What does Red Faction, Ico, Tribes 2, Oni, Myst IV: Revelation, Frequency, Klonoa 2, Anachronox, Kinetica, Katamari Damacy, Oddworld Munch's Oddysee, Viewtiful Joe 2, and Cave Story have in common?
One man. Eight days. One darkened cable LED. Can he make it?
Last week I moved to a new house. Because AOL/Time Warner is the third most evil entity in the world, surpassed only by the Illuminati and Disney, I had to wait a week at my new house for the cable guy to come install the intarnetz. It was worse than Elie Wiesel's worst nightmare.
Outside work, I had to find things to do that didn't involve online connectivity. At first, it sounds easy, then the harsh reality kicks in and begins to eat at your soul. You don't remember what life was like before the intarnetz. It was horrible. I never want to go back. There is no Wikipedia to browse. There is no porn to download. There are no forums to troll. There is no RFGeneration.com - The Classic and Modern Gaming Database to wow your sensations. There is just nothing.
You know that part of the Bible right at the beginning; the part that's named after a Sega console? It's like before that part.
In order to keep myself from going completely insane I blew the dust off my Gamecube and plugged it in. I don't think I've played Gamecube since Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes came out. I happened to have a copy of Rogue Leader chilling in shrink wrap that I was saving for a rainy day, or a multi-tiered Hell of internetless savagery. I also have Halo and Mech Assault unopened and I don't even own an XBOX. Go figure.
So it turns out Rogue Leader is pretty much Rogue Squadron with better graphics. Even most of the levels are the same. It didn't matter. I kept playing it. When I got to something I couldn't figure out I went to my computer to look it up on Gamefaqs -only to remember that Gamefaqs is part of the intarnetz! AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then I tried watching TV. I learned a lot from TV. Did you know that Valtrex can help prevent the spread of genital herpes? Unfortunately, it does not protect against other sexually transmitted diseases. Also, you should avoid taking Valtrex if you have an advanced HIV infection. That's the part that gets me right there. If you have an advanced HIV infection, why are you having sex with people? The answer I came up with was that they already have HIV too, but then why do they care if they get genital herpes? I'm pretty sure that's a drop in the bucket if you already have the gay cancer.
I learned quickly that the only thing worth watching on terrestrial television during the summer months is COPS. Sadly, COPS is only on once a day. This angers me. COPS has been on for like 20 years now. It was the first (and only good) reality show, for those of you who care. There are tons of COPS episodes. There should be an all COPS channel. If I want to see a fat, black, low-income person being tazed there should be a channel I can turn to for that all day, every day with no commercial interruption. Someone get on that.
I started going places by myself just to leave the house. I went to Jimmy John's for sandwiches. I got a plastic cup there with a bunch of company slogans on it. One of them is “Our delivery drivers are so fast, you'll think they're Russian.” I'm still trying to decide what that means. It could be an obvious pun like, Russian = rushin'. Or maybe, it has a deeper, more sinister meaning.
Then I went to Office Depot and bought a HUGE mouse pad. This thing is like Rosie O'donnel's maxi-pad big. It is basically like two regular mouse pads attached for extra horizontal space. The lady at the checkout asked me what I intended to do with it and I told her you can't afford to run out of room when you are wasting cyber-trash. She was a n00b.
On my way home I stopped at Wal-Mart and picked up a bottle of Mountain Dew Game Fuel. I figured with the Master Chief on the package it has to be good, right? Eh. It's better than Mountain Dew Code Red, which tastes like Benedril, and it's way better than Diet Mountain Dew, which tastes like someone peed in regular Mountain Dew. It is nowhere near the awesomeness of regular Mountain Dew or His sacred prophet most high, Mountain Dew Pitch Black, which will return before the final judgment in accordance with the prophecies.
When I got home, I watched Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Then I tried to extract my eyeballs using a butterfly knife. I'm not sure which was more entertaining.
All in all, I ended up playing Rogue Leader most of the time without intarnetz. I managed to get silver and gold medals in every level. Then I got the intarnetz back and learned that it is possible to upgrade your ships in Rogue Leader. This means I got silver and gold medals in all of the missions with none of the ship upgrades. Some of the online guides say this is impossible. So there you go. Even gimped and half insane, I'm still a gaming god.
So, while I was away for the Labor Day weekend, I finally got my key into the Xbox 360 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare beta. Last night, I had the chance to play it for about an hour.
So far, my impressions are very positive. The game is a nice break from the WW2 theme present in the series. It places you in a middle eastern looking war ravaged area. Both the graphics and the sound are very pleasing, especially for an online mode.
The gameplay is what really shines here. It's (obviously) a FPS, but it also incorporates 'RPGish' elements. For example, you start out as level 1 with only three types of soldiers to pick from for use. As you gain kills and complete other mini-tasks, your XP goes up and you begin to level up.
After an hour of playing, I'm currently at level 4 and have 5 classes of solders to choose from. I haven't tried it yet, but apparently you can customize your weapons further as you level up as well. The beta has a level cap of 11, but I plan on getting there as soon as I can.
There are also other rewards for doing well in the game. For example, gaining a certain amount of kills in a row gives you the ability to call an airstrike. It's the little touches like this that will make or break the game. It is all going to come down to an issue of balance. However, from what I've played thus far, so far so good.
I have no words for these two videos. These videos make the Mona Lisa look like some 1st Grader's painting, Citizen Kane look like From Justin To Kelly, The Legend of Zelda look like Pimp My Ride (the video game), etc.
Our featured game this week is Super Mario Bros. 3! A favorite for many, many gamers. Maybe it is because we all grew up with this game, maybe it is because it is just stellar in every way, or maybe it is because of the silly plumber that we have all been trained to see as the poster boy of Nintendo.
Honestly, I think the answer is in all three. This is a game we grew up playing, it is a wonderful game from nearly every angle, and it does star the famous poster boy Mario. That aside, in Super Mario Bros. 3, you take on the role of Mario to defeat the evil Koopa King Bowser and his friends. With many more abilities than in the previous games, you have to be quicker, smarter, and more cunning than ever before! Check this game out if you haven't already. If you haven't, I feel sorry for you.
Our featured image comes from the Nintendo DS's Cars. This is a cute game full of races and mini-games. It is obviously based on the wildly popular Disney/Pixar movie. How could I not pick this image? Look at the car. He's so cuuuuuute! Well, my wife thinks so anyway.
Our featured hardware is in my opinion, terrible. The Turbo Touch 360 for the SNES is so hard to use, not sensitive, and not comfortable. Disagree with me? Let me know!
Lastly, our featured collection is from jtaylor. The collection may be small, but they definitely have some great games (including our featured game)! I bet our featured collection's owner has some great stories about where some of these games came from. Send him a message and find out!
Well, that's it for now folks. In the meantime, send checks payable to me and keep it tuned to channel 3!
Hello readers and members, I hope you've enjoyed the last weekend as much as I have. For those of you not in the states or Canada, it was Labor Day weekend. In Cincinnati, we have a big party. I, along with many of my friends were there. Hopefully your weekend was as awesome as ours.
Anyways, I digress. Last Friday was the last day of August, and so it is time for me to reflect on the last month and commend you all for the submissions that you have made. In case you were wondering, 3016 submissions were made last month. Of those, 1700 were games submissions, 1316 were hardware submissions, and 583 submissions were for new images. I'd like to thank you all for helping to grow our database with these submissions, it's you guys that allow our site and database to grow, and we are truly thankful. This month's top submitter was Mariott_guy! He bested the competition with 1231 submissions. The next highest submitters with more than 50 submissions last month are, in order, Funk_Buddy, Belgarath, NES_Rules, Oatbob, Tan, eaglebeak99, and Alabama-shrimp. I'd like to thank all members, including those who made less than 50 submissions for their submissions. We truly appreciate it. Some people also have to approve submissions, and I'd like to thank Tan and Tynstar for approving a bunch of submissions. Tynstar narrowly beat out Tan for top approver spot last month (148 vs 146). Congrats on that, and try not to rub it in too much.
I believe that I failed to do this post for July, and I am truly sorry. In case you were wondering, July saw 4351 new submissions. Of those, 4150 were for the games database and 351 were for the hardware database. July also saw 1675 new images, an impressive number indeed. In July, Funk_Buddy was the top submitter, with 662 new submissions. The next largest submitters over 50 submissions are in order: Tan, Belgarath, Oatbob, Speedy_NES, Tynstar, marriott_guy, Fighter17, Donkey Kong Kid, Magewout, NES_Rules, sharp, James, Mars, Apolloboy, Alabama-Shrimp, Malgyris, Rorschach, Fuyukaze, cverz2, and JWKobayashi. I'd like to thank everyone for their submissions. In July, Tan schooled Tynstar in the approvals category, with 722 aprrovals versus Tynstar's 258 approvals. I'd like to thank everyone who approved submissions in July and August, thanks for keeping the show going.
Thanks everyone, and as always stay tuned, you never know when new features will be showing up.
[img width=300 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/C-142/bf/C-142-H-00010-A.jpg[/img] 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. This system is often mistaken as a SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) clone due to both the physical design and the processor powering this unit. A closer inspection of this rare oddity reveals a different picture.
Appearing just at the end of the hugely successful 16-bit era, the Super A'Can utilizes dual Motorola processors to deliver its gaming experience. The first of these central processing units (CPU) was the 16-bit Motorola 68000, which was also the driving core used in the Sega Genesis and Neo Geo AES systems. The 8-bit Motorola 6502, which originally debuted inside the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), comprised the second CPU. This dual engine rendered games using a 32,768 color palette and was quite powerful compared to the rest of the 16-bit systems. This processing power would have been a significant advantage for the Super A'Can if this console was released in 1989 instead of 1995. 32-bit technology was already being fully utilized within the gaming market at the time of its release and the Super A'Can was technologically obsolete before it hit the store shelves.
The twelve (12) confirmed games, with an additional nine (9) rumored to be in existence, were released in rather large, SNES-like cartridges. Games came presented in flamboyant, cardboard boxes which included a plastic game holder and instruction manual (also well presented). This matched the fun and playful design of the systems packaging. Overall game graphics and play are very similar to the Neo Geo and SNES. Bold, vibrant colors are pleasantly displayed in 2D environments. One of the best games for this system is C.U.G., a Super Mario type clone. The complete list of confirmed games for the Super A'Can :
The Super A'Can failed miserably due to utilizing outdated technology and being initially offered for sale at an exorbitant price. Very few of these systems were sold, and it has been reported that Funtech Entertainment Corporation lost $6 million USD in this venture. Unsold units were disassembled and were parted out to various companies in the USA and abroad.
Collecting for this console is an expensive proposition, due to the limited number of units that were purchased and the exclusivity to the Taiwanese market. Expect to invest heavily if pursing this console - $100/$150 USD for a loose system, $250 USD plus for complete in box (CIB). Unfortunately, games are more rare that the system itself and usually run around $50 a piece for the common games more for the more elusive titles. Super A'Can systems and games are most commonly found from Taiwanese sellers. Shipping costs to the USA will run you a few dollars, but overall are quite reasonable compared to other countries.
Overall, the Super A'Can is a pretty rare console solely due to its failure in the gaming industry. There is nothing extraordinary about the system or the game library for it. Only serious console/game collectors should pursue purchasing the Super A'Can - the system itself does not warrant the high investment by the casual gamer.
Telltale Games has released the trailer for its upcoming second season of the Sam and Max episodic series. For those of you unaware, the episodic series is a continuation of the adventures of Steve Purcell's comic book characters Sam, a 6 foot tall dog, and Max, a "hyperkinetic rabbity thing". Sam and Max have been featured in comic books, an animated tv series, and a LucasArts game. The series got its start after LucasArts cancelled a planned sequel to Sam and Max Hit The Road in 2004 due to "market place realities and underlying economic considerations" (read: people don't like adventure games any more). After LucasArts cancelled the sequel, the employees working on that title left the company and went on to make Telltale Games, an independent game development company. In 2005, LucasArts let the license to Sam and Max expire, and Steve Purcell approached Telltale and asked them to work on a new game. This eventually led to the decision to make it episodic and the financial backing of Turner's GameTap service.
This trailer premiered at Penny Arcade Expo last weekend, and I must say that it's looking just as good and funny as the first season was.
Sam and Max Season Two hits both GameTap and TelltaleGames.com this fall.
What if business was run like commentary on internet news sites and blogs? Read the comments on any site like joystiq or Kotaku (especially Sony articles) and you'll notice that nothing worthwhile is said. See what familiar commenter types are represented.
WARNING: In addition to representing the boorish side of internet discussions, it also contains strong language. If such things are offensive to you, watch this mySims trailer instead.
Good evening ladies and gents and welcome to the weekly birding feature, last weeks travels overseas brought a lot of a lot of sightings including the Japanese Grosbeak. This particular finch is quite common in the region and a casual sit near any feeder should score you an easy sighting. Also called the Ikaruga by the locals, its black and white feathering inspired a team of four video game designers to name one of their games after it. I believe they're called Treasure and have made some solid hits before, but this one stands out with a new element of gameplay, the ability to change from black to white.
Well, enough of that games rubbish... now where were we. Right, now for this portion of this week's show we get an outside opinion on waterfowl, courtesy of fellow sportsman, Earl. It looks like we're going on a Duck Hunt!
Well good evening there, Earl. What are we tracking tonight? Ducks. Ain't it obvious? Say, wanna Bud? No, thank you. So, would you be kind enough to tell us about your firearm. dun' mind if I do. Now this 'ere is the N-E-S-oh-oh-five, or I like to call it the Zapper. My buddy, TH14Arsenal has got one too.
So, please do tell our viewers what techniques you use to find and make the kill on these particular waterfowl. Well, its pretty easy. You see my dog here, Caesar. He does it all for me. Now, this Zapper came with a robot, and some "ness" toy all my kids be playin with, but that robot did nothin' but spin tops and stack rings, so I'm stickin' with who I trust the most to git-er-done. ...Right, so you just sit back while the dog seeks the fowl, flushes them, and you just sit back and do... nothing. It sounds quite simple, really. grrr...
Calm down, he only gets ornery with strangers. Lets shoot some duckies to cheer him up.
woof woof woof
KA-PANG! KA-PANG!
Wow, nice shot. You got two of them. Nah, its easy. You try. If you insist.
woof woof woof
KA-PANG! KA-PANG! KA-PANG!
Three misses. That sucks man, your aims worse than all five of my sisters' grrr... Caesar don't like it when you miss the ducks.
grrr...
You better run, squirrel
Well, glad to have you all again this week. *gasp* And remember always tune in to Channel thr-DAAAAH
The sequel to last year's Wii launch title is once more drawing an all-out media blitz. To be honest, I enjoyed the ads as much as I did the game last time around, and things are looking promising again this time around.
This time he's crafted a reasonably small combo portable that plays NES and Atari cartridges. He managed to do this using his preferred NES on a Chip and bits from an Atari Flashback II. Yes it does play both Asteroids and Super Mario Bros. 3, and changes over at the flick of a switch.
The folks at noobz.eu have made a smashing breakthrough for the PSP homebrew scene called they affectionately call Pandora's Battery. For those unfamiliar with past homebrew endeavors, it is only possible on the earlier versions (1.5), and later versions must be downgraded to make it possible. Sony's update service has in the past bricked a number of modded PSPs, but is required for most downloads.
This particular downgrader works on any version of PSP and ever resurrects dead ones. This is accomplished by accessing the unit in service mode through custom software loaded onto the memory stick, and converting a battery to mimic the cues of a service technician's battery. This combo should reset the PSP to firmware version 1.5, where homebrew can be easily developed, or the console can be upgraded regularly through Sony's update service for regular use.
What this means to the homebrew community is that any PSP firmware version currently out there can be downgraded to the homebrew-friendly 1.5 firmware, and any dead ones as a result of failed firmware changes or using Sony's update service on a modded firmware will be revived. This lack of deterrent against downgrading firmwares should also jump-start the PSP homebrew scene once more.
It seems that the Prometheus Project team that was working on this either had a member leak the program early or their security was compromised because a few items have shown up for sale in shady places at high prices. As a result Noobz has decided to release their work free of charge to the public a bit earlier than expected. (Their original original intent was to wait for the PSP redesign to hit store shelves.) Also, a final note since all code was written without the aid of an official SDK, all materials included in the program are free of copyrighted materials. They've mentioned that they'll try and keep up compatibility for future firmware releases.
Kudos to the members of the Prometheus Project, I look forward to future endeavors of the highly skilled and talented members of the team.
[img width=300 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/E-114/bf/E-114-H-00010-G.jpg[/img] The GX4000, released in the UK in 1989 by Amstrad, is definitely one of the most unique looking video game consoles ever released. Amstrad, a popular computer manufacturer, looked to cash in on the lucrative video game console market like many of its peers had attempted to do, some more successful than others. Sporting a very sleek design that resembles the snow speeder in Star Wars, looking underneath the hood of this console reveals anything but space-age technology at the time of its release.
The GX4000 is basically a modified CPC6128+ computer. This enabled the console to be compatible with many existing CPC computer games and applications. The system came packaged with the two controllers (NES style), AV cables and a racing game entitled Burnin Rubber. Released for commercial sale for $99 (British Pound), this console was moderately priced at its time. With a substantial amount of readily available ports from the CPC, the GX4000 would not have to entirely rely upon new game development but could be subsidized by its sister system(s) for game content/programming. Even with all of these positive measures, the GX4000 was doomed from the beginning.
The GX4000 was powered by an 8 bit Zilog Z80A processor, which could display a color palette of 4096 (impressive at the time for an 8 bit system) and enhanced sound. The drawback - 16 bit processing technology was released by Sega (and shortly thereafter Nintendo) just after the GX4000 hit the store shelves - this sealed this consoles fate. Porting of the inferior CPC games to the GX4000 did not prove to be financially sound and was quickly abandoned. Around 32 games were released for this console and could be found in the bargain bins throughout the UK along with the GX4000 system within months of it's initial release.
The GX4000 is an interesting system, but only recommended as a purchase for collectors. Readily available in the UK and abroad through eBay and like services, a CIB (complete in box) system can run you around $50-$100 USD, much less in the UK, but keep in mind that shipping costs can be pricey (around $70 USD from the UK to the USA).
Another week, another great set of free games for you to download! This week, I've got an addictive mathematical action puzzle game, a fun destructive game, and a platformer that will drive you insane.
First up this week is one of the most addictive puzzle games I've played in my entire life. It's called Blocksum and it's by a small studio based out of Japan named Circle Infotech. The premise is extremely simple, clear all of the numbered blocks by linking together blocks of the same sum. For example, if you have a block with the number 5 in it, you need to use the blocks adjacent to it to make a sum equal to 5. You could do this by using a 3 just to the right of the 5 and a 2 above the 5. That would make an L shaped block that is equivalent to 5. Now, you must find 4 other ways to make 5 adjacent to either the 5 block you started with or the L shaped one you just made. It's hard to describe in words, but once you try it, it's simple. The game starts out simple enough, however, it gets a lot more difficult when the numbers in the blocks get larger and come faster.
Here's a hint for you. Try and go for large combos of large numbers. For example, try and clear all the blocks by making sums of 4 or 5, you get a multiplier for each additional sequence you make.
Sound confusing? As I said, just go download it. A word of warning for those of you with slower connections, the download is 32 megabytes.
Next game up this week is Death Worm. The game is simple, but oh so fun. You play a killer worm, and all you have to do is eat humans, animals, and cause general destruction while not getting shot by soldiers or hitting mines. Very simple concept, but very addictive! Download it at the Game Maker Community forums (3.5 mb).
When you get done punishing humans and animals, punish yourself with the aptly titled platformer, Punishment. This is an extremely hard game but not because the jumps are hard, but because the game plays tricks with your mind. Levels rotate as you move, touching an eye icon will screw around with your mind, touching the Democrat/Republican will do something that will just make you scream in anger, and of course the pixilated backgrounds that become clear as you get to the top of the level are distracting as well. You will hate this game with every last ounce of your being...however, you won't be able to stop playing. Also, notice the special guest appearance in the second screen (the one you start on). I think many of you will recognize who it is.
If you think that's all the punishment there is, you'd be wrong...dead wrong, because Messhof Games just released the sequel, Punishment: The Punishing, last week. The sequel does not play as many tricks on your mind, but it has its fair share of mind trickery (just wait until you get to the third screen in the game). Oh, and this game has one added twist that drive you up the wall more than ANYTHING in the first game. I can't say what it is because I want you to scream out obscenities when you discover it. Again, this game will drive you insane, but it's so addictive.
So, that's it for this week. Comment on the article with your thoughts on the games, high scores you wish to share, or total frustration with Punishment.
One more thing before I go. Mark August 30 on your calendar because I have an extremely special article planned for that day, and you will not want to miss it. It's so special that I'm going to start working on it this week.
We are a community of collectors, gamers and the likes, and some of us enjoy to let the world know what is on our mind. For those members, we have the community blogs, a place where they can publish their thoughts and feelings regarding life, universe, and everything. Some of those members might even choose to write about gaming and collecting! Whatever they write about, you can find it on their blog. You can either see the latest community blog entries in the feed you see to the left, or you can browse for your favorite blog using the menu above. Interested in having your own blog hosted on RF Generation? It's rather simple, first be a registered member, and then click the "My Blog" link that you see in the navigation above. Following those two steps will certainly get you on your way to blogging.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy our entries, rantings, and completely unrelated series of thoughts. We write for you to read, so we certainly hope that you enjoy our material.
This week, it's time to bring out the big gun!
Telltale Games has released the trailer for its upcoming second season of the Sam and Max episodic series. For those of you unaware, the episodic series is a continuation of the adventures of Steve Purcell's comic book characters Sam, a 6 foot tall dog, and Max, a "hyperkinetic rabbity thing". Sam and Max have been featured in comic books, an animated tv series, and a LucasArts game. The series got its start after LucasArts cancelled a planned sequel to Sam and Max Hit The Road in 2004 due to "market place realities and underlying economic considerations" (read: people don't like adventure games any more). After LucasArts cancelled the sequel, the employees working on that title left the company and went on to make Telltale Games, an independent game development company. In 2005, LucasArts let the license to Sam and Max expire, and Steve Purcell approached Telltale and asked them to work on a new game. This eventually led to the decision to make it episodic and the financial backing of Turner's GameTap service.
You've 
