E3 has come and gone and, as usual, none of the content in our episodes is going to be breaking news. But we thought it was important to talk about and give our perspectives on.
Continue reading RF Generation Nation - Episode 13: E3? That's Still Around?
Video Game Weaponry
Melee Based |
Game developers provide us with a myriad of instruments to defend ourselves against their virtual army of evil. These can be classified into the following categories: Melee Ranged Magic This article will take a look at the first class, the Melee based method of assault/defense. This writing is not meant to be all-inclusive, inventory type of document, but more of a general overview from this old school gamer. For me, this type of attack is the preferred method during gaming. The personal, upfront confrontation with some dark spawn is my cup of tea, especially when I am brandishing an instrument of mass destruction in my gloves. I also like the aspect of not running out of ammo or manna like you can with the other two types. Sure, I have to keep watch in some games with my stamina level, but overall this is usually a small price to pay. The following takes a look at some of these pain-bringers and my thoughts on them.
|  | | | Fisticuffs | Hammer |
 Executing the uppercut of the century is always satisfying. Even back in the day, the sound effects were spot on and conveyed perfectly when delivering bare-handed punishment to your foes. Range, on the other hand, is always its downfall. Be prepared to take a few whacks to your grill when powering up your guns.
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 They don't call it "The Persuader" for nothing. The Hammer is not what you would call a subtle instrument of destruction. Known for dishing out massive damage, this tool is extremely slow to wield and maneuver, often leaving the Hero in a vulnerable position. It worked pretty well for Mario though. Overall not one of my favs.
| | Crowbar | Lead Pipe |
 In my humble opinion, the Crowbar is one of the most underrated melee weapons of all time. Sure, Gordon showed off its true potential in Half Life, but very few others have taken his cue. Its simple, elegant form contradicts the pure pain-inflicting nature of this device. Another plus is that it always comes in handy when having to break some window or pry open that door to a secret room filled with loot and other goodies.
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 The Lead Pipe has been a favorite weapon of game developers for quite sometime due to its overall effectiveness and simplistic design. One overhead whack to the coconut and you can say goodnight to any villain. One of the constants throughout the gaming years has been that hollow, high pitched 'clunk' sound effect when connecting with the bad guy's melon. Unfortunately this iron pain baton has lost its luster through the years.
| | | Aluminum Baseball Bat | Axe \ Hatchet |
 What is there not to like about the Aluminum Baseball Bat? The sound effects are awesome, you can wield it with one or two hands and the damage is usually staggering. There is also something unnerving when you see one in real life stashed in the back of someone's car or next to your lady friend's bed. Out of all the blunt weapon types, this is definitely one of my favorites.
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 For whatever reason, the Axe doesn't really do anything for me. I admit that I am not a big fan of slow, cumbersome armaments like this (see Hammer). Most times it is a two-handed affair which limits my options (shield, secondary arm, etc.). I still have no idea to this day why every single member of the Dwarvian nation absolutely loves the Axe. Must be something in their genes.
| | | Chainsaw | Whip |
 Nothing more clearly communicates your intentions to the baddies when you lumber towards them with a churning chainsaw in your mitts. As a gamer, that guttural 'wheee' noise truly gets my blood pumping. One of the great things about the Chainsaw is that it never runs out of gas, but it can get 'stuck' in monsters.
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 These come in all varieties and have been a staple throughout the evolution of gaming. From Simon Belmont (Castlevania) to Kratos (God of War), the Whip has always proven to be an effective instrument during combat. Though it inflicts moderate damage to the evil minions, its range and usefulness (climbing) are excellent.
| | | Katana | Light Saber |
 There are all sorts of swords that become available to the gamer during their progress through a title, but the Katana is usually the ultimate score. Lightening quick and capable of felling a foe with a single swipe, this sleek blade exhibits unusually high precision. Unfortunately most games require two hands to take advantage of this power. The is definitely a drawback, but it is still cool!
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 The infamous Light Saber. This is most definitely one of the most versatile melee weapons out there. It will not only dole out unequalled pain, but it can cut threw sealed doors, be thrown like a boomerang amongst other activities. The bad thing is that use is usually restricted to members of 'The Force'. Luke was cool, but if Han could also wield this blade I would be a very happy camper.
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What are Your Favorite Melee Weapons?
Which Ones Do You Absolutely Abhor?
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This weekend was a little slower than the last couple weeks, but I'm glad it was as it gave me a little break to sort through the haul from last week. Still, it wasn't a bad week at all, the quantity wasn't great, but I think the quality of the treasure I found was pretty great.
There's only one new auction this week. I spent the better part of the week going through the Atari systems, only to realize I didn't have any boxes large enough to ship them in once I had finished. But I did have time to list the PlayStations! Bidding starts at $10, and the winner gets 4 systems, 4 games, and 3 controllers.
And don't forget about last week's auctions. There's an NES with 20 games for $30. And there's a Genesis with 4 games for $8.50.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #4
[img width=314 height=194]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/RF/GBA/system.jpg[/img]
Welcome to a special co-production of the Transitions Blog and Game Boy Player Land. We teamed up to investigate the launch of the Game Boy Advance, a system which was released ten years ago this week in North America and went on to sell over 80 million units worldwide over the next decade.
Continue reading on dsheinem's blog: http://www.rfgeneration.c...y-Advance-Launch-1772.php
You may have noticed that swell little section over on the right side of the front page, the one titled Site Statistics, well look at what it says for Total Scans. That's right, over 70,000! That's way more than nine thousand.
Of course, that wouldn't be possible without the thousands of members who have helped by submitting scans of their games. If you've added one of those scans, pat yourself on the back and then thank anyone else who has added a scan. And if you haven't added a scan yet, what are you waiting for? Its very easy to do and your name will be forever immortalized on that game's page here at RF Generation. Everyone who looks at that game page will be looking at your item. If you don't have a scanner, no problem, we also accept photos of items as long as they're high quality.
It looks like the 70,000th scan was for Crusader: No Remorse submitted by y2richie. Congrats y2richie for making history here at RF Generation!
Thanks again to everyone who has made a scan submission.
It's been a while, and for once its not because of a lack of deals. In fact, the deals kind of became a hindrance of getting this written. I know, I know, I'm either not getting enough deals or I'm getting too many, whah whah whah. Maybe some day I'll get just enough bargains to make a worthwhile write up will not overloading my game room with boxes to sort through. Actually, a nice sealed Stadium Events sounds like a good thing to look for in that regard, maybe I'll pick one up next week while I'm out.
But, enough about what's going to happen next week, you want to know what I found this week. Well, I'll get to that in a moment, but first, a change and an addition to Treasure Hunt Chronicles. Which do you want me to explain first? It doesn't matter what you want, this was written days before you read it, and the order in which I explain them is already set. But, if you said "I want to read about the change first" then you're in luck, because that's what I'll explain first. Its a simple change, but Treasure Hunt Chronicles will now be posted on Thursdays. This gives me a few more days to write them up, and it allows room for the addition to the series.
That addition is actually a pretty big one, and involves all of you out there. Starting with this installment, the stuff I buy at garage sales from now on will be available to you for the prices I pay for it! Here's how it works. When I buy a lot of systems/games, I take out and keep whatever I didn't already have, the remaining stuff gets put up on GameGavel.com with the starting price being what I paid for the lot. Now, if I buy some massive lot, I'll split it up into manageable size lots with appropriate starting bids (most likely the price I paid divided by the number of auctions I make it into). And if I buy a lot and keep most of it or the valuable parts of it, I'll lower the starting bid to a below reasonable price or add some other items to it.
The auctions will run 10 days and have no reserve price. I'll generally be auctioning off items from the previous week's hunt, so what you saw last week will be available this week, and what you see this week will be available next week. At least that's the plan, we'll see if it actually works out.
Now, onto the deals!
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #3
It was seven years ago today that a group of wonderful people put this site on the Internet for everyone across the world to use. While a lot has changed in the past seven years, I bet we have more variations now than there were total game entries when the site first launched, the mission of the site has not changed. We're here to serve YOU, the community, this is your database. The site may have been started by Michael Collins, Eddie Herrmann, Mark Hartholt, Laurel Settee, Mike Leon, and Rick Kuethe, but its been you guys and every member for the past seven years that has made this website what it is today.
And to celebrate everyone who has made this site so awesome, we have a contest every year that starts on April 28th and ends today, June 8th. During this contest, we challenge you guys to PAIN YOURSELF WITH SUBMISSIONS and submit as much as you possibly can in an all out war against empty game pages.
And boy, did you guys answer the call this year! 8,622 images alone were added to the database. Imagine if those images were printed out as 4" x 6" prints and laid side by side, they'd stretch out over 0.8 miles. There were also more than a thousand entries added to the DB, and almost 2000 entries were edited. All this in just over a month, its truly astounding.
Now, there is the matter of announcing a winner to this contest. Is the winner blcklblskt who added over 200 entries? Or was it Shadow Kisuragi who made over 800 page edits? Maybe it was Izret101 who approved nearly 4500 submissions? Perhaps it was Crabmaster2000 for making 43 blog comments? Even though these gentlemen all kicked butt in those categories, it was actually Aeroc who won it all! During the contest, he added more than 3500 images which when combined with his other contributions, earned him 53,543 points.
To round out the top ten points gainers, we have
- blcklblskt with 30,406 points
- Necron99 with 10,958 points
- y2richie with 10,737 points
- Crabmaster2000 with 9,553 points
- Shadow Kisuragi with 6,821 points
- Izret101 with 4,742 points
- raffa1985 with 4,311 points
- ixtaileddemonfox with 3,529 points
- douglie007 with 2,547 points
Congratulations Aeroc! You're now the winner two years in a row! You'll be receiving a PM shortly regarding your prize.
As for the rest of you, thank you for participating, you all did an excellent job and really gave Aeroc a run for the contest this year. He only had 21,000 points last year, so the competition was much stiffer this year! Let's keep that spirit going the rest of the year, and make RF Generation's 7th year the best one yet!
[img width=480 height=640]http://i.imgur.com/quCwnl.jpg[/img]
Like many game collectors, I truly enjoy thumbing through pages of old gaming magazines. There's something really fun about putting yourself back into the context of the time when the magazine was published. This week I got Issue 91 of PSM in the mail as part of a trade. I was thrilled to open the sealed magazine for the first time since its publication in December of 2004. As such, I thought I'd share some key pages with you.
(Spoiler: PSM in 2004 definitely liked boobs. You've been warned! See you after the jump...)
Continue reading PSM: December 2004, Issue 91
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Posted on Jun 1st 2011 at 06:20:41 PM by ( theGrue) Posted under android |
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[img width=320 height=480]http://i.imgur.com/HyONZ.png[/img][img width=320 height=480]http://i.imgur.com/2nj4R.png[/img]
[img width=640 height=480]http://i.imgur.com/6LAJE.png[/img]
Hey everybody!
For the past two months or so, I've been working on an Android app so I can easily look up what games are in my collection while I'm at a game store, flea market, or yard sale. If you've got a big collection, sometimes it's easy to forget whether you've got something already!
For the first public beta release, I wanted to really nail the task of browsing through your collection quickly and effectively. It works well for my collection, but does it work well for yours? Hopefully it will, but if it doesn't, I'll do what I can to fix your problem and get a new beta version out quickly. Once we get all the problems fixed, this can go onto the Android market for everybody to download!
Thus far I've only been able to test on the Android emulator, as well as my G1 running Froyo. The app should run fine on any Android version 1.5 (Cupcake) and above, but I haven't personally tested it on each version. Every Android phone currently on the market also has a much bigger screen than my G1, so hopefully everything scales well for bigger phones.
Ready to check it out? Here's the download link!
http://www.mediafire.com/?ahof91q5n0fb3ib
If you've never loaded a non-market app before, first make sure your phone is configured to allow installation from non-Market sources by going to Settings -> Applications and checking the "Unknown sources" box. Then, simply e-mail the above file to your phone, open it up, and click the "Install" button to install it.
Features I intend to add in the future include:
- Displaying images on game detail pages
- Searching for games in the database
- Logging in to add/edit games in your collection
- Elimination of paging
- More filter criteria
Feel free to suggest things, too. Hope everybody enjoys the app!
[img width=370 height=444]http://vectrex.playntradeonline.com/ppf.jpg[/img]
Specs:
Game: Pole Position
Year: 1983
Publisher: General Consumer Electric (a Milton Bradley company)
Developer: Namco, Ltd.
Designer(s)/Programmer(s):
Rarity (according to RarityGuide.com): rare - 80% out of 100%
Controls: Vectrex Control Panel
Number of Players: 1
Average Cost: around $100+ CIB
Also Available On: Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-Bit, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, DOS, Intellivision, TI 99/4A, VIC-20, ZX Spectrum, arcade cabinet, and various Namco gaming compilations.
Tagline: Do you possess the skill, dexterity and courage to pull out from the crowd for qualification in one of the exclusive starting positions or will you end up as an also-ran?
Continue reading Pole Position - Vectrex
Apparently, we're becoming victims of our own success. You guys are actually digging what we're putting out and requesting more! This is why I feel bad about this episode. We had to hold off on recording while Jesse moved in to his new house (YAY!) and then (after beginning to edit), I realized that it is time to hang up the SOCOM USB headset. This episode is going to be a little strange...
Continue reading RF Generation Nation - Episode 12: More Delays than 3D Realms
[img width=480 height=640]http://i.imgur.com/xDHxbl.jpg[/img]
This month's Together Retro game club pick over at http://Racketboy.com was Zoop. Now let me guess -- you've heard of Zoop, but never played it. You vaguely remember a magazine ad for it, but aren't really sure what it is. Am I right? Probably. That's generally how it went. Zoop was a puzzle game released in 1995 and it was ported to just about every platform available at the time. It made its way to SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear, PC, Mac, Saturn, Atari Jaguar and the PlayStation in an honest-to-goodness attempt at being the next Tetris. Indeed it was even marketing as "America's Largest Killer of Time!"
Perhaps what's more interesting about the game's place in history is that it was designed by a team called Hookstone. Though that name may not ring a bell, most of the members of Hookstone went on to form Mobius Entertainment, who you probably know better as Rockstar Leeds. That's right, the same team responsible for bringing Manhunt and the Grand Theft Auto series to the PSP had its humble beginnings in a simple puzzle game.
[img width=300 height=300]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/2/586002_70514_front.jpg[/img]
[img width=200 height=200]http://ui23.gamefaqs.com/1366/gfs_70514_1_1.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://ui05.gamefaqs.com/1892/gfs_70514_2_1.jpg[/img]
Originally my plan was to play the Game Boy version, but I found it to be a bad idea. You see Zoop is all about a little triangle that's inside a big square. And all these multi-colored shapes are attempting to get in the square. But the triangle can turn into each color, and then take out like colored rows. Maybe you see where I'm going with this? Yeah, a game where color is important just isn't going to work so well on a monochrome system. So I soon decided that I'd pick up the PlayStation port instead. Some of my fellow Racketboy forum members actually played and enjoyed the GB port. Well, more power to them. Personally it just confused my eyes.
[img width=300 height=400]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/1/573801_46087_front.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/lG136l.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/SYlK9.png[/img]
The PlayStation version was very good. At least I assume it would be just as good as any of the other console ports at the time (Jaguar, Saturn, etc.). The controls were responsive, the colors were vibrant and thanks to the newly implemented CD technology, the music was really great. I personally wasn't great at the game. In fact that's my high score in the picture up above there. But what was really nice about playing this month is that so many members got really into the game. It's really fun to go back and play a game with a bunch of people even though it's not handing out achievements or syncing trophies.
Truthfully, I lost interest in the game about halfway into the month. But in fairness, it was my birthday this month which means I got a lot of new games and all of them were begging for my attention. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't come back to this one. In fact Zoop certainly has a certain appeal to it. That kind of timeless replayability that makes games like Dr. Mario or Tetris so addicting. If you haven't played Zoop yet, you've really got no excuse. I guarantee you own one of the systems it's available for.
[img width=550 height=754]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/redsteel2cover.jpg[/img]
Continue reading Unloved #25: Red Steel 2
Ah, the 16-bit era. The two major systems in North America during those years were home to amazing shmups, RPGs, platformers, fighters and pretty much every other genre. What title would finally hold the honor of closing out the retail market? What magnum opus could serve as the cross-platform release to end the glory days of 2D gaming? The answer, surprisingly, was Frogger.
[img width=200 height=279]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/genfroggerc.jpg[/img][img width=199 height=138]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/snesfrogger.jpg[/img]
Frogger, of course, had been a hit when it launched in arcades in 1981. In the years afterward, it would be ported to every computer and home console imaginable. According to Wikipedia, for example, there are over 20 Frogger clones for the ZX Spectrum alone. There was certainly not a frothing demand for a Frogger game when Majesco and Hasbro collaborated to bring the game to the Genesis and SNES in 1998, but that is exactly what they did. By most counts, Frogger was the final retail release for both of these systems.
[img width=320 height=224]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/genFrogger.png[/img][img width=256 height=223]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/Frogger-Ingame.gif[/img] The Genesis and SNES versions, respectively
The two games are actually quite different in terms of graphics and playability. The Genesis port of Frogger is widely hailed as one of the best ports the game has ever seen, and though it fails to really take advantage of the Genesis hardware, it is extremely faithful to the arcade version. It offers no high score tables, no difficulty settings or other options, but it is nonetheless Frogger.
[img width=320 height=239]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/3f7a35d4.jpg[/img][img width=320 height=239]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/d0fa7cf8.jpg[/img]
My copy of this game shows how cheap the Genesis packaging had become by the end of the Genesis lifespan. Long gone, of course, were the clamshell cases...but this is even cheaper than the slide out cardboard games from the latter half of the Genesis run. Theres also a lot of red border and text surrounding the box art, something which detracts significantly from the look of the packaging. From the pictures available of the SNES box (I dont have a copy), it looks like there is a little more uniformity with the rest of the library.
[img width=256 height=223]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/Frogger.gif[/img] Even Frogger himself looks depressed by this shoddy port
The SNES box art may have been the best part about that release of the game, as not only are the updated graphics a travesty for the eyes, but the control and sound are a mess as well. It seems that the folks at Majesco wanted to make a different version of the game for each console but it is hard to imagine what they were thinking with the SNES port.
[img width=350 height=350]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/ps1frogger.jpg[/img]
As an interesting footnote, Frogger received a near-simultaneous release on the PlayStation and PC as these 16-bit versions. These versions place Frogger in 3D perspective and offer a lot of interesting additions to the game. The PS1 port is especially worth a look, if you are a fan of Frogger (it even spawned a sequel).
Number 2 already? Yeah, this year has been going slow, very slow. This time last year, I was up to . . . 2? Wait, last year started out slow too. The year before that, I was up to six by this time, yeah that sounds better. So this year has been slow, very slow in fact. I fully blame the weather though. We were in a near constant freeze through March, and as soon as the temps got above 40, it started raining and has only stopped a few times since. But luckily, I was able to get some game hunting in during those precious dry days.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #2
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