Vidya Game News – June 30, 2016
Image from MobyGames.
– The Nintendo 64 turned 20 last week, which led to retrospectives from plenty of places, like Nerdist and Tech Insider.
– The fine folks at Shmuplations are dong the lord’s work, as they’ve unearthed an old interview from developers on Super Mario Kart. You can read it here.
– The new Toejam and Earl game has gotten more funding, and it’ll see a console release! Read more about it in a piece by Brandon Orselli from Niche Gamer. And, check out our episode on the original!
– RZA will be doing some music inspired by old Atari games, which actually sounds kind of cool. Read more on Billboard here.
– Good news, everyone! Adventures of Mana, a 3D remake of the old Game Boy game Final Fantasy Adventure, is now out for the Vita. Read the release from Sony here. It’s the first game in the Secret of Mana series, which we covered in the past.
– From MCV, via Famitsu, the new Harvest Moon game for the 3DS is #1 on the Japanese sales chart. It’s scheduled to come out in America at some point in 2017.
– It’s short notice, but Nintendo is hosting a festival in Montreal this weekend! For more details, go here. And if you’d like to head Down Undah, there is an 8-bit festival in Melbourne later in July, according to Time Out Melbourne.
– Yougurtland is partnering with Nintendo.
– A Final Fantasy VII version of Monopoly is coming out in April 2017. It’s by Merchoid, and you can read more on Examiner.com here.
– A Kickstarter campaign has been launched for a “complete remake” of System Shock. Read more on the project page here.
– The producer of the Tetris movie now claims it’ll be a three-movie series! Yikes. Read more on Empire.
– The Angry Video Game Nerd re-visits Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES, 10 years after he first covered it. Check out the video here. For James and Mike Mondays, they played Alex Kidd in Miracle World.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Star Fox 64 came out this day in 1997. And hey, we reviewed it! Check out our show here.
– On June 29 in 2000, Icewind Dale by Black Isle Studios was released by Interplay. It was a well-reviewed game based on Dungeons and Dragons.
– In 1996, Bruce Jenner’s World Class Decathlon came out for the PC. It was 20 years ago Jenner won a gold medal in the decathlon, so, that was kind of weird.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – June 2, 2016
– It’s been on a bunch of different sites, but I believe Julian Horsey of Geeky Gadgets first reported about a coffee table, non-digital version of Pong. Read about it here!
– FiveThirtyEight has an entire piece on Your Parents Basement! Unfortunately though, it’s not about, well, this show.
– This week on Cinemassacre’s popular Mike and Bootsy segment: Win, Lose or Draw for the NES! Yikes. Check out the video here.
– There are now action figures based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game.
– Vans and Nintendo now have a partnership, if you’d like some 8-bit themed kicks! Read more from Engadget’s Edgar Alvarez.
– Worlds colliding! Artist Adam Lister does 8-bit watercolor paintings of popular movies. Check them out on Creative Boom.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Huell favorite Quest 64 came out for the Nintendo 64 on June 1, 1998. While the Imagineer-developed game isn’t all that good, gamers were so starved for content for the N64 that it still was a moderate financial success.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Episode 056 – Pitfall! and Moon Patrol (1982)
Episode 056 – Pitfall! and Moon Patrol (1982)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are leaping over pits with vines, jumping on top of crocodile snouts and blasting alien spaceships while dodging craters! From 1982, we’re playing Pitfall! by Activision and Moon Patrol by Irem. Special guest, Cosmo!
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TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – Intro, which is the super catchy music to Moon Patrol.
- 42:00 – Emails! An exciting new contributor emails Cosmo, of all people! Plus, more dispatches from Todd Brisket because he’s a ramblin’ man, like other emailer Scooterbutt.
- 59:45 – Snifferoo. Next week, it’s going to be a show focused on email questions! So, be sure to write to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, Pitfall! is quite affordable, at $8.95 for a loose cart or $19.99 for the cart and box. Moon Patrol is even cheaper – about $6.72 for a loose cart, and $13.50 for a cart and box.
– Luke Plunkett of Kotaku has a good write-up on the history and development of Pitfall! Included in the article is the old YouTube commercial for the game featuring, of all people, Jack Black. A Kickstarter project for a follow-up by creator David Crane didn’t go well, though.
– The world record in the arcade for Moon Patrol is 1.4 million points. Good times! A highlights video is here.
Vidya Game News – April 21, 2016
– As you can imagine, there is a bunch of Star Fox content this week, because a new game in the series is coming out. (The initial reviews seem to suggest it’s good, but weird control-wise.) Kotaku’s Patrick Klepek has a good piece on why Star Fox 2 never made it out for the SNES, even though it was probably more than 90 percent done. Kat Bailey of US Gamer points out that the series has a long history of innovation – some good, some bad.
– Sega has announced that it’ll allow mods to be released via Steam for some of its old games. Polygon has the press release summary here. Sega hasn’t elaborated on the extent of what it’ll allow and won’t, but it could lead to some interesting creations.
– The latest YouTube Teens React video is on Super Metroid! Check it out here. Only one teen out of six (I believe) can manage to beat the second boss, the Chozo guarding the bombs. Also, if you missed it, we recently covered Super Metroid.
– From Chris Reed at The Cheat Sheet, eight SNES games you have to play!
– Sarah Gish of The Kansas City Star looks at some of the cool bars with video games in the city.
– There is a really cool looking Nintendo 64 anthology book on Kickstarter. Check it out here!
– From Jeff Grubb at Venture Beat, what’s the current status of Atari? Well, seemingly, it’s mostly a patent troll company. They’re claiming that they own the trademark for “haunted house” in video game titling. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2013, and now, it only employs 10 people who mostly work to protect the company’s legacy value.
– Aubrey Sitterson of Geek.com has 11 games that “secretly made the Sega Saturn a great console.” While I wouldn’t agree that the Saturn was great, it was a good system, and it unfairly gets lumped into the Virtual Boy / 3DO / 32X graveyard sometimes.
– Breaking, important news! Video game henchmen plan meetup around explosive barrels! Read more here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– According to Moby Games, Data East was founded on April 20, 1976. The company was one of the early arcade producers, making games like BurgerTime, Cobra Command, Joe & Mac and past YPB show topic Shadowrun. They also did more than a dozen different pinball games, most based on TV shows. However, by the mid-1990s the company’s popularity and series had faded, and their last game came out in 1999. (Revive… Sosei, an adventure game for the Dreamcast, was Japan-only in October 1999. Zombie Revenge, an arcade and Dreamcast release, was the last North American release, seemingly.)
– In 1982, Pitfall! came out for the Atari 2600. It was probably the very best game ever released at the time, and topped the Billboard charts for 64 weeks. The commercial also had Jack Black in his first role.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – April 14, 2016
– The Tumblr account Super Mario Broth highlighted a rare Super Mario Bros. 3 animation this week – The Hammer Bros. suit sliding. You normally can’t slide in the suit in the game, so you have to do it in this one stage.
– Also in the category of Super Late Easter Eggs, a bald guy in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! reveals when to throw punches to knock out Piston Honda and Bald Bull. Read about it on Reddit here.
– In advance of the release of Star Fox Zero on April 22, there is a comparison of Corneria across the different versions. And hey, check out YPB’s Star Fox episode here!
– Nerdist and a bunch of other sites had the Player Piano cover of the moon theme from DuckTales. It’s the hot game that got one out of one DuckTale from Todd on one of our first shows!
– From TechTimes, Mark Lelinwalla looks at the five console generations Kobe Bryant has spanned. Also from TechTimes, Dianne Depra has a cool preview piece on a neat new book, The Art of Atari. Some really good images here!
– And again on TechTimes… Quinten Plummer has a cool article on how the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Illinois managed to revive a prototype Beavis and Butt-Head game that only had 12 copies made. The secret? Cannibalizing a 3DO.
– OC Weekly has a story on Sega Genecide, a cover band. Headline: “Sega Genecide eat, breathe and shit 90’s cover songs.”
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Not quite today, but on April 13, 1992, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past came out in North America. It continued the wildly popular series, and it was a bright, vibrant 16-bit game. Per Wikipedia, it sold 4.61 million copies, good enough for fifth on the platform.
– On April 12, 2001, Big Ape Productions released The Simpsons Wrestling for the PSX to pretty miserable reviews. Of course, if you’re looking for a good Simpsons game, or want to hear about some of the horrible ones, check out our previous show!
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – April 7, 2016
– On Polygon and a bunch of other sites, Sega announced that it had finalized its acquisition of Atlus. As of now, operations aren’t supposed to change at either company as a result, except for Atlus helping in some North American localization for Sega games.
– Now Gamer has an interesting piece on the failed development of the M2, a follow-up to the 3DO, that never saw the light of day. Panasonic still spent $100 million on it though, and its tech made its way into some Arcade games. Read the piece here.
– Micah Mertes of The Omaha World-Herald has a neat story on a tech museum that had a “petting zoo” display for April 1, featuring old systems, typewriters and Tamagotchis.
– Mike Matei of Cinemassacre (home site of the Angry Video Game Nerd) has a video on the top 10 obscure NES asshole enemies. Check it out here! It’s NSFW and frustratingly accurate.
– From IGN and a bunch of other places, there is now a 24-carat gold NES available. (Warning: Autoplay video.)
– Jimmy Maher of The Digital Antiquarian has a great long read on how the NES muscled its way past the 1980s computing industry, thanks to a focus on fun games.
– Ryan Gibbs of The Young Folks reviews Atari Vault, the 100-game Atari collection that recently came out for a bunch of different platforms.
– From ABC News’ Avianne Tan, a grocery store created a Super Mario Bros. display from soda boxes.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– To circle back to a news roundup item… Not many games have historically been released on April 7, buttttt, Atlus was founded in 1986. If you’re into RPGs, you know them as the developers of Persona and the Shin Megami Tensei series of games, as well as quirky stuff like Etrian Odyssey and Radiant Historia. And, Rockin’ Kats! (And by the way, the director of Radiant Historia would love to make another one, per Siliconera.)
– Per Moby Games, in 2005 VIS Games filed for bankruptcy. Their most prominent games were a very bad version of Earthworm Jim 3D for the Nintendo 64, and State of Emergency, one of the few Rockstar Games that wasn’t a smash hit. However, it did inspire this awesome Lewis Black rant.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – March 24, 2016
– Kyle Orland of Ars Technica has a good piece on why developers need to embrace emulation to preserve gaming history.
– Mike Fahey of Kotaku has a good read on how a planned Superman game instead sunk a game studio, Factor 5, the one behind Rogue Squadron.
– Steve Tilley of The Toronto Sun has a look at Batman games vs. Superman games, with the movie soon to come out. He comes to roughly the same conclusion that YPB did, in that Batman games are way better.
– Looking to signify to everyone who visits your home that you’re a massive geek? Check out this nifty Retro NES Shower Curtain!
– Atari has revealed the list of games in its upcoming Atari Vault collection. The 100 games can be seen here, on IGN.com.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 2003, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker came out for the Gamecube. It got universally great reviews, although some did gripe about the sailing aspects.
– The Playstation Portable came out in 2005. Amazingly, it was technically supported by Sony until being discontinued in 2014, and sold 82 million units worldwide. While it’s maligned because of its weird game format and somewhat flimsy nature, there are some good re-releases of the Persona and Final Fantasy series available for it.
– Speaking of the PSP… Crisis Core, an action-RPG prequel to Final Fantasy VII, came out for the system in 2008. It was actually a pretty solid game! Unfortunately, it did further complicate the timeline for the original game, which is now a mess.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – March 10, 2016
– Cyan, the makers of Myst, have released a teaser trailer for their new game, Obduction. Check it out on their YouTube channel.
– There are a bunch of new screenshots and tracks released for the new Toejam and Earl game, per TechnoBuffalo.
– Amazingly, you can still play Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast! Well, if you’re willing to buy some modded games and/or systems. But, hundreds of people still do, and Jason Evangelho has the details on Forbes.
– Atlas Obscura’s Eric Grundhauser has an awesome read on the “treasures” offered in an old Atari contest for Swordquest. It’s long, but good. (For some of the neat-looking ads, including the one on this entry, go here!)
– Today’s “Shut up and take my money!” moment: Nintendo plans to open up a theme park at Universal Studios Japan. The Telegraph in the U.K. has a good write-up here.
– Bryan Cranston has been in a lot of commercials, including one for the Atari 2600 game MegaForce. Zap2It has a listicle here.
– From Allegra Frank at Polygon, and a bunch of other sites, the Coleco Chameleon is now dead.
– Per some mod makers, Microsoft wanted $500,000 to license Shadowrun for an X-Com 2 mod. Niche Gamer’s Carl Batchelor has a summary of the Twitter stuff here.
– On Kotaku Australia, Jason Schreier has a 20-year retrospective on Super Mario RPG.
– From The Wrap and a bunch of other sites, DuckTales is getting a revival! The first image is out, and it doesn’t look bad. Hopefully, it will lead to more splendid video games to review…
– Are you going to SXSW? (Sweet baby boy Huell is!) Well, they’re having a bunch of video game and tech-focused panels! Check out the list here.
– In re-releasing news, the rumored Valkyria Chronicles Remastered is now a reality for North American audiences! Per Sega and Sony, it’ll come out May 17, and feature upgraded graphics and full trophy support.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– On March 11, Mega Man & Bass came out for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, which is close enough for our purposes. It was the only main series game for the GBA, and was generally well-received.
– PlatinumGames’ MadWorld, an incredibly ultraviolent game, somehow came out for the Wii in 2009. It’s one of the few Wii games that is not kid or family-appropriate, as it is about a murder-related game show. Think of Smash TV, but gorier, and more of a beat-em-up.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – February 25, 2016
– The BBC has an awesome story and interview with Howard Scott Warshaw, and the headline says it all: “The man who made ‘the worst video game in history.’” And by that, of course they mean E.T. for the Atari 2600. You can read the story here. It gets into some of the troubled development, and also that Atari paid $21 million (!!!) for the rights to the game. (And the awesome image on today’s post comes from that story. They definitely don’t make game ads like they used to.)
– Reddit user dolopodog has posted a list of the banned words for the 3DS.
– This week, the IGN show Nintendo Voice Chat covers the 10 awesome games that never left Japan.
– The co-creator of the Atari Lynx and a programmer for the Amiga, Dave Needle, has passed away, according to a Facebook post.
– From a translation of a YouTube video, Geno of Super Mario RPG was considered as a DLC for Smash Brothers.
– Nathan Birch of Uproxx has a good beginner’s guide on retro gaming and collecting. Of note is that it’s focused on the systems that are the best to collect and play, not necessarily the ones that hold their value the best.
– TechTimes has a link and write-up to one of the old commercials for The Legend of Zelda. It features rapping. It’s ridiculous…ly awesome.
– From JackTech on YouTube, it’s an autopsy of a Game Boy! Also on YouTube, a SNES Counter Console, via Nintendo Enthusiast and Rerez. It was used to test broken systems.
– The Mega Man Legacy Collection came out this week for the 3DS, so there are some reviews of it floating around the Internet, like on Kotaku. There are frame rate issues, just like the original games! Huzzah!
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Pretty much nothing of significance came out today. Sorry! Tekken 5 came out on Feb. 24, 2005 for the Playstation 2, so that’s about the best I can do.
SHAMELESS PLUGGING
Steve is selling a bunch of video game stuff on eBay; mostly older, cheaper stuff for PS2, XBox, and the 360. Check it out here!
Vidya Game News – January 22, 2016
“Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind!” – Master Onion, PaRappa.
– Super cool story, as a student has translated game worlds into subway maps. Games included are Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Maniac Mansion, Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy.
– Also cool: Some programmers are trying to make Ocarina of Time into a 2D Zelda game. In which case, Steve might actually play it! Check it out here.
– From Wired and several other sites, Atari will be releasing 100 classic games for Steam in its Atari Vault package this spring.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Although it’s not really that old, by far the best game to come out on this day in history is Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for the PS3 in 2013. While it’s only three years old, it’s definitely worth checking out, and a sequel was just announced for the PS4.
– Historically, January is kind of a dumping ground for games. So, most of the decent games are all semi-recent: No More Heroes for the Wii in 2008, and of course, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball for the Xbox in 2003.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Your Parents Basement 