Slashdot Mirror

Sounds like a plan.

What could possibly go wrong.

Growing up with Intellivision rather than Atari apparently made all the difference when it came to game box art! The first 16-bit game system definitely made me appreciate games and game art at an early age

Intellivision game boxes actually were very representative of the game play, although obviously indulged to be more artistic in presentation than the actual 16-bit (or 10-bit the way you look at it) graphics were capable of at that time. Here are a few examples.

Some of the more crazy titles indulged a little more: like Astrosmash

Good, good, now, remind me again, which one became an icon of the entire concept of "video games"? I guess it DID make "all the difference".

Growing up with Intellivision rather than Atari apparently made all the difference when it came to game box art! The first 16-bit game system definitely made me appreciate games and game art at an early age

Intellivision game boxes actually were very representative of the game play, although obviously indulged to be more artistic in presentation than the actual 16-bit (or 10-bit the way you look at it) graphics were capable of at that time. Here are a few examples.

Some of the more crazy titles indulged a little more: like Astrosmash

This one? Yea it was pretty bad... the music from this damn game plays in my head to this day.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/reviews/nes/ghostbstrs/

I see the TV adverts for online gambling/gaming with virtual Poker, virtual roulette wheel.
All the same games that were available on early console systems back in the 1980's; Atari 2600 Poker Plus, Black Jack and
Roulette wheel.

Though, the animated 3D characters and realistic background certainly change the atmosphere of the game.

Do you know what my first thoughts were when I saw Monkey Island for the first time ever back then in 1990? Can't remember my exact thoughts, but it was something along the line of "This are the best damn graphics I have ever seen in a game", "Maniac Mansion" earlier on the C64 triggered similar feelings. Adventure games simply were one of the best looking games around that time, all those Jump'n Runs and other tile based games just looked flat in comparism to the '3d' scenary you got in an adventure game. Now I am not saying that the technical aspects of graphics are overly important, but graphics itself, ie. the art behind them certainly is. MonkeyIsland1 vs MonkeyIsland4 kind of demonstrates that in a drastic way:

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/scd/a/monkey-25.gif
http://bonusweb.idnes.cz/obrazek/na_mi05.jpg

vs

http://www.activewin.com/reviews/software/games/m/ images/mi4_019.jpg

MonkeyIsland1 might suffer a bit from limited resolution and color palette, but boy, the art in there is just lightyears ahead of that shit that they put into MonkeyIsland4. So what does that mean? Not much probally, but it shows that advances in rendering don't necessarily lead to a better looking a game.

Now that brings us back to the Wii, on one side I don't see its limited abilities as much of a problem, especially since we don't know how limited it really will be (will there be HDR and Shaders support?). However its limits won't be a problem only as long as the developers make good use of what they have at hand. If they just try to develop the same style as they do for PS3 the Wii will probally end up with a bunch of ugly and jerky games, just look at 'Burnout' or 'NfS:Most Wanted' for the NintendoDS to see how wrong games can get if they are rushed and don't make proper use of the hardware.

In the end I think you are right, even with shiny high-end graphics, most of the 'world' in a game exists still mainly in our head and not just on the screen. What is shown on the screen however can and has to support the imagination and not work against it to make the game as a whole work. 'Photorealistic graphics' when done wrong can easily fall into the uncanny valley and spoil all imagination, while cartony graphics on the other side are reasonably save for most part. Now I don't want all games to look chartony, but developers have certainly to be carefull to create an overall pleasant looking game and pure CPU/GPU power alone won't help to compansate lack in arstitic skill. And as such lack of CPU/GPU power won't stop people from creating great looking games either, the days of 4 color CGA where lack of graphic ability might have hindered good looking games are long gone and no matter how much power the Wii has, it will certainly be more then enough to bringt some good graphics onto a TV screen.

I might be insulted if Halo wasn't just a next-gen remake of the NES' "Totally Rad". I mean, tell me that this guy isn't the prototype for Master Chief.

I am certain that the designers of Metroid thought it was a guy inside that armor. They just retconned Samus into being female

Err... it's not a retcon just because it's a surprise.

Samus was revealed to be female at the end of the first game provided you didn't leave it on overnight or something (it's kind of hard NOT to beat it in under 5 hours unless you're actively trying)

Video files are probably overkill for most of the 2D systems. Some games at vgmuseum have animated gifs in their endings, like Castlevania 3 and Super Mario World. If you aren't against emulation, you could use save states to see games endings in motion.

Video files are probably overkill for most of the 2D systems. Some games at vgmuseum have animated gifs in their endings, like Castlevania 3 and Super Mario World. If you aren't against emulation, you could use save states to see games endings in motion.

Not flash, but http://www.vgmuseum.com/ has been around a LONG time and has an extensive archive of endings.

I for one welcome our new rock steering wormy overlords.


me too .. bring it on ..

Dunno, but console gamers like me --- if Lode Runner makes you think about "Hudson Soft" and not about "Broderbund", that's you --- may be very surprised to learn about the relationship between Bomberman and Lode Runner (this and this). I discovered that a few days ago at the insertcredit.com forums and still haven't wrapped my mind around it.

Dunno, but console gamers like me --- if Lode Runner makes you think about "Hudson Soft" and not about "Broderbund", that's you --- may be very surprised to learn about the relationship between Bomberman and Lode Runner (this and this). I discovered that a few days ago at the insertcredit.com forums and still haven't wrapped my mind around it.

Why would a DVD disc have a CD-ROM logo?

Well, the European Xbox version of Soul Calibur 2 does, but as it actually appears to be be a DVD-9. I was wondering if this was some sort of mixup with a CD-ROM version for PlayStation 2.

And I don't think there are any PS2 games on CD.

There are PlayStation 2 games on CD - the boxes (on the back) and discs at least even have the appropriate DVD or CD-ROM logos on them so you can see which is which. Check this gallery, and on some of the discs or backs you can see the good old Compact Disc logo - for example Ico, Dynasty Warriors 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Guilty Gear X - most big games are on DVD, but there are some smaller ones on CD, presumably as they can save tuppence or whatever by using the smaller discs.

The Wikipedia article on the PlayStation 3, as well as mentioning "PlayStation 2 CD-ROM" as a compatible format, also mentions "PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM", so it seems that the PS3 will have a similar situation, so developers who don't need more than a DVD's worth of data can still use it. (As it's Wikipedia, take it with a grain of salt but I think it's just copied and pasted from a Sony press release)

Was it Prize Fighter?

"Drivey Test"... That looks familiar...

They could easilly be adapted to space work

There's an NES game by that name - the date is 1990 but perhaps it's similar? If so you could just get a modern-day emulator and find the ROM online somewhere.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics/flight.html

with LOTS of graphics and sprites, and very well-written backstory and speculation: Mr. P's Castlevania Realm! I've always preferred this site to Classicgaming's one, although I did discover the Blood Debts fanfic on Classicgaming's Castlevania Dungeon. Very very cool fanfic.

Whoops, I meant to say "We're still at the Outlaw stage of gameplay"

What a scam. I could already select Tom Cruise twenty years ago...

What's up flamebait?

There are a lot of differences between "the end" and "the ending". Everything ends. However, not everything has an ending. Let alone a satisfying one.

Videogames today are as much as a storytelling medium as anything, and an engaging story ought to have a satisfying ending. Halo 2 was (imo) fairly engaging (with all of it's politics and religious intrigue and whatnot) and when it was over it was more like playing 1942.

Partially due to the crappy ending I will not be purchasing the next Halo game. I will rent it and feel okay about blowing 4 bucks to see another "to be continued" crap screen rather than spending 50 to be jerked around.

I didn't even know the Lynx was able to go online.

I have a similiar device. I've never used it for web browsing, though. Am I safe?

The problem with Samus is that yes, she is an awesome female character, and yes, she would no doubt be a good rolemodel for young girls, but... the only way we know she is a girl is the fact that she takes off her suit in ever more revealing fashion depending on how well you complete the game. Thus, she is part of an enterprise that is just a step above the various video strip poker games.

IMO, nintendo should have ditched that concept after the first Metroid back on the NES. Taking off the helmet to reveal Samus is a girl is cool and progressive, "HOLY CRAP now she's got a bikini! Smoking!" is not.

The problem with Samus is that yes, she is an awesome female character, and yes, she would no doubt be a good rolemodel for young girls, but... the only way we know she is a girl is the fact that she takes off her suit in ever more revealing fashion depending on how well you complete the game. Thus, she is part of an enterprise that is just a step above the various video strip poker games.

IMO, nintendo should have ditched that concept after the first Metroid back on the NES. Taking off the helmet to reveal Samus is a girl is cool and progressive, "HOLY CRAP now she's got a bikini! Smoking!" is not.

What game was SMARIO2 before it was branded as such?

Answer: Doki Doki Panic.

In order to legitimize this colossal blunder, Nintendo has been inserting "shy guy" into their games ever since.

"DOOT. doo doo DOOT."

Of course, that was also the "Game Over" sound effect when you lost. Those Tiger electronics handhelds were pretty limited...

http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/snes/ff2.jpg/
http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/snes/ff3.jpg/

Call me a marketing moron but I think this sort of smooth, simple box art is the best way to gather attention against rows and rows (or stacks and stacks) of other video game box art.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/snes/ff2.jpg/
http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/snes/ff3.jpg/

Call me a marketing moron but I think this sort of smooth, simple box art is the best way to gather attention against rows and rows (or stacks and stacks) of other video game box art.

Don't forget there was a NES game based on McDonalds released in America. It was called M.C. Kids (McKids) and featured lots of references to the fast food chain. I heard it wasn't that bad of a game actually.

They could try this!

All I could think about when watching the video was Rad Racer

RtS games? The Sims? Civilization? Heck, SimCity did come out before Doom, after all. Notice the general lack of pure Adventure games on consoles? Notice the difference between computer RPGs and console RPGs?

Maybe I'm biased since I'm one of those rare cases that never got into Doom in the first place, but it wasn't the original first person shooter, and heck, from all I hear it's not the original deathmatch either!

Do you seriously think that if deathmatches had been invented on consoles (and they may well have been--see above link) that they would not be transferred to PC with online and LAN capabilities, quickly becomming more popular than the corresponding console equivalents?

Though yes, I'll agree that Doom deserves credit for popularizing it...the same way FF7 deserves credit for making RPGs more mainstream than niche.

What I want is a new 2D side-scrolling platformer Super Mario game. We haven't had one of those since 1992's Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins.

How about NARC for NES?

• WayOut
• BallBlazer

For those interested, here are the end of game sequences for the metroid series:

Metroid (NES)

Super Metroid (SNES)

Metroid 2 (Gameboy)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)

Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Oh, and I found an old Metroid comis put out by Nintendo: click

Anm

(call me a karma whore, but people want to know!!)

For those interested, here are the end of game sequences for the metroid series:

Metroid (NES)

Super Metroid (SNES)

Metroid 2 (Gameboy)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)

Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Oh, and I found an old Metroid comis put out by Nintendo: click

Anm

(call me a karma whore, but people want to know!!)

For those interested, here are the end of game sequences for the metroid series:

Metroid (NES)

Super Metroid (SNES)

Metroid 2 (Gameboy)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)

Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Oh, and I found an old Metroid comis put out by Nintendo: click

Anm

(call me a karma whore, but people want to know!!)

For those interested, here are the end of game sequences for the metroid series:

Metroid (NES)

Super Metroid (SNES)

Metroid 2 (Gameboy)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)

Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Oh, and I found an old Metroid comis put out by Nintendo: click

Anm

(call me a karma whore, but people want to know!!)

For those interested, here are the end of game sequences for the metroid series:

Metroid (NES)

Super Metroid (SNES)

Metroid 2 (Gameboy)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)

Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Oh, and I found an old Metroid comis put out by Nintendo: click

Anm

(call me a karma whore, but people want to know!!)

I'd like to see Blaster Master [vgmuseum.com] ported to the GBA.

Check out these screenshots from their high-fidelity simulator.

Seems like a lot of NES games were also on that system... Lots of shots of Castlevania on the screenshots page, as well as one that's unmistakeably River City Ransom. Also some shots of Image Fight; compare this to the crappy NES version that I played as a kid.

Seems like a lot of NES games were also on that system... Lots of shots of Castlevania on the screenshots page, as well as one that's unmistakeably River City Ransom. Also some shots of Image Fight; compare this to the crappy NES version that I played as a kid.

Sure enough, I searched around a bit and couldn't find a Barbarian or Bloodsword for the Apple 2. But then I remembered that those *fuckers* that had C64's when I was a kid always had better games. Sure enough I found screenshots of a c64 version called Barbarian. Bloodsword was most likely the name of the Apple 2 port, or the bootleg I bought :(

Check it out, headkicking goblin and all

I did get a good laugh at the old c64 guys, because I remember the Apple 2 version had better graphics. Of course, then I saw that the c64 got a sequal! Not only did they get Barbarian 2, but B2 had overt sexuality and animalities! The picture of that chick was damn wankable back then. Those C64 guys got everything ^_^.

Sure enough, I searched around a bit and couldn't find a Barbarian or Bloodsword for the Apple 2. But then I remembered that those *fuckers* that had C64's when I was a kid always had better games. Sure enough I found screenshots of a c64 version called Barbarian. Bloodsword was most likely the name of the Apple 2 port, or the bootleg I bought :(

Check it out, headkicking goblin and all

I did get a good laugh at the old c64 guys, because I remember the Apple 2 version had better graphics. Of course, then I saw that the c64 got a sequal! Not only did they get Barbarian 2, but B2 had overt sexuality and animalities! The picture of that chick was damn wankable back then. Those C64 guys got everything ^_^.

"Back that up."
Ok. Take a look here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And for more plenty more links to back it up, Google has you covered. Hope that helps.

I recently finished the new Metroid remake for GBA, Metroid: Zero Mission, and when you finish the game, you can play the original Metroid. So I did just that... and the original Metroid was extremely frustrating by comparison. Assuming you deal with manually mapping the areas on paper (which I did), once you get past a certain point, you will die very quickly unless you are very lucky and very careful (since after you die, you restart with only minimal health). I don't remember it being that hard when I played it in 1988 or so... but maybe my skills aren't what they used to be.

Metroid: Zero Mission, on the other hand, was much more streamlined and enjoyable (yes, easier). Automapping is a must for this type of game, but more important you are never in a position where extreme care or lots of luck is required to advance. But for the folks who demand punishment, you can finish the game faster, or find all of the hidden powerups, or as few powerups as possible, and you'll get different endings for your hard work. (And getting some of the powerups definitely requires many repeated attempts.) For the lazier folks among us... you can see the endings at The Video Game Museum (spoilers!).

But if you just want a fun, relatively stress-free time, you can see maybe 80% of what Metroid: Zero Mission offers without any sleepless nights. So as for me... I'm just glad that modern developers have discovered how to put a good difficulty balance in their games.