|
What is the Holiday Season for you? For me, it's the idea of "free time" (and spending time with friends and family, above all else). I am always getting into something, but during free time, I like to experiment with many technical things, ROM Hacking being one such example. I also do other "technical" things that involve long, drawn out processes due to modern hardware being a pain to work with in regards to retro stuff. That said, let's begin...
Experiment 1!
The Video CD, according to Philips
[img width=385 height=345]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/DarkTheThief/f38cb4de-4dfc-11e6-966d-7e7ea334f58a_zpsqiarpkkg.jpg[/img]
This is going to sound strange to everyone, I am sure, but I really like what one would describe as "dead formats", but "dead" is far from the truth! While the Video CD is not making a comeback, Laserdiscs and (as far as I know) Betamax Tapes have big collector markets these days. In fact, one store here in my Hometown sells Laserdiscs and makes a lot of money doing it. Anyway, to get to the point, ever since I learned of Video CDs' existence, I've been fascinated with them. So I decided to try my hand at making some. It was hard. See, when the Philips CD-i released (note that my CD-i is the only method I have of playing these Video CDs), Philips added 4 certain files to their Video CDs that prevented them from playing on standard Video CD Players. This odd setup also prevents standard Video CDs from playing on the CD-i. Anyway, the 4 files can be found easily enough by searching the internet, but they can't be added to a CD easily. I learned how to do it thanks to the very helpful folks at the forums here: http://www.videohelp.com/ What's more, your video files need to be of a specific file type and at the same time, encoded a very specific way to work. So why is all this hard? You can't do it on a modern Operating System. You need to use a VM (Virtual Machine), which is an Operating System that works like a program within your current Operating System. Was all this difficult? Yes. Did it take me around 3 days to get it right? Also yes. Was it worth it? To me, very much so. I like older technology, and I'm sure we can all relate in one way or another, considering what this website is.
Experiment 2!
ROM Hacking, because I can
[img width=569 height=521]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/DarkTheThief/Faxanadu%20ROM%20Hack_zps3ubsfxno.png[/img]
ROM Hacking is hacking an older game's data to modify/add stuff to the game. One thing I love about RPGs is that you can name (or rename) Characters to whatever you want. The example above is from an NES Game called Faxanadu. In the Famicom Version, you could name the Main Character, but for reasons unknown to me, they took this feature out of the NES Version. I found out about this about a year ago, and at the time, I couldn't do anything about it. As time passed, I learned how to hack ROMs, so I did what you see above to remedy it. I did something similar with The Goonies 2, also an NES Game (though you couldn't name characters in that one in any version). At some point after this, I thought "What if I could do this with a 16-Bit Game?", so I tried my hand at ROM Hacking Shadowrun for the Genesis. This was surprisingly easy, and while I don't have a Screenshot on hand to show it, it was also just a simple Name Change. Was this whole thing stupid? To a few people, yes, but I can say that at least two friends thought it was cool.
I get a lot of free time in October, November, and December, and those are just a couple of things I did this year in said free time. The Holiday Season is great: Time with family and friends, time off from work/free time in general, giving and receiving items, and much more. What do YOU like to do during your free time this time of year?
Super Mario, a name we all know and love...Has he ever disappointed us? Nope. However, even our friendly neighborhood Plumber has skeletons in his closet. Today, I'm here to tell you the story of the Mario Game that could have been. This is the story of...
[img width=497 height=375]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_60EdE-4xjwk/TADDkn-sYkI/AAAAAAAAHFA/sQ3fnkPENlk/s1600/front.jpg[/img]
Super Mario's Wacky Worlds was to be developed for the Philips CD-i by a company called NovaLogic. It was to be the sequel to Super Mario World. Developers Silas Warner and John Brooks were drafted as the game's designers, and worked 24 hours a day for two weeks on the game, finishing only a part of one level to present to Nintendo. Their meeting with the Nintendo developers came at 8:00 AM on a Friday morning, and they had their short part of the game on a disc four hours before this. Nintendo was very much impressed at the two men's job, but because of poor CD-i sales was forced to cancel the game. This ended the CD-i career of Warner, who had expected Nintendo's exact reaction, however other developers such as lead artist Nina Stanley stayed with the project.
So what became of this game? It was unfinished and ultimately never released. Well, officially, anyway. There is a Prototype ISO floating around the Web that can be played, but it is far from a complete game. Anyway, after this game was cancelled, we got this...
[img width=505 height=450]http://www.mariowiki.com/images/8/8f/Hmario.jpg[/img]
That's Hotel Mario, also for the CD-i. It's a Puzzle Game with some platforming elements. The general goal in each stage is to close all the doors on every floor. However, various enemies will interfere and reopen them at times. Elevators are needed to travel between floors. It can be quite difficult at times, even to the point where it would become un-fun to the casual gamer. Anyway, this game is generally not accepted by Mario Fans, or Nintendo for that matter, despite it being a decent game.
Well, that's all. Thanks for reading! 
Did you know that in the 90s, a "Legend of Zelda" Game was released by Philips called Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon? After a botched deal between Nintendo and Philips to create a CD Add-On for the SNES, Philips got the (temporary) right to use some of Nintendo's Characters in they're games. As far as I know, 4 different games were created using the characters. One of them was Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It was a Side Scrolling Platformer much like Zelda II, but unlike Zelda II, the whole universe hates this game, and the other three games as well. Why? Like always, I have no idea. What I do know is that these games are fun to me, and I actually enjoy them. People say the Voice Acting is awful, the animation is awful, and the gameplay is awful, but I don't think so. As such, I did a whole LP (Let's Play) Series of Videos for The Wand of Gamelon. It was certainly tough, but I managed to play through the whole game. So, I now proudly present you with all the parts right here. Here we go!
Well, that's it. All 16 parts. I hope you enjoy watching it. 
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.
[img width=257 height=225]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-049/bf/U-049-S-01080-A.jpg[/img]
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.
[img width=320 height=185]http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/jackcrow2000/IMG_3930.jpg[/img]
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.
[img width=320 height=185]http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/jackcrow2000/IMG_3931.jpg[/img]
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.
[img width=320 height=185]http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/jackcrow2000/IMG_3932.jpg[/img]
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.
[img width=320 height=185]http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/jackcrow2000/IMG_3929.jpg[/img]
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%.
I thought it was time I gave Burn:Cycle a try as I'd heard good things about it, and whilst I've had the CDi for quite a while it's never had much love. I'd picked it up as part of a deal with a boxed Sega Saturn and a handful of games.Burn:Cycle was released in 1994, and it shows it's age, coupling FMV sequences with VR imagery that could have come straight from Lawnmower Man, albeit with fewer chrome reflection effects. It's not terrible, but it's not exactly easy on the eyes either, favouring reds and blues, and not much else.
The look and feel is total cyberpunk, exactly right for the era; 80s 'what the hell are you wearing?' fashions; Hollywood style technobabble; a fairly predictable plot - data thief infected with a computer virus that's set to kill him must find out why before the 'cure' can be found.
The opening of the game sets you up for exactly how the rest of it will play out - make a few random clicks around the screen, interact with a couple of objects, turn around and get instantly killed.
GAME OVER
Get used to the sight of that, you'll be seeing it a lot. The 2 hour real time dead line for the game means that it's artificially lengthened by a punishing difficulty and frequent insta-death(tm) I'd forgotten just how annoying games can be when they get the basics wrong.
The save/restore mechanism is absolutely dire, using the point and click system like it does you can lose precious seconds just navigating around the menus, and the lack of 'snap to' on the default options is a serious omission.
The scenery makes navigating extremely difficult, amd the point and click interface means that you don't always head off where you think you're going, nor is it easy to see entrances to new areas. I've frequently had to resort to a walkthrough to find where I need to be going, but once there the puzzles are reasonably entertaining.
The game is frequently let down by 'Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins' accents, I just can't abide them, and find them incredibly jarring. What is it about games designers that think they can get away using a friend of a friend for a voice over? And why is it that the only English accents that exist outside the real world are either Queen's english, or Cockney?
The sad thing is I really wanted to like this game, I'm a huge fan of cyberpunk. I grew up reading William Gibson novels, I played Cyberpunk and Shadowrun RPGs on paper, my first email address alias was 'thecount@someuniversity.ac.uk' and no end of home electronics projects ended up in matt black boxes with an Ono Sendai brand label applied somewhere discrete
End Result
Total play time: 9 hours
Bad English accents: 3
Deaths by meteor: Millions
'Screw you!s' shouted at the screen in frustration: Too many to remember
Final Verdict
It's a passable game spoiled by a poor interface and an incredibly frustrating level of difficulty. In it's day it was probably incredible, but is now over shadowed by current gen cgi and an audience expecting much more in the way of interactivity.
 Why hello everyone! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tony. You may recognize me from many blog articles here on RF Generation, and as the resident Sony Fanboy on the forums. However today I am entering a brave new world: the weekly features! Run for cover, hide the children, and lock the doors, because this week we are being invaded by Headcrabs, Vortigaunts, and Bullsquids. That's right, our featured game is Half-Life.
Oh but since I'm doing the features, we have to make this huge (like my ego)! Why not include all the expansion packs and one of my favorite online games ever while we're at it? So, that's why we are featuring Half-Life 1 Anthology for the PC. This package bundles together the original Half-Life, the brillant expansion packs (Opposing Force and Blue Shift), and the ridiculously fun Team Fortress Classic. Think of this as an old-school version of Valve's recently released Orange Box, but without a kickass puzzle game. If you've been reading the Gaming Diary thread in the forum, you'll notice that I've been slowing making my way through the Half-Life series again and am really enjoying the experience so far. Now, Half-Life is out of print, but thankfully you can track it down (sans expansion packs) on Playstation 2, (legalishly) on Dreamcast, or you can get it on Steam.
Let's take the featured hardware in a totally different direction. This week, the featured hardware is the Philips CDI 910. I've always wanted to see the CD-i featured since it has brought us so many classics like Hotel Mario (and the , , and the whole YouTube Poop thing.
What about the featured image, you ask? Why don't we keep the trend alive and feature the cover image for last year's smash-hit compilation The Orange Box for the Xbox 360? If you were paying attention earlier on in this article, you might figure out that The Orange Box is a compilation, just like our featured game of the week. However, The Orange Box bundles together Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 into one great value of a game. Also, don't think that you can only get this little joyful bundle of sunshine in video game form on the 360, because it's also on the PC and the Playstation 3.
And finally, the featured collection this week belongs to someone who has never played Half-Life becuase he's too busy going nuts over Halo. Who might this be? Well it's none other than our friend OatBob! He's got a very extensive collection of all sorts of games for various systems, but he has a soft spot in his heart for the Dreamcast, the same system Half-Life got cancelled on. In fact, that soft spot has led to him having a goal of collecting every single US Dreamcast game and all of their variants. While he has that nice Dreamcast collection, he needs to play our featured game of the week...really badly. If he doesn't, I might just send Nihilanth after him.
So, my first time doing features has come to a close. I enjoyed it and maybe I'll do it again in the future, that is if you'll let me.
Until next time...Channel 3...leave it on there. There's some good stuff coming up.
|
|
|
|
Blog Navigation
Browse Bloggers | My Blog
|
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.
|
|
Hot Community Entries
|
|
Hot RFG Blog Entries
| |
|
