The Taito WOWOW: The Console That Never Was

A look back at when Taito was considering creating a home console of their own, which would make use of satellite technology.

A Brief Rolling Thunder Series Retrospective

Namco was one of the kings of the arcade and one of their best series was Rolling Thunder. This video takes a look back at it.

Is Sega Bringing Classic Series to Mobile?

Recently, Sega put up an online survey that they say is to help them make better games. (It all sounds so altruistic!) Being a big fan of theirs since the 80s, I decided to go fill it out as I've not much cared for many of the games that they've put out in recent years. It was always the older series that mattered more to me. Stuff like Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Sega Rally, Phantasy Star, Virtua Fighter, and a slew of others, those are the series that have always been special to me. Unfortunately, it's been years since Sega has even mentioned many of the games. The only classic series that is still around is Sonic the Hedgehog, and those games are largely a shadow of their former self.

So, with that in mind, I went to fill out the survey and at first things were looking pretty good. There were a lot of questions asking what systems I've played over the years, going all the way back to the 8-bit era, then they asked which Sega franchises I liked and why. This got my hopes up because there were a lot of old series here. They mentioned all of the games I listed above and so much more. It was like the company was suddenly remembering the huge catalog of classic series that they've created over the years. I was actually really starting to get my hopes up at this point.

Then the second half of the survey started and it was becoming clear what Sega was really trying to do, as it was one question after the next regarding my mobile gaming habits. This made me realize that the purpose of the survey wasn't to gauge which classic games to bring back for modern consoles or handhelds, or even series to consider for some sort of HD remastering. No, there is only one thing that I can assume from these questions: Sega is looking to cannibalize their library of classic games and find a way to make mobile games out of them.

While I don't completely hate mobile games, they're something that I only really play when I've had a very long day and am way too tired to go with something that takes the slightest amount of effort. Even then, it's a toss up between a mobile game and watching some very laid back anime. So, mobile gaming really isn't something that is a priority in my life. Sadly, the only thing going through my mind as the realization of what Sega was doing sank in was the "Not like this" meme.

From Sega's perspective, I can sort of see where they're coming from since they're probably looking at their local market first, aka Japan, where mobile gaming is completely dominating. They likely see a way to make a fast buck off of a wave of nostalgia if they can make something halfway decent that happens to have Shinobi, Alex Kidd, or whoever in it. The problem here is that this can easily open the door to some very cynical business practices chalk full of cash shops, a pay to win mentality, and far from engaging gameplay. It's not like we haven't seen such behavior before in this sphere, so I don't blame people for looking at this with some trepidation.

Folks have been clamouring for years to get Sega to bring back their classic series. However, I really don't think that they had mobile gaming in mind. It doesn't even have to be anything super crazy with a massive budget, just a solid experience on consoles or handhelds and many people would be overjoyed. This survey suggests that if the company does revisit these games they very much will be going the mobile route. Thankfully, there are a lot of fields where people can type in their opinions. It's not all multiple choice responses. So, take this as an opportunity to let Sega know how you feel about mobile in a thoughtful manner. Fill out the survey, and if you are concerned about these classic franchises getting pushed to tablets and smartphones, express your opinion. Hopefully, Sega will actually listen.

Putting the Good Old Games Back in GOG

I've always really liked GOG.com. At first it was to indulge myself in all of the retro PC games that they were bringing back for folks to play, and then I started to warm up to the whole DRM-free thing, not to mention it was a great alternative to simply getting everything on Steam.

For a time, though, it felt like GOG was trying to get away from the whole old game reputation that it was becoming known for. There was that whole thing a year or two ago where they decided their name wasn't an acronym for Good Old Games anymore, and started pushing more indie titles and movies through their platform. This is all fine and dandy. It's important to diversify sometimes. I still make a point of getting indie titles from GOG rather than Steam when I have the option, but I have yet to watch any of those moves as I can't be arsed to give them the time of day.

Nonetheless, this shift did get me wondering about how seriously GOG would go after classic games in the future. It is a pretty difficult task having to dig to figure out who owns the rights to what in order to get all of the legal permissions to put a game on their service. Just looks at something like the No One Lives Forever series. People have been clamouring for this to get re-released for years, and eventually the team that was trying to make it happen said it was just too difficult to get through the legal hurdles. So, getting more classic games on GOG could be tough.

At least that's what I told myself. There were already a ton of classics on GOG, so maybe it was just the natural order of things for the number of new entries to slow down. Sure we'd get the occasional niche game to appear there or some such, but not the super, crazy, big name ones that were conspicuously absent from their library. Just looking at all of the Might and Magic, Wing Commander, Ultima, and Infinity Engine games they already have, it would take years to play through all of those.

I was all set to just assume we were in for a slow ride as the well spring of classics was seemingly running dry, but then this year happened and it's as if GOG decided to re-embrace the classics with a rekindled burning passion.

Over the last several months we've seen a deluge of old games appear on the platform. There have been a number of Star Wars games to come along that up to this point haven't seen a re-release, we got the Star Trek adventure games, a number of Warhammer classics, and recently even the Eye of the Beholder and D&D Gold Box series came to GOG, something people had been wanting for ages.

So, it seems like things are getting back on track as far as classic gaming on GOG is concerned, and this makes me happy, as I do quite like these old games. As always, the question remains as to what they'll get a hold of next. Even just the other day a bunch of old Elder Scrolls games (including Red Guard!) as well as classic Doom games were added to their selection. I'm a-okay with the indie games and whatnot that they've been pursuing in recent years, but still it's nice to see GOG going after the classics with renewed vigor of late.B

Video: Mega Man X (SNES)

Mr. Nash takes a look at 1994's Mega Man X (SNES) in this Random Game Talk.

RGT: Street Fighter II - The World Warrior Retro Review

In this Random Game Talk, Jeff takes a look at the classic Street Fighter II: The World Warrior:

Contra Retro Review (NES)

Konami put out a lot of amazing games in the 1980s.  Arguably one of the best of them was Contra on the NES.  Today Jeff takes a look back at the game.

RGT: Racing Lagoon (PlayStation)

Remember the late 1990s when Squaresoft was pumping out hit after hit on the PlayStation?  Not all the games that they put out during that time were all that great, and in those cases the game usually never got released outside of Japan.  One such example of this would be Racing Lagoon, an RPG / racing game hybrid.  Join Jeff in the video below as he chats about the game.

Review: Another World (PC)

Writing a review of a game like Another World (known as Out of this World in North America), which was originally released in 1991, is like trying to point out flaws of your most cherished childhood memories. It doesn't feel right, it feels uncomfortable, and there's always the danger of being swallowed whole by the featureless maw of Nostalgia as you let your mind wander back to that place.

The imagery is appropriate considering the terrifying black things that dot the alien landscape that protagonist Lester Knight Chaykin finds himself in after an incredibly bad turn of luck. (What are the chances a lightning bolt would strike a particle accelerator at exactly the moment Lester activates an experiment?)