Our
twenty-second issue is here featuring the mainstream, the obscure, and
the classic. This issue's cover story kicks things off as Merman
details the games of French developer Jawx in More C64! Donald Lee has
some mixed musings concerning the current state of arcade venues and
the games missing from them. Eugenio Angueira resumes his
continuing column that takes a look at the various home conversions of
Pac-Man and his kin, this time on Mattel Intellivision. The
twenty-third annual California Extreme arcade and pinball show was held
in Silicon Valley recently and our annual show report highlights some
of the standout features this year had on offer. The Controller
Chronicles takes a look at an early console and controller combination
as Todd Friedman covers the often overlooked RCA Studio II.
Sean Robinson returns to share more Video Game Haiku, in a
continuing interactive feature. All that and
more are ahead in this issue of The Retrogaming Times!
I want to
again remind our readers if
they
have comments or questions about anything covered in the newsletter, or
there is something they would like featured in a future issue of The
Retrogaming
Times, to let us know via The Retrogaming Times on Facebook at facebook.com/theretrogamingtimes
or contact me directly at trt@classicplastic.net!
Follow @TRTInfoClub
on Twitter for release
notifications and immediate newsletter updates!
Of course submissions are also always open. If you have something
ready to go, the address is the same, trt@classicplastic.net. "If
there is something you want to write about, send it in!"
A Video Game Con (AVGC), September 7th -
8th 2019, Parsippany, New Jersey, USA
A Video Game
Con (AVGC) is NJ’s premiere convention dedicated to both retro and
modern video games. We host an extensive free play collection of video
games in their original format, various video game themed panels, a
large vendor room containing multiple generations of video game items,
and a host of other related content for attendees to take part in.
Retropalooza,
October 19th - 20th 2019, Arlington, Texas, USA
A celebration
of all things retro! Retropalooza was started in 2013 in
Arlington, Texas by a couple of guys who enjoy all things retro; from
toys to music, to video games... especially video games. As video
game collectors, they spent a lot of time and money looking for retro
games when they figured it would be easier to bring the games to
them. Thus, Retropalooza was born.
The goal of
Retropalooza is to bring nerds from all walks of life together for an
enjoyable, family friendly time. Good old fashioned fun with like
minded people where it will always be affordable, and forever improving.
Sac Gamers Expo, December 8th 2019,
Sacramento, California, USA
A regional
video game convention founded in 2015, created by gamers for gamers.
Our show features special guests, game vendors and artists, game
developers, tournaments, free to play games, a console museum, VR
Setups, live DJ and so much more! Sac Gamers Expo is a family oriented
event for all levels of gamers. Free admission for childern eight
and under with a paid adult!
Midwest Gaming Classic, April 3rd - 5th
2020, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
The Midwest
Gaming Classic is a trade show featuring 150,000+ square feet of retro
and modern home video game consoles, pinball machines, arcade video
games, table top RPGs, computers, table top board games, crane games,
collectible card games, air hockey, and that’s just the start.
The Midwest
Gaming Classic is about celebrating gaming, trying new things, learning
about the gaming hobby, about meeting others who share the love of
gaming, and having fun doing it! No matter if you have one
console and a handful of games or thousands of games in every room of
your house, you'll find something to celebrate with us!
Pintastic Pinball & Game Room Expo,
June 25th - 28th 2020, Sturbridge, Boxborough, USA
Flippin Fun
For Everyone! Are you looking for a little relief from the hot
summer sun? Look no further than Pintastic New England, which is
the first of its kind, centrally located in Sturbridge,
Massachusetts. This expo is 30,000 square feet of fun for the
whole family. The kids can have never-ending excitement with a
caricature artist, face painting, friendly clowns & balloon
animals. The adults can bring out their inner child with over 200
pinball machines set on free play, all while enjoying an ice-cold craft
beer.
KansasFest, July 21st - 26th 2020,
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
KansasFest is
the world's only annual convention dedicated to the Apple II computer
that revolutionized the personal computing industry. Held every
year in Kansas City, Missouri, KansasFest offers Apple II users and
retrocomputing enthusiasts the opportunity to engage in beginner and
technical sessions, programming contests, exhibition halls, game
tournaments, and camaraderie. Any and all Apple II users, fans,
and friends are invited to attend the event.
Will you be
among the 2020 attendees? Mark your calendars for July 21-26, 2020.
Classic Game Fest, July 25th - 26th
2020, Austin, Texas, USA
The biggest
retro gaming event in Texas is back on July 25-26, 2020! Classic Game
Fest returns to the Palmer Events Center in Austin, TX on July 25-26,
2020. The annual summer event will feature all the expected attractions
including special guests, live music, free play games, a massive vendor
hall and more. Vendor booth and ticket information will be available
soon.
If there is a
show or event you would
like listed here, free of charge, please contact David directly at trt@classicplastic.net.
Please include a short official blurb about your event along with any
relevant
links or contact information and it will be published in the next issue
of The Retrogaming Times. The event listing will remain posted
until
the issue following the event date. Big or small, we want to
promote
your show in our newsletter..
Check out
these great events, shows,
and conventions and let them know you read about them in The
Retrogaming
Times!
More
C64! - Jawx Is My Jam
by Merman
This issue we take a look back at perhaps one
of the strangest developers to grace the Commodore 64, with a string of
unusual
ideas that stood out. I am talking about the French developer Jawx,
whose games
made an impact on the British budget label Firebird.
AT THE BEGINNING
Jawx got its name from the famous movie (and
book) Jaws, and its logo was a stylised shark that formed the word
JAWX. Its
offices in Paris were based in Cite Paradise, an area known for its
jewelers. Jacques
Fleurance and Frédéric Pinlet were
two French businessmen who had little knowledge of the games industry
and would
come up with unusual ideas. It was then up to the other members of the
team, or
contract teams outside the group, to put them into action. American
musician
and composer Jim Cuomo provided music for some of the Jawx titles. And
one man
who joined the team was François Lionet, who had previously
programmed games on
the Oric computer. At Jawx he would start to learn the Commodore 64.
The bizarre
cover of Cock'In, and the Jawx logo appears as Chickin Chase loads from
tape.
PUBLISH AND BE
DAMNED
Two games are
held in the GameBase64 collection (www.gb64.com) with Jawx listed as
the
publisher, but this seems to be a mistake as it was a developer and not
a
publishing label. It's likely that another French company (possibly
Prism or
VIFI International) actually published the games with the Jawx logo on
them - there
are very few details online. Aghamix by
Daniel Delevoye actually spans two disks, but in my brief play for this
article
I found it very difficult to get past the first scene. The title screen
is
quite impressive with its starfield, and this effect is repeated in the
game.
The player controls a spaceship with asteroids / enemies moving out of
the screen
in 3D. Pressing fire in conjunction with up and down changes the
spaceship's
speed, but there does not seem to be any way to fire back in this first
section.
Bering was
programmed on the C64 by Herve LeMarchand, but it is actually a
conversion of
an earlier Oric game by François Lionet. The player controls a
white whale in
the Oric version (in homage to Moby Dick, perhaps) but on the C64 the
whale is
pink. The name comes from the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia,
but the
real one is hopefully not this dangerous. The whale must eat plankton
to
survive, surfacing to increase its oxygen levels, while avoiding the
sonar from
the boat, the depth charges and mines the boat drops and the chasing
submarine.
It is possible to change the level and parameters of the game (pressing
o for
Oui/Yes and n for Non/No as it's in French). The water level moves up
and down,
the speed of the boat and its sonar pulses can be changed and the
number of
mines and depth charges configured to make the game easier or harder.Even on the simplest settings this is a
really tough game.
Dodging the
asteroids in Aghamix, and the pink whale swims around in Bering.
AN ELEPHANT
NEVER FORGETS François' first
C64 game was Katuvu. This
unusual memory-based game was inspired by a
board
game from American designer Jack Randolph (and he is credited on the
game's
title screen.) François wanted a friendly creature to "talk" to
the player, and
since the game was all about memory he chose an elephant (which is
white when
animated on the title screen and then pink during gameplay). After
choosing the
number of players and the difficulty level, each player is shown a
series of
animated scenes. Then comes up to five questions on what the player has
seen -
how many birds were there, on which scene the boat appears, and so on.
The
player with the most correct answers wins. The animated scenes are
quite sweet,
but the game is all in French which can make playing it difficult if
you don't
know the language...
The animated
elephant from the Katuvu title sequence, and one of the animated scenes
from
the game itself.
THE BALCONY
SCENE
Serenade must go
down as one of the most bizarre titles of all time. The main game
screen shows
a moonlit night and a balcony. From the left the silhouette of a young
man appears,
playing a musical instrument which can be changed by pressing the four
function
keys. From the balcony on the right appears a young lady's silhouette -
if you
play well enough, the man approaches the balcony, hoping to climb up
for a
kiss. It is possible to choose from a menu of seven different tunes,
and the
woman will react based on the combination of tune and instrument; if
she
doesn't like it she will pull out a newspaper to read, or even walk
off. There
is surprisingly little gameplay here and it is almost incomprehensible
without
the instructions! François said years later he was "ashamed" of
this game.
The Serenade
title screen has falling tears, while the lady reacts badly to my
saxophone
playing.
MATADOR!
Olé(or Raging Beast in the UK, where it
caused controversy for the similarity of its name to the Robert DeNiro
film) is
another fascinating game. It is based on the sport of bullfighting,
popular in
Spain and the southwest of France. But it is not a gory game - the bull
cannot
die, and the worst that can happen to the matador is being trampled
into the
dust (before being carried off on a stretcher). What is also
interesting is
that Jawx co-founder Frédéric
Pinlet
drew the arena background and the animated bull. The matador starts
with the
cape and must pull it away as the bull charges past to score points.
Score
enough and the crowd throws a rosette into the bullring, which must be
picked
up and placed on the bull's horns. Score enough and the matador takes a
bow,
before you move onto the next arena. At game over, a large poster shows
the
score and name of the best bullfighter. Other neat touches include the
plane
flying overhead (towing a banner with the score on, or I HEART
JAWX) and the way the bull sits down as
the player is stretchered off. François recalls that the bull
had an "aggression" variable, rating the bull from 0 to 255 for how
angry it
was.
Getting
carried
off on a stretcher having been trampled by the Raging Beast, and the
rosette is
thrown from the crowd.
CHICKEN TONIGHT
And so on to perhaps the most French of the
Jawx games. It originally went by the name Cock'In but was changed to Chickin Chase when it appeared on
the Firebird label. You control the cockerel,
walking
around the chicken coop. At the start of the game he will go into the
hen house
to "service" the hen. She then walks up the ladder to the row of nests
and lays
an egg. It's up to the rooster to protect the eggs from the vermin who
try to
steal them. These include hedgehogs, rats, squirrels and snakes. But if
there
are no eggs left, the hen will come out of her house to batter the
cockerel
over the head with her umbrella (costing the player a life). So the
cockerel
must go back in to the hen house periodically; the longer he stays in,
the more
eggs the hen will lay - but all the time the other eggs are at risk.
The more
energy the cockerel uses, the slower he gets - so he needs to peck at
the corn
on the floor, the corn bins left and right of the screen and the juicy
worms
that pop up every now and then to regain energy and move faster again.
François programmed the Oric, Amstrad and C64
versions. The C64 version uses expanded sprites - giving large pixels
but a
very distinctive look (especially for the black & white
checkerboard
pattern representing the hedgehog's spines). The difficulty curve works
well,
getting more difficult the longer you play. And another nice touch is
the way
the cockerel winks on the title screen. The original French game had a
bizarre
cover picture of two people dressed up as chickens, but there were two
variations of the Firebird cover. The first follows other early
Firebird games
in having a screenshot on the front cover (which may seem strange now,
but was
quite common back then). The later re-release has a cartoon picture
instead,
with the cockerel running away from the angry hen.
The hen successfully lays
another egg, but
losing all the eggs sees the cockerel get battered.
THE END The legacy of Jawx has lasted a long time.
François
worked with Jawx on two products - STOS and AMOS. STOS was originally
planned
as a replacement for the GEM desktop of the Atari ST, but
François coded a
Basic-like language extension with lots of game-based functions (for
plotting
graphics, making sounds and detecting collisions). The resulting STOS
was used
to create commercial games. And, after his compulsory military service,
François
created the Amiga equivalent AMOS that helped many people into a career
making
games or working with computers. François would leave Jawx and
started a
lawsuit to prove he was the author of the games he created there, which
lasted
fifteen years. It prevented him creating a PC version of AMOS so he
formed new
company Clickteam. Its series of "game maker" utilities have been a
huge hit
and spawned many great games - including the horror series Five Nights
At
Freddy's and the fascinating puzzle game Baba Is You. François
received many
e-mails from people thanking him for AMOS in recent years, so he is now
creating AMOS 2 (www.amos2.org)
for modern machines, with the aim of
having
backwards compatibility to games created with the original AMOS. Parts of this article are based on knowledge
gained from my Retro Gamer (www.retrogamer.net)
interview with François
Lionet, to be published in issue
198.
The title of
my article this month comes from an Asian American Jazz band called
Hiroshima. They've been around for years and I remembered they
had a song called Mix Plate. If you’re interested in listening,
here it is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/64yyQuM8Bdw
This issue,
I’m going to talk about a couple of things that are unrelated.
The first
topic is regarding a nice home-brew project going on for the Atari
2600 that I accidentally stumbled upon. The home-brew
is a port of Galaga for the
venerable 2600 / VCS system by none other than Champ Games.
Those who have
read my columns through the years may remember I talked about Champ
Games several times in the past. Thanks to the Internet, I know
the original Champ Games got shut down due to copyright issues or
something along those lines. Well, I guess the original guy who
started Champ Games is back. I don’t know why and when Champ
Games restarted, but they are back and a lot of games are in the
pipeline.
As I didn't
grow up playing on the Atari 2600, Galaga for the 2600 isn't something
I would look for. But after stumbling upon a video demoing the
game, I have to say I am impressed. The Atari 2600 is 42 years
old (released in 1977) and yet this version of Galaga plays much like
the arcade game. I’ll be interested in seeing the final
product and maybe I’ll have to get it and play on a 2600 emulator or
something.
Now if someone
would try to make an Apple II version of Galaga, that would be
fantastic. Though a developer did make a game called Alien
Downpour...
The second
topic for this issue is the current generation of video games. My
buddy and I got some promos and were able to play games for an extended
period of time at Dave & Busters recently. Don’t get me
wrong, I had fun playing games with my buddy. But it was mostly
first person shooting games and not much strategy involved besides
blasting away. Luckily, we had unlimited play so we could keep
playing until we finished the games.
But I admit I
miss the days of playing the simple games like a Galaga or
Pac-Man. I’m sure there may be those types of games out there,
but they weren't at Dave & Busters! That’s why I still
have the Midway Arcade series on my Xbox One and wish it was on my
Nintendo Switch.
Anyway, I’ll
get off my soap box now. See you all in a couple of months.
In my prior articles about Pac-Man
games I reviewed a series of Pac-Man titles for various Atari consoles,
from the 2600 to the Jaguar. In this article I'm shifting to another
retro system. This time I'm taking a look at Pac-Man games for the
Mattel Intellivision. Mattel always promoted their console as being
superior to the Atari 2600 using comparisons of sports games on TV
commercials. So, are the Pac-Man games better on this console? Let's
have a look.
Commercial
Releases
For better or worse, the
Intellivision did not get many Pac-Man titles during its commercial
run. In fact, the only title that was ported for the console back then
was the original Pac-Man. This was really unfortunate for fans of the
console as the system was clearly capable of adaptations of the other
Pac-Games. At least the one port the system got was worth playing and
was likely the envy of 2600 owners.
Pac-Man
In what can only be described as
irony, the port of Pac-Man for the Intellivision was released by none
other than Atari under the AtariSoft brand. The programmers for this
port must have been aware of the issues with the 2600 version because
this version shows a much better effort at adapting the game to a home
system. Had I seen the Intellivision version back then, I would have
been quite jealous of my friends who owned the system. Though this port
is not identical to the arcade, it brings home pretty much all the
elements of the game. First, there is a title screen that welcomes you
when you start the game. This screen is mostly a huge Atari logo with
the game's name but it is something nice to have. The maze has been
simplified but it looks remarkably close to the arcade's and retains
that version's colors. Pac-Man himself looks as he should and does not
have an eye like on the 2600 port. There is a waca-waca sound as
Pac-Man eats the dots and the siren plays in the background. The maze
is full of white dots and all the bonus items are present and accounted
for. Each one of these bonus items is nicely rendered in two colors and
grant you the correct score. The monsters, though looking similar to
their 2600 cousins, are rendered in four colors and their behavior is
like that of the arcade game. As one final touch, this port even
includes the intermissions we all know and love.
Pac-Man (Atari)
In short, this port of Pac-Man
captures every element of the arcade game rather well. The only thing
that could be better is the title screen. Yes, I did say it is nice to
have the one it has but it would have been better to have something
like the arcade with the monsters showing up and Pac-Man at the end
before going into an attract mode. If you're wondering about
controlling Pac-Man, I am happy to say there are no issues. The discs
work well and Pac-Man moves about just as you want him to. The game
also includes a two-player alternating mode so you can compete with a
friend if you want. Any fan of Pac-Man should have this title if they
own an Intellivision.
Homebrew
Releases
Despite having done a pretty good job
porting Pac-Man to the Intellivision, neither Atari nor any other
company, ever ported any of the other Pac-Games to the system.
Thankfully, the Intellivision has a pretty active homebrew community
and these programmers have done a lot to further grow the system's game
library. Thanks to the folks from IntelligentVision, the Intellivision
now has two additional titles from the Pac-Man game family: Ms. Pac-Man
and Jr. Pac-Man. Both of these titles are impressive and show off what
the Intellivision can pull off. Let's have a look at both of these
titles...
Ms. Pac-Man
Programmed by Carl Muller, Jr., Ms.
Pac-Man for the Intellivision takes things up quite a few notches when
compared to Atari's port of Pac-Man for the system. Not only is the
game an adaptation of the arcade hit, but also one that expands upon
it. When you turn on your Intellivision, you're welcomed to a
beautifully rendered title screen within which you can just choose to
start the game or you can check out an options menu. This is where
things get interesting as now you choose who you want to play as: Ms.
Pac-Man, Pac-Man or Jr. Pac-Man. You can select to play in either a
Normal Mode or a Hard mode. You can select the number of lives you want
to have to play the game, when you want to get a bonus life, the speed
at which your Pac-Character moves, the speed of the ghosts, the game
rules and even the mazes! You see, this game offers not just the
original four mazes (or near enough adaptations of them), but it also
offers four different maze themes to choose from: Extra, Wide, Strange,
and Random. With all these themes, the game has more than 24 mazes for
the player to enjoy!
Ms. Pac-Man (Carl Muller, Jr.)
But, how is the gameplay? Well, it is
everything you've come to expect from Ms. Pac-Man. The control works
very well, the sound effects are excellent and the graphics themselves
are superb. The mazes, though not an exact copy of the arcade mazes,
are close enough approximations in appearance and color. The bonus
items move around the maze as they should and they are rendered in two
colors. The Pac-Characters themselves all look great and monsters are
simplified but nicely done. They look better than the ones in Atari's
Pac-Man, even they have holes for eyes. Of course, all the
intermissions we are familiar with have also been included in this
port. All in all, this is a remarkable title for the system that should
not be missed by anyone who owns an Intellivision.
Jr. Pac-Man
In 1983, Bally Midway surprised us
with a new Pac-Man game in the arcades that was based on the son of
Pac-Man and the Ms. That game was Jr. Pac-Man! Interestingly enough,
this game led to the end of the relationship between Namco and Bally
Midway as it was developed without the former's agreement. Regardless,
the game did fairly well and saw a home port for the Atari 2600. Though
other ports were developed, they were not released as this was around
the time Jack Tramiel bought Atari. Well, that meant that AtariSoft was
not asked to port the game to any systems, which meant the
Intellivision did not see a port of this game back then. Well, worry
not because Intellivision Revolution fixed this by adapting the game
for the system.
Jr. Pac-Man
(Intellivision Revolution)
For those who may not have played Jr.
Pac-Man in the arcade, in this game there are seven mazes that are so
huge that they scroll horizontally and there are no escape tunnels for
Jr to use. The action on this game I faster than the other Pac-Games,
making this the toughest of the series to play. If you think this port
does not capture the difficulty of the arcade, you're in for a
surprise. As was the case with Ms. Pac-Man, this port takes the arcade
version and expands upon it. When you turn on the system, you actually
can have one of three title screens that you can choose from. The
options menu lets you select one or two players, the start level, the
number of lives, the score at which you get extra lives, and Jr's
speed. The seven original mazes are here pretty well rendered with
horizontal and vertical scrolling so they can be arcade accurate. Of
course, that's not all as there are seven additional mazes that are
exclusive to the Intellivision for those who want even more of a
challenge. As if that weren't enough, all the mazes can be played as
“snow levels” where Jr. Pac-Man now wears a Santa hat instead of his
usual propeller beanie. In addition, all the intermissions have also
been included.
Jr. Pac-Man
(Intellivision Revolution)
Visually the game looks great! Jr.
Pac-Man is well animated with his propeller beanie, the ghosts have
been redesigned to look close to the arcade (though they still have
hallow eyes), and all the bonus items are here (along with their
explosive feature). This time the bonus items are rendered in one color
but they look good. Sound effects are well done as well and the control
works very well. Overall, this is one excellent port of the arcade game
for the system and one that I highly recommend if you're a fan of this
particular Pac-Man title.
Concluding
Remarks
Despite the Intellivision only having
one official release of a Pac-Man game during its commercial life, the
homebrew community has made certain the console got additional Pac-Man
titles for gamers to enjoy. Both Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man are
excellent ports for the system that not only bring the fun of the
arcade to the Intellivision, but also add their own unique features
that make owning them even more desirable. I'm not sure if any other
Pac-Man titles will ever be released for the system (it'd be
interesting to see a version of Super Pac-Man adapted to the
Intellivision) but surely the titles that are now available are a
source of great fun. Only time will tell what else the homebrew
community will bring to this venerable system.
Four twelve consecutive years I have
attended California Extreme, an annual arcade and pinball show first
began in 1997 when a group of arcade
collectors and enthusiasts came together to share their games with each
other and the public. For 2019 it was once again hosted at the Hyatt
Regency, Santa
Clara, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. No other large
arcade show has remained as true to its roots as a celebration of the
arcade era, arcade gaming, and arcade game collecting. A modest entry
fee grants access to the show, which stretches over two days - Saturday
11am to 2am the next morning and Sunday 11am to 9pm. In addition
to a show badge and lanyard, pre-registration also allows entry into
the
multiple convention ballrooms a full hour before general entry
begins. All
games at the show are free play, meaning the single entry fee is good
for
two full days of arcade gaming and pinball action.
As in recent years,
Marco Specialties had a rather large area showcasing the latest pinball
offerings and parts.
These days
California Extreme essentially takes over the entire Hyatt Regency in
addition to parts of the adjoined Santa Clara Convention center.
The entire main ballroom of the Hyatt is configured as a single massive
showroom that contains the bulk of the games as well as vendor tables
throughout. A smaller ballroom just around the corner features
more games and vendors, including the cocktail tables and smaller size
cabaret machines. On the other side of the Hyatt lobby a
conference room is used for speakers, panels, and screenings with a
lineup that changes every year. Upstairs above the conference
room is where the pinball tournament is held, in a separate room that
frees up space in the main ballroom for more games. Across from
the pinball tournament room there is yet another large ballroom that
features console games, more vendors, and live music on Saturday
night. Admission grants access to all of this, however some of
the tournaments throughout the weekend do have entry fees that are used
as prize pools.
A typical row at
California Extreme will feature a wealth of arcade history and they're
all there to be played.
It's
impossible to showcase everything that California Extreme offers in
text or pictures, it really must be experienced. There truly are
hundreds upon hundreds of games to play, including prototypes, extreme
rarities, and the occasional one-off. As I live within a few
minutes of the show, my wife and I made the usual drive up on Saturday
morning about a half hour before pre-registration show admission.
Badge pick up was smoother than in recent years but I think it had more
to do with my name range having nobody in line compared to every other
name block. Show organizers stress on picking up your badge as
early as possible to help alleviate the congestion but there's usually
still a massive line to get up to where individual name brackets break
off. Part of this is due to how narrow the hallway is outside of
the main entrance and of course the massive attendance the show has
grown to. I spent all of Saturday at the show, only leaving
briefly to have lunch and dinner at nearby restaurants. Unlike in
years previous, I did not attend any of the speaker panels or live
music, instead remaining in the two larger ballrooms to play
games. Sunday was very much the same, although I wasn't feeling
well in the afternoon and headed home for awhile before returning for
the last few hours of the show that evening. For this year's
annual show report, I'll be focusing on a few things of interest I
encountered on the show floor.
The very impressive
Darius II project that Norcal Arcade Club brought to the show, running
on a large projection screen (insert)
A standout
game that was located in the smaller ballroom was an amazing
implementation of Darius II.
Released by Taito in 1989, the massive arcade cabinet originally
utilized two monitors and a diagonal mirror to give the game a seamless
widescreen display. The setup at California Extreme used special
FPGA (field-programmable gate array) hardware to allow single-monitor
widescreen output from an original Darius II arcade board. This
is all connected to a CRT projector from the same era as the game,
allowing it to be played with no latency. Even the projector was
specially modified to replicate the visual aspect ratio of the original
display, allowing for a completely seamless, single screen, hardware
based solution to run original Darius II hardware as it was
intended. Additionally the game was modified to have a free play
option, as the original did not include a setting for it. It was
a privilege to play not only such a rare game but to be able to play it
in a way that faithfully replicates how it was played originally.
That said, I was reminded by my abysmal gameplay that I stink at
every Darius game other than Gaiden and G-Darius. I did have a
decent run with another show attendee but I admit that he was
absolutely carrying me nearly the entire time.
Power Drift (left),
Thunder Blade (center), Time Traveler (right)
Sega was very
well represented this year with a couple games I hadn't played in quite
a long time. There's usually an Out
Run machine at the show, and this year was no different, but the
steering wheel shaker motor on the one there this year was working -
and I forgot how much it adds to the experience of playing the
game. Power Drift is one
I hadn't seen in awhile, although I've never cared much for the game
but I couldn't remember why. That was until I played a few games
and it all came back to me. While very impressive visually, I
never got a handle on playing smoothly and quickly recalled that was
the same problem I've always had with the game. The cabinet
itself wasn't at fault, as the machine at the show was in very nice
condition and playing correctly. I guess I'll keep my insane Sega
super scaler driving game love relegated to the equally hard to find
Radmobile. Thunder Blade
on the other hand is a game I've always had a soft spot for, as
forgotten as it seems to be in the Sega arcade catalog. The sense
of scale and depth in Thunder Blade is honestly one of the most
impressive of Sega's arcade games that used sprites to create a 3D
perspective, only eclipsed by Galaxy Force in my opinion. The
last time I played Thunder Blade on an arcade machine was at this lame
indoor batting cages and mini golf place, right after I moved to the
central valley over twenty-five years ago. Their arcade had like
ten machines but one of them was the deluxe Thunder Blade cabinet on
the skids with the full flight stick. There was also a Time Traveler this year, running on
Sega's Hologram LaserDisc system. The game may be a strange
novelty but I still love seeing one in action. Just the sound of
the game brings back memories of first encountering a newly delivered
cabinet at the massive Tilt that used to reside at the now dead Vallco
mall in Cupertino. Lastly there was an absolutely beautiful Turbo upright that was completely
working and a joy to play.
Johnny Mnemonic
(left), Indianapolis 500 (center), The Big Lebowski (right)
After
returning to the show on Sunday evening after heading home for a couple
hours, I heard an announcement that the pinball tournament events had
been completed for the weekend and the tournament room was open for
general free play. My wife and I headed up to the tournament room
to find a few of my favorite tables and one I thought I would never
encounter. The machines in the tournament room were in absolutely
beautiful showcase condition. Two of my favorites, Johnny Mnemonic and The Shadow, are games that truly
live or die based upon having everything working correctly on
them. The examples here played like they were factory
fresh. While the big-budget film revival of The Shadow was
ultimately a flop, the pinball adaptation is a fast and challenging
game with tons of depth. Most seem to hate the Keanu Reeves
sci-fi film Johnny Mnemonic, which meant that it was a license that
didn't draw people in once the pinball machine was released. This
is a shame, as with The Shadow, Johnny Mnemonic is an outstanding table
that perfectly integrates the license (for better or worse depending on
opinion) into a deep and rewarding game. Personally I've always
enjoyed the movie and it was a treat to be able to once again play a
Johnny Mnemonic pinball in such beautiful condition. Indianapolis 500 is another of my
favorite tables and one that doesn't seem to get much attention
although it perfectly integrates its theme. It's not the deepest
or most challenging game but it's pure fun with spectacular flow and
exemplification of what made Indy Car so exciting during its release
era.
However if
there is one pinball machine at California Extreme this year that truly
brought in the crowd, it was The Big
Lebowski. Standing atop its matching themed rug, the
machine sat at the center of the room, the true showpiece of the
tournament area. If you've ever played Shenmue II and recall how
the After Burner machine was in its own special area, that's the vibe I
got from how The Big Lebowski was presented. Designed by the
small independent team at Dutch Pinball, The Big Lebowski created a
storm of interest from the day it was announced. One of those
"why didn't anyone else think of doing a pin about that" licenses,
collectors and players waited with bated breath for the day the games
would actually ship. However a wash of behind-the-scenes
production, manufacturing, and financing issues lead to less than fifty
of the machines actually being built and delivered before massive legal
infighting began between all parties involved. The future of the
game remains up in the air to this day and it truly is a shame as the
game is a ton of fun. The theming integration, the artwork, the
playfield toys - it just feels good. It's fun in a way where a
game can be pure fun for an adult audience. Although it doesn't
look like it'll happen, I really would love to see the game get a full
production and support path so more of them can get out to the public.
One final
shoutout has to do with this bartop cabinet that has made an appearance
every year of recent memory. It always has a rather
non-mainstream game in it but its eclectic mix over the years has
matched right up with games I personally enjoy. One year it
housed Tiger-Heli, my favorite of Toaplan's shooters although
admittedly far from a spectacular game. Another it featured Alcon
(also known as Slap Fight), a very important Toaplan shooter that
combined elements from Xevious and Gradius to essentially create the
template for vertical shooters that would follow it. This year
the cabinet was running Son of Phoenix,
another of my favorite obscure shooters. Originally released by
Sega as Repulse, Son of Phoenix is a regional bootleg released by
Associated Overseas MFR, Inc that I first discovered when setting up my
classic vertical MAME cabinet years ago. It plays a bit like the
later Space Invaders games (Majestic Twelve for instance) with the
player controlling a cannon that can be moved around the lower portion
of the screen. One button fires and the other puts up a temporary
force field for defense. What makes the game stand out are the
variety of enemies and the speed in which they appear and attack.
The sound effects are also pretty unique. Son of Phoenix is far
from a classic but if you've never played it, I recommend giving it a
try.
One criticism
I have for this year was how the cocktail tables were laid out in the
smaller room. Not only were they way too close to one another to
allow space to have a chair on each side, they were in a doubled up
configuration. This meant you had to climb over the chair on the
adjacent machine to get access to the game on the side opposite the
aisle. It also meant that if someone sat the at adjacent machine,
you were now trapped and couldn't get up without asking them to get up
from their game. Think of airline seats but arcade cocktail
tables laid out like that. This made the games both hard to get
to and difficult to enjoy. I was surprised by this, as there's
usually plenty of room in the smaller ballroom. However there was
a Virtual Reality demonstration set up next to the cocktail row, which
appeared to reduce the amount of space for the tables. Adding a
bit of insult to injury, the VR area operated in a specific time
window, meaning its allocated space was often unoccupied, especially on
Saturday evening. Sadly the cocktail tables seem to have become a
bit of a backwater at the show. Years ago they were outside the
main exhibit hall, which was great but people were constantly abusing
the machines and leaving food and drink on them, which is simply
asinine behavior. I agree that bringing the cocktail tables back
inside where they have a reasonable amount of protection from morons
was a great move, but they really need more space as many of us love to
play them and they provide a moment of rest and relaxation while still
playing games. Heck, the Galaxian cocktail table I used to own
was purchased from the first California Extreme I attended back in 2008.
I can't think
of many other events
that I've attended for so long, with so much regularity, that I still
look forward to every year. California Extreme is simply a great
time
for all ages. My annual show report is in no way an
all-encompassing narrative of what CAX has to offer. There is so
much to see and do beyond simply playing hundreds of arcade and pinball
games. Panels, speakers, screenings, live music, tutorials,
demonstrations, seminars, vendors, competitions, conversations - there
really is a massive variety of things to see and do. I want to
especially commend the show
staff and voulenteers working the doors for way fewer incidents of food
and drink coming into the ballrooms and much stricter wristband
verification - they were really on top of it this year. On the
other hand, I don't commend the dude that I swear blew
chunks in front of one of the VirtualOn machines on Sunday morning
and then acted like nothing happened. That wasn't cool, man. As always, a
tremendously huge thanks to the Extreme Team, exhibitors,
volunteers and everyone else who comes together to host this show every
year! I can't wait for 2020.
Not all video
game home console systems were successful. In fact, back in the mid to
late
1970's,
most were new to the everyday gamer and a gamble to purchase based on
its price
and reputation. There
were a handful of companies trying to make the next best thing, one of
these
examples is the RCA Studio II. This home console was released to the
public in
January of 1977. The graphics were basic black and white, and there
were not
a lot of games to choose from. When most console systems were trying to
perfect
the controller, RCA stuck with the button keypads to do the necessary
movements
to the game. There are two sides to the console, labeled A and B.
Each side
has ten buttons which are numbered as a telephone with the 0 at
the
bottom. A single button in the middle, "Clear" will handle the reset of
the
ongoing game. This console, like the Atari 5200 has only one cord that
connects
both the video and audio together. The experiment to have the games in
black
and white could have been the reason for the short life cycle of the
RCA system,
or the controller was one that users did not seem to grasp and
understand. The
price itself was another reason, where back in 1977 was sold for
$149.95, which
in today's money would be like spending over 600 dollars on
a
system. It was a very hefty price for what is was offering to the
public. The
RCA Studio II only had 16
games. Five games were built into the machine (Addition, Bowling,
Doodle,
Freeway and Patterns). I will focus on three games and how the
controller
was used
to play these early console titles.
The
first game that I feel people will recognize is Space War. This
shooting game
has been recreated many times for other platforms, but the RCA Studio
II was
one of the first to create a home version. The graphics could not be
any more
basic. There is really not any complex rules or instructions to play
the game. It
can be plugged in and turned on ready to play, however, the controller
can be a
bit confusing with all the button on each side of it. Here is really
the
breakdown of how to use it effectively.
Once
you
insert the cartridge and turn on the system, you will need to hit the
"clear"
button to launch the game and then button 1 to start. You begin the
game with
20 rocket missiles, needing to shoot the enemy spaceships. To fire one
of the
rockets you will hit the number 2 button on the left-hand side of the
controller. The tricky part and the most interactive, is that you can
control
the missiles while they are being shot. This task happens when you
press button
4 or 6 on the right-hand side of the controller. 4 will move the
missile "left" and 6 will move it "right." The game ends when you use
all the
rockets
or all the enemy ships pass. The player with the highest score wins.
Space War
for the RCA mixed it up a little for a more competitive gameplay by
making
another version on the cartridge. This game is called "Vertical
Intercept". The
controls are a bit different than the normal gameplay. This game has
both
players on the same screen at once and one player uses the left numeric
pad and
the other uses the right pad. To fire the missiles uses button two on
each
side. Button 3 starts the game. The player with the highest score at
the end of
the round wins. Space War is a fun interactive game that can be played
alone or
with friends.
Driving
games are always a huge hit for gamers. Whether it's an arcade, home
console or
PC. There have been so many driving games created in the gaming age,
but it is
fun to look back at some of the originals. One of these is a game that
comes
built in with the RCA Studio II system, Freeway. Freeway is your basic
vertical driving game which involves dodging the oncoming cars. You
have 2
minutes to complete the race. Accidents will lower your score and slow
you
down. The higher the score the better and you can compete with others.
The
controls depend on the number of players, 1 or 2. In a 1 player game
you will
hit button 4 on the left side to setup game, and then press 0 to start.
You
steer the car using the right-side control pad with button 4 moving the
car
left and button 6 moving the button right. To make the car move faster
or
slower you can hit the 2 button (faster) or 8 button (slower) on the
left-hand
keypad. It's almost like using a keyboard for PC users where you need
both
hands to interact the car with the keypad. If you decide to play with
another,
one player will use the left side and the other the right. Scoring will
be
displayed at the end of the game. Scoring will vary depending on 1 or 2
player
games. The basic graphics and the beat the clock scoring make this
racing game
an exciting addition to the system. Even the most basic driving game
can be fun
and completive. Freeway is definitely one of those.
Space War (left),
Freeway (center), Bowling (right)
Another
game that is built into the system at launch is a sport I am personally
passionate about, Bowling. I have been bowling since I was 8 years old,
I have
13 perfect games and three 800 series rings. Bowling has been a huge
part
of my
life and I try to play as many of the bowling games as I can. I enjoy
playing
live at the lanes as well as home on the consoles. Bowling for the RCA
system
is one pre-Atari 2600 where bowling really took off on the home
consoles. However,
this version is just as fun and completive to play. Bowling is one of
the games
that is only two players to play. If you are alone you can play as
both,
taking
turns on each shot. The controls are similar to other RCA games as the
1st
player uses the left side and the 2nd player uses the right side of
the controller. The rules are just like real bowling as you get two
shots
to
knock down (hit) all the pins. If you strike you only get one turn.
When it's
your turn the ball on the left side will move up and down. You have
three
options
at this point. You can hit button 2 to hook the ball upwards, 5 to
throw the
ball straight or 8 to hook the ball downwards. This is key to the
strategy of
scoring high. It will take a lot of practice to master the timing of
the shots.
As in the game of bowling, there are 10 frames and a perfect score is
300. At
the end of the game, the player with the highest score wins. Sometimes
I feel
as a golden age gamer, that the more basic the graphics and controls,
the more
fun the game is. This version of bowling is no exception. It's simple
to play,
but hard to master. This makes the game fun to play multiple times and
with
friends and family.
The
RCA Studio II was a short-lived system, it really only
made it a year. With the new systems like the Atari 2600 to follow and
the huge
price of the system, this made consumers shy away and not purchase it,
which made sales really low and finally forced to shut down. Still, in
its
short reign, there were some fun games and great entertainment back in
the late 1970's. The controller, as unusual as it is, did not really
scare other
manufactures away, for example, the Intellivision system uses the
numeric keypad
as a controller as well and by some is considered one of the best early
console
systems made. Graphics aside and the use of black and white, these
games are
still worth a try. If you are one of the few to still have one, I
recommend plugging it in and playing with friends and family one more
time to
relive the early days of gaming.
Every Friday on The Retrogaming Times
Facebook
page (facebook.com/theretrogamingtimes),
we present a Weekly Retrogaming Trivia question. This
just-for-fun
trivia challenge provided each week is an opportunity to test your
arcane
and oddball retrogaming knowledge. The answer to the question
from
the previous week is posted along with a new trivia question every
Friday!
Below is the recap of all
questions and
answers posted between this issue and the previous issue:
06/28/2019 - WEEK 121 Question: The
original Atari 7800 ProSystem release included what game as a pack-in?
07/05/2019
- WEEK 122 Question: What
balloon popping Namco arcade game requires players to pedal for motion?
07/12/2019
- WEEK 123 Question: In Chrono
Trigger, how many Silver Points are awarded for defeating Gato?
07/19/2019
- WEEK 124 Question: What
three-player arcade game used three trackballs on a single cabinet for
player input?
07/26/2019
- WEEK 125 Question: In an
undefeated run of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, which three boxers must be
challenged twice?
08/02/2019
- WEEK 126 Question: In
Crystal Castles (1983), a Gem Eater can only be destroyed when it is
doing what?
08/09/2019
- WEEK 127 Question:
Infamously revealed by dipping a piece of documentation in water, what
frequency allows Sub-C to locate Dr. Jones in StarTropics (NES)?
08/16/2019
- WEEK 128 Question: What 1987
arcade game served as an updated remake of Atari's classic Asteroids?
08/23/2019
- WEEK 129 Question: What
Exidy arcade game is named after a character with dual natures?
Gato serves as an
introduction to the battle system in Chrono Trigger (left), StarTropics
featured the lone NES "feely" required for game advancement (right)
Answers: Week 121 Answer: Pole Position
II. Week 122 Answer: Prop Cycle
(1996). Week 123 Answer: Fifteen. Week 124 Answer: Rampart (1990). Week 125 Answer: Piston Honda,
Don Flamenco, and Bald Bull. Week 126 Answer: Eating a gem. Week 127 Answer: 747MHz. Week 128 Answer: Blasteroids. Week 129 Answer: Pepper II, the
"two" in relation to the angel / devil duality of the player character,
Pepper.
Confusingly titled,
Exidy's Pepper II was a play on the dual nature of the game's
protagonist
We
need your questions! If
you have a trivia question you would like to submit for possible
inclusion
in the Weekly Retrogaming Trivia question pool, e-mail it to trt@classicplastic.net!
If you question is selected to be featured, you will be entered in our
year-end prize drawing!
In
anticipation of the upcoming release of Shenmue III, I recently
completed the HD remakes of Shenmue and Shenmue II on PlayStation
4. I had played through both these games countless times, on
every format they had previously been released on. That includes
playing a hacked version of Shenmue II on the Dreamcast that had the
English dialogue from the Xbox version inserted into it, requiring the
use of larger capacity CD-R media to get as close as possible to the
size of a Dreamcast GD-Rom. The original Shenmue played on PS4
without a hitch on that I could detect and was as enjoyable as
ever. Shenmue II on the other hand, had a number of timing and
input issues related to the more advanced Quick Timer Events (QTE) the
sequel featured. I could live with the timing being a little off
but in many instances entirely incorrect button combinations would be
displayed on screen, along with much tighter time requirements for
input. The worst example of this was during the optional hidden
fight with Izumi Takano, which allows the duck racing minigame to be
accessed. When Izumi winds up her special attack, the only way to
counter it is to input two commands consisting of the two horizontal
face buttons (Square and Circle in this case), then the two vertical
face buttons (Triangle and X), which must be done accurately and
immediately when prompted. The problem arises from the HD remake
of the game displaying improper and seemingly random QTE input
requests, including prompting use of the directional pad in this
instance. This means if you've never played the game previously
or didn't look up the correct sequence online you would never be able
to complete this part of the game. In essence it's a game
breaking issue created by the HD conversion.
That got me to
thinking about HD remakes of games from a couple generations
back. For the most part people request them due to the change in
television technology between now and when they were originally
released. It doesn't seem to be so much a desire to have a game
remade but instead have an older game reworked to be accurately
playable on modern HD televisions via HDMI output. Effectively
the desire is to future-proof these games, at least for another decade
or so. In other words, the remake is more or less a replacement
for the original from its release point forward. When the remake
process introduces bugs that weren't present in the original game, to
the point where they cripple part of the original experience, I believe
it does more harm than if the game was never remade in the first
place. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that the previous two Shenmue
games were remade for current display standards, but they're far from a
replacement for the original releases due to these unaddressed
technical issues. Have you encountered a similar issue with a
remake of an older game? If so, drop me a line about it!
Thank you once
again for reading The Retrogaming
Times. We'll be back on November 1st with our next issue, the
final for 2019.
Be sure
to follow The
Retrogaming Times on Facebook and join our community for the latest
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sincerely
hope you enjoyed this issue and that you will return to read the next
issue
and possibly submit an article yourself. Remember, this
newsletter
can only exist with your help. Simply send your articles directly
to me at trt@classicplastic.net or check out the submission guidelines
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tradition!
