I never owned a Dreamcast, but I did borrow one from my mate for a few months while he was away. I felt I played all I wanted to in that time Shenmue 1&2, Soul Calibur, MvC2,Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure 1&2, Skies of Arcadia, Power Stone, Crazy Taxi are all memorable. But I don't feel I missed out on much.
So for me Mega Drive all the way, though the Master System was what really turned me into a lifelong gamer, I'll never forget being wowed by Shinobi's shuriken level interludes, and a character that could crouch! Felt like the future!
Too many bloody versions. As much as people complain about live service elements and DLC Street Fighter II was the perfect example of game that needed updates and DLC rather than being re-released AT FULL PRICE year on year. Add sports games to that list too.
While I don't always think Kojima's games are quite AS good as many others, they are always relatively unique, willing to push boundaries and break away from expectations. Game dev needs more people like that questioning everything rather than taking the safe incremental route.
Elden Ring is an action game with an XP system. There's no role-play to be had.
At it's most basic an RPG " is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting," Elden Ring fulfils those criteria.
If Action is what stops it being an RPG, then something like Tales of Arise is not an RPG either. There is a sub-genre, ARPGs, for this.
Looking more deeply into it Elden Ring allows you to create your own character using one of several class archetypes, choose and manage your gear, gain XP and level up, etc. all sounds very RPG to me.
What exactly stops it being an RPG in your eyes? Why is it classified by FromSoft as an RPG, and why was it nominated, and won, many awards in the RPG category if it wasn't an RPG?
I don't consider ALL RPG's made in Japan to be JRPGs (Elden Ring is a good example) and many JRPGs aren't made in Japan (e.g. Chained Echoes). It's a sub-genre that describes a type of game, but has outgrown it's name. But good luck changing it.
@antdickens I'm still not quite committed to PSVR2 yet, though my wallet is half way out. I have the cash, just not sure there is the lineup of games yet for ME.
As you said the launch line up, while impressively large, doesn't currently have the 'new' experiences vibe, and there are a lot of ports, it's one of the reasons i'm holding off for NOW.
I think part of this is just down to budgets, it's a (relatively) new medium and devs probably need to iterate quickly and throw out a lot of ideas, this is time consuming/expensive, which is at odds with a niche device with a small following.
While I'm keen and want it to be a success, I'm also waiting to see what the impressions are in 6-12 months time once the hype/hysteria has died down and we see if Sony and third parties are going to keep supporting it. Or if it will be a PS Vita - great bit of tech, mostly terrible support.
@antdickens It wasn't a criticism, just an observation. I've seen the training and levels of testing a poll has to go through to be free of bias. I wouldn't expect that, nor would I want that on a gaming site, not least they end up DRY and unengaging!
Totally agreed it was a transformative time. I'm hopeful that VR, with a new play space, smaller budgets and more niche audiences, can do something similar.
Also loving the experiments modern developers are doing when they limit themselves to roughly 8-bit or 16-bit constraints but see what they can make today with all the accumulated game design learnings inbetween.
It's in those spaces that there is more fun experimentation than in most of the AAA space right now sadly, which to my taste is MOSTLY heading in the wrong direction.
@Damo Love the discussion here. Lots of good memories.
It got me thinking
What game STILL needs a great 2D->3D conversion?
For me Castlevania has never quite worked as well in 3D (though I have a soft spot for Lords of Shadow, don't tell the die hards). Maybe the next poll?
It’s fairly comical how at odds the comments and the poll results are.
That's because the way the poll is delivered is biased, leading the voter to vote for Yes. It's a real life problem, usually on far more serious issues, you can basically make a poll say anything depending HOW you ask the question.
Thankfully it's not that deep here, it's just a device to get us all engaged and chatting about this hobby we all love. Win for us, win for ReedPop, @antdickens et al in engagement.
It's certainly up there! As others have said Mario 64, Zelda 64 and Metroid Prime all obviously great examples.
I was about to type out a list of other games but I think @Bomberman64 post covers it well. GTA III, MGS, Fallout 3 in particular stand out to me, though that last was isometric so might be considered quasi-fake 3D? (or 2D-120degree-3D as Square Enix would probably brand it.) and Doom was always cheapfake-3D, but 3D all the same.
Of course MOST series weren't around in the 2D era, and many that were haven't stood the test of time.
It is a fantastic remaster. Does everything a good remaster should do. It FEELS like the game we remember but updated graphically and with QoL features to bring it up to date. Really blown away by this one. Wish Nintendo, and others, would put this much love into all their remasters.
So many good memories here. I had completely forgotten about Sylvan Tale! Old age! Absolutely loved that game.
@Uncharted2007 Great additions to the list. Like @XiaoShao I lost track of how many hours I played Road Rash and it's sequels. I still have them all on MD. Haven't played them in years, might need to fix that.
Two things that make the Steam Deck so impressive is it's performance relative to the hardware it has. Other higher powered devices usually do less with more grunt, it really is a technological marvel.
The second part of that equation is the cost, £349 just undercuts all the competition by at least half to three times. Look at something like the Aya Neo Air which is around £1,000.
Frankly the main thing I would improve on Steam Deck would be an OLED screen. A slightly bigger battery would also be nice but that's hard in the same form factor. It usually outperforms similar devices on battery anyway, and has a bunch of tools to extend battery life.
I'm not gonna shame people to death even if they do pirate current-gen games, though. Everyone's financial situation is different, and there are far worse problems in the world
I agree that there are FAR worse things in the world. But completely disagree with the first part. What does financial situation have to do with it?
There are plenty of things in life i'd like to do, experience or own, but can't because i'm not minted. That's part of life, and learning we don't get everything we want is an important life lesson. Rather than I can't afford it therefore i'll steal it. I can't support piracy just because people can't afford new games Day 1.
When I was a kid I would save up my pennies and go to the second hand store and buy games that were cheap, because that is all I could afford. And you know what? I appreciated those game MORE because of it.
If you can't afford modern games day 1 there is a simple solution. WAIT. The price always tumbles and there is a wealth of gaming history to be played for very little.
That isn't the same as emulating older out of print games that are being sold for hundreds on ebay and don't support the dev at all.
I'm 100% along the lines of @K4sparius stance and fall into the grey area position.
If I can support a game developer and it is available to play on modern hardware I will do that. I have rebought several games on Switch, and now Steam Deck because of this when I could just pirate/emulate them but don't.
If a game is out of print, being resold second hand for vast sums, or not available on modern hardware I will happily emulate it.
Games are art and deserve to be played not forgotten.
Fascinating read. Cerny really is a treasure trove of gaming history and, as lead system architect on Sony consoles, a great ambassador for gaming's present and future too.
I have used them in the past, especially with never released in the West titles, but generally don't now.
Not least the potential to abuse them gave the sort of decision paralysis you also get with things like Netflix and Spotify, so much to choose from that you almost don't know where to start.
More importantly games felt less special to me like this, there's something about owning a game, having chosen, and paid for that specially rather than having an unlimited catalogue. I simply enjoy games I buy more.
That said they absolutely have their place for game preservation and for playing out-of-print, hard to find, or frankly hideously overpriced retro games. Plus fan translated and modded games.
Not to mention the convenience, I have a lot of retro consoles, but to unbox them and set them up is time consuming, I do do this from time to time, but much easier to play them on a dedicated device. Currently this is usually the Steam Deck which retro games look far better on than a 65 inch 4K tv which they were never designed for.
That's a really nice run. And he does a great job of explaining all the tricks which makes it MUCH more enjoyable for the masses like me that don't know exactly what he's doing.
Big LoK/Soul Reaver fan this, frankly, sounds a little too ambitious for a small team to pull off. But would have loved to see it released and to give it a go.
Always feel for the teams in these situations, years of your life dedicated to something that never sees the light of day.
On the plus side we lost this game but gained Sam Barlow going indie. As much as I love LoK & Soul Reaver they would never be as impactful and disruptive on the industry as the games he’s making now.
My friend had one and I was green with envy. It was the closest I came to jumping across to Android. Thankfully a few weeks later he told me how rubbish it was as a portable PS but thankfully was good for emulation.
I still think there is merit in the design form factor.
@Duffman92 @Sinton @Brue Me four! Never seen that before.
Always amazing when seeing something like this for the first time, mindblown, but a little sad that I probably won't be able to un-see it.
Golden toilet roll it is forever. lol
From your list
1) Dishonored (lost track how many times i've replayed it)
2) Telltale's The Walking Dead (Season 1)
3) Mass Effect 3 (a brilliant game, with a woeful ending)
But you didn't have Journey on your list
Honourable mentions: Far Cry 3, Sleeping Dogs, Mark of the Ninja
I would love to see an entirely new take on Castelvania. While I love the 2D Metroidvanias, and ALSO want those to resume, it would be great to see this series bought into the modern age in the same way Mario 64, Ocarina and Metroid Prime did for those franchises. Castlevania's 3D entries never quite nailed the new formula in the same way. While I personally loved Lords of Shadow as a game, it wasn't a good Castlevania game.
Sony Santa Monica have shown again and that they are in the top tier in the field and always push the bar. Would be great to see this, but sadly never going to happen
At this stage though i'd take almost ANYTHING Castlevania... beacuse Konami are the worst.
There were no glancing scrapes which resulted in a minor drop in pace in the first WipEout
I forget, were the original tracks ever ported to other versions? They were fantastic but this is a deal breaker whenever I go back to the original. One ill timed minor accident on the last lap and it's all over, far too brutal.
Sony’s marketing department made good use of it afterwards, deftly positioning WipEout as part of a new generation of cool games.
I remember the PlayStation and WipEout drug related paraphernalia that appeared in publications like Mix Mag; the PlayStation consoles installed in chill out rooms like Ministry. Suddenly gaming WAS cool. All my non-gaming friends wanted a PlayStation when they had given up on gaming, if they had ever started, years before. Halcyon days!
Can you imagine Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo running such a campaign now? How soft we have become so soon.
Isn't this mostly just scaremongering? Who is using their floppy discs to install games like Monkey Island and not use ScummVM.
You're probably talking about a relative handful of people in the whole world in reality.
And while game preservation is important, I don't think 100% preservation needs to be the goal, or the metric we judge by. It's good to let some things die else we just end up hoarding more and not letting go, which is healthy behaviour.
The thing that many ignore or don't realise about the PAL 50Hz versions is that they usually have a lot more localisation and languages. Often French, Spanish, German etc. It is better to allow a wider range of people to actually be able to understand and play the game (at 50Hz) than give them the better version (60Hz) but make it unplayable for many.
To paraphrase it would be like giving many of us, the English reading public, a version in Chinese.
TLDR: They made the correct decision to start with the PAL version in PAL territories and are now giving those who want the better option a choice.
Emulation for me. But a dedicated device. Hoping for a SteamDeck soon. Missed my launch day email when I was away and had to join from the back again. (In some ways just as well, ordered the top model, which is unnecessary. SD card just as fast).
Currently use my Vita which is still a wonderful device, a small actually pocket sized form factor with a stunning OLED panel. Ahead of it's time.
Still have most of my older consoles SMS, SNES, MD, Gamecube, N64, PS1-3, etc. but the hassle of digging them out, setting them up, especially on a modern TV makes emulation FAR more convenient, with a better picture and using a modern controller. Time is important.
I do regret getting rid of my Sony FW900 CRT years ago, it was just taking up so much storage space - as were the Amstrad CPC464 and Amiga - had I known how much money those went for nowadays... but it had a lot of use, mostly for work.
I played all of those except Silent Hill. Saw a friend play a bit and couldn't get past the washed out palette and 3-5 meter fog/darkness wall. My loss it seems.
Very glad to see Vagrant Story make the list. Oft forgotten
Loved this article. Mirrored so much of my own Souls journey:
I can't quite remember exactly WHY I pre-ordered Demon's Souls on PS3, but I did. I had played some of FromSoft's previous games from King's Field & Armoured Core on PS1/2 but none quite grabbed me like this. This was still a time when most Japanese releases were 6-18 months later, if they came at all, and I think it had gained a lot of goodwill online from importers, enough that I really wanted to give it a go. I certainly don't remember reading a formal review until later. And that was part of the beauty, something that is hard to understand now with mass media and 24/7 gaming news, going into a game almost completely blind.
Regardless Demon's Souls blew me away. It still does, I just platinumed the wonderful PS5 remaster. Yes people talk about the updated graphics, sound etc. by Bluepoint, it is wonderful, but what amazes me is how the core gameplay mechanics are still golden, precise and fresh 13 years later. Most games of it's age FEEL old, this doesn't... mostly.
Dark Souls took everything a step further and is rightly hailed as a genre defining masterpiece. Firelink Shink and the myriad routes back to it are legend. Plus plin plin plon.
Dark Souls 2 gets treated as the black sheep of the family due to Miyazaki working on Bloodborne but it is a great game in it's own right, though perhaps not quite as memorable. It's a bit like saying it's the worst mainline Mario or Zelda game. Still likely a high 9 by most reckoning. The bar is just set so high.
Bloodborne is another masterpiece, the switch up from the defensive constant shield raised gameplay loop of souls to a system that rewards aggressive play through regenerating health was masterful. A few misteps like blood vials and bullets not auto-renewing on death can't stop this title standing out and being both wonderfully familiar yet also unique. What I wouldn't do for a 60fps patch, a PC release or even better a Bluepoint remaster... or sequel. Yet it's still wonderful regardless as is.
Dark Souls 3 is in many ways the best in the DS series, the gameplay mechanics improved hugely over DS1 & 2 but likely will never be seen as such. Truly an amazing game.
Considering how much I love these games it's slightly surprising I haven't yet gotten round to Sekiro or Elden Ring. (Or Nioh 1&2 or Mortal Shell for that matter.) But i'm contentedly slow with a backlog longer than the great wall of China and another penchant for quicker indie experiences. I'll get there eventually. If they are anything like the earlier games, they will have hardly aged a day.
So many nostalgia fuelled memories here. Oh Mummy!, Prince of Persia, Turrican and Solomon's Key were all favourites.
Harrier Attack was also a relatively unknown favourite. Part of the Amsoft 12 pack bundle.
Fruit Machine taught me early the House always wins! I was bored of spins by the time I was pub aged.
Never quite understood Elite at the time, likely too young and it was too finickity, could never figure out how to dock/land.
Lastly Ghostbusters took about 10 minutes to load on the CPC 464 tape deck, you could die within a minute and then had to load the 10 minutes again! Gamers nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. lol
@HarmanSmith Yeah it was a bit long... 2 slow swamp levels! and could have done with a bit of cutting but it was a stunning game, with a great story and excellent combat. Obviously a huge departure from the 2D Metroidvania style but for me a huge improvement over most of the 3D efforts.
Mirror of Fate was a solid entry on the 3DS, Lords of Shadow 2 was pretty disappointing though. Didn't get close to the first game, and all the stories of mismanagement, devs angry and leaving really showed in the final product. The first felt like a labour of love the last the opposite sadly. Still enjoyed bits of it.
@nocdaes Sadly this is all to common right now with chips/parts. The major problem is they are getting squeezed (and to an extent paid off by) by the giant companies from Apple to Ford, Sony to Microsoft who want to be first in line. This leaves smaller projects like this struggling, who are you going to disappoint Playmaji or Sony? Finding an alternative provider would almost certainly be even slower.
Good list. Though personally I liked Lords of Shadow (sacrilege I know) and would have it above Castlevania NES and GB entries. I know which i've enjoyed replaying more recently.
@Zenszulu Apologies you are right. Clearly getting old and getting two stories mixed up.
It's true Psychonauts was dropped by MS as publisher because they had too many platformers at the time and limited bandwidth.
But i've mixed up Kameo and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee for Xbox launch. That was the game that MS expected to be the HUGE title on launch, as Oddworld was a massive hit at the time and they had exclusivity. History had other ideas and Halo took the prize.
I think both of these nuggets were in Podcast Unlocked 201 but it may have been another look back at Xbox's history. I've read them elsewhere before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUODlNffWmU
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Re: Tetris Is A "Cultural Zeitgeist" Says Taron Egerton
That actually looks much more interesting than I had expected.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Sega System Of All Time?
I never owned a Dreamcast, but I did borrow one from my mate for a few months while he was away. I felt I played all I wanted to in that time Shenmue 1&2, Soul Calibur, MvC2,Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure 1&2, Skies of Arcadia, Power Stone, Crazy Taxi are all memorable. But I don't feel I missed out on much.
So for me Mega Drive all the way, though the Master System was what really turned me into a lifelong gamer, I'll never forget being wowed by Shinobi's shuriken level interludes, and a character that could crouch! Felt like the future!
Re: Sega Wants To Know What Mini Console You Want Next
If the could get the best third party IP too then Dreamcast, otherwise Game Gear all the way. Or Nomad for the memes and to let people know it existed
Re: Poll: What's The Best Street Fighter?
Too many bloody versions. As much as people complain about live service elements and DLC Street Fighter II was the perfect example of game that needed updates and DLC rather than being re-released AT FULL PRICE year on year. Add sports games to that list too.
Re: Hideo Kojima Claims Konami Wanted Metal Gear Solid 3 To Be More "Normal"
While I don't always think Kojima's games are quite AS good as many others, they are always relatively unique, willing to push boundaries and break away from expectations. Game dev needs more people like that questioning everything rather than taking the safe incremental route.
Re: Poll: Should Japanese-Made Role-Playing Games Still Be Called JRPGs?
SonOfDracula wrote:
At it's most basic an RPG " is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting," Elden Ring fulfils those criteria.
If Action is what stops it being an RPG, then something like Tales of Arise is not an RPG either. There is a sub-genre, ARPGs, for this.
Looking more deeply into it Elden Ring allows you to create your own character using one of several class archetypes, choose and manage your gear, gain XP and level up, etc. all sounds very RPG to me.
What exactly stops it being an RPG in your eyes? Why is it classified by FromSoft as an RPG, and why was it nominated, and won, many awards in the RPG category if it wasn't an RPG?
Re: Poll: Should Japanese-Made Role-Playing Games Still Be Called JRPGs?
I don't consider ALL RPG's made in Japan to be JRPGs (Elden Ring is a good example) and many JRPGs aren't made in Japan (e.g. Chained Echoes). It's a sub-genre that describes a type of game, but has outgrown it's name. But good luck changing it.
Re: Poll: Is Metroid Prime The Best 2D To 3D Transition Of Any Game Series, Ever?
@antdickens I'm still not quite committed to PSVR2 yet, though my wallet is half way out. I have the cash, just not sure there is the lineup of games yet for ME.
As you said the launch line up, while impressively large, doesn't currently have the 'new' experiences vibe, and there are a lot of ports, it's one of the reasons i'm holding off for NOW.
I think part of this is just down to budgets, it's a (relatively) new medium and devs probably need to iterate quickly and throw out a lot of ideas, this is time consuming/expensive, which is at odds with a niche device with a small following.
While I'm keen and want it to be a success, I'm also waiting to see what the impressions are in 6-12 months time once the hype/hysteria has died down and we see if Sony and third parties are going to keep supporting it. Or if it will be a PS Vita - great bit of tech, mostly terrible support.
Enjoy it! Not long now!
Re: Poll: Is Metroid Prime The Best 2D To 3D Transition Of Any Game Series, Ever?
@antdickens It wasn't a criticism, just an observation. I've seen the training and levels of testing a poll has to go through to be free of bias. I wouldn't expect that, nor would I want that on a gaming site, not least they end up DRY and unengaging!
Totally agreed it was a transformative time. I'm hopeful that VR, with a new play space, smaller budgets and more niche audiences, can do something similar.
Also loving the experiments modern developers are doing when they limit themselves to roughly 8-bit or 16-bit constraints but see what they can make today with all the accumulated game design learnings inbetween.
It's in those spaces that there is more fun experimentation than in most of the AAA space right now sadly, which to my taste is MOSTLY heading in the wrong direction.
Re: Fanatical Is Giving Away The First 7 Leisure Suit Larry Games For Free
@Zenszulu SEEMS pretty disingenuous, more like a marketing drive sadly. Give a couple away and others will buy.
I'd give them the benefit of the doubt but even that Tweet only got 60 likes. Shame.
Re: Fanatical Is Giving Away The First 7 Leisure Suit Larry Games For Free
I played the first years and years ago and kinda enjoyed it. Thanks for the heads up will grab this. Whether I find time to play it is another story!
UPDATE - scrap that they've closed the offer. Boo!
Re: Poll: Is Metroid Prime The Best 2D To 3D Transition Of Any Game Series, Ever?
@Damo Love the discussion here. Lots of good memories.
It got me thinking
What game STILL needs a great 2D->3D conversion?
For me Castlevania has never quite worked as well in 3D (though I have a soft spot for Lords of Shadow, don't tell the die hards). Maybe the next poll?
Re: Poll: Is Metroid Prime The Best 2D To 3D Transition Of Any Game Series, Ever?
TotalHenshin wrote:
That's because the way the poll is delivered is biased, leading the voter to vote for Yes. It's a real life problem, usually on far more serious issues, you can basically make a poll say anything depending HOW you ask the question.
Thankfully it's not that deep here, it's just a device to get us all engaged and chatting about this hobby we all love. Win for us, win for ReedPop, @antdickens et al in engagement.
Happy gaming
Re: Poll: Is Metroid Prime The Best 2D To 3D Transition Of Any Game Series, Ever?
It's certainly up there! As others have said Mario 64, Zelda 64 and Metroid Prime all obviously great examples.
I was about to type out a list of other games but I think @Bomberman64 post covers it well. GTA III, MGS, Fallout 3 in particular stand out to me, though that last was isometric so might be considered quasi-fake 3D? (or 2D-120degree-3D as Square Enix would probably brand it.) and Doom was always cheapfake-3D, but 3D all the same.
Of course MOST series weren't around in the 2D era, and many that were haven't stood the test of time.
Re: Rare Cheekily Compares Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom To Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Never did get round to playing Nuts & Bolts. Perhaps I should rectify that. Need proper Banjo back though.
Re: Anniversary: PlayStation JRPG Classic Xenogears Is 25 Years Old Today
How long was the Disc 2 intro again though? About one and half hours right?
Re: Random: You Need To Check Out This Ridiculously Cute N64 Mini-CRT
"You say cute, I say ugly. Cute. Ugly. Cute. Ugly"
Not sure about this one. It's cool but monstrous at the same time.
Re: Round Up: "A Masterpiece Made Even Better" - Metroid Prime Remastered Reviews Are In
It is a fantastic remaster. Does everything a good remaster should do. It FEELS like the game we remember but updated graphically and with QoL features to bring it up to date. Really blown away by this one. Wish Nintendo, and others, would put this much love into all their remasters.
Re: Best Sega Game Gear Games
So many good memories here. I had completely forgotten about Sylvan Tale! Old age! Absolutely loved that game.
@Uncharted2007 Great additions to the list. Like @XiaoShao I lost track of how many hours I played Road Rash and it's sequels. I still have them all on MD. Haven't played them in years, might need to fix that.
Re: Customize Your Keyboard With These Cute GameCube Keycaps
They're adorkable
Re: Industrious Modder Creates The Ultimate MiSTer Rig
Wow! A real life Macguyver! Need to borrow him for a few jobs.
Seriously impressive work.
Re: Aya Neo's 'Next II' Handheld Slays Valve's Steam Deck In Specs
Two things that make the Steam Deck so impressive is it's performance relative to the hardware it has. Other higher powered devices usually do less with more grunt, it really is a technological marvel.
The second part of that equation is the cost, £349 just undercuts all the competition by at least half to three times. Look at something like the Aya Neo Air which is around £1,000.
Frankly the main thing I would improve on Steam Deck would be an OLED screen. A slightly bigger battery would also be nice but that's hard in the same form factor. It usually outperforms similar devices on battery anyway, and has a bunch of tools to extend battery life.
Re: Talking Point: Where Do You Stand On "Ethical Emulation"?
Not_Soos wrote:
I agree that there are FAR worse things in the world. But completely disagree with the first part. What does financial situation have to do with it?
There are plenty of things in life i'd like to do, experience or own, but can't because i'm not minted. That's part of life, and learning we don't get everything we want is an important life lesson. Rather than I can't afford it therefore i'll steal it. I can't support piracy just because people can't afford new games Day 1.
When I was a kid I would save up my pennies and go to the second hand store and buy games that were cheap, because that is all I could afford. And you know what? I appreciated those game MORE because of it.
If you can't afford modern games day 1 there is a simple solution. WAIT. The price always tumbles and there is a wealth of gaming history to be played for very little.
That isn't the same as emulating older out of print games that are being sold for hundreds on ebay and don't support the dev at all.
Re: Talking Point: Where Do You Stand On "Ethical Emulation"?
I'm 100% along the lines of @K4sparius stance and fall into the grey area position.
If I can support a game developer and it is available to play on modern hardware I will do that. I have rebought several games on Switch, and now Steam Deck because of this when I could just pirate/emulate them but don't.
If a game is out of print, being resold second hand for vast sums, or not available on modern hardware I will happily emulate it.
Games are art and deserve to be played not forgotten.
Re: PlayStation 5 Lead Architect Mark Cerny Talks Sega, Michael Jackson And Yuji Naka
Fascinating read. Cerny really is a treasure trove of gaming history and, as lead system architect on Sony consoles, a great ambassador for gaming's present and future too.
Re: Random: US Marines Used Metal Gear Solid's Most Famous Trick To Fool A Robot
@PSXDave Hopefully Kojima sees this and talks about it on his podcast. I love that they did this, while giggling away. "
Inside the box thinking"
Re: Poll: Do You Use A Flashcart?
I have used them in the past, especially with never released in the West titles, but generally don't now.
Not least the potential to abuse them gave the sort of decision paralysis you also get with things like Netflix and Spotify, so much to choose from that you almost don't know where to start.
More importantly games felt less special to me like this, there's something about owning a game, having chosen, and paid for that specially rather than having an unlimited catalogue. I simply enjoy games I buy more.
That said they absolutely have their place for game preservation and for playing out-of-print, hard to find, or frankly hideously overpriced retro games. Plus fan translated and modded games.
Not to mention the convenience, I have a lot of retro consoles, but to unbox them and set them up is time consuming, I do do this from time to time, but much easier to play them on a dedicated device. Currently this is usually the Steam Deck which retro games look far better on than a 65 inch 4K tv which they were never designed for.
Re: Retro YouTuber Opens Up Brand New Arcade Museum In The UK
Ah cool, i'm in Gloucester a few times a year, will be worth a detour.
Re: Watch Castlevania: SotN Speedrunner Slay The Game's Bosses In Half An Hour
That's a really nice run. And he does a great job of explaining all the tricks which makes it MUCH more enjoyable for the masses like me that don't know exactly what he's doing.
Re: "If HBO Made Zelda" - The Untold Story Of Legacy Of Kain: Dead Sun
Big LoK/Soul Reaver fan this, frankly, sounds a little too ambitious for a small team to pull off. But would have loved to see it released and to give it a go.
Always feel for the teams in these situations, years of your life dedicated to something that never sees the light of day.
On the plus side we lost this game but gained Sam Barlow going indie. As much as I love LoK & Soul Reaver they would never be as impactful and disruptive on the industry as the games he’s making now.
Re: The Tragic Tale Of The 'PlayStation Phone' That Should Have Changed Everything
My friend had one and I was green with envy. It was the closest I came to jumping across to Android. Thankfully a few weeks later he told me how rubbish it was as a portable PS but thankfully was good for emulation.
I still think there is merit in the design form factor.
Re: Flashback: The Origin Of Rare's Iconic "Golden Toilet Roll" Logo
@Duffman92 @Sinton @Brue Me four! Never seen that before.
Always amazing when seeing something like this for the first time, mindblown, but a little sad that I probably won't be able to un-see it.
Golden toilet roll it is forever. lol
Re: Poll: What Was Your Favourite Game Of Christmas 2012?
From your list
1) Dishonored (lost track how many times i've replayed it)
2) Telltale's The Walking Dead (Season 1)
3) Mass Effect 3 (a brilliant game, with a woeful ending)
But you didn't have Journey on your list
Honourable mentions: Far Cry 3, Sleeping Dogs, Mark of the Ninja
Re: God Of War Ragnarök Director Wants To Make A Castlevania Game
I would love to see an entirely new take on Castelvania. While I love the 2D Metroidvanias, and ALSO want those to resume, it would be great to see this series bought into the modern age in the same way Mario 64, Ocarina and Metroid Prime did for those franchises. Castlevania's 3D entries never quite nailed the new formula in the same way. While I personally loved Lords of Shadow as a game, it wasn't a good Castlevania game.
Sony Santa Monica have shown again and that they are in the top tier in the field and always push the bar. Would be great to see this, but sadly never going to happen
At this stage though i'd take almost ANYTHING Castlevania... beacuse Konami are the worst.
Re: The Making Of: WipEout, The Trailblazer Of 'Generation PlayStation'
@AJB83 Very cool. Much appreciated I will have a dig.
Re: The Making Of: WipEout, The Trailblazer Of 'Generation PlayStation'
I forget, were the original tracks ever ported to other versions? They were fantastic but this is a deal breaker whenever I go back to the original. One ill timed minor accident on the last lap and it's all over, far too brutal.
Re: The Making Of: WipEout, The Trailblazer Of 'Generation PlayStation'
I remember the PlayStation and WipEout drug related paraphernalia that appeared in publications like Mix Mag; the PlayStation consoles installed in chill out rooms like Ministry. Suddenly gaming WAS cool. All my non-gaming friends wanted a PlayStation when they had given up on gaming, if they had ever started, years before. Halcyon days!
Can you imagine Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo running such a campaign now? How soft we have become so soon.
Re: Talking Point: Have You Checked Your Floppy Disks Recently? They Might Be Dead
Isn't this mostly just scaremongering? Who is using their floppy discs to install games like Monkey Island and not use ScummVM.
You're probably talking about a relative handful of people in the whole world in reality.
And while game preservation is important, I don't think 100% preservation needs to be the goal, or the metric we judge by. It's good to let some things die else we just end up hoarding more and not letting go, which is healthy behaviour.
Re: 50Hz/60Hz Region Switching Finally Comes To The PS Plus PS1 Collection
The thing that many ignore or don't realise about the PAL 50Hz versions is that they usually have a lot more localisation and languages. Often French, Spanish, German etc. It is better to allow a wider range of people to actually be able to understand and play the game (at 50Hz) than give them the better version (60Hz) but make it unplayable for many.
To paraphrase it would be like giving many of us, the English reading public, a version in Chinese.
TLDR: They made the correct decision to start with the PAL version in PAL territories and are now giving those who want the better option a choice.
Re: Random: Remembering The Time Acclaim Almost Gave Away Vexx-Branded Condoms
Love this story. Everything is so homogenised and safe nowadays. Miss the madcap days a little.
Re: Best Retro Gaming Systems - What's The Dream Option For You?
Emulation for me. But a dedicated device. Hoping for a SteamDeck soon. Missed my launch day email when I was away and had to join from the back again. (In some ways just as well, ordered the top model, which is unnecessary. SD card just as fast).
Currently use my Vita which is still a wonderful device, a small actually pocket sized form factor with a stunning OLED panel. Ahead of it's time.
Still have most of my older consoles SMS, SNES, MD, Gamecube, N64, PS1-3, etc. but the hassle of digging them out, setting them up, especially on a modern TV makes emulation FAR more convenient, with a better picture and using a modern controller. Time is important.
I do regret getting rid of my Sony FW900 CRT years ago, it was just taking up so much storage space - as were the Amstrad CPC464 and Amiga - had I known how much money those went for nowadays... but it had a lot of use, mostly for work.
Re: Best PlayStation 1 Games
I played all of those except Silent Hill. Saw a friend play a bit and couldn't get past the washed out palette and 3-5 meter fog/darkness wall. My loss it seems.
Very glad to see Vagrant Story make the list. Oft forgotten
Re: Feature: Git Gud Or Go Home: An Introduction To The 'SoulsBorne' Series
Loved this article. Mirrored so much of my own Souls journey:
I can't quite remember exactly WHY I pre-ordered Demon's Souls on PS3, but I did. I had played some of FromSoft's previous games from King's Field & Armoured Core on PS1/2 but none quite grabbed me like this. This was still a time when most Japanese releases were 6-18 months later, if they came at all, and I think it had gained a lot of goodwill online from importers, enough that I really wanted to give it a go. I certainly don't remember reading a formal review until later. And that was part of the beauty, something that is hard to understand now with mass media and 24/7 gaming news, going into a game almost completely blind.
Regardless Demon's Souls blew me away. It still does, I just platinumed the wonderful PS5 remaster. Yes people talk about the updated graphics, sound etc. by Bluepoint, it is wonderful, but what amazes me is how the core gameplay mechanics are still golden, precise and fresh 13 years later. Most games of it's age FEEL old, this doesn't... mostly.
Dark Souls took everything a step further and is rightly hailed as a genre defining masterpiece. Firelink Shink and the myriad routes back to it are legend. Plus plin plin plon.
Dark Souls 2 gets treated as the black sheep of the family due to Miyazaki working on Bloodborne but it is a great game in it's own right, though perhaps not quite as memorable. It's a bit like saying it's the worst mainline Mario or Zelda game. Still likely a high 9 by most reckoning. The bar is just set so high.
Bloodborne is another masterpiece, the switch up from the defensive constant shield raised gameplay loop of souls to a system that rewards aggressive play through regenerating health was masterful. A few misteps like blood vials and bullets not auto-renewing on death can't stop this title standing out and being both wonderfully familiar yet also unique. What I wouldn't do for a 60fps patch, a PC release or even better a Bluepoint remaster... or sequel. Yet it's still wonderful regardless as is.
Dark Souls 3 is in many ways the best in the DS series, the gameplay mechanics improved hugely over DS1 & 2 but likely will never be seen as such. Truly an amazing game.
Considering how much I love these games it's slightly surprising I haven't yet gotten round to Sekiro or Elden Ring. (Or Nioh 1&2 or Mortal Shell for that matter.) But i'm contentedly slow with a backlog longer than the great wall of China and another penchant for quicker indie experiences. I'll get there eventually. If they are anything like the earlier games, they will have hardly aged a day.
Re: Best Amstrad CPC Games
So many nostalgia fuelled memories here. Oh Mummy!, Prince of Persia, Turrican and Solomon's Key were all favourites.
Harrier Attack was also a relatively unknown favourite. Part of the Amsoft 12 pack bundle.
Fruit Machine taught me early the House always wins! I was bored of spins by the time I was pub aged.
Never quite understood Elite at the time, likely too young and it was too finickity, could never figure out how to dock/land.
Lastly Ghostbusters took about 10 minutes to load on the CPC 464 tape deck, you could die within a minute and then had to load the 10 minutes again! Gamers nowadays have no idea how easy they have it. lol
Re: Best Castlevania Games - Every Castlevania Game Ranked
@HarmanSmith Yeah it was a bit long... 2 slow swamp levels! and could have done with a bit of cutting but it was a stunning game, with a great story and excellent combat. Obviously a huge departure from the 2D Metroidvania style but for me a huge improvement over most of the 3D efforts.
Mirror of Fate was a solid entry on the 3DS, Lords of Shadow 2 was pretty disappointing though. Didn't get close to the first game, and all the stories of mismanagement, devs angry and leaving really showed in the final product. The first felt like a labour of love the last the opposite sadly. Still enjoyed bits of it.
Re: We've Got Some Bad News If You're Still Waiting For A Polymega
@nocdaes Sadly this is all to common right now with chips/parts. The major problem is they are getting squeezed (and to an extent paid off by) by the giant companies from Apple to Ford, Sony to Microsoft who want to be first in line. This leaves smaller projects like this struggling, who are you going to disappoint Playmaji or Sony? Finding an alternative provider would almost certainly be even slower.
Re: Best Castlevania Games - Every Castlevania Game Ranked
Good list. Though personally I liked Lords of Shadow (sacrilege I know) and would have it above Castlevania NES and GB entries. I know which i've enjoyed replaying more recently.
Re: Welcome To Time Extension
Late to the party but welcome. Looking forward to some rose tinted retro shenanigans.
Re: Review: Anbernic RG503 - Now Packing OLED Goodness, But Is That Enough?
@RetroBox That was my first thought. Getting RSI just thinking about it
Re: Yuji Naka Killed "Dreamcast's Star Fox", Says Former Sega Producer
@Zenszulu Apologies you are right. Clearly getting old and getting two stories mixed up.
It's true Psychonauts was dropped by MS as publisher because they had too many platformers at the time and limited bandwidth.
But i've mixed up Kameo and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee for Xbox launch. That was the game that MS expected to be the HUGE title on launch, as Oddworld was a massive hit at the time and they had exclusivity. History had other ideas and Halo took the prize.
I think both of these nuggets were in Podcast Unlocked 201 but it may have been another look back at Xbox's history. I've read them elsewhere before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUODlNffWmU