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Hey everyone Bill (Engel762) and I did some end of the month shopping and went to our usual places and tried to find a new place that didn't exist. We first started off at Half Price Books where I picked up in trade (for my Roger Waters: Live at The Wall CD Set) a few comic books at $0.50 a piece (not pictured sorry. I also picked up a few clearances GameCube games as well. Then we went to Gamers and I got two Halo Promotional items a Halo: The Anniversary Edition Promotional Box and Halo 4. Then behind the counter were a few games mostly damaged stuff but Bill and I spotted a few games I picked up Karate & Time Pilot (Which is kind of scarce, and I so wish it was the rare Karate game) both are for the Atari 2600. Then we went one of our favorite places on the way home and I picked up Whomp 'Em on the NES in a trade with Bill. So not much for me but keep an eye out on Bill's page the market is getting kind of dry here sometimes I wonder why?
Here's the rundown and the picture:
Half Price Books:
*Comics 4 at $0.50 a piece
*Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - GC - Player's Choice -- $2.00
*Medal of Honor Rising Sun - GC - Player's Choice -- $2.00
*Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 - GC - Players Choice -- $1.00
*****ALL GC Games are complete minty in box.******
Gamers --
*Halo Promotional Items - $2.00 a piece
*Karate -$1.00
*Time Pilot - $1.00
***The prices are actually lower than the above prices mentioned because I have a shirt from the company so I get discounts.***
Favorite place -
*Whomp 'em - $15.00 - CB - I need a manual if anyone has one.
Thanks and enjoy.
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This is me (finally) defeating Gyaku on Kasumi Ninja for the Atari Jaguar. This freak was super tough. Seriously, I've been trying to do him in for days. I guess this victory was just dumb luck. 
Anyway, that's all for now. More videos to come soon!
UPDATE
Okay, NOW he is dead.
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I finally purchased a tube TV to play my fabulous NES titles on. I eagerly hooked up the console and took the time to choose a couple games. With the intension to keep things light and easy I decided on 10-Yard Fight and Blades of Steel.
I inserted the first cartridge.
Nothing. Just the nightmarish blinking red light and a steadily flashing gray screen. I was devastated.
"Not to worry," I thought, "I have a back-up NES."
I unplugged the first console and hooked up the other. Same thing, I was zero for two.
Eventually this happened:
Surely the Internet would yield some kind of answer to my trouble. Apparently the 72-pin connector needs replacing. Alas, being impatient as I am, I continued to scour the web for a makeshift solution. It turns out that if you gentle wiggle the cart once its inside the console the connection can be improved. So wiggle I did and sure enough I was greeted by the 10-Yard Fight title scrren.
I know that this is not a real solution, but until a new 72-pin connecting comes in the mail there isn't much I can do.
OK! Time to toss the pixelated pigskin!
10-Yard Fight simply put is a fun little football simulator. The player controls one of two teams. The control scheme is easy to master after a couple of minutes. While on the offense the A button initially passes the ball to the quarter back, then can be pressed to perform a long distance pass, whereas the B button executes a quick lateral pass. When playing on the defense the player first must select one teammate to control with either A or B then the gameplay begins.
What I really liked about the game were the sound effects. The players running across the field sounded a lot of horses galloping over the wide steppe. Even the rhythm resembled galloping. I also enjoyed watching the player sprites; they looked like they were doing some kind of cossack dance.
I actually horribly lost the match 21-0. I'm terrible at football. But since I'm Canadian maybe I'd have better luck on the ice.
So, I laced up my skates, I mean, fired up Blades of Steel.
I used to like hockey games growing up so I had high hopes for this one.
Video games don't get any simpler than this. Rapidly tapping the B button enables you to almost always win the face off. With the puck in your possession B is used to pass, and A is pressed to shoot. Where the game gets interesting is when the opposing team crosses the blue line the player controls the goalie. I really liked that concept.
I was especially good at the most important aspect of hockey - fighting. The gloves were off and it was fisticuffs on ice!
When one team scores the opposing team's goalie suddenly flails his arms like an angry troll. Very cool.
Of the games played today Konami's Blades of Steel was the better of the two. It did not have any clunky animations or controls. It felt smooth and flowed nicely even by today's standards. The voice acting was entertaining, albeit repetitive. The announcer's "with the cross!"booming from the speakers every time I passed the puck did get annoying after a while. However, the simulated sound of skates slashing over the ice was pretty decent. Overall, I thought it was a good game and one that I'll return to. That says a lot as I'm not really a fan of sports games.
I don't think there is much to be said about sports games. They're fun ways to pass the time and provide a bit of healthy competition between friends. The simple gameplay mechanics are easy to grasp making them enjoyable to play.
PS - Does anyone know how to take quality pictures of gameplay in action? I used a Fujifilm EXR for these snapshots.
This is part two of my PC RPG retrospective. Again if you wish to see all the pretty pictures and any video if there is some in the post check it out on the main stage. Exclusive posts are put up for enjoyment as well. http://whydidiplaythis.wordpress.com/
As the mid 80′s came there were plenty of new additions to the RPG scene, many companies would be built or come into their own as a result of success and the quickly growing PC market as a whole.
Origin would continue pushing the storytelling envelope with its own creations in Ultima V. Lord British has essentially been overthrown by his advisor Lord Blackthorn. Blackthorn was possessed and corrupted by power and ambition, skewing the virtues away from the original system of voluntary following as self enrichment and enlightment. Blackthorn has pushed the virtues into the law of the land, causing suspicious behavior and a suppressed populace around Brittania. Garriott really showed how a philosophical system of belief meant to free the minds of a world can be turned on its head and used for less than virtuous purposes.
In 1985 the aforementioned Interplay joined the ranks of the success stories in this genre, releasing The Bards Tale, the same year as Ultima IV, such a wonderful year. While gameplay wise The Bards Tale was quite similar to Wizardry the focus of the story and combat was more focused on magic than most games before it, which featured it as an option that may or may not retain balance in combat depending on party build. Interplay would develop the sequels to The Bards Tale, but since they were forced to change the original intention of the storyline and flow for the series their heart was not really in it, leading to the sequels being considered largely mediocre. Interplays heart would instead go toward the development of an entirely new experience for gaming, the post apocalyptic world. In 1988 Interplay would release Wasteland, a popular and successful endeavor that focused on the politics and rebuilding efforts of survivors of a global thermonuclear war. Interplay loved this idea so much that Fallout would be designed as a spiritual successor to Wasteland. A recent Kickstarter for a true Wasteland 2 was recently funded by Interplays founder Brian Fargo and development will be between his new company InXile and many members of Interplays Renaissance internal team at their new company Obsidian.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. would bring the officially licensed Dungeons and Dragons to the PC market with its series of Gold Box games starting in 1988. While SSI had its own experience beforehand with 1985′s Wizards Crown and 1987′s Eternal Dagger they were the ones who won the bid to license D&D from TSR. The Gold Box games would use the storytelling benchmark set by Temple of Apshai at first, telling its story primarily from print media with in game citations for players to read after completing certain events. SSI and its Gold Box series would top the sales charts through the late 80′s through a combination of crisp design, storytelling, and riding on its D&D license.
1987′s Dungeon Master would bring the first person perspective from early dungeon crawlers such as Wizardry and the dungeon diving in early Ultima games and produce combat in real time. This game can be only be described as ahead of its time, as it offered many seemingly smaller details that combined into a smooth, immersive experience. Players were able to manipulate objects with the mouse. All of these innovations combined into a powerful game that SSI would emulate with its later Gold Box games.
Wizardry would also keep chugging along through the late 80′s, the 4th through 6th entries in the series introducing more story elements, but really keeping the same gameplay intact. But after 3 games before it Sir Tech had their gameplay design largely intact already. All that mattered now was to really balance the first person dungeon crawling, turn based combat, party building, and difficulty, really the difficulty.
To close out the 1980′s we have Might and Magic, a series which began in 1986 and continued until 2006 despite the company who bought the original developers going out of business. While Might and Magic was highly popular for its time it did not really do too much differently than those that came before it, borrowing heavily from other RPG series of its day. But it all came together in a tight experience and made its home in the hearts of many gamers.
By the early 90′s there were so many companies which had success behind them and their various series that the only thing that seemed able to stop them was their own increasing ambition. Well, that is partly true. Technology was advancing at a fast rate, early pseudo-3D was gaining momentum and development times were getting longer as teams got bigger. A few new success stories came about, but of those, few were able to keep their momentum as the declining popularity and shift in market interest was already happening.
Origin made it through the 80′s standing taller than ever, and celebrated the new decade with Ultima VI. Ultima VI introduces a political quandary to the player, showing the consequences of his actions in Ultima IV, namely taking the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. Demons invade Brittania to reclaim their holy book and are later taught to share.
Ultima VII would be the beginning of a new trilogy, and set it off with a bang. Now a big, bad archdemon is trying to take over Brittania and only the Avatar can stop him! Ultima VI and VII take some inspiration from Dungeon Master in that many objects can be moved around the world, put in your own bags, or dropped wherever the player desires, giving Brittania a huge, new amount of interactivity.
Other than these new Ultima releases the early 90′s were already quieting down, but one more influential release would come about before the True Darkness set in. Betrayal at Krondor was released in 1993 and as far as Im concerned, the Golden Age has already passed by this point, and this is the last gasp of an era passed. Betrayal is based on Raymond Feists Riftwar universe, making it one of the only licensed RPGs up to this point that was not a Gold Box D&D based game. Despite being a solid role playing experience the times had caught up to this game even before release. The graphics were considered outdated at release but heavy RPG fans let this game slip in as a cult classic despite largely forgettable sequels.
I was twelve years old when Mortal Kombat was ported to home consoles one fateful Mortal Monday. Twelve was the perfect age to get sucked into the hype that MK had created. In fact I was even a bit of a classroom celebrity -- the kid who owned a Genesis game rated MA-13! Indeed Mortal Kombat was one of those huge games that caused you to suddenly have a lot of friends. Friends who wanted to come over after school and see some of these much talked-about Fatalities. And let me tell you, many afternoons were spent just like that.
However when the sequel was released a year later it all but made the original obsolete. Mortal Kombat II was an improvement in every way. It looked far better graphically, had a much bigger roster and many more moves and Fatalities. Indeed the second game would remain my favorite of the series, probably even to this day.
 
Over the past few years I've encountered ports of the original game a couple times. Probably most substantial were the PS2 (via Mortal Kombat Deception's Premium Pack) and
PSN (via the Arcade Kollection) ports. These were both intended to be arcade-perfect versions of Mortal Kombat. And playing them seemed to only reinforce the idea that the original MK was really not a very great game. Perhaps it was all the blood and guts that made it fun at the time? But it seemed to me that it was really a clunky mess.
But recently I happened upon the Sega CD version and felt a compulsion to add it to my collection post-haste. The odd thing; I've sunk hours into this game in the past couple weeks. Maybe it's just the arcade version that I hate? The arcade's AI could certainly be a big part of it. Or maybe it's just that playing Mortal Kombat with a Genesis controller just feels right? Whatever it is, I'm actually having a surprisingly good time re-living the excitement, blood and guts of those elementary school days.
 
The Sega CD version is basically just the Genesis port with a few differences. First I'll start by saying that yes, load-times are present due to the optical media. You will have short waits between rounds but this is only really bothersome when you are greeted with loading between enemies in the endurance rounds. Personally, I'm not one to find loading all that big an issue, so let's move on to the improvements. When first load the game up you'll get a nice blast of nostalgia in the form of the original Mortal Kombat TV commercial. Remember flocks of kids running down city streets screaming the title of the game? In fact as a bit of an awesome easter egg, if you throw the game in your CD player Track 17 is actually one of the techno tracks by The Immortals. But perhaps thee reason to own the Sega CD port is that entering a "blood code" is no longer necessary. Yup, this version is rated MA-17 and has all the gore unlocked from the get-go.
It's funny how your opinion of a game can change over time -- and sometimes it even changes back. Mortal Kombat is really good example of this, and I'm glad I stumbled upon it once again and found myself having so much fun with the smaller roster and more limited move-set.
I'm healing well and expecting to get back to work soon. This is my last batch of "at home" games:(
Started off with an interesting one, George Foreman's KO Boxing. It really feels like a pre-cursor to Punch-Out!!. The enemies all have only one short cycle they go through which makes them much easier to figure out than the Punch-Out!! opponents. With less and easier guys to fight against it didnt take long to get through. If you check out the video you might notice that there is no music during the fights. The music during every other part of the game is actually pretty decent though!
Next was Galaxy 5000. If you've ever played one of my favorite racers, Rock 'n Roll Racing, this game might feel familiar. Its got a sci-fi setting, digitized voices, similar control and view, vehicle weapons, cash bonuses, and a nice focus on destroying your opponents instead of just straight racing. It was pretty fun and definitely something to check out if you like unique racers.
Lastly was another racing game, Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge. The gameplay is basically Rad Racer. The only difference is how the campaign is set up. There are 16 races in total and your goal is to have the most points after your 16 race season. Each track starts you off with a qualifying lap. Depending on how well you rank on your qualifying lap you'll get a better starting place for the actual race. Only the top 6 racer out of 26 get points depending on their final ranking. Like George Foreman I was pleasantly surprised by some of the music.
NES Games Finished In 2012
(click on a title to view the video)
Silver Surfer
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
Ghosts n Goblins
Tetris
Pro Wrestling
Gradius
Zanac
Adventure Island
Karnov
Trojan
Excitebike
Baseball
Spy Hunter
Adventure Island II
Tennis
Battletoads
Shadowgate
Battletoads/Double Dragon
Pinball Quest
Section Z
Godzilla
Hydlide
Marble Madness
Back to the Future
Darkman
Terminator 2
Robocop
Total Recall
Predator
Robocop 2
Robocop 3
Hudson Hawk
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Batman Returns
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters
Die Hard
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Krion Conquest
Adventures of Dino Riki
Ultima: Exodus
Legacy of the Wizard
Air Fortress
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
Darkwing Duck
Ultima: Warriors of Destiny
Legends of the Diamond
Pro Sports Hockey
Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball
Yoshi's Cookie
Kick Master
Zombie Nation
Stadium Events
Super Jeopardy!
Joust
Yoshi
Dance Aerobics
Adventures of Bayou Billy
Pipe Dreams
Ski or Die
Werewolf: The Last Warrior
Simpsons: Bart vs The Space Mutants
City Connection
American Gladiators
Roundball 2-on-2 Challenge
720
Athletic World
Super Team Games
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Gumshoe
Bases Loaded
The Addams Family Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
Kings of the Beach
The Blues Brothers
Volley Ball
Lode Runner
3D World Runner
Twin Eagle
Dragon's Lair
The Adventures of Rad Gravity
Break Time: The National Pool Tour
Bases Loaded II
Rainbow Islands
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Peter Pan And The Pirates
Kid Kool and the Quest for the Seven Wonder Herbs
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon Strike
Slalom
Wrath of the Black Manta
Race America
Treasure Master
Krusty's Fun House
King's Knight
Mighty Bomb Jack
Bases Loaded 3
Castelian
Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll
Dirty Harry
Conan
Cobra Triangle
Spider Man Return of the Sinister Six
Tag Team Wrestling
Eliminator Boat Duel
Galaxy 5000
George Foreman's KO Boxing
Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge
BONUS GAME -
Assimilate
Future Plans - Going back to work soon and am hankering to finally finish off Thunder & Lightning. Also want to play Flying Warriors and Roger Clemens MVP Baseball soon!
 Before video arcade games, there was SEGA. This arcade amusement company already had stakes planted in both the US and Japanese markets before Atari revolutionized video entertainment, both at the arcades and at home. After the collapse of the home game market, Sega tried to enter only to be locked out by Nintendo. First to market for the 16-bit generation the Genesis (Mega Drive) took Sega to the #1 position in the game market, and marked the first significant console war with Nintendo. Everything went downhill from there. The Sega CD and 32X add-ons ate away at the profits generated by the Genesis and arcade divisions. The Saturn released early at a high price point and few hit games, setting Sega up to get steamrolled by the new kid on the block, Sony. Sega threw a hail-mary with the Dreamcast, and it was everything fans could want in a console, but it was too little, too late. In a period of 5 years, Sega had gone from being #1 to being 7 billion dollars in debt. It's a real miracle they haven't gone under like Atari, Midway, or SNK.
This book takes everything into account. The hardware and technical specs, the competition, business (mis)management, marketing, and the hit games... nothing is missed. The author is most certainly a gamer and a Sega fan, and I think that is the only point of view that is easiest to relate to in this historical account. It contains many quotes from the industry published in magazines of the time, and gets right down to the complex relations between developers, sometimes on a personal level.
Here's just a sample of topics covered in the book. If you don't know about them, it's time to get schooled.- The SG-1000 home computer system
- The coolest ads ever. Pirate TV (Europe), and the Sega scream (USA)
- Sega vs. Accolade
- the origins of EA sports games
- Why the 32X failed
- Why developers favored the PlayStation over the Saturn.
- EA, Visual Concepts, and 2K Games
- Saturn's 5-star game policy and the lack of imports
- the impact of piracy on the Dreamcast's software sales
- Sega's relations with Microsoft leading up to the Xbox launch
The book is structured by console, and generally completes the lifecycle of one system before backtracking to start with another overlapping system. It sounds confusing, but is well organized considering this is ultimately a history tied together of anecdotes and the author's long history of research. I do have a few complaints about the book. The biggest is a lack of editorial review. There are a number of typos towards the end, as well as an entire page-long passage copy/pasted in an awkward place. I think the omissions of the Game Gear, and advertising icons Segata Sanshiro and Yukawa-Senmu will certainly be missed by hardcore fans.
Sam Pettus calls it like it is. He does a great service to readers by refraining from fanboyism where it counts, and isn't afraid to acknowledge when the competition has some killer apps like Donkey Kong Country and all the Square RPGs. He keeps the enthusiasm in regards to fan loyalty as many felt repeatedly betrayed by a number of events over the course of Sega's downfall. My only big complaint is that a handful of points become redundant. The repetition chokes the flow of the story, and give more emphasis on certain factors than is deserved. The author also points a big finger at Hayao Nakayama of SoJ on a number of occasions for the East-West internal conflicts that really ruined the Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn in turn.
Service Games is a book I would recommend to anybody interested in the history of the games industry, or to anybody who's favorite console just happens to be made by Sega. I can't understate the wealth of information recounted. It's thick and informative, but at least the weight is softened by the trademark attitude adopted by both fans and Sega Corp. itself. The book is a cheap buy, and is available in print and as a PDF on many online retailers. For all the complaints, I've noticed the author is taking comments and is in the process of revision for an upcoming second edition. I'm compiling my list of corrections to email him, but am certainly eager to buy it again.
SEGA!
So I was sitting here bored and was thinking about how I have not written a blog in a while. But in all honestly I was stumped. So after I made the decision that I was out of ideas which did not take long at all, I decided to head over to NFL.com to check who the Lions were going to play against tommorow and to my surprize they had a video right on the main page talking about Tecmo bowl.
So I watched it and really enjoyed it. It had a lot of current and former NFL players in it talking about the game that really started it all for Football games. The video brought a smile to my face and despite me never personally playing the game, even know I own it, I still greatly enjoyed it. Then I was thinking If i enjoyed it imagine the reaction of the people who can think back to the late 80's or 90's when this came out and to bring back the memories of so many childhoods I decided to share the wealth. Enjoy the Video that created the topic for this blog. 
http://www.nfl.com/news/s...en-its-due-nfl-filmsstyle
First off, thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. Here I'll write about my experiences with NES and SNES games. I know of the fantastic reputations of these console generations, so I'm making it my mission to finally play these awesome (and less stellar) games.
I will call this blog "FreshNES" because having never played an NES game I have a fresh perspective of them (and because I think puns are funny). I really hope that you find my pictures and ruminations entertaining.
A little bit about me... During my impressionable years in the early 1990s I was too young to fully enjoy the magnificent NES. Fortunately, I did eventually convince my parents to buy me a Super Nintendo and fond memories ensued. I vividly remember guiding Link through dungeons in Link to the Past, and somewhat ruefully recall Baby Mario's ear-splitting wails in Yoshi's Island.
From there I graduated to the glorious Nintendo 64 and it was official: I'd been bitten by the polygonal gaming bug.
Providing myself with the opportunity to truly experience and enjoy these gems is the reason I have decided to become a video game collector. The 8- and 16-bit games have great appeal to gamers young and old and have withstood the test of time.
So to get things going I picked up a bunch of these classic games. I have roughly ten games for the NES and five for the SNES so I can hit the ground running. Now, to just find a nice old tube TV. I hear these games look better on the old televisions compared to today's flat screens.
With that said, I think a trip to the thrift store is in order.
The RF Generation forms is a place where amazing things happen if you lurk long enough. Boys grow into men, and there are stories of achievements and failures, love and loss.
Tucked away at the very bottom of the forum directory is a lonely board with a short name that is rarely visited by many gamers. I'm talking about The Gym, and that's where I posted the story of my endeavor(s) this month.
Please read the relevant thread here.
Bomba's List is just that: a list. It's not really dumber and certainly not smarter than other lists on the Internet, but it is the only one that is titled "Bomba's List." Also, there are more commas and parenthesis used in my lists. Welcome to Bomba's List.
Ah, October. While I am normally a spring-centric person, this time of year always fills me with feeling of potential. Something to do with all the candy, I think. They even put it in the bags of popcorn my son brings home each Friday from school. Glorious! But while I do enjoy the viddles (hot tomato-basil soup), cold weather, and lack of lawn growth, I especially enjoy my own horror movie and game traditions. While I am a gamer that enjoys scary titles all year round, October is all about revisiting my favorites. There is just one problem: It's nearly the end of October! I've already plowed through and re-experienced all those wonderful horror classics, pruning a few games and adding a few more as I went. So here is my list of October Games for 2012:
Extermination - This game falls nicely between horror and "horror." A near launch title on the Playstation 2, it takes much of what makes the early Resident Evil games fun and mixes in some third-person action shooting, plus it all takes place in Antarctica, which as John Carpenter and H.P Lovecraft teach us, is a scary place. I didn't always like the game, but this year I found myself entertained. For a great look into this game I highly recommend Ack's excellent article (written two years ago!). My only beef with Extermination is the amount of backtracking near the end.
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams - To those who have never experienced it, Silent Hill 2 represents one of the first moments that console gamers were treated to a truly adult storyline that was well written and well told, and did not include the general silliness that would often permeate console games of the time. Much like its predecessor, SH2 more or less eschewed "jump-scares" for a more psychological approach, using limiting vision, sound, claustrophobia, and random monster encounters to lull players into a sense of despair and doom. Multiple endings, general secrets (memory card trick, anyone?), and the story itself demand. For SH4 fans (they do exist!) watch for the tiny newspaper mention of main antagonist Walter Sullivan.
Resident Evil 2 - Hype for this game prior to release was not to be believed, save to those that lived through the insanity that followed the release of FFVII. Video game magazines, retail stores, and a burgeoning Internet presence of gaming websites were awash with buzz. There was even a demo disc, which with the aid of a Gameshark one could pick apart and play for weeks, foreshadowing what would happen with the MGS 2 demo only a few years later. And the game was pretty good too!
My greatest memory of RE2 wasn't of the gameplay, but during my time at Funcoland. The day they arrived in store we stacked them up on the floor behind the counter (one stack per register) so that we just needed to reach behind and grab the game and hand it to the customer.
Eternal Darkness - What hasn't been said about this game? Frightening, groundbreaking, and fun. Personally, I always felt that the media focused too heavily on the Insanity effect rather than what made the game good: An excellent Lovecraft-inspired story split up into chapters of the Tome of Eternal Darkness (that the main protagonist finds throughout the game), a good mix of ranged and melee weapon, and a magic system using runes that allowed for varying effects on the "stock spells." It's scary, too, with the best way to play it being all in one sitting at night with headphones on.
I think this will be the last year for Eternal Darkness for a while. I've played it every year since it's release, and any good horror film, too much repetition has dulled the edges off this game.
Silent Hill 1 & 3 - A landmark survival-horror game and it's canonical sequel. One is almost universally accepted as a top twenty of the most influential games of all time, and the other is mostly frowned upon. I'll let you work out which is which. SH1 took the survival-horror genre and turned it on its ear, putting more emphasis on the horror rather than the survival, with that horror being more of a psychological kind rather than the "cheap" kind (though there are a few of those sprinkled throughout the game). The visuals are quite dated on this game now, but to those who can look past this you will find an interesting and scary game well worth the time (and multiple playthoughs).
SH3 was a huge disappointment to many, and quite frankly after the bar SH2 set I can understand, since SH3 takes the more direct story approach rather than what happened in SH2. For those that dig, there are a ton of costumes, weapons, hybrid costumes/weapons, as well as an interesting storyline that questions our personal perceptions on good and evil. Fighting in this game is mandatory, but since the protagonist is gifted with a "side-step" move as well as some strafing abilities it's not too difficult.
On a more personal note, despite what I said earlier about ordering I always play SH1 and 3 together, and always before SH2.
Haunted House - Despite the games age (released in 1982) it is a recent newcomer to my October game list, thanks in no small part to my Dad's gift of an Atari Flashback 3 Plug N Play for my birthday this year. The game is simple, but includes all the hallmarks of a survival-horror game: tight, dark hallways with a limited cone of vision, limited ammunition (you can only carry one item at a time), and a generally creepy atmosphere make this game a permanent addition to my October game list.
Alan Wake - The second newest addition to my list, I discovered this title earlier this year after seeing it on sale at a closing Blockbuster Video. In one word: Superb. The use of sound to announce such things as approaching enemies and safe areas, as well as the ongoing narrative from the main character himself lends itself well to the atmosphere of the game. I've read more than one person bitching about either the combat or the finale of the game, but I personally have nothing to complain about. Regarding the combat it is simple, often forcing you to use hit-and-run tactics or a more desperate "last-stand" effort as you hold off enemies while you try to start a generator (to provide you with a safe area). The story is... the story. It provides closure to what happened during the game. Sure it can be a bit on the weird side, but then again what did you expect?
Well, that is the end of the main list. There are a few runners-up, as well as a few that were taken out for various reasons (mainly time constraints). As an addendum:
Silent Hill 4 - Taken out due to time constraints.
Deadly Premonition - Not added due to time constraints. Maybe next year.
Condemned 2 - Taken out. This game is so queasy and stressful that I just can't play it every year.
Friday the 13th - Taken out due to time constraints.
Amnesia - Will be added for sure next year.
That's it. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your month.
Hey everyone! So Bill (Engel762) and I did some more shopping and I did some little browsing on my own. It's been a pretty good month so far Bill has picked up quite a few things to add to his growing collection as have I. IF you missed the last blog the Street Fighter Anniversary Set is so boss (little 80's talk). Bill and I hit up a few places Wednesday Morning of last week. We went Half Price Books first I didn't pick up anything but Bill did. Then we went to one Gamers store couldn't find anything much since they are doing something ridiculously stupid such as clearing out their old games which now they have chalked it up to getting rid of PS1, DC, and SS. Then we went to another Gamers and they haven't cleared out everything at this time. Bill picked up a few things and since if you buy a guide with a purchase of a game equal or great value he picked me up a Final Fantasy 3 guide for SNES and I picked up a Tray/Stand for my Red Wii (See prior blogs). Then we went to CD Tradepost and I picked up I guess it's sorta kind of "rare" gamecube game Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Then we stopped at Ben's Gaming and I picked up a few things (See list below with pictures. Then our last stop was a Pawn Shop in Council Bluffs and we both picked up a couple of NES games. Then the other day my brother and I did some browsing as well and he picked up a couple of things.
So here is the rundown:
Gamers -
*Wii Stand - $0.95
*Final Fantasy 3 SNES Guide - $9.95 Originally knocked down to $7.00
CD Tradepost - Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone - GameCube - $7.00
Ben's Gaming:
*Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection - Volume 1 - PS1- $2.00
*Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection - Volume 2 - PS1 - $5.00
*Sega Genesis Greatest Tips - First Volume (I know have both volumes) - $1.00
*Rush 2049 - N64 Manual - $0.50
*Super Mario/Duck Hunt Manual with Product Code - $0.50
*SNES Mouse Manual - $0.50
Council Bluffs Pawn Shop - Wild Gunman (5 Screw) - $3.00=
Best Buy:
*Puzzler 3D World 2012 - N3DS - $30.00
*Mortal Kombat - PSVITA - $20.00
Then here is the last part my brother picked up a few comics at a local store and I bought Back To The Future CIB off eBay for $12.95-Free shipping. Then the other day I bought Doom 3: BFG Edition - Sadly disappointed I recommend to everyone unless you are a die hard Doom fan and want every thing to do with Doom DO NOT buy this.
This is just a little different than the typical "RFG Thanks for (insert month/year)".
I was going through some of my old blog entries and I found one I wrote as an open letter to the community. It was written 3 years after joining, but a mere 2 months after I really began to get involved with the community.
As I sit here now, my son is playing Pokepark on the Wii as I look at my TI-99/4A that I need to test so I can sell it. There have been a lot of changes for me personally as well as for the site in the time since that blog post. I have gone from grabbing everything in sight to being selective and selling off stuff that I have just to have it. I'm now a director on the site. We had a pretty big disaster on the site that easily could have been the end of the site potentially. I recovered what I could with what I had, losing a couple of years worth of forum posts and maybe 6 weeks of database submissions.
The forum was slow to come back, but here we are. We have a bunch of new members and old members who have returned. We have new bloggers and a new podcast. We are nearing in on 70,000 software entries and 5,000 hardware entries! We have a new server with more power and drive space for us to grow with! And we have continued to do so with just the support of the community and their donations. We have no plans to be sold or put up ads.
We're doing this on our own. I see and hear things happening elsewhere that I never want anything to happen here. We want you to communicate to us and let us know about any issues you have or any ideas to make things better. Together, we'll continue to get better as well as grow.
What this all boils down to is... thanks. Without the passion of the community, we wouldn't be here. Thanks to the bloggers for writing about your perspective. Thanks to all of the staff for your work on keeping that submission queue low. Thanks to everyone who was here before me who started the site right. Lastly, thanks to every member for making this a great place to be, day after day.
And as always, keep it on channel 3!
Y'know it's kind of funny. I'm a huge horror movie fan, but I don't play nearly as many horror games as you might expect. I mean, I certainly lean towards macabre games in general -- say my love of Darkstalkers for instance. But when it comes to survival horror, it seems I end up collecting these kinds of games more than actually playing them. A lot of that might just come down to lifestyle. The truth is I often gravitate more toward shorter games or arcade style games over long affairs. But it being October and all I figured I'd continue to dig through my collection looking for anything horror-themed that I may finally spend some quality time with.
When it comes to survival horror, there's obviously the staples -- the Resident Evils and Silent Hills -- that I'm certainly familiar with. I'm also a pretty big fan of the Clock Tower series. But sometimes it's really fun to look into more overlooked titles. Blue Stinger was a one-off game published rather early in the Dreamcast's lifespan where it remained an exclusive.
 
The game opens with an impressive ten minute CGI intro with some gorgeous animations and horrible voice acting. Oddly the bad acting made it even better for me, as it really felt like I was watching a b-movie. Next thing I know I'm wandering around Dinosaur Island which has just been hit by a meteorite. "Dinosaur Island"? Hilarious. And within minutes I'm seeing a flying naked ghostly woman and dudes with big insect-arms growing out of their bodies coming after me. In short, the visuals are ridiculous in a really bad horror flick kind of way -- something I can totally appreciate.
 
Game-play wise Blue Stinger has its ups and downs. The controls are (thank goodness) not tank-controls. This is pretty refreshing for a survival horror game. It's probably a bit easier than most games of the genre seeing as how most progression is made by simply locating a key-card to access the next area. Not to mention the fact that there are vending machines in most areas that provide you with healing items and ammo. Thankfully saving your game only requires finding certain save spots as well. Sure all of this makes the experience a little less grueling, but in a sense that makes Blue Stinger a more campy fun horror game which is maybe an alternative to more well known series.
I was initially surprised that the game didn't spawn any sequels, though some research led me to discover that the developers had instead gone on to make Illbleed on the Dreamcast, which appears to be even more over-the-top and a bit of a cult-classic that I still need to hunt down.
EDIT: shout-out to my buddy GrayGhost81 who sent me this game for free!
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Posted on Oct 18th 2012 at 07:39:39 PM by ( SirPsycho) Posted under RPG, pc game, pc, video game, game, rpg, ultima, rogue, fallout, renaissance, temple of apshai, interplay, origin systems, or |
So this is a series of blog posts I've been putting up on Wordpress and spreading around. If you want to check out the original posts (they have pictures and stuff) then you can find them all here: http://whydidiplaythis.wordpress.com/
In 1997 there was a large shift in the RPG World in general. On the console side the genre was given immense exposure due to the exploding popularity of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy 7, this game would go on to be the second highest selling game for the Playstation. This series is going to be focused on the PC side of things. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game was released by Interplay Entertainment in this same year to widespread critical success and commercial support, selling more than any RPG had in years for the PC. Before Fallout released many industry insiders and long time gamers had essentially given up on the genre, developers were not making many due to rising costs and due to diminishing returns publishers had stopped greenlighting them.
Now by its simplest definition a renaissance is a rebirth or revival, which means there came a time before the release of Fallout where RPGs on the PC were king. So before we step deep into this revival it is imperative that we understand what came before, from what heights had this classical age of PC gaming climbed to? How hard and fast did it fall? What did these gamers get to experience in the days before RPGs shifted to consoles?
In the Dark Ages, for the sake of ease I'm going to label this time period as the late 70's to the mid 80's when most PC games were largely text of ASCII based. A lot of ideas would be pioneered during this time, deep storytelling came about from text adventures and gameplay ideas came from the earliest text based RPGs. Rogue was highly influential in terms of development ideas. This one release popularized the idea of 'randomly generated content' to developers and gamers, leading an entire subgenre of RPG to be labled as 'Roguelike'. This basic design philosophy inspired everybody, from the massively successful Diablo series to the more niche Mystery Dungeon games from Japan.
Temple of Apshai was released in 1979 and was one of the first graphical RPGs to be released on any PC system. Limitations lead to what became a team effort for storytelling that would become prevalant through the late 1980's. Text in the game would give the player a section of literature to read in a printed manual that came with the game. ToA was perhaps the first RPG to do this, and set a true benchmark until technology could catch up.
At this time graphics started to make their appearance more well known on the early Personal Computers, before 1980 most games with detailed graphics were on powerful mainframe systems. Due to technological limitations most of the RPGs that came out in the early 80s were simple representations and retellings of the designers' own tabletop campaigns, mostly Dungeons and Dragons. Wizardry and Ultima would release at roughly the same time, 1981, and both would prove highly popular and influential for the future. Wizardry was built completely around one large dungeon, laying the early groundwork for the modern dungeon crawler. Ultima would also make liberal use of dungeons, but spread them out throughout a world with its own story, the player able to fully explore the overworld before delving into the underground dungeons.
Wizardry would keep its basic design philosophy and continue being fairly successful. The series was the benchmark for character building and those who just wanted to dive into a dungeon and get right to the action. Wizardry would become incredibly influential worldwide, even making quite the splash in Japan where the series would become the most direct inspiration for Dragon Quest according to its creator.
Ultima made a habit of evolving its world, storytelling, and gameplay experience with every new release. Origin Systems and primarily Lord British himself, Richard Garriott, would become the greatest storytellers in gaming history to this point. Many of them even hold up today. Ultima III would really be the first release that truly set the series apart from its contemporaries, introducing plot twists into its story as well as really starting to hash out the mythos for Brittania.
Ultima IV is an entirely different beast though. Where RPGs were largely shallow up to this point (and even after), telling stories centered around ultimate magic artifacts or one stereotypical bad guy bent of world conquest/destruction, Ultima IV would introduce the idea of total freedom, philosophy, and self discovery to gamers. There is a story, but there's no real evil antagonist at all. The world of Brittania is at complete peace after the events of Ultima III, so the main character is summoned by Lord British and educated about a philosophical system based around 8 Virtues and sent around the world to master these virtues. This adventure is a landmark in not only gaming, but the evolution of storytelling in gaming. No game before it was not solely focused on some evil force or mystical artifact, and few have focused solely on the philosophy of a world and belief system as much as Ultima IV since its release, making the game quite an enigma.
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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.
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