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 17, 2016
– Hey, the NCAA tournament starts today! While there was a lot of fanfare when the college football series by EA ended, the NCAA Basketball series went with a whimper in 2010. It kind of sucked, since the 2K series was better, but even that ended in 2008. Amusingly, even though it’s not a great game, NCAA Basketball 10 now goes for more than $30 because it’s the last one. (NCAA Football 14 is in the same boat, with prices staying at $25+, although that’s a much better game.)
– Matt Peckham of Time.com, which apparently used to be a magazine, has an interview with Miyamoto on Star Fox Zero.
– I Am Setsuna is the latest new RPG series from Square Enix, and according to IGN, it’s inspired by Chrono Trigger. Nice!
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– We’re finally getting to some decent historical release dates! On this day in 1994, Castlevania: Bloodlines came out for the Genesis. It was the only ’Vania game released for the Genesis, and it was very well-received. (The photo comes from this website.)
– Also for the Genesis in 1994, there was Streets of Rage 3! It was more of the same – basically, that system’s answer to Final Fight – but still good.
– Legend of Legaia, a perfectly average PSX RPG, came out in 1998. From the developer Contrail, it had a sequel in 2001, but otherwise, it hasn’t been prominent.
– Last year, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD came out for the PS4 and Xbox One. It was based on an old Playstation Portable game, and it shows with the weird, frenetic gameplay. Steve just bought it last week for $10 and says it’s pretty passable.
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 – January 8, 2016
Oh man… We took a bit of a news break the past few weeks, because of The Holidays and what not. And also, Steve is sicker than the Noid after eating Pizza Hut. Regardless though, he’s powering through to deliver the first vidya games news of 2016!
– Brad Fuller, the composer for classic games like Tetris and Donkey Kong has passed away. Develop’s Matthew Jarvis has the full story here.
– A Reddit dude posts cool images from his collection of odd gaming systems. Check it out on Imgur.
– Super Metroid is a lot of fun, and you can self-impose new difficulty challenges via sequence breaking. But if you’re a complete masochist, a new hack tilts the game on its side.
– Also in bizarre hacking news: Windows 95 now works on the 3DS.
– This week’s game for James and Mike Mondays (Angry Video Game Nerd) is Killing Time for the 3DO. As one of the 20 people who own a 3DO, of course I’m linking to it.
– From Nerd Reaction, you can buy your own Star Fox statue for “just” $79.99! Story is here.
– Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this week. His SNES game was weird, and Tech Times’s Jason Serafino has a rundown here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Much like the motion picture industry, January can be a dumping ground for the vidya game industry. The most significant releases? Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law came out in 2008 for the PS2, PSP and Wii, and Total Eclipse came out for the 3D0 in 1994.
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 