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PRIMARY SYSTEMS COVERAGE THIS ISSUE ColecoVision Intellivision Odyssey Coleco ADAM Atari VCS - 2600 Amiga Power System (aka Amiga Power Module; 2600 add-on system; news coverage, never released) Commodore VIC-20 Atari 400 - 800 - 1200XL Atari 600XL - 800XL - 1400XL - 1400XLD (news coverage) Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer Atari 5200 Ultravision (news coverage, never released) stand-alones arcade pinball --- (The following is loosely based on this issue's table of contents with select article taglines and/or excerpts (noted in quotes) included. (Notes) and bullet lists added for clarity.) (This issue of VI introduces a new "Chip Ahoy" feature - essentially a gallery of misc. photos, screenshots and artwork related to games covered elsewhere throughout the issue. Also, the video game review section is expanded to now formally list the game publisher and platform for each review, along with a new scoring system (grade scale) for a game's gameplay and graphics.) The Keyboard (editorial by Executive Editor Tim Moriarty) Eye On (news section; column headlines:) Let The Games Begin (upcoming games sorted by system:) Atari 2600 (from Imagic, Activision, Atari, 20th Century Games) Atari 5200 (from Atari, Tigervision, CBS Electronics) Intellivision (from Imagic, Mattel, CBS Electronics) ColecoVision (from Coleco) River Of Sticks (joysticks and hardware:) Triga Command joystick Prostick II, Prostick III Amiga Power-Stick, Power System (cassette add-on system for 2600) The Blaster (turbofire add-on) The Obelisk (gaming furniture) Super Champ Joystick Z-Stick Zircon Track-Ball Lemon Aid (used video game stores) Battling Binoculars (Tomytronic 3-D handheld games) Hi, Billy! Videogaming Illustrated! (online networks; The Games Network, Gameline) Short Notes (new game developers; game developers going out of business; Ultravision cancelled) Summer and Smoke (upcoming arcade games) Out Of Pocket (Video Coin Holder personal quarter dispenser) Just Doing My Duty, Sir (US Army, colleges opening arcades) Market Blur (Odyssey Command Center (shown); video game, computer markets) Mountain or Molehill? (Romox ECPC programmable cartridges for game rentals) Quartet (upcoming Atari computers; 600XL, 800XL, 1400XL, 1450XLD) Characters In Search Of A User ('The Movie Maker') Give That Player The Psycho-Hook (Synapse developer profile) Preview E.C. Meade and Jim Clark review the latest videogames. (console videogame reviews, most with box art and screenshot) Room of Doom (2600) Dishaster (2600) Tanks But No Tanks (2600) Cosmic Corridor (2600) Vanguard (5200) Keystone Kapers (2600) Happy Trails (Int) White Water! (Int) M*A*S*H (2600) (aka MASH) Mines of Minos (2600) Cosmic Swarm (2600) Pepper II (Col) Truckin' (Int) Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Match-Ups (2600) Solar Storm (2600) G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike (2600) Focus On: Video Devils of the Deep A new school of videogames beckons players to explore the silent savagery of the deep sea. (running commentary discussing the following games:) Seaquest (2600) Shark Attack (2600) Jungle Hunt (2600,5200) Shark! Shark! (Int) Dolphin (2600) Fathom (2600,Int) Atlantis (2600,5200,Int,Ody) Bermuda Triangle (2600) Airlock (2600) Sea Battle (Int) Sub Hunt (Int) Polaris (2600) Sub Chase (Armored Encounter) (Ody) Fishing Derby (2600) Frogger (2600) Frog Bog (Int) Frog and Flies (2600) Behind the Scenes: Magnavox vs. Mattel A Blast From the Past. (by Stephen Bent) Conquering: Space Panic In space, no one can hear you scheme. (by Michael J. Sittnick; Colecovision game overview and strategy) Conquering: No Escape There is literally no escape from this Imagic cartridge for the Atari 2600. There is no winning it either; you play it until the wrath of the gods wears you down. Can this be construed as a theological statement from Imagic? No, just a game that will remain an exciting challenge from now 'till doomsday. (by Robert J. Sodaro; 2600; game overview and strategy; includes 'The True Myth of Jason and the Fleece!' sidebar) Print Out E.C. Meade looks at books. (book recommendations and warnings) Maze Warps by Vladimir Koziakin That Game From Outer Space by Stephen Manes Hello, Mr. Chips by Ann Bishop Chip Mitchell: The Case of the Stolen Computer Brains by Fred D-ignazio Input Our readers write. (letters column) Media Preview Motion Pictures (Jaws 3D, 3D in film) Radio ('The Screen Fiend' radio show, featuring video game coverage) Home Video (Tape-Mender VHS/Beta repair kit) Championship Videogaming (reader submitted game strategies and trivia; usually addendums to game guides published in prior issues; includes 'taking it to the streets' section spotlighting arcade games; this issue:) Super Pac-Man Dragonfire Dragonstomper Tron Pac-Man (arcade) Defender (arcade) Stargate (arcade) Qix (arcade) Zaxxon (arcade) Conquering: Xevious (by Randy Palmer; arcade; game overview and strategy) Conquering: Arcade Games Arcade Game Strategies by Randy Palmer. Front Line Star Trek Tron Burgertime Arcadia: Hand Helds 'You've Got The Whole Arcade In Your Hands!' Call them "Portable," "Table-top," "Pocket-size," or "Hand-Held," but the mini-arcade games are opening up a whole new market. (by Richard Meyers; table tops and LCD handhelds discussion, shown (unless noted)) Pac-Man (Col) Galaxian (Col) Frogger (Col) Donkey Kong (Col) Ms. Pac-Man (Col; not shown) Zaxxon (Col; not shown) Super Cobra (Entex) Stargate (Entex) Turtles Defender (Entex) Donkey Kong (Nintendo Game & Watch; b&w photo) Donkey Kong II (Donkey Kong Jr.; Nintendo Game & Watch; b&w photo) Mario Brothers (Nintendo Game & Watch; not shown) Space Invaders (Tiger Toys; b&w photo) Burger Time (Mattel; b&w photo) Computereyes: Adam "Adam is a computer system which includes a stepped keyboard, letter-quality printer, mass memory drive for its 80K of RAM memory, a word processor built in in ROM, two game controllers, a BASIC program, and a Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (super) game program. The system will sell for around six hundred dollars." (system overview) Chip Ahoy A Preview of Upcoming Games. (image gallery; box art, screenshots, arcade cabinets) Crackpots (Activision; 2600) Moonsweeper (Imagic; 2600) Solar Storm (Imagic; 2600) Congo Bongo (Sega; arcade) The Activision Decathlon (Activision; 2600) Mountain King (CBS Electronics; for Atari computers) Boulders and Bombs (CBS Electronics; for Atari computers) Computereyes: Hardware Atari's 1200XL. Unto the third generation shall be born a sleeker, friendlier, more versatile and expandable computer. (by Martin Levitan; system overview; includes mention of future 600XL, 800XL, 1400XL and 1450XLD models) RAMblings Computergame reviews. Pinhead (400,800) Keys Of The Wizard (TRS80) Serpentine (VIC20) Trashman (VIC20) Pipes (VIC20) Rat Hotel (VIC20) Apple Panic (VIC20) Choplifter (VIC20) The Dark Crystal (Apple II) The Alchemist's Laboratory (TRS80) Mars Cars (Apple II) Shark Treasure (TRS80) Computereyes: BASIC On The Software Side. Programming in BASIC - it's as simple as 10,20,30. (by Dale Rupert) VCI Special: Book of Videogame Lists (list index of videogames, many with screenshots, sorted by genre or frivolous category; part one; includes 'Don't Get Mad, Get Even!' section requesting readers submissions for future Worst Video Game list) Slide & Shoot Streak & Shoot Pivot & Shoot Gambling Flight Stationary Shoot Drive Mythic Adventure First Person Games Paddle Controller Games Whose Titles Were Changed Prior To Release Underwater Games With Titles Of Four Letters Or Less Alliterative Titles Video Victor (comic strip) You Read It Here First "The novelists named herein were never consulted, and no blame should be attached to them." (comical game ideas and concepts publicly proposed by the Videogaming Illustrated staff) Winky by Stephen King Narcissa's Whim by Judith Krantz Love's Heaving Hickey by Barbara Cartland1 point
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I've got about 20 issues of Login and maybe 50 issues of Comptiq (and a few issues of some other titles that cover PC games), but I've only very briefly flipped through most of them, so while I'm sure there's probably a list like that somewhere, I'm not really sure where to find it. I just grabbed the issue at the top of a pile. Actually, if I'd just turned to the next page I would have seen the reader's poll top 20 for the month. I'm not familiar with a large percentage of Japanese computer games, but these are ones I recognized. 1. Princess Maker 2 2. Romance of the Three Kingdoms III 5. Puyo Puyo 7. Nobunaga's Ambition (one of the sequels, don't feel like figuring out which) 9. Winning Post (what is it with Japanese and horse racing games?) 11. Derby Stallion (what did I just get finished saying?) As near as I can tell, there isn't a single Western title on the reader's top 20. Looking at the new software release schedule, one of the reasons for Japan's odd computer gaming scene is the fragmentation of the market. A big list of PC-98 games, followed by a smaller list of FM Towns games, followed by a tiny list of DOS and Mac titles.1 point
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Sure, but after a certain point, PC games stop being something you can take seriously here. Nowadays it's nothing but visual novels. I just opened up to the top 20 sales chart in a Comptiq from March 1994. The #1 game is Take the A-Train 4. The #2 game is Rance IV (a porn RPG). What makes the PC gaming scene in Japan interesting is that unlike the console markets, Western titles would often find themselves on the bestseller lists as well. Granted, this was mainly due to most Japanese PC games being so lame by comparison, but still. In this particular issue, Ultima Underworld is #6, Dungeon Master II is #11, Alone In the Dark is #12, and Sim City 2000 is #18.1 point
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For the love of god, take care of your mags, people. A scanner will thank you someday. 4 freaking hours this took me...
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Well, this is a fine situation. It turns out that the tutorial I posted can't be viewed by anyone because the tutorial section is currently only accessible to staff. This, along with an otherwise fully-scanned and edited issue of Famitsu for which I'm waiting to receive a missing 20-page section so I can release it as a complete mag, means that a lot of stuff I've been working on lately can't be shared just yet. I won't even mention the two-page ads I've been stitching together but haven't been able to post all year ever since our site had a technical hiccup in early January won't allow such images to be uploaded. (oops, I guess I mentioned it. again.) So yeah. A little frustrating, but just imagine: one day, the site will get fixed, the pages will come in, and everyone will be awash in an abundance of riches. OK, well awash in a few things, anyway. Luckily I still have plenty to do in the meantime. I'm sort of amazed how, judging from the information I've researched, I've only got maybe 15% of the Japanese mags added to the database, and yet there are nearly as many Japanese mags as USA mags in the database currently. By the end of the year, Japanese mags in the DB will outnumber the USA mags. It's a shame there aren't more people in Japan contributing scans. But then, it's a shame there aren't more people everywhere contributing more scans. If only there was one one-hundredth the amount of people interested in magazine preservation as there are people interested in slinging mags on eBay. Hell, if just 1% of Retromags members scanned ONE magazine per year, we'd be able to have a new mag out every 3 days.1 point
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It'll be a while yet till I get the whole mag finished, but I thought this was interesting enough to post here. This is the reader's choice for the Top 10 Famicom games of 1987: Dragon Quest II (yeah, big surprise there. The only time a Dragon Quest game isn't at the top of the charts in Japan is if there wasn't a DQ game released that year) Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium (released in the USA as RBI Baseball) Hokkaidō Rensa Satsujin: Okhotsk ni Kiyu (a Japanese-style 1st-person menu-driven graphic adventure designed by the same guy who did Dragon Quest) Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium '87 (proving that Madden wasn't the first to offer annual updates, this is the exact same game as #2, but with more teams and updated rosters) Moero!! Pro Yakyuu (released in the USA as Bases Loaded) Link no Bouken (released in the USA as Zelda II: The Adventure of Link) Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei (the first in what would become a sprawling franchise of different series like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, this one is a hard-as-nails first-person dungeon-crawl RPG) Shin Onigashima (a menu-driven graphic adventure for the Famicom Disk System) Momotarou Densetsu (a Dragon Quest clone from Hudson, the first in a series) Sanma no Meitantei (a 1st-person menu-driven graphic adventure starring Japanese TV personality Sanma Akashiya) So there you have it. The people of Japan have spoken. The best games of 1987: 3 baseball games (two of which are essentially the same game) 3 menu-driven adventure games (very few of this type were made in the West. Think Shadowgate or Deja Vu) 3 RPGs (one of which is a DQ game and one of which looks and plays exactly like a DQ game) Zelda II (fight amongst yourselves as to what genre it belongs to)
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