We have dissected a number of console launches thus far in the Transitions Blog, but thus far each one has been for what could probably be considered a "successful" console. For the first time then, in this entry, we will be examining a console that, by most measures, was considered a failure: the Sega 32X.
The 32X, of course, is not even a "proper" console in the traditional sense as it is technically an add-on like the Sega CD before it or like other peripherals before and since which have been tied to a primary system (the Atari Supercharger, Nintendo 64DD, etc.). Nonetheless, it has its own library of games, was marketed and sold much like a system, and has a distinct set of features that distinguish it from other pieces of gaming hardware.
The 32X, to many, represents the first tragic misstep in the long-running decline of Sega. Confusingly marketed as something of a stop-gap enhancement for the Sega Genesis prior to the release of the Sega Saturn, the console was seen by many to be over priced and under-powered. Released in November of 1994, a little less than a month after the release of the Sega Saturn in Japan and a little less than a year from that system's U.S. launch, it was almost destined to have a short life from the start.
The sordid tale of the 32X has been covered many times on many other gaming websites, so this entry will attempt to do something a little different and specifically examine the official build-up and launch of the console. Even if gamers and analysts were skeptical of the systems prospects from the start, it is still interesting to think about how Sega tried to market and launch the 32X in and against this context.
The Launch Buildup
Like other consoles of its era, much of the buildup and hyping for the console occurred in the pages of gaming magazines. If you could sell the product well to readers in the pages of EGM or GamePro, you had a real shot to get them into the store on launch day. Sega of America had the most control of this message in the pages of Sega Visions, which they used to promote the 32X for several issues before its debut. Here's how they did that:
April/May 1994 Issue
Poor NBA Jam gets booted off the front page for a "Late Breaking News Blast!" about what the article would refer to as the "Genesis Super 32X." The article itself, despite its prominence on the cover, is a mere single page in the issue. On that page, readers learn interesting tidbits like "Sega has over 30 games in development and expects 60 will be released in the first year" and that the system, despite using "2x32-bit chips" that allow an arcade experience, will cost less than $150. Sega Visions promised its readers a "complete rundown" on the system and a "sneak peak" at its games in the next issue.
June/July 1994 Issue
Far from the "complete rundown" that the previous issue promised, readers were greeted with two whole pages of information on the 32X in the June/July issue of Sega Visions. There's actually less information here on the whole, though some games are listed and the $149 price point is reiterated as well as the promise of "30 games" in development by Sega. In terms of buildup, there's not much new here to see other than the picture of the console.
August/September 1994 Issue
Four months out from launch, this is the first issue to really provide any kind of detail on the console. 20+ third-party publishers are listed as working on games for the system and screenshots and blurbs appear for several titles. In addition to the sub-$150 price point, interesting promises include "you're gonna have a large selection of hot titles to choose from" and "by the end of the year you could be playing arcade-perfect versions of mind-blowing games like Virtua Racing Deluxe, Star Wars Arcade, or Cyberbrawl. Or any one of the other totally sensational Genesis 32X games available at launch." Most impressive is the claim that "As a matter of fact, 60 new games will ship by the first of next year." Here the hype train is starting to leave the station and go off the rails...
October/November 1994 Issue
Doom takes front and center here, and in the issue published before the 32X's release, Sega Visions offers some substantial information on the cover game, an ample amount of screen shots of the 32X in action, and pictures of 36 Great Holes, Star Wars Arcade, Virtua Racing Deluxe, Metal Head, and Super Motocross. Perhaps the overload of images was meant to take away from this little detail: the system would now cost $159, not $149 as prominently suggested previously.
The boast of "an estimated 60 titles" to be released in the first year is a bit of a retraction of the earlier claim, and the five games previewed are listed as games that "should be ready when the system ships in November." Anyone paying close attention to the shifting language in the coverage from issue to issue should have noticed that things were starting to look shaky for the viability of the system even before launch.
December 1994/January 1995 Issue
Hitting the holiday season, the 32X launched in November 1994 in the US and Europe and in December in Japan (a few weeks after the Saturn's launch there). Instead of highlighting the system in the issue that likely would have been arriving in Visions subscribers' mailboxes around the time of the 32X's release, the staff of the magazine relegated 32X coverage to sneak peaks of four games, two of which were already released. Importantly, the 32X was the only Sega system to not feature any reviews, so subscribers were left with only hopeful previews to give them impressions of the quality of the games that had already been talked up in the previous issue. Gone entirely from this issue are boasts of the system's price or upcoming library. It seems, at the most crucial moment for promoting the system, Sega Visions itself pulled back to focus on late-era Genesis and Sega CD titles. With the already-out-in-Japan Saturn hanging over Sega of America, Visions' 32X coverage would continue to be sporadic in subsequent issues of the magazine throughout the system's short life.
At least it had the benefit of the vintage Sega adcopy.
The Launch
When the 32X hit stores in the US in mid-November 1994, here's a sense of how it looked
It was cheaper than the CD-I, 3DO, or Saturn but it was more expensive than the Genesis or the Super Nintendo. This is a best guess. Taking a look at this old Canadian Sears Wishbook from 1994 (where the 32X isn't even listed) and knowing that Canadian prices were usually a few more dollars than their US equivalents, you can see that the Genesis and SNES were selling for $150 and $160 CAD, respectively. Given that the US price for the 32X was $160, it stands to reason that the Canadian price would have been closer to $175 or so, making it no small investment at launch. Perhaps to compensate, the 32X did offer $10 rebate coupons towards future game purchases.
It was up against some tough competition. The 32X launched in the same month as the critical and commercial success Donkey Kong Country and NBA Jam: Tournament Edition and a month after Sonic and Knuckles, Super Punch Out, and Final Fantasy III. It launched a week before the Atari Jaguar and, as mentioned, a month after the Saturn had already been released in Japan. It was selling Doom after Doom II had already been released for PCs. It was a confusing system, with a small library, released in an overly-crowded video game market.
It only featured two launch games. Despite the boasts found in Sega Visions, when the system actually hit store shelves it did so only with two titles: Doom and Star Wars: Arcade. In terms of the IP selection, these are two solid launch games that made a lot of sense in 1994 when both Star Wars and Doom were still extremely popular franchises that were guaranteed to garner sales. Earlier that year, for example, the acclaimed Super Star Wars series on the SNES had concluded its run with the release of Return of the Jedi. Today, both Doom and Star Wars Arcade continue to be held in (relative) high regard as some of the stronger titles for the 32X, with especially the latter showing off its technical capabilities more than many other titles would ever do. Still, though launching with two games had happened before (e.g. the Master System) and would happen again (e.g. the Nintendo 64), it seemed an especially dangerous proposition for a console that was positioned as a stop gap measure and, in the buildup to launch, had promised much more from the start.
Today, it seems obvious that Sega was promising more than they could deliver. We of course now know much more about the history of this era, the feuds between Sega of America and Sega of Japan, the botched Neptune, etc. but none of that was common knowledge to a consumer standing in the aisle of a video game department in November of 1994. Sega didn't do enough to convincingly promote the console in its own magazine, sent it out with a small set of games into a crowded market, and ultimately gave it a launch that set it up for the failure it would become.
In the end, retailers famously had to cut the system price to $19.99 to clear it out. Less than 40 games would ever be made for the system, many of which were only slightly enhanced ports of existing 16-bit titles. In a future installment we'll look at some of the end of console life 32X games, which saw its final release just 14 short months after its launch.
Question: When's the last time you sunk fourteen hours into a game, lost, and felt good about it? That's what just happened to me with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. In this day and age there seems to be a lot of bitter gamers who have various views of game-worth. I remember when my wife got me Lollipop Chainsaw as a gift the clerk told her to keep the receipt. "It's only a six hour game. He might be disappointed." But I've always been happy to take six solid hours of gameplay over twenty boring ones.
I was first introduced to the X-COM series via its second installment, Terror From The Deep. I was about fourteen or so, and my step-dad was working at a big-box electronics store and brought home a promo copy. I was obsessed with this game, but I was terrible at playing it. I doubt I ever made it past the second mission. Truth be told, I may have spent all my time on the first. But it was a blast. Many years later I'd discover a GBA spiritual successor developed by series creator Julian Gallop called Rebelstar: Tactical Command. It was great. But then out of the blue it was announced that X-COM proper would be making a comeback... as a First Person Shooter.
Well as you may know, that hasn't happened. And won't. Instead that game was shelved in favor of a proper Tactical game: Enemy Unknown with The Bureau turned into a Third Person Shooter (sigh) coming out later this year.
Enemy Unknown turned out to be a tremendously brilliant game however. It's basically everything you could want from the series, in high-def, and with excellent controller support. But more than anything else, it brings the drama. Sure your barracks can hold up to 99 soldiers, but your squad can only consist of six. This means lots of leveling-up and growing attached. It's an emotional rollercoaster of a game that I've chronicled in bits as I've played...
I had one of those four-legged bastards that turns dudes to zombies come slink out of a building and land ONE SPACE away from my "team captain." (I call this guy the team captain as he's one of the more leveled-up skill-wise, and probably has the most kills of anyone on my squad right now.) The team-captain had already moved, and so my next character's turn was enough that even if I dashed I still wasn't super close. Instead, I moved just as far as I could while still having the ability to take a shot. 29% guys. 29% that the shot would connect. And there was the decision. Do I take the shot, miss and hope I can get someone else over there before the four-legged bastard's next move? Do I dash as close as I can get to set up a good shot on next round and hope that I can get the team-captain out of harm's way in the meantime? Well dear friends, I took the shot. 29% and it was CRITICAL. Mission ended with that kill, and a sigh of relief.
Let me tell y'all about 'Coney.' For the last 5 hrs or so, Coney has been my star. Her real name is Charlotte, but the squad calls her Coney (presumably as she's from the Coney Island area, though I've never asked). She started out just as nondescript as any of my other soldiers, but quickly rose through the ranks in 5 hrs thanks to her sharp-shooting. Even as snipers go she seemed to have a can't-miss nature about her. A little extra luck that goes above mere statistics.
In the first mission where we encountered these grunt front-line soldier aliens she was caught off guard. She had set up post looking through an open train cargo cart when one of them surprised her and positioned himself a single space away. Apparently he had dashed to get there as he didn't take a shot at her, but she had nobody covering her. I got my closest guy over in her area and he took the best shot he could. It hit, but not hard and the grunt remained standing. Coney's turn was next and she could run, get safe and take the shot - risking that the grunt would go after the soldier who had just defended her. Nah, Coney point-blanked him. Grunt goes down. Mission over.
So imagine my horror when Coney was fragged by a Thin Man during a bomb-deactivation mission. She had been holding down behind a car when he surprised her. Hit her hard and she started bleeding out. Luckily - so luckily - I had a soldier with a medkit close by. I got her over to Coney on the next turn and healed her up, and followed that by parking a third soldier with them behind that car and put him on overwatch to protect them. A sigh of relief as my turn ended and I realized that a close call had happened, but Coney would continue running up her tally of kills.
And that's when the car they were behind blew up. All three of them KIA'd while exhibiting tremendous teamwork. They had done everything right - they just couldn't do it fast enough. The squad will miss Coney. She won't be an easy part of the team to replace.
So the above should stand as back-up to just how sucked-in you really get. Which is all the more reasoning that seeing this screen was so sobering:
Yup. After putting it two or three hours a night for a week, I lost. Seriously, I lost a game. How often does that happen anymore in games? Usually you just start from your last check-point and continue on. And in fairness, I was playing on Normal which meant I could technically start from before my last mission. But it's a lost cause. My base-management skills were terrible. My troops were a joke at this point. Many countries had pulled out of the XCOM project. It was rough. It's reason to start over again. Which is definitely a rather difficult thing to fact, but it's true.
I probably won't do so immediately. Not tonight. But Enemy Unknown is one of the most addictive games in a long time, so I can totally see myself starting over again in the near future. And more importantly, even though I didn't "beat" the game - I have fourteen amazingly enjoyable hours. The journey outweighed the destination. No matter what your outcome may be, I highly recommend you log some hours into this one.
Well guys I finally figured out how to do this in video form. Well kinda. I got the webcam part down no problem. The Iphone video format of the game play wouldnt work for me. SO there isnt any game play this week. I hope to figure out how to make that work down the road. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy the video subscribe, comment, give suggestions, ask questions I love any feedback I can get. Each Thursday I do a video displaying whatever finds I get during the previous week ( From Friday to Thursday ). Hope you check that out.
........ on to the video.
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I could consider my freshman year of high school the time in which I really blossomed socially. I lost over 70 pounds which swelled my confidence and lead to my first, real, fun girlfriend. It was also a time where it was easy to go to anybody's house to play any of the 3 big systems of that time. Ah yes, I remember fondly my experiences with my own Playstation 2, and I had a few Xbox friends, and a couple of Gamecube friends.
One gaming experience that dates back to this time of my life is our game today. One of my football and wrestling teammates had this game for his Xbox and bought it when it was still fairly new. I was at his house when he opened the game and we both got to experience it for the first time with each other. Mainly because this game has split screen, hell yes! It does not make full use of the Xbox though and only allows 2 players at maximum. For my current playthrough I'm flying solo, I started on Normal difficulty but it was too easy for me, so I bumped it up to Tough (Hard).
This is one of the few examples of a game that is almost entirely unique and should be experienced by anybody looking to have a diverse gaming resume. About the only things that are not completely new and awesome in Stubbs is the literal Halo 1 ripoff driving, and loading screens. It says right on the box art that the game was built with the Halo engine. Stubbs changes the perspective from first person to third person, letting you watch our main zombie hero shuffle along his way. Stubbs does move fairly slow being a zombie and all, but compared to the zombie horde that he can control Stubbs has the ability to do a sort of sprint after shuffling in a direction long enough for a speed boost.
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I can't even complain about the loading screens.
This game's title is no lie, this game takes the normal idea of the zombie game, that of being a survivor trying to escape having your brains munched on by the living dead, and instead lets you be the living dead and build zombie hordes by gorging on warm, delicious human brains. Stubbs also has quite a few nasty, gory, but effective weapons at his disposal. In the order that they are introduced to the player these weapons are Unholy Flatulence, Gut Grenades, Hand Possession, and Sputum Head. So you get an area of effect stun fart, a lethal grenade from Stubbs' giant shotgun wound, the ability to control an enemy, and can use Stubbs' head as an exploding bowling ball.
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They may be undead, but they're still Americans dammit!
For style and plot, as you can see from the clip above this game runs with tongue in cheek B-horror movie inspired parodies, along with witty writing and dialogue that you'll hear coming from those pesky not undead people of the fine, futuristic city of Punchbowl, Pennsylvania circa 1959. Punchbowl is made in the style of those old 50's "City of the Future" specials that are infamous for their insane optimism and wild technology speculation.
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Like robots and Star Trek technobabble.
In terms of enemies in the game there is a wonderful variety. There are 6 basic enemy types, 5 of these types have 3-5 specific enemies. The unvaried enemy type is just the easy, usually unarmed, but still delicious common citizen. These enemy types are scattered intelligently throughout the game, so you are constantly adapting to new enemies not only at the beginning of a new level, but throughout the level, and later in the game as well.
For my current playthrough of the game I'm able to experience it through an official Xbox component box and through my TV's component jack, and despite its age it looks fantastic in 1080i. The sound design is also stellar for this game. There is not much music that plays in the game outside of vehicles and areas where there are radios or TV screens in sight, or the mall. What really stands out is the quality of the sound effects, and since there is a general lack of music these needed to be high quality. The sound effects more than deliver, you'll come to love some of the pleas of Punchbowl's citizens and defenders while listening to Stubbs or one of the horde crunch down through a fresh skull and chew the softer, delicate brains.
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Being asleep underground for so long leads to the most epic leak taking of all time.
Overall Stubbs is an incredibly well designed game and it is obvious to see why this game has become a cult classic, even if the game is quite short. If you have an Xbox still laying around you owe it to the system to hunt this game down and give it a nice playthrough. I got mine complete for $3 at one of my thrift stores, current online prices hover between $20 and $30 for the Xbox version. The PC and MAC versions are considerably cheaper, but the Xbox version is plentiful enough that you should hopefully not have too much trouble finding a copy for a decent price.
There's been a lot of talk this year about Aliens: Colonial Marines. Like Duke Nukem in 2011, it's been the game to hate. In fact this unanimous disgust for this game was so intense that it only amplified my desire to actually play it. And what I found was a game that was so enjoyable to me, I'm not even sure why I'd need to defend it. But then again I'm going by nothing but base reaction. Meaning I'm looking at this just as 'a game' rather than 'a highly anticipated game based on a license with rabid fans.'
Let me start by pointing out a few things that might make more sense out of my enjoyment for this game. First of we should discuss the First Person Shooter genre. Though I'm slowly learning to enjoy FPS games far more than I ever did in the past, I'm still far from seasoned. I've played very few of the modern staples. So in reality, I don't have all that much to compare this to that's been critically acclaimed (save for perhaps Borderlands).
I should also point out that while I am a huge horror fan, the Alien films have always been a bit closer to sci-fi (mixed with horror) to me. This means that while I am a fan, I'm not an obsessive fan. I don't rush out to see each film. I haven't even seen them all yet. And so the story here - supposedly cannon - really doesn't matter to me as far as how well it gels with the film series.
And lastly, I didn't follow this game's hype leading up to its release. I didn't pay much attention to the overly long production schedule. I didn't see the demos shown prior to release, so had no anticipations. Add to this that while the game was released this year, I didn't pay $60 for it on day-one, but instead picked up for $10 when GameFly was having a sale.
Now that we got those disclaimers out of the way I can start to tell you about my own experience playing. I delved in blindly, and to my surprise I found that the game was actually very linear. Whereas this might turn off other, more-seasoned FPS'ers, it was just fine for me. Earlier this year I played through Half-Life for the very first time. And while I fell deeply in love with that game and everything new it showed me about the genre, it was really nice to now play through a modern FPS where I didn't have to constantly resort to checking a walkthrough to figure out what my next move was.
Graphically, I thought the game looked excellent on 360. It was well detailed, ran smoothly (save for some glitches I'll get to later) and had excellent lighting. Of course I've since watched videos on Youtube comparing some of the demo footage shown before the game's release compared to the finished product, and certainly the final release has been compromised. But that said, the atmosphere always seemed to work really well for me.
As far as the aforementioned glitches, well they were around. As seen above is a screen shot I took on my phone camera. At one point I was being fired upon by turrets and wondering where my cover, O'Neil was. He should have been right behind me, but wasn't. I decided to backtrack a bit and found him two rooms earlier... stuck in a wall.
These NPC AI glitches were by far the ones I encountered the most. Sometimes one of your partners would seemingly forget he was even alive and would just stand frozen doing nothing for five minutes or so. Other times he would shake violently as if hopped up on uppers. At least twice I ran out in front of my squad only to find them suddenly waiting for me two rooms ahead. And once O'Neil even materialized in front of me out of thin air. So yeah, in that sense Colonial Marines feels a lot more like a budget title. And who knows, had it been released as such maybe we'd all think of it more akin to Earth Defense Force and wink-wink-nudge-nudge at these sorts of shortcomings.
But despite all that, I still found the game compelling enough to find time for it consistently over the last two weeks until it was beaten. And there were plenty of moments that really stood out to me. For example there's one section where you must escape from a rather large Xeno and find yourself sneaking around under his floor. At various moments he angrily bursts through your ceiling attempting to grab you, and the scare was effective enough to genuinely make me yell out startled. (My wife later took it upon herself to burst in to the game room screaming to shake me up a second time).
At another point you come across these aliens who can only see movement, so you must stay still when they get to close. And right as I got to an exit three of them came extremely close to me and I swore I was detected. It was actually tense enough of a moment that I caught myself holding my breath in real life.
The truth is that the game's eleven missions were actually quite well peppered with such moments that really made me enjoy every hour of gameplay. Although I'm still baffled at the ball-drop that was the final boss fight against the Queen. I genuinely have no idea why my squad of marines would think it was cool to let me handle her on my own. And I'm further baffled by the decision to make the boss encounter in a room so filled with barricades to keep her away from me, and so obvious as to how to defeat her. It did seem pretty anti-climatic considering how many more difficult sections had come before it.
But at the end of the day I'm glad I played this game. I don't regret purchasing it, and in fact I'm even bummed at the reception it got which would pretty clearly say "no sequels dudes." Considering its sunken price tag, I'd at least suggest some of you out there with some interest and open minds give it a shot. I'm certainly not saying it's the best game out there, but it's certainly not the worst either - no matter what it is you've heard elsewhere.
Activision / CZ-001-04 / River Raid
 
The weeks "Gaming Moment" takes us to an Activision title that has a big following on just about any console it finds it's way to. That title would be River Raid.
This top view plane shooter has you challenging over 20 levels. The object of the game is to shoot the enemies out of the sky and out of the water. with fuel stations spread out along the river way. While shooting out enemies with unlimited ammo sounds good and allows you to shoot all over the place, you do need to be careful that you don't shoot out your own fuel stations.
This game is very addicting and will keep the gamer playing for hours. I would highly recommend this game to any gamer who wants to play a fun game that challnges and excites the player through each level.
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Posted on Jul 8th 2013 at 08:44:29 PM by ( noiseredux) Posted under PSP |
If you happened to read my recent blog post about my playthrough of the first Final Fantasy on PSP, then you'd probably know that I was extremely excited to continue on with the second game. Strangely, I got all kinds of warnings from folks. "Just skip that one... trust me" kind of stuff. But I shook it off. I'm the type of gamer that tends to look for what's good in any game I play, and often am able to find enjoyment in plenty of games that others would just rather not waste time on. Surely I could find some fun in Final Fantasy II - especially a great looking remake like this one! Right?
Well I was right about one thing... it does look great. Much like the first remake, Final Fantasy II looks amazing on PSP. These new sprites and backgrounds in widescreen are really breath-taking and I think sort of what we all imagined our SNES RPG's looked like back in the day. Likewise, the re-recorded soundtrack is excellent. Unfortunately that's where most of my kind-words for this game stop.
Many of you are probably already versed in Final Fantasy II and its extremely flawed leveling system. And though I had heard about it beforehand, I don't think I was prepared for how tedious this really made the game. Rather than just leveling up your characters through experience, everything has to be individually leveled. Your weapons, your spells, your Hit Points... everything. You want to be tougher? You need to take a bunch of damage. You want to cast an effective spell? You better cast it a lot.
Of course there's 'workarounds' but they suck. Basically you can do things like constantly beat up your own party on purpose or cast spells and then cancel them before your turn is over. I didn't even bother with any of that. Truth be told, breaking the game truly broke the experience for me altogether. Instead, I attempted to play it straight, and ultimately that just broke my spirit to continue.
After two or three hours of my weak party walking between two towns, I was just about ready to throw in the towel. I figured I'd take a look a guide though. This right here shows the difference between Final Fantasy I and II. For the most part, I never really had issues figuring out how to progress my journey in the first game. But here I was, still in the earliest section of II and was baffled. The guide told me how to get Minwu the White Mage to join my party. So I tried that, and he wouldn't join. I back-read the guide to make sure I had done everything I was supposed to and as far as I could tell I had. I checked another guide, same thing. Tried again and Minwu wasn't having it.
So I shut the game off in disgust. Even if I could figure out what I was doing wrong and got Minwu to join my party at this point, I wouldn't want to. Final Fantasy II seems one of the most poorly executed RPG's I've ever attempted. This coming from a guy who could appreciate the limitations of item-usage in Riviera The Promised Land! I think perhaps if Final Fantasy II could have been remade with a completely re-vamped (and more traditional) leveling-up system, it could be a game worth diving back into. But in its original form it will remain just a curio to me. I think it's time I start looking for Final Fantasy III instead.
OK I rarely do blogs on here probably cause I'm the laziest person ever... lol, but anyway lets get on with the buy and not buy in the retro-gaming universe. OK first off I'll make a list of all the third-party systems I own then I will list the pros and cons of each system and which ones are worth picking up IF you don't have an original system or want an easy portable version of that system. OK here we go:
PocketFami (Aka Pocket Famicom) (I still have this but it broke years ago.)
FC Mobile II
FC16 GO
FC Twin (NES & SNES combo System)
Supaboy
Revision 1:
Revision 2:
RetroGen Adapter (not really a system its used on the SNES system or any third-party system)
OK now the rundown of each systems pros and cons:
PocketFami (Manufactured by GameTech):
Pros:
Very Lightweight
Very Portable/Small
Runs on 3 AA Batteries or a DC POWER ADAPTER ONLY! (Not included)
Has external controller ports (USES FAMICOM CONTROLLERS ONLY!)
Cons:
DC Adapter not included
Very cheaply made (pin connecter broke on me the first month i had it)
needed an adapter to play US games (Included, but it was an exposed adapter with no plastic shell and also very hard to put into the pin connection which is what caused mine to break)
Very expensive (mine was around 80 bucks and now they are OOP and go for like $120-150
Sound Quality is very poor and off pitch
Bad compatibility
Overall I'd say definitely pass on this monstrosity.
FC Mobile II (Manufactured by Hyperkin):
Pros:
Very lightweight/sleek design
Very nice bright LCD display screen/Good TV picture quality, but only get mono sound of course on both system and on the TV
Very good sound/speaker quality
Can use 4 AA batteries or use the provided AC adapter to play
Includes 3 Wireless Controllers (Two Turbo NES controllers run on 2 AAA batteries, and One Wireless Zapper which runs on 3 AAA batteries also has on on/off switch. One note you can't use the Zapper on HD TV's.)
Has a headphone jack
Cons:
Wireless controllers senor can cause the controller to be unresponsive if out of range (Sensor located on bottom of the system.)
Tengen carts don't work at all (As well as other games such as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and a few others.)
If you are running on battery power, some games will not play if the batteries are almost dead.
Overall with the FCII I'd say its worth it even if you have an original NES because its easily portable and can play most of your NES library without issue on the go or to take on vacation.
FC16 GO (Model 2) Model 1 is OOP (Manufactured by YOBO Gameware Inc):
Pros
Nice loud Speakers
Uses a Rechargeable Battery (Charger included)
Includes 2 wireless controllers (runs on 2 AAA batteries, very long battery life)
Includes Standard AV Cables
Cons:
The screen usually has a dead pixel or two when it arrives even if its new. (This problem may have been fixed I don't know for sure I highly doubt it.)
Takes a long time to recharge the battery even though the battery last maybe 3-6 hours takes 9-12 to charge...
Graphical, Sound, & Control issues with some games (examples are Contra III top-view levels look washed out in white and Star Trek TNG does not work at all controls are glitchy and unresponsive)
Overall for this one I'd say get it if you don't have an original SNES and what a decent substitute for the real thing
FC Twin (NES & SNES Combo system) (Manufactured by YOBO Gameware Inc.)
Pros:
Very lightweight and compact (about the size of a Genesis Model 2)
Stereo AV cables (I believe the NES side is simulated stereo)
Great compatibility on both systems (It could even play Tengen carts)
Easily Modifiable SNES slot to play Japanese Imports Tabs are made of cheap plastic they are easy to snap off)
Can use original or third-party SNES controllers
Cons:
You can't play games that use the NES Zapper
Controllers that come with it are very cheaply made (I recommend using original SNES controllers)
Still can't play Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
Overall I'd say this is probably the only third party system I'd recommend for at home use. I would also recommend the Retron3 or the FC3, but i don't have one although I've heard they're just as good as this, nut the controllers are very bad. On a good note it comes with a Zapper for NES games. It also has a Sega Genesis Slot.
Supaboy (Manufactured by Hyperkin)
Before I start I will be listing pros and cons of REVISION 1 not 2.
Pros:
Nice screen size
Has 2 controller ports
Has a rechargeable battery/and AV Cables
Comes with a carrying case/pouch
Comes pre-modded to play Japanese Games, and can also play PAL games (I don't know how well it can play PAL games though.
Cons:
Very bulky
Battery life is only 3-5 hours (Supposed to be better on the second revision)
Sound quality is horrible and has a high-pitched humming noise even with headphones plugged in (Confirmed to be better on the second revision, but I don't know for sure.)
Same kind of graphical/control issues as the FC16 GO (Contra III has the same issue listed above in the FC16 GO section. Although Star Trek TNG plays fine, but Batman Returns has control issues with system controls only.)
Over the Supaboy is a good SNES substitute, but I would pass on this if you have a SNES already or if you don't go with an alternative like the FC Twin or Retron3
RetroGen Adapter (Not really a system, but I'm going to talk about cause its surprisingly good with some minor flaws. To use it you need any SNES system (may work on third-parties i haven't tested it on one) unplug the AV cables to the SNES and plug in the RetroGen AV Cables into the side of the adapter and then the other side into the TV. OK now for the pros and cons:
Pros:
Easy to use
Region switch to play most if not all import MegaDrive titles (NA, PE, PAL, & NJ are all the switch settings)
Very good picture/Stereo sound.
Decent button layout (Y=Genesis button A, B= Genesis button B, A= Genesis button C, X= Genesis button Y, L= Genesis button X, and R= Genesis button Z)
Great compatibility
Region switch negates games that have a region lock (such as: Golden Axe III, Bare Knuckle III, Contra Hard Corps, and any others that are locked)
Cons:
There is no MODE button for games that require one to be held in while powering on in order to play games that only support 3-button Genesis controllers (Such as Golden Axe II)
Overall this adapter is a pretty cool novelty to have for your SNES to screw with your friends or if your to lazy to pull out your Sega Genesis and feel like being an oddball. Plus its only like 20 dollars on Ebay or Amazon. Here's a link to my video review of the RetroGen:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/8LpDhZyo2Zk&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/8LpDhZyo2Zk&rel=0</a>]]>
So in closing I would say the top third-party systems/accessories I would recommend getting ONLY IF you don't have the original systems or are intrigued by these systems like I am. Here's what I would recommend and why:
FC Mobile II - Great compatibility, Compact size, and nice bright LCD screen
FC Twin - Great compatibility, two systems in one, easy to modify the SNES slot to play Japanese Imports, and it can use original SNES controllers
RetroGen Adapter - Great compatibility, Great picture quality, and pretty awesome concept.
In closing I hope this article helps out some of you RFGeners in making a decision on purchasing a third-party system.
I recently posted a long comment on the forum and I thought it would be a great idea to blog about it. So I received my OUYA a few days ago and I was able to test it. Here's my experience by categories:
Controllers: I read that they were awful but I think they improved them since mine is pretty good. You see it's cheap plastic but it still seems solid. Connection is good, works very well. The only thing I don't really like is the "pointing device" which is a touch pad in the middle of the controller... works but barely.
Sound: Nothing to say, it's all good, in games, watching your videos, listening to online radio with apps, it's all good.
Graphics: The possibilities are there. A few games like Shadowgun, Beast Boxing turbo or Ravensword: Shadowlands have great graphics for the machine. However, most games tend to look like cellphones games on a big screen tv. Nevertheless, the system CAN show great textures, it's just underused for now.
Machine ports: sd port, power and almost everything works great. The only problem is the internet connection. The wi-fi reception is quite bad and easily disconnects or is very slow. I've tried connecting it with fast ethernet but it's also common that it disconnects and fail to see ethernet as a network. I must admit, this is really frustrating.
Games: I was hoping to see more 100% free games on this console but except for very bad ones and very few good ones, you have to pay from 3 to 20$, normally around 5-7$. Anybody can publish what they want on this system so you have good games for every style: FPS, RPG, Fighting, Shoot 'em up, racing, etc. At this moment, there's 210 games on OUYA and most of them looks like games you could use on your cellphone or play on websites like newgrounds (for free I must say). Some games look like ports of Android cellphone games on OUYA without a lot of consideration for the OUYAian gamer. Nevertheless, even though many games are crap, I must say that there's enough games that are pretty good, just rarely last-generation looking games.
So that's about it. Is it worth 150$? (bought it with 2 controllers). I don't think so. 100$ would be better with 2 controllers. However, I do understand why they talk so much about potential, because there is a lot to it. I don't regret buying it and I enjoy it, but I'm a little disappointed of the lack of real free games and ethernet problems.
Happy 4th of July, long-suffering readers of the Transitions Blog! Today we will be exploring a PS2 launch game that is apropos for the American Day of Independence: FantaVision. Let's dig in...
Aside from being an especially interesting launch day choice for Sony, FantaVision is an unusual game in its own right. The basic premise of the game is to catch fireworks flares as they ascend, match them in groupings based on color, and detonate them to create a fireworks display that chains into other flares. In each level, you must do this well enough so that time doesn't expire. Racking up points and chains will carry you on to the next level. It is unquestionably a unique puzzle game, one that would still standout against the deluge of puzzle games released in the age of smartphone gaming. In my experience, it is also quite challenging. But why was this a launch game?
FantaVision showcased the PS2's graphics capabilities. FantaVision started life as a tech demo rather than a full-fledged game, and so from the outset It was meant to emphasize some of the PlayStation 2's new capabilities. The game's lighting effects, the detail in the cityscapes, the smoothness of the camera - these may all seem very basic today, and even rudimentary by the standards set in games that would appear shortly thereafter in the PlayStation 2's lifespan - but the ability of the game to "pop" (pun intended) was likely the main reason that it was included in the launch library.
It was the only puzzle game available at launch. The PS2 saw plenty of action, sports, and fighting games when it hit US shores in October of 2000, but FantaVision was the only game to offer the kind of intensity that only the puzzle genre can deliver. Pure speculation: Sony may have been testing the waters for interest in puzzle games on the PS2, as the amount of puzzle games released for the PS1 had fallen off sharply in the years before the PS2s launch and, it would turn out, the PS2 had a relatively small amount of games in the genre even by the end of its run.
In contrast to the Japanese original, the US version of the game featured a two player mode.
FantaVision is an early example of Sony promoting an "indie" game.Over the past 5-6 years, Sony has developed a strong reputation for fostering in-house "independent" game development and promoting unique, innovative, projects that come from small teams. Many people cite PS2 games like those from Team Ico or from someone like Suda 51, but FantaVision has that similar kind of "homemade feel" that comes across in everything from the wacky FMV intro screens to the tutorials to the credits. It is early evidence of a long-term push towards more niche titles from Sony, even if it is really the only game from the PS2 launch lineup to illustrate this. Also of note is that it is the only U.S. launch title actually published by SCEE.
The game has very unique FMV videos interspersed throughout.
It was doomed by poor reviews. If reviews are to be believed, FantaVision was a game no one was looking for/asking for in late 2000. IGN.com, for example, started their review with this:
In the hustle and bustle of the massive PS2 launch, with its high power sports, action, and fighting games, Sony's little fireworks puzzler FantaVision is sure to get swept under the rug real quick. Not because it's a bad game, and not because it's a puzzle title, although that doesn't help, but for two other major reasons. First, it's an unknown quantity (What the hell is FantaVision, anyway?) that can't be easily identified when glancing at the box; and second, it uses so little of the PS2's polygon pushing power that it doesn't really usher in the next generation of games with a whole lot of gusto.
GameSpot, meanwhile, was only a bit more encouraging at the end of its review:
Fantavision neither revolutionizes nor damages the genre, it simply comes out somewhere in between. The advantage of being the first puzzle title on the PS2, combined with the game's eye candy and two-player mode, definitely works in the game's favor. In the end, Fantavision is little more than a pleasantly entertaining puzzle game.
Famitsu only gave the game a 31/40, and it was largely seen as a launch day mistake by Sony.
An interesting side note: Despite low interest in the USA, FantaVision saw a sequel of sorts in Japan (it was largely just an inclusion of the NTSC-U two player mode), but never saw any further success in the USA. While it may not have been the belle of the launch ball in 2000, I think most gamers would feel it is well worth checking out in 2013, especially on Independence Day! It is a fascinating launch title that has aged very well.
This week I was going to go high tech and do a video game of the week segment. But due to time restraints I wasnt able to get it up and running by this time. I might try to do one and get it up with this blog. Either way I do this each Tuesday so I want to make sure this gets up in time. Either way, on with the show.
I figured this week to do a classic that every one has played at one time or another on some system at some point. PACMAN. From the humble beginings at the arcade to the home console here is a symbol that is recognized anywhere and everywhere.
On the Atari 8 bit this game has 256 levels that you need to figure out and complete. The idea is real simple eat all the pills on each board while avoiding the 4 ghosts that chase after you. Along the way you get 4 power pills you can eat that will turn the ghosts blue. At this point you can eat them. Also along the way you get special bonuses ( Fruit, Keys, and lighting bolts ).
I enjoy this version of the game and can spend hours playing it in either 1 player or 2 player action.
Collectors Note:
There are a few label variations for this cartridge. A black case brown label 400 style label ( CXL 4022 ) and a later re-release on the silver label 800 style ( RX8022 ).
So is the case with the manuals a REV A which shows Pacman running on the cover has a bit more info packed into the manual to the REV B which shows a more computer model of Pacman chasing after pills.
I would say since this cart is easy to find in the population its a worth while title to pick up and play.
Please feel free to let me know what you think of this title and memories from playing this game. Please check me out on my Youtube Channel : Atarian83 and as always on my website www. A8Museum.com
Korn and Video Games
Ok first things first. U are probably asking yourself. What does Korn have to do with Gaming??? Well scroll down and experience my journey and find out.
First thing u do is you get your self a ticket to the Concert.
Then u head to the concert. As some of the members here might know, I am currently living in Sicily, Italy. Pretty much no bands come this far south. So I had to do a little traveling up to Rome for this event.
Once I left the airport I had to catch a train.
I got off at my stop and had to start walking. The venue where the concert was going to be was called Ippodromo Capannelle. This was my first impression of the place from the walk down the road. Looks a little beat down.
Outside the front of the Venue
I had a VIP pass so we gained early access to get up front. If you are still wondering how this is about gaming please be patient. It is coming 
From the side of the stage right before Korn started.
The drummer starting up the show.
Jonathon Davis the lead singer tearing it up on the bagpipe during the begging of the song shoots and ladders. What a great song.
So the concert was absolutely amazing. Korn always performs amazing and they our great with the crowd. But to this point we still have not seen anything gaming related? So since this post is already pretty photo heavy I am going to skip ahead a bit.
After the show was over as part of my VIP pass I got to meet the band members and then from there I got to experience one more cool thing. With the VIP pass I had it was a One on One gaming session with Jonathon Davis the lead singer of the band.
Before the gaming session started I first had to show him my gaming collection. Video Game collecting is one of my biggest passions along with the gaming industry. So I showed him my collection and he was defiantly impressed. He actually said he had alot of games as well which is pretty cool.
So we started up are gaming session and thankfully it was Call of duty. I did not know which game we would be playing when I bought the pass and I was fearful of getting stuck playing guitar hero. I use to love that game but it has worn out its welcome lol.
Here is a photo of me during the session having fun.
Overall the gaming session was pretty short but it was alot of fun. He informed me after we were done that I was only the second person to ever beat him which is a pretty cool feeling. But before I left I got one more photo with him.
Overall the night was awesome and a once in a lifetime experience. Also sorry for the people with slow computers. I had more then enough photos on this blog which can slow things down.
NOTE: I know this is a Blog about gaming, but come on! Anime and Gaming go together like...like...well, you know. 
Let's face it. If your an Anime Fan, there are unwritten rules that you must abide by, whether you like it or not. Well, as of now, I am making these rules written. So, here they are, the Rules of being an Anime Fan:
5. Show some respect!
Okay...not many people like English Dubs of Anime. What people fail to realize is that these companies/voice actors work hard to make an Anime into English. Japanese is a very hard language to translate. That being said, more Anime Fans should show respect to those that do it, even if they didn't do that well in the process.
4. Remember where it comes from!
Anime is from Japan, plain and simple. Some fans will criticize things seen in Anime, because they don't understand Japanese Culture. This usually applies to new fans, but all the same, you should still remember where it comes from. What may be correct in Japan may not necessarily be correct in your country.
3. Watch Akira!
Akira is perfection in the form of a film. Need I say more? You MUST watch this movie if you are a fan of Anime!
2. You are NOT a Super Saiyan!
Dragon Ball Z is popular, and that's a fact. But for crying out loud, don't go around trying to fly or fire Kamehameha Waves! You are NOT of an Alien Race that has powers! You'll only embarrass yourself trying to act as such.
1. Study Osamu Tezuka's life and works!
This is the Number 1 rule of being a fan of Anime!! Osamu Tezuka created Anime, and as such, gave us all a gift that we can truly appreciate. The least you can do is go to Wikipedia and look him up. He loved his job so much that his final words were pleas that he be allowed to work. That being said, study this man's life and works, and never forget where the wonderful world of Anime came from.
Well, that's it. This list was mostly made for fun, and should be treated as such, except for rules 3 and 1, as I am very serious about them. Thanks for reading it!
In order to save some space as I post on the Forums for my Collection each time it will be moved to this blog when I post new stuff in the forum :-)
Yesterday I posted a few teaser pictures of part of my collection today I am going to post pictures and some information on those pictures (there are quite a few) of PS1 through PS3 & PS Vita games I have. If you have any questions or anything please comment. Note none of it is for sale sorry  But I started this thread to talk about games in my collection or anyone else who wants to talk about games. After the teaser pictures will be the new pictures. So scroll on down and please comment away! Also this will not be in a blog anymore so if you want to check out my older parts of my collection please do so on my blog ALSO I will still be making blogs just not of collection parts I think the thread gets it out there better and who doesn't like to show off their collection.
UPDATE - SCROLL DOWN FOR 32X, SMS, TG16, NGAGE AND MORE!!! 05/03/2013
NES Shelving for Now - Muwahahaha NEED MORE check out my wanted NES forum and my fs/ft for anyone who can help. Thanks again for those who have or are going to!!
Teaser Pictures:
Picture 1: Big Boxed PC collection
*I recently obtained a substantial amount of big box PC games from ixtaileddemonfox (again thanks) which helped a large collection grow to an even larger collection of Big Box PC games.
Picture 2: The Not so big boxed PC games
Picture 3: Playstation 1 & 2
*That DVD rack used to be full of DVD's and Blu-Rays it has now dwindled as I have been selling off most of my movies to replace them at another time with Blu-Ray only. SO my PS1 collection has grown tremendously as of late and I finally have enough room to put my PS1 & PS2 games on a shelves again together.
There will be more to come eventually if you want to read back on my blogs of my collection of findings, my Nintendo Collection (which will be updated) and many other fun stuff in my blogs so check it out! Also please feel free to comment.
Picture 1 - PS1 Long Box Games
Picture 2 - PS1 Games #1
*Few things in this picture to note -
--3D Baseball as you see I have two copies one actually has the manual the other just has the manual cover but this game like the Saturn Version has kind of spiked a little for a sports game.
--The Beyond the Beyond has the original 3D Glasses in them.
Picture 3 - PS1 Games #2
Picture 4 - PS1 Games #3
Picture 5 - PS1 Games #4
Picture 6 - PS1 Games #5
NOTE -- Starting to notice the trend of Square Games & RPG's?
*NCAA March Madness 2001 - Brand New Sealed
Picture 7 - PS1 Games #6
Picture 8 - PS1 Games #7
*NOTES -- ALL CIB
--Arc The Lad Collection
--Lunar: The Silver Star Story
--Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
Picture 9 - PS1 Games #8 - GameSharks & Imports
**Love the Imports I already have looking forward to hopefully finding more down the road. **
Picture 10 - PS2 Games #1
Picture 11 - PS2 Games #2
Picture 12 - PS2 Games #3
**Notes**
--Innocent Life - Brand New!
Picture 13 - PS2 Games #4
**Notes**
--Radiata Stories - Brand New!
Picture 14 - PS2 Games #5
**Notes**
--Samurai Legend Musashi - Brand New!
--Shepard's Crossing - Brand New!
Picture 15 - PS2 Games #6
**Notes**
--World Heroes Anthology - Brand New!
Picture 16 - PS2 Games, Complete Sets, & Imports
**Notes**
--Dragon Quest VIII - 2 Copies - 1 is Brand New!
--Growlanser Heritage War CE - Brand New!
Picture 17 - PSP Games
**Notes**
--Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles - Brand New!
--Final Fantasy 1 & 2 - Brand New!
--Knights in the Nightmare - Brand New!
Picture 18 - PS2 & PSP Collector's Edition
**Notes**
--SORRY CUT OFF DEVIL SUMMONER 2 CE - BRAND NEW!
--ALL GAMES IN PICTURE ARE BRAND NEW Except one of the Copies of Prinny
Picture 19 - PS3 Games
**Notes**
--Demon Souls - Brand New!
--Disgeaa 3 - Brand New!
--Heavy Rain - Brand New - Game Stop Pre-Order Edition
--Tales of Graces F - Brand New!
--PES Evolution is an Import
Picture 20 - PS3 - Special or Limited Editions
**Notes**
--Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland [Premium Box] - Brand New!
--Atelier Totori: The Adventurer Of Arland [Premium Edition] - Brand New!
--Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten [Premium Edition] - Brand New!
--Gran Turismo 5 Collector's Editon - Brand New!
Picture 21 - PS3 - LOTR War In The North - Brand New!
Picture 22 - PS Vita
NEW STUFF ADDED TO LOOK AT - 05/03/2013
Picture 1 - Boxed Sega 32x Games
**NOTES**
-BC Racers, Cosmic Carnage - Sealed
Picture 2 - Cart Only 32X some have manuals just forgot to dig them out, EXCEPT FOR THE ONE :-)
Picture 3 - Sega CD 32X
Picture 4 - Boxed Sega Master System
Picture 5 - Rare Sega Master System Games or Semi Rare :-)
**NOTES**
-Sega Mega Drive Game is Sailor Moon
-Gauntlet SMS is PAL
-Mega Key - Allows players to play MD and PAL MD games on Sega Genesis
-Action Replay For Sega Genesis
Picture 6 - Cart Only Sega Master System
Picture 7 - Boxed Intellivision Games
Picture 8 - Boxed Intellivision Games Part 2
- My cart only Intellvision games are somewhere in the storage unit.
Picture 9 - CD-i
Picture 10 - N-Gage
Picture 11 - Odds & Ends
Noriyuki Iwadare: Chapter 2
When we last left off with Iwadare's career we just stopped at Der Langrisser, and covered the big Lunar games and one remake, now its time for a new series to rise, and Lunar to continue with its remake train.
In 1996 Iwadare and Pack-In-Video worked together to make Monstania, a short tactical RPG for the Super Famicom that you guessed it, was never localized anywhere. It was quite late in the Super's lifecycle by then and Japan already had the Nintendo 64 to play with. Also, Pack-In-Video almost never localized their games anyway.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HW6OSLWfO_M&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/HW6OSLWfO_M&rel=0</a>]]>
In the same year Iwadare and Game Arts released the Playstation remake of the first Lunar, adding Story to the end of the title for some reason. Anyway, this is more than just a simple remake, since the Playstation has more power than a Sega CD the developers were able to upgrade graphics, sound, music, everything, and with the upgrades came new songs.
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A year later saw the Japanese exclusive release of Langrisser IV for the Sega Saturn, Iwadare worked with a couple of others to produce the music for the game. The aforementioned remake of Lunar Walking School, Magic School Lunar, also released for the Saturn and only for Japan in 1997.
What the rest of us got from the wonderful year of 1997 is another work from Iwadare and Game Arts, a new project, one that's not Lunar. Grandia. Grandia originally came out in 1997 for the Sega Saturn (for Japan only of course), but it was ported to the Playstation and released internationally in 1999 (2000 for the Euros out there). Because of its similarity to Xenogears in appearance and camera control it is the cause for some finger pointing ire amongst RPG fanboys, or did back when people cared.
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1998 would see a couple more big projects from Iwadare. Langrisser V would release for the Saturn and Playstation (what geographical area do you think it was released in?) This is currently the latest game of the Langrisser series until Schwarz releases. Iwadare is credited as the composer for this upcoming game as well. But, the big news, at least internationally, was the remake of Lunar 2, getting the full Playstation treatment just like the first game got.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/kLsWhOXxgAM&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/kLsWhOXxgAM&rel=0</a>]]>
The next year was fairly quiet for the international Iwadare fan. None of the games would release outside of Japan but one did start a brand new series. Well, it is a new game in a way. Growlanser released in Japan only in 1999, but we would get some of the later games in the series.
In 2000 the world of role playing would be shaken to its core, or it should have been if it didn't, because Game Arts and Iwadare came out with an all new Grandia for the new at the time Sega Dreamcast! I consider this game to be in the Holy Trinity of Dreamcast RPGs alongside Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star Online. Just ignore the PS2 port and get the DC version!
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/JurH-KfEW68&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/JurH-KfEW68&rel=0</a>]]>
Let us start the 21st century by saying that the next couple games had no chance of releasing outside of Japan. Mercurius Pretty is a remake of an old Japanese PC-98 game, there was no exposure when it was originally released and most likely not going to attract even a niche fanbase at the time. True Love Story 3 is a dating sim, that's about it for that one.
So the next music the international crowd was introduced to is a Grandia spin off, Grandia Xtreme. I have not played this game yet as I have never owned it and did not rent it back in the day, it is on my hunting list though as I have been digging the music.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/o8fVoScuLg4&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/o8fVoScuLg4&rel=0</a>]]>
Another True Love Story would come out along with an... 'adult' visual novel called Wind: A Breath of Heart. All the good stuff is in the PC version as it was cut for the console market. 2003 would see Iwadare work on that timeless PS2 classic Mega Man X7 with an entire music crew. Counting him, there are 9 credited composers for that game. Yikes!
Anyway I'll skip the Mega Man X7 for now and move onto something else completely awesome. Lawyers. Namely, Capcom's resident lawyer Nick Wright and crew. Yes, Iwadare started in the Ace Attorney series with the 3rd game, which we know as Trials and Tribulations. These games originally released as Game Boy Advance games. They were later remade for the Nintendo DS and released internationally a few years later, when I got in on the series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oqK1jvM2gI
Iwadare finally got to work for the big name in console RPGs, Square Enix, to compose the soundtrack to Radiata Stories before going back to compose the music for the Grandia I wish I could forget, Grandia III. After this he went back to making music for some Japanese exclusive sims primarily he made a return to the Ace Attorney series with Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth in 2009, and its UNLOCALIZED sequel Gyakuten Kenji 2 in 2011.
Alongside the new Ace Attorney spin off Game Arts and Iwadare made ANOTHER Lunar remake for the Playstation Portable. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony came out in 2009. The awesome Limited Edition has some sexy Lunar girl cards and a sweet CD soundtrack of all the music in the game! This is more of a slight enhancement to the PS1 remake than a different overhaul of the Sega CD original.
Grandia Online released in 2010 with Iwadare composing the entire soundtrack. Yes, this MMO is exclusive to Japan. I think its getting quite clear why Noriyuki Iwadare might not be as well known as he should be. Half his music never made it across any body of water!
The most recent games that Iwadare has worked on are the aforementioned Grandia Online, Gyakuten Kenji 2, and Kid Icarus: Uprising. Upcoming games with his music are the newest Ace Attorney game and Nick's return; Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, as well as Langrisser Schwarz.
Composer Compendium LP - Stewart Copeland
Introducing the Composer Compendium Limited Play, or LP for short. The idea behind the LP is to highlight a short career in video games. Perhaps a life was tragically cut short, or an artist made music for a handful of games and moved on, or, and this is the most common one, they exist as a popular entity outside of video games already. They have a made name with clout behind it, whether the person was in a famous band, does Broadway music, movie and TV soundtracks, whatever else they were doing beforehand does not matter.
As an extra to the conclusion of Noriyuki Iwadare here is the Limited Play of The Police's drummer Stewart Copeland's work in the video game industry.
Sadly, he only worked on one series of games and one other random game, but the best games in that series. Mr. Copeland composed the music for the first four Spyro games. He started work on the very first one for the Playstation, and finished with Enter the Dragonfly on PS2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcKr3KKNrZY
This time coincided with many musicians outside of the realm of video games entering the medium in the West. They no longer needed in depth knowledge of a system's sound capabilities with the rise of CD gaming. The CD brought incredibly high quality music with it since NEC first introduced the Turbo CD as an add-on to the Turbografx-16. You did not need to be Yuzo Koshiro and create your own music coding language just to create high quality music. This brought many new audio styles to the world of mid-late 90's gaming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXWNG8XuQvw
I love me some Insomniac, and part of that reason is that I grew up with the PS1 trilogy of games and this music. I still like to try and play through them every other summer for some fun and nostalgia. Even back then I thought the music was much different from anything I had played on the Super Nintendo and PS1 beforehand. This may have to do with Copeland's lack of experience with the overall gaming market. He wasn't listening to the soundtracks of other games to get a style of what a game should sound like, he just made great music to fit the style of the one game he was working on at the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnUr9OGaT5I
The one non-Spyro game soundtrack Copeland did is Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. I have not played this game so I don't know how it holds up, but I know its supposed to at least be creepy and mildly scary at times. I'll leave you with this nice, pleasant, limited little Spyro sample and this interview footage of the man himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc2gGycBXc
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