Vidya Game News – September 3, 2015
While Kanye is running for president in 2020, the only one that’ll get our votes is President Ronnie. Are you a bad enough dude to save him? Prepare for the onslaught of political news with this much more appealing vidya game news:
– The aptly named Steven Lebron of Vice Sports has a lengthy interview with Tim Kitzrow, the voice of the NBA Jam series. Among the neat facts in the piece? He only got paid $900 for his initial voice work.
– The final tally for the first sale of Atari 2600 cartridges from a New Mexico landfill? About $107,000, according to Jacqueline Devine of The Alamogordo Daily News. The lot up for sale was 881 games, with the biggest earning being a copy of E.T., which went for $1,535.
– On YouTube, the iBookGuy has a cool series about how graphics and sounds work in older systems. This week’s topic was Apple and Atari, and you can see it here.
– Are you near central New Jersey at all? Cool! Then you can attend A Video Game Con – AVGC – which is being put on by Paul Solomine. The video game-focused event will have more than 60 vendors and 100 merchandise tables, as well as pretty much every old school console. Chuck O’Donnell of MyCentralJersey.com has a full article here.
– Jaz Rignall at US Gamer has an article on one of those obscure consoles you probably haven’t heard of, the Amstrad GX4000. It also gets into the odd European market, which was not dominated by the NES.
– In celebration of its birthday, Uproxx’s Nathan Birch has a long piece on some of the trivia aspects of the Super Nintendo. Amongst the tidbits: Nintendo never wanted to make a follow-up to the NES, most N64 games started as SNES projects, and yes, the system turns yellow over time.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Pretty much zero games of note came out in America, unless you’re really into NFL Head Coach 09 or Blade II (2002). And if you are, well, it might be time to reevaluate your life and your priorities.
– In Japan, the awesome cult game The Magic of Scheherazade came out in 1987. It didn’t hit American shores until December 1989, but it was a cool game that mixed adventure and RPG elements. And oh yeah – some game called Metal Gear Solid came out in Japan. It became kind of a big deal…
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 – August 27, 2015
I never actually saw a store that sold this by itself…
School is unfortunately back in session in many states, but hey, that doesn’t mean everyone has to leave the comfort of their parents’ basement! Keep cool and read some of this here news:
– Out this week is the Mega Man Legacy Collection, which has gotten a rave review from IGN and other sites. It’s a collection of various Mega Man games, faithfully emulated and with new features, for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
– From Fortune and tons of other sites, Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo is open to making more movies with its IP. It’s not like they could do any worse than Super Mario Bros…
– In other Nintendo news, they’ve put release dates on a bunch of their 2015 games, including Star Fox Zero, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Xenoblade Chronicles, according to Gamespot.
– Garrett Martin of Paste has a full ranking of the 18 games that use the NES Zapper.
– Konami has a ton of great franchises, but oddly, most of them have gone dormant. Ryan Lambie from Den of Geek looks at 14 of them here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Disgaea: Hour of Darkness came out for the Playstation 2 in 2003. The games were unique because they featured tongue-in-cheek humor, references that constantly broke the fourth wall – like recurring boss named Midboss – and ridiculous training, like being able to get your characters to level 9999 and stats in the millions. The series has now spanned to nine games, with the 10th (Disgaea 5) scheduled for release on Oct. 6 in North America on the Playstation 4.
– Also in 2003, SoulCalibur II was released for Playstation 2 and Gamecube.
– In 1992, Super Mario Kart came out, and in 1994, EarthBound came out… In Japan.
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 017 – Smash TV (1992)
Episode 017 – Smash TV (1992)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we’re shooting through hordes of baseball bat swinging mooks for the chance to win a year’s supply of good meat! From 1992, we’re playing the Super Nintendo’s Smash TV, also sometimes called Super Smash TV. (It’s kind of a thing for games on that system – more than 70 have ‘super’ somewhere in the title.)
You can manually download this week’s gore-tastic podcast here, or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – Intro.
- 49:30 – Emails. Todd explains his absence from last week, and the guys talk scary vidya game experiences.
- 1:05:00 – The return of the ToddBitSkit!
- 1:08:00 – Snifferoo.
SHOW NOTES
– There are plenty of good videos on Smash TV on the Internets! Here’s a speedrun in 28 minutes, and a longer play of more than an hour.
– According to Price Charting, Super Smash TV is about $16 for the loose cart. If you want the manual and box, the price shoots up to $40, and new or perfect condition copies run $115 currently. There are also inferior home versions available for the NES, Game Gear and Genesis, all of which run for $6 to $8.
– As mentioned on the show, Smash TV used to be available on the online stores, but it was taken down after Midway went bankrupt and got sold in 2010. It is available in Midway Arcade Origins, a compilation disc for the PS3 and 360 released in 2012. Although some of the games in that collection have iffy controls, Smash TV is still pretty solid. It’s available used for about $10, new for $20.
– The “sequel” to Smash TV is called Total Carnage, although it’s more of a spiritual successor as opposed to a straight continuation. It’s not nearly as well-reviewed or popular though.
Episode 015 – Little Samson (1992)
Episode 015 – Little Samson (1992)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we’re defeating evil wizards as a dragon, a golem and a mouse in one of the most valuable NES games out there. From 1992 and near the end of the NES lifespan, we’re playing Little Samson, with special guest DJ!
You can manually download this week’s wonderful podcast here, or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, as no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – The intro, which is the end boss theme for Little Samson.
- 38:15 – Emails. Cul-de-sacs and wrestling video game talk.
- 52:00 – Snifferoo.
SHOW NOTES
– During the show, DJ mentions a video that gets into the history of Little Samson. It’s by a neat YouTube creator, the Gaming Historian, and it can be viewed here.
– Want to collect every NES game? Titles like Little Samson make it tough. John Blanco at Jinja Bobot has a good list of the toughest finds, which includes Little Samson, Panic Restaurant, and the Nintendo World Championship carts.
– The video game value site that Steve mentions, Price Charting, can be found here. It’s a pretty nifty resource for buying and selling games. As publicity on Little Samson’s rareness has increased, so has its value, from the $90 range in 2008 to around $150 in 2011, $500 in 2013 and $700 to $800 in 2015. If you want the manual and box, you can add a surcharge ranging from 15 percent to 50 percent. To see Little Samson’s entry on the site, click here.
– For a gameplay video on Little Samson, click here. The best speed run of the game is in about 10 minutes.
Vidya Game News – August 6, 2015
Super Breakout (Atari 5200)
Hey, it’s August finally! We’re getting closer to the magical fall and Christmas seasons, the actual times when video games are released. The best times. The greatest times. To tide us over until then, here is some vidya game news:
– A Nintendo Game Boy from 1990 survived a bombing in the Gulf War. Click here for the photo and story from Twinfinite.
– Another neat thing on Kickstarter is The Story of the Commodore 64 in Pixels by Chris Wilkins. For more info, click here.
– BBC News’ Kim Gittleson has an interview with Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari.
– Per MCV reporter Christopher Dring, Nintendo will soon be offering a monthly box of goodies, tentatively named The N-Box.
– Looking for a free, good, classic game to play? Super Breakout, an Atari paddle ball puzzle game, is free currently. It’s the Spokesman-Review’s Tech Deck featured game.
– Looking for a not-free, but new, classic NES game? Star Versus is an indie NES game, and you can purchase it here.
– Unofficially, a new Ducktales cartoon series will be CG-animated, per Brandon Smith at Rotoscopers. Kim Possible and Darkwing Duck are also being considered for remakes.
Star Ocean: The Second Story (PSX)
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 1999, Star Ocean: The Second Story came out for the Playstation. Confusingly, it is the first game to reach America, despite the name. It’s a neat action RPG series, heavier on the RPG than some other games, and the fifth main series game (Integrity and Faithlessness) is due out later this year.
– It was only two years ago, but Dragon’s Crown came out from Atlus for the Playstation 3 and Vita. It’s a cool side-scrolling throwback to games like King of Dragons and Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystra though.
– Past show topic Secret of Mana came out (in Japan) in 1993 today! You can listen to our episode on that fantastic game here. In another significant Japanese release, Metroid came out for the NES in 1986.
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 014 – Contra (1988)
Episode 014 – Contra (1988)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are fighting our way through jungles, the tundra and H.R. Giger styled bases to strike at the heart of the alien invasion! That’s right, we’re playing that classic run-and-gun shooter from 1988, Contra! With special guest and Contra virtuoso Backsack! (He got to the ice stage without losing a life!)
You can manually download this week’s wonderful podcast here, or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, as no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – The intro, which features music from video game music cover band The Minibosses.
- 44:15 – Emails. The gang talks guilty playshures games.
- 1:02:00 – Snifferoo.
SHOW NOTES
– As mentioned in the timestamps, the main theme this week is by video game music cover band The Minibosses. Besides Contra, they do a lot of other cool tunes that you should check out. The sound effects from Contra were gotten from this nifty site.
– Amazingly, some people can play Contra even better than Backsack! There are various speedruns on YouTube, such as this one in 10:11, which seems to be the world record as of 2012. It tends to be a popular pick for charity gaming sessions and what not.
– The resemblance between the heroes of Contra and 1980s action movie heroes has not gone unnoticed over the years.
– While we spoke briefly about all of the weird post-Contra Contra games out there, we didn’t talk about the cost of the game. It’s actually somewhat pricey on eBay, with the cost ranging from $25 to $40 for just the game itself. The box and the manual ups it to $70. There is a similar price range for the NES sequel Super C. It oddly has not had a re-release on the Xbox or Playstation stores, but it is included on various Konami classic releases for the Nintendo DS and PC.
– Clu Clu Land was mentioned several times by Backsack. You can read more about the game on its Wikipedia page. Or, see it in action on YouTube!
– The weird video game simulation series Steve was talking about, GameBiz, can be downloaded here. There are three installments out, but oddly, they each add and subtract good things. The first is the best at single game development. The second adds the ability to train staff (which is very annoying to do) and multiple game development. The third lets you also develop hardware (which takes forever).
Vidya Game News – July 30, 2015
Whew, the weather is heating up just as July is on its way out! But thankfully, there is some good gamin’ news to help you through these miserable temperatures. (Note: Your region may vary.) On to the proper post!
– Ernie Smith of Atlas Obscura has an incredible piece on the Brazilian video game market, where the Sega Master System still sells 150,000 units a year.
– A cool documentary idea: Two guys try to buy as much of a NES collection as they can in 30 days. The film is called Nintendo Quest, and Geek & Sundry’s Robert Workman has an article on it here.
– In other Nintendo news, the company posted a surprising first quarter profit, per Financial Times and many other sites. The gains were attributed to better cost controls and the performance of Splatoon, a new shooter IP for the Wii U.
– Per Wired and other sites, Dragon Quest XI is the first confirmed game for the Nintendo NX, along with the 3DS and Playstation 4, confusingly. In comparison to Square Enix’s other big series, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest games are usually simpler graphically, so the series could be on multiple, divergent platforms.
– The podcast I’m sure everyone was clamoring for: A game-by-game one on the Atari Jaguar! You can check it out here.
– From Wired’s Klint Finley, an article and linked YouTube on the “hot tech rivalry” between Amiga and Atari.
– James O’Malley at Gizmodo UK writes about a poll of British gamers and voters. Conservatives love Candy Crush, whereas Labour voters like that and Grand Theft Auto.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 1993, Ecco the Dolphin came out for the Sega Master System. The release date does vary depending on what site you look at, but the general dates are from July 29 to July 31 for the game’s release.
– Pokemon Crystal, a Game Boy color special edition of the gold and silver versions of that game series, came out in North America in 2001.
– And since it is still July, almost nothing else came out. (For the second week in a row!) Womp womp womp.
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 – July 23, 2015
The original box art for the Sega CD version of Night Trap.
Man, July is almost over! Where does the time go? Quicker than the final quarter in a game of NBA Jam! Anyway, here is this week’s news post:
– Dave Voyles is a sturdier man than most, since he’s taken on the technical challenge of turning the infamous Night Trap into a playable online game. For more information, check out his post on Gamasutra.
– There is an awesome new documentary project on Kickstarter, called Insert Coin: Inside Midway’s 90s Revolution. If the project hits its goal of $75,000, it plans to cover all the games of the era: Smash TV, NARC, WrestleMania, and of course, NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat.
– On past episodes, Steve has mentioned how much he liked the book Console Wars by Blake J. Harris, which really covers the rise and fall of Sega. The Mary Sue’s Dan Van Winkle has an interview with Harris here. (And hey, if you want to buy the book, don’t forget about our Amazon link!)
– From Chris Arrant of Newsarama, details on the deal between Atari and Dynamite to publish items on the gaming company’s deep back inventory of items.
– The latest effort from Honest Trailers? The Super Mario Bros. movie!
– A United Kingdom company is now offering retro game mural wallpaper.
– Via Riley Little of Game Rant, a dad has turned his child’s nursery into one with a Mario Kart 8 theme.
– Business Insider has an unwrapping of the new $500 Nintendo Entertainment System. (Warning: Video will autoplay!)
– David Nield of Motoring Research has a list of the best retro tech of the 1990s, which includes the Super Nintendo and the Game Boy Color, amongst other devices like beepers, point and shoot cameras, and Nokia phones.
Box art for Max Payne.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 2001, Max Payne came out for the PC. According to Wikipedia, the three games in the series have now sold more than 7.5 million copies. It was known for introducing Matrix-style “bullet time” to games.
– And since it’s July, almost nothing else came out. Womp womp womp.
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 012 – R.C. Pro Am 1 and 2 (1987 and 1992)
R.C. Pro Am 1 and 2 (1987 and 1992)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we’re vrooming past wet spots and through oil slicks, as we avoid bombs dropped by planes! R.C. Pro Am 1 from 1987 is the main topic of conversation, along with Nintendo Power’s NES game of 1993 – which was actually released in December 1992 – R.C. Pro Am 2! Also this week, we have ole friend and big fan Pippenz as a guest, and a very special guest toward the end of the sow.
You can manually download this week’s podcast here, or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, as no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
We’re also looking for a guest for next week’s show, Comix Zone for the Genesis. If you’re interested in joining the recording, send us an email or comment on one of those social media sites.
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – The intro, which features the main title theme.
- 32:45 – The YPB boys are joined by a very special guest!
- 38:15 – Emails. More dark thoughts from Butterscoot, Scooterbutt and Kristina Ricci.
- 53:30 – Snifferoo.
SHOW NOTES
– As mentioned on the show, R.C. Pro Am is one of 30 games featured on Rare Replay, which is scheduled to release on Aug. 4 for the Xbox One. Other highlights are the Banjo games, Perfect Dark and the Battletoads games. It’s going for $29.99 to preorder on Amazon.
– A perfect play of the 24 base tracks in R.C. Pro Am can be seen on YouTube here. It’s utterly ridiculous.
– When it comes to the sequel, it was covered by the Angry Video Game Nerd in James and Mike Mondays a little while ago. It doesn’t look like anyone has cared enough to upload a proper speedrun to YouTube, but there is a longplay here.
– NES Guide, a good resource for that system, has a list of racing games for the system. This forum post at Atari Age is also useful, since it lumps them into single and multiplayer games. As mentioned on the pod, Excitebike was the first to come out, in October 1985, followed by Mach Rider in August 1986, which was more of a mixture of shooting and arcade racer. Square’s Rad Racer came out in October 1987, which was then followed by R.C. Pro Am in February 1988.
– There is a Genesis version of R.C. Pro Am, and it’s essentially an enhancement of the original. Records are saved and what not, which helps too, I’m sure. However, it came out in 1992, when the racing scene was crowded with other, better games.
– On Amazon, the first game is around $10, but the second goes for a premium – between $65 and $100. eBay is a bit more reasonable on the first, with $3 to $10 for just the cart, and $18 to $25 if you want the box and manual. The second game still goes for $35 to $100, for just the cart, and the only box and manual and cart combo is $213.74. The Genesis version is $5 to $10, even with the box and manual.
Vidya Game News – July 16, 2015
Now this looks PRETTY legit.
It’s way too friggin’ humid in New England, but despite the condensation, we’ve prepared only the best news for you to enjoy today! Here are some of the stories about classic games and series we’ve culled from around the Interwebs:
– In last week’s “Four of a Kind” feature on Purple Revolver by James Brookfield, they cover bad celebrity endorsed games. The finalists? Shaq Fu, Chuck Norris Superkicks, Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City, and William Shatner’s TekWar, which apparently exists!
– Looking for some classic game recommendations? Nicholas Bitonti of The Detroit Metro Times has some good recommendations. While I don’t agree with all of them, they’re more obscure and interesting than the usual ones you see floating around the web, and cover a variety of systems.
– For the upcoming release of Pixels, Chauncey Alcorn of The New York Daily News has a ranking of his favorite 10 arcade games of all-time. Spoiler alert: Tekken 4 is way too friggin’ high, and while it’s nice to see Virtua Cop get some love, there is no Time Crisis on the list, which is just silly.
– Continuing with controversial #hottakes: Lizzy Finnegan of The Escapist has an article, “When the sequel is worse than the original.” Unfortunately, her examples are The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania, and I’d say that only the latter is actually bad.
– IGN.com’s Cam Shea has a good, longer read on the downfall of the SEGA Rally Championship game series. Warning though, a video autoplays from that link!
– On the Gradius episode, we mentioned that it was seen as Konami’s response to Namco’s classic Xevious. It’s probably for the best that an Atari 2600 port of Xevious never saw the light of day, because the recently unearthed prototype copy is pretty horrible. (Via Kotaku Australia’s Mike Fahey.)
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Again, it’s a fairly crappy day for video game releases, because it’s the summer. The Game Boy Color version of Dragon Warrior III came out 14 years ago. The original was an incredible RPG that featured multiple classes for the first time in a Dragon Quest / Dragon Warrior game, and even better, you could change at-will once you reached a certain point in the game. However, it originally came out in Japan in 1988, and in June 1991 in North America, and didn’t have much of an impact in the states. On Amazon, GBC prices range from $19.99 (used) to $149.98 (new). Want a boxed copy of the NES edition? It’s only $1,499.95, with used copies starting at $47.95.
– One major studio game released in the summer back in the day: NCAA Football 2004, which came out in 2003 on July 16 for the Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube. The cover athlete was Carson Palmer, who is now 35, and the game sells for $1 or less pretty much everywhere in the god damn world.
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 