Category: Video Game Musings

Games We Used To Like But Now Don’t

There’s this article that I found on GameRadar called Games We Once Loved But Now Hate. It shows a list of several games that were once considered great, but haven’t really held up over the years. It’s a pretty good read, although I’d disagree that Atari 2600 games aren’t ageless. A good chunk of the games on that console might be utter crap, but I’d take any of those over the glutton of interchangeable FPS shooters that flooding the marketplace today. Just saying…

Mega Man 9 Hates You, But What About 10?

Source: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/mega-man-9-hates-me/306/

A clip of Giant Bomb writer Jeff Gerstmann reactions at failing at Mega Man 9 before beating Galaxy Man and declaring himself king of the world. Makes me wonder how he’ll handle Mega Man 10, which is supposed to be out today on WiiWare.

(2023 Update: The page itself is still active on GiantBomb, but I have trouble loading up the video. Probably an issue on my end. I’ll leave the link up for you to try out. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me.)

Reviewer Contest – Submission Reaction

A quick look at the reaction garnered by my submission to Asalieri’s reviewer contest thing.

If you haven’t seen the review, do so before going here since there are spoilers.

Asaleiri Notes:
Strong Points: Pacing and Self-Censorship.
Weak Points: Button Mashing Gag got annoying.
Favorite Part: Skeet Shooting Explanation (adds that it’s a shame no witty comment was added)
WTF Moment: Abrupt Ending

DaveTheUseless Notes:
– Mega Man SFX nice, then get annoying.
– Button Mashing Gag got annoying too.
– Voice-Overs OK
– Abrupt Ending… again.

So here are my responses and notes:
The idea behind the constant use of the “Constant Button Mashing” gag was to make it as annoying as possible. It starts off rather harmless and even a bit funny, but as it gets used more, ends up being annoying. Perhaps it worked a bit too well, because Asalieri no longer has a beard.

Regarding the ending… there was an added bit towards the end where I kept rambling on about the other game, but I didn’t really like the ending. So I cut that part off and set it aside the next with the intent to record a new ending (the whole bit with the skeet shooting and archery dialogue was actually re-recorded), but obviously that didn’t happen. So we got the abrupt ending.

No witty stuff here… it was late and I’m not witty enough, I’m afraid. Maybe next time…

Yeah. Maybe next time…

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth To Hit Japan October 27th

According to Kotaku and obtained “crappy cell phone” pictures of a Japanese magazine, the game will boast new enemies, new traps, and… yes, STAIRS! That’s right… forget the return to old-school Castlevania – STAIRS make their grand return to a Castlevania game after a long, LONG period of absence… and no, the Dracula X PSP remake doesn’t count.

With the game getting an early Japanese release (before the rest of us), it begs the question of what goofy Japanese name it’s being referred to as.

You can check out the article here for further details, primarily the picture in question.

Altered Beast for 1000 Wii Points? Seriously?

So apparently, there’s no Castlevania ReBirth showing up for WiiWare for the foreseeable future… oh well, I’m guessing it’ll emerge when more concrete details on the game are available. In the meantime, head on over to Virtual Console Arcade and pick up the arcade version of the Sega classic ALTERED BEAST for a thousand Wii Points… wait, what?

Seriously… let’s be honest and think about this. Isn’t the Genesis version of Altered Beast already available on Virtual Console? And isn’t it about eight hundred points? I mean, what’s the point of buying a slightly better version when there’s a cheaper alternative? I’ve played both versions and there’s nothing to justify spending an extra two bucks on a slightly better arcade format when the Genesis version will do you just fine.

OR… or… you can just pick up a copy of Sega Genesis Collection for PS2, which contains both games on the set… or even Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3 and Xbox 360, which also contains both games on the set. Heck, it even has Shinobi.

Sorry, Sega. You’re going to have to find some other means of getting my money, because this ain’t it.

Heck, I don’t even like Altered Beast.

All These Years, I’ve Screwed Up The Damn Name

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, the third in Konami’s series of classic remakes for WiiWare, is a bit of a revelation, as it officially confirms the proper name of the title. Besides that, the general belief is that it’s going to be a remake/remix/upgrade/whatever of the Game Boy title of the same name.

It sort of makes sense when you think about it. While I can’t necessarily speak for Contra ReBirth since I’ve not played it yet, it seemed to me like Gradius ReBirth is sort of a spritual remix or upgrade of the Game Boy version called Nemesis, as both games seem to have similar levels.
In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how this game turns out. I’m hoping it’ll be a return to form similar to Super Castlevania IV and not another “Metroidvania” game that seems to be the norm these past few years… then again, anything is an improvement over what we got on Game Boy.

My Gaming History Thus Far… Have Some Mushrooms, Brother.

I’m into video games… mostly the old-school variety.

I’ve been into video games since I first got an Atari 7800 ProSystem back in the late-1980s and enjoyed the system tremendously until I eventually got the almighty NES. The NES survived until my brother picked up an Super Nintendo for himself, but eventually the system migrated over to me. I’ve grabbed a Sega Genesis for five bucks at a thrift store, but the system lacked controllers, forcing me to borrow a couple 3-button controllers until I got my hands on a couple six-button controllers and eventually one with Turbo capabilities.As time passed, my interest in video games would wane (I sold my Super Nintendo with the small bunch of uninspired games I had for the system, including a couple Madden games and a crummy port of Wolfenstein) with only my trusty Game Boy and the occasional session of PC games to sate whatever desire was left. before I eventually picked up a Playstation (the smaller PS-One model) and started collecting games again. It was mostly wrestling games at first, but eventually I relented and picked up a few choice titles – mostly sequels or updates to game series I had played during my younger years.

A couple years later, I got an original Xbox for Christmas and began collecting games for that system. Somewhere along the line, I picked up a GBA SP unit when the Classic NES Series came out (only got a couple of those before getting real GBA titles).

When I finally got work, I eventually picked up a Playstation-2 and even a GameCube with GameBoy Player. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a Nintendo DS Lite and a PSP which were the best ways to keep up with the latest crop of games, since I knew that it’d be a good long while before I get my hands on a current-generation console.
That’s okay, though. I picked up a clone system called the FC Twin, which played NES and SNES games. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to play all the old NES games I had left over and it was incentive enough to start building a new SNES library as well as build upon the existing 40+ NES titles I already have. Heck, I even picked up a Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and a damn Game Gear along the way, just to get more old stuff in the collection.
And then last year, I bought a current-gen console, Nintendo Wii. Mind you, it was mostly for Mega Man 9 – a wonderful new-old game – and also bex but also because of their amazing Virtual Console service which opened up a new realm of titles I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to get without paying major cash for.
I don’t necessarily consider myself hardcore (I play video games for fun and not for arrogant bragging rights – although I like winning too), but I’m not necessarily casual either (unless keeping records of game play on DVD is a casual player attribute).
I don’t have a massive collection (roughly 550+ games total plus 15+ consoles – nothing compared to Handsome Tom’s huge-ass collection), but at least none of it is from eBay and online sources (mostly flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores, and specialty shops… and the newer retail stores for the “recent” stuff too, I suppose).
I’ve never imported Japanese games, but I do have a couple of those Hong Kong multicarts on NES… also from a flea market for much cheaper ($40) than they would have asked for years ago ($200+).
And that’s pretty much my brief history with video games – which is still ongoing. I still play games, but I’m holding out on getting any new ones. What I’ve got at the moment is enough for me… at least until something catches my eye.
So ends the first video game-related post on this blog. Expect normal rants on the topic in the future… whatever that means.