It's great to
be back on schedule and publishing on time again. I sincerely
hope all our readers had a wonderful end to 2019 and a beginning to
2020 filled with retrogaming fun. Before we get started, I want
to extend an invitation to all our readers to consider contributing to
The Retrogaming Times. It's as easy as writing an article and
sending it in! We're always looking for fresh perspectives,
reviews, memories and musings about retrogames! Additionally if
you spread the word when a new issue releases, let me know and we'll
feature your site on our announcement index! Remember, our
newsletter is 100% written by retrogamers just like you!
The new decade begins with nostalgic board games translated to
Commodore 64 in this issue's cover story, the second part in Merman's
look into Parker Brothers properties on the platform. In another
follow up, Sean Robinson offers ideas of how to spend post-holiday cash
on retrogaming goods. A new retrogame music album column, Game
Tunes, begins with a review of a hard rocking tribute to classic
gaming. Todd Friedman returns with an announcement of a book
that he assisted in the creation of. The Sega Dreamcast closes
out its first two decades on the planet, as detailed by Sean
Robinson. All that and
more are ahead in this issue of The Retrogaming Times!
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! - Parker Brothers Part 2 - The Board Games
by Merman
In last issue's feature we looked at how Parker Brothers
had moved from board games into video games. But there have also been
several conversions from Parker Brothers board games into video games
for the C64. Here then are some of the best, along with games that are
now part of the Hasbro conglomerate that currently owns Parker
Brothers. The British company Leisure Genius was responsible for
several of these games; Gametek did the Sorry! conversion and the Gang of
Five programmed Risk for
Virgin.
The Leisure Genius logo
from 1984's Scrabble, and Gametek's logo from Sorry!
CLUE (AKA CLUEDO) Devised 1943 First published by Waddington's in the UK 1949 Leisure Genius computer edition 1984
The classic murder mystery board game was created by
Anthony and Elva Pratt, but post-war shortages meant manufacturing did
not begin until 1949. The game was known as Cluedo, but was licensed to
Parker Brothers simultaneously for the American market and renamed Clue.
There are six suspects for the murder of Mr. Boddy
(Doctor Black in the
UK), with six possible weapons in one of nine possible rooms. By making
suggestions and collecting clues, the player must deduce the correct
solution hidden in the Solution Envelopes at the start of the game.
In the computer version, the computer will play any
characters not
controlled by a human. After the dice roll, a simple menu gives access
to the various gameplay options. If you want to look at your clue
cards, the computer will advise you to cover the screen so other human
players don't see them. Although the controls are a little clunky,
there are some nice touches - including a little theme tune for each
character.
Trivia: The game
Clue appeared
on Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis in 1992, developed by Sculptured
Software and published by Parker Brothers.
Miss Scarlett makes a
suggestion, and rolls the dice for her turn.
CLUE MASTER DETECTIVE (AKA CLUEDO MASTER DETECTIVE) Devised & first published by Waddington's in the UK
1988 Leisure Genius computer edition 1990
The board game Master Detective changed the rules, with
12 rooms, 10 characters and 8 possible weapons. There was more than one
version, with the later UK edition adding "Clue tokens" that the
players picked up and offered more help. The solution was now held in
three plastic wallets, and used colour codes at the corner (revealed by
sliding a small flap) to help the player identify the killer, room and
murder weapon.
The computer version plays more conventionally, missing
out the plastic
wallet and Clue tokens. It does include the extra characters and a
menu-driven game. Once again there are neat touches, including the
rolling dice and overhead view of the mansion.
Trivia: The 1985
film Clue,
starring Tim Curry as the butler Wadsworth, is based on the board game
and had three alternative endings. Originally these were to be shown at
different cinemas, but all three appear on the video release and the TV
version. Although it initially failed to make back its budget at the
box office, it now has a cult following.
Choosing from the expanded
cast, and Sgt. Gray makes a suggestion.
MONOPOLY Devised 1903/1932 First published by Parker Brothers in 1935 Leisure Genius computer version 1985
The original idea can be traced back to The Landlord's
Game devised by anti-monopolist Lizzie Magie, who took out a patent in
1904 and self-published it in 1905 - with rent and cardboard houses
added in the re-patented 1923 edition. After playing the game at a
dinner party in 1932, Charles Darrow started to publish a similar game
called Monopoly, based on locations in Atlantic City. This was bought
up by Parker Brothers and became a smash hit that remains on sale today.
The early work of computer company Leisure Genius was
published through
the Virgin Games label. Monopoly took an interesting angled view of the
board, with a larger view of the squares being moved through at the
bottom of the screen. A pair of dice rolls onto the board to determine
movement, with the player's money and options (selected by pressing the
first letter) shown top right. Up to six players can take part,
represented by the classic tokens. Although the speed of play is quite
slow, all the familiar aspects of the game are well represented - with
the occasional sound effect (such as a police siren when going to jail)
adding to the atmosphere.
Trivia: Leisure
Genius
published a compilation on disk and tape of its first three board game
releases - Monopoly, Scrabble and Cluedo. The BASIC game Monopole
played a decent game of Monopoly and was converted into several
languages.
Choosing from the six
familiar tokens, and making a move after rolling the dice.
MONOPOLY DELUXE Leisure Genius computer version 1988
This second attempt at Monopoly by Leisure Genius
features a similar view of the board. But this time the game is
controlled by a menu bar at the top of the screen, with the keyboard
shortcuts of pressing the letters still present. The graphics and sound
are improved, but the menu system does make some aspects harder to do
(for example, building properties). There are separate European and
American versions; the European has London properties like the UK
version of the board game, while the American edition reverts to the
classic Atlantic City property names.
Trivia: The Board
Genius
cassette compilation featured four of the games reviewed here - Cluedo
Master Detective, Monopoly Deluxe, Scrabble Deluxe and the cassette
version of Risk.
The computer draws a Chance
card, while the dice roll along the street.
RISK Devised in 1957 First published by Parker Brothers in 1959 Virgin computer version published 1988
French filmmaker Albert Lemorisse devised and published
the game in France under the title La Conquête du Monde (The
Conquest of the World). Parker Brothers bought the rights and it became
an international hit under the new name. The board splits the world
into 42 territories and the players must try to conquer as many as
possible. Dice determine the outcome of battles when two armies meet,
with cards collected and played to gain reinforcements.
In the case of Risk, the cassette and disk versions were
different. The
disk version accessed regularly to load in more information and
graphics, while the cassette had fewer options and had to be reloaded
once a game was finished. Both games used a sword pointer to access the
menus and choose territories from the large, scrolling world map.
Although it captures the original well, it can be very slow to play.
Trivia: There have been several variations of the board
game Risk,
including Castle Risk, Secret Mission Risk and Risk 2210 A.D. After
recent franchise-themed versions, Winning Moves licensed the game from
Hasbro and released 1959 Risk as a tribute to the original.
The impressive disk loading
screen, and Ukraine on the attack against South Europe.
SCRABBLE Devised in 1938 First published 1949 (by J W Spears in the UK from 1955) Leisure Genius computer version 1984
Alfred Butts had created an earlier word game called
Lexiko, but came up with the familiar coloured grid and tiles in 1938.
The point values were arrived at by "frequency analysis" of various
works including The New York Times newspapers, working out which
letters were used most often. The rights have passed through several
companies, with Mattel holding worldwide distribution and Parker
Brothers/Hasbro the rights for the US and Canada. The player has seven
tiles in their rack and must score as many points as possible, with
double/triple tiles multiplying the value of a letter or the complete
word.
The computer version opens with a message about the
original, before
offering a chance to play two players - either human vs. computer, or
human vs. human. The skill level chosen for the AI computer opponent
also determines how fast it makes a move. Other intriguing options
include the ability to see all the racks, to use a real board alongside
the computer and alternative colours when using a black & white TV.
The grey board resembles the original quite well, with the coloured
bonus squares standing out and attractive orange tiles. The only thing
that lets it down is the limited dictionary, improved for the follow-up.
Trivia: Scrabble has been turned into a computer game
across many
different formats. The 2007 Nintendo DS version proved troublesome when
the computer AI started using offensive language.
The computer apologises for
dealing me a bad rack, and takes its time while thinking up a word.
SCRABBLE DELUXE Leisure Genius computer version 1986 Although not based directly on a new version of Scrabble,
the Deluxe computer version underwent some changes. The board is now on
a black background with white outline, with symbols rather than
coloured squares to show the bonus point spaces. Up to four players can
take part - human or AI - and their current tiles can be optionally
shown on the right of the screen. The AI is much better, particularly
at finding short two and three-letter words. It is about the same
speed as the original game however, with a message saying Player is
thinking... appearing while the computer thinks. The bigger dictionary
of
possible words makes for better games.
Trivia: The deluxe versions of the board game use
up-market materials
including leather and wood, with a rotating board so that players can
read the grid easier. Although there have been many official versions,
many players preferred online alternatives Scrabulous (shut down by
legal action) and Words with Friends (from Zynga).
TAXED earns me 30 points by
ending on a Double Word square, and the computer is thinking again...
SORRY! Devised 1929 First published by Waddington's in the UK in 1934 Gametek computer version 1990
William Henry Storey devised the original game, based on
Parcheesi and Ludo, and licensed it to Parker Brothers in 1934. Each
player has four pawns that must be moved from Start to Home. Movement
is determined by cards drawn from a deck. Landing on an opponent's pawn
bumps it back to Start, while landing on a Slide area with the correct
number "slides" the pawn along to the end, knocking back any pawns on
the Slide. A Sorry! card allows the player to move one pawn from Start
onto an opponent's pawn, knocking that back. The name comes from the
ways you can frustrate an opponent, leading you to say sorry...
The computer board looks very attractive, with plenty of
colour. Up to
four players can take part by entering a name, with the computer
playing any that isn't human-controlled. (Entering C for all players to
be computer-controlled runs a demo game). During the game the computer
shows you the cards drawn onscreen, and a "hand" cursor is used to
select the piece to move. The computer plays a decent game but this is
another that runs slowly and doesn't add a whole lot to the experience
of playing on a real board.
Trivia: A Windows version of Sorry! was released in 1998,
with extra
card types added to the deck. The board game has undergone many
revisions, notably the 2013 rules changes, and has appeared in several
themed versions (including Disney, The Simpsons, and Star Wars).
The hand is used to select
a piece, while drawing a 2 lets me draw again.
TITLE GALLERY
To finish off, here are some of the title screens from
the games.
An alternative Leisure
Genius logo (with animated letters), and the original Scrabble's title
page.
The original UK Cluedo
logo, and the Monopoly title page from the UK.
Sorry's simple introductory
screen, and the gorgeous Clue Master Detective bitmap.
Loading screen from the US version of Monopoly Deluxe, and the opening
screen of Scrabble Deluxe.
~
~ ~
That brings our look back at Parker Brothers to a close.
Maybe check out their games for your favourite console, or play a few
board games with your family to bring back that old-fashioned fun.
A Post-Holiday Idea Guide For Retrogaming Purchases
It is the
"post-holiday season." The Christmas presents, Chanukah checks,
Kwanzaa cash, solstice gift cards, and even the New Year debit cards
have been distributed. Perhaps you or someone you know are
looking for ideas on what to buy with all of those holiday cheques,
debit gift cards, store gift cards, or plain old money? Follow
this simple guide for some ideas for the freshly financially empowered
retro-gamer and you'll be sure to have a jolly January with all of your
new personal acquisitions which were specially-picked just for you by
you!
Sega Genesis Mini
A classic
revised as a miniature console with forty-two games including
North American Mini exclusives Earthworm Jim, Sonic Spinball,
Vectorman, and Virtua Fighter 2 among others. Two of the games
(Tetris and Darius) were never officially released before now, but keep
in mind that the Tetris which is included is not the rare 1989 Sega
Mega Drive Tetris but a new 2019 conversion of Tetris based upon Sega's
arcade machine. Darius is also a new port for 2019, making them
exclusive to the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini. (Extra: Go into
the menu options and change your menu language to Japanese to access
the Japanese counterparts to the games. They often are different from
the American games beyond just the potential linguistic changes, as
they
weren't altered for the West like the classic American releases and
include everything which was originally there. Also try changing
the language to a non-English European language to access the European
variants of the games such as Probotector, the Euro counterpart to
Contra.)
Mega Drive Mini
There are
three of these so please don't confuse them. They are
the European / Oceanian, Chinese / Korean, and Japanese variants of the
Sega Genesis Mini. (Well, the Sega Genesis Mini is the North
American variant of the Mega Drive Mini, but you get the idea.)
However, one is not just the equivalent of the others! While the
North American and European ones have an identical line-up of games,
the Japanese line-up is often different despite some identical
inclusions. The Japanese Mega Drive Mini exclusives include
Assault Suit Leynos, Dyna Brothers 2, Game no Kanzume Otokuyou,
Langrisser II, Lord Monarch, Mado Monogatari I, MUSHA, Party Quiz Mega
Q, Powerball, Puzzle & Action: Tant-R, Rent a Hero, Slap Fight MD,
Snow Bros, The Hybrid Front, The Revenge of Shinobi, and Yu Yu Hakusho
Makyo Toitsusen though some of these are also available in the
Chinese Mini. Yet exclusivity doesn't stop there! The
Chinese Mega Drive Mini exclusives include Alien Soldier, OutRun 2019,
Shining Force II, and Sword of Vermilion. Get all of these
variants to collect all of these games!
Extra controllers for the Sega Genesis Mini
/ Mega Drive Mini
The North
American Sega Genesis Mini and European / Oceanian Mega Drive
Mini include two controllers, but they are only the three-button
kind. The Japanese Mega Drive Mini consoles include controllers
with six buttons and there are two editions: one has a console with
only one controller and the other has a console with two
controllers. Whichever one(s) you might get, you can always even
up the game by buying official six-button controllers! These
really help to make the matches fair and fun for six-button fighting
games!
Extra controllers for the NES Classic
Edition (Mini) and the SNES
Classic Edition (Mini)
Remember how
the NES Action Set included all of the basics plus two
games, two regular controllers, and the light gun? Not so with
the Minis! It is unfortunately not the case that you get a light
gun nor even a second regular controller with these. Thus you
should consider picking up a second controller for your NES Classic
Edition or your SNES Classic Edition. Keep in mind though that
certain Wii-compatible controllers will work with these mini consoles
as well so that is also an option. Remember that the SNES
controller can work with the NES Classic Edition too! And there
are many third-party wired and wireless controller options for each
that are specifically made for these mini consoles.
Extension cables for the mini consoles
Don't let
short cable lengths be a hindrance to you! Pick up an
inexpensive controller extension cable, HDMI extension cable, or just a
longer HDMI cable and find some freedom!
TurboGrafx-16 Mini / PC Engine Mini / Core
Grafx Mini
57 games (25
English games, 32 Japanese games); includes one
controller; supports two controllers without additional hardware
(instead of only one like the original console); a multi-tap accessory
(for three to five players) and additional controllers will be
available separately for multi-player games; March 19th, 2020; only
$100! Unless you are a very serious game collector, there is sure
to be at least a few games included with this compilation that aren't
in your collection. If you are an average game collector, then
I'd bet there are dozens of games here that aren't in your
collection... and we all know how expensive TurboGrafx-16 games and
hardware can be! This is definitely a bargain if you ask me!
PlayStation Classic
PlayStation
Classic includes 20 games, two wired controllers, an HDMI
cable, a power cable, and is easily hack-able to modify it with your
own games and even emulators for other consoles. What could
possibly be missing? (An A/C power adapter, but we'll get to that
in another description.) The truth is, while this mini console
has its flaws, this is actually a really good bargain for the
price. Some people will turn up their noses due to the emulation
not being perfect or the game selection being somewhat
questionable. However there are some very good games
included! If you were to buy them from the PlayStation Store
every game would cost you $6 each and additionally you'd still be
required to bring your own PS3, PS4, PSP, or Vita. If you were to
buy these games as original PlayStation games on CD-ROM, then while
some of these would be about $6, many of them would cost much, much
more, and that's not even counting the price of shipping and
handling! Here we have (almost) all of the hardware included as
well as 20 games. And the price? Only $30 for new and $20
for used. Truthfully, you can often find these PlayStation
Classic consoles for $20 new, online or offline. Some people will
say that they could build an emulation machine for less. Perhaps
if you already have all of the hardware, but what if you don't have all
of the pieces? A base computer, case, power cable, power supply,
A/V cable, and two wired controllers will collectively cost much more
than $20, and that's all before the legal, financial, and moral
questions of where you planned to obtain all of your games. Going
the PlayStation Classic route, all of that is taken care of for a small
price that's quite nice!
A/C USB power adapters for all of these
mini consoles
Can you
believe these things typically don't include an A/C to D/C
converter? Oh sure, you'll get a power cable with them, but the
adapter has to be purchased separately! Take care of all your
consoles and keep in mind that these can be purchased for $5 or less.
In the late 1980's into the 1990's hard charging rock anthems became a
staple of video game music, particularly with games developed by Konami
and Capcom. While more powerful hardware allowed for more
detailed game worlds, the music that accompanied these games has
remained as fresh and powerful as the day it was written. It's
the reason that Castlevania games almost always have callbacks to the
series' earlier music, or Mega Man themes fall into a category of their
own - the music is embedded in the DNA of the genres that emerged
during the golden era of so many developers and publishers. While
Sega and Taito would form in-house bands to record and play their
respective company's music live, most other game soundtracks were
relegated to verbatim hardware recordings, if even given a soundtrack
release at all.
The physical CD
release of Launch features beautiful case artwork
Vic Viper is a four-member band that
plays straight up rock covers of the best video game music of the
aforementioned golden era. The music of Konami, Capcom, Technos
and others is accurately represented in a loving homage that celebrates
some of the finest music that video games have ever known. Vic
Viper's 2016 album Launch is
a collection of seventeen tracks, featuring both instantly recognizable
metal anthems and more obscure but equally awesome game tunes.
While a lot of video game bands will remix classic music, the
selections on offer here are kept in line with the classic
compositions. This not only showcases how genuinely impactful the
original music is but also the razor-sharp and spectacular musicianship
of Vic Viper.
Album
Track Listing:
01 - Gradius II - Stage Interlude,
Burning Heat 02 - Gradius II - Ending 03 - Castlevania - Wicked Child 04 - Castlevania II - Dwelling of Doom 05 - Contra - Jungle 06 - Mega Man III - Dr. Wily 2 07 - Mega Man II - Dr. Wily 1 08 - Street Fighter 2010 - City Lights 09 - Double Dragon II - The Fight
Continues 10 - Life Force - Starfield, Burn the
Wind 11 - Metal Gear - Jungle 12 - Mega Man V - Dark Man 13 - Batman Returns - Gotham Plaza,
Save the Children, Follow the
Circus Train 14 - 鳥人戦隊ジェットマン - Area A (Choujin
Sentai Jetman) 15 - Ninja Gaiden II - Approaching
Evil, Tower of Lahja 16 - Mega Man 9 - Flash In the Dark 17 - Ys II - To Make the End of Battle
There are few NES
games that open as awesomely as Ninja Gaiden II in my opinion
Without a doubt my favorite track on
the album is "Approaching Evil, Tower of Lahja" from Ninja Gaiden II:
The Dark Sword of Chaos. Ninja Gaiden II is one of my favorite
video games of all time and features an incredible soundtrack that
sadly gets overlooked by many. "Approaching Evil" is the theme
from the opening cinematic, opening with a dark and smoky progression
that builds and builds until exploding in a rush of hard rock.
"Tower of Lahja" is from stage 3-2, the first truly challenging stage
of the game, and is arguably the most recognizable piece of music from
Ninja Gaiden II. Next to that my favorite is "Starfield, Burn the
Wind" from Life Force / Salamander. If you've never listened to
the Salamander soundtrack then you owe yourself to do so, it's one of
the most spectacular game soundtracks of all time. "Starfield" is
the second stage theme and easily the most well-known piece of music
from Life Force / Salamander. (Beatmania and DDR players may know
it as the introduction for Salamander Beat Crush Mix by Nite
System) "Burn the Wind" is the stage four theme and my favorite
from the game - there's just always been something about how it starts
out and the driving beat that resonates with me.
If you grew up in the NES era you
really can't go wrong with Launch,
doubly so if you enjoy the Konami and Capcom games of the time. I
saw Vic Viper perform live at California Extreme 2016 and was
completely blown away. Almost four years later, this album has
remained in my regular rotation and stands as the perfect complement to
the music it commemorates. If you have yet to listen to it you're
missing out.
Launch
can be listened to and purchased directly from Vic Viper at https://vicviper.bandcamp.com.
It is available as a physical CD or a digital album, with the digital
release featuring bonus tracks. Vic Viper merchandise is
available for purchase as well. You can also check them out on
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/vicviperband.
Walter Day's Gaming
Superstars Volume One is a 100+ page book that will
cover the entire first year of trading cards released in the series.
The cards will be accompanied by beautiful imagery and stories told by
people within the gaming community who were featured on the cards, as
well as stories from Walter Day himself. Walter Day is known as
the creator of eSports and has often been called The Patron Saint of
Video Games. His remarkable efforts to find, verify and catalogue video
game world records has led to a decades-long partnership with the
Guinness World Records book.
Using the simple
collectible trading card as a vehicle, The Walter Day
Collection documents and commemorates the history of today's popular
culture, focusing on science fiction, comic books, the video game &
pinball industry, biographies of the world's most influential people,
and the remarkable emergence of professional eSports. Though
originally created to celebrate the history of Twin Galaxies, the
vision for the card set soon expanded to include the history of the
worldwide video game industry, documenting not only important
milestones in video game history, but also honoring world record
holders, iconic industry pioneers, noted video game personalities,
contest winners, legendary events, and the thousands of individuals and
companies who, through their creative contributions, have given shape
to today’s worldwide video game and eSports culture.
This book is all
about the first year of trading cards from The Walter
Day Collection. Not only will the book focus on all of the cards
released, but also has stories about Walter Day from those people
involved. This is the ultimate tribute to everything Walter Day has
accomplished with this series of cards. We were lucky enough to
have the legendary artist Dan Tearle draw a rendition of Walter for the
cover of this book. Dan has been involved in lots of projects over the
years, including working at Topps with an amazing Star Wars series.
The cost of this 1st
edition book, with shipping is $40.00. To
order your copy today, please email Walter at walterday@yahoo.com.
For more information
on the trading cards and interviews with the card
members themselves, go to www.thewalterdaycollection.com.
Happy Australian 20th Anniversary and
Japanese 21st Anniversary, Sega Dreamcast!
The Sega
Dreamcast launched on November 27th, 1998 in Japan, making November
2019 the 21st anniversary of the famous orange-swirled console. Yet
that's not all! November 30th, 1999 was the launch date of the
Dreamcast in Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of Oceania, making
November 30th, 2019 the two decade mark for the console there as well
as the final 20th anniversary for the venerable Dreamcast throughout
the world.
Back in the
day, many enthusiastic Kiwis and Aussies imported their
Dreamcasts from overseas. Why? For one thing, the wait was so bloody
long! Japan is closer to Australia than North America is, but North
America and Europe got their Dreamcasts months before Oceania;
Australia had to wait after all of the other territories in the world
got their Dreamcasts to finally get their own amazing 128-bit consoles.
It was faster and simpler to import or rent imported consoles and games
from Japan a year earlier than to wait for another 12 months for it to
arrive, and Japan got more Dreamcast releases than any other country in
the world, so selection and variety were more key reasons. Besides,
many Japanese Dreamcast games had English in them or were simple enough
to figure out. If it were that much of a concern, then your Japanese
Dreamcast could be sold and an Australian Dreamcast purchased in short
order after launch.
Some even
chose to buy or rent imported games and Dreamcasts from
America. Why? Depending on tariffs, other taxes, parcel & post, and
the exchange rate, it might be less expensive or at least break-even to
import from America than it was to buy locally. Besides, a lot of games
got releases in America that never happened in Australian or PAL
territories, so importing also seemed brilliant that way. Plus NTSC
games, whether American or Japanese, ran at 60 Hertz instead of 50
Hertz, meaning the games seemed to run 20% faster, giving movement and
motions a nicer, smoother appearance than PAL games, effectively
getting a higher frame-rate in exchange for losing about 20% of the
vertical resolution. Then again, you had better make sure that your TV
could support NTSC and PAL if you were going that route, or at the very
least have a spare monitor to use the VGA cable!
A few blokes
were even upset about the big delay with the Web browser.
You would think after launching in Japan, North America, and Europe,
that browser software would be ready for launch in Australia on launch
day, but Aussies would have to wait until about three months later to
finally get online with their Dreamcasts. It was a major selling point
back in the day when you didn't have any Internet access on your PC,
you know. For a lot of people, their Dreamcast, television, Web
browser, and dial-up were the way they got online for the first time.
Thing is, the first online game wouldn't even arrive until months later
with ChuChu Rocket!, but by then a lot of people had already imported
from abroad instead of dealing with even more delays by OziSoft and
Sega.
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:
11/01/2019 - WEEK 138 Question: What was
the last officially released NES Power Pad game?
11/08/2019
- WEEK 139 Question: What two
arcade games developed by Yu Suzuki can be played in Shenmue II that
were not in its predecessor?
11/15/2019
- WEEK 140 Question: What was
the first LaserDisc arcade game to be released?
11/22/2019
- WEEK 141 Question: What four
Intellivision games require the Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module?
11/29/2019
- WEEK 142 Question: Mario's
rival Wario made his first appearance in what game?
12/06/2019
- WEEK 143 Question: What
Japan-only game combined Ghosts n' Goblins characters with mechanics
from The Incredible Machine?
12/13/2019
- WEEK 144 Question: What was
the final commercial release on NEC's ill-fated PC-FX?
Short Order / Eggsplode!
brought the Power Pad era to an end (left), Nazo Makaimura was a unique
take on a Capcom property (right)
Answers: Week 138 Answer: Short Order /
Eggsplode! (1989). Week 139 Answer: Out Run and
After Burner. Week 140 Answer: Astron Belt. Week 141 Answer: B-17 Bomber,
Bomb Squad, Space Spartans, and Tron: Solar Sailer. Week 142 Answer: Super Mario
Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992). Week 143 Answer: Arthur to
Astaroth no Nazo Makaimura: Incredible Toons (Arthur and Astaroth's
Puzzle Demon World Village: Incredible Toons) from 1996. Week 144 Answer: First Kiss
Story (1998).
Only these four games
required the Intellivision Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module for play
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 the year ahead I'm honestly most
looking forward to the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, although its purchase really
isn't a necessary one for me as I've had a Turbo EverDrive for
years. I think it's more the opportunity to be able to directly
spend money on the intellectual property (even if it goes to Konami
rather than the defunct Hudson) after years of buying
second-hand. By the time I had the money and means to buy a
TurboDuo, Turbo Zone Direct was on life support (although I did buy
Cosmic Fantasy 2 and Exile: Wicked Phenomenon from them) so the era had
well passed. Also other than the subpar ColecoVision Flashback, I
haven't purchased any of the mini consoles and figured this was the
best time to get in on one since it's a hardware platform I love.
The draw of having native HD output is nice as well, as I've never been
satisfied with any upscaler I've owned and play most of my retrogames
on a CRT for that reason. Once the pre-orders ship in a couple
months we'll see how it lives up to the hype - expect a full review
right here.
Thank
you once
again for reading The Retrogaming
Times. We'll be back on March 1st with our next issue.
Be sure
to follow The
Retrogaming Times on Facebook and join our community for the latest
updates and information! Additionally The
Retrogaming Times Info Club on Twitter features up-to-the-moment
news
and notifications for all things The Retrogaming Times! I
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
on the main page. Submit an article today and join a great
retrogaming
tradition!
