Messages

1

Classic Video Games / Re: Your Opinion Of Golf Games

« on: September 06, 2020, 03:03:47 am »

I am rather ambivalent about golf games in general but several have been very good and few have been bad. My introduction would have been Golf on the Atari 2600 or Computer Golf! on the Magnavox Odyssey2.
My introduction to picking clubs and power meters was the Buick Dimensions https://archive.org/details/msdos_Buick_Dimensions_1990 demo disk that came in the mail in 1990. For a throw away game placed on a car demo disk it isn't half bad, give it a try.
These days my Golfing online is limited to the golf course in GTA Online. It is a surprisingly well done game of golf for being a mostly ignored mini-game tucked into a completely different style of game.

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Classic Video Games / Re: The Original Xbox Appreciation Thread

« on: September 06, 2020, 02:49:03 am »

The original Xbox was my true return to gaming after the NES. I skipped SNES/Genesis out of spite. I bought a Jaguar on closeout "so our nephew could have something to play when he came over" ie... that is what I told my wife, I just wanted a console. We did eventually get a N64 right at the end of that generation and it sparked enough interest that we bought both the Xbox (me) and GameCube (wife) at launch.
I was so eager for the system that I bought every magazine I could, read everything online I could find and even picked up the behind the scenes book Opening the Xbox (https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Xbox-Microsofts-Entertainment-Revolution/dp/0761537082) and read it cover to cover multiple times. We even bought our first HDTV and surround sound system in preparation for it.
I took launch day off and picked up the systems, brought them home, tossed the GameCube into a corner and fired up the system for the first time. The boot sequence was exactly the indicator a new generation of gaming called for. It was otherworldly and very psuedo-future-tech looking. A few adjustments and before I knew it I was the John-117 (I had read the novelizations of all the games that had them) coming out of cryo-stasis on the Pillar of Autumn. It was awesome.
Eventually we hooked up the Gamecube and Rogue Squadron was nice and all but the Xbox was the system of the generation for us (my wife was converted very easily after seeing the Xbox in action, other than when Animal Crossing came along). We did end up picking up a PS/2 slim but I think it was used maybe twice (just like our PS4 this time around).
My wife even bought Steel Battalion for it when that was launched. We were on a first name basis with the game shop that generation and they were very envious when she did that.
Anyway, that Xbox was awesome and I am so glad that the Series X will support the games from it.

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Classic Video Games / Re: What is your principal goal collecting games?

« on: September 06, 2020, 02:28:18 am »

My primary goal is just to have fun playing games. on the occasions when I find myself starting to buy something I probably will never play just because I don't have it I stop an remind myself of this fact. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally get home and wonder why I bought something. When that happens I try to find some way to enjoy it or redistribute it.

I don't care about boxes or manuals or anything like that. I have always found sealed copies as a bizarre thing to collect and not a lot of fun.

As for any completionism goals, I would like to get the last few games to complete my Lynx collection. The only reason for doing that is that after I get all the games I would have wanted anyway there are only three to five official releases left that I wouldn't have bought anyway and I picked those up along the way as filler in lot orders when hunting the others down or when buying my systems.

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General / Re: Your In Game Names Or High Score Names

« on: June 27, 2018, 09:09:23 pm »

I usually will give the character a name brining with Braz and then based on the class or profession. So a rifleman might get a name like Brazshoota or a barbarian might become Brazbarian. It allows my friends to quickly recognize me and it allows me to quickly identify my character and class on the character select screen. It's hokey but effective.
If it's an arcade game I just use my name. It was very handy in the 80s to have a three letter name.

When I created my World of Warcraft character I wasn't sure if I would like the game. I created an orc that looked as closely as I could possibly make it to my Trandoshan in Star Wars Galaxies. I deemed he looked sufficiently Braz-ish... 10 years later I was still playing Brazish, a throw-away reference to a long gone character. /Face-palm

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Classic Video Games / Re: Do You Buy Something Just Because It's Rare Or Fun Factor?

« on: June 02, 2018, 01:10:32 am »

Because I know the game is fun, to find the fun in the unknown, and simple curiosity.

Journey Escape. The concept is absurd, the story of its development even more so. In the 80s I had no interest in Journey, now I get a kick out of hearing "Don't Stop Believin'" as I navigate my character through throngs of kissy lips, flashbulbs, etc... with the help of the Kool-Aid Man.... err... "your manager" in a quest to get each of the members of the band to the Scarab. I would never have experienced this kind of absurdity without collecting.

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General / Re: First game(s)

« on: June 02, 2018, 12:36:54 am »

Night Driver on VCS was the first game I ever played. I remember being fascinated with the idea of controlling something on the television.

The VCS was a friend of the family's we only had a pong system at the time and my dad would only bring that out very rarely, I can't remember ever playing it until I was much older. We eventually got an Odyssey 2 and that was a lot of fun, especially after getting The Voice for it. Eventually we ended up also buying the Atari off the family friend (with about 70 games and a bunch of controllers).

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General / Re: Favorite Games

« on: May 25, 2018, 01:46:54 am »

1. Dragon's Lair*
2. The Legend of Zelda (1 & 2)

Past this point the answer has more to do with what I have available to me at the time. Games like Fallout 4, Diablo III, Portal  etc... have all consumed a lot of my time over the years but when I finish playing them I'm fine. The two (technically 3) listed here have withstood the test of time as focal points of gaming for me. These are the games that always come to mind beyond any scope of nostalgia or current shiny release. Their my desert island games... Not that I would object to any of my other favorites showing up, it's just that these are the only ones with set in stone places on my list. I have bought, re-bought, emulated, drawn, mapped these games. I have even literally ate, slept and drank their spin off merchandise many times over the years.

*This game set a high bar in every category, other than direct control, it is little more than a cleverly disguised disc menu in that regard (But at the time, when random access video was virtually unheard of, it was seemingly magical.) It took 10 years just to get all the levels at home. 14 years to match the audio and come close on video. And 24 years to become nearly indistinguishable at home from the arcade. This was the game that made everything else pale in comparison on one level or another for most of my life and it came out the same year as Tapper, Spy Hunter and The original Mario Bros (not Super) hit the arcades. It was beyond futuristic and colored my opinion of what video games could be for many many years. I have collected this one on nearly every system I own and have bought systems just to experience their interpretation of it so I would be remis to not place it at the top of my list.I can not overstate the effect this game had on me as a kid.

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General / Re: Best Looking Disk / Cartridge Art?

« on: May 20, 2018, 04:15:34 pm »

Atari cartridges had gorgeous art over the years. Defender, Asteroids, Missile Command, Phoenix etc... Even something as simple as 3D Tic-Tac-Toe had great art. When the games had your hero represented as a single square on the screen, something had to spark the imagination.

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General / Re: Homebrews In The Collection Do You?

« on: May 20, 2018, 04:03:36 pm »

I don't currently have any. I love that they are being made though. I just collect near the less expensive end of the scale <$5 so $80 for a single cartridge is a big ask. Not that I think they are not worth it, far from it, I just haven't reached the point where I have been willing to part with that much cash for a single cartridge yet. I think I am reaching the point though where I am satisfied with what I have and want to see what the modern programmers are doing on the old systems. It's amazing what some of the old systems are capable of when there are not executives insisting on building entire games in 2K of rom to increase profits.

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General / Re: Do you buy games to play or put on your shelf?

« on: May 20, 2018, 03:52:52 pm »

To play. I don't display my games. I do have some that were bought strictly because I didn't have them but after cleaning them and giving them a test run through a surprising amount have been a lot of fun. I enjoy finding new experiences this way.
I also have a few that are in the collection just for the absurdity of their existence. Take for example BASIC for Atari 2600... You program in basic using 2 linked 12 button controllers... 24 buttons... that is not enough for an English alphabet. You program using preset commands and modifier keys that give each key 4 possible values. WTF? Yeah so I had to have that and try it out. Will I program something interesting with it? Heck no, even if it was possible you can't save it but what a bizarre thing to be able to use and demonstrate. I'm glad it's in my collection even if some '83 shovelware will get more playtime.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Your Favorite Mech Game

« on: May 20, 2018, 03:21:02 pm »

MechAssault 1 & 2 on Xbox (Some of the most fun I have ever had on Xbox Live at launch)
BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception on PC
Steel Battalion on Xbox (Not the most fun but sitting there behind all those controllers, switches, toggles and pedals is quite the experience)


The rest is all rather generic and didn't really make much of an impression on me.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Do you worry that disc based retro systems won't work in the future?

« on: May 20, 2018, 03:15:01 pm »

I wouldn't worry about the physical on these things. People are getting really good at repairing a lot of things that were thought of as sealed and essentially disposable at the time of manufacture. There are literally millions of most of these systems so even original parts will be around for a long time.

I would be more worried about the next generation where people think the disc contains the game but it is just a stub to download the game from what will be a non-existent service or is 100% reliant on a network server and lacks even the most rudimentary AI so even if you do fool it into thinking the service is there you would essentially be the only moving object in a digital wasteland.

That is going to be the real issue for fans of current generation games. Even digital is less of a concern, bits can be copied and DRM defeated, but a missing back end requires monumental effort to overcome.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Why did renting games become less popular in the modern era?

« on: May 12, 2018, 12:25:54 am »

Ah, rentals. They were a staple of my NES days. I rented often enough that when I got my collection back from my parents I was shocked at how few I actually owned vs. how many I fondly remembered playing frequently. I found a handwritten inventory I made prior to storing it away and I confirmed they were all there. (I was a weird kid)

What I remember was... Warning: Old man, unresearched, ramblings

That around the shift from cartridges to discs there was a big push to make rental against licensing rights. Cartridges were a pain to duplicate but CDs? Those were simple, same with DVDs publishers got nervous. This fight was already happening with used PC software sales. I also think the rental joints were getting fatigued with the number of consoles and formats and short shelf life. Compared to a video where a tape or, better yet a disc, could see a decade or more of service. Games were a secondary business for them anyway.

Disc based games also provided a way to reduce the need for game rentals, demo discs. When discs came along, any magazine worth its purchase price had a disc with all the latest games on it. Stores were also getting in on this with stacks of demos near the register to draw in future purchases. At first the demo discs in stores were about $10, then near $5 and finally free. While many were interactive, some were just videos of gameplay. The need for rentals was drying up fast.

Then came digital. Consoles are plugged into the net, games are just 1s and 0s, download the demos and skip having to buy magazines or stop by stores. Same goes for trailers and gameplay footage.

Plus by this time you could do a quick search online and find everything you ever needed to know about a game. These days, with the rise of things like Twitch the demos themselves are seen as unneccisary by many developers and you usually just get trailers and video streamed from other players and reviewers. Things have changed drastically from the days of the occasional magazine, heresay on the playground and even pay-per-minute telephone tip lines. 

Back then you were far more likely to pay full price for a crap game. rental was not just fun, it was almost a financial necessity. Now you can watch reviews, watch your friends play live, download it in minutes or have Amazon dispatch a drone and have a physical copy in under an hour. Not much call for rentals anymore.


End of rambling.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Name your favorite game per year, since your year of birth!

« on: May 11, 2018, 05:36:18 pm »

This is harder than it sounds. Some years there were dozens of games that could have made the list, other years I couldn't think of a single game from the lists that I looked at that I enjoyed, and then there are years like 1990 where there had to have been better games but I couldn't find any that I liked better. There were years where I either didn't own a console or was playing older consoles or games and didn't experience the current games.

2018 -
2017 - Injustice 2
2016 -
2015 - Fallout 4
2014 - super Smash Bros. 3DS
2013 - Injustice: Gods Among Us
2012 - Diablo III
2011 - Portal 2
2010 - Tron: Evolution
2009 - Qix ++
2008 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
2007 - Portal
2006 - Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
2005 - Dead or Alive 4
2004 - World of Warcraft
2003 - Star Wars Galaxies
2002 - Mech Assault
2001 - Halo: Combat Evolved
2000 - The Sims
1999 - Pokémon Stadium
1998 - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
1997 -
1996 - Diablo
1995 -
1994 -
1993 - Myst
1992 - Wolfenstein 3D
1991 - Lemmings
1990 - Pit Fighter
1989 - Golden Axe
1988 - Battle Tech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception
1987 - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
1986 - The Legend of Zelda
1985 - Paper Boy
1984 - Space Ace
1983 - Dragon's Lair
1982 - Dig Dug
1981 - Donkey Kong
1980 - Pac Man
1979 - Asteroids
1978 - Space Invaders
1977 - Combat
1976 - Death Race

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General / Re: October 2017 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: October 09, 2017, 01:08:59 am »

For a weekend that had no game related plans, it turned out to be rather active on that front.

Xbox One: Cuphead (Only planned purchase)

Wii: Epic Mickey; Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection; Namco Museum Remix

SNES/SFC: Rampart; SmartBall; Super Bomber Man 3 (JP)

Atari 7800: Dan Kitchen's Tomcat The F-14 Fighter Simulator; Ace of Aces

Atari 5200: Joust; Frogger; RealSports Football; Space Shuttle

Intellivision: NASL Soccer; Carnival; Pitfall; Tron Deadly Discs; Tron Maze-A-Tron; Atlantis; Dragon Fire; Demon Attack; Centipede

Atari 2600: Soccer; Breakaway IV; Super Challenge Baseball; Dare Diver; Slot Machine; Dolphin; Word Zapper; Sneak'n Peek