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A friend of mine actually threatened bodily harm if I didn't include The Pinball Of The Dead in this month's Spooktacular. Having never been a fan of bodily harm, I thought that this would give me a good excuse to finally track the game down. It had been on my want-list for well over a year, but I never seemed to happen upon a copy. Well, I'm glad I finally did. As it turns out, The Pinball Of The Dead basically takes levels, characters, and music from The House Of The Dead 2 and shoves it all into a pinball machine. If anyone thinks this sounds weird, they've obviously never played Typing Of The Dead, nor have they seen a Kiss pinball machine in the wild.
The Pinball Of The Dead is extremely awesome by my personal standards. A pinball aficionado friend of mine mentioned that he felt that the physics were pretty off on this one. But I guess I'm blinded by the zombies and blood (make sure you change the blood to "red" in the options menu before playing!). In fact I was so enamored with how well the music carried over the GBA, that I think I was in awe of this game almost immediately. Maybe it's not a perfect pinball game, but if you like zombies and think that shooting a big metal ball at them might be fun -- give this one a shot!
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Universal Interactive released Monster Force in 2002 as a fitting throwback to the classic Universal Monster movies of the 1930's-1960's. Immediately noticeable is the excellent cut-scenes and dramatic music. The presentation is fantastic for horror genre fans. You choose to play as Wolfie (the werewolf), Drac (the vampire), or Frank (Frankenstein's monster) and venture out into the graveyards to collect keys to new crypts and take care of any ghosts that get in your way.
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At its heart the game plays similarly to such shooters as Pocky & Rocky with its overhead view and cutesy graphics. But there's something so sincere and fun about the classic horror movie vibe throughout. Regardless of how bad the cover art is, this game is definitely one that needs to be discovered by the mass of horror film geeks who still don't know it exists. Trust me.
Old Man Stauf built a house, and filled it with his toys
Six guests were invited one night, their screams the only noise
Blood inside the library, blood right up the hall
Dripping down the attic stairs, hey guests, try not to fall
Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen
But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy, sick, AND MEAN!
The great PC puzzle game/interactive haunted house The 7th Guest, like it's distant cousin Myst, is considered largely responsible for the then expensive CD-Rom technology taking off with consumers at large. Considered an instant classic upon release over 17 years ago and selling over 2 million copies, it still holds a nostalgic sway over those of us who were there at the dawn of 'multimedia'. Consisting of brain teasers and devious puzzles, where even learning the rules of the game are a part of the challenge, gameplay in The 7th Guest has aged much better than it's PC counterparts. And while the pre-rendered 3D environments and early FMV work are comically dated now, the incredible musical score and attention to mood and menace help keep the game worth playing even in the days of HD and Blu-Ray.
I have quite a history with this game, a game with quite a development history all it's own, and both are horror stories befitting the games' own darker themes. First up is mine:
As a gamer growing up, I was very fortunate in that my dad was an early adopter in the PC market. Once we had our fancy CD-Rom installed, we had to have something to play, and the magazines sure talked up the showpiece The 7th Guest. Even to this day, I think the only games my dad ever bought for himself were really just to check out hardware. Worked for me! So, my friend Ben and I were soon up night after night, trying to conquer each devilish puzzle, entranced by the graphics and video, and the haunting music echoing in my living room. By the end of the summer, we were stuck on the infamous 'microscope' puzzle of Reversi/Othello. We thought the worst part of the game was pitting two 15 year-olds against a computer AI on Reversi with the difficulty set a notch above "divide by zero and then display the mathematical properties of a black hole on a pocket calculator while counting to infinity twice." We thought the game's most evil moment had to be past us.
We were wrong.
One room left, the mansion's attic. Where a summer's worth of head-splitting mind-bogglers solved would finally culminate, one puzzle that had to be easier than that stupid Reversi game. Almost finished.
The door wouldn't open. Okay...maybe we missed something. Another puzzle? Nope. We tried everything. We went back and played every puzzle, even restarted and re-saved. No attic access.
We were stumped, frustrated, and driven to extremes. That's right, we called the 1-800 tip line in the instructions. Ben and I, the guys who didn't even use the in-game hint system. We had too.
After a detailed (and expensive) conversation explaining where we were stuck, I heard a knowing sigh from the voice on the receiver. We had a defective game. A copy from a print run with a known glitch that keep the game locked from the finale. Seriously. We'd have to mail in the second disc and a copy of our proof of purchase, and they'd mail us a working disc. In four to six weeks. Seriously.
Worse, dad couldn't find the original box. We had no proof of purchase, and so we were completely out of luck. Say what you will about how online patching allows developers to kick games out the door unfinished, back then it would have kept two teenagers from building an assault robot in metal shop and destroying Virgin Interactive and most of the UK. Just kidding: my school didn't have a metal shop. I just played too much Battletech.
Years later, I bought another copy and tried to install it on our newer computer, only to be hit with DOS driver errors that kept it from booting. I wouldn't play the game again for over a decade, and I've still never gone through it again, only seeing the ending on youtube.
The game is/was truly evil.
But my hate/love experience with The 7th Guest must pale in comparison to co-creator Graeme Devine's.
Mr. Devine is truly one of my gaming developer heroes. The guy went from porting Pole Position for Atari when he was 16(!) to helping develop Quake III Arena, Doom 3, Age of Empires 3, and Halo Wars. The guy was lead designer/programmer/producer for more than 40 titles on NES, Genesis, Gameboy, PC, Amiga Commodore 64, Atari ST and standalone arcade games. If I could take anyone in gaming culture out to a steakhouse, Graeme would be at the top of the list.
He and Rob Landeros formed Trilobyte and created The 7th Guest, and became immediately successful. However, the co-founders each had different views on where to take the sequel. The story goes that Graeme walked over to the FMV filming for 11th Hour and
"There the actress stood, dressed in black tights, with a spiked black collar girdling her neck and no clothing on her upper body. In her right hand she held a silver metallic chain attached to a German shepherd. Devine walked onto the set, and as Rob Landeros remembers, "You could clearly tell he was concerned about the content."
Landeros was interested in immediately pushing the content for more adult oriented material. "I told Rob, 'This is just not a comfortable direction,'" explains Devine, who says he "thought about what I was going to tell my wife we were making at Trilobyte."
The divide between the two creators ended up bringing about the fall of the company, as detailed in Geoff Keighley's "Behind the Games" feature:
http://www.gamespot.com/f...atures/btg-tri/index.html
And what began as a promising game company on the bring of new technology dissolved from creative differences, financial mismanagement, and hubris. Not every scary game has an even scarier backstory.
So this Halloween, fire up the emulator and give Trilobyte's success a whirl.
Just remember to get a patched version, or you'll face a real horror story. 
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The lone Scooby-Doo title for the Game Boy Color is most likely the best Scooby-Doo game ever released. What's interesting is that it plays absolutely like no other Scooby-Doo game for any other system. Instead, it's basically a spiritual successor to Maniac Mansion. And I don't know about you, dear readers -- but to me a spiritual successor to Maniac Mansion is a great idea.
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Much like in Maniac Mansion your party finds itself stranded in a strange mansion and splits up to investigate. You can switch characters on the fly, which is helpful as some might be able to handle some puzzles better than others. The game is also full of quirky writing and tongue-in-cheek monster movie references (the story of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde off the bat). Ultimately, this game is nowhere near as involved or long as Maniac Mansion, but I can promise fans that this will keep you giddily playing from beginning to end.
Twenty Five years ago today, the Nintendo Entertainment System launched in the United States. Before its run was over with the release of Wario's Woods in 1994, the system became the bestselling video game console of all time (a mark that would not be passed for many years), the company's name literally became synonymous with gaming, and the NES' library had achieved a special place in the hearts and minds of gamers the world over. Even today, the system is usually recognized as the most popular of all retro consoles, and many gamers continue to collect games in cartridge format or play them via the Wii's Virtual Console or emulation.
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That success was far from guaranteed when the system launched in the U.S. on October 18, 1985. In fact, many onlookers felt dubious about the chances for Nintendo's console to succeed in the post-crash market of the mid-1980s. And even though the system had been moderately successful in the two years since it had launched in Japan (as the Family Computer), the kind of reception it would receive amongst American audiences was widely unknown. For this reason, the U.S. release was a limited one. The October 1985 date was for the New York City test market, and the full nationwide launch wouldn't be until February of 1986 after Nintendo saw some success in New York (and a few other markets).
Long before Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, or Contra became household names, Nintendo launched a product in the U.S. that had to convince a skeptical audience that it was worth investing in a new console. What was it like to purchase a brand new Nintendo Entertainment Center in October of '85 (or February of 1986)? What was the system launch like? Did those early decisions help the system achieve later greatness? Read on!
Part 1: The Games
The launch lineup consisted of eighteen games! This was almost twice the amount of games that launched in the U.S. with the Atari VCS, and half again as many games as had launched with the Colecovision. In some ways, this was a curious decision. While it afforded gamers a high degree of choice, it also served as a reminder that chief catalyst for the gaming crash a few years earlier had been a market flooded with low-quality games. Fortunately for Nintendo, their launch titles were not low quality. But, standing in a store 25 years ago, it might be hard for a gamer not to think that they were seeing more of the same practice that had killed enthusiasm and sales for Atari a short time ago.
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The launch lineup took cues from Atari. As we've covered previously, the Atari VCS launch featured games with very short, descriptive titles (Combat, Blackjack, Street Racer, etc.). This let consumers know what they were buying, whereas a game named after a character might not. For the most part, Nintendo followed suit. Roughly half of the launch games featured titles which made gameplay elements explicitly obvious (10 Yard Fight, Baseball, Duck Hunt, Golf, Kung Fu, Pinball, Soccer, and Tennis) and another set made it easy to guess what the game featured (Excitebike, Ice Climber, Stack-Up, and Wild Gunman). Unlike Atari, however, Nintendo did include a few of their well known IPs in the launch lineup: Mario (Super Mario Bros.) and Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Jr. Math) both made the cut, only leaving gamers scratching their head over titles like Clu Clu Land, Hogans Alley, Gyromite, and Wrecking Crew. In any case, like Atari, Nintendo offered a wide variety of launch titles, the scope of which wouldn't be offered again until Sony's PS2 launch almost 15 years later.
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The launch lineup featured the system's iconic game (and character). The NES launch has several solid titles, but none were as important as Super Mario Bros. Mario was already a well known character based on the success of the Mario Bros. games and Mario's link to Donkey Kong, but Miyamoto's side-scrolling masterpiece was the game to define the console from day 1. Some of the launch bundles included the game, and it would go on to become the best-selling game of all time (a mark not passed until Wii Sports recently took the crown) . Few launch lineups in history have featured a game that made it into the all-time top 10, and all of them are games that launched with Nintendo systems.
Quality assured. In another nod to the video game crash, Nintendo included the Nintendo Seal of Quality on its titles to (hopefully) let consumers know that the games they were buying were bug-free, high quality titles. The seal may not have meant much in 1985, but by the time the NES was in homes across the country a few years later the seal came to represent an important departure from the flooded market that came to symbolize the latter days of the 2600's run.
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(Note: I plan to cover many of these games in the blog individually in the future, but in the meantime there is an excellent run-down of the basics of each launch game here: http://matwolf.com/blog/n...-original-18-nes-games-2/ I shamelessly stole their images of box art, too.)
Part 2: The System
The D-Pad. Nintendo was not technically the first console maker or video game company to include a standard D-Pad, but they certainly popularized it. Nintendo's games were designed with the D-pad in mind, and anyone who has tried playing a Super Mario Bros. or Zelda game with an arcade stick knows that the experience is lacking. The D-Pad also signaled that the console would be more than a platform for arcade ports (which used joysticks), but that plenty of new content produced specifically for the console and its controller would be coming.
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The graphics and sound. It is easy to forget that the NES once was a powerhouse system, as today when most of us look back on the 8-bit days we think about the simplicity of the visuals and sounds. Put simply, even Nintendo's launch games blew away anything that had been seen on a console up to that point, and rivaled some of the best computer graphics and sound of the era. Seamless scrolling, character RAM, 20+ colors, dedicated audio, and region-specific refresh rates all meant that the NES was a system that had both innovated and capitalized on the best of what was available in mid-1980s hardware. And while the launch lineup was impressive, the games in the system's later years would demonstrate just how impressive the processors inside the NES were.
Part 3: The Launch
The bundles were a good deal, but the games were pricey. If you bought a new NES in late '85 or early '86, you most certainly wanted to buy a system bundle and probably didn't end up buying very many games off the bat. I haven't yet found reliable data, but some web searching suggests that in 1985/1986 NES games were priced between $40-$70 MSRP depending on where you lived. When their launch went nationwide, Nintendo sold two bundles for consumers interested in buying the system. The Control Deck bundle with 2 controllers, a zapper and Super Mario Bros. retailed for $130 and the Deluxe Set, which included R.O.B., a zapper, two controllers, Gyromite and Duck Hunt sold for $250. Adjusted for today's inflation, games cost around $100, the control deck cost about $250, and the Deluxe Set cost just shy of $500. This means that consumers in 1985 were getting the system and accessories for roughly $150 in today's money, and that R.O.B. could be valued at about $150 himself. That might seem high, until one realizes that robots were all the rage in 1985...
Robotic Operating Buddy. A Japanese newspaper in July of 1985 announced the upcoming U.S. release of the NES in an article entitled "Nintendo to sell video game player-robot combination in U.S." In the article, they discuss the strategy behind R.O.B.
Nintendo displayed the Family Computer this year at consumer electronics shows in Las Vegas and Chicago, and has carried out market research. The home video game boom in the U.S., dominated by Atari and Commodore International, peaked out three years ago, and since then the market has contracted with much underselling.
For this reason, the Family Computer, with its attached robot, is to be billed as a different concept from the conventional video game. The robot is run by a cartridge inserted into the computer, and both it and the video screen can be operated simultaneously. The robot measures 22.8 by 18 by 23.5 centimeters.
The robot contains three battery-powered motors which control such operations as picking objects up and putting them down, raising and lowering, and turning around and carrying objects. Commands are sent by a flashing signal from the monitor screen, which is picked up by a light sensor in the robot.
In Japan, the robot sells at a low Y9,800, with two types of cartridges prices at Y4,800 and Y5,800 respectively. In the U.S., the player, robot and cartridge will be sold as a unit for around $100.
From early on, the emphasis was on the robot, as evidenced again by a Guardian article from October of 1985 that mentions Nintendo's console as R.O.B.-centric:
Toy makers in Britain and North America have been predicting since January that 1985 would be the year of the robot. Or at least of the toy robot.
Nintendo - has its eyes on the toy robot market. Primarily a computer and video games company, it has invented an interactive robot to play some of their video games.
Using a light link to the television, the 10in tall robot adds a new dimension to the video game. Prompted by invisible sensory devices which read messages from the TV screen, the robot performs a variety of spontaneous interactive affect game play. Standing on its stationary 6in base, the robot can assume 60 different lifelike positions by rotating its arms and shoulders left or right, and up or down, and can lift and move objects. It can pick up screen messages from as far away as 15ft, adding tremendous challenge to play strategy.
Nintendo plans to offer four robot games packs with the initial introduction of the system, and up to four additional games will be developed by the end of the year. The robot costs pounds 100 and the games about pounds 15.
Again, today we often think of R.O.B. as an interesting afterthought or as a failed, largely gimmicky accessory for the NES. But in 1985, most of the press surrounding the launch of the NES focused not on its games, but on this accessory. This was by Nintendo's design, and suggested from the moment of their first U.S. console release that they were trying to attract interest from a broader population of consumers instead of just gamers. They would of course repeat this strategy with their most successful console, the Wii.
It was not marketed as a gaming system.Due in large part to the gaming crash of a few years prior, Nintendo marketed the console as a device that allowed for learning and other forms of entertainment beyond simply playing video games. Their ads focused not on the graphics, the game library, or the features often touted when a new console releases -- they focused instead on the interactive nature of accessories like R.O.B. and the Zapper. The first NES commercial in the U.S. is an example of this:
Another example is the 1986 Sears Wishlist catalog, which emphasizes that the NES was a
fully equipped video system with the most progressive components such as a robot and the light-sensing Zapper Light Gunplus...it's not just for kids.
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The art. As is the case with any new product, good art is important to help sell the attractiveness of the item to the consumer. Nintendo's emphasis in two areas - the game box design and the system box artwork - most certainly helped move units. The game box design (as seen above) emphasized the graphics of the games . A drastic departure from the Atari VCS or Colecovision game boxes before it, the NES game boxes showed blown up approximations o f the sprite art that players would find in the game. Even if the graphics weren't emphasized in marketing, they were certainly emphasized on store shelves. The art for the systems themselves featured a dark blue/black with stars background. The control deck set featured the system and hardware floating in space, while the Deluxe set emphasized R.O.B.'s head. At a time when there was still enthusiasm about the space program, sci-fi was seeing a renaissance in theaters, and robots were all the rage, the art reflected the broader interests of consumers.
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In retrospect, much about the NES launch seems strange today. Most launches haven't followed the same cues (e.g. test markets and a downplayed emphasis on games/graphics), the system itself is no longer known for many of the things that Nintendo chose to highlight at launch, several launch games are still regarded as among the best on the system, and one launch title continued to be the best selling game for the console throughout the system's life. Nintendo took a huge gamble with the release of the NES, and though their strategy seems a bit unorthodox today, it certainly paid off for them twenty five years ago.
Do you remember anything about the NES launch? Were you in a test market? What do you think of their strategy? I'd love to hear your stories and thoughts, so sound off below!
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Resident Evil is both awesome and a letdown. Let me try to explain. In 1999 Capcom had announced a Game Boy Color demake of the original Resident Evil. The even released ads and screenshots (below) which show what appears to be a pretty faithful and awesome port.
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Unfortunately the demake was canceled with no real explanation and in 2002 there was Resident Evil Gaiden to take its place. The game is a completely original game starring Leon Kennedy from the classic Resident Evil 4.
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Resident Evil Gaiden doesn't quite live up to those demake screens, but it does offer something completely original and fun in its own right. The gameplay is somewhat similar to the Game Boy Color Metal Gear Solid sequel, though the fights switch to a first person view that utilizes a Real Time Strategy execution. It's completely interesting and definitely worth checking out for fans of the series or fans of 8-bit demakes.
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Continue reading Unloved #19: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
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Castlevania: The Adventure gets a lot of flack from fans of the series. It was released in December of 1989, very soon after the launch of the Game Boy handheld. In fact, I can very vividly remember it being part of my first batch of games for the old gray brick. That being said, there is of course a certain level of nostalgia that I (and anyone else who got The Adventure that Christmas) can't help but shake for the game.
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In fairness to the realists out there, there's certainly plenty to not like about Castlevania: The Adventure. For starts Christopher Belmont moves agonizingly slow. And his jumping skills are pretty terrible to boot. This wouldn't be such a problem if The Adventure didn't rely so heavily on platforming -- unfairly difficult platforming. Another thing that seems to bother fans of the series is the lack of stairs. Instead of stairs there are chains or ropes to clime to each new level. I personally aren't bothered by this devise, even if it is less than comfortable. Admittedly the one big omission that does baffle my mind is the lack of secondary weapons. Y'know all those daggers, crosses and holy water you're used to in other Castlevania games? Well, they're not here.
Having said all that, I can't help but enjoy The Adventure. Sure it's way too hard. I've still never beat it over twenty years later. But I can't help but get a certain satisfaction out of feebly trying. Like I said, for me this was one of the first Game Boy games I ever played. Which made it rather amazing in and of itself.
A big thank you goes out to the following members who recently donated: James, Jesse, Hans, Holt, Brian, Maxime, David, Michael, and Richard
We currently have $162 in the account so we're still in need of additional donors to step up and help the cause. Again, 100% of donations go towards offsetting the server costs of running the site. It's the gracious help of our many donors and volunteers that keeps the RFGen community going strong. We really appreciate those who have supported the site and the staff and members of RFGen send you our heartfelt thanks.
To those who haven't donated, we are still trying to raise enough money to cover the site costs and every little bit helps. Any amount you can afford to donate would be greatly appreciated.
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If you love the Game Boy and you don't own Kid Dracula, then I feel like something might be wrong with you.
Kid Dracula is to Castlevania what Parodius is to Gradius (and Twinbee and Darius). It's an amazing platformer that's presented in fantastic Konami sound and vision, and incorporates not only Castlevania mythology, but also lots of fun horror-movie cliches. The game is an absolute blast and should certainly be far more recognized than it is.
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Much like in Castlevania. Kid Dracula will continually learn new secondary attacks to aid him no his quest. In fact, he even learns to turn into a bat! This is the sort of extra-mile Game Boy game that Konami is especially known for. And much like how half the fun of playing Parodius was spotting references to other shmups, I swear I shrieked in glee when I realized that one of the bosses that Kid Dracula all the sudden had to fight was a character that looked suspiciously like Jason Voorhees. This game is absolutely brilliant, and quite possibly the best Castlevnia game released on the Game Boy.
Extermination
It's October again! And that means horror gaming! While noiseredux is really going above and beyond the call of duty with his excellent blog, with an ongoing featurette for this month covering the console and handheld world of horror, I figured I'd offer him some backup with another entry on that most terrifying of genres.
Extermination has the honor of being the first survival horror title released for Sony's PlayStation 2, beating out Silent Hill 2 by several months and Resident Evil: Code Veronica's PS2 port by just two weeks with its March 8, 2001, NTSC-J release date. The title was published by Sony Computer Entertainment and created by a team of developers that included several creators of Resident Evil. Reminiscent of the genre's flagship title and games like Carrier, the game has also drawn comparisons to the films The Thing and The Abyss.
[img width=400 height=300]http://www.vandal.net/previews/images/psx2/extermination/imagen6.jpg[/img]
The story revolves around Dennis Riley, a Sergeant in the USMC Special Forces Recon. Riley is one of a team being sent to infiltrate Fort Stewart, a secret research base in the Antarctic which formerly housed some of the United States' nuclear stockpile. With the end of the Cold War, the installation was converted into a research & development facility. As Riley's team approaches Fort Stewart via airplane in an ice storm, they receive a distress call from the base requesting it be the target of an air strike. But before they can respond, the plane malfunctions and crash lands, spreading the marines across the base. Riley and his combat buddy Roger Grigman are then forced to sneak into the base and meet up with the team.
While the Marines in the game come off as ballsy bad asses, the dialogue ranges from decent to absolutely terrible, and the quality of voice acting fluctuates throughout. Riley's voice is particularly bad, and at times he sounds like a whiny high school kid. The subplot involving his dead friend Andrew and Andrew's girlfriend Cindy also feels tacked on and unnecessary.
Riley must navigate the facility, facing strange mutations and living water puddles with his modular SPR-4, or Special Purpose Rifle. That weapon represents one of the most interesting elements of the entire game: instead of finding new guns to use, the player instead switches out attachments on the fly, so your weapon can always suit your situation if you have the parts. And those parts range from a sniper scope to an underslung grenade launcher, a forward grip with flashlight, enemy detector, night vision scope, and much more. The player can also switch between single round and 3-round-burst firing modes.
The ammunition system is also innovative: an infinite amount of ammo is found in dispensers through the facility, but only a limited amount can be carried, based on the number of magazines Riley happens to be carrying. If you want more ammunition, find more magazines scattered throughout the base. But the dispensers will not give ammunition for the variety of modular weapons to attach to the SPR-4, so once you're out of grenade rounds, shotgun shells, napalm juice, or whatever else you're using, you're out.
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Adding to the action emphasis, the game features the use of a laser target, four years before Resident Evil 4 would implement its usage. And while The Ring: Terror's Realm predates Extermination with its laser sight by slightly over six months, Extermination offers far better control. Players can aim in third person perspective, moving the pointer around until it passes over a creature, generally auto-aiming at that target. But those that want to go for more precise shots can also enter a first person perspective which doesn't feature auto-aim. Unfortunately Riley can't move when his weapon is raised, and the sensitivity is too low to make it a truly effective tactic in close corners, but it's a great means for popping enemies from far off. The game also features two knife buttons, resulting in a slash or a stab, which don't require the weapon to be raised.
While this sounds like a good design on paper, it does suffer from some serious flaws. First, enemies are bullet sponges. Though that's not so bad considering there's ultimately infinite ammunition, dispensers are few and far between. To make up for this, enemies have glowing weak points that can be hit to drop them faster. Unfortunately they were designed to be hard to hit, and the third-person auto-aim feature does not automatically target them, making it difficult to kill some of the tougher varieties of mutants at close range. Aiming with the knife can also be difficult, so slashing minor enemies at one's heels can be a pain.
The camera also doesn't help as it can't be effectively manipulated, so the player can't swing it quickly to look around the corner or see an enemy right behind him. Instead, the player must turn and then either raise their weapon or press a button to center the camera behind them, wasting precious time.
[img width=582 height=449]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/screenshots/e3_2001/vg/extermination/extermination_790screen004.jpg[/img]
The game's health system is also interesting, though cumbersome. The player has health, based on a 100-point numerical value, and an Infection rate. Every time an enemy hits the player, their infection goes up while their health goes down. And most healing items will not lower one's infection rate. Instead, the player must use vaccines to bring down infection, and the field-use variety aren't very common. If Riley's infection rate hits 100%, his max health decreases from 100 to 60, he takes damage over time, his character model changes, he starts taking damage from sources that previously didn't hurt him, and he can only be cured by using the MTS vaccine, which can only be administered at MTS beds...so if you wander too far from one and become infected, you won't make it back.
Extermination also features an unusual save system, revolving around battery power. Forget the ink ribbons of yesteryear, save stations now require batteries, which can be recharged at special power stations similar to the ammunition dispenser. And larger batteries will be found throughout the facility, so don't sweat saving. It's also a good idea to save often, as the game doesn't allow continues. Die, and you must reload.
[img width=640 height=480]http://ps2media.ign.com/media/previews/image/extermination/extermination05_640w.jpg[/img]
Extermination is a decent game with some solid ideas that never really rises to greatness. Horror fans who enjoy such titles as Resident Evil, Carrier, Dino Crisis, The Thing, or non-horror games like Syphon Filter and Metal Gear Solid will likely appreciate this game more than those looking for experiences similar to Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, or Haunting Ground. It's something I would recommend to players who have experience with the genre's big names and are looking for something more obscure. And while its ideas aren't always successful, they are interesting enough to warrant a look. Another nice perk is the game's low price tag: not including shipping, it can be found on eBay for as little as $2.
For those interested, here's the introduction to the game:
[img width=300 height=300]http://imgur.com/NMWbCl.jpg[/img]
To be forthcoming, I'm a huge Simpsons fan. I have been since the very first episode. I still watch it every week. But by far my absolute favorite episodes are the "Treehouse Of Horrors". As a horror movie fanatic, how could I not enjoy these EC-Comic-esque spins on both classics and cult-classics? So I have to tell you that I was big-time excited about the release of a Game Boy Color cartridge based entirely on the these annual Halloween specials. Which is probably why it bothers me so much that the game just really isn't that good.
[img width=200 height=200]http://imgur.com/rpytZ.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://imgur.com/Crn13.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://imgur.com/nn3P2.jpg[/img]
Obviously the one thing that I feel that THQ got right was coming up with a concept for a game based on the Treehouse Of Horror. It's also quite commendable that each level plays differently and is based on a different horror motif. But now let's look at everything they got wrong. First of all, on the platforming levels the B-button jumps and the A-button shoots. Do you all know how wrong that is? It's terrible. Likewise, the hit-detection and reaction time to button presses leave much to be desired. The worst offender in this game is its music though, which is just completely piercing.
I really can't recommend this game to anybody, no matter how hardcore a fan. Although I can never seem to get rid of it personally. It's almost as if I keep waiting for the cart to magically just get better than it actually is.
Accessory Snapshot | Monoprice 8X1 Enhanced Powered HDMI Switcher
High Def Switching Station | | |
I jumped on the HDTV bandwagon relatively early with the purchase of my Toshiba 52HM84 DLP television set back in 2004. At that time, the war for a standardized digital input was still raging and HDMI was not yet an industry standard. Not willing to sink a great deal of money into a fledgling format, my set came equipped with just one (1) HDMI port. With today's gaming systems (and other HD devices) fully embracing High Definition technology, I am once again begging for more television inputs. The Monoprice 8X1 Enhanced Powered HDMI Switcher (Monoprice 8X1) was the answer I was looking for. This externally powered device features a robust eight HDMI 1.2 compliant inputs. This easily accommodates my current set up (Xbox 360, PS3, Cable Box), but more importantly allows plenty of room for growth. The unit is self-aware and will automatically switch to the active HDMI device (a definite plus). I have not experienced any freezing of images when switching (manually or device driven) between connected systems, though there is around a 5 second delay for the Monoprice 8X1 to determine/display the correct source. The performance is exceptional - the quality of picture and sound is unaffected by the use of this switcher. A RS-232 serial interface is also provided for controlling this device from your computer. I have not messed around at all with this feature (RS-232) so I can not comment at all on its ease of use or performance in this area. 
The black matte, solid steel casing of the Monoprice 8X1 is exceptionally sturdy. It is packaged with mounting brackets to easily place this switcher within your existing A/V cabinet. The front facing is elegant and simple, but the red and green LED lights to indicate the active device are truly abrasive. They are so bright that it is rather bothersome when you are in a gaming session. When all HDMI devices are inactive, the LED board is fully alit (pictured below) and so luminous that I could actually read the manual in an otherwise completely dark room. Now if this isn't overkill, I don't know what is. The Monoprice 8X1 also is accompanied with a bank of various electrical convertors, which enhances this product's attractiveness to those outside North America. The plug itself is mounted on a convenient swiveled pedestal allowing you to customize the electrical connection (a.k.a. squeezing it into your surge protector). Installation and set up is a breeze - plug it in and you are all set to go. This unit does come with a small remote, but I have yet had the need to use it due to the HDMI auto-sensing capabilities of this device. Prior to purchasing this unit, I did a great deal of research on HDMI Switches. The general consensus was that, as of today, all of these are basically toasters - the brand doesn't really matter for basic HDMI switching. One has to be aware of potential compatibility issues, signal "freezes" and ease of RS-232 support, but price overall is the determining factor in one's purchasing decision. Similar Monoprice products had been rated well by CNET and other independent review sources, especially when evaluating the value quotient. I purchased this unit around four months ago (July, 2010) and have been very pleased thus far with its performance. Pros | Significantly increased High Def ports on your TV by providing eight HDMI connections for your gaming systems | Auto-sensing capabilities basically eliminates the need for further interaction once you have all of your HD devices connected | | | Cons | The LED indicator lights are abnormally intense and somewhat distracting when gaming | Externally powered by an included AC adaptor, so you will need to free up a spot on that surge protector for this unit |
| | | What HDMI Switcher Do You Utilize?
Share Your Thoughts & Suggestions with the RFG Community!! | Coming up next on the Accessory Snapshot:
The Logitech Cordless Action Controller |
[img width=300 height=300]http://imgur.com/KHkxQ.jpg[/img]
Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare is a rather ambitious port of the fourth title in the Alone In The Dark series. Usually when a 3D game is ported to a Game Boy system, really the only thing that stays the same is the title. This is surprisingly not the case with The New Nightmare. The game actually contains some rather impressive pseudo-3D graphics that really must be seen to be believed. The graphics utilize pre-rendered environments, and some pretty ingenious trickery that involves changing the size of the main character sprite to imitate parallax. It's somewhat hard to describe, but it's really a game that every Game Boy fan should play just to see exactly the kind of impressive feat that can be executed on such limited hardware. Pro's of the series may be a bit let down however when they realize exactly how short this port is in contrast to its console counterparts.
[img width=200 height=200]http://imgur.com/4GU83.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://imgur.com/g5CET.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://imgur.com/8wpZU.jpg[/img]
I personally have never played another other installments of the series, so I really don't have much to compare this one to myself. I can only say that beyond the impressive graphics, the game is a pretty fun title that mixes a bit of adventure in with a little bit of action. What did the rest of you think?
Accessory Snapshot | The Pelican System Selector Pro
Switching Station | | |
If you are an old school gamer like myself, it goes without saying that there is a significant need for additional standard def television inputs due to the large library of systems requiring this type of A/V connection. Typically I'll play games across a variety of consoles - the last thing I want to do is mess around behind a TV switching out cords and the like. The Pelican System Selector Pro was/is my salvation. This device features an impressive 8 A/V (Composite / S-Video) and 3 Component inputs. Additionally, there are three Ethernet ports for sharing a broadband connection between systems that utilize this technology. One of the best features is the convenient front A/V ports (hidden by a concealed door) which allows quick access to plug in and play those 'occasional' systems in your collection. 
The performance is exceptional with both CRT and HD television sets. I have never experienced degradation of signal nor lag time regardless of the what system(s) I have hooked up. Newer models come with a remote, but in all honesty I think this is pretty useless. I greatly prefer the simple push-button method of selecting a system on my older model rather than trying to fuddle around looking for a remote. 
The Pelican System Selector Pro is not a small unit. Measuring in at a healthy 9.5" D x 17.0" W x 2.5" means that you will have to allow some space in your display. The design does meet industry standards, so this is a stackable unit with other components in your A/V rack. Contrary to what may be initially communicated by the feel of the rather light weight, hard plastic chassis, this switcher has been extremely durable over the nine years that I have had it. A customizable, lit name plate is located directly above each console/device that is connected to the Pelican System Selector Pro. Overall this is highly recommended for any gamer that has multiple systems they want to have connected to their TV. If you want to spend more time on gaming rather than jockeying cables, the Pelican System Selector Pro is for you. Pros | Significantly frees up those precious ports on your TV by providing 8 A/V connection for your gaming systems | Built-in mini 'router' is extremely convenient for those that do not have access to a wireless environment | | | Cons | Plastic construction feels a little fragile, but I have had no issue with it at all over the 9+ years that I have had it. | Externally powered by an included AC adaptor, so you will need to free up a spot on that surge protector for this unit |
| | | What Switcher Do You Utilize?
Share Your Thoughts & Suggestions with the RFG Community!! | Coming up next on the Accessory Snapshot:
The Logitech Cordless Action Controller |
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