Vidya Game News – August 26, 2016
– Celebrating its birthday this week? The Super Nintendo! Aaron Couch from The Hollywood Reporter has a good piece here, which features some good stuff from Blake J. Harris, the author of Console Wars. Over at SB Nation, Marc Normandin and others write about their four favorite sports games for the system.
– Cool graphics from Video Game Densetsu, as they collected some old Sega pixel-making.
– The new Toejam & Earl game, Back in the Groove has picked up an appropriate publisher: Adult Swim! Read more from Michael McWhertor on Polygon. Our episode on the game is here!
– Boing Boing and a bunch of other sites had a link to a hamster finishing a Super Mario Bros. level.
– From a couple different sites, an Epic Donald game was considered at various points.
– Obduction, a spiritual successor to Myst, has gotten a good review from PC World and from Polygon. And hey, check out our episode on Myst here!
– Nintendo has acquired JESNET, a console distribution company in Japan, for $46.5 million. It’s seen as a sign of the big N ramping up console production for the NX.
– On Cinemassacre this week! Mike and Bootsy play Where’s Waldo, a notoriously crappy game. And, Mike and James have a showdown, the U-Force vs. the Power Glove.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Today was a good day for games. First, Ecco: The Tides of Time came out for the Genesis. It was the sequel to the first game, and the hottest dolphin game of 1994.
– A little game called Goldeneye came out in 1997! We covered that awesome, FPS from Rare on a past episode here.
– Super Mario Sunshine came out for the Gamecube on Aug. 26, 2002. It’s 14 years old! God, it feels like it came out yesterday.
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 21, 2016
– Gizmodo has an awesome write-up of the find of a Seattle man: The incredibly rare Nintendo 64 disk drive.
– Of all places, Playboy has a long read on how the really good 2009 Ghostbusters game came together. You can read it here, although your work’s spam filter might block. And hey, listen to our show on the NES Ghostbusters here!
– Engadget has a good summary article of Ben Heck ripping into the “newly” discovered Nintendo-Sony CD unit.
– There is now a Kickstarter for the old NES Wisdom Tree games, which were pretty horrible games based on Bible stories. But still, if you want to support it, go here.
– Now in Japan! Kirby restaurants. (And check out our Kirby show.)
– From The Daily Mail, games like Mario Kart might make you a better driver, according to a study. (Check out our episode here!)
– Gizmodo’s Adam Clark Estes has a review of the Analogue NT, a souped-up clone of the NES. It’s basically like a great version of the NES Classic going on sale this November. And, oh, it costs $500.
– From Mashable and Reddit, Matt Damon might be interested in doing some video game stuff.
– Posted on a bunch of sites, including the developer site: Obduction, a spiritual successor to Myst, has been delayed from July 26 to the week of Aug. 22.
– Looking to move out of your parents basement? Booooo! But if you are, then don’t go to Worcester. Your parents’ basement is good enough for Jeff Teague, so it should be good enough for you.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– A pair of classic Genesis games, Shinobi III and Road Rash 2, came out in 1993.
– On July 22, 2008, a remake of Final Fantasy IV came out for the DS. It was… really bizarre. Developed by Matrix Software, it was in 3D and had an augment system that allowed you to power up characters after they left your party. The difficulty was also ramped up, and some story segments were added back in.
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 9, 2016
– A fun piece from Dany Roth of blastr, as he looks at 10 forgotten NES games that deserve a comeback. Included on the list is The Guardian Legend, which we covered a few weeks ago.
– Joe Juba of Game Informer spoke with Takashi Tokita, one of the directors of classic RPG Chrono Trigger. He’d like to see a “high quality, high end” version of the game. As a comment on the article summed up perfectly: *breathing intensifies*
– Obduction, a spiritual successor to Myst by Cyan, is scheduled for a July release according to Elise Favis of Game Informer. (And hey, listen to our Myst episode!)
– Director Rocky Morton tells Poppy-Jay Palmer of SciFiNow about the horrible experience he had directing the Super Mario Bros. movie.
– Anthony John Agnello looks at the development of story in the Metroid series for the AV Club. (And hey, check out our Super Metroid episode!)
– Jeremy Peel of the PC Games Network has an interview with the current management of Atari.
– Nolan Moore is trying to hack a Power Glove to control robots, drones and other things, which is awesome. Read more about his project here.
– The latest Mike and Bootsy game on Cinemassacre is Swamp Thing for the NES. Check out their video here!
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Hey, the Game Boy Advance came out on June 11, 2001! It ended up selling more than 81 million units, which is pretty, pretty, pretty good. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was a launch title. It’s a stellar side-scroller with RPG elements, and worth hunting down.
– Also on June 11, but in 2000, The Legend of Dragoon came out for the Playstation. It was a fairly mediocre RPG, but one of the first released for the system, so it sold fairly well as a result.
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.
Your Parents Basement 