classic games
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'Wild Guns' and 'Panel de Pon' are coming to Switch Online next week
Nintendo is adding Rygar, Operation Logic Bomb, Wild Guns and Panel de Pon to the Switch Online library.
Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro puts a retro console inside a controller
<p>Last month <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/01/neo-geo-next-gen/">SNK promised some "next gen" Neo Geo hardware</a> on the way and it might be here. The company just unveiled details on its <a href="https://www.snk-corp.co.jp/us/press/2019/091003/" target="_blank">Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro</a>
Classic Blizzard games available for download
If you've ever attended BlizzCon, you've likely noticed that the classic games section, where they set up some of Blizzard's early efforts for fans to play, is a rather popular destination. Popular enough that I've personally given up on trying to get in there, because I'm not a good "line-standing" person. Luckily for me, and others like me, Blizzard has made two of their early games available for free download on Battle.net. The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing are two of Blizzard's most classic classics, published in 1992 and 1993 respectively, when Blizzard Entertainment was still known as Silicon and Synapse. If, as I did, you missed out on them when they were current, now is your chance to experience all their pixelated glory. Unfortunately, they are only available for Windows operating system, so if you're a Mac user, you may be out of luck. To find the new downloads, click on the "Games & Codes" option in your Battle.net account, then click "Download Game Clients" from the drop-down menu. The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing can be found under the "Classic Games" section. Thanks to reader SparkysShocker for bringing this to our attention!
The Soapbox: The classic Dungeons & Dragons problem
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Older tabletop roleplaying games are a mess. I realize that some our readers may not have had the unique pleasure of getting introduced to gaming via a handful of dice and a pencil, but let me give you the very short version. A long time ago, a game called Dungeons & Dragons was written, and it was the first roleplaying game. Since then, we've seen a lot of other roleplaying games come out with different ideas and different themes. We've also seen a lot of other roleplaying games meant to intentionally hearken back to the days when Dungeons & Dragons was the only game in town. This is almost never a good idea. Nor is the idea unique to tabletop games. In fact, we're seeing the same thing in the MMO space. There are games that market themselves by promising to be a return to the days of Ultima Online or points related, a throwback to the old school of gaming. I'm pretty sure Vanguard was the first of that movement. And while I understand the sentiment, it pretty much always ends in tears for some very good reasons.
Nokia and Namco Bandai bring arcade classics to Asha Touch line
Whoever said low-cost phones have to miss out on the portable perks? Nokia's throwing an old school bone to buyers of its budget-minded Asha Touch line, linking up with Namco Bandai to make 22 classic hits available for download. The titles, accessible now on the Nokia Store in over 52 countries, range from $0.99 to $2.99 apiece and include oldies-but-goodies like SoulCalibur, Galaga and Ace Combat. So, if you take your pared-down, 3-inch devices with a dash of retro-gaming and feel like an on-the-go session with PAC-MAN is long overdue, then you'll be well sated by this partnership nod to coin-operated gaming's past. Official PR after the break.
iFixit continues its retro gaming rampage, reduces an innocent Atari 2600 to bare components
iFixit, is no device safe from the scars of your screwdriver? These eyes have been scarred, forced to witness the destruction of yet another childhood icon. Previously it was the RCA Studio II and the Magnavox Odyssey 100 before that. Now it's the rather more memorable Atari 2600 going under the scalpel, four simple screws removed to reveal an eight-bit, 1.19MHz processor featuring 128 bytes of RAM (yes, a massive 1,024 bits) and a graphics adapter capable of 192 x 160 resolution with 128 colors -- though only four could be used on any given line. Through these humble beginnings the cartridge-based console was born... and now here it rests.
Rare wants to revitalize classic IP with Natal, beat world
While most people were struck with thoughts of the future when Microsoft's motion-control apparatus Project Natal was unveiled, Rare couldn't get its mind off the past. In a recent interview with VideoGamer, 15-year Rare veteran George Andreas explained the device "gives us an opportunity to maybe at some point in the future investigate some of those older IPs." Andreas was particularly excited about one unnamed Rare franchise which would be "absolutely phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal" if it should incoroporate Natal. He added, "I think it would be an absolutely world-beating product. But we need to explore a little bit more in that direction." Got any ideas? Our money's on Jetpac -- though we suppose a motion-controlled Conker's Bad Fur Day would have its humorous, bawdy merits. Just ... make sure the blinds are closed while you're playing it, okay?
Sony plays catch up with hackers, mulling over PSP 'virtual console'
We're pretty sure a good lot of you with PSPs have used them for, shall we say, less than reputable means -- like playing 16-bit era games using emulators. Soon, there might be a more legit outlet for that fix, as Sony's head of US marketing for PlayStation hardware John Koller tells MTV Multiplayer it's looking to bring classics from before Sony entered the arena to the handheld, à la Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console. The company's also expanding North America's library of PSOne downloads to eventually match the plethora of titles available to the Japanese market. It's all part of a greater initiative to make more digitally-distributed, download-only titles, which we wholeheartedly support -- now, about those pesky UMD-less PSP2 rumors...[Via Joystiq]
More games that shouldn't be MMOs: Classic Edition
This is a topic we spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about, as seen in our previous ruminations on the subject. The rise of the MMO, and its continuing ascent to prominence in mainstream media, however, means that sooner or later, it will fall to the dreaded Remake Syndrome, where old classic movies are updated to fit modern sensibilities, often with disastrous results.To wit: if Game X was a huge hit, then why don't we revamp it and resell it as an MMO? Here are 5 examples why not. Robotron 2084: You are the last protector of the human race against robots, mutants, and geometric shapes. Well, actually, you're just one of the last protectors. This is an MMO, after all. And in a game where everything that isn't you kills you when it touches you, and you're in an enclosed space with no way out, and the enemies just keep coming at you and coming at you ... well, the narrative possibilities are endless.
Quarter gobblers are broken on XBLA [update 2]
Joystiq reader "epobirs" disagreed with our comment earlier today that Xbox Live Arcade title Gauntlet is broken. We'd like to dig into the issue a little more, because we feel that developers are missing a major opportunity to resurrect the true arcade experience. Games like Gauntlet were designed for an era in which expensive game cabinets were purchased by small businessmen who hoped that the large up-front purchase would be paid for (and them some) by teens plunking quarter after quarter into the machines in order to keep playing. Game designers therefore had to make sure (1) that the average player would die frequently; (2) that the game was fun enough to convince the average player to drop another quarter in the slot. Gauntlet, released in 1985 (at the height of the arcade craze) was a masterpiece of the form. It greedily gobbled quarters from addicted gamers who were enthralled by the game's tight design. What made the game so fun was the fact that your money was always at stake. A mistake meant that you had to reach into your pocket and insert more money. There was a constant tension between performance and pocketbook, and this tension made the game. Every non coin-operated release of Gauntlet since then has missed the point. The Xbox Live Arcade version, for instance, allows players to hit a button on the Xbox 360 controller in order to simulate putting a quarter in the machine. Of course, a button press costs nothing, and so the essential tension is lost. The game loses a fundamental game play mechanism by replacing quarter insertion with button pressing. What we'd love to see is a release of Gauntlet for Xbox Live Arcade (or for a competing service) that's free (or very cheap) to "purchase" but that costs $.25 per health increase (equivalent to 20 MS Points). The developer that brings back this core game play mechanism will claim the title of "most authentic arcade experience." We're certain that are some great arcade titles slated for release in 2007. They'd be better if they stayed true to the arcade experience.
