Random retro thoughts

gjones wrote:

Looks like Piepacker has rebranded as Jam.gg - I had a look and it's a lot slicker now. I got it working and had a few games of Magical Drop II without any issue. Street Racer chugged, yet Metal Slug X ran like a dream even with a webcam on. It did suffer slowdown when the screen was busy, but I think Metal Slug always does that. Breakout on the PS1 is a horrible game, but it's unclear if it's because of input lag or it's just a pile of shite.

If anyone fancies a bash on some old games, let me know.

I’ve tried playing around with jam.gg a handful of times since it’s rebrand, but no matter whatever Wi-Fi I connect to the performance is usually sluggish across all the games I try. Sometimes it’s good, but more often than not there’s pretty bad input delay, and so I just get a bit scunnered with it after a few minutes. Street Racer has chugged badly every time I’ve tried it, while Metal Slug probably performs the most consistently for me. I’ve just tried Heavy Slam, Xeno Crisis and Evolution Soccer since I started typing this post, and none of them work as seamlessly as I’d like. I’d still be up for trying multiplayer at some point though, hopefully it’ll work like I want it to.

Antstream normally works better for me, so that’s the cloud gaming platform I use the most. My year-long ad-free subscription expired months ago but they give away so many free credits to play their games that it doesn’t really matter, I can just play away to my heart’s content. It’s a slow trickle of new stuff (just a couple of games are added every Tuesday) but there’s a good mix of the classics, the historical, the curious, the indies and the what-the-flying-fuck-is-this.

Treesmurf wrote:

That's it, I was literally trying to remember who it was behind the account yesterday, I watch from time to time and it's good stuff, I'm not as in to my retro as most so it's a good way for me to keep up to date.

It’s him right enough. PhoenixAsh used to do all sorts of brilliant and interesting retro blogs too. I remember he published these long and substantive retro reviews every day for a calendar year. That’s some commitment – I just cobble my stuff together when I’m quiet … (including this post right here!)

Chating to the Pod of War boys about a recent episode of Kinda Funnies XCast looking at the best Xbox 360 games, I joked that be a short episode, and I'd struggle to come up even with a Top 10 well I'm going to have a bash at this gen as a whole.


It was a bit of a struggle, I could have maybe put in more Halo and Gears, but wanted a bit of variety.


Now I do have RE4 and TP in my Top 50, that you might be wondering why Last Story above them, well I associate them both more with GameCube even if I did play them both on Wii as well in the case of TP I played on Wii first then Cube.

Then yeah I do have Sonic in the Top 10, as I famously basically skipped the Wii due to motion controls and being silly boy of it's SD, I want HD COD Hooah etc. This is one of the reasons I've now got a decent collection for Wii, and I do want to give it a second chance.


Even though I rate the PS3 highly as four of the 10 here are in my Top 50, then that could be enlarged as PS3 does have Persona 5, SotC etc on it. I didn't play as much on the console as you would think, as most of the 3rd party stuff especially in the early days I played on 360, that it was Blu Ray player and ohh hey there's a big exclusive now & again.



Right so you might now be wondering why RE4 is higher than Last Story, this where I'm trying to take into account my Top 50 and how goof the game is in general which RE4 is on PS360 as an HD version which that game will be better than most games on those systems. Whilst on Wii, I'm looking at RE4 as a Wii game and what it does for the system and Last Story sells me more on the Wii than RE4 if that all makes sense.

Also a bunch of 3rd party games now come into the mix which some like Bioshock I played on 360, Dishonoured on PS3 and COD oddly on both PS360 as I said above the Top 10's systems are what sell me on the system and what makes each great where COD4 was a great game on both the system I played it on (even played the odd game here on PC).

Anyway, I enjoyed doing these mad lists.

Maybe I played 10 games in total on PS3, and I've played some Halo and Gears after the fact on Xbone . . .

I could sure as hell do a top ten Wii games though.
10. Wario Ware Smooth Moves
Some of the motion controls may not have aged perfectly, but the vibe of this game is hilarious and the multiplayer, albeit mostly not simultaneous, is uproarious fun.
9. Donkey Kong Country Returns
A real surprise for me. I don't get on well with the DKC games on the SNES, but this was a fast-paced, weighty, well-made little treat.
8. Excite Truck
I am the world champion of the world, after all. If this had 4-player, maybe some online, and slightly more track variety it could be an all-timer. Where's that HD sequel, nintendo?
7. Wii Sports
If this were a list of most influential or something, it would obvs be in number one. Even in this very personal list, I wonder if it should be higher. I played this with everyone I knew in the period I had it hooked up.
6. No More Heroes
Still delightful and unique.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
There are games like Resi 4 and Okami which I rate very highly, and which did appear on Wii, but don't feel like Wii games. For TP, although it came out on Gamecube, it feels like a Wii game to me. This was the launch game I was salivating over, and it was a phenomenal experience.
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2
My recent Mario series playthrough more-or-less confirmed for me that I appreciate the overall package that the first one represents more, but still. Even if this is just a level pack, it's a pack of some of the best levels ever made.
3. Xenbobob Bobbibles
A JRPG that got under the skin of a guy who didn't play JRPGs. Something special.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
A beautiful game.
1. Super Mario Galaxy
Still, depending on the day you ask me, a candidate for my favourite videogame ever made.

My top ten PS360 games . . .

10. Bioshock 2
9. Halo 3
8. Deadly Premonition
7.  Batman: Arkham City
6. Metal Gear Solid 4
5. Mass Effect 2
4. Binary Domain
3. Vanquish
2. Bayonetta
1. Dark Souls

I can probably just about manage a top 10 Wii games too:

10. Xenoblade Chronicles - would have been much higher at the time, but 2's bettered it for me and now we have an HD version that removes a lot of the frustration
9. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
8. Wii Sports Resort
7. Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise
6. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Okami - obviously done better elsewhere, but this is where I played it first and it was gold even with the waggling, can understand why Buska doesn't place it here though
4. Kirby's Epic Yarn
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Muramasa: the Demon Blade - to date the only pure action game I've ever really loved (since Sakuna also has farming)
1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Dead or Alive 4 is a bold choice, Mas. That game is kinda broken, at least from a difficulty perspective. Much preferred DOA5. Also, the on-brand shithousery of including three Mass Effect games of (apparently) varying quality is interesting, if hard to tell which is the one that should be in there. I can't really comment on the rest, as I never really played Halo that gen, despite having 3 and 4 on my shelf.

I didn't have a PS3 so much of its exclusives I struggled to see what the fuss was about. Journey I thought was fine, and I really fell for Flower when it was on PS4 but it's not something I'll ever go back to. Uncharted 3 is probably my favourite Uncharted, but the first is the only one I've completed. Again, decent games but I reckon I'd have been more into them in 2008. Similar with Heavy Rain, loved it at the time, but it's not up to much these days. Also, no Valkyria Chronicles?

Buska's Top 5s are legit - Vanquish, Bayonetta, the SMGs? That's my shit. I really liked DKC Returns too, often overlooked now because of Tropical Freeze.

I seem to have very different tastes to Balla, but we can agree on one thing and that's Twilight Princess I really need to try Muramasa - over the SMGs is quite the statement. Beat the Beat is class on Wii as well!

I'll just do the 7th gen for now:

I played a lot of DOA4 online, and was a early exclusive 360 game where I've got no idea where I played DOA5

Yeah Mass Effect Trilogy is a bit if a cop out but was where the Trilogy made sense with my save going all the way to the end.

Valkyria Chronicles would be like a 11th for PS3, Folklore also in the mix.

I tend to agree abit with Buska about Twilight, as why I got a Wii hut it is better on GameCube with a controller though.

gjones wrote:

Buska's Top 5s are legit - Vanquish, Bayonetta, the SMGs? That's my shit.

gjones wrote:

Buska's Top 5s are legit. That's my shit.

gjones wrote:

Buska's Top 5s are my shit.

gjones wrote:

Buska's legit - That's my shit.

gjones wrote:

Buska's my shit.

gjones wrote:

I really liked DKC Returns too, often overlooked now because of Tropical Freeze.

I saw a decent video about why DKCR was better than DKCTF. I didn't agree with it, but it did raise interesting points and make me curious to replay the original. I might see if I can nab that 3DS version for a good price.

gjones wrote:

I really need to try Muramasa - over the SMGs is quite the statement.

My views on the Galaxies need to be read bearing in mind that I harboured no small amount of resentment to them for getting rid of the more exploratory style of 64. Now that Odyssey exists I should probably give them another go at some point.

We also agree that SMG2 > SMG1. I wish I'd got into Trauma Centre at the time, missed opportunity there.

Who else here used to go into game shops and change about the displays? You know, shifting about the boxes so that your favourites would be better displayed and your most hated games would be hidden out of sight? Or moving things around in the charts so that Hogs of War on the PSone could take it’s rightful place in the Xbox 360 top 5?

I ask because I just remembered the time when a half-eaten doughnut was put at the top of the N64 charts in my street’s Woolworths. I think it sat there for a couple of days too.

They've made a console for Jim

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Who else here used to go into game shops and change about the displays? You know, shifting about the boxes so that your favourites would be better displayed and your most hated games would be hidden out of sight? Or moving things around in the charts so that Hogs of War on the PSone could take it’s rightful place in the Xbox 360 top 5?

I definitely did this a little bit. I also, obviously, tried to hifde stuff I wanted to come back for later.

masofdas wrote:

They've made a console for Jim

For people who are even older than me, that's probably nice, and I think it's good they've made something that works with the old cartridges and all that. But oh boy - Atari 50 was an interesting documentary, but 2600 games are even less playable than the shit I played as a kid.

It's emulation, so they've got a list of carts that work, untested and don't work.

So that would rule out homebrews like Halo.

I can’t believe Atari have gone and made a console where my genuine response is ‘I’ve got an Evercade for that’.

Buskalilly wrote:

I definitely did this a little bit. I also, obviously, tried to hifde stuff I wanted to come back for later.

There’s a fine art in hiding stuff you want to come back for later, though on the other side of the coin it’s always a guilty pleasure to buy a game that you just know someone has hidden away out of sight for themselves.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

it’s always a guilty pleasure to buy a game that you just know someone has hidden away out of sight for themselves.

Ooh, I'm trying to think now if I ever managed that . . . I can imagine it feeling pretty bloody good though.

Anyone?

masofdas wrote:

Anyone?

Not likely. The price is off-putting enough, but it's the fact that truthfully I can only have very limited and short-term fun with games of this age that makes me not very interested.

~



https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/01/konami-reveals-rocket-knight-rare-felix-the-cat-collection-on-ps5-ps4

It’s very welcome to see Rocket Knight Adventures receive a much-awaited re-release. This is one of those games that folk have been asking for since the start of Xbox Live Arcade and the Virtual Console, it hasn’t been legally available since the Mega Drive. It’s a cracking game.

I know very little about Rocket Knight Adventures 2 and Sparkster – I’m maybe minced about with them on an emulator years ago but I’ve not played them at any length. I’ll be changing that, I’ll be getting this collection on the day it releases.

I know nowt about those Felix the Cat games, but if there well-priced and come along with interesting additional content then I’ll likely buy this on launch too.

Limited Run Games say they’re announcing another Konami retro compilation on 24th February. What could it be? Could it finally be time for an overdue Mystical Ninja collection? Or might they perhaps dip into Hudson Soft’s back catalogue and provide something from there?

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

masofdas wrote:

Anyone?

Not likely. The price is off-putting enough, but it's the fact that truthfully I can only have very limited and short-term fun with games of this age that makes me not very interested.

Yea, afraid not. I like old shit, and Atari 50 was an interesting documentary, but really old stuff in its original state is only enjoyable if it's your personal nostalgia.

It’s all happening on the high street. Not only have GAME announced that they’re not accepting trade-ins anymore from next month onwards, but CEX have started categorising their pre-Dreamcast retro games as with or without manual.

GAME’s trade-in prices have been honking for years, it’s not since the days when they’d beat CEX’s prices by a quid that I’ve bothered putting much into there. That was a very handy way of getting rid of since near-worthless Wii games in the past, but that was also a very long time ago. Still, you can find the occasional bargain in their pre-owned sections, especially with games that are known to be out of print and production. After they clear out their existing pre-owned stock though, I don’t think I’ll have any reason to pop into GAME.

CEX’s changes are more annoying as it’s made many prices skyrocket. An example is in my nearby shop, where there’s been a copy of Jet Force Gemini on display for a few months with some distinctive Virgin Megastore stickers on it. It had been £12 for a while, but overnight the exact same copy has shot up to £25. I think they’ve added at least a tenner to every PS1 game as well. Granted, that means that trade-in prices are higher than they used to be – but to buy them off their shelf is above eBay prices. Acht.

The GAME one seems weird as they make 100% on used games, and whenever watch an American YT thingy that's always brought up about GameStop.

Not retro but seems Xbox may have closed their physical games department which comes days after the whole Ubisoft get comfortable not owning your games.

GAME doing this doesn't directly have any impact on me, but it does feel like another nail in the heart of gaming on the high street. I was hoping to be able to find a GAME to pick up my Switch 2 in person from at some point this year. Now I'm worried I'll go in and they won't be selling Switch 2s, only Funko Pops of anime characters.

Balla, that's really likely TBH.

Although a potential positive idea I heard from a podcast based in America: the host is mates with someone who runs an independent game store; as they also had an interest in music, they started selling vinyl records in the shop as well, and business has apparently improved in general. The host's thoughts were then, maybe if vinyl is a specialist thing that, if you're into, you're really into, that game shops should focus more on that: i.e. if you're going to have physical copies of games, make them all the special edition box sets, and have more focus on assuming people know about these things.

I can certainly see that; this may in turn change how publishers view their more elaborate packages, and may make (although sadly fewer) game shops more of an exciting visit for peeps. I think the reason people don't go in now is that it's not really one or the other; Funko Pops may be a part of the wider gaming culture, but they are to be honest an "entry-level" kind of fanaticism, and it doesn't automatically sit with the Fortnite/Roblox big world that the kids are into* - and very few like Roblox and Panzer Dragoon Orta.
My immediate contradictory thought: will things become gatekeep-y? That's probably worse if so.

*no knocking those, I just don't know enough about those worlds! I'm an old man

I think you can knock Roblox safely, while it's got enough material to be genuinely appealing to its audience it's also apparently got an awful awful monetary aspect.

A couple of games shops that sell to "specialists" does feel a bit gatekeepy doesn't it? Maybe it's just me from the outside looking in (I'm not a music fan at all), but vinyl already seems to be mostly the realm of the music elitist. Hopefully it wouldn't be like that, because that world seems better to me than almost all physical games shops vanishing entirely.

I think the difference is that vinyl is, according to enthusiasts at least, the best way to listen to the songs, whereas special edition games are just the same disk/ card with a load of tat. It isn't so far removed from a funko pop emporium really

So what you're saying is stick exclusive in game content in physical stores?