL version only works well on a proper 50Hz setup (and plays a bit slower than the NTSC), and the Virtual Console versions have broken audio (as they simply run the PAL ROM at 60fps, making the music go too fast and the PCM samples play off-key).
Well, unless you patch the original Japanese version of Hebereke with an unofficial translation patch- I can confirm that's a great option! I wonder if the ROM can be easily extracted from Enjoy Edition.
Re: 33 Years Later, Game Boy Title's 16-Player Mode Is Finally Unlocked
@Azuris The GameCube might not look like much, but it's a beast!
Re: BAFTA Poll Declares Lara Croft The Most Iconic Video Game Character
British organisation selects a British character designed by a British studio as the most iconic? Seems legit.
Re: Random: Did You Know About This Not-So-Subtle Nintendo Dig Hidden Inside 'Battle Mania'?
Recca for NES had an opening sequence with the "S?GA" logo getting blown up and replaced with "Nint?ndo". It even has the Sega jingle from Sonic the Hedgehog, recreated in Recca's soundfont!
Someone at Naxat (or Nintendo) must have shot this little gag down at the last minute, though, as it's only accessible with a Game Genie code.
Re: Xbox 360 Online Store A Hot Mess Ahead Of July 2024 Closure
@SuntannedDuck2 Strange, I either hadn't heard of this 2025 limit before, or I forgot. At any rate, I see that people have tested this and found that the clock naturally rolls into 2026 and beyond- it just can't be manually set higher, which could prove to be a small problem when the servers are down, and the internal battery dies. But at that point, I guess you can just set it to 2005 again, and the system will keep running. They really should have patched it to include 2099, though.
About the 2038 problem, I'd hope that a 64-bit console from the 21st century already uses a 64-bit number for the date. Not sure if anyone has confirmed this, however!
I expect that back compat on 360 would allow you to play your OG Xbox games indefinitely, if you install all of the patches before the servers go offline.
These cases are kind of niche (even compared to other game preservation topics), and not a lot of people will care, but I can see why it's frustrating!
Re: Xbox 360 Online Store A Hot Mess Ahead Of July 2024 Closure
@RG-Riven To play the Phil's advocate, the Xbox 360's store and online services have been open for a very long time. The 360 is turning 19 years old this year, and it predates the Wii and PS3 by a full year!
Consider that Nintendo has already pulled the plug on the Wii (2006) and its successor (2012), and MS is doing quite well by comparison. Even more so, when you consider that a decent percentage of 360 games can still be purchased, re-downloaded, and played on a brand-new Series X!
I would prefer that every game stay available indefinitely, though it's understandable that licensing and technical issues sometimes prevent that. Microsoft's approach has been far from perfect (esp. around older generations), but it's a big step in the right direction, and well ahead of what anyone else has done!
Re: Random: Did You Know About Star Fox 64's Hidden On-Foot Mode?
Weird, I thought this was fairly common knowledge, at least back when the game was new(ish). It's like the recent "discovery" of the alternate GameCube startup jingles, all over again.
And it's true: you do only need to get the Venom medal in Expert mode. Not sure I would have been able to unlock this feature, otherwise!
Re: Flashback: That Time Miyamoto Said He Could Make Halo, But Didn't Want To
The Halo remarks don't ring a bell, but I distinctly remember Miyamoto taking shots at the outsourced F-Zero and Star Fox games. I interpreted this as partially a jealous jab thrown at Sega, especially in light of Nintendo's seeming inability to top the brilliance and production values of F-Zero GX.
Re: Konami's Sci-Fi Sidescroller Surprise Attack Heading To Switch & PS4
@RootsGenoa A very big movie from 1989... you can't mean... UHF?
So instead of a spaceman with a gun, was the protagonist originally Stanley Spadowski with a fire hose?
Re: Poll: What's The Best Shinobi Game?
Shinobi III is the obvious answer, but Shadow Dancer and especially Revenge of Shinobi have a special place in my heart. The latter is really tough, but satisfying to get right. And where else can you fight blatant rip-offs of Rambo, Batman, Spider-Man, Godzilla, and the Terminator, all in one game?
(Er, I mean, bald flamethrower dude, devil dude, Marvel™ Spider-Man™, a dinosaur skeleton, and an inexplicably uncensored Terminator... at least that's how it is in my copy.)
Still need to give the GG and PS2 games a proper try- they both look good!
Re: Super Mario Sunshine On N64 Looks Better Than You Might Expect
This is throwing around a heck of a lot of polygons for a Nintendo 64 game, and staying above 30fps to boot! It's safe to say that the N64 could handle a pretty good port of Sunshine, with enough work. Didn't someone (probably Kaze) already port a lot of the FLUDD functionality into the SM64 engine, anyway?
Of course, water and objects are all missing here, but the N64 should be able to handle those as well, especially after some more optimization.
Re: Wrestle War's Unauthorised Hulk Hogan Cover Got Sega Into Legal Trouble
@KingMike See also: the "Marioro" billboards in Mario Kart 64 (JP version only, of course!)
Re: Wrestle War's Unauthorised Hulk Hogan Cover Got Sega Into Legal Trouble
Look closely: that's "Titan Mogan", not Hulk Hogan. Clearly a totally different guy, who obviously gave Sega permission to use his likeness!
Re: Random: This Frankenstein Wii / N64 / GameCube Console Gives Us Nightmares
What is the bottom portion of this? I don't recognize those buttons, but there must be some purpose to it. Does it have switching hardware for the video and power? (And speaking of power, maybe at least one of the PSUs is hidden in there?)
If this device is a simple N64+Wii hybrid, you'd think it'd be simpler to put the Wii directly under the N64, but there must be some reason for the layout here.
Re: PS5 Survival Horror 'Crow Country' Is Giving Us Serious Final Fantasy VII Vibes
Looks great, but- and I know this is probably sacrilege- I hope there's an option to play in HD. There's an old-school survival horror game on Steam, called Vaccine Rebirth, which does the same pseudo pre-rendered trick, and it looked amazing when I played it with an HD graphics mod. It retained the PS1 aesthetic, but was crystal-clear and way easier on the eyes.
Similarly, games like Lunistice and A Short Hike make the pixelation filter optional (though they do more of a general PS1/DS style, not mimicking pre-rendered graphics), and I really appreciate that the option is there, even if it's not the intended way to play!
Re: This Castlevania Homage Stars Legendary Dracula Bela Lugosi
It's neat to see Lugosi's likeness used officially, though pretty much every depiction of Dracula prior to Symphony of the Night (which gave the character a very different look) was based on him, anyway!
Re: Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit Director Announces Exciting New Studio
There are already so many games out there that fit that description (of "a 2D-pixel art platformer", and so on), but Triple Trouble 16-bit was really good. I'll want to keep an eye on this studio's output in the next couple of years!
Re: Rare TimeSplitters 4 PS3 Prototype Found On eBay
Looks like the gameplay of previous games, mixed with the graphics of that one map from Perfect Dark Zero (I mean similar era/style/techniques, not literally the same assets).
This seems to be faithful to the series, and quite promising as well. It's a shame it didn't go anywhere.
Always glad to see interesting prototypes being dumped, at least!
Re: "Tap To Play" NFC Tags Give MiSTer FPGA A Much-Needed Physical Connection
@Azuris 8192 bytes is 8 KB. That's too small for even the smallest NES games, unfortunately.
Unless you meant 8192 KB, but a quick search didn't turn up any evidence of cards that large (let me know if these do exist)!
Re: Meet The Company Bringing Classic Games To Switch, PS5 And Xbox "By Mistake"
"Another issue is with Software Development Kit (SDK) libraries embedded inside the original ROMs," he says. "We developed tools that replace these libraries so the copyrighted code doesn’t remain on the ROM"
This is an interesting point that I've never heard mentioned before. The obvious examples that come to mind are the drivers/libraries bundled in a folder on PS1 and PS2 discs, but this kind of thing is probably more widespread and complex than that, even!
Re: Square Had Huge Plans For The N64 Before It Fell Out With Nintendo
@HammerKirby Yeah, the GameCube would have had to knock it out of the park on all counts, in order to have any hope of beating the PS2.
It also had the N64's failings, its own "kiddy" and toy-like image, and a so-so launch to overcome.
What do you think it would have sold, though, had it used full-size DVDs (all other factors staying the same)? Considering how narrowly it missed the #2 spot in console sales, I'd say beating the Xbox is a given, if nothing else. Or would the larger discs even provide a real advantage in sales, considering that Nintendo surely wouldn't be willing to shell out for movie playback? (See also: Wii and Wii U.) At least it would have allowed for more and better multi-platform games, and that must count for something.
Re: Best Resident Evil Games, Ranked By You
FWIW, I played Code: Veronica for the first time last year, and thought it was a solid entry. Not able to touch 1 or 2, but I think it edges out 3, and is way better than Zero (now that one is a slog). So, right about in the middle of the classic RE series.
I didn't get hit with any bugs or other game-breaking issues like Sketcz mentioned, but I'm sure my opinion would be much harsher if I had!
Re: 3DS Emulator Citra Is Dead, Along With Switch Emulator Yuzu
Nintendo being awful as usual.
Emulators like Citra have been an amazing way for me to enjoy the games that I already own, unshackled from the hand-cramping controllers, low resolutions, and sluggish performance that Nintendo hardware tends to bring.
Re: Anniversary: Daytona USA Is 30 Years Old This Month
Couple of nitpicks: Daytona USA 2001 hit Japan in 2000, ironically enough!
Also, the original Daytona USA saw a limited release in 1993, making it even older than most people think. I know test/beta releases don't usually "count" (unless it's the NES for some reason), but it's worth mentioning, as a lucky few gamers got to witness this when it was even more futuristic!
But anyway, about the game itself: I'd heard of this legendary Sega racer for a while, but never actually saw it in action until maybe 8 years ago. It was thoroughly "old" compared to 2010s tech, but I was still blown away! It's no secret that arcade machines were better than anything you could get at home back in the '80s and '90s, but I didn't know that Sega had stuff quite so advanced, that long ago. (And of course, the Model 3 took it to the next level, introducing PS2-like graphics in 1996, the same year as the N64's launch!)
Re: Sega CD JRPG Vay Is Getting An Improved iPhone Port This Year
@DestructoDisk I hope so, too. Good to hear that there's hope!
I do have mobile devices I could play on, but I don't especially like the portable gaming experience, not to mention that these closed platforms are generally terrible for backwards compatibility (see Apple's recent purge of 32-bit support across all platforms). If Lunar works on Bluestacks, then that could be a decent Plan B... though for now, I plan to wait and see if a PC version comes along instead!
Re: Why Infernal Machine's Director Put A Stop To Indiana Jones's Womanizing
@Poodlestargenerica That comment is spot-on. I'm not familiar with the show (it probably doesn't help that I'm Canadian), but looking it up now, the premise and the topics of choice sound fun!
Re: Why Infernal Machine's Director Put A Stop To Indiana Jones's Womanizing
@wiiware I know this is getting off-topic, but I find it funny how Bond is impossibly good at everything except being a spy. Whether it's motorcycle riding, fencing, piloting a plane, skiing, playing video games, or knowing exactly which buttons and levers he can kick to operate a proprietary machine he's never seen before, 007 is a master of all skills, all sports, and all technology- no matter how tangentially related (or unrelated) to his job.
But he makes no effort to conceal his identity, is seduced by the enemy on every second mission, and gets ambushed every single time he searches a room!
(He also seems to be better at fencing and swordfighting than some more relevant skills like marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, but I'll let that one slide, given all the variables there.)
Re: Why Infernal Machine's Director Put A Stop To Indiana Jones's Womanizing
@Poodlestargenerica I was mainly poking fun at the convenient coincidences that drive so many stories, but you're right. I recall this being mentioned directly in From Russia With Love (with one of SMERSH's officers sending Tanya out to seduce Bond), but it's probably intended by the writers in half of the movies, at least.
Re: Sega CD JRPG Vay Is Getting An Improved iPhone Port This Year
Strange and unfortunate that these are stranded on mobile OSes.
I've been curious about Vay for a while, and Lunar is especially legendary, but these really need to get ported to other, more future-proof platforms such as PC!
Re: Why Infernal Machine's Director Put A Stop To Indiana Jones's Womanizing
@wiiware Bond has tried to have serious, long-term relationships a couple of times... they just haven't ended especially well.
Re: Why Infernal Machine's Director Put A Stop To Indiana Jones's Womanizing
@RetroGames You're definitely not alone- the vicarious aspect of 007's media comes up often (as does the idea that "you are James Bond", when video games are involved). I've never really found that side of it quite so appealing, though, especially the part about being in a different, shallow relationship every week or so.
I think I can see where Barwood is coming from, despite never being in a relationship quite as long as he has!
PS: How many times have Bond's relationships actually been an intentional part of the mission? Twice, maybe? Most of the time, they just put him in danger and jeopardize the mission, since he's apparently magnetically drawn to Russian spies and the like. This was played up for laughs in the 1967 version of Casino Royale, but it didn't stop mainline 007 from doing the same thing in subsequent movies. Ah, well, it's part of the cheesy charm, I suppose.
Re: Random: What The Heck Is This Mystery Object In Super Castlevania IV?
@-wc- I don't know... there's something oddly eerie about this one, even if it is the size of just two Stonehenges.
However, I think we've solved the mystery: when Dracula was having his castle built, one of the boneheaded skeletons messed up the measurements and ended up with this. Drac dropped the model castle on the edge of a remote cliff, and set about building another evil lair.
PS: Yeah, I used to play Metal Storm as a kid. Very cool stuff going on there, with both graphics and gameplay!
Re: Random: What The Heck Is This Mystery Object In Super Castlevania IV?
@-wc- The possibility of being nerds had briefly crossed my mind, but was promptly denied and dismissed. Moving on...
Somewhat more seriously, what I meant earlier was that the parallax effect, if done correctly, gives an element of realism (a fairly convincing illusion of depth) that anyone should be able to appreciate, even if they don't understand the technical aspect of it.
Or, if done incorrectly, it results in people writing about it, analyzing it, and arguing over it endlessly after 30+ years!
Re: What The Heck Is This Mystery Object In Super Castlevania IV?
@-wc- I think we had the capacity to understand parallax effects intuitively back then, even if we didn't have the words to describe them! (Not that I'd personally know, as I'd only ever played 8-bit games back then.)
Still, you're probably right about it being the castle: either someone slipped up and put it in the wrong layer, or there's some technical limitation nonsense that forced their hand. (I don't know too much about the SNES's VRAM allocation... maybe they couldn't easily reuse foreground tiles in the background... or even visually speaking, the castle and cliff may not have blended with the repetitive patterns back there.)
PS: Come to think of it, I used to read a lot of gaming-related books in the late '90s, and I distinctly remember one SNES-era strategy guide book having a section that went into considerable detail about modes 0-7, palettes, layers, bits, and all that fun stuff. So that info wasn't entirely unknown to gamers!
Re: The Original Version Of Nihon Falcom's 'Ys' Is Coming To Switch
@DestructoDisk The scrolling is also an issue here, not just the sprite animations.
Most console and arcade games were 60fps back then, as you said, but most '80s PCs didn't have smooth scrolling capabilities built in, and so a lot of their games were really jerky like this. Judging by the way the screen is refreshing in chunks here (with a vertical tear line appearing at times), the single-digit performance we're seeing here is most likely an accurate representation of Ys, and it's not just a video encoding issue.
PS: The Turbografx version was a little bit juddery as well, despite running at a decent framerate- it may have been 60fps, actually, but Adol's walking speed was not a multiple of 60 pixels per second (e.g., moving exactly 1 pixel on every frame), so it looked uneven.
Re: The Original Version Of Nihon Falcom's 'Ys' Is Coming To Switch
It's quite cool to see that the original version of Ys is being rereleased, especially if it's also coming to the west, but on the other hand, is there any reason (besides novelty or nostalgia) to play this over the brilliant Turbografx version?
This footage is extremely jerky, fluctuating between 6-10fps by my count. And it otherwise looks very similar to the TG16, unlike, say, the Chronicles remake on Steam- which is good in its own way, but different enough that it can't replace the 16-bit version.
Re: JoeyN64 Lets You Legally Back Up Your N64 Games And Save Data
@BulkSlash Yeah, that frog mini-game was brutal, even through Nintendo's own mapping on GameCube. I wish 6-button layouts were available on modern dual-stick controllers, as all of the 6-button controllers seem to be made for 2D fighting games only. Well, I guess there's the Xbox's Duke controller... but it's the Duke.
Agreed, regarding repros! Someone once brought their repro N64 controller to me, and asked why it didn't seem to control as accurately as the real thing. It turned out that the stick only supported 8 directions, with no analogue!
All that said, I've played plenty of N64 games through emulation, and most of them (at least 75%) are perfectly fine with an Xbox controller and that right stick mapping that you described. It's not always ideal, but it's a good place to start.
Re: JoeyN64 Lets You Legally Back Up Your N64 Games And Save Data
@gwyntendo I'm a little behind the curve on the status of N64 emulation, but until someone comes in with a better answer:
Any of the most popular emulators (like PJ64, Mupen, and whatever core Retroarch uses) should do a good, reliable job with most games, right out of the box. Mupen, at least, comes with the GlideN64 plugin installed, and that one is quite accurate, while also allowing for plenty of enhancements such as HD resolutions.
There are also low-level (LLE) plugins that allow for maximum accuracy, but you'll be limited to the N64's native 240p resolution.
Personally, I mostly use Project64, since it's what I'm used to, and it's really good at overclocking, allowing for a consistent 60fps in games such as Goldeneye. It supports GlideN64 as well. Unfortunately, it has a nag screen that asks for money every time you start it- this can be worked around, but it makes PJ64 harder to recommend.
As for controllers, you should be okay to just start with whatever Xbox controllers you have lying around, as they work well with probably 75% of games, and the analogue sticks are so much smoother than the N64's. But like BulkSlash mentioned, some games (which map actual actions to the C buttons) do play poorly unless you have that genuine 6-button layout.
I hope this is more helpful than overwhelming!
N64 emulation is admittedly a little more fiddly than something like GameCube (which has set a very high bar in its accuracy and ease of use), but I think you'll find that it's not as difficult, glitchy, or intimidating as it was in the past.
Re: Devil May Cry 4 & Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition Have Just Been Delisted From Steam
Seeing as it's only certain packages being delisted, with the games still being available in some form, I wonder if Capcom just decided to consolidate their back catalogue a bit.
As for why... my best guess is fewer SKUs for them to inject their sketchy new DRM into, but who knows?
Re: Amateur Coding Event Wants You To Make The Worst Sonic Mania 2 Imaginable
@Razieluigi The organizers had better keep an eye out for anyone trying to sneak in under a name like "Yuka Naji" or "Ohto Naoshima".
Re: My Word! Jane Austen Is Getting Her Own NES Platformer
@DwaynesGames Frankenstein's Monster will be an assist trophy, and then everyone can complain that he's barred from ever becoming a playable character as a result.
Re: Spec-Ops: The Line Has Unexpectedly Been Delisted From Steam
Not a fan of these unexpected delistings. It would be much better if they were announced well in advance... or you know, not delisted at all (yeah, I know that's not always possible).