tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79884329176120469302024-03-13T07:59:41.899-07:00NostalgicVideoGamesA blog featuring all of your favourite childhood video games.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-28079157726078449172012-10-09T18:03:00.000-07:002012-10-09T18:03:05.753-07:00Desert CommanderRelease Date: 1989<br />
Platform(s): NES<br />
Developer: Kemco<br />
Genre: Turn-based Strategy<br />
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<i>Desert Commander</i> is one of the more complex turn-based strategy games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Set in North Africa during World War II, the player chooses between commanding either the Allied Forces of George S. Patton and Bernard Montgomery, or the Axis Powers or Erwin Rommel. Similar to <a href="http://www.nostalgicvideogames.com/2011/12/1943.html" target="_blank"><i>1943</i></a>, using this point in history informed the visual aesthetic of the game and simplified the vehicle design, a necessary compromise for the underpowered NES.<br />
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The game uses a top-down view for strategically placing vehicles and assets against the opponent, much like a board game. The player manages resources, helping to simulate the decisions that go into deployment of a military force. When an encounter between opposing sides ensues, the game switches to a close-up view of the battle. While it was a rudimentary view with limited animations, it created a design aesthetic that remains to this day, even with systems that are capable of sophisticated animation and photorealism. The abstracted landscape keeps a focus on the numbers engaged in combat instead of the surrounding visuals. Animated sequences were used to depict special actions, such as refuelling or the gathering of supplies.<br />
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Operating on a limited platform and dependent on utilitarian visuals, <i>Desert Commander</i> managed to build a sophisticated tactics game.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-45247461180046674822012-10-03T11:59:00.001-07:002012-10-03T11:59:25.038-07:00LemmingsRelease Date: 1991<br />
Platform(s): Amiga, ST, PC, Other Ports<br />
Developer: DMA Design<br />
Genre: Puzzle<br />
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Few games other than <i>Tetris</i> can claim to have appeared on as many formats as this historic action puzzler. Dave Jones, the founder of DMA Design, claims to have lost count at twenty, and that was before the numerous PlayStation and mobile iterations were added to the list.<br />
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Famously, the idea was conceived almost by accident, when artist Mike Dailly was experimenting with the animation of tiny characters in an 8 x 8 pixel grid. Programmer Russel Kay saw the results and pronounced: "There's a game in that." And there certainly was.<br />
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At first glance, perhaps,<i> Lemmings </i>looks like a standard late-1980s platformer, its sparse yet neat visual style presenting teeny, teeming sprites.But it is, in fact, a masterpiece of sandbox design, allowing players endless ways to complete each level. Over a vast series of levels, the player must guide a set number of tiny lemming characters from the entrance to the exit, avoiding hazards such as lava pools and large falls. Instead of directly controlling the critters, however, there is a range of eight skills that can be designated to individuals via a point and click interface.<br />
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The builder skill, for example, allows a lemming to construct a staircase across a chasm, while bashers, miners, and diggers all create differently angled holes in platforms to create new routes. It is up to the player to decide how, the available skills should be used to solve each level.<br />
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Press coverage at launch was very enthusiastic, and 55,000 copies flew from shop shelves on day one (impressive at the time). The ensuing conveyor belt of sequels and conversions led to subsequent sales of more than fifteen million units. Alongside contemporaries such as <i>Worms</i> and <i>Populous</i>, it's a defining work in the British game design canon.<br />
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<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-39468299486524922332012-08-18T15:46:00.001-07:002012-08-18T15:48:00.612-07:00North & South<br />
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<li>Release Date: 1989</li>
<li>Platform(s): Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, NES</li>
<li>Developer: Infogrames</li>
<li>Genre: Action / Strategy</li>
</ul>
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The American Civil War was surely not the most pleasant of wars. Wedged uncomfortably close to the nasty delights of industrialization, it was a muddle of shelling and gunpowder, in which people got their faces burned off, or were accidentally run through by their own side's sabres; it was a conflict in which troops were regularly trampled under horses, and that nice Kevin Costner almost had his leg lopped off and went to live with the Native Americans.<br />
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<i>North & South</i> tells a slightly cheerier story. A mixture of cold strategy and fast-paced battles, Infrogrames's classic is based on a Belgian comic called <i>Les Tuniques Bleus</i>. This means that verisimilitude was never going to be that high on the agenda. That said, beyond the chummy cartoon faces and quiky animated asides (you can tickle the photographer on the main menu screen by goosing him with your mouse pointer), it's still a smart tactical challenge all the same.<br />
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<i>North & South</i> operates in two modes. There's the overworld view, in which you move troops around a map of the United States, staking out territory and pincering your enemy. There's also a battle mode that allows you to race through enough stripped-down skirmishes more personally. pushing around a range of infantry, cavalry, and cannons.<br />
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The story moves at a pace while excellent audio and visual presentation give the whole thing a sheen of polish missing from many other games of the era. The ending sequence, in which weary troops march home, the war over, set new standards for animation at the time of its release. Taken as a whole, <i>North & South</i>, while not particularly deep, makes for a pleasant arcade strategy experience even today -- if you can track down an original copy and coax it back to life, that is.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-76614420779581427002012-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:002012-08-15T10:03:53.379-07:00Breath of Fire IIRelease Date: 1994<br />
Platform: SNES<br />
Developer: Capcom<br />
Genre: Role-Playing<br />
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Breath of Fire II is an RPG great on a console crammed full of them. Released on the SNES, it joins the likes of Secret of Mana, the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, and the original Breath of Fire at the very top of its chosen genre. It takes place 500 years after the end of the original game to tell the story of Ryu Bateson, a blue-haired boy hero on a quest for justice, which is launched when his friend is framed for a crime he didn't commit.<br />
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The game picks up the day/night cycle from its predecessor, which sees the world and its inhabitants transform with every sunset, and it features the turn-based, random encounters that are a staple element of the Japanese RPG genre. Picking the right formation is a crucial part of combat strategy, while another key feature is each character's special ability, such as Ryu's dragon transformations or Bow's fusion form as a giant, cannonball-launching mech.<br />
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One of the best things about the game is the way the world is gradually opened up. Each party member has a unique skill that they can use outside of the normal course of play, so fishing and hunting skills, for example, unlock different mini-games. But the ability to swim or bridge chasms allows the party to access more of the increasingly vast game world, and it's the pacing of exploration is one of the game's greatest strengths. Another is the way the game prefigures the Dark Cloud series by giving you the ability to build your very own town, choosing its architectural style, and gradually filling it with non-player characters that can help you on the main mission -- a mission with multiple endings, depending on how effectively you steer Ryu and friends on one of the classic quests of 16-bit storytelling.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-74127447176776541382012-08-14T01:47:00.001-07:002012-08-14T01:49:07.322-07:00Wave Race 64<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1996</li>
<li>Platform: N64</li>
<li>Developer: Nintendo</li>
<li>Genre: Racing</li>
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Let's be honest, nobody ever fell in love with <i>Wave Race 64</i>. Despite hailing from the same stable as <i>Super Mario</i> and company, this Jet Ski racing game with its four identical riders just doesn't have the personality for that. The visuals don't help either. Superficially, <i>Wave Race 64</i> is even a bit-- whisper it-- annoying.<br />
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Yet the game made a splash (I apologize deeply for the lame pun) on release and, unlike many other older games, it's still worth checking out on its own merits, irrespective of its historical value (which isn't much; the game spawn no great lineage of Jet Ski titles). It's all about the realistically modelled water, and the joy of steering your craft upon it. The N64's innovative control stick had already proved that analog was the future, thanks to the fin control it afforded Mario in his N64 debut, but <i>Wave Race 64</i>, itself a very early game for the console, was an even more convincing demonstration. As you steer your bouncing craft across the choppy surf or pull a hairpin turn, you can almost see the old two-dimensional, on or off era sinking beneath the waves.<br />
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The game is structured as a conventional racing game, albeit all at sea. In most races, you need to beat your fellow skiers around an island in various weather conditions, while also steering your craft past navigational buoys. Correctly passing a buoy boosts your speed, and at maximum power you really fly. Championship, Time Trial, and Stunt modes round out the package, and the mandatory two-player mode is also good fun, despite the somewhat restricted view afforded by the split-screen implementation.<br />
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<i>Wave Race 64</i> remains one of the best water-based games you can play -- although admittedly that's a genre with limited competition.<br />
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D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-39027326059295231872012-08-12T01:27:00.002-07:002012-08-12T01:45:11.815-07:00Totally Radical Video Game Ads<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.133333206176758px;">In today's flashy, business-minded world, the people in charge of game advertising are creatively stuck-in-a-rut; they have to worry about unimportant things like 'making a game look good' and 'being in good taste'. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.133333206176758px;">But in the 'all or nothing' days of the 80s and 90s, designers and advertising execs were true artists. They were responsible for game ads that were so beautiful, so enchanting and so magnificent, that they could make the majestic supermodel/author Fabio disgusted by his own immaculate reflection. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.133333206176758px;">So join us for an edition of Totally Radical Video Game Ads, where we'll gaze in amazement at some incredible (in the good and bad sense) game ads and art from yesteryear. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444;"><img align="center" border="0" height="633" src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/119/1194563/02-Pictionary-NES-001_1316054015.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" width="463" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">If it wasn't for the old game being advertised, you could be mistaken for thinking that this is a photo of a random group of annoying, modern-day hipsters. Luckily, these people have an excuse for looking so ridiculous. On a side-note - did the dog eat the kid and steal his sunglasses?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">With all the pervy dudes that have likely ogled this poster, it's unlikely that the 'kit' was the thing that truly came first. (Seriously though, only in the 80s could that be an appealing look.) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444;"><img align="center" border="0" height="618" src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/119/1194563/04-revolution-x_1316054073.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" width="463" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">There's a revolution under way - hordes of talentless jagoffs have been destroying Aerosmith's 'I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing' with their horrendous karaoke skills for far too long, and the only person that can stop it is Milla Jovovich in her Ultraviolet costume! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">The original Johnny Cage actually endorsed this piece of $#@+? Sub-Zero should have ripped his head off when he had the chance.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444;"><img align="center" border="0" height="623" src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/119/1194563/06-Taito-Games-001_1316054126.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" width="463" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">It's official - playing Taito games will give you gonorrhea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">The sexual tension between these two is palpable. What you can't see is that just below the frame, they're already 'head-to-head'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">To be honest, I can't really fault this artwork. It's flawless. It also makes me wish that it was publicly acceptable to walk around with a pair of nunchucks hanging from your belt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">I'm trying to figure out what this view of an excited dude's nasal cavity has to do with Star Wars. Is he the final boss? Does Luke have to force-guide some missiles all up in there? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444;"><img align="center" border="0" height="613" src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/119/1194563/11-TMNT_1316054276.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" width="463" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">Seriously, my mind is truly boggled by this ad. 'Wouldn't trade these adventures for all the slime in Hollywood'? What the $%&# does that even mean? Since when are the turtles massive slime-fiends? I missed the episode where Raphael was caught with a slime-needle sticking out of his arm. The half-assed attempt to link it to the live-action film is also pretty weak. They should've said 'All the Pizza in New York'. That would've made sense. Perhaps the guys behind this ad confused it with that other show, Teenage Hollywood Slime Turtles.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444;"><img align="center" border="0" height="638" src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/119/1194563/12-Low-G-Man-NES-ad-001_1316054300.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" width="463" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">It's official - Nintendo endorses criminal behaviour. Running and jumping while stabbing and looting? All in a day's work. Now with Nintendo's official golden seal of quality! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">Only you can save Maria - at 126 beats per minute. No wonder Dom failed to save Maria in Gears of War 2, he forgot to bring some funky house music to put her back in the dancing mood. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444;"><img align="center" border="0" height="630" src="http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/119/1194563/14-World-Trophy-Soccer-ben-_1316054360.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" width="463" /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">Here we have Ben Stiller (in character as Simple Jack) telling us that it's cool to 'Kick Some Balls'. By the look of his exploding left testicle, someone took that suggestion all too literally.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24.116666793823242px;">Source: <a href="http://games.ign.com/articles/119/1194563p1.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IGN Australia</a> </span>D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-7602711454155652122012-08-11T14:17:00.001-07:002012-08-11T14:19:58.699-07:00GoldenEye 007<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1997</li>
<li>Platform(s): Nintendo 64</li>
<li>Developer: Rare</li>
<li>Genre: Shoot 'Em Up</li>
</ul>
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You could argue that the title of Best James Bond Game ironically sits with a series that has nothing to do with James Bond, the <i>Metal Gear</i> series. Less debatable, though, is the holder of the title of Most Important Console First-Person Shooter. Before <i>GoldenEye 007</i>, and adaptation that played fast and loose with the 1995, many would struggle with even the idea of such a thing.<br />
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Unlike contemporary <i>Turok: Dinosaur Hunter</i>, <i>GoldenEye 007</i> proved that joy pad controls were not a disability. Both games featured precision aiming thanks to the N64 analog stick, but Rare knew best how to use it. Revelling in the lack of hyper-kinetic PC controls, it made a game in which every shot felt like something handmade. Hit a shoulder, and an enemy might pirouette to the floor; the groin -- an natural favourite -- and they'd fold and keel over; the head, and they'd drop as if hit with a pole-arm. Games like <i>Virtua Cop </i>got there sooner but, to borrow a phrase, nobody does it better than Bond.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1GUotGvk8Bo/UCbLeyP9-aI/AAAAAAAAAGk/-bmSY6_PM90/s1600/GoldenEye_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1GUotGvk8Bo/UCbLeyP9-aI/AAAAAAAAAGk/-bmSY6_PM90/s320/GoldenEye_007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In single-player mode, <i>GoldenEye 007</i> features a rarely emulated difficulty method that switched objectives at each level, making it highly replayable even now. But the game's split-screen support for up to four players, as much as a testament to the N64's hardware layout, was the proof of concept for all console multiplayers. When games like <i>Halo</i> try to capture that feeling via Xbox Live, what they are referring to is the sight of your armchair buddy being dropped by the Golden Gun, on of umpteen weapons and modes that kept this game going for years.<br />
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Culling gadgets and characters from the entire Bond universe, <i>GoldenEye 007</i> pounced on every opportunity its license could afford.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-8039164030817719292012-08-08T16:38:00.000-07:002012-08-11T14:17:42.757-07:00EverQuest<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1999</li>
<li>Platform(s): PC</li>
<li>Developer: Sony Online Entertainment</li>
<li>Genre: MMORPG</li>
</ul>
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In the 1990s, role-playing games already had a solid and devoted fan base, with opportunities to imagine great fantasy worlds while acting out the life and times of any class, race, or even sex of choice. By late in the century, multi-user games of increasingly cutting-edge visuals were braving the fledging Internet. it wasn't until the arrival of EverQuest, however, that the entire experience of online role-playing was elevated and thrust into the true 3-D age.<br />
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Requiring a quick, consistent Internet connection and an expensive 3-D graphics card, EverQuest occupied a niche of a niche in 1999. But such technology is used to its full potential, the classic fantasy world of Norrath coming to life in a way that captured gamers' imaginations and kept them coming back for more... and more... and more for a surprisingly long time.<br />
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Oh, sure, the svelte elves aren't outfitted to survive sprawling plains, mountains, and cavernous dungeons, but hell if they don't lure leering players to unload a few precious gold pieces to aid a fawning damsel in undress. Or you can take on a noble paladin role, vanquishing this and dispelling that; or skulk with the rogues; or cast with the mages; or so many other options that the world experience appears endless. You explore, learn trades and skills, as well as languages and even a whole new shorthand vocabulary (including the oh-so-appropriate moniker, EverCrack).<br />
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No doubt building a world and game mechanic from scratch brings attendant teething problems, imbalances, and even straight up breakages, but between the zone exploration, the ambition, and opportunity for socializing with fellow gamers, the overall experience compels any RPG fan to commit for a long, long haul.<br />
<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-57834193220509534472011-12-24T16:14:00.000-08:002012-08-11T14:17:51.004-07:00Frogger<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1981</li>
<li>Platform(s): Arcade</li>
<li>Developer: Konami</li>
<li>Genre: Action</li>
</ul>
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In theory, you should never lose at <i>Frogger</i>. The gaming world's first frog superstar has a straightforward task: to get across a highway, and then a river -- dodging vehicles in the first stretch, jumping across logs and turtles on the second. The surrounding world is obvious to its struggle: The cars speed along on their own, and the alligators and poisonous frogs that patrol the river come and go regardless of where it hops. All you have to do is spot the path through the obstacles and complete it. If you find the right trail, you can make it in seconds. The whole thing should be a cinch, because only you can put yourself in trouble; the game hardly notices you're there.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1d4-07ip5GQ/TvZxB7oszQI/AAAAAAAAAFo/r8DXXkIEzRE/s1600/Frogger-Arcade.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1d4-07ip5GQ/TvZxB7oszQI/AAAAAAAAAFo/r8DXXkIEzRE/s320/Frogger-Arcade.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keep your head up.</td></tr>
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That, however, is all easier said than done. Moving too quickly is one of the things that leads to mistakes. Panic is another. The obstacle course gets harder as cars speed up and sections of the river change their flow. You're tempted to make a jump onto a turtle when you know it's about to sink underwater -- dragging you to your doom. And it's easy to get impatient around the slow-moving cars, even though the game counts you as dead if you hit the front or the rear. You're led to make errors by fearing your own vulnerability, by your eagerness to grab that difficult far-left berth on the safe end of the board, or by the chance to grab a fly for extra points.<br />
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A monster hit of the coin-operated arcade era, <i>Frogger</i> anticipates the pleasure of platformers like <i>Super Mario Bros.</i>, and it appeals to players who would rather keep themselves alive than kill everything else around them. The frog's predicament draws the player into an environment that may be colourful and pleasing but is also full of threats. It's a place where shiny opportunities are put there to tempt you off the safe path, and where mastering the world breeds ridiculous joy.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-49442477052303942882011-12-22T17:15:00.000-08:002012-08-11T14:18:37.128-07:00Daytona USA<div>
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<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1993</li>
<li>Platform(s): Arcade</li>
<li>Developer: Sega</li>
<li>Genre: Driving</li>
</ul>
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The first time you successfully drift around a turn in <i>Daytona USA</i>, it all makes sense. First, steer into the curve. Then hit the brakes -- you'll learn how hard you need to push on the pedal -- and correct against the turn <i>just</i> so . You'll find yourself sliding sideways at high speed, your car in a delicate equilibrium between spinning out and bolting off the course, poised to explode onto the straightaway. Realistic? Not exactly, but so natural that any other racing game you play afterward will feel stilted and awkward.<br />
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<a href="http://sega-addicts.murnaumusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Untitled-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://sega-addicts.murnaumusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Untitled-11.jpg" width="320" /></a>Among its many technical innovations, <i>Daytona USA</i> is credited as a pioneer of texture-mapped polygons, giving its 3-D models a more organic look than those of Sega's earlier efforts, Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, with their plain, flat-shaded polygons. Texture mapping is used to great effect here, framing the racetracks with lush greenery, imposing cliff formations, and varied cityscapes. Up to eight competitions can be networked locally for epic in-person battles, which is where drafting -- riding the slipstream behind another player's car to create a slingshot effect out of turns-- can really make a difference.<br />
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<i>Daytona USA</i> also has its share of infamy. During the attract mode and on the Dinosaur Canyon racetrack, you are subjected to a cheesy, lounge-style song called "Let's Go Away," sung in English by a heavily accented Japanese man. You won't be able to get it out of your head.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wY6xkJ4RcFU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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A disastrous home version for the Sega Saturn in 1995 is reviled for its choppy frame rate and flickering polygons. In 1996, Sega would rectify the situation with <i>Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition</i>, which sports improved graphics, truer handling, and three new racetracks. More faithful to the arcade original -- except for its instrumental only version of "Let's Go Away" -- the <i>Championship Circuit Edition </i>is the definitive home version.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-72541298346646342772011-12-20T20:19:00.000-08:002011-12-20T20:23:40.769-08:00Command & Conquer: Red Alert<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1996</li>
<li>Platform(s): MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation</li>
<li>Developer: Westwood Studios</li>
<li>Genre: Strategy</li>
</ul>
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Real-time strategy games tend to be fairly serious sorts of experiences. They're about war, for one thing, which is already serious enough, and they're generally enormously taxing and demanding, requiring players to take in an entire battlefield's worth of information, to isolate threats very quickly, and react to devastating changes on the fly.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRNcmal_1aM/TvFd65Uli3I/AAAAAAAAAFg/i88p9EGGLuE/s1600/command_and_conquer_red_alert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRNcmal_1aM/TvFd65Uli3I/AAAAAAAAAFg/i88p9EGGLuE/s320/command_and_conquer_red_alert.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Command & Conquer: Red Alert features some hectic conflicts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So it's no surprise that <i>Command & Conquer</i> is a fairly serious real-time strategy game. Series offshoot Red Alert, however, really isn't. <i>Red Alert</i> is a counterfactual real-time strategy, turning on the notion that Einstein went back in time Adolf Hitler when he was still a nobody (already things are becoming fairly unserious), only to return to his own to find the Allies hard at war in Europe, fighting against a massive Soviet war machine that has sprung up in the absence of Nazi Germany. It could happen. What's less likely to happen, however, is the development of some of the units that Red Alert lets you mess around with. These include science-fiction standards like Tesla Coils, capable of zapping troops in a flurry of electricity. Subsequent games would take this concept further until, in <i>Red Alert 3</i>, you were firing armoured bears at enemies or dispatching tanks that transformed into fighter jets.<br />
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That said, despite the wobblier sets and campier acting, <i>Red Alert</i> remains serious about being a game. Factions and units are well balanced, maps are clean tactical spaces, and the user interface sets the genre's standard. With the series getting loopier and loopier with every installment -- the Russian shock trooper in hot pants -- <i>Red Alert</i> remains a necessary antidote to the glum world conflicts of the main <i>Command & Conquer</i> plotline, providing an explosion of colour in a heavily cratered landscape.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-83977751569394293642011-12-15T20:15:00.001-08:002011-12-20T20:22:34.950-08:00Star Wars: TIE Fighter<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1994</li>
<li>Platform(s): PC</li>
<li>Developer: Totally Games</li>
<li>Genre: Shoot 'Em Up</li>
</ul>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gYW9b0fF3yY/TurFxrwzEzI/AAAAAAAAAFA/NUFgE8kPOZU/s1600/TIE-Fighter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gYW9b0fF3yY/TurFxrwzEzI/AAAAAAAAAFA/NUFgE8kPOZU/s320/TIE-Fighter.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star Wars: TIE Fighter features visceral space combat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was perfect symmetry. Before making <i>Star Wars: TIE Fighter</i>, designer Lawrence Holland of Lucasfilm Games created a suite of World War II dogfighting games, including <i>Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe</i>. For <i>Star Wars</i>' space dogfights, George Lucas looked to <i>The Dam Busters</i> and <i>633 Squadron</i> for inspiration. When Holland was asked to think about creating a space combat game, he quickly realized that he and Lucas were already looking squarely at the same sources. The result was a series of games that represent some of the best file tie-ins ever created.<br />
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The secret is in the subtle blend of strict adherence to <i>Star Wars</i> lore and a willingness to design imaginatively on top of them. Immediately striking are the intense, twisting dogfights against star fields streaked with beams of bright, green and orange laser fire, as well as the iconographic lines of Star Wars' distinctive spacecraft. But the meat lies in one of gaming's most beautiful mechanics: your craft's power system. Demanding that you delicately balance your finite energy supply between lasers, engines, and shields, you are continually asked to think about how to approach each situation. Dump all your power into engines for speed, and you'll risk running out of lasers and having no protection when you meet trouble.<br />
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<i>Star Wars: TIE Fighter</i>, which has you fight for the Empire, features smoothly shaded fighters and meticulously designed missions. And though you might assume you'd always want to fight for the plucky Rebellion, the game's vision of dark political intrigue oozing below a veneer of mundane bureaucracy is gripping. It remains a terrible thrill to pilot a craft as fragile and feather-light as a regular TIE. Showing <i>Star Wars</i> from the dark side resulted in one of the most enthralling visions of its universe.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-34404397829948964142011-12-15T16:14:00.000-08:002011-12-20T20:22:43.139-08:00Mario Golf<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1999</li>
<li>Platform(s): Game Boy Color</li>
<li>Developer: Camelot Software Planning</li>
<li>Genre: Sports</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1j1sQ1G0YAM/TuqM5QGDAfI/AAAAAAAAAE4/vjbJtQxhHDI/s1600/MarioGolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1j1sQ1G0YAM/TuqM5QGDAfI/AAAAAAAAAE4/vjbJtQxhHDI/s320/MarioGolf.jpg" width="320" /></a>As Mario's unlikely shadow career as the world's most versatile sportsman evolved with the glorious playable <i>Mario Kart</i> games, golf was perhaps the most likely candidate for further expansion. The rolling hills of the Mushroom Kingdom would be an ideal location to sink a few holes. Golf games already had an established formula to riff on -- Nintendo had already made a couple of stand-out entries -- and Mario's crazy cast of friends and enemies would probably look delightful in plaid slacks, polo shirts, and funny little hats.<br />
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Who knew it would turn out as well as this, however? Camelot's game has (exceedingly light) elements of an RPG as you explore the local clubhouse, learning the ropes, setting up matches, and making friends, but it's also a smart, calculated, gold sim for one or more players. It may be easy to play but <i>Mario Golf</i> is filled with variables that affect play, as well as charming, rich details, such as a suite of brilliantly structured courses; nice physics and ball effects; and a lovely, comprehensive leaderboard made for keeping track of your best shots and bragging about them to your friends. Visual and aural feedback is absolutely great too, as you might expect, and the whole thing basks in the warm glow of the<i> Mario </i>universe -- even though you spend a rather large part of the game unlocking a range of characters who aren't the famous plumber.<br />
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Some of Mario's later excursions into sports have seemed a little tired at times as the branding, special moves, and general gimmickry became increasingly desperate and shrill, but here, on the Game Boy Color, the whole thing meshes perfectly together, and Mario is as at home on the emerald greens with a putter and sand wedge as he is dressed as a raccoon soaring over a gaggle of Koopa Troopas.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-73908135106071174202011-12-11T12:56:00.001-08:002011-12-20T20:22:51.572-08:00Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1997</li>
<li>Platform(s): PC</li>
<li>Developer: LucasArts</li>
<li>Genre: First-Person Shooter</li>
</ul>
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Imagine the pressure. The original <i>Dark Forces</i> successfully coats a doom-like first-person shooter with the veneer of the <i>Star Wars </i>universe, it delights gamers, sells well, and a sequel goes straight into production. The anticipation for the next installment of Kyle Katarn's adventures was through the roof, and LucasArts delievered a stunning shooter experience that integrated role-playing style, Jedi power progression, and story choices into a more traditional run-and-gun action product. And it introduced lightsabers, Oh, yes, the lightsabers.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lRntWKSqVgs/TuUdZ8X-svI/AAAAAAAAAEI/gnOsBV3rVHI/s1600/StarWarsJediKnightDarkForcesII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lRntWKSqVgs/TuUdZ8X-svI/AAAAAAAAAEI/gnOsBV3rVHI/s320/StarWarsJediKnightDarkForcesII.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Fierce Looking ATAT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Building a system that would fluidly switch to a third-person perspective when Katarn draws out the big stick proved to be a significant technical hurdle that was executed perfectly. Katarn's story as a former Imperial officer turned mercenary takes a huge leap forward when he uncovers the force. Now he can learn new Force powers and choose whether to follow the Light or Dark path on a quest to find his father's murderer.<br />
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It's a gripping progression that invests the player with an important role in this post-<i>Return of the Jedi</i> story-line. Even after the single-player plot-line is exhausted, it's easy to replay, choosing different Jedi powers and experiencing the story from the other side. Then you can take those skills online in a multiplayer mode that pits Light against Dark Jedis in classic four-player match-ups.<br />
<br />
This package set a new ambition bar not just for all future <i>Star Wars</i> games, but for the first person shooters in general. As three-dimensional graphics cards were gaining a foothold, this game was one very good reason to join the revolution, if you hadn't already. For fans of the series, all it takes is for that famous score to start playing, and the chills run down their spines.D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-34429896177228694532011-12-02T19:51:00.001-08:002011-12-20T20:23:04.013-08:001943<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1987</li>
<li>Platform(s): Arcade</li>
<li>Developer: Capcom</li>
<li>Genre: Shoot 'Em Up</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
The year that the war ground on may have been <i>1943</i>, when rationing continued to bite down hard, construction work on the Pentagon was completed, and the Japanese forces were driven back from Guadalcanal, but it's a whole lot more enjoyable if you think of it as this wonderful little vertical-scrolling shooter from Capcom, released for the delight of the arcade-going populas in 1987.<br />
<br />
The sequel to Capcom's cracking <i>1942</i>, <i>1943</i> is set in the Pacific as the player fights off waves of oncoming enemies to take the battle to the heart of the Japanese fleet. Once again, victory depends on mastery of standard and special attacks, as you take down spinning, cycling, warping, and flipping waves of oncoming aircraft and ground troops, fighting elaborate boss battles and collecting brilliant power-ups. The health system has been modified somewhat, but the game remains as challenging as ever, and overall success is still as unlikely. (Although the introduction of two-player cooperative action evens out the odds a little, especially during the larger boss confrontations.) Like the previous title, <i>1943</i> is now considered one of the kings of the one-credit-play-through challenge, popular among a particularly hardcore group of the game's fans.<br />
<br />
Having created the arcade iteration, Capcom handled a home version for the NES, but a cast and unwieldy range of ports across different platforms range widely in terms of quality and degrees of fidelity. Faced with such a compromised muddle, if you're itching to re-stage the Battle Of Midway in entirely unrealistic terms today, you'll probably want to hunt down the mighty Capcom Classics Collection -- a generous PS2/Xbox compilation -- which features this game, along with many other greats, and has some rather delightful menus to boot.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZj3v-QHZbg/Ttr3wD5_eVI/AAAAAAAAAD8/yE9BbtFAkPk/s1600/1943game.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZj3v-QHZbg/Ttr3wD5_eVI/AAAAAAAAAD8/yE9BbtFAkPk/s320/1943game.jpeg" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They just never stop coming</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-82508067096230190862011-11-22T14:00:00.001-08:002011-12-20T20:23:13.075-08:00Rogue<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1980</li>
<li>Platform(s): Unix</li>
<li>Developer: Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, Ken Arnold</li>
<li>Genre: Strategy / Role-Playing</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Rogue first appeared on college Unix systems in 1980. It contains an infinite variety via a series of randomly generated, ASCII-rendered dungeons that must be explored in a bid to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor (Rodney spelled backwards) from somewhere behold the twenty-fifth level -- an unlikely achievement given the imposing difficulty of even the earliest dungeon layers.<br />
<br />
Practically no information is disclosed to the player, so every new game is a voyage of discovery, not just the dungeon's layout, but also of the monsters and items within. Progression to the deeper parts of the dungeon is such a rarity that there are inevitably new monsters to meet. Quaffing potions and reading scrolls along the way is always a calculated risk; you might discover that you've just gulped down a potion of strength ("You feel stronger. What bulging muscles!"), but if you've guzzled a potion of blindness ("A cloak of darkness falls") you can kiss goodbye to any chance of surviving to the later levels.<br />
<br />
Other obstacles include simple hunger, which can wipe out even the bravest of adventurers;dead ends; and a cruel variety of traps.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3JJmgjHEg4A/Tswf2ArBNWI/AAAAAAAAADg/SeQzQ24PpP0/s1600/Rogue.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3JJmgjHEg4A/Tswf2ArBNWI/AAAAAAAAADg/SeQzQ24PpP0/s400/Rogue.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Rogue's Many Randomly Generated Dungeons (Click to Enlarge)</td></tr>
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<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-16940294621574757752011-11-20T09:46:00.000-08:002011-11-20T09:46:53.141-08:00Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 2004</li>
<li>Platform(s): PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox</li>
<li>Developer: Rockstar</li>
<li>Genre: Action</li>
</ul>
<br />
With sales of more than 20 million copies since ts launch in 2004, <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</i> is the biggest-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time, and not without reason. Though initially a game about gang bangers and turf wars in a fictional Los Angeles (Los Santos), channeling scenes from <i>Menace II Society</i> and <i>Boyz N the Hood</i>, it blossoms into an ode to the entire West Coast. Three whole cities -- the others being San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas) -- create a game four times bigger than Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, home to just about every idea from Rockstar's whiteboards. Weight gain, pimping missions, robberies, drive-bys, swimming, clothes shopping, martial arts, casino games, horse racing -- the list goes on and on.<br />
<br />
The hero this time is Carl "CJ" Johnson, a Los Santos native who returns for his mother's funeral after five years in Liberty City. Chaos greets him, his neighbourhood falling to gang violence while rivalries and suspicions break up his family. Blackmailed by the crooked Officer Tenpenny (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) and distracted by girlfriends, hippies, and everyone in between, he gradually unearths the secrets behind his mother's murder, following the clues to the far ends of the map.<br />
<br />
Just as important as the urban centers of San Andreas are the spaces in between: the rural<br />
retreats and vast open roads that turn the game into a road movie. No<i> Grand Theft Auto</i> before or since has let you point toward a random horizon and just keep on driving, capturing that post-Woodstock spirit of movies like <i>Easy Rider</i> and <i>Vanishing Point</i>. None has featured a more star-studded cast, either, or so many ways of getting from point A to B via X, Y and Z. Though it lacks an occasional dab of polish, <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</i> is an embarrassment of riches.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H030zHhymSE/Tsk5wq6ikVI/AAAAAAAAADU/5r-qTqwMrr8/s1600/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H030zHhymSE/Tsk5wq6ikVI/AAAAAAAAADU/5r-qTqwMrr8/s320/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-54575976832216739362011-11-04T06:33:00.000-07:002011-11-20T16:19:05.503-08:00The Incredible Machine<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1992</li>
<li>Platform: MS-DOS, 3DO, Macintosh</li>
<li>Developer: Dynamix</li>
<li>Genre: Puzzle</li>
</ul>
<br />
Emergent game play and physics-based interactivity may seem like fresh concepts, but it was <i>The Incredible Machine</i> that really introduced these major game components almost twenty years ago.<br />
<br />
Without a doubt inspired by the ridiculously elaborate contraptions imagined by cartoonist Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg, <i>The Incredible Machine </i>tasks players with inventing their own devices to carry out a series of simple actions. On each level an objective is give, ranging from popping a series of balloons to launching rockets to re-housing goldfish. A range of "useful" components is provided in limited quantities, which can be dragged and dropped onto the game space to construct the relevent machine. Basketballs, flashlights, and pulleys all figure -- as do mice, cats, and monkeys on bicycles -- and all can be variously combined to complete the tasks.<br />
<br />
The beuty of the game is its accurate simulation of gravity, inertia, and other vital physical processes. Just as important, there is no one way to complete each level, and emergent approach that encourages endless exploration. The game also comes with a sandbox mode in which users are free to construct their own machines from scratch.<br />
<br />
The game was a huge success on the PC (later appearing on the Mac and 3DO console), and creators Kevin Ryan and Jeff Tunnell would carry on to oversee two sequels, as well as a range of spin-offs, before their company, Dynamix, was dissolved in 2001. The series would surface again in 2007 as a mobile adaptation, courtesy of Vivendi. Two years later, Tunnell brought back the rights and further titles were planned. After a decade-long hiatus, the machine is finally being switched back on.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LOVVNzAmLbg/TocWS4T5q1I/AAAAAAAAAE0/f-syHA_isGo/the-incredible-machine.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LOVVNzAmLbg/TocWS4T5q1I/AAAAAAAAAE0/f-syHA_isGo/the-incredible-machine.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incredible Machine can get wild sometimes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-15829147879996584862011-10-27T17:34:00.000-07:002011-10-27T12:42:25.098-07:00Age Of Empires<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1997</li>
<li>Platform: PC</li>
<li>Developer: Ensemble Studios</li>
<li>Genre: Strategy</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
While advances in video games are typically characterized by leaps in technology or game play innovation, lateral crossover is also important. Like some novel technology concocted in one of its temples, <i>Age of Empires</i> crossed two existing game play templates and boiled down the result to produce a new branch in strategy gaming.<br />
<br />
The first parent was <i>Civilization</i>, Sid Meier's brilliant 1991 title. Devotees loved it, but its complexity and turn-based mechanics put off many more. By the mid-90s, real-time strategy offered a more accessible way for armchair generals to marshal their forces. The best-selling strategy games -- <i>Command & Conquer</i> and <i>Warcraft</i> -- and their copycats were science-fiction or fantasy affairs. What Ensemble Studios (including designer Bruce Shelley, who worked on <i>Civilization</i> with Meier) did was meld <i>Civilization</i>'s historical trappings and empire building idea with the genre's game play and pretty graphics.<br />
<br />
The result, <i>Age of Empires</i>, was an approachable take on dictatorship with enough historical finery to satisfy all but the most bookish rulers. Assuming leadership of one of a dozen peoples, from the Greeks and the Babylonians to the Japanese Yamato civilization, you guide your race from being hunter gatherers through several transitions to create a dominant Iron Age culture. The twelve civilizations are divided into four main group, each one with its own distinctive architectural style. The emphasis is on military progressions, though victory conditions include building a Wonder, such as an Egyptian pyramid. On the fighting front, dubious artificial intelligence, later patched, and <i>Age of Empires</i> launched a globe-conquering franchise that eventually sold twenty million units.<br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiLKKXNLg54/TnUUwnCZ7vI/AAAAAAAAAEs/bVwMcq_dijY/age-of-empires-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiLKKXNLg54/TnUUwnCZ7vI/AAAAAAAAAEs/bVwMcq_dijY/age-of-empires-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camels, Elephants, and everything in between. Age Of Empires features a large variety of units.</td></tr>
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<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-84168090162122549542011-10-19T14:08:00.000-07:002011-10-19T14:08:44.303-07:00Dr. Mario<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1990</li>
<li>Platform(s): SNES, NES, Satellaview, Game Boy</li>
<li>Developer: Nintendo</li>
<li>Genre: Puzzle</li>
</ul>
<div>
In Nintendo's rush to create a <i>Tetris</i> clone unencumbered by the legal disputes of the original, it seems nobody stopped to ask a few fundamental questions. For example, when did this world-saving plumber find the time to acquire a medical degree? Perhaps the reason no one raised such pressing issues is that they were too busy playing <i>Dr. Mario</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Instead of the blank slate that beings most <i>Tetris</i>-like games, each level of <i>Dr. Mario</i> is contaminated with red, yellow, and blue viruses. Mario attacks them by way of double-sided capsules, each half coloured either red, yellow, or blue. Stack like colours atop or next to one another to eliminate them, match for or more in a row and they disappear.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One major difference between Dr. Mario's capsules and <i>Tetris</i>'s tetrominoes is that the coins of Dr. Mario's realm are much more manuverable. The result is a greater focus on agility: if you want to succeed, you'd better master split-second reactions. For a <i>Tetris</i> knockoff, <i>Dr. Mario</i> is remarkably original. The game spawned a thriving branch of the falling puzzle genre, and without it there might have been no <i>Lumines</i> or <i>Bejeweled</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ye5kzlV9ARY/Tp87x3dwy3I/AAAAAAAAACs/bG0NXEgvAM0/s1600/Dr-Mario-NES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ye5kzlV9ARY/Tp87x3dwy3I/AAAAAAAAACs/bG0NXEgvAM0/s320/Dr-Mario-NES.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-89804668022662180912011-10-04T14:53:00.000-07:002011-10-04T14:57:31.347-07:00NBA JamRelease Date: 1993<br />
Platform(s): Arcade, SNES, SEGA Genesis, SEGA CD, Gameboy, SEGA Game Gear<br />
Developer: Midway<br />
Genre: Sports<br />
<br />
The catchphrases are legendary: "He's on fire!" "Is it the shoes?" "From downtown!" You're apt to hear all these and more during a single game of NBA Jam, and if you need proof of the game's cultural currency, walk up to somebody, say any of these one statements, and see how the react. Most likely, they'll respond with the immortal, "Boom shakalaka!"<br />
<br />
NBA Jam is the game of basketball as seen through a funhouse mirror. It uses real NBA teams and superstar players, such as Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing, although that's about where similarities to the real thing end. (One notable omission is Michael Jordan, whose likeness was too pricy for Midway to license.) Teams take each other on in games of two-on-two, which leads to fast paces, high-scoring games without a lot of passing or strategy.<br />
<br />
The game's true inspiration is to exaggerate the sport's traits beyond the limits of credulity. When a player hits three buckets in a row, he's said to be on fire, and from that point until the other team scores, he won't miss a shot, and the ball will scorch the net. The centrepiece of the game is its monster dunks -- the player can jam it in with a variety of long-distance tomahawks, behind-the-back moves, and aerial somersaults that take them outside the frame, each one lustily narrated by a Marv Albert soundalike.<br />
<br />
NBA Jam's sense of fun knows no bounds. Fourth quarter dunks have the effect of shattering the glass. A bevy of unlockable secret characters creates hilarious match-ups. Between the various arcade and home versions of the game, it's possible to play as actors, mascots, athletes from other sports, and even President Clinton. Slick Willie throwing down a baseline jam on Hakeem Olajuwon's head? Boom shakalaka!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAW6wSeETBk/Tot99ScvMWI/AAAAAAAAACo/3_gZTK5qw4c/s1600/nba-jam.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAW6wSeETBk/Tot99ScvMWI/AAAAAAAAACo/3_gZTK5qw4c/s1600/nba-jam.png" /></a></div>
<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-5831864347165084522011-10-02T14:32:00.000-07:002011-10-02T14:32:21.841-07:00CivilizationRelease Date: 1991<br />
<div>
Platform: PC</div>
<div>
Developer: Microprose Software</div>
<div>
Genre: Strategy</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Want to make a PC gamer of certain age cry? Whisper "<i>Civilization</i>" in his or her ear. There are any number of reasons why the tears might flow, but it's likely because more sleep, weekends, job, and relationships have probably been lost to Civilization than any other game.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This seminal strategy experience is vast. Beginning with just a settler wandering a hostile world 4,000 years before Christ, you found first a city and, through your choices, a civilization capable of defeating all its rivals or of sending a spaceship to distant Alpha Centauri. Blocking your path is the land unknown, barbarians, and rival civilizations, and the tools at your disposal to run the gamut from trade and diplomacy to all out hostilities.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You decide what civilization you'll play, choosing from the Mongols, the Romans, and other past and present contenders for the title of global superpower. Your choice affects trivial matters such as the names of your cities or the colours of your army: <i>Civilization</i>'s genius is that this decision does not determine the paths your people follow.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The technology tree does that; a brilliantly conceived flowchart of human progress that has been copied by most strategy games in the wake of <i>Civilization</i>. By researching, for instance, the wheel, you can unlock further related technologies, such ass transport or vehicular combat units. Few areas of human endeavour are ignored, but since you can only research on thing at a time, your civilization is shaped by the order of the choices you make.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With day-to-day tasks ranging from war to farming to transport planning to developing the Wonders of the World, the demands on the player are immense. What's incredible then, is how the game manages to make time disappear as you play. If you've got a night to kill, the set it aside to play <i>Civilization</i>.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R678TAUV38Y/Tocc2mSszAI/AAAAAAAAAE4/5veDjqRaVrc/sid-meiers-civilization-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R678TAUV38Y/Tocc2mSszAI/AAAAAAAAAE4/5veDjqRaVrc/sid-meiers-civilization-1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-89548492122257957282011-09-26T04:38:00.000-07:002011-09-26T04:38:30.498-07:00Metal Gear Solid<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 1998</li>
<li>Platform: PC, PS1</li>
<li>Developer: Konami</li>
<li>Genre: Stealth</li>
</ul>
<br />
When designer Hideo Kojima brought his Metal Gear series to PlayStation, he did more than just kick-start the most popular stealth franchise in gaming history. He began a conversation that continues today, sharing his fears of nuclear holocaust, his distrust of the industrial-military complex, his love of movies like <i>The Guns of Navarone</i> and <i>You Only Live Twice</i>, and his sympathy for the soldiers discombobulated by war. "Ghosts of the battlefield," he would call them, putting a fresh slant on the tired old cliché of the video game action hero.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/DwrPuCnNbv8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Egoraptor's parody: Metal Gear Awesome</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Retired special agent Solid Snake has been dispatched to Shadow Moses, a remote fortified island in Alaska. His mission is to quell and uprising staged by FOXHOUND, a terrorist cell in control of the island's secret: a walking nuclear doomsday weapon called Metal Gear Rex. Little does Snake realize that its mastermind, codenamed Liqud Snake, is actually his genetic twin, part of a government project to breed the ultimate soldier. His lieutenants, furthermore, are psychopaths and assassins with their own twisted agendas. The government calls them traitors, but can anything be that simple in this new world order?<br />
<br />
If you think that sounds convoluted, wait until it gets going. Kojima isn't a man to use five words when fifty will suffice and didn't make a game to be played only once. The threads established here would multiply tenfold in games to come, as would the options for combat and stealth. Officially a "sneaking" game, <i>Metal Gear Solid</i> is fast and relatively forgiving; escape often as simple as hiding under a cardboard box. Intensely cinematic with its reaction shots and cut scenes, it's more fondly remembered for toying with that illusion: one boss's weakness being a quick change of controller port.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tHn-x04RRU/Tn_o4PDkaDI/AAAAAAAAACk/7alirrwwa58/s1600/metal-gear-solid-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tHn-x04RRU/Tn_o4PDkaDI/AAAAAAAAACk/7alirrwwa58/s320/metal-gear-solid-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metal Gear Solid revolves around stealth combat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-87055356483126174352011-09-24T13:22:00.000-07:002011-09-24T13:22:03.238-07:00The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages<br />
<ul>
<li>Release Date: 2001</li>
<li>Platform: Game Boy Colour</li>
<li>Developer: Capcom</li>
<li>Genre: Action / Adventure</li>
</ul>
<br />
The follow-up to the Game Boy's brilliant <i>The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening</i> was always going to have its work cut out, even before you consider that, for the first time, third-party developers were handling the most delicate of Nintendo's children. And although Capcom can't compete with the master company's own designers, it does a pretty decent job of playing babysitter to greatness, with a couple of games that certainly cover very suitable territory and repeat all the right moves.<br />
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<i>The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages </i>are a pair of complementary interconnected games. The two games, released simultaneously, interact via a Nintendo Game Link Cable, enabling the two titles to be played on two different Game Boys at the same time. Each game transports our hero Link to a different magical land, where a powerful oracle has been kidnapped. While the larger story can only be understood when both games are completed, each title can still be enjoyed as a standalone adventure in it's own right. And, helpfully Capcom has been taking notes, with adventures that unfold in a familiar progression of item-gathering, over-world exploration, and dungeon crawling. It's not a bad copy of the previous games, and the development team manages to throw in enough new magical twists and ideas to keep you chugging along on a series of journeys that only just fall short of what <i>Zelda</i> fans traditionally expect.<br />
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With visuals and controls almost identical to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, the Oracle games never quite reach the heights of Nintendo's own work, though they still do a decent job. Heartfelt, varied and often clever, they serve as a reminder that the right property has the power to lift everyone associated with it.<br />
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<br />D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988432917612046930.post-72929366148677800632011-09-16T13:18:00.000-07:002011-09-19T20:07:07.249-07:00Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy<br />
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<li>Release Date: 2001</li>
<li>Platform: PlayStation 2</li>
<li>Developer: Naughty Dog</li>
<li>Genre: Platformer</li>
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Jak and Daxter's own precursor was Crash Bandicoot, a character who became something of a mascot for the original PlayStation and an example of Naughty Dog's technical skills. <i>Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy</i> is similarly demonstrative of the developer's talents when it comes to character design and the manipulation of Sony's hardware: players are treated to a high level of detail, charismatic animation, and a streaming world with no loading screen in sight. The game also paved the way for Nolan North's later proliferation of vocal appearances by caster Max Casella (an actor who nowadays also has <i>The Sopranos</i> and <i>Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony</i> on his resume) as the voice of Daxter.<br />
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As 3-D graphics had been well exploited for the previous generation of consoles, standing out from the crowd in the 128-bit landscape required new tactics.<i> Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy</i>'s main innovation is the aforementioned lack of loading. Before this, games were predominantly discrete experiences lacking in holistic permanence, but here players could travel to locations visible in the distance, and challenges begun would remain in the state they were left, rather than requiring restarts. The stage props used by preceding platform games had been transformed into a living, breathing world.<br />
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That the mechanics of the game are heavily evocative of classics like <a href="http://nostalgicvideogames.blogspot.com/2011/09/super-mario-64.html"><i>Super Mario 64</i></a> and <i>Banjo-Kazooie</i> is simply another reason to recommend it; the polished, fluid controls ensure that simply moving Jak around is a joy. Thought is also put into the reinvention of genre cliches: The collectibles here aren't as abstract tokens but energy orbs, which make sense in the context of the plot, setting a new bar for consistency and motivation.<br />
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D_Homeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564319494787492347noreply@blogger.com3