We’ve heard little about the upcoming 12th game in the Classic line-up (and yes, it is Mega Man 12 in all but name) since that debut trailer and now it’s going to be playable at this event. Maybe a new trailer? We’ll see.
Category: Video Game Musings
Commodore – Yes, THAT Commodore – Wants To Sell You A Flip Phone… Really
So someone bought the old Commodore name – you know, the company that gave you Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Amiga computers – and decided that they’re going to create an old school flip phone like those that existed in the turn of the 21st century. And they’re going to sell you these things for five hundred bucks a pop.
They know that you can get cheaper versions for 100 bucks a pop, right? Why waste all that cash that could have gone to a new computer instead?
Oh well… best of luck to them, I guess.
Console Archives Is Really Stretching It
You know something, kids? I’m really anxious of those who own a Nintendo Switch 2… because they have that fancy new Console Archives series from Hamster that lets them buy releases from previous consoles.
Now granted, there are a number of titles in which I either already have the original media for (Ninja Gaiden, MagMax, Seicross) and some I have little interest in (the Koei games… Cool Borders), but there’s a couple intriguing titles in there that kinda, sorta intrigue me. I recall the Monster Rancher cartoon from decades back and never knew it was based on a game, so I’d be curious about that one… even if said curiosity would last about one session before I got bored. But you know… I’m just waiting on that one firm console release that will get me over that hump and sell me on a Switch 2. After all, it was a retro throwback title in Mega Man 9 that convinced me to buy a Wii.
And so Hamster announced their latest addition to the Console Archives line-up: the Legend Of Kage.
On NES.
Yes, even though the Arcade Archives release already has the original arcade game, you can now purchase and play the inferior Famicom release.
Now, granted, Console Archives had home ports of arcade titles that were already featured in Arcade Archives… and honestly, no real reason to be playing those, quite frankly. MagMax and Seicross were fine games that stayed true to the source material, but still lesser versions of those arcade originals from a technical standpoint. Honestly, if you were going to release console conversions of arcade titles, you’d want to go for the games that were significantly different enough to warrant sample plays. Games like Contra, Bionic Commando, and Green Beret/Rush’n’Attack are good examples of this.
The Legend Of Kage, though? That’s just a bad NES port of a less than stellar arcade game.
This would have been fine as a Nintendo Classic addition if nothing else; the kind of game you sample for five minutes before going back to the more noteworthy NES/Famicom releases. Even in this economic climate, I was able to find NES carts of this thing selling for five bucks a pop… in Canadian currency.
Now you want me to pay ten bucks for this thing?
Thanks, Hamster people, for killing any desire I had in buying Switch 2.
Oh well…
No Switch 2. I No Need.
A year ago, Nintendo released their newest Switch 2 console. It has more power, more features, and other things… but most of all, it’s just a beefier Switch with a couple extra bits.
I briefly considered making the jump. Even got on the list for one of those pre-order opportunities… but I ended up not getting a Switch 2. Because when I really thought about it, did I need a Switch 2?
Most of the games I play typically fall under two categories; either those of simple fare or throwbacks to earlier eras. I spend more time on Nintendo Classics, Arcade Archives, and whatever compilations I’ve got available than I do any of the heavy hitters. When was the last big Switch title I played? The HD2D remakes of the three Dragon Quest Erdrick games. Before that? A few swings of Breath Of The Wild. I have a copy of Tears Of The kingdom that I still haven’t touched. Maybe I should before the servers go down.
A year later, I still have no real inclination to pick up a Switch 2, despite the threat of looming price hikes in a couple months time. Granted, there’s more stuff to look forward to on that front. I’m almost keenly interested in the newest StarFox restart and Console Archives is appealing even if the game selection has been somewhat uninspired. But the simple truth is that I’m more than content with my Switch 1. There’s stuff on there I still have to play through. I’d very much like to get that done before moving on to another console.
Oh, lookie. They’re remaking another game that I already have on Nintendo 64… and can play on Nintendo Switch via Nintendo Classics. Pass.
Also, I just bought a new laptop last year and as you can imagine, money is tight these days. I haven’t been buying as many games as I would like. That’s going towards more essential needs like food, bills, gas, and other things that now cost more because… well, you know.
Also (yes, again), nothing on the horizon to look forward to. Atari seems to have given up on making new carts for their legacy systems and the used game market has failed to catch my eye, either with anything that I might be keenly interesting in adding to the pile or in terms of pricing; the latter playing a key role in how I approach new additions to the somewhat bloated game collection.
I don’t know… if things stay as they are on that front, I might consider do a new series of videos on the game collection. Maybe even start doing some clean-up on odds and ends.
Who knows? New content for the channel nobody is going to care about, but that’s par for the course, ain’t it?
Slow News Year
So we begin excluding discussion about a certain genre of entertainment for the month of June. The idea being to give that a rest… except how much that affect this blog when there hasn’t been much of it beyond the weekly Wednesday project that concluded?
I’ll be honest with you. There hasn’t been much to talk about in other fronts. Most of you following this blog know that I rarely touch on the current gen console scene. Price hikes due to prevailing circumstances and morons in office is not something that inspires long essays or anything like that. It sucks and it’s going to suck more when certain tariffs are removed and the prices stay up because we gotta make some profits.
Meanwhile, over at the classic gaming scene… new toys to play with, sure. Almost all of it overly expensive and, save for maybe one or two things, almost all of it is a flex. Things you don’t need, but would be nice to have. I’ve got a lot of vintage machines; some of these still work. Not quite the ideal “classic” experience, but they serve me well. And if all else fails, there’s always classic compilations on Switch or PC. And of course, the other avenue that needs not be mentioned because… well, you know… yarrrr.
Over at the comic front, there’s new event comics coming up that leave me uninspired. Movies and TV shows… none of which pique my interest. Honestly, I find myself watching old shit on either Prime Video or Youtube or whatever physical media I have at my disposal. Most of the stuff I have is infinitely rewatchable. Every so often, I can pull that out, give it a watch, have fun, put it back in the dock, and then a few months or so later, I might get a scratch to rewatch it. The quality of good media is not its resale value; it’s the replay. How much are you itching for another go?
I suppose I could on a series of posts dissecting why certain things that I used to take pleasaure and/or joy in no longer provide such things, but that would be too dreary a series at best and at worst, too cut and dry – some things, I lost interest in. Other things, a little more. I’ll try to be a bit more upbeat in my future writings, but as trends on the interwebs have proven time and time again, people love absolute misery and despair… and so does the global algorithms of the universe, it seems.
Thank goodness I don’t care for such things.
Oh wait…
The Prerequisite Star Wars Ambivalence Post
There’s a new Star Wars movie tomorrow… I should be excited, no?
Except… not really. It’s a TV movie that they decided to put into movie theaters. And yes, I liked the Mandalorian for the first couple years… and then the Book of Boba Fett stunk up the joint and I never came back for the third. Now you want people to get excited for a big screen airing of what is essentially an abridged fourth season of a show most people probably already forgot about.
I’ve already talked about my overall ambivalence over this thing months ago when the deal was first announced, so I will not repeat myself here. For what it’s worth, I did dabble in some Star Wars games and books as of late… had fun with those. I might even bust out the old DVDs and give those a watch. (Yes, I said DVDs because they have the original original versions on those.)
Speaking of which, new review is coming tomorrow. It covers Empire on Game Boy. It’s not a good game, but after covering a surprisingly solid Master System port of Star Wars back in March, we need some balance in the proverbial force. As an added bonus, there’s a fun piece of business to mark the occasion.
All that in mind, I expect the flow of Star Wars game reviews to pick up sometime next year in time for the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars. I’m saving the really good stuff for when it matters (mostly because they take too damn long to play through.)
Anyhoo, that’s it for today.
Later.
GameStop Attempts To Buy eBay, Gets Told To Piss Off
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2163171/gamestop-is-reportedly-preparing-an-offer-to-buy-ebay/
Isn’t GameStop a struggling company in debt? Does that mean I can possibly buy eBay with a good offer? I’ve got twenty American dollars, a couple rolls of premium 3-ply toilet paper, and a bar of soap. Think they’ll take that offer?
Someone Else Is Writing Those Symphonies
Veteran Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane had confirmed in a recent post that she would not be providing music to either the upcoming Belmont’s Curse game or the upcoming Bloodstained game in a recent video update. This will no doubt be a disappointment to those who were hoping to see her make her return to the former or continue her contributions in the latter.
Her not doing music in Belmont’s Curse isn’t much of a surprise. I’m sure the Dead Cells people have their own composers that they could use and while I think that’d be a cool thing to have her come back and bust a couple tunes, it’s not a total deal breaker, either. However, the fact that she’s not doing Bloodstained is a bit of a surprise. Not sure if it’s scheduling issues or Iga wanting to go in a different direction, but considering she had been an instrumental part of that Igavania equation since it ran roughshod these past two decades, it’ll be interesting to see who fills the void and if they can live up to the legacy she established in either brand.
In any event, I wish Yamane-san all the best in all her future endeavors and I look forward to seeing who steps up to the place in either game.
Another Street Fighter Movie Trailer
Welcome to an alternate 1993 where everything you lived through in 1993 is wrong because nobody knows (or cares) what 1993 actually looked like. Also, for a movie called Street Fighter, I’m dismayed by how many fights look to take place in a warehouse and not, you know, the streets. Even Street Fighter II had a stage that took place on a street (Chun Li’s stage, of course.)
Other than that, this looks like some tasty corn.
The ’94 film was its own brand of cheese, The Legend Of Chun Li exists for worse and worse, and Assassin Fist was a big bowl of meh. At least this knows the source material is absurd and is leaning into it. It doesn’t have to be total parody, but treating it deadly serious isn’t the way to go either. Hopefully, this strikes that nice balance.
Goddamn… I’m actually looking forward to this.
Go figure.
A Year Ago, SNK Fans Forgot To Relax Their Rectal Cavities
So it was about a year go when Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves – the first real Fatal Fury in decades – hit the streets, as it were. It was also about a year ago this month when SNK introduced two new fighters to the mix; famed football/soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and some DJ named Salvatore who I only know from the one clip where he told his audience to try and relax their anus.
You probably know the clip I’m talking about.
I didn’t comment on this at the time of release, given that I’ve been undergoing some other troubles at the time and by the time I was out of the hospital, I had completely forgotten about it. Full disclosure: I have not played the game myself. I’ll probably wait for a massive price drop before I dive in, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t weary of anything involving SNK these days, given their current owners that are benevolent and progressive. But then they decided that a real life soccer player and a real life DJ who’s more of a meme to me than anything are worthy additions to a fighting game roster than, say, insert favorite SNK character here.
I don’t know. I’m largely ambivalent on the whole deal. Maybe that’s why I didn’t comment on this last year; I heard about it, read the online reaction, and didn’t give the thing another thought. Then again, part of me regrets not saying anything, as telling SNK fans to relax their collective anuses or something would have hit closer to home.
Eh… maybe not…