OatBob's underutilized blogOatBob's underutilized blog

Posted on Feb 5th 2008 at 01:08:51 PM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Weekly Features, Rez, N2O, Nitrous Oxide, Neo Geo Pocket Color, NGPC, sharp, synesthesia

This week we get to play another game, YAY!  The surprise is that this game is so much more.  You'll see and hear bright colors, and touch the music, as it pulses to your head.  You too can experience synesthesia, and you won't need sex or drugs to get there.  Rez is a shooter like no other.  Hold the fire button and aim at multiple targets to lock on, but releasing it will destroy them in sequence with the music.  The background oscillates with to the music, and whatever haptic feedback device you're using will also pulse to the music; be it the controller in your hands, a secondary controller in your lap, or the trance vibrator in your pocket or resting under the sole of your foot.  Level up and your wire-frame man will gain polygons, and guide him through the techno landscape of cyberspace to free 'eden' from the system.

The Neo Geo Pocket Color catches our eye as this week's hardware feature.  Sure, color portables have existed before this, but SNK's experience with arcade gaming ensures we can bring those bright, flashy, and intense hues with us anywhere we go. 

The featured image this week comes from yet another colorful game.  N2O Nitrous Oxide is a tube shooter along the likes of Tempest or Gyruss.  Where it deviates is its use of bright colors and hypnotizing soundtrack.  Don't play it too long though, as you'll end up with tunnel vision for some time afterwards.

Finally, our featured collection belongs to sharp, a member of the RFgen community who's been here from almost the beginning.  This Nederlander has a lot of games for SNK systems, showing that gaming exists beyond Sega, Nintendo, and other modern parties.

Until next time, stay tuned to channel 3...



Posted on Dec 25th 2007 at 05:57:55 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Weekly Features, Ridge Racer 6, Namco, Nyko, Charge Station 360, Toy Commander, Tondog, WINNER

I don't know about the rest you, but I tend to be dragged down around this time of year.  Being home from school, the cold, the snow, and being around family a little too much drains the life from me.  Fortunately I always find the time to get a lot of gaming in, and that, my friends, is what shines this geeks soul.  I've been playing a lot of Ridge Racer 6 alone, Halo 3 and Gears of War when I'm with my brother, and some Wii Sports bowling with my parents.  Since I haven't gotten my dad to play a game with me since NHL '96 was new, I consider this a breakthrough.

Since it is the holidays, I'll try and keep this short so y'all can get back to your lives.  Ridge Racer 6 is the featured game this week.  Lots of drifting, and simple gameplay keep the disc spinning in my 360.  It can be had for a bargain price now, and is worth a try if you're a fan of the series.

My brother was kind enough to give me an early present, NYKO's Charge Station 360.  Rechageable batteries, and battery packs are a must in this new generation of wireless gaming.  3rd party?  It doesn't seem to matter much.  These batteries fit snugly and do the job.

Remember playing with remote control cars and airplanes when you were a kid.  Well you can play with them again in
Toy Commander.  There's even a Chrismas themed level if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Wrapping it up today is a real WINNER collection.  Tondog is a good friend of mine and a good member of the RF Generation family.  He's a long-time Playstation fan, but isn't against showing the Dreamcast and Nintendo DS some lovin'.  His true interests also include overlooked and underappreciated games.

I hope you get to play something fun this week.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from your own channel 3. 



Posted on Dec 4th 2007 at 06:15:55 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Weekly Features, Mickey Mania, Black and White, Game Boy Player, Patrick

Black and White... what are they?  Their contrasting nature tends to give them different associations.  Beneficence and malevolence, Ying and Yang, ebony and ivory, light vs. dark, Good vs. Evil, Spy vs. Spy?!  I suppose they're black and white too.  Some would say Black and White aren't even colors, just the absence or presence of light.  Religions associate light and darkness with virtues and sins, with some even being particular to the color of light.  In video games, if you're seeing in black and white, you're well overdue for a color television.

Kicking off this week's features is a fantastic piece of hardware that comes in only one color.  The Game Boy Player comes only in black, which likely means it won't match your purple lunch pail.  Despite its poorly coordinated chromatic aesthetic, this device (accompanied by a disc) lets you play your backlog of Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges on a full-sized television screen.  Spiffy.

The featured image fits the theme dead on, as it comes from a PC game titled Black & White.  Packaging for this game finished the one-two punch of the monochrome cover by packaging it all in two different box designs.  The game itself can be considered a "god simulation" strategy game.  The premise of the game is to build a following of tribesmen on a remote island.  As you gain strength, you can compete against other gods and even claim some of their followers.

Patrick is the proud owner of this week's featured collection.  This chap enjoys collecting for the Mega Drive and Master System, and even owns this week's featured game.

Mickey Mania was originally intended to be a landmark project for Mickey Mouse's 65th birthday, but the original project timeline was canned to accomodate bigger ideas.  The end result proves to be a greater tribute to the Mickey Mouse legacy.  So the story goes... Mickey gets zapped back to the past, but instead of reliving history, he gets to reenact his own cartoons.  The first level is first starring role in the black-and-white animated short, Steamboat Willy.  As Mickey progresses through the game, he travels to subsequently later cartoons in his animated career.  For being targeted at a younger audience, this game proved to be quite difficult.  Now we are all a few years more experienced as gamers, maybe we can rise meet the challenge.

Until next time, stay tuned to channel 3...



Posted on Nov 13th 2007 at 07:22:20 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Weekly Features, Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Mega Man, Rockman, Mega Man 2, silentscythe, Capcom, Sega, Mega Drive

For his 15th birthday in 2004, Mega Man (or Rockman, if you prefer) recieved the special treatment and had all 8 of his original games bundled up and re-released with some special extras on the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) each version has unique exclusives, making no version inferior to the others (that includes you, GameCube).  If you're a hardcore Mega-Maniac and that still isn't enough, there's always Mega Man X Collection gathering up all the other titles.

Whatever you call him, the blue bomber always delivers the right technique, and should he defeat you... he will assimilate your specialty move into himself, further expanding his arsenal.  Just look at the lineup of bosses little Rockman conquered in Mega Man 2, he means business.

There are few "Mega" things that can rock as hard as Rockman himself, but Sega knew how.  Affectionately called the Mega Drive in Europe and Japan, this 16-bit system ushered Sega into the golden age of gaming in the early 90s; with an edge that showed even mighty Nintendo that the stakes were raised.

Finally, we acknowledge a collector with fairly even-spread numbers for most of his consoles.  All games in silentscythe's collection are childhood favorites, and likely get some play every once in a while.  A healthy helping of RPGs and adventure games always catches my eye, and are a welcome addition to any collection.

That's all for now.  Check out chat tonight, and tune in to channel 3...



Posted on Oct 23rd 2007 at 01:45:22 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site news, Weekly Features, VS Fighting, Capcom, SNK, Capcom vs SNK, SNK vs Capcom, SVC Chaos, Street Figther Anniversary, Slayer1,

In 1999 Capcom and SNK struck up a deal to license each other their intellectual properties to produce two fighting games each.

Capcom's first entry was Capcom vs. SNK for the Dreamcast.  Drawing mainly from their own Street Fighter, and SNK's King of Fighters series, Capcom made a solid 2D fighter with balanced characters and challenging gameplay.  Hypnotic menus draw you in from the start, and animated backgrounds keep you interested through while you fight.  The "groove" system lets you pick how you get to activate power ups and special combos, and the flexible ratio system lets you add a few more characters to your team if they are all weak.

SNK's first attempt is widely overlooked as its release was only for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.  Unfortunately SNK's poor financial standing led to bakruptcy in 2001, followed by a buyout by Playmore that same year.  The new SNK-Playmore followed up on their obligation with SVC Chaos.  This title definitely puts a SNK twist in style, but still feels a bit forced with some unbalanced characters.  The best part by far is how SNK draws characters from more series than Capcom, leading to higher variety of characters.  Also, the artwork from the game is stunning.  Game sprites and special attacks received a visual makeover, while the backgrounds are truly something to look at.

In 2005 Capcom celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Street Fighter series.  The Street Fighter Anniversary Collection hosts a fair selection of SF games on the Xbox and PS2.  Capcom also licenses a number of character-themed collectible control pads to Nubytech to mark the occasion.  The Xbox recieved Akuma, Bison, and Guile while the PS2 recieved Akuma, Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li in addition to wireless control pads featuring Cammy, Evil Ryu, and Sagat.  The premier item released with these was an arcade stick for both Xbox and PS2 that brought the arcade experience home.  Sometimes the standard controller doesn't quite cut it for these arcade style games.

Slayer1 gets the spotlight this week as the featured collection.  The size might be considered average, but a detailed view will show how it truly shines.  Ratings for most titles, and a large number of micro-reviews in the comment section give just enough personal input on games to determine his taste in gaming.

Continue reading Weekly feature: VS Fighting



Posted on Oct 2nd 2007 at 10:48:24 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Weekly Features, Racing, OutRun 2019, R Racing Evolution, PS2, GT3, Gran Turismo 3, Reps911, I WANNA GO FAST

This week we're shifting gears and cutting into the fast lane.

OutRun 2019 takes the lead this week as our featured game.  Easily one of the fastest racing games on the Sega Genesis, it still plays like the other games from the outrun series.  Of course, with these fast speeds come big crashes.  If you like any of the F-Zero or Burnout games, you'ld certainly get some fun out of this one.

The featured image this week is a real bargain bin gem, but don't let the cover fool you.  R: Racing Evolution looks to be another Ridge Racer game as it was made by Namco and features a shiny car and young Japanese female on the cover.  At least thats what I thought when I picked it up.  It turns out to be a racing simulation (that isn't Ridge Racer) with more simplified tuning options and a storyline.  This game features a lot of real cars with upgrade options where all can be obtained in a reasonable time period.  Stock cars, F1, offroad circuit, and drag racing are all represented here.  My favorite cars here are the DeLorean (yeah it was really intended to be a luxury sports car) and the Hummer.  The Xbox version of this game has a special Hummer with an Xbox paint job, adding in a touch of humor due to its ridiculous size, unplayable slow acceleration and speed.  This game is fun to play, and the variety of races keep it fresh.  The other drivers taunts are a little corny though, so try and keep the lead so you don't have to hear them as much.

The Gran Turismo 3 PlayStation 2 console bundle closes the gap for hardware.  The Gran Turismo series has always been the leading car simulation with high attention to detail and realism.  GT3 also helped give the early PS2 the big push for which Sony was hoping, contributing to the largest juggernaut in gaming history.   While there are millions and millions of PS2s out there, this bundle proves to have some collector's value as its the only real box variant or bundle for the early model PlayStation 2.

Speeding his way to higher collection numbers is Reps911.  He claims to have rekindled his collection habit after meeting his (approving) significant other.  Over the past couple years he's shown a fast accumulation of games and systems, and shows no signs of slowing down.

So next time you're rounding the  channel circuit, don't forget to stop by channel 3.



Posted on Sep 19th 2007 at 06:23:25 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Features, Weekly Features, Interplay, Amiga CD32, TheBoss, Loom, Out of this World

This weeks features look back at the days of the DOS game. 

No mouse, and only armed with your keyboard, you had more control over your environments.  Text adventures gave little to no instruction to navigate, leaving it up to you to figure out where to go.  With small and expensive hard drives, reliance on floppy disks was important.  Interplay's 10 Year Anthology is a compilation of a number of these types of games, and is a good sample of what to expect of games from this era.  The high difficulty of some of these games can be frustrating at times, but looking back at them allows you to appreciate the advances that have been made in Western RPGs and adventure storytelling.

The Amiga CD32 is the featured hardware for the week.  It is known as the first 32-bit CD-Rom based console released in western countries.  With the ability to add a mouse, keyboard, and floppy drive, the Amiga CD32 feels more similar to a personal computer than console.  Unfortunately, it didn't last long as Commodore filed for bankruptcy nearly a year after release.

The featured collection for the week belongs to TheBoss.   He has several sharp pictures of his PC and Amiga CD collections; which are certainly not the easiest to collect for.

The featured image for the week is from the fantasy adventure game, Loom.  Back in the day Lucasfilm's game studio (later to become LucasArts) actually made some memorable adventure games.  Loom is noteable as the world's first fully voiced adventure game, and a decent copies have been known to fetch a pretty penny in online auctions.



Posted on Aug 29th 2007 at 01:44:46 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Features, Weekly Features, Birding, Ikaruga, Duck Hunt, Zapper

Good evening ladies and gents and welcome to the weekly birding feature, last weeks travels overseas brought a lot of a lot of sightings including the Japanese Grosbeak.  This particular finch is quite common in the region and a casual sit near any feeder should score you an easy sighting.  Also called the Ikaruga by the locals, its black and white feathering inspired a team of four video game designers to name one of their games after it.  I believe they're called Treasure and have made some solid hits before, but this one stands out with a new element of gameplay, the ability to change from black to white. 


Well, enough of that games rubbish... now where were we.  Right, now for this portion of this week's show we get an outside opinion on waterfowl, courtesy of fellow sportsman, Earl.  It looks like we're going on a Duck Hunt!

Well good evening there, Earl.  What are we tracking tonight?
Ducks.  Ain't it obvious?  Say, wanna Bud?
No, thank you.  So, would you be kind enough to tell us about your firearm.
dun' mind if I do.  Now this 'ere is the N-E-S-oh-oh-five, or I like to call it the Zapper.  My buddy, TH14Arsenal has got one too.

So, please do tell our viewers what techniques you use to find and make the kill on these particular waterfowl.
Well, its pretty easy.  You see my dog here, Caesar.  He does it all for me.  Now, this Zapper came with a robot, and some "ness" toy all my kids be playin with, but that robot did nothin' but spin tops and stack rings, so I'm stickin' with who I trust the most to git-er-done.
...Right, so you just sit back while the dog seeks the fowl, flushes them, and you just sit back and do... nothing.  It sounds quite simple, really.
grrr...

Calm down, he only gets ornery with strangers.  Lets shoot some duckies to cheer him up.
Got one!
Got one!
woof woof woof

KA-PANG!     KA-PANG!

Wow, nice shot.  You got two of them.
Nah, its easy.  You try.
If you insist.

woof woof woof

KA-PANG!     KA-PANG!     KA-PANG!

Three misses.  That sucks man, your aims worse than all five of my sisters'
grrr...
Caesar don't like it when you miss the ducks.

grrr...

You better run, squirrel

Well, glad to have you all again this week. *gasp* And remember always tune in to Channel thr-DAAAAH



Posted on Aug 7th 2007 at 04:43:51 AM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Features, Weekly Features, Kirby, Tilt, Maracas, Samba de Amigo

Kirby Tilt 'n' TumbleFeatures this week are mixing things up a bit.  One of the big "next-gen" selling points for the Wii and PS3 are the use of motion controls as a new means of playing games in relation to mashing buttons and twiddling your analogs.  First off is a handheld game with a built-in tilt controller.  That game, my good friend, is Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble.  Tilt forward, and it feels like Kirby will roll off screen, and a little flick will pop him into the air.  This game earned me a lot of funny looks the first time I was seen wiggling my Game Boy Color around.

Shakin' it up is the featured hardware, the highly sought-after Dreamcast Maracas.  These babies were never bundled and fetched a high price in stores; yet, they worked with only one game!  (Well, maybe a few minor exceptions, but they are poorly applied.)  Lets just say that they didn't sell too well and have become a wee bit difficult to find.  Speaking of that one game...

The featured image for the week is the cover shot for Samba de Amigo.  Why the Japanese version?  It captures the spirit of the game.  Anyways, playing it for the first time might remind you of your first forray into DDR, club-footed and uncoordinated.  Never fear, for an easy learning curve will make you a cha-cha master in no time.  Available in all three major regions, this game is for every culture.  Getting some of my Columbian friends into it was definitely a rewarding experience that everyone seemed to enjoy.


Oh boy, that commercial gets me excited every time.

The featured collection of the week is someone with even more funky rhythm controllers.  Sauza12  has a lovely standee for Donkey Konga in addition to all three GameCube games that make use of the Bongo controllers.  In addition to that he also has some interesting items including two arcade cabinets worth checking out.



Posted on Jul 17th 2007 at 01:51:33 PM by (OatBob)
Posted under Site News, Weekly Features, features, Aliens, alien syndrome, james, alien hominid

Alien Syndrome (NES)E3 2007 has come and gone, and this year was certainly different.  One thing that got me was the lack of laser weapons being used to blast other-worldly beings into green bits.  Aren't aliens, zombies, and ninjas the stock villains of video gaming?  Either way, we can supplement your yearning for malicious contact.

The game of the week is Alien Syndrome.  Ricky and Mary run and gun their way to rescue their comrades from aliens.  Formerly a Tengen cart, Sega is about to release a sequel of sorts under the same title for Wii and PSP in these coming weeks.

The featured image of the week is the cover art for Alien Hominid.  This game started out as a freebie flash game and has since been ported to most home consoles and is currently on the move to download services.  Alien Hominid is colourful and fascinating as it is entirely hand drawn.  Also, the flash version is available for free play in RF Generation's own online arcade!  You can't beat free.

Now for a name that could only come from science fiction, the Amstrad GX4000.  Its appearance and name look like they could fly you to Mars, or at least to the nearest filling station.  This rarely seen 8-bit console took a swift beating as the Mega Drive launched less than a year later with a 16-bit colour pallet. 

When missile defense fails to break the UFO shields, there's only enough time for one thing.  Thats right, admire James' collection, this weeks feature.  Neatly displayed rows of Mega Drive and SMS boxes with one rare and outstanding shooter proudly displayed in the center.  If you're curious as to what the title is, you must see for yourself.  Suspenseful. 


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
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Dreamcastit's thinking

Dreamcast "new" releases...
2007
Triggerheart Exelica
Karous (last commercial release)
Last Hope
2008
Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles
2009
DUX
Last Hope: Pink Bullets
Rush Rush Rally Racing
Irides: Master of Blocks
2010
Fast Striker
2012
Gun-Lord
2013
Sturmwind
DUX 1.5
2014
Redux: Dark Matters
Neo XYX by NG.Dev Team
2015
Alice's Mom's Rescue
James & Watch 'Arm'
Elansar & Philia
The Ghost Blade
Pier Solar HD
2016
James & Watch: Tooth Cracker
Leona's Tricky Adventures
Orion's Puzzle Collection
Xia & The Goddesses of Magic
2017
Escape 2042 - The Truth Defenders
Rush Rush Rally Racing: Reloaded
Alice Dreams Tournament
Breakers
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