Vidya Game News – February 18, 2016
– Nintendo is finally bringing some classic games to the 3DS in North America, per Destructoid and other sites.
– From Gamespot, a dream of a producer from The Lego Movie would be a similar project with Nintendo characters. Unfortunately, no such project is in development… yet.
– A Chrono Trigger tribute album is now available.
– This week on Steam, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage 2 are free for download! More games are also supposed to be unlocking. For some details, check out this piece on Fortune.
– Next week, the neat Gameological column on the A.V. Club is devoting itself to The Legend of Zelda. However, it has started out this week, so be sure to check out the link!
– From The Sun Sentinel, a southern Florida museum now has an exhibit on video games. Exhibits include Piftall!, Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros.
– Although it’s been mislabeled on a bunch of websites, Hat-Loving Gamer has made an animation of what Super Mario Kart would look like with 101 racers. Check it out on his Facebook page.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Historically, it’s a weak day for game releases. In 2009, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II came out for the PC, which might be of interest to one of the SBBs of YPB. (Huell.)
– Dark Chronicle, better known as Dark Cloud 2, came out for the Playstation in 2003. It was very well-received and a cult classic for years, and it’s now out for the PS4.
– Coming out in the same year was Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter, which got a so-so reception. As a result, the series pretty much went dormant. Per Wikipedia, the sixth installment is coming out next week in Japan for PCs and cell phones, with no news of a translation.
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 11, 2016
– Legitimately cool, but some NSFW text and language: Canadian punk band PUP has a ton of re-purposed vintage video game stuff for its music video of “DVP.” Check it out on YouTube! It’s definitely a must-watch for any old games fan.
– James Trew of Engadget has a cool retrospective on the Atari Lynx, which is one of those obscure systems from the early to mid-1990s.
– Are you in the Austin, Texas area on Feb. 21? You’re in luck! You can attend the NBA Jam Invitational Tournament at Empire Control Room & Garage. Find more details here. Also, from FOX Sports and several other sources, the University of Florida used NBA Jam graphics for a promotion.
– In “WTF Sega???” news, The Worldfolio has an interview with the president and CEO of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., and he said development continues on a live action-animation hybrid Sonic The Hedgehog movie. It’s tentatively scheduled for a 2018 release.
– A hat tip to Friend of the Show Hypermotard, as he passed along this Reddit AMA with Don Rawitsch, one of the co-inventors of The Oregon Trail.
– From the appropriately named This Is Why I’m Broke, it’s a Nintendo console lamp. The price of $95 seems a bit steep to me, but still, it looks pretty cool.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 2014, Square somewhat buried the third installment of Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning Returns, by releasing it in this traditional “dead” period. The game itself is a bit of a mess, but it has some cool concepts, like the ability to hunt enemies to extinction and the setting of the end of the world. Like a lot of recent Square efforts, it’s undone by some meh storytelling in the third act.
– We typically don’t use Japanese dates for “anniversaries” on the old YPB blog, but for whatever reason, Feb. 11 is a banner day for the genre in Japan. In 1990, Dragon Quest IV came out, and as usual it did major business in Japan. It didn’t hit American shores until October 1992, and it was very much a “niche” title with seemingly only 15 copies released. A Nintendo DS remake came out in 2007 and 2008; it tends to be controversial, because while it cleans up some gameplay and “where do I go next?” aspects, it gives all of the characters ridiculous accents.
– In 1998, Xenogears was released by Square in Japan. It has a strong cult following to this day because of its unique RPG system with martial arts and robots fighting, along with a plot that focuses on religion, psychology and identity crisis. The reaction is still mostly positive, even though the second half of the game falls apart a bit for behind-the-scenes budget reasons.
– Square released Final Fantasy VIII in Japan in 1999. It was the second Final Fantasy game for the Playstation, and drastically different from the preceding game, and as a result it’s somewhat a black sheep in the series. Although it has sold more than 8.5 million copies, it’s been passed over for remakes in favor of VII and X, even though its story and “look” hold up somewhat better. It’s not really a game for Final Fantasy newcomers though, as the battle system takes some getting used to, and exploit knowledge on a second playthrough can let you become an all-powerful character within the game’s first few hours.
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 5, 2016
News is short today!
– Eurogamer, citing sources close to Nintendo, reports that a proper localization for Mother 3 – the Game Boy Advance sequel of Earthbound / Mother 2 – is underway. Read their news item here. A fan translation has been available for a few years, and it’s not bad.
– Capcom is now developing a Mario Party arcade game, according to the Anime News Network.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Paper Mario, a spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG, was released for the N64 in 2001. There are now four games in the series, with the last being Sticker Star in 2012 for the 3DS.
– In 2007, Final Fantasy VI Advance came out. The re-release of FF6j/3e added a new bonus dungeon and a couple new espers.
– Devil May Cry 4 came out in 2008. Steve hasn’t ever played any of the series, but he used to have a “hand me down” cat named after the lead character.
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 29, 2016
Hey, it’s some news!
– Marc Deschamps had a fun review, with pictures, of his time spent at a museum with a NES exhibit.
– It was all around the Internet this week, but the original story seems to be from a Huffington Post site: Michael Jackson did portions of the soundtrack for Sonic 3. Read more here by Todd Van Luling.
– PAX South is in San Antonio from today to Sunday. You know, in case you’re in the area. For more info, visit the event’s website.
– From mbgreen78 at DeviantART, it’s video game dioramas! Check them out here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– The most significant game released was Phantasy Star Online in 2001 for the Dreamcast. It was pretty much the first online console game that had a significant impact, and it makes plenty of “best of all-time” lists as a result.
– Depending on what source you look at, Final Fantasy Tactics came out today or yesterday in 1998. It was a cult classic for plenty of years, thanks to its awesome storyline and neat, turn-based strategy gameplay. Nowadays, it has been re-released for several different (mostly Sony) platforms, and it’s still worth checking out. (And by the way, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is out this week for the Wii U Virtual Console, per Gamasutra.)
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 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.
Vidya Game News – January 14, 2016
“Please adhere to the following rule of the city square: No swimming, No swearing, No laughing, No crying, No talking out of turn, No line dancing, No moose calling, No sword play, No pumpkin carving, No mummified cat juggling, No wallowing in your own self pity, No circumstantial evidence, No walking on the grass, No pancakes on Monday, No dessert until you eat your vegetables, No slapstick comedy, No balloon animals, And absolutely, positively, No barking like a seal. It upsets me.” – Secret of Evermore.
While following the rules, enjoy this vidya game news.
– Cool old game news, as Natsume has their own eBay store now. This includes new, boxed copies of things like Pocky and Rocky, Lufia II and Harvest Moon. Check it out here.
– Nintendo has joined legions of teenage girls and the year 2007, as they have a Tumblr account now, per Destructoid. Check it out here.
– Also from Destructoid, the fresh screenshots from the PS4 remaster of Valkyria Chronicles!
– From Kotaku ’Stralia and some other sites, a gamer totally broke Secret of Mana the other week during his speedrun. Also, the original game of the series, Final Fantasy Adventure, is getting a re-release on phones and iOS devices, per Polygon’s Allegra Frank.
– Also, publicized on the Mary Sue, NES30 has released a wireless NES controller that works with modern systems. It’s a bit pricey, at $36.99, but pretty damn cool.
– UK site Digital Spy has 11 horrible realities of old school gaming.
– If you live in Barrie, in Central Ontario, congrats! There is a new board game and video game group you can join.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 2002, NBA Courtside 2002 was released for the GameCube. As you can imagine from this game being included, it wasn’t a great day for releases, historically…
– The fourth installment of the second .hack series came out in 2004. Quarantine was a weird game, even by Japanese RPG standards. The games go for a pretty penny now, so if you see them, snatch them 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 – 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.
Vidya Game News – December 10, 2015
Not much news this week, so really, focus on some holiday shopping! Can I recommend our linkthrough via Amazon? It doesn’t add anything to your purchase price, and it kicks some cash to us. We promise to use the money on inappropriate gaming purchases, like Cool Spot.
– Geek.com and some other sites bring up that the original Super Mario Bros. theme DOES have words. Check them out here.
– From various fashion sites, there is now a Mario and Nintendo-themed Italian fashion line. Read more and check out some photos here.
– IGN’s Jared Petty has an interview with Shaq on Shaq Fu. Also, a new trailer for the game has come out. And as always, check out our past episode on Shaq Fu.
– From The Escapist, “5 Video Game Consoles That Almost Hit The Market.” Read it here!
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 1993, DOOM was released, and pretty much became the first megahit for the first-person shooter genre. It expanded on the gameplay of Wolfenstein 3D, and features more weapons and more enemies to blow up real good! Thanks id!
– Breath of Fire 2 came out for the SNES in 1995. Steve was one of 10 people who owned this obscure console RPG! It was better in some ways than the first, since it had a town you could recruit people to, but there was soooo much level grinding, and the game would often leave you no clue about how to do things. Re-releases for the Game Boy Advance and other systems made it much more playable.
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 – December 3, 2015
“Get over here!” – Scorpion. And, uh… read these news stories.
– On our Shaq Fu episode, we talked about how development on the crowdfunded sequel was oddly quiet. Well, according to IGN and other sites, piggybacking on Shaq’s twitter, a release date might be announced today. (And to check out our episode, which was one of our favorites, go here!)
– Know a hipster who loves old SNES RPGs? Then the perfect gift for him might be a Mother 2 (Earthbound) soundtrack on vinyl, as first publicized by Carlos Cadorniga of the Anime News Network.
– What’s the Angry Video Game Nerd up to this Christmas season? Why, examining bad cover art, of course! And it’s probably not a surprise that the second game he features is Mega Man…
– A fancy Super Mario Bros. watch can be yours for just $18,000! Good times, good times.
– Grey Carter of The Escapist has a modern review of Myst, and he’s not all that impressed in the game except as a fossil.
– T3 Online has a really awesome and exhaustive piece on the Dreamcast, and they even open up the system and look at its guts!
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– On TV Tropes, there is a concept known as Early Installment Weirdness. This definitely applies to Duke Nukem II, as most people don’t remember it started as a platform game in 1993. Apogee was an awesome developer of platform games back then, though. Since then, they’ve changed names to 3D Realms and done way more FPS stuff.
– Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire came out 19 years ago, in 1996, for the Nintendo 64 by LucasArts. While the interface is clunky at times, it features a cool-named character (Dash Rendar!) and serves as a neat side story between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
– Yesterday, 14 years ago, Pikmin came out for the GameCube. It’s kind of a cult classic for Nintendo, in that it “only” sold about 1.1 million copies back in the day. It has spawned two sequels, but it remains a minor series for the Big N.
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 – November 25, 2015
This week’s news post is a day early, because of Thanksgiving on Thursday. If you’re feeling grateful for YPB this year, give back via our Amazon link. ❤ It won’t add anything to your Black Friday purchase! Shop by using it here.
– The AV Club’s Annie Zaleski has an incredible roundtable interview with three Nintendo game counselors. It’s really long, but totally worth reading. Highlights: Nintendo would pay for limos and tons of booze at the annual Christmas party, counselors got free systems and discounts on games, and it was hell to answer the phones the entire day.
– One of the newest Rifftrax movies is vidya game “classic” The Wizard! You can purchase it here. It has Fred Savage, Rilo Kiley and others in full glory.
– From a Reddit user, it’s an old school ad from Electronics Boutique! At one point, Donkey Kong Country 3 was $69.99. A new SNES with Killer Instinct? $79.99.
– John Markley of The Escapist has a feature on the history of Nintendo’s religious censorship in games.
– Rollin Bishop of Tech Times has an oddly named feature, Licensed to Kill, although he has a nifty review of Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Depending on what country you’re in, Donkey Kong Country came out for the SNES either on Nov. 21, Nov. 24 or Nov. 26 of 1994. It’s renowned as one of the best vidya games of all-time, and re-established the vibrancy of the series. It is yet another strong game released by Rare. (Past YPB episodes on their games include Goldeneye and R.C. Pro Am.)
– Speaking of Rare… Killer Instinct Gold, the Nintendo 64 version of the arcade game Killer Instinct 2, came out this day in 1996. While the first game was seen as revolutionary because of automated combos, the sequels had diminishing returns.
– Chrono Trigger came out in 2008 for the Nintendo DS. The re-release added a bonus dungeon, and made the game much easier to play and purchase than past versions for the SNES and PSX.
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 