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How modern tech saved my 'Dragon's Lair' arcade game
In the early 1980s, the arcade was still the place to play the newest and best video games. Sure, consoles existed, and were just starting to give arcades a run for their money -- and were even starting to shed their wood-grain home-furniture look for a more modern feel. But home play still lacked the arcade's mystique. As attendance began to dwindle, game makers started looking for a hook; something incredible and new that would lure people back to the arcades to spend their quarters.
Ancient LaserDisc is a treasure trove of unreleased Star Wars footage
They say you can't put a price on happiness, but we bet the Star Wars fan(s) who bought this LaserDisc off eBay didn't mind paying $699 for 30 minutes of bliss. After all, it contains 50 raw and behind-the-scene takes from Return of the Jedi, which the public has never seen before. Back in the day, Lucasfilm used LaserDiscs to save material due for processing on its proprietary EditDroid software, a precursor to modern-day systems like Final Cut Pro. The good news is that whoever it was that shelled out the money belongs to the light side of the Force and has chosen to share their good fortune. They're posting the disc's content bit by bit on a Facebook page, and right now, there are five videos you can watch to make the weekend better. Seeing as copyright issues might arise along the way, though, don't be surprised if the clips disappear faster than Yoda's body.
Dragon's Lair landing on XBLA with Kinect support, lets you act out your princess-saving fantasies
The 1983 laserdisc classic Dragon's Lair is coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade. That much we knew. What has us excited is that it'll come with a new control scheme, one that relies not on well-timed button mashing, but well-timed body flailing. That's right, whenever it does make its way to virtual shelves, the updated playable cartoon will sport Kinect support. Now, instead of making sure you press the button (yes, the one and only button) or flick the joystick in the right direction, you can mime sword swipes and swing from imaginary ropes. We can hardly wait. One more screen shot after the break.
Sony MiniDisc Walkman to stop spinning in September (video)
Aside from with a handful of stateside early adopters (and a few million others in Japan) eager to embrace any new technology, Sony's rather extensive line of MiniDisc Walkmans never had a chance to dominate the portable audio market. But for one reason or another, the company kept up production of the optical player / recorder combos for nearly 20 years, after the first Sony MZ1 launched in Japan in September of '92. With a countless selection of more affordable solid-state alternatives available today, however, it's certainly not shocking to see good ole MD go the way of the laserdisc and the cassette. Now, only one question remains: How long until we see the compact disc suffer a similar fate?
Dragon's Lair wall graphics demand to be put up, up, up
Click to save the princess see a gallery To some, their home is their castle. Now it can be a dragon's lair. LTL Prints – the Philadelphia company that introduced an eye-popping lineup of Jet Set Radio Future wall graphics back in December 2009 – is unveiling its latest cling-on art today, based on the classic 1983 arcade game Dragon's Lair by animator Don Bluth and designer Rick Dyer. The graphics have been taken straight from the legendary laserdisc-based game, cleaned up and include the bumbling-yet-heroic Dirk the Daring, the hapless Princess Daphne and her captor, Singe the dragon. LTL Prints is offering the graphics starting at $14.95 for versions sized to fit laptop lids, all the way up to more expensive, 7-foot-tall prints. The look absolutely amazing -- we're just sad we can't order a 1:1 scales version of Singe. Then again, we'd need a really tall wall ... %Gallery-91613%
Dragon's Lair ships for iPhone and iPod touch
Guys, if there was any doubt that the iPhone is a serious application platform, just go ahead and put it to rest right now -- Dragon's Lair has officially been ported over. The Don Bluth-animated laserdisc game was immensely popular upon release in 1983, and since then has been ported to almost every single system that can run it. Now, the iPhone joins those ranks, and seems well done. If you want to play the original Arcade mode, you can, though apparently it's so original that not even the developers recommend it -- you end up skipping sequences and it's really, really hard. Much more appetizing to today's whiny easy mode gamers is the Home mode, which not only can include a "guide" on the screen to show possible controls, but will let you play through sequences over again until you get them right. Touch Arcade says that even at $4.99 [App Store link], it's a must-buy for nostalgia's sake, and if you have any interest in playing the game at all, it's worth the price (especially if you hung around arcades when it came out, as you've probably already put that much and then some into the game). If, on the other hand, you aren't impressed by the gameplay above and/or are too young to remember what a laserdisc is (it's like a record-sized DVD... wait, did you just ask what a record was?), you might not be intrigued.
Pioneer finally kills production of its remaining laserdisc players
Yes, we're just as shocked and horrified to hear the news as you are, but it seems to be true. Pioneer, the last major electronics manufacturer to continue production of laserdisc players, has announced they'll discontinue all three of the models they currently offer, leaving dozens of hardcore fans in the dust. But cheer up: we'll always have the memories, and this poster.
Dragon's Lair DS dares to display video
The news that Dragon's Lair would be making its way to the DS is either very exciting or very meh. Either way you slice it, the title is still one of the most revered in gaming and will surely find many consumers wishing to pick it up on the DS (that goes without saying that the game will find a brand new audience on the handheld, as well).
Dragon's Lair coming to HD DVD
More than a year after we first heard it was being remastered in high definition, Digital Leisure has announced plans to release Dragon's Lair on HD DVD. The old laserdisc classic, which already shipped on Blu-ray earlier this year comes to HD DVD August 15th. The 1080p visuals and 5.1 surround of the Blu-ray release are intact, and if that's not enough, it also plans to follow up with future releases of Space Ace and Dragon's Lair II on the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.
Dragon's Lair coming to DS
Released on Blu-ray just a few weeks ago, a DS incarnation of the classic arcade/Laserdisc adventure Dragon's Lair has been announced by Digital Leisure. At first we thought the two would go together as well as peanuts and bubblegum, but after reading what developer Wizardry Engineering is doing to make the game fit the system, we might have to reconsider.Dragon's Lair DS will be playable on one screen or split across two, holding the DS like a book. Touch screen control will be implemented, and there's even talk of voice recognition (blue ... BLUE!!!) and rumble pak support. Hey, if it worked on Game Boy Color, it should go over fine on the DS.[Via DS Fanboy
DS Dragon's Lair makes a Daring choice
The laserdisc classic Dragon's Lair is back again, after appearances on basically every system ever built, either in its original form (PC, Sega CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Game Boy Color) or in some kind of terrible adaptation (NES, SNES, PS2). This time, Digital Leisure is releasing it in more or less original form on the DS, with some ... interesting options. Of particular interest is the ability to control the game via touch screen. We imagine this will involve tapping the appropriate side of the screen. There are also optional move indicators, voice control (?), rumble support, and multiple difficulty settings.And then there's the big feature. You can choose to play the game on one screen, or stretched across both. This allows Dragon's Lair to benefit from the advanced view obstruction technology not available in the arcade version. [Via NeoGAF]
DAPHNE Arcade Laserdisc emulator
You can have your Windows games running under Crossover, I'm happy playing Dragon's Lair. Those of you of a certain age will appreciate what I am talking about, for you youngsters out therecheck out this Wikipedia entry for a taste of what awaits you. Thanks to DAPHNE you can finally play all those cool games that were available on Laserdisc (think LP sized CD's, for those of you who have never seen one), and yes there were cool games available on LaserDisc. This open source Universal Binary is free, so find yourself some ROMs and enjoy the trip down memory lane. Now if only I could find a way to get my Mac and my Vectrex talking to one another.Thanks, Derek.
SelectaVision VideoDiscs Vs. LaserDisc
The latest format war is all the rage these days as things really start to heat up. Everyone loves to compare it to Beta vs VHS, but what about the last Video Disc format war? No this isn't the first one, while most of us were in diapers our parents generation had a choice between SelectVision (aka CED) and Laserdisc. Now we all know who won, but the battle is what is interesting. More after the jump!
Dragon's Lair remastered into high-def
Anyone around the early laserdisc scene has to remember Dragon's Lair. The game shipped with the Pioneer LD-V1000 and became an instant classic. The game wasn't as immersive as many people wanted and only offered the player a few options on how to control Dirk the Daring but even still, it was the first game to offer live motion graphics way back in '83. Well, the game is getting remastered to high-def by Digital Leisure and will be re-released on PC DVD complete with 5.1 surround sound. The game should be ready by the holiday season.You might want to check out the trailer too.
Complete runthrough: Dragon's Lair
Remember Dragon's Lair? The game -- released on laserdisc in 1983 -- was notable for the quality of the on-screen visuals. Instead of blocky pixels, Dragon's Lair featured lushly drawn environments that blew away every other arcade title of the era. Just one little problem: the game's technology resulted in an inferior play experience. On-screen action felt divorced from the game's controls, in part because the game needed to hunt for the right animations on a laserdisc at every junction. The result: a game that looked like a Ferrari, raced like a Yugo, and gobbled quarters like no other. It was awful, despite the glowing fluff that appears in the Wiki entry about it. That's why we're pleased to link to this video featuring a complete walkthrough of the game. After all of these years, it's wonderful to finally get some closure. [Thanks, Ryuukuro]
