Posted on Jan 28th 2008 at 05:28:18 AM by (TraderJake) Posted under Site News
Well, we wanted some added functionality, so we switched servers, however, we are on the same host. But, for now, expect some nice new perks like lower load averages (for the time being). Of course there are server changes as well (new versions of mySQL, Perl and PHP), but we doubt you care about the nitty gritty.
If anything seems bricked after this server change, do let us know.
Nintendo truly has a great thing going with their Virtual Console service. You are able to get games from a wide variety of classic and retro systems such as the NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx, and Neo Geo. However, some systems are missing from the lineup. But don't you fear! Sega is here to save the day!
That's right, Sega has announced that they will soon be bringing over games from their 1986 system, the Sega Master System, to Nintendo's retro game download service. The first games from the system being ported over to the Wii are Fantasy Zone (500 Wii Points), and Fist of the North Star (600 Wii Points). Both games will be hitting the Virtual console this February in Japan. There has been no announced date for when these would be coming to America or Europe, but I imagine it will be fairly soon after, most likely in March or April. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Fist of the North Star stays in Japan due to licensing issues, but I'm sure Fantasy Zone will be coming to America/Europe.
But that's not all! Sega will also be bringing games for the Mark III and the Game Gear to Nintendo's Virtual Console as well! Alas, no game details have been announced yet.
So, kudos to Sega for keeping your retro systems alive through this new distribution channel! Hopefully this leads the way for 32x (and possibly Sega CD) games to be added to the Virtual Console repertoire.
If this YouTube clip is to be believed, then what we have is the first PC emulation of the Sega Naomi arcade board on a PC...
What you see in this video clip is a screen capture of the Naomi BIOS running on a Dreamcast emulator on the PC. The hack was done by a guy by the nickname of drkIIRaziel, and he has revealed nothing more about how he did it, nor has he released any of the files used in his experiments. As of the moment, no games are working on it, but that will likely change now that they have the BIOS running on the emulator.
Now, this video may look like a whole bunch of nothing to you, but in actuality, this is a huge breakthrough in the emulation community, and the "modern-classic" gaming community as a whole. If this video is accurate, this is the first step to being able to emulate the arcade versions of many Dreamcast classics, such as Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, Cosmic Smash, Crazy Taxi, Dead or Alive 2, Guilty Gear X, House of the Dead 2, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Both Power Stone games, and Samba De Amigo.
But, this news should excite fans of "shmups" the most, since these arcade games may be emulated on the PC in the very near future: Border Down, Cannon Spike (or Gun Spike if you're an elitist loser), Giga Wing 2, Ikaruga, Radilgy, Trigger Heart Exelica, and Under Defeat. Me, I'm not a fan of shumps (not even Ikaruga) and I really don't care what happens with them. But the fans of that genre are pretty hardcore about their fandom, and this will get them even closer to the original arcade experience of their favorite games.
This cracking of the bios could very well contribute to the death of the now aging Naomi hardware, which is still being used for niche shmup and fighting games in Japan, but Nintendo and Sega did recently use the hardware when they made Rhythm Tengoku back in 2006. Just so you get some idea of how long the Naomi hardware has been in use, Neo Geo MVS (the longest running arcade system) was discontinued after 14 years, the Naomi is just coming up on 10 years. Impressive lifespan for an arcade system.
Some of you really, really hated our previous chat client, so much so that you decided to create an IRC chatroom and lobby for the death of our previous chat client. Well, after some introspection and the prospect of having the chat server load not be ours, we now have our chat on IRC.
IRC, you say? Well, perhaps you're scared of IRC? Don't be! We've made it easy to join our chat! You could use a client to join our chat, or you could use the applet that we provide.
Interested in joining the chat? Check this page for more details and where you can find us! Hope to see you in chat!
For those of you who are not from the states, Coast to Coast AM is a nationally syndicated talk show hosted by George Noory. They talk about stuff. CRAZY stuff. UFOs, nanobots, Gnostic Texts, it's all covered on Coast to Coast AM. Certainly, if you enjoy listening to something that isn't meant to be humorous but is, this show is for you. Also, what else are you going to listen to while driving from 12 to 5 am? Bubba Bo and America's Truckin' Network? I certainly think not.
So, somewhere, somehow, Gordon Freeman got the guts to actually say a few words about his dealings with the G-Man with Gordon Noory. Always out of Gordon's Grasp, but always there... watching. Waiting... Brooding... anyways, it's a delightfully interesting conversation between "Gordon" and George, and the best part is that George totally believes everything "Gordon" says! And that, my friends, is why late night radio kicks ass. Check it out, listen for yourself.
EA has just announced a new installment of DICE's Battlefield series. It's called Battlefield Heroes, and it's yet another World War 2 first person shooter...but wait a minute, it's a cartoony game. Hmm, I wonder where EA got that brilliant idea from. Regardless of whether or not they totally ripped off Valve's style, it's pretty cool to see that they are trying something new in the WW2 FPS genre.
However, the biggest news about this game is that EA is doing something that could change the game industry as we know it. They are going to be giving the game away for free! THAT'S RIGHT! EA IS PUBLISHING A GAME FOR FREE! How will it be funded though? Well, it will make use of every gamer's favorite new gaming trends: in-game advertising and microtransactions. The exact nature of the in-game ads and the microtransactions are unknown at this time, but I wouldn't be shocked if EA charged you for bullets. Hopefully it will be at least pretty well featured without having to download or pay for any add-on content. The other huge concern I have about the game is that they are saying "Battlefield Heroes™, an all-new Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to an all new mass audience." I just hope that advanced gamers will be able to enjoy it too.
And apparently, this is only the beginning of EA's venture into free games. In the press release announcing the game, they kept referring to this new business model they have called "Play 4 Free". No other games are known to be part of this plan, but I am very interested to see where EA takes this in the future.
Nothing else is known at this time, but more about the game will be revealed in the March issue of Games for Windows magazine.
Check it out. It's a real MACS SNES combat sim light gun. This bad boy was used by the military to train soldiers back in the day. Certainly beats owning a Super Scope I presume?
Well, if this item tickles your fancy and is a must own for you, you have until January 26 at 5:23 PST to make your bids. Currently, the high bid is at $36, but you know, there is still six days left in the auction. It should also be noted that you'll need special simulation cartridges to use this light gun. Fortunately, the seller also has an auction going on one of those as well. Currently, the cartridge sits at $26.
So, if these two options are something you must have, poach away, and best of luck to you on your follies with eBay.
So this week I thought I'd indulge myself and do a feature on one of my all-time favorite games: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.
Think of this series as Thief in the 21st century. An ex-Navy S.E.A.L. turned spy nearing the age of retirement, gallivanting all over the world stopping threats and assassinating potential ones. Decades of experience matched with sophisticated gadgetry and weapons, combined with sarcastic humor and deadly earnest.
Another comparison often made is to the Metal Gear Solid series. Best way to describe that is if MGS is an arcade stealth game, Splinter Cell is a stealth sim. Burnout versus Forza Motorsports if you would. Achieving perfect scores on level completions is difficult even on normal difficulty, Hard and Elite are almost impossible to anyone but the most patient and skilled players. With the game being so unforgiving and the circumstances ever-changing, you have to rely on your reflexes and abilities as a player, not memory of patterns and timing, to master this game.
The Limited Collector's Edition version of this game was a holy grail of mine to find. Unlike many similar LE's of it's time, this one was actually limited. Meaning there are fewer copies of this than the regular version and no reprinting. Needless to say it's a hard game to find in excellent condition as opposed the the regular version of Chaos Theory which is a dime a dozen in most used stores and can still be bought new.
Be sure to check out my review on the game page here at RF Generation and read the interesting trivia on this title, and discuss this game in our forums in the weekly featured game topic located here.
Moving on, the featured hardware of the week is the Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3. Released in 1982, the ZX Spectrum or "Speccy" as it's affectionately known, was a huge success in Europe and in particular the United Kingdom. Rivaling the mighty Commodore 64, this machine had a huge following, large software library and several magazines dedicated to it. Even to this day there is still a large community based around this system. A shame it never made it overseas, it has an incredible library of games most of us outside of Europe will probably never have the opportunity to enjoy. Although we did get the Timex Sinclair in North America, it was largely incompatible with the ZX and that had a large part to play in it's failure as a platform here.
This particular model featured this week, the +3, differs from the standard model and the +2, by having a built in floppy disk drive instead of the cassette tape drive the previous models had. It is also capable of running the CP/M operating system on it's own.
Such benefits however come with a price. This model has some documented incompatibilities with certain older games and external devices. It's successor the +2A shares these same problems as well. Thanks go out to James for the great pic of the +3.
Our featured collection this week is from RedHerring. A fellow Canadian one province over from me, Red has a great PS2 collection and some really great looking shelving that I'd love to get my hands on. It looks like a game store all organized and there for the picking like that. I wish my shelves looked half as good as those do. Between that and the novelty hamburger you can see by checking out Red's other pics, I'm drooling all over my keyboard here.
So after finishing an early lunch brought on by some spontaneous hankerings born from inspiration, I'm ready to finish the rest of this feature I left half written
Another part of Red's collection that impresses me is his Game Boy Advance collection. It's hard finding those games CIB and even harder keeping them in good condition. All of his GBA titles are top notch hand-picked titles and make an impressive display.
Check out RedHerring's collection listed here and take a gander at his pictures. If you can pry your eyes from that huge novelty hamburger in one of them, take a moment and appreciate his Mega man bobble head set on his entertainment center.
Our featured game image this week is the front scan for the Japanese game Pulstar on the Neo Geo AES system. Pulstar is a shmup released in 1995 that was both innovative and gorgeous at the time of it's release. Gameplay is in the vein of R-Type but with 3D graphics in a 2D game.
This game enjoys a high production value and great esteem from gamers, reviewers and collectors alike. Depending on where you get it, this can be a pricey acquisition but a worthy one that can reach well above $100. But if you own a Neo Geo system then you don't need me to tell you that now do you? I'm sure all the Neo Geo AES collectors out there are well aware of what they've invested in that system. Goes to show just how great a system it is when your willing to spend big bucks to have these awesome games. Thanks go out to Adri Hoogesteger who is a staff member known on the boards as "sharp" for the great scan featured this week.
In the meantime, check out the forums, read the blogs, partake in the weekly chat and use our collection tools to their fullest. And stay tuned to this channel next week for the newest set of features and items for forum discussion.
As someone who has played, and watch someone else beat Portal, I have a strong love for the game. It's awesome, and hopefully they release a development SDK so that other people can create some awesome custom maps. For now, there is Garry's Mod, which allows for some pretty hilarious videos to be created. Take for example the video above. A day in the life as a turret. Who didn't love the turret? Creepily awesome. It sucked to have to destroy them, but it was completely necessary. This video is craftily done, and I encourage you all to check it out.
Commodore, the noted home computer manufacturer of the 1980's, had endured failed attempts entering the video game console market with their releases of the Commodore 64 GS and the Commodore Amiga CDTV systems. Their final attempt at capitalizing in the very profitable hardware arena was the Commodore Amiga CD32, debuting in the UK on September 14, 1993. The CD32 was marketing as being the first 32-bit CD-ROM based system (though the FM Towns Marty, released in Japan in 1991 actually owns this true distinction) and enjoyed moderate success in the UK, gaining more than 50% of the CD-ROM game market share in Britain (1993). However, this success was short-lived and did little to save the console, and Commodore, from eventual demise.
As in their previous efforts, Commodore relied on their roots and talents in the home computing market in the development of the CD32. Basically an Amiga 1200 computer wrapped in a dark granite-gray casing, the console is rather nondescript in appearance. A large top-loading 2x CD-ROM drive is featured as the centerpiece of the design, with a rather ordinary white label of "32bit" embossed on it. An enlarged "Reset" button, volume slide switch and headphone jack complete the top of this unit. Strangely, and not convenient at all, the controller ports (2) are located on the left hand side of the unit (along with an auxiliary port for a keyboard). The back of the system features standard AV, S-Video and RF outputs along with the expansion port interface. Surprising, the power switch is also located in the aft section of the CD32. The controllers have to be one of the worst designs I have encountered. Though quite wide, the thin U-shaped controller has four colored coded buttons which are crowded onto the right side of the controller and a simple directional pad flanks the left. Two shoulder trigger buttons complete the controller interface. Overall, the design is rather lackluster and not at all user friendly from any point of view.
Inside the chassis resides a modified 32bit MC 68EC020 processor running at 14.3 MHz that is complimented by 2 MB of RAM and a variety of co-processors - 8374 Alice (memory controller), 4203 Lisa (video control chip), 8364 Paula (sound & I/O), 391563-01 Akiko (I/O controller). This multi-processor system rendered games in 16.7 million colors and up to a resolution of 1280 x 400 (1280 x 512 PAL) and in full stereo (4 channels). The CD-ROM drive supports the Audio CD, Karaoke CD, CD+G and CDTV software formats. With the purchase of an optional FMV cartridge, Video CD, Photo CD and CD-i media could be played. Overall, the internals were quite adequate but the games produced for it leave a great deal to be desired.
Having an extensive Amiga library already at its disposal, the system launched with many ports of existing games. Unfortunately, many third party developers saw this as an opportunity to cash in. Many ports were simply supped up originals with added color depth, CD quality tracks and FMV cut scenes interspersed. Though the number of games released for the CD32 is extensive (150+), there are few notable titles that were released exclusively for this system. Overall game quality is a little better than the SNES and Sega Genesis, but less than that produced by the 3DO. Though this system was the first 32-bit console released outside of Japan, Commodore did not invest heavily in advertising the CD32 outside of the UK. This was partly due to the marketing strategy (or lack there of) in recent years by Commodore as well as a severe cash flow problem within the company. Though highly successful in the home computing market (the C64 is still the best selling home computer of all-time and is pictured below), the failed attempts of their previous console entries (C64 GS, CDTV) and the emergence of affordable PC-based home computers decapitated their liquid assets. The CD32 was released in Canada in limited quantities after it debuted in the UK, but was never sold publicly in the USA. This was due to a limited hardware supply because Commodore was unable to meet their credit obligations with the Philippine government, whose factories were used to manufacture the console. Commodore filed for bankruptcy on April 24, 1994, less than a year after the release of the CD32.
The CD32 was not a bad machine, but ended up failing due to poor significant third party software support and a lack of financial viability of Commodore to both fund the manufacturing of the hardware as well as to properly market it outside the UK. The CD32 initially was sold for $399 USD, well below its primary competitor the 3DO ($699). An overall poor design, a dependence upon outdated technology (primarily software) and a lack of any substantial games for this system spelled it's eventual doom.
A CD32 system is readily available and can be purchased for approximately $80 USD ($50 USD for shipping from Japan or Europe). These systems are primarily unsold units that were seized by the Philippine government from Commodore to try and recoup their debt requirement, or a standard PAL system. Acquiring a CIB North American unit will run you a bit more â€" upwards of $100 USD or so. Not recommended for the average gamer, unless you can score one with packed in games - moderately recommended for the console collector (NA version).
NOTE: Thanks to 98PaceCar (Darren) for my oversight of the FM Towns Marty that was actually the very first true 32-bit system - not the CD32 as was previously listed. Much appreciated Darren!!
Posted on Jan 16th 2008 at 12:22:44 AM by (Ando) Posted under Xbox 360, Idiocy
First blog post. Woot? This is something that didn't seem important enough to make a full topic about, but I still want to publicly yell at myself.
My 360 recently got the RRoD. I got the box to send it back to Microsoft, packed it all up, good times, blahblahblah. I then realized I didn't include the paper with my Support Number on it. D:< I'm not sure how that's going to affect my sending in of the console, 'cause I can't just rip the rly sticky tape off and put it back on. I'm waiting for a response back from Microsoft. Meh. Worst case scenario I have to wait another week for a new box. Blargh.
Moral of the story: The Red Rings suck. Or is it double-check your packages? I don't know.
As we know, Team Ninja, the creators of the Ninja Gaiden series, are hard at work on a new Xbox 360 entry in the series entitled Ninja Gaiden 2. But making a game isn't easy. You have to figure out the gameplay mechanics, how it plays, the story, the character abilities, and all sorts of other things, including what achievements to include. Well, Team Ninja (by way of Microsoft's Gamerscore blog) is calling on fans to create some achievements that may be considered for use in the game.
That's right! They are giving you a chance to help shape the game and offer up your input as to what kind of things should get your those ever so important gamer points. In order to suggest them an achievement, all you need to do is comment on this article at the GamerScore blog with a name for the achievement point, a description, how many points it should be worth, and possible artwork by January 24. Then all you have to do is hope that your idea doesn't get lost in the sea of submitted ideas and makes it into the final game.
Looking at the comments over there, I've found some great ones. For example:
"Avatar - Insert game disk into 360 1000GS " -DM2 "Achievement: The Master Returns - Turn the game on 50 times - 50GS" -TwilightWolf "Paint It Red - Spill over 20 gallons of blood(20G)" -Matt Jo "Go Out and buy a Shuriken already - Play for over 20 hours(45G)" -Matt Jo "Back to the Dojo (-5 GS): Die at the hands of the first enemy you encounter on Level 1. " -Whet Wurm "50G - Chuck Norris is proud: Roundhouse kick a beheaded foe." -Yagya "Red Ring of Destiny - Spill blood to make a red circle" -homez99 "Red Ring of Death: kill 8 people and one Xbox with one spin attack" -tim h
That's a few of the hundreds and hundreds of suggestions they have already. Here's a few I thought of:
Start Button Ninja: Pause the game 100 times (20G) Angel of Death: Die 100 times in one level (30G) Walk Away: Leave the game on the pause menu for 6 hours (20G)
Do you have any ideas for points Team Ninja could use in the game? Put them in the comments and we'll see who can come up with the best ideas.
Julian, we Nintendo fans were crushed when you decided to jump ship to the PS3, and release the motion sensitive Wii. You delighted us with Rogue Squadron, but you just had to crush our hearts with the jumping ship to the PS3 front. Well, how did Lair end up doing, huh? I hear it was pretty bad, Julian. So, today we hear that you are officially developing at least one non Virtual Console game for the Wii? Given your last release, I don't know if I should be excited, but none the less here you are, back at the doorstep of Nintendo, developing some unnamed game. Hope it is better than Lair, but hey, that should be easy, right?
Well, I am sort of excited. Factor 5's games were, and are, visually stunning. Factor 5 also was a provider of middleware solutions for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. Knowing this, I hope that Factor 5 puts other developers to shame with graphics. If anyone can push the envelope, it is them.
At the same time, they might be, like many other developers, in for the quick cash in. I certainly hope such is not the case, but I guess we'll find out for sure once we know what exactly it is that they are developing for the Wii.
Julian, please do not disappoint us. You've already done that once before.
People have been sneering at the price of the PS3. They say it is expensive. You know, this statement is correct. However, I find it troubling that many of these people that say the Playstation 3 is overly expensive have no problem laying down the money for Microsoft's 360. I find such actions humorous. Let's analyze what I perceive as the true costs of these two systems, in terms of what they have to offer and what hidden costs lie with the system. Perhaps, we'll be enlightened after this discussion. Perhaps you'll be enraged. Chances are though that my arguments are pretty decent, and perhaps it will make take a second look at which system you ultimately end up purchasing.
So, it has been known for some time that Bioware was going to be working on a Sonic RPG. Today, we have more news about the Sonic RPG that is sure to make fans of Sonic and Bioware squeal with excitement. A couple of highlights are as follows:
Watercolor Style of Animation
4 Members in you Party at once, 11 party members total.
No random battles, in a definite homage to Chrono Trigger
Turn Based Fighting
Special Moves play like Elite Beat Agents
If you wish to see more than a few highlights, perhaps scans hosted at Jeux France will tickle your fancy. Those scans are bright, colorful, and look as good as graphics seen in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I'm certainly impressed by the graphics... are you?
Certainly, this game has the potential to rock one's socks off. I am predicting pure awesome. We'll find out for sure when this game is released later in 2008.
We are a community of collectors, gamers and the likes, and some of us enjoy to let the world know what is on our mind. For those members, we have the community blogs, a place where they can publish their thoughts and feelings regarding life, universe, and everything. Some of those members might even choose to write about gaming and collecting! Whatever they write about, you can find it on their blog. You can either see the latest community blog entries in the feed you see to the left, or you can browse for your favorite blog using the menu above. Interested in having your own blog hosted on RF Generation? It's rather simple, first be a registered member, and then click the "My Blog" link that you see in the navigation above. Following those two steps will certainly get you on your way to blogging.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy our entries, rantings, and completely unrelated series of thoughts. We write for you to read, so we certainly hope that you enjoy our material.
Nintendo truly has a great thing going with their Virtual Console service. You are able to get games from a wide variety of classic and retro systems such as the NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx, and Neo Geo. However, some systems are missing from the lineup. But don't you fear! Sega is here to save the day!
Brace yourself, EA did something great here...
Check it out. It's a real MACS SNES combat sim light gun. This bad boy was used by the military to train soldiers back in the day. Certainly beats owning a Super Scope I presume?
Moving on, the featured hardware of the week is the 
Our featured collection this week is from RedHerring. A fellow Canadian one province over from me, Red has a great PS2 collection and some really great looking shelving that I'd love to get my hands on. It looks like a game store all organized and there for the picking like that. I wish my shelves looked half as good as those do. Between that and the novelty hamburger you can see by checking out Red's other pics, I'm drooling all over my keyboard here.
Our featured game image this week is the front scan for the Japanese game 
Commodore, the noted home computer manufacturer of the 1980's, had endured failed attempts entering the video game console market with their releases of the Commodore 64 GS and the Commodore Amiga CDTV systems. Their final attempt at capitalizing in the very profitable hardware arena was the Commodore Amiga CD32, debuting in the UK on September 14, 1993. The CD32 was marketing as being the first 32-bit CD-ROM based system (though the FM Towns Marty, released in Japan in 1991 actually owns this true distinction) and enjoyed moderate success in the UK, gaining more than 50% of the CD-ROM game market share in Britain (1993). However, this success was short-lived and did little to save the console, and Commodore, from eventual demise.
The CD32 was not a bad machine, but ended up failing due to poor significant third party software support and a lack of financial viability of Commodore to both fund the manufacturing of the hardware as well as to properly market it outside the UK. The CD32 initially was sold for $399 USD, well below its primary competitor the 3DO ($699). An overall poor design, a dependence upon outdated technology (primarily software) and a lack of any substantial games for this system spelled it's eventual doom. 
" -DM2
