[GAME OVER]

Combien d’entre nous sont-ils déjà tombés sur ce message qui annonçait une fatalité ou la fin d’un jeu!?

Des millions!

Mais le monde du jeu vidéo à changé et devient trop facile…

Toutefois, de vrais gamers se rebellent (… ouais… comme dans Star Wars… xD)!!!

En effet, tout est devenu plus simple, plus (trop?) accessible et proposant souvent parfois moins de challenge! Beaucoup de développeurs ont diminués le niveau de difficulté de leurs jeux… Avant, on n’avait pas 90 vies et on ne passait pas un Super Mario en une traite!

Bien pour les casuals gamers, moins bien pour les vrais gamers des salles d’arcades et de consoles hardcores… (Neo Geo, NES, Pc Engine, …)

Heureusement, depuis quelques temps, et grâce à l’âme de vrais gamers qui se sont fait entendrent, le retrogaming revient sur le devant de la scène! Alors, on est à même à se demander “pourquoi”?

Manque d’imagination des développeurs? Besoin de revenir à des jeux qui n’utilisent que 2 ou 4 boutons? Ou juste de la nostalgie?

Pas facile de répondre à ça, car c’est peut-être tout à la fois en fait.

En effet, pour le moment, et grâce, notamment, à des alternatives comme le Xbox Live Arcade, le Playstation Store ou encore le WiiWare, le retrogaming fait parler de lui!

Bien sûr, [mode vieux crouton "ON"] les jeunos d’aujourd’hui trouvent ces jeux moches et sans intérêts!!! On ne jure plus que par la Wii et ses cours de cuisines… (cette phrase a été citée avec la voix d’Abraham Simpson…). Et donc, c’est pour cela que certains développeurs ont pondus des versions HD de leurs anciens hits… Bonne initiative, mais le soucis c’est que cette version est, la plupart du temps, “inferior” à la version originale! Je m’explique: prennons Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (puf… puf…). Les graphs sont en HD, ok, mais pour les joueurs de l’original, ce n’est plus du tout le même… Vitesse d’exécution des persos plus lente, graphismes en HD mais moins fouillés que les beaux pixels de la Super NES, combattants moins charismatiques, … Bref, décevant pour ceux qui l’attendait… Tout ça, c’est surtout pour attiré un plus large public. Cependant, d’autres jeux remis au goûts du jour comme Marvel VS Capcom 2 par exemple, et qui respect totalement l’oeuvre d’époque en ajoutant quelques améliorations comme le mode online, ont cartonnés bien plus, à l’étonnement de Capcom… Les seuls étonnés!?

Personnellement, ça me fait plaisir de revoir quand même certaines suites comme Punch Out, New Super Mario, Excite Bike et j’en passe… Car même si ce sont de nouveaux jeux, les développeurs s’arrangent pour garder le même esprit et taper quelques clins d’oeil à leurs ancêtres sur NES. Merci à Nintendo pour ça quand même… Car malgré certains jeux totalement pourris sur Wii et DS, soyons franc, les productions Nintendo, elles, restent fidèles à elles mêmes sauf pour leurs difficultés. Mario est devenu trop facile!!!

Par contre, Capcom nous a sorti un vrai bon jeu d’époque: Megaman 9! Et là, c’est du gros, du trèèès gros morceaux… La difficulté est énorme, les graphismes du 8-bits et ça se joue avec 2 boutons! Un vrai jeu NES sur consoles New-Gen! Et ça fait plaisir de revoir ça! Dommage que ça ne sort pas en support physique mais bon… Ne soyons pas trop gourmants! ^^

Ce qui est super aussi, ce sont les compiles sur PSP ou Ps2, le plus souvent (même si il y en a sur à peu près toutes les consoles), avec les hits de jeux Capcom, SNK, SEGA ou encore Namco! Ca nous fait revivre de bons moments avec, parfois, certains jeux qui deviennent introuvables même sur le net (ex: Street Fighter premier du nom). J’encourage des initiatives de ce genre!

Ce qui est sympa, c’est de voir que certains n’oublient pas les origines du jeux vidéo. On commence à retrouver du retrogaming un peu partout. On retrouve pas mal d’images “photoshopées’ avec des persos pixelisés dans un monde réel, on y retrouve des clips musicaux tout en 8-bits, des albums de chiptunes, des goodies, des expositions et musées comme ceux des gars de l’association Mo5.com, des retro-tests par beaucoup de sites ou même des membres sur Dailymotion (voir page Dailymotion: Retro-Gaming sur Otageek), des rétrospectives dans des magazines (IG mag) ou émissions (merci à Marcus surtout!), des collectionneurs (comme moi! ^^), des remakes sur iPhone ou encore sur les services en lignes des consoles nouvelles générations, des boutiques spécialisées en retrogaming, et j’en passe… Le jeu vidéo d’antan réinspire, si je puis dire, les joueurs et développeurs de maintenant!

En conclusion, j’ai envie de dire:

LE RETROGAMING N’EST PAS MORT!!!

…

Et c’est tant mieux! ^^

On en parle sur le forum Otaku Daisuki… Venez nombreux!

Don’t be the guy who wears his Vectrex t-shirt while playing his Vectrex.

Don’t be that guy.

]]> http://homosemiotikus.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/battle-for-milkquarious-cacher-dans-son-site-un-retro-advergame-8bits-a-debloquer-grace-au-konami-code/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:02:30 +0000 homosemiotikus http://homosemiotikus.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/battle-for-milkquarious-cacher-dans-son-site-un-retro-advergame-8bits-a-debloquer-grace-au-konami-code/

Vous connaissez surement Battle For Milkquarious, la dernière opération lancée par Goodby Silverstein dans le cadre de la campagne Got Milk ?.

L’agence a encore brillé par sa créativité avec cet opéra rock déjanté et son ambiance kitsch qui fleur bon le Flash Gordon.

Comme il se doit, le site dédié comporte la comédie musicale en question, ainsi qu’un jeu concours et une application musicale, mais la magie ne s’arrête pas là, il y a aussi un deuxième effet kisscool…

En tapant le Konami Code lors de la séquence d’introduction du site, vous accédez à un bonus inattendu : un rétro advergame qui réjouira les geeks nostalgiques en leur permettant de revivre l’aventure de White Gold avec un graphisme 8 bits digne des Megamans d’antant !

A noter : les emprunts au rétrogaming semblent se multiplier pour séduire la tranche la plus haute de la génération Y, comme ici, ici ou ici.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

I decided to level my Warrior of Light so that he would be prepared for the level 78 and 81 manikins in Shade Impulse Chapter 1.  The grinding was pathetically easy in Quick Match mode and I almost wished I’d figured it out earlier.  I was able to make it from the late 50s up to 80 in no time fighting essentially the same battle repeatedly.  I hit 80 grinding and ended up at 84 before all was said and done.  Even so, with me at 82 and the manikin at 78 I actually got my ass handed to me a few times.  I really had to be on my toes to not be thrown into break right at the outset of the fight.  I’m looking rather forward to starting up Chapter 2 sometime soon and I foresee a level 100 Warrior of Light in the near future even if necessity doesn’t mandate it.

Retro

I played through The Addams Family for the NES in a single sitting.  It wasn’t that terrible… especially for a licensed game.  It was simply an unremarkable exploration platformer with quite a few annoyances.  There are several areas where taking damage simply isn’t avoidable at all.  Many other sections require pixel-perfect dodging.  There are a handful of ways to end up in a room that will kill you instantly.  For a non-emulated session you’d have to learn by vicious trial-and-error.  You could easily be an hour or two into the game and find yourself pulling the wrong rope only to end up dead without warning.  The game starts you with 3 lives and there are only 2 extra lives lying around.  To make it worse, there are many things that will kill you instantly (like soaps sliding around the bathroom) that require ridiculous platforming to circumvent.  A few errors in this one room could end your entire game.  Some sections like the roof and forest have you dodging too many obstacles at a single time and since some of them are randomized (birds flying in and dropping rocks/frogs) the timing could leave you in many no-win situations.  With health that depletes very quickly this would be controller-breaking without save states.  My last gripe is the swimming section.   You swim by hammering the A button.  Luckily I could just use turbo on my controller, but even then the control is very suspect and I couldn’t avoid many of the obstacles.  There is a particular section near the end where you have to enter a crevice with pixel perfect accuracy which is blocked by a patrolling jellyfish.  you basically will lose nearly all of your health to make it into this crevice and then have to backtrack the entire section.  I’m unconvinced you could finish this section without losing a life or two on a normal playthrough.

The Wife’s Office

My wife is absolutely blazing through Final Fantasy. She just finished up the Kraken and headed to Lufenia.  I was a bit surprised to find out that this version of the game apparently has the extra dungeons from the GBA version as well as a unique dungeon of its own.  After Final Fantasy IV DS decided to not keep the extra dungeons from Final Fantasy IV Advance was quite shocked that this title, released far earlier, actually had a cumulative collection of dungeons.  My wife’s excitement with the game is absolutely infectious.  She keeps having little nerdgasms over relatively simple things like the way her pixelated weapons look during their split second animations on screen.  I love hearing about this stuff because it’s the same stuff that catches my eye and makes me gleeful inside while playing games like this.  I cannot repeat enough how gorgeous this game looks.  Have you ever known someone so ugly or pretty that you have the same nearly-surprised gut reaction almost every time you see them?  That’s what this game is like.   Even time I look over her shoulder I’m renewed with awe at how beautiful the game looks.  I want to play the game through very badly and probably will at some time in the not too distant future…. that is if I can ever wrest the PSP from my wife’s grasp.  She’s planning to start up Final Fantasy II as soon as she finishes.

On the Shelf

Though taking screenshots of what I’m doing on the Wii is a bit more difficult, screenshots of my PSP play are fairly simple.  Even more simple is taking screenshots of what I’m doing on an emulator.  This blog is depressingly text heavy and I’m becoming more and more aware of just how much I need to start giving it some dressing.  I’m also sad that I probably won’t be managing to pick up New Super Mario Bros. Wii on launch day.  I’ll probably try to nab a copy two days later.  I’m hoping they won’t be sold out all over town, but honestly, when the rest of the world is selling out and having three hour lines for Modern Warfare 2 I can just go to the local Best Buy or Wal-mart and find dozens of copies littering their cases, so I’m not overly concerned.

Metroid Prime

I didn’t play that much of this due to distractions.  After my last little bit of frustration with wandering aimlessly I kinda hit some stride and was enjoying it a lot more.  I got a great chance to catch up today and nearly half the time I’ve put into he game was today alone.  After a little time off I was finding the game very enjoyable.  Due to quite a bit of redundant backtracking I’m getting to know the layout of the planet quite well.   I’m finding the outdated graphics less and less jarring all the time.  I’m quite looking forward to my next day off to put in some serious play time.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

I’ve gotta admit that due to my own personal crusade to milk all I could out of the game I was making it a bit stagnant.  I really don’t know the scope of the game still.  I did finally finish all of the Destiny Odysseys for the heroes to 100%.  It seems that so doing was a positive move for what is ahead.  I found Tidus’ story quite nice.  I really liked FFX overall and it’s not for lack of FF exposure (I’ve completed all in the numbered serious many times over).  I always enjoyed the interplay between Jecht and Tidus and especially Tidus’ confused feelings toward his father.  This made the obviously contrived mini-story in Dissidia very enjoyable for me.

I’m finally seeing what is beyond each character’s individual quest for their crystals.  The story seems to be getting a bit more flesh on it, but obviously it’s not the start of the game.  The levels I racked up getting 100% in the Destiny Odysseys sure seems to be nice in the Shade Impulse bits.  I’m currently playing Warrior of Light and have him up to 87% on Chapter 1.  I think for the sake of staying comfortable with a given character I will play through all of the chapters to 100% completion before running any alternate characters through.  I’m feeling a bit re-energized toward the game.

The Wife’s Office

So my wife inexplicably became interested in getting a backloggery after I started to fill mine out.  Upon doing so she had a strong urge to actually play some of the many games she’d never finished to completion.  She also is finding herself wanting to play more things in general.  We both seem to share the trait of wanting tick things off of a list and fill in accomplishments.  She declared that she wanted to finally finish Final Fantasy which she’s started several times before.  I decided it would be a good time to go ahead and pick it up for PSP as a gift to her.  After a little searching we found it at Target (nearly missed it as it was turned around backward and the last in stock; and what luck it was lower priced than even online).  She’s even more enamored that I’d expected and has spent a good deal of her time in her office using a guide.  She’s admittedly not good at mapping things out in her head so she’d rather go on-rails and just finish it out rather than getting frustrated by getting lost and wandering aimlessly.  She just finished up Lich in the Earth Cavern earlier tonight and only started a day or two ago.

I have to say the game looks astounding on PSP.  I remember drooling over it back when a PSP was a pipe dream for me and I’d just picked up Dawn of Souls: Final Fantasy I & II for the GBA.  I’m actually looking forward to playing through it again myself once she’s done.

Retro

After filling in my backloggery of games that I am currently in possession of (surprisingly nearly 140), I started to follow suit the trend of filling in games I’d previously owned.  Upon completion of that I decided to fill in even more.  I got an urge to just play through a lot of old games for the experience of it albeit with savestate help.  Some I have played and some I have not.  First up I felt like playing The Guardian Legend to completion.  I remember it being very difficult as a kid and my we almost always used the “TGL” password and the Game Genie.  Like pretty much every retro game I played over the past week, I’m convinced that this game is not possible to complete by a reasonable human being.  Even with a guide which led me to having all power-ups at all times… and even with the frequent abuse of  savestates, some of the bosses and stages are nearly impossible.  Even with 100s of runs through a particularly difficult stage I find it hard to believe that someone could anticipate everything well enough to nail it.  There’s far more randomness in some of the stages than there are in most shoot ‘em ups.  Either way, the game was fairly enjoyable if frustrating.

Next I played 1942, which was horrible and had the worst excuse for music I’ve ever heard in my life.  I followed that with 1943: The Battle of Midway which was far more playable than ‘42, but by the ending stages I was thinking I’d be amazed to watch a human finish the game considering the narrow margin for error and the almost certainty of being hit at some points while having a very minimal energy bar (even leveled to max with max defense).  Following that I played 3D World Runner.  It’s an interesting concept and I remember being interested in it as a kid.  By 6-1 I just felt the game was unrealistically hard though.  The gameplay overall was very lackluster.

On the Shelf

I’m starting think it’s unlikely that I will finish Metroid Prime before New Super Mario Bros. Wii hits the stores.  This shouldn’t be too much of an issue.  I’m planning NSMBW as a couple game with my wife, so there will be plenty of time I’m not playing it (especially with her so addicted to Final Fantasy right now).  I’m wondering if I’m just going to jump straight into Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or if I’m going to do something else first.  I have the feeling that I’ll plow more or less straight through the Trilogy rather than changing gears.

I’m finding the Retro gaming a fun thing to do during certain circumstance where I don’t feel like sitting on the couch and firing up a console and don’t necessarily want to bother with the PSP (which my wife may have at any moment these days.  Jumping in and out of an emulator while multi-tasking online is quite simple and I can really stop whenever not only because of the savestates, but more because the games just don’t do it for me like they used to and I tend to be more drawn in and prone to giving “just a minute”s when playing more modern games.  As you may have noticed (aside from The Guardian Legend) I’m basically going in alphabetical order through Nintendo games (though skipping a few) so that I can at least try out games I normally would never have given a shot.  Of course I’m not certain I’ll stick to that formula as I have particular urges to play certain games right this minute.  I guess we’ll just see what happens there.

Amis geeks, amis gamers, je vous salue!

Aaah, on va parler de mon magazine de jeux vidéo favoris aujourd’hui: IG mag! J’entends déjà les mauvaises langues qui critiquent déjà car je précise que c’est mon mag préféré…

Eh bien oui! Autant le dire tout de suite, na! ^^

Pourtant, j’aime bien donner le pour et le contre, que ce soit pour un jeu ou autre, vous le savez bien. Mais, j’avoue qu’ici, le contre risque d’être difficile….. #FAIL

C’est sur le site, bien connu, Gameblog.fr que j’ai vu la première annonce de lancement d’un certain In-Game magazine, un bimestriel de jeux vidéo parlant de tout même de retrogaming. J’enrageais déjà de ne pas pouvoir le trouver en Belgique… Forcément, ce fut le cas, du moins, dans mon coin paumé! -_-’ Il a donc fallu que je me retrouve en vacances dans le sud de la France pour trouver mon premier IG mag, qui fut le #2… Oui, c’était en mai/juin… Et avec les monstres de Dragon Quest sur la cover, ça ne pouvait que me plaire (Akira Toriyama powa!!!).

Mais même si la couverture est attirante, c’est l’intérieur qui compte! Et je ne serai pas déçu: critiques, économie, people, culture, rétro (i love) et geek zone… tout y est! Et surtout… aucune pub chiante qui gâche tout… surtout du papier, protégeons la planète!!!

Bon, et si on ouvrait le livre maintenant…

Première page: l’édito (par Ruth Steen). On sent qu’on est chez des connaisseurs et passionnés du jeux vidéo, pas comme dans certains magazines où ils croient que tout est parti de la Playstation et qu’avant ça, il n’y avait rien… Si si, ça existe, je vous assure! xD

Ce qui est bien aussi avec IG mag, c’est qu’ils ne connaissent pas la langue de bois. Tout est dit comme il doit être dit (gné!?)…

Après l’édito, on passe directement au chaud: les critiques (hahahahahaaaa *rire démoniaque*)… Euh… oui… bon! >_<

Actualité (jeux du moment), rencontre (développeurs, éditeurs,…), rétrospective (retour aux sources de certaines séries), analyse (d’un genre de jeu), internet (jeux flash, etc…), téléphone (les mobiles aussi on droit à leur jeux): tous les jeux sont passés au crible et bien fait en plus, avec humour parfois… sauf quand c’est un jeu trop triste! )

Après ça, on retrouve la rubrique “Economie”… La totale du monde à sousous du jeux avec des interviews, dossiers, etc… Bien foutu également. Suit, la catégorie “People”, et non, ce n’est pas des peoples qui jouent à la console, ne commencez pas! Ce sont les peoples du game-universe (c’est beau ça…).

Les trois dernières catégories sont… *roulement de tambour*… Culture, rétro et geek zone!

Tout d’abord, la culture, c’est très bon pour le Trivial Pursuit…. Ah non, juste! Y a pas ce genre de questions là-dedans… dommage!

Bref, ici, on “parle” d’évênements, d’univers de jeux, on se pose des questions et il y a du gros dossiers également.

Et comme le meilleur reste toujours pour la fin, nous arrivons chez les vieux de la vieille (comme moi quoi): le retrogaming!

Mon moment préféré du livre… Des époques, des jeux, des générations, des consoles, les débuts du pixels… Des premières années à il y a peu en passant par l’âge d’or du jeux vidéo et la gueguerre SEGA VS Nintendo… Que de bons souvenirs! Voir des NEO GEO, bornes d’arcade, Sega Mark III, etc… dans un magazine, c’est plutôt rare! (oui mais la Playstation… chuuut! xD)

On en apprend énormément sur des séries, des éditeurs, des genres et autres… C’est fou! Le travail de recherche est énorme et doit être passionnant… et crevant! O_o

Le dernier chapître si je puis dire, c’est la Geek Zone! Et là, c’est cool aussi… On y trouve des charts, un geektionnaire pour les non-geekophones (oula…), des petites BD/strips bien marrant(e)s… dont j’ai retenu surtout le fameux de Street Fighter (Are You Ken!?)…, des charts et bien d’autres choses que regorge ce petit livre (je ne vais pas tout dévoiller…).

Après avoir dévoré ce volume 2, bien entendu, j’ai cherché à avoir le #1… Je ne l’ai jamais trouvé en Belgique mais un jour, coup de bol, je trouve quand même le #3 dans une petite librairie. Ô joie, ô bonheur! D’ailleurs, plus tard j’y trouverai le #4… mais pas le #1 et la libraire n’a rien pu faire… :’( J’ai cherché partout mais en vain… Il me le faut absolument pourtant… C’est bien la preuve aussi que j’ai apprécié les autres IG mag également.

Heureusement, sur le réseau Twitter, une bonne âme française (@Garretsworld) a eu la gentillesse de me faire don de son magazine pour me permettre de complèter ma collection. Ouf!

En conclusion, je suis devenu fan de ce magazine. Déjà, il est beau, cartonné, on a envie de le collectionner et le contenu est très riche. Je dirais sans problème que c’est LE magazine de jeux vidéo du moment et j’espère, pour longtemps. Car même si le net à pris une part importante au niveau de l’information, c’est toujours agréable d’avoir un petit livre à lire dans un coin tranquille…

Ce qui est sympa aussi dans ce livre c’est qu’il est bien illustré, avec des personnages en pixel ou en BD/manga un peu partout, ça donne vraiment une touche agréable. Je ne saurai que trop vous le conseiller. Croyez-moi, même si vous avez internet, ce magazine trouvera place chez vous. Pour une fois qu’on a un mag fait par des gamers pour des gamers, il faut en profiter!!!

Merci à Ruth Steen de IG mag de m’avoir permis la publication de ses illustrations.

Retrouvez InGame magazine sur son forum officiel sur GameBlog.fr

OtaGeek souhaite une bonne continuation à IG magazine…

Et merci à vous, lecteurs, de me lire…

Ps: Encore merci à Garretsworld!

You might as well have dropped your pennies into the drain

From the perspective of our youthful selves, we now inhabit the videogame future, and so it is no surprise that adults habituated to the up-front investments of console and computer gaming forget that once upon a time the actual business of playing video games was in fact surrounded by a web of complicated budgetary skills that had to be developed by any child that spent a lot of time in arcades.

I’m not talking about the type of kids that turned up with so much coinage from daddy that they couldn’t actually spend it all unless they spend five or six hours straight chucking quids into the stomach-churning 360° version of G-Loc; inevitably those lame antelope strayed too close to the edge of the herd and caught the beady eyes of bumfluff-sporting teenage predators.  In a blur of Joe Bloggs hoodies it’s all over, and dreams of a cash-intensive run through Final Fight are replaced by enforced tribute to subsidise pool games, cigarettes and a six-pack of Carling Black Label.

No, I speak instead of the discipline of loitering in an arcade for most of the day with nothing more than a measly two or three pound scrounged from parents and occasionally scavenged from the filthy no-man’s land between the aged cabinets themselves.  Forget micropayments; imagine if you can a world where the consequence of running out of Microsoft points is a swift ejection into the evening drizzle and a potential Chinese burn from spotty Darren who hangs around in the car park.

Red Wizard is about to die

Even by the age of ten, I had evolved a comprehensively detailed mental map of my two or three local arcades, layered with so many competing variables that it coalesced into a primitive schoolboy’s equivalent of those odd Google Earth plugins that mash up GPS data vs Crimewatch scare stories to inform you EXACTLY how likely you are to get stabbed on the way to the Post Office in different areas of Essex.

I would maximise gametime by filtering the hard figures of my hoarded pocket-change through a model that took into account diverse factors ranging from the ease of obtaining bonus credits, the possibility of broken coin slots and the convoluted physics that governed the trajectory of any rejected 50p pieces flipping out of Thunderblade’s change chute.  For a connoisseur such as myself, two grubby minutes fingering surreptitiously beneath Track and Field might yield enough treasure for two Wham bars, a Tip Top and three credits on Shinobi. Conversely, an impulsive spend on five minutes of Alien Vs. Predator or Strikers 1945 on the central, noisy big-screens would sap funds so heavily that there was little choice but to retire to the lesser-travelled corners where I could get about half an hour’s play on Bubble Bobble or Snow Brothers for just 20p.

Financial motivation, Paperboy style

Kids these days whinge about being able to clock the campaign mode of the latest Halo game in less than five hours – perhaps they should imagine instead that they’ve just slotted up a half a week’s pocket money for a lengthy practice session on the Streetfighter machine that accidentally got set on low difficulty, only to find their credits gobbled up in minutes by some dickhead who wants to show off how many times he can beat you with cheap variations on Bison’s Psycho Crusher.

‘Replay value’ means something entirely different when you reach the point where you can kill time by completing Double Dragon on one credit, and is perhaps the ultimate reason why the once-ubiquitous pinball table has seemingly gone the way of the clockwork fruit machine.  Forget Tommy – enough time spent in the arcades after school would probably have seen a teenage Stephen Hawking racking up so many multiballs that he would have sacked off science in favour of a lifetime milking the free credits from Junkyard. Sadly for Bally and Williams it eventually became clear that, short of installing a magnet system so strong that you can’t move your wrists to hit the flippers, there are few ways to cheat a good pinball player out of an afternoon earning replays by sheer skill alone.

Game over, man

Somewhat inevitably, the logical upshot of this hard-earned economic wisdom would be the growth of a financial awareness amongst gamers that would come to hasten the eventual downfall of arcade gaming itself.  If you spent enough time plotting the mental axes of time vs. money on Outrun against Pacland, sooner or later you were going to follow that graph off the chart and to the rational conclusion that the rapidly-advancing home console market offered far greater bang for your buck.

It might be true that SNES Dhalsim has a few less frames of animation, and that Megadrive Mortal Kombat is somehow even uglier on the small screen, but that initial investment in wires and cartridges is paid back a thousandfold when you can enjoy much the same gaming experience in the comfort of your living room.  It cost more upfront to get there, but the junk food is free, the hours are more agreeable and there is absolutely zero probability that spotty Darren will wreck your high-score attempt by deviously corner trapping Ryu into an inglorious defeat.  It’s a KO in the second round, and arcade gaming goes down in a shower of small change.

Après une première édition passée quelque peu inaperçue, l’exposition “Retrogaming: 30 ans de jeux vidéos” revient à Paris jusqu’au 28 novembre. Ouverte depuis le 14 octobre dernier (gros manque de communication…), l’expo nouvelle version propose toujours des bornes d’arcade pour jouer à des classiques comme PC Kid, Sonic ou Mario, mais se dote cette fois ci de nouvelles consoles exposées (dont l’Odyssey, considérée comme la première console commercialisée mais qui ne me dit rien du tout pour être honnête), d’une scénographie améliorée et d’un focus sur la création graphique d’un jeu vidéo. Le but étant toujours de découvrir à travers ce mini-musée l’histoire du jeu vidéo, et son influence sur la culture actuelle. Et si vous avez vraiment la flemme, vous pouvez toujours rester chez vous et jouer à votre Megadrive.

Entrée gratuite, ouverte du mercredi au vendredi (11h-18h) et le samedi (14h-18h), à l’Espace 4G

Avis à la population! ^^

Cette semaine, OtaGeek vous propose un article complet spécial “IG magazine – L’esprit du jeux vidéo”, le magazine de vidéoludique du moment.

Au programme: retrogaming, actu, tests, geekzone, etc… passé au peigne fin…

Ne courez pas trop loin et restez online car vous allez encore enrichir votre bibliothèque!

Illustration et bannière de Ruth Steen (Flickr) de et pour IG mag

Some time ago I got myself this piece of Commodore history. The Amiga CD32 is a CD-ROM based 32-bit game console from Commodore released in 1993. As it turned out, the CD32 ended up being the last machine from Commodore before the company went bankrupt.

Made in somewhat similar manner as the infamous Commodore 64 GS, the CD32 is basically an Amiga 1200 with CD-ROM drive dressed up as a game console. This made the CD32 quite powerful platform by the time of its release – at least compared to its 16-bit console rivals. According to various Internet sources, the CD32 sold well at first. After all, it was the first 32-bit console and the first CD-based games system in the Western countries. However, CD32 was doomed to failure even without Commodore going out of business only half a year after its release for various reasons.

First of all, bad timing. The machine came out around the same time as few other ill-fated mid-generation machines, namely 3DO and Atari Jaguar. The CD32 and its “next generation” rivals were competing against the popular 16-bit machines and each other. In early 90’s also home computers such as Amiga and Atari were still popular games platforms, and PC gaming was very popular. On top of that, there were CD-add-ons for Megadrive and Jaguar. The markets were simply oversaturated with different platforms. None of the mid-generation post 16-bit consoles had gained enough popularity when Sega Saturn and Playstation came to markets in 1995 – meaning a quick death to the mid-generation systems.

Secondly the games. Most of the games released for CD32 are simply conversions of Amiga  1200 or 500 games with possibly added CD features. These features were commonly CD audio and bad quality video cut scenes. In some games the added videos are ok at best, but mostly they are hilariously bad – especially when involving actors – or just painful to watch.

The CD32 did not have any relevant exclusive titles, but it received some hyped multi platform games. Two good examples are Rise of the Robots and Microcosm. The games are very similar in many points. The graphics were the main marketing point, and both games feature pre-rendered graphics and a lot of video. Today they don’t only look, but also play awful. The then nice looking graphics of Rise of the Robots will not make up for the terrible beat’em’up it is. Microcosm is nothing but inferior shooting game over a FMV that looks like rectoscopy.

The machine itself also features some awkward design. For example, the conroller ports are not on the front face of the machine, but on the left-hand side. And of course the port one is the one further back. The power switch is in the back of the machine. The CD spindle does not hold the CD firmly until the lid is lowered down. The result of this is that if you don’t turn the machine off and wait the CD to stop from spinning, the CD will tip over while still spinning and make a scrathing sound against the CD bay. It will not damage the CD surface or the drive lens, but certainly does not give you a sense of quality. Also, CD32 does not have any kind of a copy protection. In 1993 the CD as a medium itself served as a copy protection, but if the machine would have survived even few years, the lack of copy protection would have become a problem.

When you power-on the CD32 a screen showing a CD with rainbow colours shooting from the background appears together with an embarrassing fanfare. The system has an internal memory for game saves much like Sega Saturn. The save data is managed in an interesting but simple manner; You can enter into a menu showing all the save files, and you can lock or unlock the files. When free save memory runs out, the oldest unlocked save files are overwritten.

In the early nineties, the CD32 had very little to offer to the end customer. Just about any decent game available for it can be played on other systems as well. But that does not mean the CD32 wouldn’t offer anything worth playing today. Some of the games available for it are still very enjoyable. Just about every game published by Team 17 or Renegade for the CD32 are very good games. Many of those are considered classics such as Alien Breed, Super Stardust, Worms, Chaos Engine and Speedball 2. Also Pinball Illusions deserves to be mentioned. Despite its age it is an excellent pinball game I enjoy playing every time I have my CD32 hooked up to my TV.

It’s clear that Amiga CD32 had many things wrong with it. Thanks to the various wrongs and other factors it had an unusually short life span. But that is exactly what makes it an interesting piece of hardware. It’s not a rarity, but you probably don’t come across one if you’re not looking for it. It’s definetely a collector’s item only – or purely for nostalgy towards Commodore, Amiga or the CD32 itself. I sure don’t feel sorry for having one now.

Say goodbye to your small change / free time / innocence at groundkontrol.com

I wouldn’t say I’m alone in thinking that I probably passed far more time than was healthy inside games arcades when I was young.  It’s true that I also spent a lot of time acquiring green stains and accidentally impaling myself on parts of the allegedly-healthy countryside, but this bucolic wonderland was experienced (or, more accurately, endured) mainly by virtue of being forced to live there.  At the time, my dreams lay elsewhere, and I would have abandoned golden beaches and unspoiled woodland in an instant to waste every spare moment in that dimly-lit labyrinth of gum-stained neon carpet tiles, extortionate coin-swallowing daleks, and what felt like acres of impossibly high-tech games cabinets.  This magical domain of Golden Axe and Operation Wolf welcomed small boys, remedial adults and old-fashioned paedophiles alike, a grubby nirvana patrolled not by parents but by those mysterious, key-festooned figures: the surly guardians of the change booth.

Coins have no use in the modern world

Sonic boom!

Aside from struggling holdouts in capital cities and resort towns, the ubiquitous arcade as I knew it is fast-becoming a phenomenon of the past.  This cultural shift could be blamed on a complex variety of social and economic factors, but I am most aware of the futility of blowing an entire week’s pocket money on playing Streetfighter when you can now own an identical product on your home console for the cost of around forty credits on the arcade version.  For newcomers used to simpler fighters like Tekken, that’s barely enough to finish the game on standard difficulty.  The trade-off of hard cash for pixel power might once have made sense to anybody who owned NES conversions of games like Double Dragon or the Sega Master System’s woeful port of Hang On, but unless you simply cannot enjoy Sniper Scope without a massive prosthetic rifle you’d be better off staying at home these days.  Even the social aspect of arcade gaming has dwindled in importance; Xbox Live may be as full of annoying teenagers as any eighties games arcade, but the marvels of modern technology now provide us with the opportunity to mute their dreadful hormonal squeaking.

Pinball is wizard

Luckily for those of us who live too far away from the global scattering of incredible retrocades, a good many of our nostalgic forays into arcade culture can easily be satisfied outside at home with consoles, MAME and a few pricey controllers.  However, the flipside of the possibility of weekends spent riveting a 4 player Gauntlet cabinet from chipboard is that there exists a whole field of non-gaming arcade pleasures that are now teetering dangerously close to extinction.  Outside the occasional encounter in bowling alleys, cinema foyers and airports, where will our children learn about Skee-ball, lose everything to villainous penny shovers or have their fortunes told by a strobelit Arabian dummy? Most distressing to me is the tragic decline of the once-proud game of pinball, an exhilarating exercise in reflexes and timing that supplied a gloriously analogue, physical contrast to the twitchy digital pleasures of video gaming.

Where have all the cowboys gone?

Zeke's Shack

I love being able to play thousands of games in my living room, but I can’t remember the last time a single venue presented me with the opportunity to spill a Slush Puppy over a pool table, exchange tokens for a polystyrene Spitfire or take rifle potshots at a saloon full of anamatronic cowboys.  It’s true that air hockey and table football are still going strong in student unions across the world, but never forget that even the finest air hockey table can be sent to the great arcade in the sky with one spilled alcopop, or that a single ropey goalkeeper renders a table football tournament nothing more than a hollow sham.  Whack-a-mole is made of sterner stuff, but still seems to be afflicted by the general malaise that has affected its cabinet compatriots.

These twin demands of physical space and mechanical complexity are ultimately what is slowly killing off the fine tradition of non-electronic arcade gaming.  Pinball may be all kinds of super mega retro awesome, but it’s hard to argue with the economics when you consider how much space a table occupies, against how much change it can hoover up from players, and factor in how many man hours should be spent lovingly restoring every bent switch and sticky flipper.  Any business that merrily charges you three quid for an (admittedly delicious) hotdog made from spiced pigeon meat and shredded gym mats is not in existence to function as some kind of cultural guardian; it exists for the sole purpose of sucking up your metal assets like that giant hoover in Spaceballs.  The next time you are drawn mothlike into the mirrored bulb-canal of a still-functioning arcade building, expect to be savagely deflated when you realise it now consists of 95% moron-milking fruit machines and three Dance Dance Revolution cabinets guarded by sulking Asian teenagers.  Maybe, if you’re really lucky, there will be an air hockey table without a missing puck, or that thing with the moving basketball net, but don’t get your hopes up.  If you really want to play skee-ball, you’d be better off building it yourself.

More arcade pics scavenged from Google…

Ground Kontrol again

Look at that carpet

That Space Odyssey table is probably sick

N’oubliez pas de visiter RetroTube, la “chaine virtuelle” de mon ami Carl, avec plus de 700 vidéos !!!

An interview with retrogamer and game systems collector Bill Luguidice who talks about the two books he’s co-written, Vintage Games and Wii Fitness for Dummies, his own gaming background, and throws in a little bit of videogame history at no additional cost to you.

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How would you describe Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time to someone who has never heard of it?

The book covers 34 of the most influential videogames of all time, regardless of platform, and talks about their histories and the games that came both before and after. The writing style is casual and fun, but is backed with lots of research and cross references, making it appealing to a wide range of readers.

You co-wrote the book with Matt Barton. How did you guys come to work on this together?

I had a contract for a book with another publisher that covered every U.S. home videogame and computer system from 1972 – 1987. Unfortunately, it was taking too long to write because of the vast amounts of research and the fact that it was my first book, so I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been. I enlisted the aid of colleague and friend Matt Barton to help with some of the load. Long story short, even with Matt’s help I was still not able to finish within a reasonable timeframe, so the contract was dissolved. After regrouping, I began to re-shop the book with Matt through our literary agent. While it turned out Focal Press/Elsevier wasn’t interested in doing that particular book, they countered with their own idea, which we eventually morphed into what became Vintage Games. I plan on returning to the systems book at some point because it really is tremendous material (six of the chapters from that unpublished book appeared as special features on Gamasutra that were very well received), but the new projects have been coming fast and furious, so there really hasn’t been any time.

I would imagine a great deal of research went into writing the book. Could you describe what the process was like and how much of that would you say was work for you?

Unfortunately, as with most books, we had a tight schedule to adhere to. In the case of Vintage Games, it was roughly three months from start to finish. The hardest part initially was coming up with the list of the most important and influential games of all time. The 34 games was not reached by accident – we really drew on our experience – and I truly believe it’s one of the most fair and balanced such lists ever created. I’m quite proud of it. For the actual writing, we each took the lead on a particular chapter, with each chapter focusing primarily on a specific game. After we did the necessary primary and secondary research (from our own archives, the usual places on the Web, playing the game(s), etc.), we’d write the first draft and then pass it on the other for further tweaking and additions. We used Google Docs to do the initial collaboration, then I would convert the material to the publisher’s Word template as a particular chapter moved closer to our final vision for it. This process worked well. For the wonderful color images in the book, we used a combination of emulators and direct captures from the actual platforms/games, drawing upon my personal collection whenever possible. That’s why you see so many images used in the book that really haven’t been seen anywhere else. Anyway, while it was all on a subject we are extremely passionate about, it was most certainly work. Deadlines have a way of turning even fun stuff into soul crushing pain. Even the writing part is slow going. Of course when all the hard work results in something like Vintage Games, it’s worth it for the months of pain to have an achievement you can be proud of forever.

And you’re now in the process of producing a documentary on the book? How is that coming along?

It’s a videogame documentary for Lux Digital Pictures and both Matt and I are the writers and producers. While we got the offer to work on the film because of Vintage Games, it’s not directly related to it, as it’s a complete videogame history, from the 1940s to the present. There are a few similarities though, including talking about all types of platforms, including mainframes, arcade, consoles, computers, handhelds, etc., and lots and lots of games for each of them. And like Vintage Games for books, you’ll see things in the movie you’ve never seen on film before.

The project itself is coming along nicely. We filmed great interviews that will be used throughout the film back in March and are winding up capturing the last of the (mostly) gameplay footage this month. If all continues to go well, we should wrap primary production by the end of the year.

Videogames have their origins in the 1940s? That’s news to me. I certainly don’t recall my father ever talking about videogaming from his childhood. Could you explain this?

Well, when we talk about consumer videogames, we’re really referring to that magical year of 1972 (the same year I was born–see, it was my destiny!) when both the Magnavox Odyssey hit homes and Atari’s Pong hit arcades (or more specifically, bars). Naturally there was Computer Space as an arcade machine a year earlier that was loosely based off of the Spacewar! mainframe game from the 1960s that was all the rage with the lucky few (mostly engineering students) who got access to it, but neither really got the necessary mainstream exposure to get noticed and help launch an industry. So, when I say videogames had their origins in the 1940s, I’m specifically referring to the first programmable digital computers, which are the classic room-sized mainframes we see in the old footage. Without that breakthrough, none of what happened over the following years, be it what I consider the first true videogame, OXO (1952 on the EDSAC mainframe), or the various evolutions and revolutions that followed, would have come to pass.

You are also the co-founder of Armchair Arcade, a popular retrogaming website. How did you get involved with this?

Armchair Arcade was founded by me, Matt Barton and one other gentleman who is no longer involved with the project towards the end of 2003. We were regular “debaters” on a popular gaming forum and decided to channel that passion into our own site, which was initially about producing regular e-magazines. This became quite popular because we always approached it with a professional, rather than casual, attitude. Eventually other demands on our time made us decide to move to a blog format, which allowed us greater flexibility, which is where Armchair Arcade is today. We cover lots of topics, from classic to modern videogames and computers, along with other types of technology and occasional curveballs like philosophy, fiction, and thought experiments. It’s a lot of fun and we plan on keeping Armchair Arcade around as long as we are.

I’ve read where you own and maintain over 300 gaming systems from the 1970s to the present. Could I ask what is involved in maintaining such a collection, and where do you manage to store it all?

As of this interview I’m up to over 350 consoles, handhelds, computers and “other” (like programmable robots), from every type of manufacturer and region. Space is certainly an issue and I’ve been slowly scaling back my collecting ambitions since I’ve long ago reached the point where I don’t have time to use all the stuff in as profound a manner as I would like to. Of course I’ll still pick up the occasional item that I “have to have”. That’s the nature of the collecting beast.

I’ve actually been collecting since I was a small child (I turn 37 this month), though I didn’t think of it as collecting then since there really wasn’t such a thing associated with videogames and computers back in the early 80’s. I just really loved the stuff. In the 70’s at age 3 I remember getting great joy out of just messing with my mom’s pocket calculator and soon enough became thrilled whenever my parents would pull out our Pong console (not enough!). By age 7 I think, I used my Communion money to get myself an Atari 2600 VCS. My mom thought I would grow quickly bored of it. Little did she know the reality! By the end of fifth grade I got my first computer, a Commodore Vic-20, which I sold the following year to get money towards a Commodore 64. Of course since then I’ve either sold or have sold for me, quite a few items from my “collection”, but these days I only do that when I have duplicates.

So where do I put it all? When we moved to our latest house (affectionately dubbed by me, “The Forever House”, since I don’t see us moving again), one of the stipulations was that it have a full-sized basement that I could make my own. This house has that in spades. I was able to put together a professional gym, a rec room with MAME arcade machine and other fun items, and an office, as well as have a separate large storage area left over. Most of the items are on free standing shelving units in that storage area, which is in a separate, unfinished part of the basement. It’s certainly a challenge keeping it all organized, but it’s great having all of the hardware, software, accessories and literature relatively easily accessible, as it makes doing research (and sometimes having fun) that much easier.

I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t ask about your forthcoming book Wii Fit for Dummies. What can you tell us about this book that’s not self evident from the title?

It’s actually Wii Fitness for Dummies. Originally it was Wii Fit for Dummies, but as we were nearing completion, Nintendo announced Wii Fit Plus, so we changed scope to cover that, EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010. We not only go into detail about each of the packages, but also discuss general exercise theory and implementation. I’m happy to say this will be shelved as a fitness title, not a videogame book. Why am I happy about that? I feel very strongly about the positive aspects of videogames, and having what is ostensibly a videogame book appear on the shelves alongside pure fitness titles is a nice step in that direction. I’m enjoying writing this book for two reasons, one is that my other passion along with videogames has always been fitness, and another is that I’m writing this with my wife, Christina, who’s a top medical editor and writer. Outside of the aforementioned hard work that these things entail, that’s a big plus towards making the experience less stressful.

Are you now then in the best shape of your life?

Yes and no. I’ve been working out now for over 20 years and will continue to until the day I die, so every day I’m working towards my “best shape”. I’m a big proponent of natural bodybuilding as the best form of exercise because it can elicit the most positive changes both internally and externally. What’s nice about the titles covered in Wii Fitness for Dummies is that they really are grounded in sound exercise theory and many of the same principles that I believe in, so I do think they’re great tools as either primary workouts or, ideally, as supplements to other types of workouts. In the end, though, it’s all about staying active and continuing to challenge yourself.

Would you mind giving us a brief overview of your gaming background?

Besides what I already discussed earlier, I will say that overall I’m just a great fan of technology and science. While I have no particular talent for either (I’m even poor at math!), I find great joy in learning as much about all of that as I can. I guess that kind of defines my gaming background and interests as well. The platform doesn’t really matter to me. I can have great fun programming in BASIC on a computer from 1978 as I can creating a Visio flowchart on a tricked out modern day Windows PC. Same thing with the games. I can play the latest PlayStation 3 game, yet 1 hour later play a console game from 1976. I just love it all.

As someone who is an unabashed retrogamer, what’s your take on current games? Are you a fan, and if so, what do you enjoy playing?

I certainly am a fan of new stuff and I suspect I always will be. As crazy as it sounds, it’s always my goal to get every platform. Why? Because I don’t want to miss out on anything! Right now, for instance, hooked up to my family room HDTV and surround sound system are an Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Eventually these will make their way down to the basement when the next new platform(s) come out. Of course, with time constraints, I probably play more on my iPhone than anything these days, but the spirit is the same. I’m certainly no platform snob and no longer really tolerate so-called “fanboys” for a particular platform. If you’re a real gamer, you’ll want to play games period. The delivery mechanism shouldn’t matter.

Are you a particular fan of MMOs? What has your experience with them been like?

Though I have nothing against them (far from it), I’m not a personal fan of MMOs for one simple reason–time. I believe that playing an MMO requires a sufficient time commitment in order to get the most out of a game. Since I’m too busy these days to have regularly scheduled gaming sessions (I game when and where I’m able), I don’t think it’s worth the monetary commitment (the monthly fee) or the time investment (for even the ones that are free). Another factor is that between my regular job and freelance work, I spend anywhere from 10 – 12 hours a day+ on the computer, and really don’t spend much time playing games on it these days. I usually like the different look and experience a handheld or console gives me. I do play games online though on occasion, particularly on the Xbox 360, and certainly enjoy games like “1 vs 100″, which can be considered a massively multiplayer live game show. The nice thing about that is that I can play single sessions here and there when they’re scheduled if I’m available and don’t have to worry about things like leveling or meeting up with friends. It’s like a compartmentalized experience, meaning I only have to worry about how I do in the particular game I’m playing, and, win or lose, it doesn’t affect my enjoyment or experience with future play sessions. So, long story short, I’m not opposed to the principle of such games – and I’ve even participated in several MMORPG console betas – but the overall MMO landscape still has to expand a bit more into more game types and alternative reward systems for me to be able to participate in a more profound manner. I know it’s getting there so it’s just a matter of time.

How else do you tend to escape these days?

Besides playing videogames when I can and messing with old and new computers, and working out with my wife, I try to spend as much time as I can with my family. We have two young daughters – two years apart – who are now both in preschool programs, so they’re quite the handful. Of course with both my wife and me having full time jobs in addition to the freelance work, it gets tough to spend as much quality time as we’d like together, but we certainly do our best. Even if you’re ambitious and want it all, you’ve got to have balance!

And last but not least, just between you and me, who is more of a geek—you or Matt Barton?

Tough call. I’d say it would be a photo finish depending upon the specific definition used. With that said, I’m proud of who and what I am.

What do you do for a living?

I am an assistant professor in the English department of St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. My teaching duties include writing, rhetoric, teaching, and technology.

How would you describe your book Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games to someone who has never heard of it?

I think the title pretty much says it all. It’s not for everyone, but I think anyone who really enjoys computer role-playing games (Ultima, Pool of Radiance, Fallout, Oblivion, etc.) could get into it. I have always loved CRPGs, and wanted to explore the genre and let people know about the great diversity of what’s out there. My guess is that no one who reads this book will have played all the games I cover, so while part of the thrill is the “oh! I’ve played that!” feeling, another part is discovering new games. I also wanted to point out what was innovative or different about each game, and give developers ideas about what it takes to make a truly outstanding CRPG.

I can’t imagine how much research went into writing the book. What was this process like for you? How long did it take and how did you manage to come out the other end sane?

Hehe, well, I didn’t find the research frustrating at all. I learned a lot more about the games I loved, and a lot about games I had never heard of before. The only real frustration was trying to get some of the older games to work properly in Vista, particularly when dealing with early CD-ROM games.

Are you pleased with the way the book turned out?

Yes, I am pleased with the production and quite proud of my work. I think every author probably has a few notions about what he or she should have done differently, but I think overall it turned out well.

What audience did you have in mind when writing the book?

I thought primarily about myself and what kind of book I’d like to read on the topic. I figured there were other people out there like me, who for whatever reason wanted to read about CRPGs. What I found out was that people who love my book are quite diverse–women, senior citizens, and even children from many different countries have emailed to tell me how much they like the book. I also hear from game developers who wanted to write their own CRPGs and were inspired by my book. Usually people tell me that they enjoy the book because I am telling a part of their own life story–regardless of background, people tend to remember the impact that certain games had on their development.

Would you mind talking a little bit about Armchair Arcade and how that came about?

That site was founded in September 2003 and originally intended as an online magazine and forum. We did quite well, getting lots of coverage on Slashdot and other popular blogs and news sites. Eventually we morphed into a blog format, and are now getting more interested in video. I think the main appeal of the site is that even though our topic is gaming, we always treat the subject and our audience with maturity and respect. We use our real names and aren’t afraid to go into great technical detail on the topics we cover. We’re also “hardcore” in that we know our stuff inside and out.

You’ve also been creating a series of Matt Chat videos on YouTube about retrogaming. How’s that coming along?

I’m having lots of fun with my Matt Chat videos. Although I have been a writer since I was old enough to reach a keyboard, video has given me new ways to communicate. It’s quite nice to be able to show something happening on screen rather than just put it into text. I enjoy both media, but for some things video just seems a better way to go. I also really enjoy all the comments I get on my videos and all the great gamers I’ve met there. YouTube is home a great community of retrogamers.

In your infinite spare time it appears you are also in the process of filming a documentary based on your book Vintage Games. Could you describe this project for us?

Sure. The movie (currently being called “Gameplay,” though that could change) grew out of the book. Lux Digital Pictures had been wanting to do a games movie based on a book. Luckily, they decided Vintage Games was the closest to what they had in mind for the script, and they hired Bill and I to write and produce the film. We’ve filmed interviews for it at the Game Developer Conference and are currently recording tons and tons and TONS of game footage. It’s been lots of fun, and I can’t wait to hear reactions from the gamer community as well as the general public.

I’m almost afraid to ask, but would you mind giving us a brief overview of your gaming background?

My dad was an avid gamer and would hold me up I could push the fire button while he navigated us through Sinistar and Omega Race. Later on, we got a Commodore Vic 20, and I spent a lot of time on that before upgrading to the C-64. My family and I played many, many games, such as Gorf, MULE, Elite, and Monopoly. Later on, we got an Amiga, and of course I played greats like Defender of the Crown. I didn’t do much console gaming during my childhood, unless I was over at a friend’s house. Nowadays, I try to keep a hand in everything, constantly exposing myself to as many different games and platforms as possible.

At your peak how much gaming did you do? How about now?

If I have a good CRPG or strategy game, I can start in the morning and play until the wee hours of the next. I never get tired of gaming. Unfortunately, not many games are that compelling, so I’m lucky if I can play them for an hour or so before getting bored and trying something else.

Are you a particular fan of MMOs? What has your experience with them been like?

I played World of Warcraft very heavily until about a year ago, but finally burned out. MMOs (and MUDs, if you remember those) can be two things at once: The most fun you can have, and the least. What really makes the difference are the people you’re playing with. Sadly, I ended up dealing mostly with unpleasant people or others who took the game a bit too seriously (as in treating it like an unpaid job rather than a game). Eventually the single player content begins to get old, and then it’s probably a good time to move on to something else. I do plan on trying out the new Bioware MMO when it comes out.

How would you say video games have influenced you as a teacher? How about as a writer?

I think they have helped with both. James Paul Gee and Steve Johnson both have good books out that talk about the learning potential of games. Games can make you an excellent manager and problem solver. Whereas in sports you may overcome a problem by working out more, games challenge you to think in different ways. I value both, of course, but I think games really get a bad rap. I see them as sports for the mind. The best ones can touch you as deeply and meaningfully (if not more so) than a great novel or film.

Would you have any words of advice for aspiring writers wanting to publish articles or books on video games?

My advice to all writers is to read as much as you can, focusing on your chosen genre. Study the way sentences, paragraphs, and chapters are put together and try to imitate what works (while avoiding what doesn’t). However, the bigger picture here is the market. It’s very hard (at the present time) to convince a publisher that a book about games will have an audience. The big challenge is making sure there is a ready market for your book and that you really have the time and energy to see it through.

I always suggest getting in touch with a publisher or editor before actually writing a book. They may not make you any promises, but at least you’ll get some sense of whether your idea is feasible before wasting a great deal of time and energy on a book that won’t sell.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with this gamer audience?

Again, the most important thing about game development or book writing is that it involves other people. Finding a good community of like-minded individuals, whether online or in person, is an important first step towards attaining your goal. If you want to be a game developer, start going to conferences and making friends with actual developers. The same goes for books. You can also get involved in online communities, such as YouTube or any of the hundreds of game sites out there. If you are writing on a good forum everyday about games, you’re likely making valuable friends and developing your writing skills at the same time. It’s a win-win!

Bonjour à tous les lecteurs d’Otageek!

Petit message personnel pour vous dire que le site reprend du service vu que nous sommes rentrés de vacances…

@ très bientôt! ^^

OK, the tease is over. Retroaction 3 is out now.

And what a great issue!

Highlights include:

• A cover story, on Blade Runner (PC)… aka “the game my wife bought me INSTEAD of Quake 2″
• A great interview with the executive producer of Blade Runner.
• Tributes to F-Zero, Alien vs. Predator, Defender of the Crown, Robowarrior & more
• An incredibly comprehensive look at the many Ghostbusters games
• A look behind the scenes of the “Mother” fan translation project
• And a whole lot more.

Retroaction issue three is now available from their site.

Oh, and if you’d like to get future Retro Actions before anyone else, just subscribe via email, and you’ll be as happy as an 80’s gamer with a Star Cursor joystick.

If you haven’t seen it before, Retro Action is a quarterly fan-made PDF magazine, with high quality content and excellent visual design.

It makes the most of the PDF format too, treating it not as “a way to make printing easier” but a way to make magazines interactive, by including working WWW links wherever possible.

Issue 3 is out this Monday, and I’ve just had a look through it.
Superb!

Yes, I’ve had to censor the front cover…
but I can give you a few hints as to what’s coming out on Monday…

• A cover story, on “the game my wife bought me INSTEAD of Quake 2″
• The “killer app that span your world around”
• The “best arcade brawler to get ZERO home conversions”
• Plenty more “retro respects”
• And a whole lot more.

In the meantime, if you haven’t read Retro Action issues 1 & 2, visit this link now – and start downloading. While you’re waiting, you can read my previews of RA issues 1 & 2, and read my (rudely interrupted) behind-the-scenes interview with the editor, Nreive.

Oh, and if you’d like to get future Retro Actions before anyone else, just subscribe via email, and you’ll be as happy as an 80’s gamer with a dual cassette deck.

Boas noites,

Dou-vos as boas vindas a… mais um blog de videojogos. Exactamente, leram bem. “Wat? Outro blog de videojogos? “… hum, mais ou menos.

O Retrógrado foca-se em jogos antigos, nomeadamente, que não sejam de consolas que custem mais do que a vossa carteira pode suportar e com jogos que duram menos que as bolachas que lá estão na cozinha. Mas esperem… têm altos gráficos. :O Que seja, aqui o foco vai para tudo quanto é videojogo pré-consolas da actual geração e, quem sabe, uma ou outra vez, lá se pegará num.

Ainda há bastantes gamers em Portugal capazes de atentar beleza, prazer e lazer em jogos com mais de dez anos, com bonecos pixelizados, mas, que no fundo têm um carisma descomunal, ou contam uma narrativa de louvar, ou puxar uma narrativa à nossa imaginação. Jogava-se quanto queria e como queria, sem tarefas ou mini-jogos obrigatórios, e o leque era vasto o suficiente para haver sempre na prateleira um jogo que nos apetecesse pegar.

Jogar é um prazer e não uma tarefa.

Espero que este blog seja do vosso agrado, assim como as variadas secções que este contém.

Obrigado, malta. :3