With all the postings mentioning RoboRally, I thought I'd mention another, slightly rarer, game where you do some programming, RoboTanks
Each player has a small group of tanks, which you put cards into stacks for their program, which they then follow from that point out. Reminds me of the old Playstation game Carnage Heart, only with many units per side.
It's a lot less direct than RoboRally, and hard to play if you can't think ahead a number of turns, but can be a lot of fun in the right company.
Don't forget the ill fated Neo Geo Hyper 64 hardware which had a handful of so-so games, and ultimately got dumped to go back to developing for the MVS...
It is surprising how well the original Multi-Video System holds up - it will be interesting to see how well Metal Slug 6 (or whatever it is named) plays in 3D. Same goes for looks - I have a feeling some of us will miss the fluid 2D animation.
Rescue on Fractalis: Also outstanding for the time
Eidolon: A little slow, but fun
Ballblazer: Absolutely fantastic! Too bad the souped-up Playstation version was not so hot...
Night Shift: Total pain in the ass, but a cute puzzle game.
Anybody else remember Die By The Sword with it's Virtual SIMulation (VSIM) engine which let you execute pretty much any sword swipe you wanted?
You could even record a few moves and execute them with a single key press I think.
While this was a decent system of play (fairly traditional controls with VSIM mapped on top) I don't remember spending a while lot of time using anything but the basic attacks...
So what does this mean for the recently released Activision Anthology which emulates the Atari 2600 on the GBA (and presumably had Nintendo's blessing, as it has their seal of quality on the box...)
The controls were excellent (best analog stick on any system) and games top-notch and surprisingly deep
While th the NGPC had the best stick of any handheld I've owned, it was digital, not analog - which gave the system a very nice 'arcadey' micro-switch joystick feel.
...would be my primary reason for sticking to boxed games.
Some things I can download at work, burn to a CD and take home, but in the case of Steam and other installers where you just download a front end, I'd have to pack my computer to work (or a friend's house, was at a LAN party last weekend and we had access there.)
On the subject of keeping those boxes, I used to save all but the ones I disliked, now most of those are thrown away except the "important" ones (Ultima I-V, C64) and the ones that are convenient to keep (numerous EA flat-packaged games)
The GBA has carved out a niche for itself in classic-style RPG games for a reason - They don't take too much CPU power to have a great storyline, and they don't require 90% of the development costs go toward eye-candy.
Was having almost this exact conversation in EB the other day. I was picking up Cima: The Enemy and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and one of the guys working there was wondering out loud why so many people buy so many RPGs on the GBA. The answer is basically what you've stated - time is spent developing the gameplay, not the pretty graphics, making for more enjoyable games IMHO.
If you're like me, and still have your old consols (my Atari 2600 is still up and running) you'll be able to play that NES game for a while.
The overhead for keeping old PC's and operating systems around to play old computer games is a lot more hassle. Some games will continue to work, some won't. VMWare helps in this regard, but not completely (mostly due to slow video.)
If games move to a model where you have to contact the company to install (or even to play) the software, you have no recourse should the company decide to cut you off or dissapear.
I would assume these will be more original versions, like what you get when you downlaod NES games from Animal Crossing (or with the e-Reader) as the code allready exists, right?
These games (from AC or e-cards) are identical to the NES originals except for the fact that the screen is scrunched - a few lines are interlaced due to the fact that the NES had a larger vertical resolution than the GBA.
I'm sure these are there more for nostalgia than anything else - if the emulator plus one game will fit in the GBA memory, then they certainly could have stuck them all on one cart. At least bring the release down to a few carts, one per company perhaps?
Aside from the limited screen size (GBC compared to GBC) I always prefered this cart to the Super Mario Advance titles as I enjoy playing them in "the original 8-bit style"
I get especially sick of all the voices they've added, which seem to get more and more flamboyant as time goes by. Shoot, they even added Mario voice-overs to Pac-Man Vs. for crying out loud! ("Pac-Man ate-a da fruit!") It's a fun game if you can get the people together to play it, but Mario in a Namco title just seems wrong somehow..
which is a giant octagon that you stand in the middle of and stick your arms/legs out for various buttons/directions. (8 directions, two hights make for a 16 button controller)
The instructional tape that came with this was very funny, showing the kid playing with the Activator kicking the ass of the kid with the regular controller...
The only neat thing about it was that the games that supported it (couple of fighting games) would map "forward" for the character to "forward" for you as well, which was interesting, but still less efficient.
... actually, the only LEGO I have visable right off the bat in my living room is the Super Chief train with cars, on a streight piece of track running along the top of my fireplace.
Does anybody remember these games? Great litle 'be a president' sims. Little out of date by now though.;)
Waaaay back when I remember a game called "Race for the States" (or similar) which came from Compute!'s Gazette, typed the damn thing in on my C64 - was a simplistic, but fun game where you had to run around and do what you could to get elected.
Also for the C64 was a pretty good semi-political game Dragonriders of Pern. (Not quite as interesting as the old Mayfail boardgame though.)
Slashdot Mirror
Don't forget XCOM ;)
Remaking 40K with Xcom units did cross our mind
Games Workshop allready did a boardgame which plays very much like X-Com, it's called Space Hulk.
...and eventually got remade into another board game, "Sid Meier's Civilization"
With all the postings mentioning RoboRally, I thought I'd mention another, slightly rarer, game where you do some programming, RoboTanks
Each player has a small group of tanks, which you put cards into stacks for their program, which they then follow from that point out. Reminds me of the old Playstation game Carnage Heart, only with many units per side.
It's a lot less direct than RoboRally, and hard to play if you can't think ahead a number of turns, but can be a lot of fun in the right company.
Almost bought a system for this game alone - would stop to play it every time I was at Toys R Us when it was there.
Did eventually pick up the sequals for the Genesis, but they just weren't quite the same...
Or Tomlinson Holman EXperiment?
If you can find it, there is a boardgame called High Seas that is a multiplayer game that captures the feel of Pirates! very well.
Well, it may be worse than nothing, but its better than Voyager.
:p
Are you saying that nothing is better than Voyager?
Not historical, (and not movies originally) but Tom Clancy tested naval combat with Larry Bond's Harpoon
The computer game did not exist at the time, he had played out the engagemnets with the original board game.
Don't forget the ill fated Neo Geo Hyper 64 hardware which had a handful of so-so games, and ultimately got dumped to go back to developing for the MVS...
It is surprising how well the original Multi-Video System holds up - it will be interesting to see how well Metal Slug 6 (or whatever it is named) plays in 3D. Same goes for looks - I have a feeling some of us will miss the fluid 2D animation.
(Proud owner of a 6-slot MVS and about 40 games)
If you're gonna count stuff lke Labyrinth:
Rescue on Fractalis: Also outstanding for the time
Eidolon: A little slow, but fun
Ballblazer: Absolutely fantastic! Too bad the souped-up Playstation version was not so hot...
Night Shift: Total pain in the ass, but a cute puzzle game.
Anybody else remember Die By The Sword with it's Virtual SIMulation (VSIM) engine which let you execute pretty much any sword swipe you wanted?
You could even record a few moves and execute them with a single key press I think.
While this was a decent system of play (fairly traditional controls with VSIM mapped on top) I don't remember spending a while lot of time using anything but the basic attacks...
So what does this mean for the recently released Activision Anthology which emulates the Atari 2600 on the GBA (and presumably had Nintendo's blessing, as it has their seal of quality on the box...)
Is that a different release than this?
I had not heard that this (or a similar product) was coming to the 'states.
The controls were excellent (best analog stick on any system) and games top-notch and surprisingly deep
While th the NGPC had the best stick of any handheld I've owned, it was digital, not analog - which gave the system a very nice 'arcadey' micro-switch joystick feel.
...did you check the CD?
My version came with the book that was only about 1/3 there, rest were stored on the CD in PDF format I think.
...would be my primary reason for sticking to boxed games.
Some things I can download at work, burn to a CD and take home, but in the case of Steam and other installers where you just download a front end, I'd have to pack my computer to work (or a friend's house, was at a LAN party last weekend and we had access there.)
On the subject of keeping those boxes, I used to save all but the ones I disliked, now most of those are thrown away except the "important" ones (Ultima I-V, C64) and the ones that are convenient to keep (numerous EA flat-packaged games)
The GBA has carved out a niche for itself in classic-style RPG games for a reason - They don't take too much CPU power to have a great storyline, and they don't require 90% of the development costs go toward eye-candy.
Was having almost this exact conversation in EB the other day. I was picking up Cima: The Enemy and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and one of the guys working there was wondering out loud why so many people buy so many RPGs on the GBA. The answer is basically what you've stated - time is spent developing the gameplay, not the pretty graphics, making for more enjoyable games IMHO.
...Well, maybe I should qualify that.
If you're like me, and still have your old consols (my Atari 2600 is still up and running) you'll be able to play that NES game for a while.
The overhead for keeping old PC's and operating systems around to play old computer games is a lot more hassle. Some games will continue to work, some won't. VMWare helps in this regard, but not completely (mostly due to slow video.)
If games move to a model where you have to contact the company to install (or even to play) the software, you have no recourse should the company decide to cut you off or dissapear.
I would assume these will be more original versions, like what you get when you downlaod NES games from Animal Crossing (or with the e-Reader) as the code allready exists, right?
These games (from AC or e-cards) are identical to the NES originals except for the fact that the screen is scrunched - a few lines are interlaced due to the fact that the NES had a larger vertical resolution than the GBA.
I'm sure these are there more for nostalgia than anything else - if the emulator plus one game will fit in the GBA memory, then they certainly could have stuck them all on one cart. At least bring the release down to a few carts, one per company perhaps?
Aside from the limited screen size (GBC compared to GBC) I always prefered this cart to the Super Mario Advance titles as I enjoy playing them in "the original 8-bit style"
I get especially sick of all the voices they've added, which seem to get more and more flamboyant as time goes by. Shoot, they even added Mario voice-overs to Pac-Man Vs. for crying out loud! ("Pac-Man ate-a da fruit!") It's a fun game if you can get the people together to play it, but Mario in a Namco title just seems wrong somehow..
Try playing Mortal Kombat 2 with the Sega Activator
which is a giant octagon that you stand in the middle of and stick your arms/legs out for various buttons/directions. (8 directions, two hights make for a 16 button controller)
The instructional tape that came with this was very funny, showing the kid playing with the Activator kicking the ass of the kid with the regular controller...
The only neat thing about it was that the games that supported it (couple of fighting games) would map "forward" for the character to "forward" for you as well, which was interesting, but still less efficient.
Is this still avaliable?
Been using it for some time, but it has been at least a year since I've seriously worked with Mindstorms (no time!)
Does anybody remember these games? Great litle 'be a president' sims. Little out of date by now though. ;)
Waaaay back when I remember a game called "Race for the States" (or similar) which came from Compute!'s Gazette, typed the damn thing in on my C64 - was a simplistic, but fun game where you had to run around and do what you could to get elected. Also for the C64 was a pretty good semi-political game Dragonriders of Pern. (Not quite as interesting as the old Mayfail boardgame though.)