Following the failure of the SEGA Saturn, SEGA had one more chance to get it right. Its previous console war with Nintendo and Sony left the company in a financial ruin, mainly due to awful business decisions that alienated both consumers and retailers alike. SEGA would try its hand at the next generation with easily the most underrated console to ever be released: The SEGA Dreamcast. The SEGA Dreamcast entered the Japanese market in November 1998 with a weak lineup that was fronted by Godzilla Generations. Ten months later the Dreamcast was released stateside, and sold well thanks to an incredible launch lineup featuring Soul Calibur, Power Stone, and Sonic Adventure. Yet you have to look at what this console did to understand why it was so amazing. It was the first console to include online gaming (via a built-in 56K modem), and it gave birth to 2K sports. The Dreamcast also had instant classics like Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online, Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia, and one of my favorite games, Shenmue. Unfortunately for SEGA, Sony released its showstopper, the PS2, on October of 2000 and halted the Dreamcast’s momentum. To make matters worse, piracy killed game sales.In Japan, the console struggled; in the US, gamers greeted the Dreamcast with open arms. With almost 500,000 consoles sold in the first two weeks alone, SEGA thought it had a sure winner. But as fast as this new-found success came, it went. SEGA ran into an issues meeting orders of both its console and Virtual Memory Unit (VMU). The shortage occurred because of the issues VideoLogic ran into when producing the consoles graphic chip, which stalled sales and left many gamers unhappy. Still, the Dreamcast performed well against and actually surpassed the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation in sales that year. In the end, none of it mattered. SEGA was in a deep financial whole and the Dreamcast cost them more money to manufacture than what they were making. Plus, dropping $70 million on Shenmue and Shenmue II sodomized the company. Unfortunately for SEGA, Sony released its showstopper, the PS2, on October of 2000 and halted the Dreamcast’s momentum. To make matters worse, piracy killed game sales. SEGA made the decision to use GD-ROMs because of their large capacity, but SEGA overlooked a major flaw. The data could be easily burnt on standard CD-ROMs, they could then be played with the use of an easy to make boot disc, that mimicked the data needed to run a game on the console. All of this led to SEGA discontinuing Dreamcast production in March of 20o1. The once proud and mammoth company withered away, and eleven years later is still suffering financially. There are so many good games on this console that it would be almost impossible to pick only five games, so for this list I’ll choose my personal favorites. Crazy TaxiThis is the perfect arcade port. Players pumped so many quarters into this game, when the annoucement for the Dreamcast came life was merry. It was difficult to grasp why a game with minimal features was so amazing. Crazy Taxi had two stages to choose from, and only four different drivers who differed slightly. Yet burning rubber down the hills of sunny California was incredibly addictive. The insane driving kept the game interesting as players tried to each others high scores. The Offsprings catchy tune All I Want added to the adrenaline fueled cabby experience. Phantasy Star OnlineThe first console MMO and it was a stellar pioneer for the console MMO’s to follow. Phantasy Star Online took the franchise in an unprecedented direction and it paid off. Players enjoyed an immersive world full of interesting locations that they could traverse with friends. Grinding was painless, although the plot was forgettable the game had enough content to keep gamers hooked for months at a time. SEGA did an amazing job in providing extra content in a timely matter keeping the game relevant for quite sometime. The recently announced Phantasy Star Online 2 looks to improve on everything its predecessor accomplished. Bravo to Hideaki Kobayashi and Fumie Kumatani for an amazing sound track. SeamanSeaman which came packaged in with a microphone that plugs into the controllers VMU slot was quite peculiar. Your main objective was persistent interaction with a strange cross-bred man fish (What!?!). You could literally just sit and tell Seaman about your day. The AI was incredible at the time, Seaman responded with life-like and believable remarks, answering questions along the way and learning more about the player. It’s funny that in 1999 SEGA had done something that Lionshead Studio was trying to call ground breaking and innovative in 2009 (remember project Milo). Jet Set RadioIf you haven’t experienced the cell-shaded, spray painting, graffiti action you have missed a hell of a game. Through out the game players roller blade around a fictional Tokyo, Tokyo-to actually. Players had to fend off rival gangs and avoid “five-0″ all in the name of self-expression. The stages were some of the most detail and intricate seen in gaming, players could use a variety of paths through each stage, all while performing tricks and grinding any rail in sight. For those of you that missed this when it was on the Dreamcast you’re in luck, an HD release will make its way to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network this summer. ShenmueWhen I first picked up this title I knew nothing about it. A friend had played a piece of music from the game that caught my attention, yes I made a purchase decision based on music, and I’m glad I did. Before Grand Theft Auto III blew the sandbox genre out of the water Shenmue set the foundation. The plot followed Ryu Hazuki on his quest for vengeance after watching his father murdered by the hands of a mysterious lethal martial artist. Players roam the streets of Yokosuka Japan in search for clues regarding the murderer’s whereabout. This is one of the first times in gaming where you could explore an open world, at one point you’re even tasked with working a job. The game used Virtual Fighters fighting engine which led to an engrossing fighting experience. SAY-GAH!Any respectable gamer knows that at one point SEGA had one of the most innovative consoles with the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was ahead of its time, and took the risk that others didn’t even dare take like online gaming. It was home to some of the strangest and more experimental games like Cannon Spike, a rare Capcom beat-em-up/shoot-em-up that featured Darkstalkers, Street Fighter, Mega Man and other Capcom characters fighting their way past enemies while wearing roller blades. Writing this piece has taken me on a personal journey and has rekindled my love for gaming. I’ve relieved my childhood and have re-played a lot of the games that define me as a gamer. SEGA will always have a place in my heart because it made games that mattered,it was the little guy that no one believed in. I’ve been around SEGA for as long as I can remember,from blowing on my carts during the infancy of my gaming life, to polishing my games on my Saturn, and playing Power Stone till wee hours of the night with my family. All I can say is thanks SEGA it’s been a great one. All we can do now is hope for the best, because when everything is clicking for SEGA it can produce some amazing and original games.
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Tag Archives: nintendo 64
Can the Nintendo Wii Save Your Marriage?
At first thought, this might seem impossible. But I assure you that the cost of the system is considerably cheaper than marriage counseling; and certainly more effective. If you have teenagers, your contact with them has likely become limited as most of their free time is typically spent behind closed doors in interactive video games and online chat. It could also be the case that your marriage has become somewhat jaded and most of your free time is spent in individual activities that don’t require interaction with your spouse. Because I and my wife both enjoy movies; we will occasionally spend time in the same room watching the latest DVD. However, conversation is limited or non-existent; lest we interrupt the on-screen dialogue. Enter the power of the Nintendo Wii into your household. My wife started talking about a Nintendo Wii after she read about the Wii fit online. Her previous exposure to the Wii consisted of my son’s constant request for the system whenever a major holiday rolled around. I would have never thought she would ever be interested in spending hard earned money on a gaming system as she has never played my Nintendo 64 and is quickly bored with online games. Who was I to argue? After all, she used her E-Bay profits to purchase the system. Other friends and relatives had units that I’ve played and it certainly was the most innovative gaming system I’d ever seen. I wanted one. Who amongst us have ever heard the statement; ‘I hate my new Wii?’ No pun intended. It would be important to note that I am extremely competitive. If I was a contestant on the Moment of Truth television show, in which participants answer personal question after being strapped to a lie detector test; it would quickly be revealed that I think I am a better athlete, smarter, better educated and an overall better person than my wife. This lack of humility has likely contributed to part of the problems in our marriage. Shortly after hooking up the system, which took longer than it should have because I ignored the instructions and I am a man; the interaction required in the games became very apparent. I immediately became humbled when my wife quickly knocked me out cold the first time we played the boxing game. Thinking I surely knew more about golf than she did, she promptly beat me by 6 strokes the first time we tried it. I had read once that non-competitive women excel at video games because they start with low expectations and thus are more relaxed. Surely this was the reason for my early defeat. After beating her high score in Link’s crossbow training, I discovered an amazing thing that has never happened before in any of my earlier competitions. There was no gloating, sense of superiority or immediate drive to play again until I won. I wanted to pass on tips and tricks that would help her improve her score. We actually held real conversations while playing together in the game. My wife stayed up past nine on a weekday. We walked upstairs at the same time to the bedroom for the first time in months. The Nintendo Wii has defiantly improved our interactivity with one another and has spilled into other areas of our life. There is one caveat when considering this type of alternative marriage therapy. It is very important that the purchase is your wife’s suggestion. My wife purchased the system thinking the Wii fit would be a great way to get in shape. The suggestion that she might need to get in shape must be avoided at all costs. It’s funny. The original reason for buying the product has not been realized as we still have not purchased the Wii fit. At this point, we are enjoying the few games we have. Together.
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Journey through Nintendo’s gaming history with 30,000 dominoes
A young gaming fan shows off his Nintendo love with a domino montage that clocks in at around 3 minutes and 30,000 fallen dominoes. If you’ve ever held a controller or whiled away the hours of a long trip with a handheld device, than you’ve probably played a Nintendo game in one form or another. The Japanese gaming company has been making toys since 1889 but it didn’t begin gathering legions of fans until the 1980s with the Nintendo Entertainment System. They’ve built up a lot of love, and several memorable characters over the last 25 or so years, and its hard to encapsulate how many icons the company has produced. That didn’t stop 15-year-old “ShanesDominoez” from giving it a shot. Using 30,000 dominoes, Shane set up various domino images of Nintendo consoles, controllers, cartridges and iconic logos. Classics like Mario and Pokemon give way to Zelda and, for some reason, Sonic (according to the ShanesDominoez YouTube page, he included Sonic because Sega’s blue racer has been on Nintendo for more than decade now). Sonic first appeared on a Nintendo system in 2001 when Sonic Adventure 2: Battle showed up on the Gamecube–2001 was also the year that Sega stopped making consoles. Collapsing dominoes is always a fascinating watch, and we particularly enjoyed some of the more innovative structures that Shane put together. Make sure to keep an eye out of the Nintendo 64 symbol and Sonic’s rings.
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Mario and The Greatest Video Game Franchises « Chat Wrap « Gaming « The Entertainment Bureau
Jared Feldman: Good day to all readers on the interwebs. This is the Entertainment Bureau’s chat wrap. I’m joined by my cohort Jay Sage, and I’m Jared Feldman. Today we are delving back into our bright and fuzzy childhoods to talk about some of the best video game franchises of yesteryear. Jay Sage: We both were lucky enough to be children during the rise of Nintendo. I saw an image on reddit recently pointing out that the release of Mario 64 was closer temporally to the dawn of video games than present day. Made me feel old. Feldman: Excellent first one to mention. The Nintendo 64 was the first truly 3D gaming system, and Mario 64 was the flagship game. Mario has been the quintessential video game franchise, selling more units worldwide than any other franchise in video game history. How did an Italian plumber who can shoot fireballs from his hands become so darned popular? Sage: Excuse me, but he uses a flower to shoot those fireballs. Which makes so much more sense. Anyway, it’s tough to say. Many people don’t realize that Mario actually dates back to the original Donkey Kong arcade game. He was known as Jump Man back then and had no discernible profession. How ‘plumber’ was ever decided upon is beyond me. In any case, the Mario series remains an indelible memory of my childhood. I remember circling my calendar for my 13th birthday and the release of Paper Mario, still probably my favorite game. Feldman: I’m guessing the plumber must have come from the outfit Jump Man wore in Donkey Kong the arcade game. The “suspenders” must have reminded one of the programmers of that of a plumber, and the rest must be history, I guess. Sage: Or it could be due to all the pipes that he and Luigi travel through. Or maybe the pipes were in response to the plumber thing. Anyway, aside from the charm of the Mario Bros. themselves, Nintendo did such a fantastic job with integrating the Mario universe into every arm of their production. There was Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario RPG, there’s a Mario version of pretty much every sport. Horizontal integration to the max. Feldman: Mario is the lone reason that the Nintendo was the dominant system producer, up until this current generation of video game platforms. The primary competitor for the Nintendo, Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64 was the Sega systems headed up of course by Sonic the Hedgehog. Another seemingly random selection of character and goal, this Whirling Dervish collected gold rings from other guys to do something. That’s what always confused me about Sonic, everything. Sage: Generally speaking, video game logic just can’t be applied to anything else. Like in Pokemon, where a plastic ball that can manipulate matter and energy costs $10, but a bicycle is $1 million. Anyway, back to Sega. If Mario belonged to the average American boy and girl, Sonic belonged to their overly hyper cousin. Both were fun in their own regard, but Sonic just sorta drove me crazy. I could never quite follow the action. Feldman: I agree, Sonic was trying to be different from Mario and also better, but just couldn’t quite get it right. The “story” was even more confusing than that of Mario. I think the thing that bothered me the most was that you’d lose rings (money) for getting injured, and that always made me mad. The same didn’t occur in Mario. One thing that must be remembered about the dominance of the Mario franchise was that the original Mario game was included with every original Nintendo sold. So as long as the game wasn’t terrible, they already had a huge built in audience for all the other games of the Mario universe. Sage: It’s true that Mario was an albatross to every other video game developer, but Nintendo also simply had a bunch of great titles. Star Fox 64, the Metroid series, Zelda. Eventually Playstation came along and began to tear into the market with fighting and shooter games that appealed to a new generation of teenage males. Feldman: The current era is the Halo and Grand Theft Auto era which certainly appeals to the violent aspects in everyone’s personalities. It appears that every video game system needs a franchise game or style to carry it or failure is eminent. That was the issue with the GameCube, but was quickly remedied by the novelty of the Wii. Sage: Nintendo has never abandoned their strategy of aiming for younger kids. GameCube will always be remembered as a colossal failure. The entire era for Nintendo was buoyed by a certain number of loyal customers, plus the success of the Super Smash Brothers franchise. Feldman: Right now Nintendo needs something to jump them back into the race. As the PlayStation and XBox attempt to copy the Wii with similar movement based peripherals, Nintendo is looking rather stagnant. Can they pull themselves out or have they been passed by their faster and sleeker colleagues? Sage: The entire industry, in my opinion, is soon to be dominated by independent developers on the internet. Consoles still rule the day, but a certain chunk of the market has already been chipped off the iceberg. PC Gaming is already popular (and frankly, it’s easier to steal…many kids just aren’t willing to spend $300 on a console and $50 on every worthwhile game.) Feldman: The primary console producers have already announced their future systems, but it will be a few more years before they are actually released. PC Gaming has a real window of opportunity right now, but needs to grab it while its available. Sage: Well, computers aren’t very well known for seizing industries, but we’ll see what happens. Sarcasm, by the way. Feldman: That’ll do it for this edition of the chat wrap, be sure to keep reading as we’ll be tackling the most exciting issues of the entertainment industry every week.
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‘Army Men’ marches to immortality
Editor’s Note: This is an article in our ongoing “Great Video Game” series in which readers and staffers alike are asked to submit a few hundred words about a video game that they consider to be great. This week’s submission comes from online reader Sean Elliot. I leapt from my mother’s 1994 Mercury Villager, bounded for the front door, and with haste jumped the stairs to the room I shared with my younger brother. I had just returned from Blockbuster, my young mind’s pinnacle of joys — a reward for cleaning my room. I held the limited edition green case in my hands. I shouted to my younger brother, “Get on AOL. Get on CheatCC.com!” When you’re 9-years-old, cheats are cool. I cracked open the green case. I blew cool air into this fresh piece of plastic’s bottom. The cartridge fell into the game slot of my Nintendo 64 and I flipped that power switch into the on position. The slogan? “Real Combat. Plastic Men.” “Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes” premiered in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 and the next year for the PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast. The army men of “Toy Story” and the vengeful and destructive toys of “Small Soldiers” had inspired interactive entertainment. The classic plastic toys, of green and tan, had entertained children at their grandparents’ video game-free homes for centuries. Well, at least until the advent of Atari. General Plastro, the bad guy, is burning all the green Army Men. General Plastro is a tan toy soldier. And, if the tan soldiers had not been your enemies as a child, this was a shock. In my mind, they had all been on the same side and stuffed animals were the enemy. The game drew the line early. After I got over my initial shock, I got back to combat. This game was special. This game was a change of pace. I was an unstoppable force. Plastro stood no chance for this Sarge. I finished in a quick weekend. Maybe it’s because I was 9-years-old, but I can’t remember any game where I felt so cool. My plastic toys which I melted with magnifying glasses, convinced dogs to eat, sawed in half, played baseball with, bruised, boiled and burned were there. This game played with that concept — the in-game “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” were actually a magnifying glass or another toy from the real world. “Sarge’s Heroes” was a third-person shooter — a rarity in gaming, which is more accustomed to titles like “Doom.” This game spawned a sequel, “Sarge’s Heroes: 2” and a lesser-known title, “Portal Runner,” in addition to some lackluster knockoffs like “Toy Commander.” Sarge and I were friends. He was cooler than any avatar you could find in “Kinect Sports.” Does reading this article make you think of a video game that you consider great? Please send us an email at with a suggestion for a “Great Video Game.” Please include a few hundred words on why you consider your game to be great and you just might find your opinion here. Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.
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The History of the Legend of Zelda
The history on The Legend of Zelda started in 1987 when the video game was released for the NES console. Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto grabbed bits and pieces of genres to create this innovative game. The key characteristic of the series ever since the beginning has been exploration. The first time you ever saw link he was unarmed and thrown in the middle of world that the player had to figure out as he or she went along. That curious, adventurous spirit of the original has been on display for all 13 of the sequels for Nintendo. The games might have changed from the top-down perspective to side scrolling to 3-dimensional worlds, but the concept is the same: Explore, see what’s out there Zelda II: Adventure of Link, is probably the most controversial in all the series. Link was taken from the comfortable top down level and put in a side scrolling view. It was a game that was risky, as it would alienate all the fans of the original. But to this day, many regard as an underrated treasure. The series went back on to its more comforting top-down view in its pre-N64 days. A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo and Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy brought back the gameplay that everybody was used to. The pinnacle to many in the series was Ocarina of Time. It ushered in the next generation of gamers. Released for the Nintendo 64, it was the first of the Zelda games to be displayed in 3-D. Not only is it regarded by critics as the greatest Zelda game, but many feel it is the best video game of all time. The game offered incredible innovations and groundbreaking gameplay. Even with the facelift, it still encompassed the heart of what made the original so great. Next in line was Majora’s Mask, which came out in 2000 for the N64. Although additions were made to the game, it had a more serious tone, than many fans of the series just weren’t used to. The game didn’t have the childlike innocence that was so prevalent in the prior games. Another interesting and controversial step in the series came with the release of The Windwaker in 2003. The controversy surrounding the game was the cel-shaded graphics. The Windwaker was geared towards a younger audience. Nintendo wanted to give kids of this generation that same magical journey that were given to the kids of the 1980s. When Nintendo came out Wii, people wondered what kind of Zelda would they be getting. The truth is fans got an amazingly detailed and stylized version. The game displays the pioneering controls of the Wii remote and Nunchuk’s in all its glory. In short, many believe it’s the best game in the series since Ocarina of Time. With Zelda games having such a long and illustrious history, it’s hard to possibly fathom, what else is in store for this mighty series.
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RUMOR: Wii U’s eShop to sell Gamecube games
Starting with the Wii, then continuing on to the 3DS, Nintendo has offered a large selection of classic games available for purchase on their respected digital markets. The Wii became very successful in this, and thus ignited a spark in the gaming market for new retro games, and ports of them to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. When I purchased my Wii, I noticed that the shop sold Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, and NES games and not Gamecube, as the system was backwards compatible with them. I noticed with the Wii U that Wii games are backward compatible, but no Gamecube games. This question was ignited in June of last year with the Wii U’s announcement, and rumors and speculation started to grow. Not until last week, when I had an insider from the industry inform me that nintendo was in talks with their company which I will not disclose, to have their gamecube games one of the first made available for digital distribution. This makes perfect sense, looking at the pattern of nintendo digital distribution and downloading services, along with their backwards compatibility started with the wii, it only makes sense that the Wii U have this functionality. What do you guys think? Is this a great thing for nintendo, or are they trying to drain a dried lake? Tell us in the comments! Were listening!
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Cosplay and “maid cafés”: A field guide to the 2012 Anime Milwaukee convention
When the weather gets rough, the nerds get going. The masterminds behind Anime Milwaukee are putting together this year’s show from Feb. 17 to 19. The show makes the leap to the Frontier Airlines Center in 2012, expanding everything from the screenings to the activities. Before the con kicks off, The A.V. Club looks at the expanded agenda, and prepares for a weekend full of Pocky, fansubs, and Pocari Sweat. Cosplay, costumes, and masqueradesThere are plenty of chances to marvel at the handiwork of people who love something so much that they want to dress up like it. The biggest event at Anime Milwaukee is the Masquerade, which features single costumes, group costumes, and skits that play like Fanfic Night Live. Meet-ups over the weekend are themed around favorite shows and video games. There’s simply no place—outside of CES—to get a picture of Master Chief and Doctor Who waiting in line for a chili dog. Guests of honorGuests at the show come in several varieties. Voice actors ranging from Chris Cason (Fullmetal Alchemist’s Gluttony) to Robert Axelrod (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ Lord Zedd) will be in attendance. Internet guests included brothers-in-snark the Nostalgia Critic and the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. The guest list is rounded out by Star Wars author August Hahn, and a budokan troupe that is ready to show some samurai skill. Video gamingJoystick jockeys of the past, present, and future will find plenty of ways to shoot for high scores. The video game room features classic consoles, modern hits, and quarter-gobbling arcade cabinets. Play either for a flashback to faded neon glory, or to dominate today’s 10-year-old Modern Warfare murder prodigies. Fans of the classic Nintendo 64 Pokemon game can even test their skills in the real world thanks to an ongoing Pokemon Snap Live game running throughout the convention. Tabletop gamingFor those looking to talk their way to fantasy rather than twitch, the convention has an impressive tabletop space as well. Light nerd activities like Apples To Apples keep the energy up. Events ranging from Dominion to Friday Night Magic appeal to the card sharks in the audience. D&D and Pathfinder, meanwhile, light the dungeon-crawling fires. There’s even a late-night “Obscure CCG Hour” for people who bought heavily into Illuminati, 7th Sea, and The Highlander CCG and need to dust of their decks again. Maid CaféFew people get a chance to see Milwaukee from the Polaris Restaurant (other than the rich, the famous, and the servers who work there). The view is a unique enough experience, but Anime Milwaukee fuses it with a “maid café.” What is a maid café? The convention’s website has it covered: Well, in Akihabara, the “electronics” section of Tokyo and the notorious hive of the “otaku,” the nerd culture of Japan, there are cafes where servers dress up like European-esque Victorian-inspired maids and butlers, but with an emphasis on cute. The point of the maid café is to provide a fantasy, an escape from the stress of reality, and to create a relaxing atmosphere. The cafés serve mainly tea menus, focusing on sweets and tea and coffee. Some cafés sell egg omelets as well—but due to certain restrictions, the Hoshi no Yume cafe in particular is not able to serve anything cooked. Because of these restrictions, we will be serving only cupcakes and parfaits. (If you are interested in “real” food, there is a food court located down the Skywalk.) So come to the Maid Café at Anime Milwaukee 2012 if you wish to experience the one and only maid café in the Midwest. We hope to see you there! Yes, it’s an excellent distillation of Japanese culture: strange interpretation of Western themes, repressed sexual expression, and fucking fascinating to see first-hand. Oh yeah, animeThere are hundreds of hours of anime being shown throughout the con. From kid-friendly shows found on Netflix to the randy tentacles-in-uncomfortable-places adult shows, there’s something for everyone at the show.
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Essential First-Person Shooters
For the next two columns, I’d like to look at the first-person shooter (FPS) titles essential to a strong video game collection. FPSs are defined by two things: a “first-person” camera perspective and a game play that relies in large part on physical conflict between the player/character (the protagonist role the gamer assumes) and large numbers of opposing characters. When I was younger, I thought that FPSs were so cool because I felt like I was the star of my own action movie. Now, I appreciate them for the unique set of challenges and game play opportunities they present, be it highly competitive multiplayer action or physics-based puzzles. Zombies, demons, aliens, oh, my! Video games with a first-person camera perspective—where the action is seen from the player/character’s perspective—date back to the early 1970s, but Wolfenstein 3D, developed by id Software and released in 1992 by Apogee Software, is generally credited with solidifying the concept of an FPS and, therefore, is considered by many to be the first true FPS game. Players assume the role of an Allied spy fighting his way out of Castle Wolfenstein, taking on what could be one of the most memorable bosses in video game history—Adolf Hitler—along the way. Nazi imagery and the use of the actual Nazi Party anthem as the title music generated quite a bit of controversy, but its basic game mechanics served as the template for nearly every FPS to follow. Equally influential and controversial is DOOM, published in 1993 by developer id Software. With a cranked-up level of violence, satanic imagery, and fear-inducing game-play scenarios, DOOM is perhaps most infamous for being the video game of choice for Columbine shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. It’s easy to forget that this game broke serious design ground—secret areas rewarded gamers for exploring and levels were multistory buildings. The FPS genre changed again with the 1997 release of Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64, developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. Forgoing the “run-and-gun” style of play where gamers just blasted through level after level, this game took advantage of its source material—the James Bond film of the same name—and integrated stealth and tactical firefighting. Each level was framed as an espionage mission with objectives and parameters to be followed, and gamers were given the ability to fire from behind cover and use a sniper rifle, allowing for highly strategic game play. Goldeneye 007 was played on a gaming console and employed a controller, whereas previously the FPS was the PC gamer’s playground, requiring a mouse and keyboard for the precision that the genre required. What’s more, with the built-in support for four players on the Nintendo 64 and the excellent maps that were included, a true multiplayer that didn’t require a LAN (local area network) became a reality. Goldeneye 007 proved something of an anomaly, however, as no console FPS would truly shine until Halo: Combat Evolved came around in 2001 for the Xbox, developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft. In the meantime, Half-Life (developed by Valve and released by Sierra), released in 1998 for the PC, would truly become the genre’s cornerstone. With no in-game cinematics or even a break among levels (previous games used maps to track progress or offered short movies to advance the narrative), it truly immersed the gamer in the setting and the story. It also added physics-based puzzles and aggressive enemy AI, creating a truly action-packed and varied game-play experience. It’s definitely one of the greatest games ever made. A sequel released in 2004 would bring us more of the same great play in a totally new setting with an expanded story, and two expansions (called episodes) continued the adventure; fans are still awaiting the third episode. Halo: Combat Evolved is also a classic and helped to define the identity of the “console FPS.” With a streamlined set of controls and faster-paced action, it was easier to play with a controller. The addition of vehicles was revolutionary, the multiplayer mode was intense and easy to get into (and when Xbox Live came around, it simply exploded), and the story has become one of the most exciting epics in video games, spawning two sequels and three spin-offs. It’s still possible to find many of these FPS games through the Internet, but you probably will have to buy them secondhand. Also, there’s the concern over whether gamers are still using the consoles for which they are available, as well as the issue of DRM for the PC titles. What you will mostly be buying for your collection are new games. While developing a collection with PC games can be difficult, it would be a good idea to add some classics to any public access gaming machines you have. Next month, check out some of today’s big titles for your circulating collection.
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Electric Guitar System: [Nintendo 64 Guitar Medley 2
Mp3:mediafire.com Nintendo 64 Guitar Medleys 2 (Entire Collection): mediafire.com You know, it seems like only yesterday that I said to myself, “Well shit, I should probably start N64 Medleys 2 now if I want to finish it before my break starting July…” I was assuming it would be like the last run where I would take a week break in between a few. But no. I ended up getting so damn dedicated to get these done, that I did them all in one run through. And holy shit, was it difficult. This was about 10 times as hard as the last one, not to mention countless times where I felt like the medley was crap and had to upload it anyways. However, now that it’s over, I feel the first bit of accomplishment I’ve felt since before I started. It’s a good feeling since I never got to just sit down and enjoy the benefits of a finished project, because it only meant that it was time to start the next one. Each one of these covers was arranged and had a mostly rough draft recording done by the time you saw the previous week’s video. It was like clockwork and unfortunately felt stressful and difficult at times, which goes against every reason I’m doing this. But it’s finally done, and I’m glad you guys loved them and got excited for the next one! This final cover was a fairly easy one to arrange though. I feel that since I knew way before that I was doing this, I had songs that I was saving to do in this one. Area 51 was a challenge because of the time signature, but other then that I …
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