Well, this is a bit late, but better late than never right?
August was another solid month for submissions here at RFGeneration. Our wonderful members made a total of 2,962 submissions in August, 866 of those were images and 500 title additions! While it wasn't our best month, its still certainly something to be proud of, there's not many sites out there that get over 800 images in a month during a good month, let alone a slow one. And its all done for you, by you guys, the community.
So who submitted the most this month? That was ApolloBoy with 1074 submissions. Shadow Kisuragi, Techie413, Sirgin, and aeroc all also had over 100 submissions during August.
And of course, we can't forget about our dedicated team of reviewers. The top reviewers in August were Shadow Kisuragi, Paully3433, and NES_Rules, each with over 100 reviews.
Thanks to everyone who helped out in August, now get to submitting even more for September. We're on track for 50,000 submissions this year, but let's see if we can get 60,000!
Dear RFGeneration members, welcome to what I hope to be a series of interviews on homebrew game designers in the VECTREX community. As some of you know, I'm a real proponent of the VECTREX system and it's a large focus of my gaming collection. I vaguely remember the system growing up, but never played one until a few years ago. I was immediately drawn to it, not only because of it's unique look and portability, but because of the vector graphics, which I remember being a huge fan of in the arcades of my youth; Tempest is still one of my all time favorite cabinets.
Though the VECTREX had a very limited amount of original releases, some of which were only playable with the Light Pen and 3-D Imager accessories, the majority of the games are fun and challenging. Due to the small amount of original games, several designers in the homebrew community who have an affection for the VECTREX, have created some great games for the system, some which are originals and others are ports of original vector arcade titles. Kristof Tuts is one of these designers and is the founder of Tutstronix, a company that creates homebrew titles that push the boundaries of the VECTREX console. Kristof currently resides in Belgium and is one of only a handful of designers still creating games for the VECTREX. After ordering a copy of his most recent release, Vector Pilot, I was fortunate enough to get in contact with him for an interview, which I hope you enjoy.
 **Kristof with this son, one of his primary game testers**
Continue reading Vectrex Interview Series #1 - Kristof Tuts
Episode 6 discussion thread: http://www.rfgeneration.c...rum/index.php?topic=10347
Follow the Collectorcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Collectorcast
On Stitcher (enter Promo Code RFGeneration): http://www.stitcher.com/RFGeneration
On iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/u...collectorcast/id524246060
On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DukeTogo74
On Pod-o-Matic: http://rfgenerationcollectorcast.podomatic.com
Crabby and Duke decide to allow Wildbil back on, since his awesome score streak has dried up and he's no longer competition. We sit down to discuss methods for keeping track of your gaming inventory. You may be able to guess our current favorite, but we talk about the options, our history with different methods, and the deeper meaning behind documenting items.
You folks may regret all the praise you gave us for the last episode, as we've gone on to produce another three hours of content. Don't blame us, you had the chance to complain at the last one 
Show notes:
Music: Metroid (FDS)
22:01 Small Scores
1:34:09 Main Topic: Inventorying
2:58:04 Closing
Sites mentioned in the show:
http://www.rfgeneration.com
http://www.ign.com
http://www.nintendoage.com
http://www.segaage.com
http://www.collectorz.com
http://www.cheapassgamer.com
There is a good chance you may not know of 'conflict diamonds,' and the politics surrounding them. There may be a slightly better chance you know of Jason Rohrer. Both are things best to have awareness of, which brings us to Diamond Trust of London.
Perhaps the most famous aspect of this game is not its setting or even its notable creator; Diamond Trust is the first DS game launched from Kickstarter.
(http://www.kickstarter.co...6/diamond-trust-of-london)
It took several years, and according to Rohrer, many a fortunate situation, but the game is now available, though only through the website: http://diamondtrustgame.com/buy.php
It comes with a typical DS case and manual, and everything included is very professional and pretty much the same as buying any new DS game from retail. As for the creator:
If Jason Rohrer's name just sounds to you like Scooby Doo trying to warn you of Friday the 13th, I highly recommend looking the man up. For a coder/programmer/engineer/musician, the guy practices 'simple living' with a family of four coming under 15k a year, has a number of interesting political and sociological theories (as his lifestyle suggests) and his games are mostly free experiments. I can't say I'd agree with the guy on everything, though I respect him for standing in his beliefs (see if you can catch his somewhat veiled criticism of circumcision from his personal website, or his interesting defenses of natural habitats.)
Most relevant here, Jason Rohrer is an award winning game designer, and his takes on game design are often cited when referencing video games as a medium to be used beyond typical base entertainment value. Works like Passage and Sleep is Death are designed to push our buttons as much as we push buttons on a controller.
Much more 'typical' a game is Diamond Trust. Though the setting is political and contemporary, it never moves past the background to become preachy (if you have no idea what the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is, Rohrer is not about to use a game to tell you.) The design is an almost standard board game, and the strict two-player limit (an AI opponent is available, though the game's own manual desires the player to seek out someone else to play as soon as possible) keeps the focus razor sharp. This is a game about bluffing, bribing, resource management, and second/third/fourth guessing your rival.
If you normally read board games as 'bored games,' know that Diamond Trust is a tighter, faster paced, meaner version of the games you fell asleep to during family reunions or the backup entertainment for those college nights when the power went out and so did the LAN party. Simpler than Monopoly, darker than Catan, and far cheaper to acquire than Dark Tower, if you have another human whose wit you want to match, I can think of fewer alternates as fun.
Only one copy of the game is required, (you send a download copy to another DS) and the DL copy only looses the nifty chiptune music during play. My beloved and I sat down with it the night it arrived and we didn't want to stop playing. Considering the kids were in bed already, giving us some precious alone time, and this is what we wanted to do with it, I can't think of a better way to recommend Diamond Trust of London.
As a fan of B-horror films, it kind of goes without saying that I'm a fan of the Resident Evil series. Silly plots, bad acting, over-the-top violence... it's a lot of what I adore. However, I've never been a die-hard fan of the series either. I've always been the type to pick and choose specific titles to play from the series. It all started for me with the original Resident Evil on PS1. I'm talking the original original, pre-Dual Shock version. I vividly remember borrowing the game from a friend during Summer vacation. I was 16 if I'm remembering correctly. I'd wait until my parents went to bed, bring my PlayStation downstairs on the big (whopping 27 inch!) TV to play the game alone late at night while everyone slept. And certainly I got my fair share of jumps, be it the infamous "first zombie scene" or the dogs jumping through windows.
As much as I loved that game, I somehow managed to miss out on the second and third games in the series. This is made even odder by the fact that I would actually go on to play the glorious GameCube remake, along with the slightly tweaked analog-enabled PS1 edition. But as far as the series went, I mostly overlooked it. I'd eventually get into the extremely awesome GBC game Resident Evil Gaiden, which took cues from series inspiration Sweet Home, and finally the absolutely incredible Resident Evil 4. The fourth game blew my mind -- like many a gamer -- but also seemed to change many of the things that made the original what it was. Gone was the claustrophobia and in was the vast rural landscape. Tension was pushed to the side for high energy action. And really in a way the whole Night/Return of the Living Dead vibe was replaced with something much more akin to HP Lovecraft's "Shadow Over Innsmouth" (or perhaps more specifically Stuart Gordon's film adaptation Dagon).
So to finally delve into Code: Veronica has been something of a revelation -- a reminder of a simpler, and more riveting era of gaming. I should go on to remind you here that these recent blog posts chronicling my slow discovery of the Dreamcast's library was meant to be done so with the intention that I would put in some serious time with each game before writing about each. I confess that at this point I've only played two hours of Veronica. Two hours, and I've made very little progress. I don't even have a save on my VMU at this point. And yet I was driven to write about it now.
 
Let me walk you through my experience with the game thus far. I was first greeted to an amazing CGI intro that reminded me once again at the processing power of the Dreamcast. Watching the intro I found it hard to believe that this wasn't a DVD. Everything was so detailed, so believable from the visuals to the soundtrack. And then I was dropped into the game, in a dark room in need of a light. I thought for a moment that my monitor needed some tweaking. I played with the brightness, contrast, etc. Nothing. After several minutes I finally figured out that I had a lighter in my inventory. Duh.
Once I could see where I was going and the game actually began I was reminded of something: Tank Controls. Oh how disheartening. I had forgotten just how utterly terrible the whole tank control scheme was. I checked the options menu, but sadly there was no alternate control setting. So tank controls it was. Certainly it took me a while to re-acclimate myself with this affliction. But soon enough I was on my way picking up a knife, some bullet shells for a gun I had yet to find, green herb for healing and -- oh no! -- a typewriter ribbon. There it was, the other horrible device that made the original RE such a pain. Set save-points. I took a gulp, and ventured on.
 
Now let me just side-track for a moment in case it sounds like I'm complaining too much. Here are two devices that I've processed to hate about the series; two devices that were alleviated by the time RE4 hit. Yet I can't say they are without their merit. Personally, as a gamer I hate tank controls because I just find them impossible to wrap my brain around consistently. I can never do what I want without thinking long and hard. And I personally, as a gamer hate set save-points because I just don't have the same time I had when I was a teenager. I hate making a bunch of progress only to realize that I need to get to bed and can't find a place to save. Yet as a game fan, I think tank controls are sort of brilliant within the survival horror genre. They create a sort of fumbling confusion that can really elevate the tension in those fight-or-flight moments. And again, as a game fan the set save points force you to really think about when you should save instead of always playing it safe. These are at least interesting devices within the genre.
Continuing on I made it to the first zombie encounter. It's within a graveyard where you are surrounded by five zombies. This is where I first died. And then I died again. And again. And again. I swung that puny knife so many times, fumbling around with my tank controls, flailing and almost never making contact with zombie flesh. It took me maybe five continues before I realized I could just run my way out of that graveyard and right into a cut-scene that would give me a handgun. I should also note at this point I was on eBay researching whether or not a Code Veronica strategy guide was published for the Dreamcast. Sadly, it looks as though any of them were for later ports of the game, and really I'm not one to collect strategy guides under normal circumstances but have kind of warmed to the idea of Dreamcast ones. Oh well.
From here the game started to open itself up a lot more. The path was far less linear. The "right" door was less obvious. I staggered, bleeding down a long alley before realizing there were more zombies than I wanted to deal with ahead. When I started to make my way back I was startled by zombie dogs! And just like in the original game, I jumped you guys. I mean really jumped and let out a yell that I think startled my poor wife who was trying to relax with a book. I just barely killed the dogs and made my way back to a porch that had a green herb for me. After healing up I headed inside and was forced to battle some more zombies. I cleared the room and searched it for goods before making my way into a bedroom lined with bunk beds.
And there I froze up. I'm not being dramatic when I say this, I was too tense to play any further tonight. The thought of what could pop out at me while investigating this bedroom was just too stressful. I felt it best to just turn the system off, and try again another night. Now this might sound like I don't like the game, but quite the contrary. I am by no means new to the horror genre. As stated previously, I am a huge fan of horror films. I've played my fair share of horror games outside of the Resident Evil series. But wow, this game is generally scary. I look forward to venturing on (howlongtobeat.com says it'll take me at least ten hours) and seeing just how badly it can scare me in the coming months.
SPECS:
Game: Montezuma's Revenge: Featuring Panama Joe
Genre: Platformer (multi-screen)
Year: 1984
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Developer: Parker Brothers
Designer(s)/Programmer(s): Robert Jaeger
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 5 = Rare
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1
Average Cost: approx. $25-$30 loose depending on condition
Also Available On: Apple II, Atari 5200, Atari 8-Bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Sega Master System
Tagline/Description: "Wherever there's mind-twisting mystery, hair-raising adventure, and non-stop action--PANAMA JOE is sure to be there. And in MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE, he's got more than he bargained for as you help him through 24 danger-filled chambers in the Aztec emperor's fortress. The stakes? Priceless treasure. And lots of it. But finding necessary keys, torches, swords, and amulets is no small feat as PANAMA JOE tries to avoid deadly snakes, menacing spiders, and bouncing skulls. But then disappearing floors, bridges, and laser walls are no picnic either! It's up to you to lead this undaunted adventurer through the labyrinth of chambers in an attempt to solve the riddle of the fortress and escape with the loot!"
Continue reading Montezuma's Revenge
Episode 5 discussion thread: http://www.rfgeneration.c...rum/index.php?topic=10165
On Stitcher (enter Promo Code RFGeneration): http://www.stitcher.com/RFGeneration
On iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/u...collectorcast/id524246060
On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DukeTogo74
On Pod-o-Matic: http://rfgenerationcollectorcast.podomatic.com
After an unusually long absence we are back to discuss a topic that our significant others wish was more universal, cleaning. This is one of several areas of collecting that we find oddly enjoyable. Don't know how to stock your cleaning tool box? We will help you get started. Wondering what the best method is to get stickers off your games? No problem. Dirty contacts giving you trouble? Or maybe you just want to spruce up the look or your dirty old NES. Whatever it is, we will get you on your way to a pristine looking game collection that will make your friends jealous.
And if you're a listener of any of the previous Collectorcasts, you'll probably recognize how sick we are of talking about Wildbil52's great new finds each episode during the small scores recap. To remedy this we invited Wildbil52 onto the show so that he can talk about his own damn finds this time around . And since cleaning can be such an important part of the collecting experience Wildbil52 sticks around for the rest of the episode to let us take a look inside his cleaning tool box, share a few cleaning secrets, and make sure that we don't get off topic.
Show notes:
Music: Contra (NES)
17:06 Small Scores
59:17 Interview with Wildbil52
1:23:06 Crabby's Amazing Pick-up
1:32:52 Main Topic: Cleaning
2:49:25 Outro
Sites mentioned in the show:
http://famicomblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.snescentral.com/
https://www.nintendorepairshop.com/
http://www.newelectronx.com/
http://youtu.be/KghFebsMw00 (retr0bright)
My recent desire to get back into Dreamcast collecting (thanks OatBob) isn't just to watch piles of games stack up on my shelves. Nope, I want to actually spend time with these games. I want to delve into the library and find out first hand everything the Dreamcast did right, wrong, and just downright bizarre. So to start with, let's talk about a game it did very, very right: King of Fighters Evolution.
Evolution is actually a port of King of Fighters 99, though the Dreamcast port of KOF 98 was confusingly titled 99. All title-weirdness aside, it is an absolutely fantastic game. But before I get into all that, I should tell you a bit of my history with the KOF series to put things into context. Growing up, I was a huge fan of Street Fighter II as I'm sure most of you reading this can relate to. My first introduction to SNK's breed of fighting games came via a Neo Geo cab at a convenience store a few blocks from my house. The game was Art of Fighting, and I popped some quarters into it whenever I had a chance. Not long after I added Fatal Fury to my collection via its SNES port. I found both games to be fun -- with their bright colors and large, expressive sprites. But ultimately, neither would prove as memorable to me as Street Fighter II. And for the most part, I wouldn't touch another SNK fighter until just a couple years ago when I finally played King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match on PS2.
King of Fighters 98 UM I actually blogged about here and basically complained about its difficulty. It seemed to me an exercise in pure frustration. But of course this had a lot to do with its gigantic roster of characters I was completely unfamiliar with. That and y'know... KOF 98 is pretty damn hard. But for some strange reason I stuck with SNK. And really, I'm glad I did. Subsequent titles I'd check out were oddly amazing (Neo Geo Battle Colessium) or just downright incredible (Garou Mark of the Wolves, King of Fighters XIII). And slowly I started to branch out from just using my staple Terry Bogard, and started to really learn some new favorite characters (Athena rules).
 
So now that we're all on the same page, let's talk KOF Evolution. First off, the roster is large but not outlandish, topping off at just over 30 characters. And luckily many of the series' fan favorites are present -- including some of my favorites like Terry, Mai, Athena, Kasumi, Choi and so on. Graphically the game is stunning. 3D backgrounds mesh beautifully with the 2D sprites and the music is fantastic and bordering on the darkside. Even more interesting is the strange storyline -- something about a conspiracy and an evil organization who has infiltrated the King of Fighters tournament to capture "data" in the form of the winners' fighting styles. It's all a bit over-the-top in a really awesome way.
There are many King of Fighters games out there, so certainly it can be a daunting task to know where to start. Certainly I've yet to make my way through all of them. But I would certainly suggest this one as a good place to start. The final boss is difficult, but lacks the infamous SNK Final Boss Difficulty that many have known as a reason to break windows with controllers. And while it uses the series' usual three-character teams, it also incorporates a fourth Striker character (including a couple exclusive to the Dreamcast release) that can jump in during a match similarly to the Marvel Vs Capcom series. What's even better is that this particular title is not overly expensive, especially if you're interested in the Dreamcast port, so you've got every reason to give a try.
If we thought June was hot, July was even worse! Submissions took a dip this month with total being around half of June. With no immediate explanation for this, we can just blame it on the hot weather. Total Submissions this month were 4005, 3758 were games, and 247 were hardware.
Further breakdown shows us that 523 game additions were submitted, 500 game images as well as 2325 game Edits. So with a rather slow month for stuff, here is the top submitters and reviewers:
The top 5 submitters for the month were:
Tynstar: 1183
NES_Rules: 623
Paully3433: 412
Shadow Kisuragi: 280
ApolloBoy: 206
The top 4 reviewers for the month were:
Shadow Kisuragi: 314
Paully3433: 212
NES_Rules: 132
ApolloBoy: 89
Thanks to all who submitted and approved in the month of July!
 Episode 4 discussion thread: http://www.rfgeneration.c...orum/index.php?topic=9974
On iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/u...collectorcast/id524246060
On YouTube: http://youtu.be/tXSZeRqRV2g
On Pod-o-Matic: http://rfgenerationcollectorcast.podomatic.com
What is that? Another Collectorcast already? How can it be? We have been working hard to keep things moving. And while our last two episodes are still somewhat fresh in your mind we thought it best to spend some time tying them together.
Listen in as we discuss what happens when the worlds of online collecting clash with local treasure hunting. How do the two methods compliment each other? Can they live in harmony or do they conflict with one another when combined? Let us know what you think.
And to start moving things in a new direction we discuss everyone's (and we use the term everyone loosely) favorite topic... Variants!!! What do you consider a variant? How do you categorize them? Which are your favorites? How should they be tracked here at RF Generation? It can be a controversial topic and we cannot wait to hear the communities thoughts on the subject.
Show notes:
Music: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)
0:19 Intro
1:18 Small Scores
28:07 Online & Local Collecting Wrap-up
45:16 Variants
1:30:36 Outro
Sites mentioned in the show:
http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/
It may not be the most popular sport around, but Volleyball was well known enough in the NES era to warrant 3 licensed titles on the system. Luckily each of these titles offers a drastically different take on the sport. Each game shines and stumbles in its own distinct areas.
Curious to know which of them are worth your time? I was, but no longer.
Continue reading Crabmaster's Guide to NES Volleyball
I hope you're all having a good Fourth of July (and for those of you that aren't American, Happy Wednesday). If you haven't noticed, we have two brand new DB Contributors, both of these gentlemen have been members here at the site for years and have made thousands of contributions between them over the years.
Because of their dedication, they've been brought onto staff to make it even easier for them to contribute and thus to help flesh out the databases even more.
So congratulations to Aeroc and Sirgin for making it to staff and thanks for your past (and future) contributions!
June was another scorching month, not only in terms of temperature, but also in submissions to the RFGeneration database. During the month, there were 8,503 total submissions, of which, 5,647 were games and the other 2,856 were hardware. In June, image submissions lead the way, with a total of 3,856 (3,768 games/88 hardware).
Continue reading RFG Thanks: June 2012
The results are in for the record setting 2012 PAIN YOURSELF WITH SUBMISSIONS contest. This year's winner really went above and beyond the call of duty, but he wasn't alone at the top. There was a close second place contestant that truly gave him a run for his money. As usual, the winner focused heavily on image submissions, something of which we always appreciate greatly. 5,575 images were submitted by this member alone through the course of the contest. Along with the other submissions this person made, they earned a staggering 55,945 points. More than 2,000 more points than last year's winner!
This year's second place winner submitted a close second place point total of 39,152.
So you're probably what awesome members we have that would submit like mad men to achieve such greatness here at RFGeneration. So, without further ado, the 2012 PAIN YOURSELF WITH SUBMISSIONS Contest winner is .... Aeroc. This is Aeroc's third year in a row of winning the contest. So a big Congratulations goes out to him for this achievement. Everyone here at RFG appreciates your dedication.
So who was the valiant RFG soldier who fought so hard in his attempt to topple Aeroc this year? It was Crabmaster2000 of course. He made a solid attempt, but just came up short. I heard he's already healing his carpal tunnel scanner hand and preparing for next year's contest. Will he be able to topple the reigning three-time champion? Maybe it will be YOU who topples him, or will Aeroc continue his domination? Only time will tell.
So what does Aeroc win? Well, he wins the usual $60 of gaming swag of his choice and this sweet RFG Ringer-T:
For the rest of you that attempted this great challenge, I know some of you fought hard and some of you didn't even realize you were competing. But I thank you for your work regardless of how many points you scored, every little bit really does help make the site better.
To round out the top 10 point gainers this year we have:
disloyalhead - 11,285 points
nupoile - 4,367 points
Tynstar - 3,980 points
Duke.Togo - 2,883 points
Sirgin - 2,854 points
raffa1985 - 2,138
Paully3433 - 1,937 points
blcklblskt - 1,874 points
Once again, I'd like to thank and congratulate everyone who participated this year. Without a solid community like you guys willing to submit like crazy we would never have been able to become THE Classic and Modern Video Games Database. But don't forget that you don't need to wait for the contest, we're happy to accept your submissions all year long!
KEEP IT ON CHANNEL 3!
 Episode 3 discussion thread: http://www.rfgeneration.c...orum/index.php?topic=9841
On iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/u...collectorcast/id524246060
On YouTube: http://youtu.be/xrkaxV0iULc
On Pod-o-Matic: http://rfgenerationcollectorcast.podomatic.com
Hot off the heels of the Collectorcast Episode 2 which explored our favorite places to pick up games online were following up with the obvious, the best local areas to hunt for games!
Well discuss several obvious places and explore the ups and downs of each, but with any luck well be able to shed some light on a few unexpected options that might be available close to home.
As usual we dig through the RF Generation forums and blogs since our last recording and highlight some of the best finds over the last few weeks. And WOW were there some awesome scores this time around. If you haven't been keeping up with the new posts for a while then the Collectorcast will be worth a listen to for that alone.
Show notes:
Music: Streets of Rage 2 (SEGA Genesis)
0:00 Intro
3:39 Small Scores
20:19 Local Collecting
1:33:10 Conclusion
Sites mentioned in the show:
http://gametz.com
www.gamefly.com
www.cheapassgamer.com
www.gogamexchange.com/Locations.aspx
http://discreplay.com/locations.html
www.craigslist.com
www.kijiji.ca
www.yardsaletreasuremap.com
www.gamerspots.com
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