Category: Video Game Musings

CGR In Regression

Remember earlier this year when Classic Game Room made its return with another season of CGR 2085? That went on for about five episodes before Mark decided that the whole thing wasn’t worth it and pivoted towards a CGR podcast… and then that fell off the wayside? Did you catch the new CGR shows? If not, would you like to watch them again?

Well, tough shit… you can’t. Because CGR has made those videos private… on Youtube, at least.

For those not in the know, Classic Game Room turns 25 this year. CGR 2085’s second season was supposed to be a celebration of that milestone, but sadly, the numbers weren’t there and creator Mark Bussler didn’t think it was worth continuing. Fine, I get it. He wanted numbers to justify the cost and he didn’t get them. But to basically pull the new stuff offline (or make them private) to prevent further views? Isn’t that a bit extreme?

Well, only if you watch stuff on Youtube…

There’s always going to be those salty few who complain about someone not producing enough content. Those people don’t matter unless they’re paying for a product you’re selling. From all indications, nobody is buying anything that Mark is selling; they’re watching freebies on Youtube and complaining about not having enough freebies. Hey, dumbass. You’ve got more than enough vintage CGR videos to fall back if you really need your fix. They come in a variety of flavors and who knows? You might enjoy the older stuff more than the more recent stuff, which has been somewhat polarizing.

But that newer stuff… you can only find that on ClassicGameRoom.com.

Seems as though things have not been so swimming on Youtube for ol’ Mark, who decided to move all his stuff back to his own website and host all the videos from there (via what I presume is Vimeo). So while there’s no more new CGR stuff on your popular streaming platform of choice, you can go to the creator’s own website and watch some of this new stuff along with some of the older stuff. Now before anyone asks… YES, they tried this sort of thing before and it flamed out. But that was a much larger operation. This feels a bit more contained and is at least supported by other ventures that are doing a much better job of earning Mark a steady income.

Yes, it would be nice if this stuff were still being posted on Youtube, but at least, you can still watch the stuff elsewhere. I’ll take what I can get and be done with it, thanks.

Atari Launched 7800+ Console… And I’m Slightly Miffed About It

Source: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/08/the-atari-7800plus-resurrects-another-classic-atari-console

Yeah, so a year after Atari launched the 2600+ – a modern retro thing that lets you play most 2600 and some 7800 games – they’ve announced the Atari 7800+, which presumably does the same thing, except now it comes with a wireless gamepad and a free game – Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest… which I’m sure was a homebrew release once upon a time, but now has the official Atari seal of approval… for whatever that’s worth.

So yeah, Atari is putting out another one of these things and I’m slightly miffed since I had bought the Atari 2600+ last year and there has been no word of firmware updates to let the thing play more than the usual stock. Hell, they already have a firmware update for the 400 Mini.

Listen, if this thing plays Xevious, I’m sold… but otherwise, no thanks. I’ll stick with the games.

New Halloween And Evil Dead Games Are… Oh Wait…

Retro-themed Halloween and Evil Dead games are coming in October… and then I saw the trailer. I want to be positive about this. I missed out on the other Evil Dead game that came out a while back and I’m wanting to go for another one… but this trailer doesn’t instill much confidence.

Not that I don’t think the games will be bad or anything; they’re being developed by WayForward and they typically put out good stuff. But the whole thing comes across as fairly interchangeable and generic. There’s supposed to be a crossover element if you buy both games, which sort of harkens to Pokemon and its linkage, but all this does is remind me of that whole Ninjabread Man/Anubis II/Rock N’ Roll Adventures scenario on Wii where it’s basically the same game under the hood, but they just swapped out the graphics. I hate to think that’s actually the case here, but it looks to be very likely.

I’m honestly not so sure about these. Maybe as more is revealed, I’ll change my tune a bit, but right now, I’m not exactly sold on these things. If anything, it’s just making me want to go back and play that other Evil Dead game I’ve got on Xbox that isn’t Regeneration. As a matter of fact… I may be long overdue.

Doom Getting A New SNES Port From *sigh* Limited Run

Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/08/doom-is-getting-a-new-and-improved-definitive-release-on-super-nintendo

Anyone remember when Doom got a Super Nintendo port? It wasn’t all that great, but the fact that we got Doom on SNES is nothing short of a miracle. Well, Limited Run is going to be putting out a new version of Doom for SNES, which supposedly contains all four episodes intact as well as improved performance and – get this – CIRCLE STRAFING.

The universe beckons.

I gotta admit; part of me is intrigued by this new port and wants to grab a copy for myself. I just wish that this was being done by someone other than Limited Run, but… eh, we’ll see how things go, ya?

2000 Games By 2025?

Took a trip to a local store that sells retro game stuff… first time I came across this place and probably the last time I’ll be stepping foot in person. A bit of a shame, because it’s a nice looking place, got quite a bit of haul, and the people there are quite nice… but the parking in the area is quite shit and on top of that, this is near one of the major roads in Montreal and that road seems to be in a constant state of being under construction.

Continue reading “2000 Games By 2025?”

Gamecube Has Achievements… But Only In Emulation. (So It Really Doesn’t.)

Source: Time Extension article

So the Dolphin emulator – that thing that lets you play Gamecube and Wii games on computers and other things – has introduced an update that adds achievements to Gamecube games. So you can earn little “trophies” or “achievements” in Gamecube games much in the same way you can Steam, Xbox, and PS titles. Good for those who emulate this stuff, but kinda useless for those who play actual hardware, which is quite a few people, still.

I don’t know; I’ve never cared for achievements in the first place. There’s a nice optional thing to have and give the player some extra incentive, but beyond that, it’s not like you get anything worth a damn for achieving these feats in the first place. Still, if you care for such things and you emulate Gamecube, this might be worth pursuing until Nintendo comes along and extinguishes all the dolphins on Earth or something.

Gimmick Tables are delayed a week. Stuff came up recently and I’ve not gone ’round to ’em yet. But the reviews are on schedule, at least.