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Count_Zero

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  1. Count_Zero
    This week, I’m returning to my E3 2012 coverage and finishing it up with my Top 5 Sold! List.
    Persona 4 Arena footage: http://YouTube.com/AtlusUSA
    Sleeping Dogs footage: http://YouTube.com/SleepingDogsGame
    Rock Band Blitz footage: http://YouTube.com/HarmonixMusic
    Watch Dogs footage: http://YouTube.com/Ubisoft.
    Castlevania: Mirror of Fate: http://YouTube.com/Nintendo
    Filed under: Video games, videos Tagged: Atlus, Castlevania, E3 2012, Harmonix, Konami, Persona 4, Rock Band, Rock Band Blitz, Sleeping Dogs, Square-Enix, Ubisoft, Watch Dogs
    Source
  2. Count_Zero
    I’m taking a break from Analog Computing this week to instead take a look at the first issue of Computer Gaming World, for November-December of 1981.
    We start off with an ad from SSI, hyping their port of their Civil War Strategy game ?Battle of Shiloh? and the World War II game ?Battle of the Bulge: Tigers in the Snow.? It’s kind of interesting. Nowadays we’re used to strategy games which will take either larger battles or even campaigns and allow the player to control them from the strategic level all the way down to the tactical level, like with the Total War games. Whereas here, on the other hand, you’re either on the strategic level, or the tactical level. If you’re on the tactical level you’re controlling a fairly generic fight or only one battle, and if you’re on the strategic level you’re either controlling a massive battle (like the Battle of the Bulge), or you’re controlling an entire theater of operations.
    Editorial
    Russell Sipe, our EIC talks about the dearth of dedicated computer gaming magazines ? until now! We get an open call for letters and articles, with a particular focus on the TRS-80.
    News
    SSI's ad for their upcoming TRS-80 titles
    SSI has a new release of Computer Quarterback, their computer football game. As an interesting bit, existing customers can upgrade by mailing their old disk in and shelling out $15. That’s almost like sending your old copy of Madden in to EA, and for, oh, $15-20 getting the latest game in the series. Not bad. Considering the current fight against used games, maybe EA should consider adopting this system.
    Level-10 is also working on the game Arkenstone, and is attaching a $5,000 contest to the game. That’s another thing that’s gone away, though to be fair, in the advent of the internet that’s something that’s easier to cheat on.
    Speaking of upcoming games, Synergistic Software has Escape from Arcturus, and SSI has licensed Roger Keating’s tabletop wargame of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war ?Southern Command? for a video game adaptation. There’s another real cultural shift right there: this is almost like doing a tabletop wargame of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then doing a licensed video game out of it, but not getting clobbered due to the controversy. Similarly, when’s the last time you heard of someone licensing a tabletop wargame for a computer game that wasn’t related to Warhammer?
    Avalon Hill has already gotten into the Computer gaming market, with their various board games getting computer ports, with 3 more on the way. Finally, SSI has settled with Task Force games over similarities between SSI’s computer strategy game Warp Factor, and Task Force’s tabletop strategy game Star Fleet Battles.
    The Future of Computer Wargaming by Chris Crawford
    By the way, this is the Chris Crawford who would later go on to start GDC.
    Might as well get ambitious for your first issue. Basically, computer wargames are struggling to get out from under the shadow of conventional wargames. They definitely don’t have that problem now. Memoir ’44 lives in the shadow of Company of Heroes and RUSE, not the other way ’round.
    Castle Wolfenstein ad
    Other portions of the article, are with some hindsight, obvious. You’ll be able to play solitaire games. You’ll be able to play in real time. Calculations of damage and to-hit tables won’t bog the game down. All of these predictions came to pass, but they’re also extremely safe bets if you know anything about computers. The only really one which I consider to be taking a gamble, but still being prescient is, essentially, predicting internet play. For 1981, where there are little to no real ISPs, that’s going out on a limb.
    From here, we go into the technical aspects, which is more of interest from a historical curiosity standpoint. Basically, we need better computers and programmers who can take advantage of these increased capabilities. He also brings up the limitations of BASIC as a programming language for game design. Fortunately, as the years have gone on, Basic has become able to handle more complex concepts, and new programming languages have come around. C had been invented 8 years prior to this article’s publication for use in mainframe environments, and C would also be ported later to various home computers, though I don’t have information on where and when it would show up. ANSI C, which I presume is the precursor of desktop C (because ANSI C was the first standardized version of the language) was created in 1983, so I’ll assume that there aren’t any versions of C for home computers at this time.
    In the midst of this article, we get a fairly notable advertisement ? one for the original Castle Wolfenstein: the first stealth action computer game and the inspiration for the first First Person Shooter.
    Torpedo Fire: Review and Analysis by Bob Proctor
    First page of the Torpedo Fire article
    Continuing for this issue’s unofficial theme of strategy games, we have a review of SSI’s new submarine wargame. The game has one player running Anti-Submarine operations for a convoy during World War II, and the other player or the computer running the enemy submarine. The game comes with one scenario built in, and a scenario and ship editor.
    The game is skirmish based, with no campaign mode, but as was mentioned earlier, this is fairly common for games of the time. It’s fairly straightforward, from a high concept standpoint. The convoy player tries to get his ships across the map or sink the sub, the sub player or computer tries to sink the convoy. The sub and ships have unlimited fuel and torpedoes (or depth charges, respectively). However, it doesn’t appear very accessible, as it’s difficult to figure out the bearings for enemy ships. The Silent Hunter series is definitely much less complicated by comparison. Unfortunately, due to the technology of the time there aren’t any screen shots to tell me what the game looks like.
    As an aside, we get a sidebar article here explaining what a simulation is. What are we, five?
    Anyway, the game’s scenario editor is absolute crap. It doesn’t check for conflicts and errors until you try to run the scenario, which can lead to the game crashing suddenly. Further, the scenario editor operates off of its own half-assed filing system, which doesn’t work with copying over files or, for that matter, deleting files, and limits how much you can edit scenarios. So, in general, just going from the review, this is one of those retro titles that simply doesn’t hold up at all, and if you’re looking for sub games, you’d be better off breaking out Silent Hunter again.
    The first page of the RobotWar article
    Robotwar: A Wargame for All Programmers by William Edmunds
    Here’s a title that sounds a little more interesting. This is a little wargame where you play the game by coding an AI routine for a robot using a very basic programming language (but not BASIC). If you learned some really basic programming in grade school on LOGO, then think of this game as like LOGO, except instead of drawing lines with the turtle, you blow shit up.
    The game is also somewhat notable in that the robots have vision cones through radar, and have some limited behavioral triggers based on stimulus (seeing an enemy robots or a wall, getting shot). However, the robots don’t have a trigger for what direction the hits came from, so they can’t predict where enemies are based on location.
    This is a game concept I’d really like to see modernized and resurrected on PCs or on consoles. You decide the AI routines for your robot, where they look, their movement patterns, and how they react to being shot. You could possibly set it up where you can have more complex movement patterns. Ideally you could design a robot that could circle strafe and track a target, and robots that would try to track an enemy by his movements. Someone should get on that.
    Anyway, CGW’s editorial staff is starting off the reader participation by having a robot design contest. They’re inviting their readers to write in with their robot code, and they’ll have the reader’s robots square off. The winner will be announced in issue three, and the winner will get a nice prize with a trophy. We don’t have a picture of the trophy, unfortunately. It’s won by a Richard A. Fowell, and I’m spoiling it because, Mr. Fowell, if you’re reading this, I’d appreciate it if you’d send me a link to a picture of the trophy, with yourself if possible.
    B-1 Nuclear Bomber: A Strategic Map by Chris Cummings
    CGW's Map for B-1 Bomber
    Avalon Hill has put out a simulator game which puts you in charge of flying a nuclear bomber to your target without getting shot down. However, while the game is based off a map of Russia, it doesn’t actually come with a map. CGW would like to rectify this problem for you. Enjoy.
    Air Force Mission Planning by Computer by Russell Sipe
    Our EIC has gotten in touch with the Air Force and is showing off their new computer based mission planning system for you, in the hopes that it gets adapted for home computers.
    Crush, Crumble & Chomp! By Stanley Greenlaw
    If you thought being a fan of Tokusatsu is new, you thought wrong. There’s enough of a fan-base for the films among geeks to support a board-game of kaiju urban destruction. The game comes with expies for various classic kaiju monsters (like Godzilla), as well as a system that lets you create your own. The player is then cored for his or her performance on various objectives from overall destruction to body count to whatever else you want.
    The Political Apple by Russell Sipe
    Here’s another SSI strategy game review, this time for their game ?President Elect?, which puts you in charge of electing the next president of the United States. The game comes with two scenarios (the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon election, and the 1980 Reagan/Mondale election), as well as options to create your own elections based on either existing candidates (including George H. W. Bush), or to create your own candidates (so you could see if George W. Bush could beat his father).
    As another little aside, one of the complaints in the review is that the game’s copy protection doesn’t let you dig into the code to see how the game ticks. It’s an interesting little contrast to modern games, where we’re just happy of the DRM doesn’t break the game or, even better, our computers.
    The Greatest Baseball Team of All Time
    You know that a title is controversial when they don’t dare put a byline on it. Anyway, a book called ?Computer Sports Matchups? did a tournament of what they felt the best 8 world series winners of all time were in a computer game, and in their simulation the 1925 (?) Yankees won. The CGW team has decided to run the same tournament again, using SSI’s ?Computer Baseball?, and Avalon Hill’s ?Major League Baseball?, and they’re encouraging us to run the series as well. Half of the teams are getting their stats run this issue, the other half next issue, and then CGW will re-run their results in issue #3. Issue 3 is starting to look really interesting.
    The very cluttered ad for Odyssey
    Synergistic Software has a fairly cluttered ad for what appears to be an adventure game, appropriately titled ?Odyssey: The Compleat Adventure,? complete with the Olde English spelling.
    Micro-Reviews
    In case you didn’t notice, this is a collection of shorter reviews. First up is ?Dragon’s Eye?, an RPG. While they don’t talk much about the game’s storyline, they do talk about the maneuver based combat system, which would certainly distinguish it from the other ?Kill The Wizard In The Hole/Tower? dungeon crawlers.
    Next up is ?Eastern Front,? a game designed by Chris Crawford, the guy who wrote the ?Future of Computer Wargames?, which gives this review no conflict of interest at all. They love the game, and it’s strategic look at German Operation Barbarossa.
    This actually leads to a little complaint I have about World War II strategy games, both tabletop and for the computer. There’s a certain fetishization of the Germans. Yes, I realized that the SS had the snappiest uniforms on the battlefield, it’s one thing to call a tank a tank, and another thing to call it a Panzer, but there comes a point where it all goes too far. In some games they do it by making the Germans Gods of the Battlefield. Here, the problem is that you can only play as the Germans in the one campaign that lead to Germany’s worst war crimes, against Eastern European civilians (Gentile and Jew alike), as well as Russian P.O.Ws. Would it have been that hard to let the player choose between the Germans and the Russians? Inquiring minds want to know!
    That said, there is one gameplay innovation that catches my interest in this game. The game thinks out the computer’s moves while the player is doing his moves. Thus, theoretically, this should speed up gameplay by not having the player wait on the computer, and by encouraging the player to think on his toes, so as to give the computer less time to think.
    ?Mind Thrust? is a sort of abstract board-game strategy game. While we get an idea about how the game is played, it doesn’t go too much about about precisely how the game mechanics work, which is unfortunate.
    ?Mission Escape? is a semi-strategic action game, which tasks the player with escaping from an enemy space station without getting shot or captured. It’s semi-turn based, in that turns happen every few moves or every 10 seconds, whichever comes first.
    The very badly phrased ad for some of Avalon Hill's games.
    ?Odyssey? gets a review next. It looks something like a combination RPG/adventure game with item use puzzles.
    ?Reversal? is Othello Clone #567.
    ?Time Traveler? is a text adventure game which takes you to various time periods in a quest to retrieve various magic rings. Each grants different abilities, but you can only carry one at a time (to keep the game from getting to easy). Unfortunately, the game has some problems with its documentation.
    Finally, we wrap the issue up with an ad for Tachyon, a company that makes unlicensed D&D games, and then an ad for Avalon Hill’s computer games. There’s some unintentional hilarity with AH describing themselves as an adult game publisher. I know what they really mean, but the phrasing is bad.
    Filed under: Video games, Where I Read Tagged: Computer Gaming World, Star Fleet Battles, video game, Where I Read
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  3. Count_Zero
    <p>The boss fight with Madame continues… and continues…</p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='585' height='360' src='href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/cyberpunk/'>Cyberpunk</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/remember-me/'>Remember Me</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/science-fiction/'>science fiction</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/transhumanism/'>Transhumanism</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-games/'>Video games</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2700/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2700/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2700&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
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  6. Count_Zero
    <div class="embed-blip"><iframe src="href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/game-boy/'>Game Boy</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/irem/'>Irem</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/konami/'>Konami</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/lucasarts/'>Lucasarts</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nes/'>NES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power/'>Nintendo Power</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-game-magazines/'>video game magazines</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-games/'>Video games</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2715/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2715/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2715&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    <a href="http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/nintendo-power-retrospectives-part-26/" class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>
  7. Count_Zero
    A while back I reviewed the Silmarillion – this time I’m reviewing and discussing Tolkein’s first novel: The Hobbit.

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    Filed under: Books Tagged: Books, middle-earth, video

  8. Count_Zero
    <p>This week in the <a class="zem_slink" title="Nintendo Power" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Power" target="_blank" rel="wikipedia">Nintendo Power</a> Retrospectives, I start with the “Best of the Rest” of Nintendo Power’s first year, reviewing the first 11 titles (out of 33) that made the Top 30 but weren’t featured in Nintendo Power proper.<span id="more-2584"></span></p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='620' height='379' src='http://www.youtube.com/embed/AKNw0Jzr5_o?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'></iframe></span>
    <p>Titles reviewed this episode:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PY9QGA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000PY9QGA&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Ring King</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000PY9QGA" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVUB/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVUB&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Section Z</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVUB" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E99JN6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000E99JN6&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Mario Bros.</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000E99JN6" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QY55DW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QY55DW&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Side Pocket</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000QY55DW" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1ZIQC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000I1ZIQC&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Ghosts ‘N Goblins</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000I1ZIQC" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EAC88S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000EAC88S&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Spy Hunter</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000EAC88S" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVU9/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVU9&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Rush ‘n Attack</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVU9" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006TNCV4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006TNCV4&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Pinball</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0006TNCV4" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVX7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVX7&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Zanac</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVX7" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVXV/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVXV&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Kung Fu</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVXV" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MAXOEW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000MAXOEW&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Baseball</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000MAXOEW" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></p>
    <p> </p>
    <br />Filed under: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ghostsn-goblins/'>Ghosts'n Goblins</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/mario-bros/'>Mario Bros</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nes/'>NES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power/'>Nintendo Power</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power-retrospective/'>Nintendo Power Retrospective</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/retro-gaming/'>Retro Gaming</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-games/'>Video games</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2584/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2584/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2584&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
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  9. Count_Zero
    We’re moving on with the Nintendo Power Recaps with issue #48 for May of 1993. Our cover story for this issue is the beat-em-up adaptation of the Batman Returns film. Our letter themed topic for this issue is suggestions for contests. The prizes that are printed seem pretty reasonable. We have one writer who suggests a Wrestlemania themed contest, with the winner getting a trip to Wrestlemania IX, second prize being a Super Wrestlemania Game Pak and a years subscription to WWF magazine, and the runners up getting Nintendo Power jackets. Another reasonable one is a trip to a snowboarding championship (have the X-Games started yet?), with the winner getting a meet-and-greet with the contestants, as well as snowboarding lessons from the winner.
    The Lost Vikings Guide
    We have the first appearance of Blizzard Entertainment in Nintendo Power. Okay, that’s not technically true ? at this time Blizzard was known as Silicon and Synapse. For those unfamiliar with the game, you control three vikings, Eric the Swift, Baelog the Fierce, and Olaf the Stout. They were abducted by aliens and now need to escape. Eric can run fast and bash through walls with his head. Baelog is the main combatant, and Olaf is very hard to move, but he can also glide using his shield.
    We get a run down of various character combinations and tricks that can be done. For example. Olaf can be used to ward off enemies, while Baelog kills them with arrows. Baelog can also use his bow to trigger buttons from afar. Eric can reach higher areas by standing on Olaf’s shield. Characters can also leap down onto Olaf’s shield to cushion their fall. In certain levels, Baelog can also set his arrows on fire.
    We get a map of Stage 3 from Stages 1 through 4, which make up the stages on the space ship. Stages 5 through 11 are set in the prehistoric period, with the Vikings fending off various dinosaurs and other enemies, and from this section there’s a map of stage 9. Stages 12 through 17 are set in ancient Egypt, and from here we get a map of stage 12, and introduces guards who can leap over Olaf, which means the position of Baelog behind Olaf is important, and he’ll have to do more sword-work than archery. Stages 18 through 25 are set in a modern factory, and has more automated environmental hazards. From this section we get a map of level 18. Stages 26 through 33 are set in ?Wonderland,? a world which follows something closer to cartoon physics. Our map is of stage 26. Finally Stages 34 through 36 are back on the alien space ship, and conclude with the vikings taking on the alien’s leader, Tomator. Our map is of stage 34.
    The Sports Scene
    This is a feature article giving brief previews over various sports games, without doing a full in-depth review.
    We get a run down of some more upcoming sports titles, including Tecmo Super NBA Basketball. The game has 27 teams and a battery backup for saves, which is nice, though password support has it’s advantages ? namely it makes it easier to play any match-up whenever you want, if you know the password. Acclaim has an American Gladiators game which apparently isn’t very good. We also have Magic Johnson’s Super Slam Dunk from Virgin Games ? which apparently has two gameplay modes ? exhibition and playoff, but you can’t choose your teams in playoff, which doesn’t make any sense to me.
    There’s also a profile of Test Drive II: The Duel, a racing game where you have a choice of three different licenced supercars ? the Porsche 959, Lamborghini Diablo, and the Ferrari F-40. I played Test Drive V and thought it was okay except for the rubber band AI but I never played a SNES racing game. This sounds kind of fun and I might give it a try.
    Hudson Soft has Super Battle Grand Prix, a Formula 1 racing game. Midway has Super High Impact, an arcade style football game, which I’d describe as an 16-bit NFL Blitz, but without the NFL license. There’s also American Sammy’s arcade style football game The Pound and the Fury, which is quite possibly the dumbest pun I’ve ever seen in the title of a football game, and it doesn’t even make sense in the context of a football game. Seriously, whoever came up with that pun needs to get dope-slapped, and I like puns. Finally, we get a look Konami’s NFL Football, which kind of gets semi-panned as well, but they’re not too down on otherwise.
    Shadowrun Guide
    Here we go. This and the Genesis Shadowrun game are probably two of the best adaptations of game by FASA out there. I absolutely loved this game, and it’s a game I beat ? I used an emulator, but I beat it. (I didn’t use an invulnerability cheat, but I did use an unlimited ammo and money cheat). The article does erroneously refer to Shadowrun as being a ?board game?, but it otherwise provide appropriate credit. Plus, to be fair, at the time the other game FASA was famous for, Battletech, was a miniatures game.
    My main complaint with the game is that some fights and puzzles are pretty pixel-bitchy. However, from a narrative standpoint, it’s better then the Genesis version, which trots out a Deus Ex Machina solution for the end of the game, where your hoop gets saved by an NPC you worked with earlier in the game ? essentially the GM’s pet NPC. Anyway, the guide takes us through to the Drake Building, but not much further than that. To be fair though, that’s pretty far in the game.
    Batman Returns Guide
    We continue on to this guide for the new Batman brawler, though I’m not totally sure why we need a guide for a brawler. We get a run down of the different types of enemies (Thin Clown, Fat Clown, Biker, Bazooka Clown, Fire Clown, Tall Clown, Swords Swallower, and Knife Thrower), and power ups (health power-ups, explosive grenades, and extra points). We get maps of every stage in the game and their respective bosses.
    We get a really big poster for Bubsy, before we get to another Nester’s Adventures, this time for Mechwarrior, where Nester learns the importance of watching his heat levels.
    1992 Nester Awards Nominees
    Well, in the last issue of EGM I recapped we had that year’s game of the year’s award ballot. Well, this issue of Nintendo Power has the nominees for the year’s Nester Awards. This time, since there isn’t a lot of analysis to do at the moment, I’m going to just post the relevant pages then give my picks.

    Graphics and Sound SNES: A Link to the Past Game Boy: Super Mario Land II NES: Mega Man IV [*]Theme and Fun
    SNES: Street Fighter II Game Boy: Super Mario Land II NES: Mega Man IV [*]Challenge
    SNES: Super Star Wars Game Boy: Mega Man II NES: Prince of Persia [*]Play Control
    SNES: Street Fighter II Game Boy: Super Mario Land II NES: Mega Man IV [*]Best Hero: Mega Man[*]Best Villain: Dr. Wily[*]Most Innovative: Out of this World[*]Best SNES Spots Game: New York Abstains, Courteously.[*]Best Overall Game:
    SNES: Street Fighter II Game Boy: Kirby’s Dream Land NES: Dragon Warrior IV
    We get the continuation of the Star Fox comic, but it’s still dumb, so I’m just gonna skip it.
    The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Guide
    We get a run down of the new characters in this game, as well as the new gameplay mechanics (the ability to jump, and a block option). We also get a brief description of the goal of the game ? to retrieve the 8 musical instruments required to wake the wind fish.
    Zen: Intergalactic Ninja Guide
    This is a Game Boy port of the NES game, which, for those who don’t recall, can essentially be described as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets Captain Planet. We get maps of all five levels, as well as strategies for the boss fights.
    Ring Rage Guide
    This game is sort of an odd mix of MMA and pro wrestling. It almost feels like the kind of odd mix that would come out of the Fire Pro series, but not really.
    Great Greed Guide
    This is an RPG from Namco with a name that Gordon Gekko would love. It also doesn’t look particularly interesting.
    Super Mario Bros The Movie Preview
    This is your first look dear reader, at the Mario Bros. Movie. The article also sends one message, and sends that loud and clear – ?Run away, run away!? That said, for some bizarre reason, someone bothered to give this film a budget, like
    Kirby’s Adventure Guide
    Moving on to the NES, we’ve moved on to Kirby’s first home console game. We get maps of the first 4 stages, as well as advice for boss fights, and there are 3 more levels after that.
    Incredible Crash Dummies Guide
    This is based on the line of licensed toys which appear to be designed so you lose pieces. We get maps of the first two Worlds.
    Super Turrican Guide
    This is a NES port of the SNES game. We get a map of the first stages of Worlds 1 through 3 (but not the subsequent stages of each World).
    Top 20
    Our number one games for the SNES, Game Boy, and NES respectively, are Street Fighter II, Super Mario Land 2, and The Legend of Zelda.
    Now Playing & Pak Watch
    Of note in the also-rans is the anime-style action game Kendo Rage, which looks interesting. In Pak Watch we get a look at Final Fight II, Alien 3, which I’ve discussed previously.
    Finally, my Quality Control Pick. I know the Test Drive series gets a bunch of sequels, so I’m not going for that one. Instead, I’m going to take Kendo Rage, just because I haven’t played something really different for some time.
    Filed under: Video games, Where I Read Tagged: Nintendo, Nintendo Power, video game, video game magazines, Where I Read
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  10. Count_Zero
    <p>This week we come to the second to last issue of Nintendo Power’s first year, featuring another classic title in Ninja Gaiden, and two classically bad titles in The Adventures of Bayou Billy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, along with an underrated gem.<span id="more-2572"></span></p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='620' height='379' src='http://www.youtube.com/embed/vHLbNg93hhU?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'></iframe></span>
    <p>Opening Music: ‘<a href="http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00055/" target="_blank">Jazz Plumber Trio</a>‘ – Remixed by DJPretzel<br />Closing Music: ‘<a href="http://dwellingofduels.net/duel.php?dir=09-05-Free_Month&month=free&img=freemay09" target="_blank">Eyes Behind The Mask</a>‘ – Performed by VikingGuitar.</p>
    <p>Games Featured:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVSS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVSS&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Ninja Gaiden</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVSS" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVME/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVME&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Hudson’s Adventure Island</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVME" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVV3/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVV3&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Strider</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVV3" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006TNCWS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006TNCWS&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Cobra Triangle</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0006TNCWS" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVND/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVND&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">The Adventures of Bayou Billy</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVND" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FJEV06/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FJEV06&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000FJEV06" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></p>
    <p>Spoony’s Review of <a href="http://spoonyexperiment.com/2007/01/24/adventures-of-bayou-billy-nes-review/" target="_blank">The Adventures Of Bayou Billy</a>.<br /><a class="zem_slink" title="The Angry Video Game Nerd" href="http://www.cinemassacre.com/" target="_blank" rel="homepage">AVGN</a>‘s Review of <a href="http://cinemassacre.com/2006/06/29/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/" target="_blank">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a>.<br /><a class="zem_slink" title="Retro Game Master" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Game_Master" target="_blank" rel="wikipedia">GameCenter CX</a> – <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zpm3bqgVj4" target="_blank">Ninja Gaiden</a>.<br />GameCenter CX – <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAJ_g5r1izU" target="_blank">Hudson’s Adventure Island</a>.</p>
    <h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size:1em;">Related articles</h6>
    <ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
    <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.awesome-robo.com/2013/01/where-nintendo-power-once-stood-phoenix.html" target="_blank">Where Nintendo Power Once Stood, A Phoenix Arises</a> (awesome-robo.com)</li>
    <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://kotaku.com/5975636/nintendo-power-is-gone-but-nintendo-magazines-live-on" target="_blank">Nintendo Power Is Gone, But Nintendo Magazines Live On</a> (kotaku.com)</li>
    </ul>
    <p> </p>
    <br />Filed under: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/capcom/'>Capcom</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ces/'>CES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/cobra-triangle/'>Cobra Triangle</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/games/'>Games</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/hudson/'>Hudson</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/hudsons-adventure-island/'>Hudson's Adventure Island</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/konami/'>Konami</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nes/'>NES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ninja-gaiden/'>Ninja Gaiden</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo/'>Nintendo</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power/'>Nintendo Power</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/power-glove/'>Power Glove</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/rare/'>Rare</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/retro-gaming/'>Retro Gaming</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/strider/'>Strider</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/tecmo/'>Tecmo</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/'>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/the-adventures-of-bayou-billy/'>The Adventures of Bayou Billy</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-game/'>video game</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2572/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2572/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2572&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
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  11. Count_Zero
    So, when I was recapping the last issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, I didn’t cover the issue’s editorial. That’s because it didn’t have one that I could find. However, we’re now on issue #83 for June of 1996 and we have an editorial column this issue. First, I do need to mention that this issue’s cover features Sonic The Hedgehog and the new wave of 3D platforming games. Anyway, the editorial column for this issue, unfortunately, steps into the territory of describing the stuff that’s in the table of contents, which is a little disappointing considering that EGM has had some of the best editorials in the history of video game magazines. Also, while I’m not a typography geek, I really don’t like the typeface they use to for the table of contents. If someone knows the name of that type face it would be nice to know so I don’t use it in the future.
    Press Start
    Sega has unveiled the Saturn 2.0 – which can best be described as a slightly cheaper version of the Saturn. We get some discussion of the changes for the system, both from the innards (including a smaller physical motherboard, and moves the I/O board onto the motherboard instead of having it on a separate board like the original, replacing some metal parts with plastic parts), as well as making the unit physically smaller. However, they dumped the CD-ROM access LED, which is in my opinion a bad move, the access LED is helpful for telling when your system locked up because of a buggy game. Also, the system is going for $199. This is opposed to the N64 which is going for $250. Let’s make this clear: the Sega Saturn, which we know through 20/20 hindsight failed, is running for less than the N64 and has a bigger software library. This says rather impressive things about the loyalty of Nintendo’s fan base. We also get a comparison of the US and Japanese Sega Saturn Controllers. In short, the Japanese Saturn controller kicks the US controller’s butt. We even have reviews – which (by the way) is the first time Dan “Shoe” Hsu gets his name on an article in EGM. By means of explanation, at this point in EGM’s history, articles didn’t have bylines, so there’s no way to tell who wrote what, outside of the Review Crew segment and stuff like this.
    Nintendo’s also working on a 32-bit color portable code-named “Project Atlantis”, a project which (according to an article by Jeremy Parish for 1up’s Retronauts blog) laid the groundwork for the later Game Boy Advance. Also, the Saturn port of King of Fighters ‘94 is set to use both the system’s CD-ROM drive and a cartridge for optimal performance… which is also why the Saturn didn’t do as well as the N64 or the PlayStation – the PlayStation had enough memory built in that it didn’t need a cartridge slot, and the N64 had minimal loading times for all it’s fighting games.
    Review Crew
    As before the crew is Andrew Baran, Mark Lefebvre, Mike Desmond and The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Sushi X.

    Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Midway, Saturn): The agreement is that it’s a good port of the arcade version but with the same problem that all the other ports of the game have – loading times–especially when it comes to Shang Tsung’s transformation ability. Andrew and Sushi give the game 9s, Mike gives the game a 8.5, and Mark gives it an 8. Overall: 34.5/40 and it receives the Editor’s Choice Gold Award and Game Of The Month. X-Perts (Sega of America, Genesis): It’s a side-scrolling action game, and a bland one. By bland I mean in the sense that I suspect the Developer said “Oh Jesus God we haven’t finished the Saturn engine, churn out another Genesis game to buy us time while we try to finish this, and to save money use an existing IP.” My basis on this is the fact that the game is set in the Eternal Champions universe, a universe which barely merited one sequel in the same genre but is now getting a spin-off in a separate genre with a character who I can’t be arsed to remember the name of. However, that’s just the whipped “cream” and cherry on top of the fecal matter sundae. The fact that the animations are terrible, the enemies are generic (as are the missions) makes a game that is undoubtedly mediocre. Andrew and Mike give the game 5.5s, Sushi gives it a 5, and Mark gives it a 4.5 Overall: 20.5/40. Williams Arcade Classics (Williams, PlayStation): Our second series of retro arcade classics. Everything old is new again. Being that the first release of MAME came out in 1997, the year after we got the Namco and Williams arcade collections, I kind of wonder if these collections lead to the start of the retro revival that brought us MAME, and maybe some other emulation programs. Unfortunately, due to the de-facto illegality of emulation software, I doubt that we’ll get the episode of Retronauts on emulation that would get us the proof on this. Andrew and Sushi give the game 8.5s, Mike gives it a 7, and Mark gives it a 7.5. Overall: 31.5/40. Battle Arena Toshinden 2 (Playmates, PlayStation): Ah, the days when Playmates wasn’t just an action-figure manufacturer, it was a video game publisher as well. Anyway, the Toshinden games strike a balance between the flashy over-the-top Street Fighter style action, and the more grounded and semi-realistic Virtua Fighter and Tekken games. Mark, Mike and Sushi give the game 8s, while Andrew gives it an 8.5. Overall: 32.5/40 and it receives the Editor’s Choice Gold Award. PO’d (Accolade, PlayStation): This is a first person shooter that’s been heavily advertised in EGM for the past few issues, but I’ve been ignoring it because it sounds terrible. Well, it’s just average. Part of this is because, well, they call this a Doom Clone instead of just a FPS, and to be honest, I think I’ve finally figured out what makes a FPS a Doom Clone and when it’s just a FPS. It’s the story. In a Doom clone there story is, essentially, “There are monsters, kill them and get to the exit.” Nothing more. However, when the FPS genre starts maturing, we start getting story to string the missions togeather, with games like Star Wars: Dark Forces. However, from a story standpoint, this is no Dark Forces. That said, Mike liked it and gave it a 7. Andrew gives it a 6.5, Mark gives it a 5, and Sushi gives it a 6. Overall: 24.5/40. Blazing Dragons (Crystal Dynamics, PlayStation): A fantasy point & click adventure game. Andrew isn’t normally a fan of this genre, because of all the other games in this genre require “pixel bitching” as a way to solve puzzles, as well as the kind of obscure “logic” that’s required to solve some puzzles. He had fun with this game though, and the rest of the Crew thought it was one of the best P&C Adventure Games on the PlayStation. Andrew gives it a 7.5, Mark & Mike give it 8s, and Sushi gives it a 8.5. Overall: 32/40 and it receives an Editor’s Choice Gold Award. Guardian Heroes (Sega of America, Saturn): This may be the side-scrolling beat-em-up’s last hurrah. It has multiple paths you can take, multiple characters you can play as, flashy magic effects and the ability to juggle enemies. It even has a system that lets you level up. Is it any surprise that it was developed by Treasure? The biggest complaints are that that some levels seem short, and that the versus mode can be unbalanced, depending on which character you’re fighting as. Andrew & Sushi give it 8.5s, Mark gives it a 7.5 and Mike give it an 8. Overall: 32.5/40 and it receives an Editor’s Choice Gold Award. Congo (Sega of America, Saturn): This is probably one of the worst titles for the Saturn. It’s a licenced game based on the film, the environments seem to blur together, you die easily, and the frame-rate is low. The only favorable reviews from the Crew (by which I mean with scores that broke 6) fall back on the “If you liked the movie…” schtick, which I’ve already mentioned is bad writing. Andrew and Sushi give it 6s, Mark gives it a 4, and Mike gives it a 4.5. Overall: 20.5/40 Toshinden Remix (Sega of America, Saturn): This is a port of Battle Arena Toshinden I. Andrew thinks it’s an excellent port, but he’s the only one. The voices were re-dubbed for the worse, the controls were redone for the worse, and everything else in the game was left unchanged – which adds up to a worse game. Andrew gives it a 7.5, Mark gives it a 3.5, Mike gives it a 4.5, and Sushi gives it a 5.5. Overall: 21/40. Art of Fighting 3 (SNK, Neo-Geo): So, the main complaint with this particular installment in this series is that the animations are a little choppy, and that the desperation moves are over powered. What are the desperation moves you say? I’m glad you asked. It’s a really powerful move that you can pull off when you’re at 25% health, which can knock down your opponent’s health by 50%, and is unblockable. They think it’s unbalanced. I think it’s the grand equalizer, because while you can’t block it, depending on the move and animation you may be able to avoid it. When you hit a point where you’re able to use a desperation move in a game like this, it’s either going to end the game because both players are even in terms of skill, or it will even up the health bars because the winning player is curb-stomping the other. Mind you, if the winner is then reduced to 25%, then the other scenario comes in, but we’ll leave that aside. Ultimately though, the Crew isn’t impressed. Andrew gives the game a 5.5, Mark & Sushi give the game 5s, and Mike gives it a 4.5. Overall: 20/40. Baku Baku Animal (Sega of America, Game Gear): This is basically a block matching except instead of blocks they’re fruit. However, it got good reviews. Andrew and Mark give it 7s, Mike gives it a 7.5, and Sushi gives it an 8. Overall: 29.5/40.
    Gaming Gossip
    Another issue, another bunch of gaming gossip. The N64DD has now gotten it’s official name.  Acclaim has dumped their 16-bit cartridge business, and ate $50 million over this. That is not small potatoes. EA is also still supporting the SNES and Genesis with versions of Madden. Also, the next Mortal Kombat game (MK4 for you playing the home game) isn’t going to use digitized actors. Crystal Dynamix got the rights to make a couple Marvel Comics games. We also get a big two-page ad for Nuke.com, which is rather impressive except that I forgot that we’re right in the middle of the .com bubble.
    Feature Articles
    We get a look at our upcoming major 3D action games, starting off with a preview of Super Mario 64. There’s also a look at Crash Bandicoot, the first 3D platformer for the PlayStation from Naughty Dog, who has left platformers behind in favor of work on the (in my opinion) far superior Uncharted series. Meanwhile Accolade is working on Bubsy 3D. Crystal Dynamics also has Pandemonium. Sega’s also got NiGHTs into Dreams and Sonic 3D (which later becomes the not-very-good Sonic 3D Blast).
    There’s also a look at the titles on display at ECTS, or the European Computer Trade Show. There is one notable title that goes get mentioned here, but if you blink you miss it – a title called Grand Theft Auto, with no developer or publisher listed. The Japanese PlayStation lineup has a few more notable titles to it, including from Capcom Resident Evil II, Mega Man X3 and Marvel Super Heroes. There’s also a 3D Ranma 1/2 game set to come out for the PlayStation, but I don’t believe it gets a US port.
    We also get a 2-page ad for the Saturn which is, to my knowledge, their first attempt to overtly use sex to sell a console system instead of using gross out humor or regular innuendo.
    Sex sells, whodathunkit?
    Next Wave
    Things are not quite dead on the 16-bit front. The SNES is getting a sequel to Lufia, subtitled “Rise of the Sinestrals” (as this is actually, secretly, a prequel to the first game). We also get more information on The X-Perts, including a valuable piece of information about the game that didn’t make it into the review–you can’t really pause the game. You can go to a sub-screen, but the action continues in real-time. There is an option to “Suspend Mission” but you’re limited in the number of times you can do it. It’s a gutsy game design decision, but I can’t totally agree with it. There’s also a look at the Saturn port of Primal Rage. The PlayStation is getting the fantasy brawler Skeleton Warriors which is no relation to the animated series. JVC has a flight-sim fighting game in Mission: Deadly Skies. By “flight-sim fighting game” I mean a combat flight-sim which consists of 1-on-1 aerial dogfights with each fighter having a life-bar. There’s also a preview of Tekken 2 and notes on it’s newly included practice mode (apparently a first for fighting games).
    Konami has Project Overkill, an isometric action game. One of the features doesn’t look that good in my opinion though–your health bar carries over between levels and doesn’t re-fill. Additionally, once your four lives have expired you have to start the game over from the beginning. There’s also plans for a Aeon Flux game, Marvel Super Heroes and Breath of Fire III from Capcom. The Game Boy is getting a port of Worms. Not unsurprisingly, Myst is getting ported to the PlayStation (it’s getting about as heavily ported as 7th Guest was.) Oh, and Duke Nukem 3D is getting a port as well. You know, I never played Duke Nukem 3D past the first level before. Id’s fantasy action game Hexen is getting ported as well. Star Control is getting a PlayStation and Saturn port as well. We also get a brief bit of coverage of a planned game based on White Wolf’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse. However, the only old World of Darkness games that get video game adaptations (that actually get published) are Vampire & Werewolf. There’s also coverage of a PlayStation Contra game and VectorMan 2.
    We also get some screens shots and descriptions of PilotWings 64, Rebel Assault 2, the Console version of Dark Forces, a home port of Virtual On for the Saturn, though I can’t imagine how well it would work on a system with no analog sticks. We also get our first screen shot of Grand Theft Auto which represents the game a little bit, considering that it shows that the game’s got a 3D camera angle. It actually reminded me a bit of Grand Theft Auto 3 actually. The PlayStation and Saturn are also getting ports of the Light Gun game Area 51. There’s also a look at Street Fighter Alpha 2.
    Damn kids, git offa mah lawn!
    Letters
    First up is a letter advising people not to get rid of their older systems for the latest and greatest games – something that the growing retro gaming movement (as of 1996 and 1997) would take in mind – and those gamers who didn’t have their systems any longer would take up emulation software. We also have a letter bemoaning the lack of reviews of 16-bit games – well, considering the slowing release of 16-bit games. There’s also a complaint about all these games with those damn cutesy characters aimed at those damn kids who won’t get offa mah lawn! I think that’s a first. The editor’s justly rip the writer a new one. I’ll just post the page so you can read the response for yourself. We also get a letter full of snark at 3DO about their failing console.
    Filed under: Video games, Where I Read Tagged: EGM, video game magazines, Video games, Where I Read
    Source
  12. Count_Zero
    <p>This time we get to fight a big stompy robot!</p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='585' height='360' src='href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/cyberpunk/'>Cyberpunk</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/remember-me/'>Remember Me</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/science-fiction/'>science fiction</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/transhumanism/'>Transhumanism</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-games/'>Video games</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2688/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2688/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2688&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    <a href="http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/2013/12/24/lets-play-remember-me-part-14-big-stompy-robot/" class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>
  13. Count_Zero
    We have another recap of an issue in Nintendo Power, just in time for a significant, coinciding event in the modern video game industry.
    The issue is Nintendo Power #51, for August of 1993. Our cover game for this issue is Street Fighter II Turbo, which introduces the ability to have same character matches in the game, as well as the ability to play as the bosses, coinciding nicely with the release of Capcom?s latest fighting game to include Street Fighter characters ? Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
    In the letters column for this issue we have a letter from a 47 year-old chuck driver, looking for assistance with Blaster Master, and who has also been having problems with Final Fantasy Legend for the Game Boy. According to the writer, he got so frustrated with the game, that he nearly ran over his Game Boy with his big-rig until another driver stopped him (I presume this was at a truck stop). The writer discovered that the other driver had been stuck in the same spot in the game he was, and he got some instructions about how to get past that part of the game. I have to admit that I never thought of big-rig drivers as hardcore portable gamers before, but now that I?ve been exposed to the concept, I?m not too surprised. I wonder if the portable game systems are still popular with long-haul truckers today, and if so, I wonder what systems are popular?
    Street Fighter II Turbo Guide
    This guide doesn?t give us precise tier info, but what it does give us is info on who is good against who, as well as rankings in speed, jump height, attack and defense, which is pretty much enough to let you work out tiers on your own.
    Zombies Ate My Neighbors Guide
    Konami?s rather large action puzzle game is getting a guide. Yes, I?m calling it a puzzle game, as you?re basically navigating a maze, and have to manage your inventory and the optimal path to rescue as many neighbors and get as many power-ups as possible.  It?s like Pac-Man meets B monster movies and smash TV.
    Anyway, the game itself is fairly impressive with large, open levels (for the SNES) and a lot of them. The guide gives maps and advice for a smattering of them. I?m surprised that this wasn?t one of the first video games to get a published strategy guide, as level maps for this game would be immensely useful.
    Alien^3 Guide
    This is probably one of the few titles from Acclaim that I wouldn?t consider bad. The game is something of a Metroid-light. You have a series of hub areas in the game that you can perform several missions through. After clearing the missions in one area, you move on to the next and perform all the necessary missions there, and so on. We get information the first two hubs.
    Nester?s Adventures
    This issue Nester is playing ?Link?s Awakening?. Our tip is that fighting in a doorway keeps you from getting surrounded. That?s on par with ?Shoot Enemies to Kill Them? in Doom as far as obvious pro-tips are concerned.
    Goof Troop Guide
    This is a Capcom game based on the Disney animated TV series with Goofy and his son, which I admit I remember rather fondly. From a gameplay standpoint, this game looks like a mix of StarTropics (top-down exploration gameplay in maze levels), combined with a bit of Sukeban (you can pick up and shove objects, but you can?t really pull them). We get maps for all the levels in the game.
    Nigel Mansell?s World Championship Guide
    This is a Formula 1 Racing game for the SNES, NES, and Game Boy. We get maps of all the courses of the game, including recommended speeds for the various turns. Most of the tracks are based on real courses, and I can?t help but notice that the German track is based on a configuration for the Nurburgring.
    We also get some comparison information on the NES and Game Boy versions of the game.
    Classified Information
    We get cheats for Super Double Dragon, and Super Valis IV, along with what the Konami Code does on Turtles in Time and Batman Returns from Konami (gives 10 lives in TMNT and 9 on Batman, except you have to enter the code on the second controller and hit start on the first controller).
    You get some additional cheats for the Combattribes, Deadheat Scramble, Mega Man III (the Game Boy version), and Flying Warriors for the NES.
    Starfox Comic
    Our heroes are attacked by space stingrays, and then encounter a space ship shaped like a humpback whale, with Fox?s father aboard. You know, I don?t remember anything like this in the first Starfox game.
    Name of the Game
    Just a little feature article to help you get the names of games in various franchises straight.
    Speedy Gonzalez Guide
    This is a Game Boy game based on Warner Bros. other really fast characters. We get maps of every level in the game up to the last level. Of the levels we see, they?re fairly straightforward and very short, as is the game itself, with six levels before the final stage. While I understand that you need to have the game just long enough so you can beat the within the system?s battery life, the length makes me suspect that the game is extending its play time through bullshit ?difficulty? instead of good game design.
    Star Trek: The Next Generation Guide
    This looks to be an odd little semi-sim. I can?t really tell how the game is played from the preview, but from what I can tell this is a game that would work better on the PC then on consoles.
    4-in-1 Funpack
    Basically, this is Klondike Solitaire, Dominos, Cribbage and Yacht(zee).
    Counselor?s Corner
    We get tips on the ninja RPG Inindo and Road Runner?s Death Valley Rally. We get info on training up party members in Ultima V,a s well as questions on getting Lord British?s Crown and raising the dead. There?s also puzzle advice for Final Fantasy Adventure, and complete level maps for acts 1 & 2 of StarFox.
    Jurassic Park Guide
    This is, essentially, a home port of the game boy game. That is not necessarily a good thing. We get maps of stages 1 through 3.
    King?s Quest V Guide
    While adventure games do well in Japan, and a few western adventure games came out in the US. However, no adventure games as unforgiving  as those by Sierra Online had come to consoles before?
    Until now.
    I?m not entirely convinced that this is a good thign. We get some notes to get you partway through the game, but not all the way through.
    Top 2o
    Starfox is in the top spot for the SNES, with Street Fighter II in the #2 spot. The Super Mario Land games have the top 2 spots on the Game Boy. Mario 3 and Zelda have the top 2 spots on the NES.
    Also, as an aside, we have an Alien^3 contest where you can win a full size Alien replica, and Ripley?s Cryo-tube! Second prize is a copy of Alien 3 for the SNES and a VHS of the movie. Rather impressive.
    Now Playing
    First up, we get a look at FInal Fight II, now (finally) with two-player, and the prostitutes still changed to transgender characters ? because homophobia and transphobia is so much more acceptable. Also of note is Activision?s Alien vs. Predator brawler, First Samurai from Kemco (an action platformer), the Bram Stoker?s Dracula licensed game, and a new Spider-Man game for the Game Boy.
    Pak Watch
    Interplay is working on their own fighting game with Clay Fighter. Ubisoft has F1: Pole Position. Tradewest has Plok, Namco has battle cars. Spectrum Holobyte is working on a new Star Trek: The  Next Generation game that will, hopefully, work better on consoles than on the Game Boy.
    Maxis also has a port of SimAnt, and Capcom has two more Mega Men games, Mega Man 6 for the NES and Mega Man 4 for the Game Boy.
    My quality control pick for this issue is going to be Goof Troop. This is different enough from your standard Disney licensed platformer to make things interesting.
    Filed under: Video games, Where I Read Tagged: NES, Nintendo Power, SNES, StarTropics, Street Fighter II, Super Double Dragon, video game magazines, Video games, Where I Read
    Source
  14. Count_Zero
    <p>This week I’m reviewing a novel by Michael Moorcock. Specifically I’m taking a look at the first novel in the Hawkmoon series – <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GNM1N0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=themillenn0b3-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005GNM1N0">The Jewel in the Skull</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B005GNM1N0" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></em>.<span id="more-2523"></span></p>
    <embed src="http://blip.tv/play/h6Vcg42DDgA?p=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
    <p>I’ll be reviewing all four books in the Hawkmoon series bi-weekly, along with the usual installments of the Nintendo Power Retrospectives. Over time I plan to review the rest of Moorcock’s works – I’ve already picked up a fair chunk of the Corum series, along with the Jerry Cornelius books, so you can look forward to those in the future.</p>
    <p>Image Credits<br />Art from <em>Jewel In The Skull</em><br />Published by First Comics<br />Script by Gerry Conway<br />Art by Rafael Kayanan<br />Used for purposes of criticism</p>
    <br />Filed under: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/books/'>Books</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/book-review/'>book review</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/eternal-champion/'>Eternal Champion</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/fantasy/'>fantasy</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/hawkmoon/'>Hawkmoon</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/michael-moorcock/'>Michael Moorcock</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/runestaff/'>Runestaff</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/the-jewel-in-the-skull/'>The Jewel in the Skull</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2523/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2523/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2523&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
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  15. Count_Zero
    <p>This time we need to get our sneak on.</p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='585' height='360' src='href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/cyberpunk/'>Cyberpunk</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/remember-me/'>Remember Me</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/science-fiction/'>science fiction</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/transhumanism/'>Transhumanism</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-games/'>Video games</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2690/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2690/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2690&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    <a href="http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/2013/12/25/lets-play-remember-me-part-15-stealth-level/" class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>
  16. Count_Zero
    When I was a kid, I picked up a used copy of Ghouls & Ghosts for the NES. I picked it up after hearing Adam Sessler, a game critic I respect immensely, gush about the game on Extended Play (which might have still been “GameSpot TV” at the time). I played it, found it frustratingly hard, and turned it in. When I came to the last issue of Nintendo Power which I did a Where I Read for (Issue #26), I decided now, with the aid of emulation, to give the 16-bit version of Ghouls & Ghosts another try. This way I’d actually stand a chance of beating a level and would be able to pass some sort of judgement about the game.
    The Premise:
    You are Arthur – King of the Britons. Queen Guinevere has been kidnapped by demons, and you must travel across the land trying to rescue her.
    The Good:
    Considering that this is a SNES launch title, while it doesn’t do a lot with Mode Seven, what it does, it does well. We get level art with 4 layers to it – foreground, the level itself, and a layer or two of scrolling background. We get several levels which involve rotation (including a level based around rotation, but not as heavily as the rotation based level in Super Castlevania IV). The controls are generally fairly solid, with a few problems.
    The Bad:
    I have one major complaint about the controls. Jumping at an angle. It’s not too clear that the way you jump at an angle is that you hold the direction you want to move in, and then jump. As it is, I tend to prefer pressing jump than the directional button. Unrealistic? Yes. However, if you’re dealing with precise jumps (as you do on occasion in this game), being able to jump that way helps me make those jumps a little easier.
    The Ugly:
    Here’s the main problem. I did not beat this game. Why? Well, Basically, you need an item called the “Goddess Armlet” to be able to beat the final boss. The game doesn’t tell you that you’re looking for it. Well, it might if you read the manual – but that doesn’t help you if you’re getting the game used, getting it through Virtual Console (thus, essentially, emulating the game) or if you just lost the manual (or, as many modern gamers do, you don’t read the manual in the first place). So, if you don’t get the armlet, what do you do? Why, you get sent all the way back to the beginning of the game, of course. You then have to play all the way through the game again, while trying to find the damn armlet.
    The Verdict:
    This is a bad game. I’m sorry, but this is a perfect example of bad game design – specifically because of the failure of the game to tell you about the damn Goddess Armlet. You don’t need to hand-hold us and tell us where the armlet is, you just need to tell us that we need to get the armlet while we’re on our way there. For all the merits the game has to it, I cannot recommend playing this game. 3 out of 10.
    Filed under: Quality Control, Video games Tagged: Nintendo Power, Quality Control, review, SNES
    Source
  17. Count_Zero
    The Fate universe has, in the works I’ve reviewed thus far, has generally formed a cohesive narrative whole – with the exception of clear comedic side-stories that are deliberately intended to be outside continuity like Carnival Phantasm. Others have adapted alternate routes of the visual novels that are part of Type-Moon’s Nasuverse (like Fate/Stay Night mostly adapting the Fate route and Unlimited Blade Works adapting that route). Fate/Prisma Illya is a true alternate take on the Fate Universe.
    If I was to draw a comparison to another work of anime or manga, I’d compare this to the Shinji Ikari Raising Project manga. Like Shinji Ikari Raising Project, it’s set in an alternate universe where the parents (or foster parents in the case of Shirou) of the protagonist of the original work are still alive. The protagonist(s) have to contend with a challenge which is similar to but not exactly identical to the challenge of the original work, with a mostly similar cast and a similar themes, but with less severe stakes, and a less dire tone, and shifted to a different genre
    There are a few differences here from that formula – Kiritsugu and Irisviel are still alive, but are generally absent, with Kiritsugu and Iris traveling on work, with instead the two Einzbern maids – Sella and Leysritt, acting en loco parentis while Kiritsugu and Iris are absent. Also, the series shifts the protagonist status to Illyasviel (Illya), which fits with the genre shift – to a Magical Girl show.
    The show follows Illya and a new character, Miyu. They are each recruited into being Magical Girls by two sentient Magical Girl Wands – Ruby and Sapphire (respectively) – both with the voices and personalities of Kohaku and Hisui of Tsukihime (respectively). Ruby and Sapphire were originally assigned to Rin Tohsaka (from Fate) and Luviagelita (Luvia) Edelfelt (who first appeared in the epilogue of UBW), who were in turn sent from the Magic Academy in London to retrieve a selection of “Class Cards” which has made an appearance in Fuyuki City. However, as we saw in the epilogue of UBW, Rin and Luvia get along like the components of a binary explosive. So, once Ruby and Sapphire have enough of Rin and Luvia’s bickering – they quit and find new masters.
    Rin and Luvia end up serving as mentors for Illya and Miyu (respectively), as they fight to acquire the class cards, which means in turn defeating dark versions of the various Heroic Spirits from Fate/Stay Night (except for Assassin – that version is True Assassin, instead of Koujiro). This gives series a structure like a more serious version of Cardcaptor Sakura, with Illya and Miyu having to take on the Servant of the Episode, with two servants already captured by the start of the series – Lancer and Archer.
    Illya and Miyu have an interesting character dichotomy. Illya is a more conventional magical girl – not only in costume design, but in terms of worldview. She’s a fan of magical girl anime, and when Ruby tricks her into being a Magical Girl, she rolls with it pretty quickly, and completely gets the genre conventions. However, this means that when things get too dangerous and very serious, she falls into a real depression, due to the rather scary situation she finds herself in.
    By comparison, Miyu falls into the archetype of the Dark Magical Girl. Like most versions of the archetype, the costume is more risque than the main magical girl. Miyu also has a more cynical outlook on life – and also a comedically serious worldview. Finally, she has a mysterious backstory that isn’t exactly explained in this season.
    The show has a few significant minuses. For starters, this show has a little too much fanservice. Because the show is a magical girl show, instead of Illya being the age she is in Fate/Stay Night (16-18 – but with her growth magically stunted as a tactical decision for the next Grail War), she’s clearly middle-school aged. Putting aside where it puts things in terms of the timeline (Shirou, Rin, and Luvia are the same age they are in Fate/Stay Night), this brings up the issue of, well, middle school characters in skimpy outfits.
    Specifically the “Install” costumes that Illya and Miyu have when they Install the various class cards are the worst offender of this. It’s like the various alternate “Equips” that Erza Scarlett has in Fairy Tail, except Erza is an adult, and these characters clearly aren’t. There’s some additional fanservice elsewhere that is unnecessary and off-putting, particularly in the episode where Illya learns Miyu is working as a maid for Luvia.
    Additionally, to shove some additional moe tropes into the show, Illya is a bro-con. Illya having something of a twisted romantic attraction to Shirou worked in the main timeline, as while they are semi-related, they have also been raised completely apart. Here, they’ve been raised together, so there’s no excuse. Genshiken said it best about these sort of tropes:

    The pacing of the show is also rather rushed. Most TV anime, minimum, have a 12-episode cour. This show has a 10-episode cour. The series had already been approved for a second season by the end of the first season – but a little research has shown that season (and the two following seasons) have all run 10 episodes as well. Missing those two episodes actually hurts the pace of the series considerably. I can’t speak for how well the material in the show covers the same amount of the material in the manga, but from where I sit as a viewer, the show just felt rushed. That said, having three seasons coming after makes this more forgivable, as we can get more character development and world building in later episodes of the series.
    If you’re interested in picking up Season 1 of Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya (god that’s a mouthful), it’s available from Amazon.com (DVD, Blu-Ray) and RightStuf.com (DVD, Blu-Ray).

    Filed under: Anime Tagged: Anime, nasuverse, Type-Moon

  20. Count_Zero
    <p>This week I’m reviewing an urban fantasy mystery novel – Ben Aaronovich’s book “Midnight Riot”, published in the UK as “Rivers of London”.</p>
    <embed src="http://blip.tv/play/h6Vcg4rvVAA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
    <p>Nash’s video about The Cartmel Masterplan can be found here: http://blip.tv/radio-dead-air/doctor-who-classic-the-cartnmel-masterplan-6368641</p>
    <p> </p>
    <br />Filed under: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/books/'>Books</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ben-aaronovich/'>Ben Aaronovich</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/books/'>Books</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/cartmel-masterplan/'>Cartmel Masterplan</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/london/'>London</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/midnight-riot/'>Midnight Riot</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/mystery-fiction/'>Mystery fiction</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nash/'>Nash</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/rivers-of-london/'>Rivers of London</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/urban-fantasy/'>Urban fantasy</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2484/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2484/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2484&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    Source
  22. Count_Zero
    <p><span style="line-height:1.5em;">After a bit of a delay, I’m posting my review of the next issue of Nintendo Power.</span></p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='560' height='315' src='href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/chip-dale-rescue-rangers/'>Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/crystalis/'>Crystalis</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/double-dragon/'>Double Dragon</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/game-boy/'>Game Boy</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nes/'>NES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power/'>Nintendo Power</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power-retrospective/'>Nintendo Power Retrospective</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-game-magazines/'>video game magazines</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2706/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2706/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2706&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    <a href="http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/nintendo-power-retrospectives-part-24/" class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>
  23. Count_Zero
    <p><span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='585' height='360' src='href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/activision/'>Activision</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/gametek/'>GameTek</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/hal-labs/'>HAL Labs</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/koei/'>Koei</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nes/'>NES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power/'>Nintendo Power</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/rare/'>Rare</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/snk/'>SNK</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2704/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2704/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2704&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    <a href="http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/nintendo-power-retrospectives-part-23/" class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>
  24. Count_Zero
    <p>This week I continue with the <a title="Nintendo Power" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Power" target="_blank" rel="wikipedia">Nintendo Power</a> Retrospectives with part 10, covering issue #4 of Nintendo Power – including looks at Zelda II: the Adventure of Link, and a while bunch of NES Football games. Oh, and Metal Gear?!<span id="more-2561"></span></p>
    <embed src="http://blip.tv/play/h6Vcg473QAA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
    <p><a class="zem_slink" title="The Angry Video Game Nerd" href="http://www.cinemassacre.com/" target="_blank" rel="homepage">The Angry Video Game Nerd</a>‘s <a href="
    ">review of Friday the 13th</a>.</p><p>The Angry Video Game Nerd’s <a href="
    " target="_blank">review of Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde</a>.<br />Opening Music: ‘<a href="http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00055/" target="_blank">Jazz Plumber Trio</a>‘ – Remixed by DJPretzel.<br />Closing Music: ‘<a href="http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02186/" target="_blank">Snake Infiltrates</a>‘ – Remixed by Beckett007.</p><p>Games Covered:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVYE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVYE&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Zelda II: The Adventure of Link</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVYE" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVX1/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVX1&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Wrestlemania</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVX1" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00079YXP2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00079YXP2&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Marble Madness</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00079YXP2" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVS9/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVS9&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Metal Gear</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVS9" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009PS61Q/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0009PS61Q&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">NFL Football</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0009PS61Q" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVVN/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVVN&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Tecmo Bowl</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVVN" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI4SIM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FI4SIM&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">John Elway’s Quarterback</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000FI4SIM" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SVUM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00004SVUM&linkCode=as2&tag=themillenn0b3-20">Skate or Die!</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=themillenn0b3-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00004SVUM" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></p>
    <h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size:1em;">Related articles</h6>
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    <br />Filed under: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/acclaim/'>Acclaim</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/john-elways-quarterback/'>John Elway's Quarterback</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/konami/'>Konami</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ljn/'>LJN</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/marble-madness/'>Marble Madness</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/metal-gear/'>Metal Gear</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nes/'>NES</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nfl-football/'>NFL Football</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo/'>Nintendo</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-entertainment-system/'>Nintendo Entertainment System</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/nintendo-power/'>Nintendo Power</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/rare/'>Rare</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/retro-gaming/'>Retro Gaming</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/skate-or-die/'>Skate or Die!</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/tecmo/'>Tecmo</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/tecmo-bowl/'>Tecmo Bowl</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ultra-games/'>Ultra Games</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-game/'>video game</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/wwf-wrestlemania/'>WWF Wrestlemania</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/zelda-ii-the-adventure-of-link/'>Zelda II: The Adventure of Link</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2561/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2561/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2561&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    Source
  25. Count_Zero
    <p>This time, in Genji: Days of the Blade I start to fight my way through the treasure room complex, which is currently on fire. While trying to retrieve a flammable McGuffin.</p>
    <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='620' height='379' src='http://www.youtube.com/embed/ajOkU4tysSk?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'></iframe></span>
    <br />Filed under: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/video-games/'>Video games</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/category/videos/'>videos</a> Tagged: <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/genji-days-of-the-blade/'>Genji: Days of the Blade</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/lets-play/'>Let's Play</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/playstation-3/'>PlayStation 3</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/ps3/'>PS3</a>, <a href='http://countzeroor.wordpress.com/tag/video-games/'>Video games</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2473/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/countzeroor.wordpress.com/2473/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=countzeroor.wordpress.com&blog=3836055&post=2473&subd=countzeroor&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />
    Source
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