Celebrate 20 Years of Neo Geo
Nostalgia (no, not the DS game) is tons of fun. Learning more about products or popular culture that you can only marginally remember from your childhood is sometimes addicting, which is why I am so fond of the Angry Video Game Nerd and his retro showcases on old gaming systems that I never got to experience.
Well, SNK Playmore is having a retro console celebration of its own at the moment because it is the 20th anniversary of the Neo Geo home gaming system. Does anyone remember that thing? No, probably not.
Neo Geo was a rather ingenious arcade cabinet system that allowed owners to swap out multiple game cartridges within the same cabinet – an unusual but highly space-saving feature at the time. Whereas most arcades were “dedicated,” meaning they could only play one game, Neo Geo arcades could play up to six different games. Anyone who visited an amusement center or bowling alley during the early ’90s will likely recall the Neo Geo cabinets that allowed you to select different titles such as World Heroes or Metal Slug, all from the same arcade cabinet.
The arcade system was known as the MVS, or Multiple Video System, but there was also an AES, or Advanced Entertainment System, which was the home console. The AES was prohibitively expensive as it cost more than twice what a new Super NES would drain from your wallet, and the cartridges themselves could run over $100.
Despite being around video games my entire life, I have never seen an AES or heard of any person who owns one.
But if, like me, you’d like to take a trip down memory lane (granted, memories that not many of us have) and tour a digital Neo Geo museum, check out SNK’s 20th anniversary celebration going on right now on their website. You’ll find old Neo Geo ads, a history of the platform, and even a blog sharing some memories of the system.
Dracula Never Sounded So Good
A truly dedicated Castlevania fan over at retro fan site The Castlevania Dungeon recently managed to attend the Castlevania Concert in Stockholm, Sweden, and filmed the performance for the rest of us non-Swedish shlubs to see.
Not since the free Super Smash Bros. Melee orchestral CD from Nintendo Power have I been this impressed with a live performance of video game music. As a fairly experienced vampire killer myself, I was able to recognize most every tune played in the videos. But perhaps you’re a newer fan to the series, or maybe you haven’t played the games in a while.
So how about a little test? Without cheating via Google search, can you tell recognize the name of each song and the game it’s pulled from? But don’t think it’s going to be easy, because some songs have been redone multiple times throughout the series, with each version having a distinctive sound. I’ll give you some hints.
Your first hint is for the video above. It’s the intro to a more “complete” version of a Castlevania game that was released only about a year after its incomplete predecessor.
Hint: the above video features some of the most classic and recognizable tunes from the early era of Castlevania. Every Castlevania fan should recognize them instantly. However, they are not the original versions. Can you guess which later games they are from?
Hint: the above video features major theme music from what newer Castlevania fans consider the greatest Castlevania game ever made, though us older fans don’t necessarily agree.
Hint: if you guessed the previous music, you can guess this one.
Hint: this theme is played at the beginning and end of the Angry Video Game Nerd’s favorite Castlevania game.
Hint: once again, if you guessed the previous music correctly, you will know this one.
Which MMOs are Kid-Safe? A Parents Guide to Massively Multiplayer Games
There is no shortage of Massively Multiplayer Online games for adults, with titles like Age of Conan, World of Warcraft, Star Trek Online, and City of Heroes. While its great that adults have a nice selection of options for their gaming dollar, what about children? Most adults would rather not have their kids playing Age of Conan, which depicts half-naked women and copious amounts of beheadings and severed limbs.
Graphic depictions of violence are only one aspect of MMOs that may concern parents, while others may be far more worried about language and predatory adults with too much time on their hands. What you will find below is a list of current MMOs that are kid-friendly. In all cases, these games were built for kids and will offer as safe a gaming environment as you can hope to have on the Internet. Nothing is perfect and no system is fool-proof, so active parental monitoring is always a good thing. Games appear in order of popularity.
The most popular MMO with kids is Poptropica. Best of all, its free, though you can buy your child credits for the purchasing of special items. Kids can create their own character, known as a Poptropican, and travel across islands. Players will use problem-solving skills as they uncover various mysteries, explore new areas, acquire digital comic books, watch movies and even compete in head-to-head competitions with other kids.
For kids between the ages of 6-13+, Webkinz is a commercial venture that ties into an existing toy-line, so know going in that you’re dealing with a gateway drug, i.e., play the game and find your kid asking for a real-life Webkinz toy. Commercialism aside, kids really enjoy Webkinz, a virtual world where they can adopt and care for pets, take part in fun activities and even decorate their own home.
RuneScape has been around for what seems like forever, boasting a mammoth player base and huge game world for kids to explore. RuneScape is more like a traditional MMO, presented from a top-down perspective. While kids under 9 may be in over their heads, older kids will find Runescape to be a great bridge to more difficult games like World of Warcraft. RuneScape is highly addictive and has a sizable adult player base. Fortunately, you can have the chat feature of RuneScape disabled until you child turns 13 years of age.
Club Penguin is published by Disney, so you know you’re in good hands right from the start. Kids will find a wide-range of activities in Club Penguin and parents can set chat limitation and amount of play time per day, ensuring your kid gets the old homework done.
Dracula Never Sounded So Good
A truly dedicated Castlevania fan over at retro fan site The Castlevania Dungeon recently managed to attend the Castlevania Concert in Stockholm, Sweden, and filmed the performance for the rest of us non-Swedish shlubs to see.
Not since the free Super Smash Bros. Melee orchestral CD from Nintendo Power have I been this impressed with a live performance of video game music. As a fairly experienced vampire killer myself, I was able to recognize most every tune played in the videos. But perhaps you’re a newer fan to the series, or maybe you haven’t played the games in a while.
So how about a little test? Without cheating via Google search, can you tell recognize the name of each song and the game it’s pulled from? But don’t think it’s going to be easy, because some songs have been redone multiple times throughout the series, with each version having a distinctive sound. I’ll give you some hints.
Your first hint is for the video above. It’s the intro to a more “complete” version of a Castlevania game that was released only about a year after its incomplete predecessor.
Hint: the above video features some of the most classic and recognizable tunes from the early era of Castlevania. Every Castlevania fan should recognize them instantly. However, they are not the original versions. Can you guess which later games they are from?
Hint: the above video features major theme music from what newer Castlevania fans consider the greatest Castlevania game ever made, though us older fans don’t necessarily agree.
Hint: if you guessed the previous music, you can guess this one.
Hint: this theme is played at the beginning and end of the Angry Video Game Nerd’s favorite Castlevania game.
Hint: once again, if you guessed the previous music correctly, you will know this one.
Which MMOs are Kid-Safe? A Parents Guide to Massively Multiplayer Games
There is no shortage of Massively Multiplayer Online games for adults, with titles like Age of Conan, World of Warcraft, Star Trek Online, and City of Heroes. While its great that adults have a nice selection of options for their gaming dollar, what about children? Most adults would rather not have their kids playing Age of Conan, which depicts half-naked women and copious amounts of beheadings and severed limbs.
Graphic depictions of violence are only one aspect of MMOs that may concern parents, while others may be far more worried about language and predatory adults with too much time on their hands. What you will find below is a list of current MMOs that are kid-friendly. In all cases, these games were built for kids and will offer as safe a gaming environment as you can hope to have on the Internet. Nothing is perfect and no system is fool-proof, so active parental monitoring is always a good thing. Games appear in order of popularity.
The most popular MMO with kids is Poptropica. Best of all, its free, though you can buy your child credits for the purchasing of special items. Kids can create their own character, known as a Poptropican, and travel across islands. Players will use problem-solving skills as they uncover various mysteries, explore new areas, acquire digital comic books, watch movies and even compete in head-to-head competitions with other kids.
For kids between the ages of 6-13+, Webkinz is a commercial venture that ties into an existing toy-line, so know going in that you’re dealing with a gateway drug, i.e., play the game and find your kid asking for a real-life Webkinz toy. Commercialism aside, kids really enjoy Webkinz, a virtual world where they can adopt and care for pets, take part in fun activities and even decorate their own home.
RuneScape has been around for what seems like forever, boasting a mammoth player base and huge game world for kids to explore. RuneScape is more like a traditional MMO, presented from a top-down perspective. While kids under 9 may be in over their heads, older kids will find Runescape to be a great bridge to more difficult games like World of Warcraft. RuneScape is highly addictive and has a sizable adult player base. Fortunately, you can have the chat feature of RuneScape disabled until you child turns 13 years of age.
Club Penguin is published by Disney, so you know you’re in good hands right from the start. Kids will find a wide-range of activities in Club Penguin and parents can set chat limitation and amount of play time per day, ensuring your kid gets the old homework done.
Free Valentine’s Day Cards for Gamers
It’s that time of year again. Love is in the air, suicide rates are spiking, and businesses everywhere are lying and trying to take advantage of you. Some companies are spending millions in television advertising to convince you that buying pajamas on the internet will get you laid. Or perhaps the woman you desire will finally surrender to you once she sees that you’ve bought her a teddy bear that cost more than the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2? What about diamonds, or the boxes of chocolates where you only end up getting one or two bites of the one you really like? Maybe a really expensive, super-special arrangement of flowers from that guy with the commercials who gives off the distinct impression he might be considering marriage someday in the state where they make the pricey teddy bears? That’s not likely to do it either.
The brutal truth is that the only people guaranteed to be stimulated this evening are the flower shop owners and Hallmark store managers. Plus, in the opinion of this aging writer, if you’re having to pay for it you’re with the type of chick you might as well try and get the money back from once she’s refilled your health meter. Instead you need to keep your Modern Warfare 2 NVGs turned on and eyes peeled for the type of girl that cares more about a players Mana then his gold. A woman who’ll start an Army of Two with you and always give her all playing Co-op even when you’re wounded and it looks like you won’t have ammo enough to make it to the next save checkpoint.
They are hard to spot and even harder to convince to join your party. After all, if your a hardcore gamer reading this then evolutionary psychology has your desirability level just above someone in high school band, and just below chess club members (who tend to go on to having higher average incomes).
But don’t despair – I’m proof that even the biggest nerds can end up with amazing women. (Happy Valentine’s Day, Noelle. I love you and thanks for all your patience and support.)
Until you find a really good co-op player yourself, save your money! Rather then fattening up Hallmark by surrendering $5 for a sappy poem in a piece of folded construction paper, print and cut out the handy Valentine’s cards we’ve provided. You’ll know she’s a keeper if she’s impressed by how frugal you are and gets the gaming jokes. Heck, if she turns out not to be “the one”, there’s still a good chance she’ll appreciate even a poor Gamer just needs to get his health gauge refilled sometimes.
(Originally created for a previous year, some might have lost a little of their relevance over time. Art by the amazing Chris McGuire.)
Free Gaming Valentine’s Day Cards from GameAlmighty!
It’s that time of year again, love is in the air, suicide rates are spiking, and businesses everywhere are lying and trying to take advantage of you. Some companies are spending millions in television advertising to convince you that buying pajamas on the internet will get you laid. Or perhaps the woman you desire will finally surrender to you once she sees that you’ve bought her a teddy bear that cost more than the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2? What about diamonds, or the boxes of chocolates where you only end up getting one or two bites of the one you really like? Maybe a really expensive, super-special arrangement of flowers from that guy who gives off the distinct impression he might be considering marriage someday in the state where they make the pricey teddy bears? That’s not likely to do it either.
The brutal truth is that the only people guaranteed to be stimulated this evening are the flower shop owners and Hallmark store managers. Plus, in the opinion of this aging writer, if you’re having to pay for it you’re with the type of chick you might as well try and get the money back from once she’s refilled your health meter. Instead you need to keep your Modern Warfare 2 NVGs turned on and eyes peeled for the type of girl that cares more about a players Mana then his gold. A woman who’ll start an Army of Two with you and always give her all playing Co-op even when you’re wounded and it looks like you won’t have ammo enough to make it to the next save checkpoint.
They are hard to spot and even harder to convince to join your party. After all, if your a hardcore gamer reading this then evolutionary psychology has your desirability level just above someone in high school band, and just below chess club members (who tend to go on to having higher average incomes).
But don’t despair – I’m proof that even the biggest nerds can end up with amazing women. (Happy Valentine’s Day, Noelle. I love you and thanks for all your patience and support.)
Until you find a really good co-op player yourself, save your money! Rather then fattening up Hallmark by surrendering $5 for a sappy poem in a piece of folded construction paper print and cut out the handy Valentine’s cards we’ve provided. You’ll know she’s a keeper if she’s impressed by how frugal you are and gets the gaming jokes. Heck, if she turns out not to be “the one”, there’s still a good chance she’ll appreciate even a poor Gamer just needs to get his health gauge refilled sometimes.
(We used these once in the past and so some might have lost a little of their relevance. Art by the amazing Chris McGuire.)
Top 5 Reasons to Buy Darwinia+ for Xbox Live Arcade
Darwinia+ is finally available on Xbox Live Arcade after an extended development cycle of over four years. Darwinia+ was created by Introversion, one of the best independent game developers on the planet with several classic (and award-winning) PC games under their belt, including Darwinia, Multiwinia, Defcon and Uplink.
Darwinia+ gets nearly everything right on the Xbox, albeit with a few caveats. First off, the price is simply too high. I personally think 1200 points is a great value considering how much gameplay is on offer, but I’m in the position of being a self-professed Darwinia-freak and as such, have a complete understanding of the game and its concepts. This places me in the minority. Most Xbox 360 players will have never heard of Darwinia and will be quick to disregard it based on nothing more than its retro-graphics. Too bad, their loss.
A lower price-point of 800 would have made impulsive and/or exploratory purchases far more likely. At 1200, Darwinia is pricing itself away from experimentation and distancing itself from gamers who may not be able to perceive the game’s value based on the trial version. Additionally, Microsoft has been discounting a considerable number of games lately and players are well aware that a discount will hit Darwinia at some future date, so fence-sitters are prone to remain on their asses until the price comes down.
My second problem with Darwinia is the camera-scheme that kicks in when controlling a Squad. It does its best to position itself correctly, based on the elevation of nearby terrain, but it’s not what I would call perfect or some semblance of perfection. Fortunately, you can work with it and bend it towards your will by releasing control of your squad and repositioning the camera at a better angle, though it doesn’t completely resolve the problem.
True resolution of the Squad Tracking Camera issue will only be found in a patch and I see it working as such: Darwinia currently has two ways of selecting available squads/engineers, via bumper-buttons or directional-pad (left-right). You only need one scheme, so drop the bumpers for squad selection and use it for rotating the camera while the directional pad cycles through units. Problem solved. I waive my consultation fee.
While the camera is a minor problem at best and one that can be dealt with, the price is less surmountable. What you need are valid reason to buy Darwinia+, reasons that may not be entirely obvious in the limited trial version. Without further ado…
Top 5 Reasons to Buy Darwinia+
1. Purchasing Darwinia+ Saves a Small Game Company From Extinction
Not every publisher can be (or wants to be) Bungie and Infinity Ward. Some companies actually take pride in creating small, challenging games that are packed with more ideas and love than titles costing four times as much. Unfortunately, taking the road less travelled means imminent bankruptcy is always around the corner. In the case of Introversion, Darwinia+ took far too long to create for the Xbox 360 and this consumed resources. Now Introversion is in the nasty position of needing Darwinia+ to sell well or their doors will close for good.
In a recent interview with Computer & Video Games, Introversion head-honcho Mark Morris said:
I think that we’ve spent four years developing a game which is a hell of a long time and expensive. I think it would be disingenuous for me to say we haven’t had a hit yet – I think we’ve had four. We’ve done well. What happened though is we were so young and inexperienced when we started out that we didn’t know how long this project was going to take. We didn’t really attack it in the way that we would attack it now.
We don’t need Darwinia+ to be a massive runaway success. We know the figures that Space Giraffe did and they’re not particularly high. As long as we do as well as Space Giraffe we’ll be OK, so we’re kind of hoping we’re going to hit that sort of level. At the same time, I didn’t drive here in my Bentley which is kind of the reason we started Introversion! I’d like a game that just goes stellar, of course I would. But in terms of Darwinia, this was the best game we released from a critical perspective and I really hope that the 360 players enjoy it as much as the PC gamers did.
Toyota Admits Disgrace, Refuses Gov’t. Award – Who Should Be Next?
In an amazing display of honor and integrity possibly extinct amongst American businesses, Toyota Motor Corp. CEO and President Akio Toyoda declined to accept an award from the Japanese Government for the Prius model’s energy efficiency. The Prius was on of 3 products this selected this year to receive the Grand Prize for Energy Efficiency and Ecological Quality from Japan’s Trade Minister.
Referring to the recent voluntary recall of 437,000 Prius for possible brake problems, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said, “We declined to accept the award because we thought it was not appropriate.” Toyota made the decision to recall the Prius amongst the recent recall of a total of 8.5 million other Toyota autos after receiving only 200 complaints total in both the U.S. and Japan of the hybrid experiencing a braking delay in very specific cold weather conditions over very bumpy roads.
While some complain that the possibly company-killing recalls should have been made sooner, upon hearing of the refusal of the award and seeing some of the shame evident on some Toyota spokesmen’s faces during recent press conferences, I couldn’t help but be reminded of some of the principles and traditions that guided the gentlemen, knights, and samurai of old. It stands in stark contrast to the arrogant defiance I have seen on the faces of defeated and disgraced businessman and politicians lately.
It also made me wonder what it would be like if members of the video game industry had to show similar levels of contrition and shame to investors and consumers for crap they’d brought unabashedly to market. The unviewable screen of the original Game Boy Advance? The Xbox 360 and its Red Ring of Death failure rates? Daikatana, Battlecruiser 3000? Who are some companies, products, or people that you think ought to commit verbal Seppuku?
Quick Side Note: Besides military honors, what is the Japanese government doing handing out awards anyhow? It sounds like another good argument for small government – bureaucracies don’t have a good track record for picking winners. Uncle Sam seems to have enough trouble awarding contracts and food stamps. We don’t need any more taken out of our paychecks so they can judge trophy winners and give out gold stars at red carpet events with Seacrest and Rivers.
Cryptic Makes Next Champions Online Expansion Free to Appease Angry Subscribers
Things aren’t going well for Champions Online, Cryptic’s half-baked MMO that I tried to warn you about before the game even released. In an attempt to appease angry subscribers, Cryptic has decided to make the next planned expansion, Vibora Bay (now called Revelation), available for free. I guess Cryptic saw the light and thought it may not be in their best interests to rip-off the same people they screw on a daily basis, especially those poor bastards who purchased lifetime subscriptions.
Revelation will be available on March 10, 2010.
Cryptic State of the Game, Wherein They Act Humble and Apologetic:
We have a lot going on right now both at Cryptic, and with Champions Online in particular. There are huge changes afoot, and rather than spend a lot of time with the preamble, let’s sink our collective teeth into the meat of the matter.
Scrubbing the Kitchen Sink
As we all know, the Kitchen Sink patch had numerous issues that made it onto Live. The reasons for this boil down to two key areas:
Things That Used to Work Stopped Working:
Basically, there were changes to the core code that automatically merged with our older code and we didn’t see all of the effects of these before they went Live. Token changes, for example, caused a lot of things to stop working properly in Champions. We use tokens for a lot of things in Champions and when the token system was recently optimized, it caused any token-based missions to stop working properly – namely UNITY and Patrol missions. There was also the AI fixes which were made which affected the attack rates of every enemy in the game that slipped past us all.
Lack of Comprehensive Testing
There were only a few players on during the time the Kitchen Sink Patch was on the Public Test Shard, and we simply didn’t allocate enough QA testers. There were so many issues we were anxious to address, that our desire to get fixes out to the players as soon as possible completely backfired. There are truly an astonishing amount of changes in this patch, and we simply should have spent more time testing them before pushing the build Live.
Moving forward, our updates will spend more time in internal test before going to the Public Test Shard. We’ve already increased the size of our Champions QA group, and the designers have been playing much more on the internal servers. We are also much more aware of the changes coming into the core game engine through other projects and have taken steps to increase communication internally to avoid being surprised by those changes.
Currently, we’re putting new builds up on the Public Test Shard, addressing the current reported issues with the Kitchen Sink patch. If you’d like to help us make sure we’re getting it all, play on the PTS and provide us your feedback in this thread.
Improving Communications
We’ve had a real failure with communicating to our community over the past couple of months. You’ve been vocal about it, and we hear you. In fact, we’ve taken some pretty big steps to fixing this, and I wanted to share our goals with you to address this. There are a lot of things we used to do that fell by the wayside, and now that we have StormShade back on the team full-time, we’re going to be bringing back a lot of the things you have always told us you look forward to seeing and hearing:
Ask Cryptic
Bi-weekly posting by the developers answering your questions as compiled by StormShade.
GM Blog
A general support-oriented Blog where our Game Masters discuss what’s being done to address your concerns, talk about bug status, and so on.
Developer Chat
A monthly live IRC chat with developers from the Champions Online team.
State of the Game
Bi-weekly posting by me (Chronomancer) to provide insight into the high-level vision for the Champions Online universe and address hot-button issues.
Game with Cryptic
We’re putting together a new all-company supergroup so you can find us in the game and share adventures. We’re also going to do more PVP events so you can pit your skills in The Hero Games against the devs!
Top 10 Best Selling Games
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