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• One Girl's Ancient Struggle Against Bad Games

  It's pretty cool these days for girls to stand up and say, “I'm a gamer!” Bonus admiration is issued if they do it with only half their clothes on, but male gamers are usually just happy to know we walk amongst their ranks. Game companies are definitely happy about us, because we spend money on everything from puppy sims to big games with big guns. I'll let you in on a little secret. Girls have always liked games. What's different is that developers, game publications and marketing divisions are making an effort to let us know what's going on in the industry. Young females are being encouraged to try a little bit of everything and settle down into something they love, whether it's ponies or blowing someone's brains onto the ceiling. I'm glad, because I remember how awkward it was to be a girl gamer during those crucial years when I cared about what other people thought of me. Read More... Posted Apr 22 2009, 11:35 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: nes, mega man, nadia oxford, bart vs the space mutants, licensed games, cobra triangle, home alone

• What's in my MP3 Player: LetThereBeLight, a Mega Man 4 OC Remix

  Line up to revoke any good feelings you have about me, because I think that Mega Man 4's soundtrack is better than Mega Man 2's. ”Oh my God Nadia how can you embarrass yourself like this?” Though I thoroughly believe Mega Man 2 deserves its pedestal in the hearts of the people, I actually don't have the same nostalgic attachment to the title as other Mega Man fans. My first game was Mega Man 3, which I followed up with Mega Man 4. Mega Man 4's gameplay isn't exceptionally good, but the graphics and soundtrack are among the NES' best. ”So you say, but you still sound like you were dropped on your head as a baby and dragged away by a dog, poor wee child.” Maybe so, but if you give the soundtrack a good listen, you can hear an attempt to go somewhere different. Dustman's stage is far beyond Mega Man's usual rock n roll du jour; it's a subdued tune, quite melancholy, that brings you back to those rainy days you spent indoors with your NES. It also gave rise to the greatest OC Remix of all time. Read More... Posted Apr 20 2009, 11:54 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: mega man 2, nes, game music, 8-bit, retro, mega man 3, oc remix, mega man 4, nadia oxford, dustman

• The Four Greatest Videogame/Drug Combinations of All Time (Speaking From Personal Experience)

  The world’s worst fears are true: you need to take drugs to play Grand Theft Auto. The only way to get the most out of your time in Liberty City is to eat ecstasy, let the chemical take hold, and swim in an ocean of thick joy as you wreak impossible acts of havoc on the digital world’s citizens. I’m sorry I’m stealing your car, I need it right now, but I looooove you, man. Just the way it is, I guess. Bold choice, Rockstar! I kid. It was no doubt an unpleasant surprise for Richard Thornhill, a father of two, to open his recently purchased copy of GTA and find four mysterious pills sitting in the game’s case. I can’t imagine the confusion and fear. My god, what have I touched? Is this poison? There’s nothing more noisome than someone telling you that drugs of any stripe enhance an experience. Oh man, you can’t listen to Dark Side of the Moon if you aren’t stoned, man. Shut up. You’re a moron. I would, however, be a liar if I said that I haven’t had a marvelous time playing videogames while using illicit substances. Yes, like President Obama, I too inhaled during the heady days of my youth. Amongst other things. Let us take a brief stroll down memory lane. I will be your pharmacological guide across the gaming landscape. Read More... Posted Apr 08 2009, 04:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, xbox 360, resident evil, legend of zelda, nes, ocarina of time, gamecube, grand theft auto, resident evil 4, barack obama, burnout paradise, duck tales

• Silent Hill, Killer 7 and Not Having Fun With Great Games

  I am less than taken with Bit.Trip Beat. Subsequent playings have not improved my opinion of the game. As I’ve gotten further into it, the fundamental flaws in its design I spotted at the beginning have been born out later in the game. Some people love it. I don’t. They think it’s fun. I don’t. C’est la vie. As I mentioned in my article about Bit.Trip, though, I don’t think that games need to be fun in order for them to be good. I was pretty vague in making my point though. 61FPS reader Kit wrote me an email last week to ask just what the hell I was talking about. How can a game be good if it isn’t fun to play? Isn’t fun implicit in the very act of playing? When’s a game good but not much fun? Read More... Posted Apr 06 2009, 10:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, super mario bros 3, silent hill, nes, konami, playstation 2, gamecube, super mario bros, wiiware, quantic dream, david cage, suda 51, silent hill 2, gaijin games, BIT.TRIP BEAT, silent hill shattered memories

• Chiptune Friday: 8-Bit Daft Punk

  Third Daft Punk post this month? Clearly March is all about robots dancing as far as I'm concerned. You may have seen around the 'net that a new bit of NES homebrew was released last month in D-Pad Hero, a game that mimicked the now all-too-familiar Guitar Hero/Dance Dance Revolution style of tapping buttons in rhythm to a scrolling bar of icons, only it replaces the guitar controller/dance pad with a traditional NES game pad and high quality song recordings with size and medium appropriate chiptune. Gameplay is expectedly challenging, but the songs are divine, especially the chiptune version of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Read More... Posted Mar 27 2009, 03:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: derrick sanskrit, nes, guitar hero, daft punk, chiptune friday, homebrew, d-pad hero

• The Angry Video Game Nerd's House of Nintendo Horrors

  There's been a noticeable lull in publicised Angry Video Game Nerd rants. Apparently, Rolfe is waiting for his contract renewal with ScrewAttack, and he's forbidden to yell until the people who sign his paycheques say it's okay. Man, I've been there. To tide over the masses, the Nerd has published a short YouTube video showing off his NES game collection. How many Nintendo games do you think he owns? Times 'a lot' by a skillion and you'll get an idea. Actually, I got more out of this video than I thought I would. The Nerd shows us his legitimate games, but in spite of Nintendo's best efforts, the NES had a lot of titles that weren't anywhere close to legitimate. Tengen's “illegal” version of Tetris was only the Purgatory of a twisted plastic hell. Deeper in the forbidden depths, you will see atrocities like cartridges bandaged together with sticky “Sale!” stickers, and cartridges with connectors poking out of their misbegotten heads. Come one, come all. Two bits a gander. Read More... Posted Mar 11 2009, 11:37 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, angry video game nerd, nes, 8-bit, retro, fan stuff, nadia oxford, collection, tengen

• Pick Up Chicks In the Zelda Mobile

  You deserve a sexy car. That's why you need to own the Legend of Zelda Car. It's a 1978 Ford Fairmount adorned with the full map from the first Legend of Zelda game and other Zelda-related eye candy. Pictures of the Zelda Car have vroom-vroomed their way into Nintendo Power, Digg, and several game sites. Face it: this is the car you want to lose your virginity in, you studly 29-year-old. Well, good news. It's up for sale. The owner of the Zelda Car has taken out an ad on craigslist; he (she?) simply doesn't need the vehicle anymore, though it's been as faithful to him as Epona. It's in good condition, has a mere 110,000 miles on it (surely Link has walked/ridden more), and has fairly new shocks and tires. It's yours for $500.00 USD. Read More... Posted Mar 09 2009, 12:28 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, legend of zelda, nes, 8-bit, retro, fan stuff, nadia oxford

• Games That Baffled Me as a Child: Legacy of the Wizard

  The most recent episode of Retronauts, about Japanese developer Falcom, brought back some fond childhood memories about a game that wanted to do nothing more than end my short life: Legacy of the Wizard. My fascination with the game was never marred by the fact that I barely made any progress and didn't really understand what I was supposed to be doing--keep in mind that instruction manuals were a luxury with rentals back in the 80s. What really drew me in and made me forget that I sucked on toast at LotW was the game's--at the time, anyway--unique design; I could be very wrong about this, but Legacy of the Wizard seems to be the most complex example of the Metroidvania genre's early years. Sure, there were games out there like Goonies II, but they didn't offer five playable characters and a (relatively) huge world to run around and be murdered in. And, in Falcom tradition, Legacy of the Wizard has a pretty kickass soundtrack--which is preferable to a Cyndi Lauper song on a constant loop. I'm pretty sure I owe LotW credit for sparking my love of the Metroidvania genre, even though I wouldn't really realize said love existed until Super Metroid came along and made me realize that it was possible to make a game featuring relatively non-linear gameplay that's also possible to finish without the use of arcane knowledge. And while I've since moved on to explore the genre to its fullest, some sick, disturbed part of my brain is trying to make me attempt to play Legacy of the Wizard all over again. Luckily, in our modern Internet times I can work through these sick desires by watching Something Awful Forums member Deceased Crab's excellent video walkthrough (with commentary) of LotW and witness for the first time what it's like when someone actually knows where the hell to go in the game.  It's a scary concept, I know, but we can get through this together. Read More... Posted Feb 27 2009, 01:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nes, retro, bob mackey, legacy of the wizard, falcom, metroidvania

• The Making of Wrestle Jam from The Wrestler

  The Wrestler walked away with my heart this year, even if it didn't walk away with any Oscars. I'm still shaking my fist in the direction of last Sunday. The spoor's going cold though, so I'm better off reading up about the small details that made the movie so heart-rending. In one scene, Randy “The Ram” Robinson is silently coming to grips with the fact his body has become too broken-down for wrestling. He calls in a neighbour kid to play Nintendo with him—the 8-bit variety of Nintendo—and his game of choice is Wrestle Jam, a custom title with the soul of Pro Wrestling for the NES. As Randy and the neighbour kid click away as The Ram and The Ayatollah respectively, the boy, fed-up with the archaic game (and indeed, Randy himself) talks about Call of Duty 4. The discussion emphasises the old alongside the new, and in a few minutes, the game-based metaphor delivers a punch to the gut that's amplified by Mickey Rourke's perpetual hangdog face and scattered life. The game scene goes by quickly, but it happens that Wrestle Jam is a fully-functioning game with pixelated graphics, 8-bit music, and (according to the brother and sister team behind its creation) “stupid enemy AI.” Read More... Posted Feb 24 2009, 10:28 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: nes, 8-bit, retro, nadia oxford, mickey rourke, pro wrestling, wrestle jam, wrestling, the wrestler

• Old Man, Take a Look At My Life

  Somewhere over the American Midwest, on February 7th, I was playing through Retro Game Challenge. Five hours on a sold-out airplane, stale air, more screaming kids than tranq-ed adults, and surly Delta Airlines employees shoving headphones and stale bagels in your face every ten minutes makes for the perfect gaming atmosphere. You put on the best headphones you’ve got, jack up the volume, and play until the power runs out. The flight allowed me to access almost all of Retro’s faux-NES games. It wasn’t until I was plodding about its Dragon Quest homage, Guardia Quest, that I noticed my audience. Aaron was about five or six years old, a quiet kid peculiarly calm for such a long trip. “I have a DS too.” Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 06:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, nintendo ds, legend of zelda, nes, dragon quest, wii sports, famicom, Retro game challenge, phantom hourglass, guardia quest

• We Have Fury: Pieces of Gaming History End Up In Recycle Bins

  Today I bring you a sadder, somewhat stranger tale of game waste. This one comes from an employee of Best Buy, “DrSpengler,” who haunts a popular Transformers fan board called The Allspark. Best Buy has a recycling program in place for electronic items. The chain will take your fizzled, your sizzled, your broken televisions yearning to be scrapped. It's a good way to paint your conscience green, since disposing of electronics in the traditional way is a Captain Planet no-no. So Best Buy has the “Recycle” thing down pat, but it brickwalls at “Reuse.” Employees are absolutely forbidden to take away or purchase items that are brought in for recycling—and there are some vintage pieces of game history that are being crushed into little cubes, here. Read More... Posted Feb 13 2009, 03:27 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, nes, 8-bit, retro, nadia oxford, zapper, action set, waste, throaway hobby

• Dragon Quest IV: Re-Reading the Chapters of the Chosen

  Keeping true to my reputation as the Fastest Gamer in the West, I'm still playing through Dragon Quest IV. I played the NES original, though I never finished it. I was put off by the fact a Dragon Warrior game had a story, and I just never got into it. I was a very dull child, as you can imagine. Dragon Quest IV's branching story isn't anything that would throw Stephen King into a jealous rage, but it's fun and ambitious, and I appreciate it very much. Jumping from the flat-rate story in Dragon Warrior III (“Save the world because your father fucked the mission up”) to a headstrong cast of warriors with their own thoughts and feelings just kind of knocked me for a loop back then. The Loto Saga was effectively over with Dragon Warrior III, and I had decided to be a pouting child about Square-Enix's decision to move on. Read More... Posted Feb 11 2009, 11:22 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: nintendo ds, rpg, nes, square-enix, 8-bit, retro, dragon warrior, nadia oxford, dragon quest iv, game stories, dragon quest iiii

• Nintendo Customer Service Training Video Gives Disturbing Look Into the World of Retail

  Thanks to my friends over at the Retronauts Twitter, I've recently been made aware of a disturbing piece of Nintendo history--well, it's only disturbing because I once worked video game retail. I was never forced to watch any training videos, as the company motto of "badger all customers into buying whatever you want them to" was simple enough to remember without any formal brainwashing. However, if you happened to work as a Nintendo rep in the early 90s, a multimedia experience was necessary to inform you why Nintendo was infallible and all of your customers were wrong. Let's just forget the fact that the way old NESes loaded cartridges eventually caused most systems to stop reading them entirely--everything can be solved with a cleaning kit! And soon you will see how. Stick it to those rotten customers after the cut. Read More... Posted Feb 04 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, nes, retro, retail, video, bob mackey

• My First Banned Game: Double Dragon

  Screw Attack has a video retrospective on Battletoads & Double Dragon for the Super Nintendo. It's good for a quick nostalgia fix, and it contains 200% of the daily recommended intake of fart and tit jokes in case you haven't been meeting your quota lately (that happens in the winter). I never played Battletoads & Double Dragon. Watching the video reminded me of the reason why: my taste in games was slightly above that of a blind burrowing animal who sleeps in its own excrement. Seriously though, I never played Battletoads & Double Dragon because Double Dragon was the first verboten series in my house. My mother took note of what I was playing long before the Mortal Kombat scare, and she didn't approve of games that let you grab women by the hair and knee them in the face. I guess. It's not to say I grew up in an ultra-Puritan house where the only permitted video games came in telltale baby-blue cartridges, or were games about barn raising. I was allowed to play most anything, and my mom even played a bit, even if she could never get past the first boss in any given Castlevania game (but damned if she didn't try over and over). But after bringing home Double Dragon for the NES, she noted that Billy and Jimmy Lee could vent their masculine frustrations on thug women, and she deemed that uncool. Read More... Posted Feb 03 2009, 11:16 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: snes, nes, double dragon, retro, nostalgia, nadia oxford, game violence, double dragon & battletoads

• WAKA, WAKA: Pac-Man Championship Made Old School-er

  I was a little sad last month when putting together my closing-yet-incomplete thoughts on the games of 2008. During those twelve glorious months, the majority of the games I played to completion were from 2007. (The way 2009’s going at this point, it looks like this year’s going to be just the same.) So when I was thinking of the games that sparked my brain the most last year, some were sadly excluded from mention. My game of the year for 2007 and probably the game I played the most in 2008? Pac-Man Championship Edition. No, seriously. That game is pure. Its rules are perfect. Its challenge increases seamlessly along with your skill. Its presentation is a quiet symphony of graphical polish and dynamic sound that encourages as much focus in a player as it does tension. It’s iconic but it’s also a legitimate sequel, improving on one of videogames’ most fundamental forms of play without relying heavily on nostalgia as a hook. It’s better than Pac-Man and it’s better than Ms. Pac-Man. Crap, I’m tearing up just thinking about it! Siliconera posted up this NES-styled mock up of Pac-Man Championship Edition and it really emphasizes how vital the widescreen format is in making PMCE a sequel that enhances Pac-Man fundamentals. Read More... Posted Feb 03 2009, 07:30 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, pac-man, xbox 360, nes, namco, siliconera, ms pac-man, Pac-man championship edition, toru iwatani

• Pole’s Big Adventure: Sega Rides the Retro Train, Takes Advantage of You

  A couple of weeks back, Sega Japan launched a countdown website sporting a peculiarly recognizable icon: a pixilated mushroom. Instead of the spotted red or green associated with the company’s one-time rivals, this mushroom was purple with yellow spots. It was an ugly little blighter and fueled all sorts of speculation as to what would be shown at the end of the countdown. An 8-bit style Sonic & Mario platformer where Robotnik has poisoned all the mushrooms! An 8-bit style game where Alexx Kidd and Mario open a day spa and compete for Birdo, Athena, and Dig Dug’s affections! Okay. Fair enough. I am the only man who thought Sega might be making either of those games. The 8-bit part was spot on though. The game turned out to be Pole’s Big Adventure, an WiiWare original aping early Famicom games in the spirit of Retro Game Challenge. The funky looking mushroom’s a big hint as to what Pole’s Big Adventure is all about, namely messing with preconceived notions based on Super Mario Bros. You don’t break bricks with your fist, you break them by shooting them, and the same goes for getting treats out of question boxes. Go down a pipe, immediately pop back up covered in… goo? The video isn’t clear on what you’re covered in. And when you do find that mushroom out there, it will make you grow until you die. Pretty clever there, Sega. Read More... Posted Jan 23 2009, 02:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, bionic commando, nes, sega, super mario bros, wiiware, bionic commando rearmed, famicom, birdo, Legend of kage 2, pole’s big adventure

• Ode to the Light Gun or The Only Peripheral You’ll Ever Need

  Peripherals are bothersome. A controller is fine; it’s compact and, with the ubiquity of reliable, long-lasting wireless technology, they’ve become easy to store and maintain. These days, controllers just aren’t enough for developers. Every game has to have its own little thing. Oh, I need plastic guitars and drums to play this? A little plastic wheel to act like I’m steering? A massive twenty-four button console array meant to simulate the cockpit of a gigantic walking tank?! Well, la-di-da, Mr. Game Developer! I don’t live in some kind of mansion, I’ve already spent all my money on your products. I don’t have room to store a billion and one plastic devices used for only a single game. Like every gamer born before 1990, though, there’s one peripheral my gaming home needs: the light gun. Nintendo may be the young family’s best friend these days, providing safe, accessible entertainment for all, but back in 1985, their consoles came with fake firearms. Those of us who grew up in the US and Europe got a grey Laser Tag knock off that was clearly — a toy later re-colored neon orange and grey to appear even more like a toy — but look at the original sumbitch Gunpei Yokoi designed for the system. Read More... Posted Jan 16 2009, 03:30 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: playstation 3, nintendo, wii, nes, rambo, sega, namco, house of the dead, famicom, guncon, light gun, house of the dead 4, time crisis 4, silent hill the arcade, zapper, house of the dead overkill

• Castlevania III: Dracula's Reign Ends, Sypha's Baby Factory Opens

  When I was a kid, I ate crayons while I was supposed to be tested for giftedness, I lost interest in achieving the honour roll when I found out it wasn't covered with sticky frosting, and I could never understand why grown-ups got so uppity if I was wearing my shirt backwards (still can't). But I finished Castlevania III all by myself, without cheating, and I'm still damn proud of that. It remains one of about two games both my husband and I played as kids, but only I've completed. I've only finished the game with Grant as my aide, mind you. Even my childlike stupidity and gullibility had its limits. “Ha ha,” I said as I watched the credits scroll, “I am never doing this again!” Ah, but it looks like I will with the help of the Virtual Console. Once I get my platforming legs back, I'd like to try and finish the game with Sypha. I've seen her ending already thanks to the modern magic of YouTube, but it still fascinates me. The second Dracula dies, the schmatte covering Sypha's head falls off on cue and Trevor's like, “Holy shit, Imma touch this bitch.” And he does. Read More... Posted Jan 12 2009, 09:45 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, nes, konami, castlevania, 8-bit, retro, castlevania iii, nadia oxford, virtual console, trevor belmont, sypha

• Live Action Mario Madness and the Culture of World 1-1

  The games industry can be a pretty volatile place. When things get rough, I ask myself if it's worth it, if I shouldn't be involved in a field that contributes more to the well-being of mankind in general (elephant racer). Happily, I am often thrown a reminder of why I love games writing at the most crucial times. I love game culture. I love experiencing how games make people talk, think and act. Humankind has always needed leisure activities after coming down from a hard day at the office, the factory, or the Great Mammoth Hunt. There is a lot of truth to All Work and No Play, and video games can serve up that vital relaxation as effectively as television, music and movies. Certain games are also as capable of entering mainstream culture as movies and television shows. Here's a Japanese re-enactment of Super Mario Bros using puppets and black screens. You've seen this kind of thing before, but Super Mario Bros, particularly World 1-1, is so ingrained in our culture that everyone recognises the game and enjoys different interpretations on it. And even if you don't get as weepy over game culture as I do, watch this video for a most bizarre cameo by a Japanese Obama impersenator. Read More... Posted Jan 12 2009, 08:24 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, nes, japan, mario, super mario bros, retro, nadia oxford, game culture, barack obama, world 1-1

• Confessions of the Young and Stupid: I Almost Bought a Genesis For Moonwalker

  When the Sega Genesis came on the scene, there were specific game advertisements or previews that made kids look at their 8-bit Nintendo with new doubt. Some children started paying attention to the Genesis when Altered Beast wose from its gwave. Others started pulling on their mom's arm for Sonic the Hedgehog. The first game that gave me “console envy” was Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. If you're nodding with me right now, you're around my age and you understand me. If you're snickering, you're a young punk and gerroff my lawn. When I was a kid, the name “Michael Jackson” made kids' eyes light up. Promises of special trips to Neverland Ranch and all the candy we could eat weren't necessary; Michael was just that cool. Everyone wanted to be Michael. He could dance, he could perform and damn it all, he put together Thriller. Moonwalker was cool, too. At the time, it made perfect sense to me that Michael's demigod essence could not be contained by the dinky Nintendo; no, it would take nothing less than a 16-bit temple. The in-game playlist was enough to stop a kid's heart: Bad, Billie Jean and Thriller to name a few (though we did get stiffed pretty bad Thriller-wise, since the music didn't show up where you'd expect it to—hello, graveyard? Zombies?). But once you stripped (!!!) the suave suit and hat from Moonwalker, it wasn't much beyond a mediocre platformer with a big name and Bubbles face-sitting action. Read More... Posted Jan 09 2009, 10:17 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, super mario bros 3, music, nes, retro, 16-bit, nostalgia, sega genesis, nadia oxford, michael jackson, moonwalker

• Some Games Nadia Played in 2008 Instead of Working: Mega Man 9

  When I have to call up numbers for any reason, I rely on “funny” math. 1+1 = cow and whatnot. I don’t like math and math doesn’t like me. There’s a reason why I’m scrabbling as a writer and not pursuing my dream career as an epidemiologist (no, I’m serious). This is my roundabout say of saying I miscounted the days and my “Ten Games Nadia Played, etc,” list isn’t going to hit double digits. It will be forever young and I’m comfortable with that. One reason I might be so bad with numbers is because I spent a significant amount of my childhood playing Mega Man games instead of doing something useful. When you’re a Mega Man fan, what use is there for numbers above eight? Of course, when it comes time to count the sheer number of sequels and offshoots Mega Man has appeared in, you’re kind of boned. I thought I’d just do like the rabbits from Watership Down and refer to large numbers as “Hrar”--but then rumours of Mega Man 9 showed up and around and I knew the title deserved my attempt to count above eight. The first substantial details about Mega Man 9 came through the June 2008 edition of Nintendo Power. It was pretty heartening to read jaw-dropping revelations about a highly anticipated title through a print magazine; that sort of thing just doesn’t happen so much anymore. Read More... Posted Dec 23 2008, 05:55 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: top ten, nes, mega man, 8-bit, mega man 9, retro, nostalgia, nadia oxford

• Best NES End Credits Music in the History of NES End Credits Music

  Can’t you just hear it? It works so well, it’s ridiculous. Want more NES-ready Radiohead chiptunes? Who doesn't! Read More... Posted Dec 16 2008, 07:45 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, nes, chiptune friday, radiohead

• Mega Man Dies and Goes To Robot Hell For His Sins

  Wise people are known to furrow their brows, stroke their beards and wonder why Doctor Wily just doesn't throw his entire stable of robot jerks at Mega Man. There are two answers to that question. First, there is certainly something psychological with Wily's slow trickle of Robot Masters; the even distribution gives Mega Man a challenge, but doesn't overpower him. This, in turn, leads to some rambling theory about every human's need to chase a Questing Beast. The second answer is probably the right one: if Mega Man had to fight every Robot Master at once, his games wouldn't be much fun, stupid. Gee, the guy who put together this video makes it look so easy. In fact, there's something primal and just a little sexual about this nine-man confrontation. Read More... Posted Dec 10 2008, 12:01 AM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, mega man 2, nes, mega man, 8-bit, retro, video, fan stuff, nadia oxford, robot masters

• Periphery: The Coolest Homebrew Project Device Ever

  My understanding is that Niagara Falls is something of an awe-inspiring sightseeing opportunity as far as natural formations go and it’s a tacky extravaganza of shoddy, moldering love hotels as a tourist destination. You go to gamble, eat at buffets, and look at some fast water, right? I honestly don’t know. I haven’t been there in eighteen years, and my child’s-memory is fuzzy at best. It’s a cluttered jumble of images and familial inside jokes, things like eating pickle chips and weighing the odds of my survival if I jumped the railing. My clearest memory, though, is the preponderance of freak museums. Every corner boasted its own hall of mismatched curiosities, from replicas of barrels that made the falls’ descent to stuffed polar bears and any number of imaginary anthropological curiosities. I fear going back because I prefer my memory of the city’s institutionalized theater-of-the-absurd. I check the website GameSniped on a weekly basis because, while it is intangible, it is very much a gaming freak museum. Prototype NES carts, complete Master System collections, strange promotional materials from bygone eras. It is a literal island of lost games, the detritus of the medium’s collective subconscious, interesting to collectors and freaks only. And me of course. Today’s spotlight is especially alluring, as both a historical find and as an opportunity. Read More... Posted Nov 24 2008, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, periphery, nes, Playstation, Panasonic, 3do, d2, Kenji eno, m2, gamesniped, sega master system

• Game Compilations: The Good, the Bad, and the Fugly

  Time was, I thought game compilations, museum, and anniversary collections, and anything else you’d want to call them were the cat’s meow. Greatest thing since sliced bread. The *ahem* tits. Then The Mega Man Anniversary Collection for Gamecube came out back in 2004. Fifty simoleons for all eight console Mega Man games plus an opportunity to finally play Mega Man: The Power Battle and Power Fighters? Sounds like a dream come true. Then I found out that instead of the A button making the little blue fella shoot and the B button making him jump, the buttons were reversed for the compilation. There is no way to change this control scheme. It turns playing Mega Man 1 through 6 into a personalized hell, the place where cheat code users go when they die. Compilations are dangerous business because, more often than not, the publisher puts no effort whatsoever into them and people buy them anyway. That’s how you end up with Mega Man’s jumping and shooting getting reversed, how Sega releases not one, but two Sonic the Hedgehog collections with fantastic unlockables that are almost impossible to unlock, and how Namco can release the same damn Galaga/Dig Dug/Pac-man collection nine-hundred times. Of course, they really can be a treat. Despite all the load times and inaccessible unlockables, the Sonic Mega Collection is still a great way to play Sonic at his best. Occasionally, budget numbers like the Capcom Classics Mini Mix, a no-frills GBA collection with Bionic Commando NES, Strider NES, and Mighty Final Fight, can come along and introduce you to games you’ve never ever heard of. (Seriously, Mighty Final Fight? When did that happen? It’s got mini Haggar!) They are a more palatable alternative to Virtual Console-style downloads too, as far as price is concerned. Sega’s just-announced Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3 and Xbox 360 comes with forty games, and for thirty bucks you get what Nintendo would charge $120 for on Wii. Plus, they wouldn’t even all fit on the Wii’s memory! But again, the production values are highly questionable. Read More... Posted Nov 06 2008, 05:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, pac-man, street fighter, capcom, bionic commando, nes, sega, mega man, sonic the hedgehog, strider, mighty final fight, game boy advance, virtual console, dig dug, Capcom classics collection, Capcom mini mix, galaga

• WTFriday: Mega Man A Cappella

  Note to readers: WTFriday is a weekly feature where I find something stupid about video games and get you to laugh until it goes away. Please try to forget this is what I normally do every day of the week. Every Friday, I spent literally tens of minutes--and sometimes dozens of minutes--searching for something stupid and hopefully video game-related to share with my beloved readers. But some Fridays, links to substantially goofy content fall right into my lap--like today! 61FPS Reader Nathan Avilla was so kind as to forward me a Mega Man 3 game play video with all of the music/sound effects replaced by human wailing; it's shrill and taunting, yet somehow enchanting. I'd have preferred that the composer applied this idea to Magnet Man's stage, as science has proven that he has the best music in all of Mega Man 3--but still, I'm impressed: Mega Man 3 'Vocal BGM' clip And unlike most wacky online videos, this is definitely something you can do at home; all you need is a microphone, and to be castrated. But make sure you ask your parents' permission before buying an expensive microphone. Related Links: WTFriday: The Mario Paint Music Showcase WTFriday: The Chrono Trigger Anime WTFriday: Goldman's Drama Academy Read More... Posted Oct 31 2008, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: nes, retro, mega man 3, video, bob mackey, wtfriday

• Klonoa: Careful, Namco. You Tread On My Dreams.

  I’m not a purist. No, really. When it comes to classics being revisited, modernized, or remade, I don’t need every facet of the past perfectly preserved just the way I remember it in order to get a desperate nostalgic thrill. I delight in Mega Man 9 because it’s a great game whose presentation and technological limitations are carefully made design choices, not because it’s a new NES game. I’ll let you in on a secret: I actually like Mega Man 7 and 8. Yeah, that’s right. I think they’re good games. Not as good as their forebears, but all the same. When the new Bionic Commando was announced last year, even before Rearmed was revealed, I didn’t balk at Radd Spencer’s Adam-Duritz-makeover. I think the new look is cool, especially the way his dreads flow behind him like delicate willow branches as he soars through dystopian cityscapes and… oh! Excuse me. What I’m getting at is that not everything from yesterday is sacred. Some things, especially in games, should be changed. Final Fantasy III DS is a good thing. The NES original is just too slow now. Tomb Raider Anniversary preserves a revolutionary game’s best qualities while also making it, you know, playable. In with the new, out with the old may not be an all-encompassing maxim, but it’s more often than not good advice. That said, Namco, if you go through with this, I will hurt you. The Raw Meat Cowboy himself over at GoNintendo received a survey from Namco-Bandai today, the subject of which was their impending Wii remake of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. RMC has smartly inferred that Namco is testing the waters to see if Klonoa should be localized for North America. One of the questions in the survey asks which of these two character designs is preferable. Read More... Posted Oct 30 2008, 03:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, wii, capcom, final fantasy, bionic commando, nes, mega man, tomb raider, klonoa, mega man 9, namco bandai, mega man 7, mega man 8, namco, bionic commando rearmed, final fantasy III, poochie

• Our Emulation Habits

  A long, long time ago (actually, it was just this past Friday) fellow blogger and 61FPS boss-man pined over his inability to emulate.  I'm afraid that I'm a bit less romantic than John, even though my feelings about emulation have changed slightly over the years.  But when I first started emulating--man oh man--it was like some sort of amazing technology I dreamed about but never thought would exist.  As is the case with most people who caught onto emulation, I got hooked on NESticle back in 1997, and spent the copious amounts of free time I had (I was a dork in high school, after all) downloading all the games from my past I was dying to play again.  If I'm not mistaken, I think this was also the year that SNES emulators--a baffling proposition at the time--first started to support sound.  I remember downloading a .wav file of the Chrono Trigger opening song as played through the soon-to-be released SNES9X and sitting there completely awestruck.  Yes, even then I realized how nerdy I was. Read More... Posted Oct 29 2008, 06:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: snes, nes, chrono trigger, mother 3, translation, bob mackey, seiken densetsu 3, rom hacks, emulation

• Up All Night: Power Blade

  Somewhere in upstate New York, on a chill night in April 1991, a television glows ominously in a family living room, illuminating the suburban setting in an uneasy, blue light. A boy sits before the television, knees tucked beneath him, with an NES pad in his hands. He is transfixed, his stare one that betrays nothing but a devoted concentration and perhaps a hint of desperation. This war against the despotic computer mainframe has gone on too long. It is taking its toll on his small mind. From upstairs comes a slow thumping, the sound of weary parental feet shuffling in the dark. A call rings out. “If I come down there and you’re still playing videogames, I’m going to throw that stupid box out the window.” A whisper. “Can’t talk. Final level.” “GO TO BED!” “No! No, I cannot go to bed! I must defeat these godless machines! I MUST STAY UP ALL NIGHT!” Yes, Friday’s Chiptune got me thinking about that true Up All Night classic, Power Blade. One of Guy Wearing Tank Top and Sweatpants’ last great hurrahs on the NES, Power Blade is, unlike some UAN candidates, a legitimately good game, chock full of tight platforming and robot murdering in the grand Mega Man tradition. It also has an interesting history: Power Blade actually started, as Kurt Kalata puts it, a literal Mega Man clone called Power Blazer. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 06:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, up all night, nes, taito, bad dudes, hg101, chiptune friday, mega man, square-enix, kurt kalata, power blade

• The Videogame Ages, part 2

  In part one of The Videogame Ages, I discussed the inadequacy of “generation” language in gaming, and laid out The Golden Age of gaming. In part two, I look at the Silver and Bronze ages before taking a look at the modern era and the future. The Silver Age – 1983 to 1996 8-Bit, 16-Bit, Early Handheld, Early 3D, Advanced PC and Arcade The silver age of games is defined by expansion, in not just playability but breadth of experience. When home computers became affordable and home consoles began diversifying, games started transforming from immediate, single-mechanic experiences into more lasting forms. Silver age games were still about escalating challenge, but high scores ceased being the goal, replaced by definitive endings. Games started becoming more explicitly narrative-driven, as aesthetic justification on consoles and as the focus of many PC games (see the entire adventure game genre.) Portable gaming also started to rise to prominence during this period, early single-screen LCD games replaced by multi-game consoles like the Game Boy and Atari Lynx. Arcade and PC game technology pulled far away from home consoles, but all games were shifted from the rough visual abstraction of golden age games, into more aesthetically recognizable presentations – albeit still cartoonish impressionistic rather than realistic. The rise of polygonal 3D graphics, both real-time full 3D (Yu Suzuki’s Virtua series) and pre-rendered (Myst, etc.), at the end of the silver age marks the transition to bronze. In 1996, with the release of Mario 64, Tomb Raider, and Quake, the silver age comes to a close. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, boom blox, little big planet, game boy, halo 3, nes, PC, half-life, mac, mario 64, atari, Playstation, super mario bros, nolan bushnell, spore, tomb raider, 8-bit, 16-bit, quake, mmo, arcade, famicom, littlebigplanet, spacewar!, bob dvorak, golden age, 128-bit, Magnavox odyssey, myst, bronze age, silver age, pong, 32-bit, tennis for two