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It has been compared favorably and otherwise to everything from Braid to Ico. In truth, Limbo is a sum of several familiar gameplay components, wrapped in a dark, morbid, and mysteriously surreal narrative. What it is not, is for the faint of heart. Or wallet.
Gameplay consists of platforming, with only a jump and a contextual interaction button adding to the standard left and right movement. The sensitivity of the left analog stick determines walking, running, or creeping along, and that's it. No ducking, looking around, or direct combat. This streamline approach, rather than confining the experience, focuses the player on the two biggest features of Limbo: the environmental puzzles and the atmosphere. Oh, the atmosphere.
Limbo's palette is black, white, and grays, and nothing else. Instead of using this refined spectrum to construct high resolution and detail, the designers use the opposite extreme to grand effect. The visual filters and muted shades paint a dreamlike visual experience that is unique and immersing. Background and foregrounds are at a constant haze. Environments feature sparse lines and sharp angles that just barely convey a sense of open woods, labyrinthian underground tunnels, and complex industrial areas. Indeed, the world of Limbo only roughly sketches its home, then hands the pencil to the player's mind to draw the rest of the details. Where this could be easily viewed as pretentious or even lazy on the developer's part, the design is definitely purposeful, as the rest of the tools are clearly in the iron grasp of talent.
The animation is top notch, with subtle particle effects and little details emphasizing every action. Many clues are given for gameplay as well as narrative in the smallest of touches. The audio wisely follows the consistency of the visual design; sparse, light overtones occasionally punctuated by dramatic flair, and effects that will make the player much more squeamish than the persistent visual violence. I began playing with two friends watching, but before the hour mark I was alone. This brings me to an important point:
Limbo's content is not for everyone.
There is implied murder, torture, gore, drowning, dismemberment, and very dark themes. Without giving away spoilers, some actions will likely stun you in their graphic nature. This is not Mario. It is not Braid. It is a game designed around a certain theme, and that theme is played out fully. In the same manner that South Park may appear to target a young audience but is designed for adults, the same could be said for Limbo.
Though I personally feel games should always be based on their own merit, and there are flavorful and unique elements to the experience that is Limbo, everyone will compare titles. As mentioned before, Limbo imbues a desolate and lonely aura likened to the PS2 classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, comparative indie vibes to Braid (also an 'artsy' title criticized as derivative and overpriced), along with gameplay similarities to PC/PSX's Heart of Darkness.
And if the biggest sell for Limbo is the original atmosphere (and it most certainly is), the other is gameplay. Physics based puzzles and platforming challenges make up the bulk of the experience, with exploration and attentive observation yielding literal eggs for completion and achievements. A chapter select allows for easy access, and the game respawns the character only moments before each mistake, again putting the emphasis on puzzle solving and atmosphere. Some of the timing elements of the game are, true to the genre, mostly trial and error, and the designers were wise to avoid any life count or continuing limitations, allowing the player to simply keep at it until done.
Which brings out Limbo's only real 'fault' making the rounds of the critic circles at large. At fifteen bucks, is a game that can be completed in only a few hours worth such a premium? Limbo would certainly not survive the current expectations of boxed retail, and as a Live arcade download only title it is expected to compete with cheaper games containing more longevity. The almighty Castle Crashers, Braid, and even Ikaruga have fielded the same complaints, and review scores are bashed in light of perceived value.
I intend to write an article on the perception of entertainment value later. As for now, it comes down to this:
Limbo is original. Limbo is exceptionally well made. Limbo is, for a certain audience, wonderful. Limbo is fairly short, even abrupt by today's gaming standards. If you are interested, play the demo. It will tell you all you want to know: do I want more of this? Will the experience be worth the money to me, individually? Will I feel at a loss for paying this much for a few hours?
I know I, personally, have no regrets about purchasing Limbo. Indeed, I consider it a gaming experience to rival my top ten. But if you play the demo and are still not sure, Limbo probably is not for you, fifteen bucks or otherwise.
As an end note, I feel that the narrative played out in Limbo is terrifically realized, despite forum debates passed to and fro over the subjective nature of the story and its details. I thought it was rather clear in its intentions, and if it is not painfully obvious by now, I also feel it was a masterfully well done experience. If you are curious about my thoughts on the particulars of the story, feel free to PM me: I don't want to ruin or cheapen the experience for the curious by posting said thoughts in a forum.
BioShock 2. Halo 3 ODST. Super Mario Galaxy 2. New Super Mario Bros. Any Street Fighter after II. Every Madden after 2000 or so.
These games, other than representing new entries in their respective franchises, don't have much in common. But one thing I have heard about all of these games, either by critics or fellow gamers, is something along these lines: "this game is unnecessary."
The general mentality behind said comments usually indicate that the game does not offer enough updates, change, or innovation as to justify its existence, especially in light of previous games in its respective series. Some, such as the numerous updates to the Street Fighter series or Madden, are largely seen as simple tweeks or balancing, with occasional new characters or roster updates. Others, such as Super Mario Galaxy 2 and BioShock 2, are critically praised as superior gameplay experiences to their predecessors, yet are deemed as not really "needed" because of how well the first game performed or was received, and that the sequels were only market-driven extensions.
For this humble industry observer, the very idea that any entertainment product is 'unnecessary' because of previous similar product is not only humorous, but self-centered and destructive.
Imagine this same take on other entertainment:
Star Wars/Babylon 5/Stargate/Battlestar Galactica/Star Trek/Any other Sci/Fi with aliens represented as humans of other color or forehead wrinkles
Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. ANY OTHER SCI/FI Anime
Baseball/Football/Soccer/Basketball/Any other sport involving teams and vaguely spherical ball-like objects
Nascar/Rally/Cart Racing/Off Road/F1/Derby/Any other sport involving a vehicle and driver
This Band/That Band/That other Band/That Boy Band/All Rap,R&B,Techno,Classical,etc
Not only are all of these modes of entertainment highly derivative of other forms of entertainment, but to a non-fan they are often indistinguishable from each other within the same genre. Try talking about the differences of TOS, TNG, Voyager, DS9, and the movies to a non-trekkie and they'll just shrug; not only can they not distinguish between them but often they wouldn't care enough to try. I know plenty of people who can't distinguish Star Wars from Star Trek. Sacrilege to me, apathy to them.
Mention a 'strike' to a baseball fan and then a bowling fan. Watch what happens when you pretend to confuse the two. Somehow YOU'RE the dumb one for mixing up a term between two silly sports involving letting go of a ball. Aren't they pretty much all the same? (*ducks various thrown sporting gear*)
I'm not even getting into music, and how so many bands sound the same and yet sometimes something new and different can be so off as to be mistaken for noise.
The healthy purpose of entertainment is to at least give relaxation, and at most to edify. Why would I get upset over another Madden this year? Even if there are no serious innovations or updates beyond the new team rosters, if the sports fan buys it and has just as much or more fun with it as other entries, who am I to say that's not enough? Is someone else having fun? Am I a 'must be something new' Nazi to the point that I can't enjoy the bulk of current or even past games? Games that, while market-driven and mostly made with profits in mind, are still designed for the point of enjoyment?
This is not an attack on innovative progression. It is an acknowledgment that 'new' is not always better, and 'same' often has the right to exist alongside it. Striving for something completely groundbreaking and different, even improved, is admirable, and NECESSARY for the healthy development of our hobby. Trying to choke the gaming public with too much of the same will only lead to stagnation. The ol' industry crash of the early 80's will always be a reminder of that. (And epic mismanagement, of course.)
But video games are a much larger entertainment beast now. There is not only room for 'new' and 'same' to exist simultaneously, but often 'same' is needed to help fund 'new'. Those years of Madden sequels, much as they are criticized, paid for Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, and other original EA IPs. I have no interest in rehashed Pokemon, but that juggernaut helped keep Nintendo's name in the industry until my beloved DS released. Not to mention that shiny and awesome looking 3DS was built off the backs (money) of Mario Karts, Mario Golfs, Kirbies, and yes, Mario Parties.
Not only are sequels comfortable for us, they remind us of what we like and why we like it. I could probably enjoy Halo sequels for years, despite a core formula that is traditionally not altered much, not to mention it being another "generic" space marine FPS. You know, I LIKE that. I know what I'm getting, I know I like it, I want more of it. If they change things up a lot, I might like it more, but I might like it a lot less. Is is worth taking a chance? Sure. But why whine when a sequel is more of the same? If we liked the first, why are we griping that we were given more of what we liked?
We also need new. We need different. We need Katamari Damacy, Panic!, Vib Ribbon, mr. Bones, Seaman, Twisted, Odama, Kinect, Waggle, Move, NiGHTs, Yar's Revenge, Super Scopes, Bongos, Loco Roco, Patapon, Myst, and especially Shadow of the Colossus. We need something at least a little different, even if it fails. Even if it turns out to be not that fun. Even when new becomes the new derivative. Our industry adapts and shifts, or stalls and withers.
Different people enjoy different things, and the fact is that many of us will buy sequels and enjoy them, even if they aren't much different. Sometimes, it is because they are not much different. As much as I enjoy the Halo games, I think the Call of Duty series tend to be just above average games, but largely derivative of each other and offer little innovation between the respective entries. (Of course I recognize the same arguments leveled at Halo.) But they are both undeniable successes, and the sequels will undoubtedly follow in the same footsteps. Is that bad?
Apparently millions in the gaming mainstream don't think so. Why argue games should be so different if so many are enjoying these games? Are these millions of gamers wrong? I think that's the wrong question.
I think the more important question is, are these people having fun?
Or wasn't that the point?
Hooray for indie developers! Not only do they sink hours of their time into a game that possibly nobody will ever play, but they do it with such unselfish motivations. I certainly assume that Nathan Tolbert, the man behind the GBA title Anguna: Warriors Of Virtue spent so much time on his game not to be rich and famous, but instead to pay homage to games that meant a lot to him -- namely the Legend Of Zelda series obviously. And that's commendable. So many of us talk crap about weak games. We talk about what we would have done had we been the ones making the game. But how many of us actually sit down and spend the time to code a new GBA game. Well, not me. That's for sure. So I salute the Nathan Tolbert's of the world because they are the ones who now have the power to keep our dead consoles alive. You see, Anguna was released in 2008, the year after Nintendo themselves killed the Game Boy Advance.
 
Anguna is a very impressive independent release. It certainly looks far more professional than many homebrew games. And there's an incredible amount of detail included. Obviously the graphics are well-done as evident by the screens pictured. But what's really great is all the extras -- there are numerous secondary weapons to pick up, maps to find, a fully working save-feature, and even a catalog of the monsters you've come in contact with. Furthermore the game features five full dungeons to complete. This is really a deep Adventure RPG considering it was a labor of love that was worked on in free time. I'm certainly not saying it's as sprawling as a Zelda game, but it's easily the most vast GBA homebrew game I'm ever seen.
 
What's even greater about the game is the amount of post-release love the developer has devoted to it. There is a wonderful website kept at http://www.tolberts.net/anguna/ that hosts downloads of the game in both GBA and DS format, intakes bug reports, and even offers up maps and FAQs should you happen to get stumped.
If you're a Game Boy Advance collector you may want to order a physical copy of the cart as well while they're still available. Of course you could have the ROM for free, but a cart version not only makes a nice collectible, but it shows a bit of support for a hard-working indie developer. And I for one want to encourage game designers to continue to make new GBA releases. Speaking of which, I asked Nathan if he had any plans to make an Anguna sequel, and he basically said that he had been planning one for a while but couldn't find an artist. He's currently working on porting Anguna to some other consoles, but doesn't rule out another GBA release in the next few years. So head on over to http://www.tolberts.net/anguna/ and check out Anguna for yourself, and if you really enjoy it why not encourage Nathan to continue to help keep the GBA alive?
The True Holy Grails
of Video Game Hardware | | "The Majors" |
 We have already established that the term Holy Grail is a highly subjective adjective in the first part of this series, along with identifying systems 11-20 of those that 98PaceCar and I deem worthy of this lofty title. We now move on to the Top 10 - those systems that truly are the center pieces in any hardware collection. As in the past article, we limited ourselves to considering the standard release of a console (no crazy development units, clones, protos or LE/SE editions). As in any collecting field, the more obscure and rare and item is directly impacts its price. We did not list any suggested prices for any of these systems, but some descriptors will give you a pretty good idea of their value in terms of cold hard cash (along with availability). Most of the following consoles are unknown to the standard gamer. These are systems that basically should be targeted by only the most serious hardware collector and require substantial investment. Finding these at all will take considerable effort (for the most part). OK, let's get to it - the Top 10 Holy Grails for the hardware collector. The True Holy Grails of Video Game Hardware - The Majors.
| | | 10. Bandai Pippin @WORLD |  |
In 1995, Apple Computer Inc. joined the console foray by finishing the development of a system based on a scaled down version of their System 7 OS. Named the Pippin, Apple followed the 3DO Company's lead by licensing this technology to an outside manufacturer - Bandai Digital Entertainment. The Bandai Pippin @WORLD is the North American release of this console. It is estimated that only 5,000 of these were sold during its limited lifespan.
| | | 09. Funtech Super A'Can |  |
In 1995, Funtech Entertainment Corporation released the first original gaming system in Taiwan - the Super A'Can. Produced and sold exclusively in its native country, the console and controllers feel very fragile, constructed of thin plastics that belies its strong, dark grey outwardly appearance and extremely high price tag. Very few of these systems were sold, and it has been reported that Funtech Entertainment Corporation lost $6 million USD in this venture. This is a hard one to acquire since it does have a pretty strong cult following due to the obscurity of this system.
| | | 08. APF Imagination Machine |  |
In late 1978, a company by the name of APF Technologies released a simple cartridge based system similar to other consoles on the market named the APF M1000. The console itself could then be "docked" to the MPA-10 to create a hybrid computer. The combined unit became the APF Imagination Machine and provided the BASIC program language, keyboard, 9K of RAM and could be expanded to 17K RAM, color graphics and a built in cassette recorder. Finding a complete system is extremely difficult due to the fact that these are cherished by collectors from the era (both video game and computer enthusiasts).
| | | 07. Entex Adventure Vision |  |
Released in 1982 to a lukewarm reception, the Adventure Vision had only about a year lifespan on the market before it was pulled. The consoles that were sold were fragile and troublesome, so few have survived to today. This makes it difficult to find a working example and nearly impossible to find one for a low price. It's estimated that only 10,000 of the consoles were made. Few other consoles have the star power of the Adventure Vision. It's a well known grail item that any true collector will have at least heard of. The only downside to hunting for one is that you will often find yourself bidding against hand held collectors as well as console collectors, making the interested audience that much bigger. If you want to add an Adventure Vision to your collection, you had better be ready to break out the checkbook.
| | | 06. Casio PV-1000 |  |
Casio of Japan, known for their line of calculators, decided to cash in on the console videogame craze. In 1983 Casio produced the PV-1000 console. This Japanese exclusive was below average compared to the competition (Sega SG-1000 and the Nintendo Famicom) when it debuted and met its demise quickly. This is an extremely rare item and only recommended for the ultra-serious console collector. This console lacks the fanfare of the some earlier entries, but is actually more difficult to find due to its limited run.
| | | 05. Capcom CPS Changer |  |
In 1994, Capcom decided to follow SNK's lead in the Neo Geo AES and released the CPS Changer. Based entirely upon existing arcade hits, this system produced excellent quality and game play. This system is a new addition to a very lucky member of the VGCL team - 98PaceCar. Both of us have been hunting for this system for quite a long time and have only seen it available on Yahoo-Japan once or twice. Only 11 titles were released for this Japanese system. This system is extremely pricey - expect to be competing with arcade collectors as well when trying to acquire this treasure.
| | | 04. Bandai SuperVision 8000 |  |
Notable game developer Bandai was very involved in hardware development and manufacturing beginning in 1977 with its popular line of TV-Jack pong based consoles (six total releases within two years). Building on their mild success in this arena, the Bandai Super Vision 8000 debuted in 1979 and was the very first programmable game cartridge system released in Japan (before Sega and Nintendo). This system is one of the least known amongst collectors, but its place in history is unquestioned and is truly a milestone in any collection.
| | | 03. Daewoo Zemmix Turbo CPG-120 |  |
Korean based Daewoo produced the Zemmix CPG-120 console (Zemmix in Korean means "It's Fun") that was the pinnacle of its line of MSX based systems. This console was basically a MSX computer in a console casing. It was an NTSC based machine capable of playing MSX cartridge games. All Zemmix systems are expensive and rare, but this 'UFO' anomaly is a true grail for the hardware enthusiast. Be prepared to dig out and sell any gold fillings you may have - this console is a serious investment.
| | | 02. Katz Media Player KMP 2000 |  |
The Katz Media Player is the European release of the Bandai Pippin ATMARK (itself a rather obscure system). 98PaceCar and I have never seen one of these for sale in all of our combined years of collecting hardware. This may be a questionable entry to this list since there is some speculation if this system was actually sold for retail. I can not even guess what it would take to acquire one of these beasts. If you were married to Jessica Biel, expect to pimp her for a good two years straight to pay for this peach.
| | | 01. RDI Halcyon |  |
For the console collector, there are no systems that will match the rarity of the RDI Halcyon. If you are fortunate enough to locate one, it will be the centerpiece of any collection. Little is known about the true production of the system and it is a non-confirmed rumor that the system was even available at retail. Current information tells us that no more than 10 units were built for the investors of the company, all of them by hand. It doesn't get any better than this folks - welcome to the true holy grail of video game hardware!!
| |
Did We Miss Any Consoles from our Two Part Series?
| Happy Hunting!! |
Now, you may remember a certain treasure haul I got a couple weeks back. You know, where I bought 567 games for $240. Well, the pictures didn't quite tell the whole story since there was just so much stuff. I've now had a couple weeks to sort it all out, and I took some new pictures to give you guys a better feel for my greatest find ever. Instead of taking a picture of everything, I just included the stuff that I'm keeping for myself, these do not include the games I'm selling. I'll most likely be posting the games I'm selling in the buying & selling board instead of on here.
The following pictures contain 320 games, of which I should be keeping almost all of them. There may be a few duplicates that I missed when I was sorting, but for the most part, these will all be staying in the collection.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2010 - #6 Part 2
Continue reading Unloved #14: Spyborgs
The Game Boy Color's launch in the Winter of 1998 should have been a big deal. It had been nine long years and the original Game Boy's outdated hardware was still chugging along. Finally Nintendo decided to offer up what would basically be a portable version of the NES. And maybe eventually a lot of GBC titles would live up to such standards, but upon the launch of hideously purple Game Boy Color system, there were only four games to choose from. Strangely none of them would really demonstrate exactly why a colorized Game Boy was something to get excited about. My only guess is it's because these early GBC titles were the black-GB cartridge type that were also backwards compatible, so perhaps they were purposefully stripped down games?
 
I often wonder about the board meeting that Nintendo had when planning the Game Boy Color's launch. And I figure it went something like this:
Well it's been nine long, hard years of research and development but we've finally done it! We've created a new Game Boy with a processor twice as fast as the original, with four times as much RAM, that's able to display 56 colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768! Which means it can play Centipede, a game that looked dated upon its release 18 years ago with absolutely no problem.
I mean honestly. Why Centipede? Even a port of the original Donkey Kong would have made far more sense after the success of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. But Centipede just looks really shitty with its tiny nondescript little sprites. I just don't get it.
  
Game & Watch Gallery 2 is probably the best looking of the GBC launch titles. The bright colors of the modernized Game & Watch titles is really nice. Admittedly, I'm not the hugest fan of the series, so I may not be the best judge of the game. Although I can admit it can be a brief fun time-killer, at the same time most of the six included games just feel like variations of either juggle-this-stuff or dodge-this-stuff; in both instances pressing only left or right is the only requirement. However, as mentioned the cartridge does include six games to pick from, and each of them record high scores so this could keep you interested for a while if you're one of the many big fans of the series.
  
I actually skipped the GBC launch myself. But if I had a time machine and traveled back in time to the launch and had to choose just one of the four games, it would have been Pocket Bomberman. The Hudson original is a fun little platform-puzzler that takes the classic Bomberman formula and combines it with a side-scrolling quest. The sounds are nothing to write home about, but the graphics are at least passable as an (early) NES game. As mentioned above, Pocket Bomberman certainly doesn't show off exactly what the new GBC hardware was fully capable of, but having said that it is still a fun and overlooked little title.
  
Okay so Tetris DX sort of stumps me as a launch title. Most new adapters of the GBC were upgrading from their original Game Boys, which would pretty much mean that they probably already owned Tetris. And if they popped their original Tetris cart into the GBC, it would be in color, right? Well. Yeah. For the most part Tetris DX is unnecessary. It's the same game as the Game Boy original, minus the awesome music. However there is one thing that makes Tetris DX superior: it saves high scores. Of course that's only going to be a selling point to a certain batch of gamers, but for some of us it's enough to make Tetris DX a must-own cartridge.
So now that we've reviewed these four titles, what do you think? Was the launch an indication that Nintendo was already far more focused on the eventual Game Boy Advance? Was GBC always destined to be the awkward middle-child? Or am I just being over-critical?
So join me on my journey to discover if there is treasure to be found on the CD-I. The system has a rotten reputation, but I am going to dig through some of the titles I have to look for a diamond in the rough. First up, a game that I feel a little dirty playing, Voyeur.
Voyeur is a FMV game that reminds me of Night Trap. In the game you play the role of an investigator spying on Reed Hawke, a Presidential candidate with nefarious intentions, over a weekend stay with his family at Hawke Manor. You begin the game in your apartment across the street from the Manor. From here you have access to your camera for your Peeping Tom-ery, a phone to call the police, a TV with VCR, and a package to send video tapes.
The game plays out over the hours of the weekend. During each time period you can view the different rooms of the mansion with your camera. Different video and audio scenes play out in different places, and time ticks away via a battery meter. This limits you to choosing wisely what you choose to watch.
As you watch, the crazy family play out their own stories, with the candidate Hawke eventually plotting to kill one of the family members. Your job is to capture incriminating video on Hawke to do one of two things: send a tape to the threatened family member to get them to flee and turn over incriminating evidence, or call the police to show them solid proof that Hawke has killed someone.
As I said before, the family is nuts. This game is not for kids, as odd sex traingles run deep. There is no actual sex or nudity shown, but there is some skimpy clothing, S & M, and even a brewing lesbian relationship. With Night Trap and Mortal Kombat getting so much attention by Congress in the US during this time, I can't for the life of me understand how this one slipped under the radar.
The acting is surprisingly good. It's not Academy Award winning, but as FMV games go they did a good job. There isn't really any gameplay to speak of, as the only real interaction you have is choosing which rooms to spy on. Luckily the game does randomize the clips so you don't get the exact same sequence each time, so there is some small replay value. Overall for this type of game I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed my playthrough, and will probably play through it again. You can't save, but the entire weekend of the game takes place over an hour or so which is just about the right length. In the end, if you are looking for something interesting to play on the CD-I I would recommend Voyeur. Even though I do feel a bit like a perv when I play.
My rating: 80%.
WARNING: The following blog post may contain a treasure hunting find that may blow your mind, if you have a weak heart or are the jealous type, do not continue reading.
So I didn't post last week, I was busy Saturday afternoon through Sunday night, and then Monday came around and I didn't feel like writing one up, and before I knew it it was Thursday, so I didn't bother. But don't worry, those finds will be here this week.
But that's not the exciting part, for the most part garage sales were pretty lackluster. The real treasure wasn't found until Sunday (yesterday if you're reading this today on Monday).
If you've been in the chat yesterday much at all, then you know what the super awesome mega haul of a lifetime was, but if you weren't then you'll have to wait until the end of this post. And don't just scroll past everything else, cause I'll know if you do.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2010 - #6
July's game for the Together Retro game club at http://www.racketboy.com was the Sega classic Outrun which I revisited with glee. Outrun is one of the games I remember always wasting a few quarters on back in the early 90's arcade at my local mall. It's a game of great simplicity -- drive a cool car as fast as you can, or lose. But even looking at the (dated?) game now, it's easy to see the appeal that it would have had on a pre-teen version of myself. Remember, the arcade version put you literally behind the wheel of a Ferrari and let you gun it toward the beach with a blonde in the passenger's seat. Any avid follower of Saved By The Bell and its ilk would have been drawn in.
 
The GBA port of Outrun is excellent in my humble opinion. It has a very 16-bit feel to it that holds up quite well to how my brain remembers the arcade original. The music, which you cannot forget to mention while discussing Outrun is just as great as ever. In fact, I'm now on the hunt for the soundtrack recording by the SST Band, as Outrun is often mentioned in discussions of best-soundtracks-of-all time. And rightly so. The GBA controls are responsive and satisfactory as far as I'm concerned.
 
Speaking of which, when I first started playing the game this past month I decided I would do so using a GameCube racing wheel in an attempt to recapture the feel of the arcade. The wheel I chose was this one, made by Intec. It's a nice smaller sized wheel that doesn't take up a ton of space if you don't have a huge game room. It features lots of buttons on both the left and right side, making it ideal for both lefties and righties -- or for switching between control schemes on the fly while making some crazy turns. Also, its built in suction cups cause it to firmly plant itself on my Ikea desk and integrate itself quite seamlessly with my Game Boy Player set up.
 
Unfortunately as fun as bringing the arcade home was, it turns out that I just could not beat the damn game with the wheel. So eventually I resorted back to my trusty Hori pad. The thing about Outrun is that it's not a terribly long game by any means. I beat it at least three or four times throughout the month in fact (see high-score picture below right for proof!). But what's nice is the choose-your-own-route dynamic of the courses. When you get to the old Robert Frost-style forks, you decide which way to go. I didn't end up beating every combination of courses myself, as I really couldn't keep track of which ones I had done.
 
I'm not sure if a score of 25359300 is actually any good, but it was my (recorded) high score of the month. I can't say I really even mastered the game as the truth is I never even figured out when it would be advantageous to hit the brake. Really my only strategy was to put it in high gear as often as I could take it, and to just ease off the gas whenever I had to take a sharp turn or make a daring pass. Somehow this worked out for me. At any rate, I can definitely say I had a lot of fun with this game, and it's certainly one of my favorite arcade racers of all time.
Oh dear. It's been a while. How are you fine folks doing? I'm doing wonderful, but a part of me is sad. See, we have this wonderful IRC chat room, and unfortunately it's lonely in there. There are only a few of us that go into it, and that makes us sad.
See, you don't need a specialized IRC program to get to our chat (though it won't be bad if you do). We have an applet here you can use. Of course, you could always find us at #rfgeneration on Quakenet. We reside there. Maybe you'll find us talking about video games. Perhaps you'll see an extension of our unrelated thoughts thread. But you know, if more of us were to frequent the chat, it could be a very interesting time.
So, won't you join us in the chat? It doesn't hurt to join! Quite painless, really. We love the chat! Won't you love it too?
Click Here for our Chat Page
For the first time of the Summer this year, my wife and I hit the beach this past weekend. We brought drinks and a nice lunch. The water still seemed a bit too chilly for swimming, but it certainly felt nice just laying under the sun. My wife is an avid reader, so she brought a book to pass the time. Surprise! Surprise! -- I brought my Game Boy Advance.
Now the art of selecting a beach game is tricky. As far as I'm concerned I usually need something that isn't too graphically intensive. Remember, you're sitting under a bright sun, so there's considerable glare no matter how you position yourself. Anything that has lots of detail is going to be a burden. Also, I a pause-button or turn-based game is a must. You have to be able to stop at any moment when you're at the beach because of the aforementioned glare, or well... just because this is relaxing time. Not intense time.
My beach game of last Summer was Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. It worked well because each round generally doesn't last that long, you can pause at any time, and although it is a puzzler, it relies more on strategy than on agility. Also, there isn't an overwhelming amount of detail -- really just primary colors.
This year I decided on an RPG. It seemed like since I'd just be laying on the sand, I wouldn't mind taking the extra time to read the text and get into a story. Similarly, the battles would be turn-based, so I wouldn't have to rush anything. So now I'm three hours into DemiKids: Light Version and absolutely loving it.
 
DemKids is a spin-off of the popular Shin Megami Tensei series of games which also includes the cult-classic Persona series. The DemiKids games are certainly influenced by other games, but the result is nothing short of awesome. The game follows a group of elementary school children on a quest that overlaps both the year 20xx and another dimension ruled by demons. The current-day kid vibe seems to be reminiscent of the Mother series. And although I'm not a big Pokemon fan personally, the gimmick of recruiting a party of demons to do your battling for you is intriguing and not overly annoying in a gotta-catch-em-all sort of way either.
I know it's still early in the game, but so far I'm having a great time. A lot of times I won't bother starting an RPG because I feel like I don't have the time to commit to perpetuating the storyline, so I'll eventually lose interest. Of course having it as a beach game just might help.
What are your beach games? What criteria would you use to describe a beach game? Or do you just think I'm nuts for bringing a Game Boy so close to sand and ocean?
No Soup For You!!! | 
As I grow more experienced in life (a.k.a. get old), I find myself becoming less patient and accommodating for daily idiocies that I once blew off without a moment's thought. I'm a pretty easy going guy, but there are quite a few things that are truly beginning to torque me off. o Clueless dolts talking on their cell phone in the check-out line at CVS
o The Fire Sauce Gestapo at the Taco Bell drive through window
o Two foot long receipt for my $0.99 Tic-Tacs purchase
o Idiots taking up three spots because they don't know how to parallel park
o My lady friend for making me sit through the Housewives of New York City When it comes to video gaming, there is one specific pet peeve of mine that is really starting to get my BP fluctuating as of late - the "No Soup For You!!" attitude of game developers. Let me explain.
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Like most gamers, I follow certain series and can't wait for the next release. I'd like to think of myself as an investor in these franchises - without forking down my hard-earned coin for their games there would never be any sequel. So what do I get in return for my loyalty, financial backing and continued support? You guessed it - usually NOTTA. There are some exceptions to the rule, but for the most part very few titles in the post 16-bit era allow you to import data from your previous adventure/season/etc. I am not necessarily looking to start off a new gaming venture with my super-human character from a last installment - that would basically ruin the new game experience/fun. But I admit I do want a little "sumthin-sumthin". Give me some bad-ass sword, first pick in the draft, a special mission, whatever. Recognize that I am a loyal follower of your series (as well as a suido-shareholder). I am happy to see new game releases like Mass Effect 2 that will actually take notice and compensate me for beefing up my Shephard in ME1. In my humble opinion, the employment of this "thanks for your loyalty" programming strategy should be the rule rather than the exception. There is no excuse why developers can't show us some love for our continued patronage of their respective gaming series. With today's technology and expanded media formats, they can surely squeeze in a few 0's and 1's to at least recognize our past efforts. It's bad enough that my wallet is getting brutalized like a contestant on Hell's Kitchen for DLC and the like. Throw me a bone (extra lives, cool outfit, a retro car, etc.) - I have earned it!!! Give me my soup!!
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The Quest For Glory series allowed me to import and grow Gabriel, my Paladin who dished out more pain than a 24 hour dentist.
Suikoden II did it the best (regarding importing data), rewarding players by being able to welcome back old friends.
| | Is my point of view coming from left field? What are your thoughts? | |
Continue reading Unloved #13: Rise of the Dragon
Since I've been keeping the Game Boy Player Land blog, I've gotten a fair share of messages sent to me with various Game Boy related questions and comments. I love this sort of thing. People might send me a heads up on a rare cart popping up on eBay at a good price, or let me know about a title I've never heard of that I might like. Other times I get questions about various accessories, or technical specs, or similar subjects related to the Game Boy line. However the other day I got a really interesting message that got me thinking that I should share some information here for everybody who may have similar questions.
Here's a quote:
...something I need your help with.
I was very excited to find this at Gamestop and not so excited when I got home. Final Fantasy VI Advance. It has a completely different label on it. I thought it looked weird, but I didn't know what it was supposed to look like. If you study the case hard enough you can notice very small differences. It looks like a professional reprint or whatever you want to call it. The chip inside looks different than I've seen before, but I'm no expert on GBA games. I've only opened a few. It does have Nintendo printed on the chip. Anyway I've included photos. Mainly curious to see if the chip is legit. I'll probably return it either way. Let me know what your input is on it. Thanks a ton!
I no longer have my GBA, so I'll have to wait until I get my Gamecube hooked up before I can test it.
Thanks for the help! Take care!
Best Regards,
Dale
Dale was also thoughtful enough to take some very good pictures of his Final Fantasy Advance VI cart for my inspection, which he was nice enough to give me permission to use in this post:
 
Now right away the label on the cartridge gave me cause for alarm. Every single copy of every installment of the Final Fantasy Advance series that I've ever happened upon has been the same plain-Jane black-text-on-white label. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that this is a bootleg cartridge. Of course there exists limited edition releases, promotional copies, imports, etc. I'm certainly not going to pretend that I've seen every GBA cart in existence.
But that brought me to my first real red flag. I've gotten many messages in the past where people have shown me a picture of a GBA cart label that has Japanese text on it and asked if I could figure out what game it might be. And that's always a breeze. You see every cart has an AGB number on it. The AGB number is like a game's specific catalog number which can very easily be Googled. It's as easy as that.
Example, when I type AGB-AKWE-USA-1 into Google, the first thing that pops up is Konami Krazy Racers. Similarly, when I typed in AGB-ALLE-USA and expected to get Lunar Legend for my example, instead I learned that my copy of Lunar Legend is a bootleg that had fooled me until now.
Which brings me to my next item to look for. Once I realized that the AGB number on my Lunar Legend cart brought up nothing, I flipped the cart over and looked at the chip board under a bright light. Sure enough, the little green board did not say Nintendo. Generally this is a quick and easy test. However, this isn't always the case. Check out that picture above that Dale took of his Final Fantasy VI chip board. You can see that it actually does say Nintendo. And right next to it is an AGB number, which by the way was how I figured out for sure that his cart was a bootleg. Googling AGB-E06-02 brought up a Yahoo! Answers thread about a copy of Pokemon Emerald bought off eBay that -- sure enough -- turned out to be a bootleg.
And what was the telltale sign for our Yahoo! Answers Pokemon Emerald victim? The damn game won't save! That's a very common problem with GBA bootlegs. And in my opinion, it's the biggest problem with them. There's many collectors out there who feel ripped off because they're not getting the official Nintendo-approved product. To be honest, that's not my issue. Sure I enjoy finding a complete-in-box game, but it's not necessary. I have many cart-only games as I'm generally pretty cheap and I'll take what I can get. But if a game won't save, that makes me furious. Especially if it won't save because it's a fake. I should point out that my (apparently bootleg) copy of Lunar Legend saves just fine. Perhaps some bootlegs are of higher quality than others? But who knows how long it'll keep its saves for.
If you're a collector and feel concerned that a game you're after on eBay or at the local flea market might be a bootleg here's a few tips and pointers to help you get better at spotting phony carts in the wild.
First, a few pictures taken from Nintendo's own website on Anti-Piracy, found at http://ap.nintendo.com/de...hotos/gameboy_advance.jsp:
Real:
Fake:
Real:
Fake:
Notice the poor quality of the labels, especially in the case of Super Mario World. This is similar to the weird "fiery" version of Dale's Final Fantasy Advance VI above. But of course, this -- like all of the signs -- are not always present. Such as the case with my Lunar Legend. The label on that cart was very convincing.
Another helpful guide is found on eBay itself, since so many bootlegs carts seem to get distributed there, either knowingly or unknowingly. The full text can be found at http://reviews.ebay.com/B...0QQugidZ10000000000991496 and much like the Nintendo guide, it offers up similar pictures to compare.
 
 
Perhaps you noticed that both the Nintendo guide and the eBay guide both used Golden Sun as an example? That brings us to another valid point. Generally, the more popular the game, the more likely it is that it would get bootlegged. That is to say that there are far more Zelda bootlegs floating around out there than there are Urban Yeti fakes. So keep that in mind when you're out hunting for the classics.
Using the info that I've posted here, as well as the linked articles you should get a lot better at spotting fakes. But you'll also figure out that it's not always quick and easy to notice them. Many boot-jobs are rather well done, and can fool you until you really take the time to inspect it. Case-in-point, my Lunar Legend bootleg that revealed itself to me while writing this very post.
Oh, and if you're wondering how our friend Dale made out with his Final Fantasy VI bootleg that he unwittingly purchased, he sent me this update message just as I was finishing up this post:
Well I took the FFVI game back. I took it to a GS I've never been to before. I went there cause I had to pick up MGS: Twin Snakes. Anyway the people there were really cool about it. They were like "that is definitely a bootleg". They said it was a shame since it was such a good game. I was happy they didn't hassle me about it though.
Also... I think this copy is a little better than the other one.
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