1 More Castle: The Android App
Thanks to the great work of Hugues Johnson of the Retro League Podcast we’ve now got our own android application!
RetroHate
Kick, Punch, Punch, Kick, Punch, uuh… HADOUKEN!
I like a good fighting game, especially the one-on-one, martial arts showdowns. They can be very tense and invigorating and can make or break friendships. However, I’ve never really been able to successfully play or enjoy a real fighting game. Why? THE FREAKIN C-C-C-COMBOS!!!!
The Fair Shake
Armor Attack
Vectrex: The very name sounds futuristic, sort of like Valtrex. It doesn’t luckily (or unfortunately, sorry) treat herpes, because it’s a unique system released in 1982 initially by General Consumer Electric that is known as being the only home vector-monitor based game console. The system had a brief retail run, cut short due to that dang video game crash back in 1984.
The Retro Critic
Die Hard Trilogy
Welcome to the party, pal.
Movie-based games very rarely achieve what they endeavor to achieve. Either they end up being rushed, cheaply made and clunky as hell or they just miss the mark completely.
Or they’re good but that’s a rarity.
Remember Ghostbusters on the NES? Sure you do, I’ve mentioned it many times before. Talk about not capturing the essence of the source material…
Kineticism and Violence in Games
No player can deny that over its history, violence (both realistic and cartoonish) has permeated the video game industry. From the innocent jumps of Mario onto a nearby Goomba, to the brutality of Manhunt, violence has become an almost inescapable part of video game design and culture. Some parents, teachers, politicians and a certain disbarred Florida attorney might say that these games are popular because of their base, gruesome gameplay and that the average gamer is infatuated with violence and gore, essentially turning him into a volatile sociopath bent on murdering innocent people. While I’m personally not even against the theory that violence in games is desensitizing players (it seems possible to me), I think that the murder-training label for games is a bit much. As well, I think I have a bit of an idea as to why video game violence is attractive to gamers.
Video Games: The Undertaker’s OTHER streak
WWE Superstar The Undertaker returned to the ring at a Waco, Texas house show on February 23, kicking off the annual WrestleMania speculation season. The focus is the ‘Taker’s incredible 20-0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania, impressive not only for the win-loss ratio but for the fact that no other sports entertainer in history has ever even appeared at 20 WrestleMania events, much less came out on top each time.
Atari Poop
Atari Poop – Fast Food
In a previous Atari Poop, I wrote about the game commissioned by the American Dental Association, so it should come as no surprise that the National Restaurant Association would commission a game of their own: Fast Food.
1 More Podcastle
Fuzzy Math: Math you can cuddle up with
Do you know why pi is an irrational number? Because it loves you unconditionally. It doesn’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, so long as you’re not a prime number (old hatreds die hard).
Retro Recap
Retro Recap – February 24th, 2013
Retro Recap is back! We hope you weren’t rocking in a corner, terrified of all the news you’re missing. If you were, you probably need professional help and nothing past the break can help you. Just kidding; everything after the break will make you whole and fulfill every dream. Read More
The Fair Shake
Street Rod
So you like to race (I do, as judging by previous articles, but you probably figured that out by now). You’re tired of Need for Speed. You want something a little more in depth, with more things to do ‘under the hood’. I present Street Rod, which was released for four computer systems in 1989. Atari, Commodore, Amiga, and PC. Sorry Apple, you can keep playing Oregon Trail.
Aliens versus Predator
If you’ve been keeping your eye on gaming news this past week, you’ve probably seen that Gearbox Software managed to outdo themselves with the release of Aliens: Colonial Marines. While Alien based games haven’t always been disasters, recent releases may make you think otherwise. However, at the turn of the century, a lovely game called Aliens versus Predator was released. Read on to learn about just how scary this classic was.
Read More
Q*bert had a @!#?@! arcade sequel
Q*bert is getting a lot of press this week, from the record setting attempts by George Leutz and Ed Heemskerk to his appearance in the Academy Award nominated Wreck-It Ralph.
What many don’t know is that the popular 1982 arcade release had a sequel that hardly saw the light of day in video arcades.
Q*bert’s Qubes added a variety of new puzzle elements and characters to the Q*bert world, as now players had to spin various cubes into place in a possible Rubik’s Cube inspired gameplay style. It proved more challenging than the original game and also quite a bit of fun, but sadly it fell prey to bad timing.
Atari Poop
Atari Poop – Sorcerer
Sorcerer, by Mythicon Inc. Note the awesome sorcerer with the red robe and badass wand. He seems to be on the edge of a cliff inside a large cave or narrow ravine. Just from this image alone, you know you’re in for something special. It’s obvious as soon as your brain registers the magnitude of awesome of what your eyes are seeing.
So you pop the cartridge into your console, flick the power switch from “Off” to “On,” and come face to face with the most soul-destroying disappointment, a game that looks like its sole purpose was to eradicate every last shred of humanity found in the people who played it. This is what happens when a programmer actively seeks to make a game that will give you Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
1 More Podcastle
023 – Cheap Cable
WE SELL ONLY THE BEST TO U! WE HAVE SENDING TO YOU BY MAIL PST, BUT IT MAY TKAE MANY TIME TO GET TO YOU. PLESE RATE US A+++++++ FOR YOUR CHEAP CABLE! THANK YUO!
Making System Shock 2 Shine
It was revealed this week that System Shock 2 would finally be coming to GoG and Steam! For those of you who don’t know System Shock 2, it is one of the most highly-revered PC FPS games of all time. Taking place on a spacecraft in the year 2114, you play the role of a soldier trying to stem the outbreak of a deadly genetic infection. While a FPS at heart, the game incorporates a role-playing system, where the player can develop skills such as hacking and psionics.
The game should now already be released on GoG, and should be on Steam in the near future. But, perhaps, we should take this time to look at what tools there are out there to make this old gem shine.
RetroHate
An Action by Any Other Name
Um, I don’t think there’s an option for what you’re doing blondie…
Use this! No, push it! Pull it! Pick it up! No, take it! Open it! Look at it! No, examine it! Turn it off! Turn it on!
SWEET MOTHER OF JENOVA! TOO MANY OPTIONS!!!
Ok, backing up; remember in those text and graphical text adventure games where you had to manually type in exactly every action you wanted your character to do? And you had to slowly figure out what words the game did and didn’t recognize? And then you had to figure out which actions worked on what objects in which situations? Infuriating.
The Fair Shake
Solar Jetman
Usually, Paul is the one who delivers the weekly Fair Shake column. However, blizzard-related conditions have knocked out his power! So, lacking electricity and the means to effectively deliver content over the Internet, we wish Paul well. In the meantime, I, Eric Bailey, Editor-In-Chief of this here crazy collaborative retro gaming features website, will be filling in. I did this once before, with my Fair Shake treatment of Kid Icarus on NES.
This time, I will by sticking to the NES, my specialty, again, and hoping to reduce my dependency on commas in the coming paragraphs. At any rate, I chose something a little more obscure this time: A 1990 diamond in the rough from Rare called Solar Jetman.
Top 10 Reasons Why I Enjoy The Retro Gaming Community
I enjoy the retro gaming community. What follows is ten reasons why, in no particular order.
Disclaimer: This feature is, in no way, something “against” modern gaming. I believe that many in the retro gaming community tend to be very quick to denounce the modern scene, for better or for worse, and may want to jump eagerly to that conclusion. While there are some valid reasons one can dislike any grouping, this top-10 list is intended to be primarily positive and celebratory in tone. Feel free to express opinions in the comments section, though. And one more thing: Inclusion on this list does not preclude exclusion from said list item applying to another group. … In other words: If I say retro gamers are fantastic, that does not mean that nothing else is fantastic, so there is no need to hunt me down with strange accusations.
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