66 replies to this topic

[donssword]

it's written by a kid

Sounds great! It would be great to support a budding community gamer, after all, I was a kid once myself.

Uncle Scrooge's Money Bin
Its a tower platforming game. Uncle Scrooge must platform jump to the top of each level as his alarm system activates. A red line chase you up. Some platforms have power-ups (extra time, extra lives), and some will crumble. Graphically is looks really nice, as the background are well made, like all the Disney games from Jakks.

Minnie's Cake Factory
A timing match game. Minnie stands at the end of a conveyor belt, pulling a lever to drop toppings on cakes. OVer the conveyor belt are 4 or 4 boxes with the different cake toppings. Gameplay is more about timing the drop of the toppings and less about matching.

Goofy's Wiseacre Farm
This is a line drawing game. Goofy rides a tractor around the field circling the crops. Each time he circles a crop, it changes to its next state of growth. I haven't played it in a while, but I think it goes: tilled soil, planted seed, sprout, full grown, harvested. It you can get a crop plot harvested you get lots of point. The whole time, chickens are running around like Pac-man ghosts, and eventually grows that downgrade the level of your crops appear. Power-ups appear around the field to scare crows, make you immune to chickens, speed you up, etc.

I'll try and post descriptions of the rest later.

[onmode-ky]

So far, what I know that's coming up in 2012 in the plug-n-play category:

- Jakks Pacific - The Walking Dead - light-gun-style shooter based on the TV show
- Jakks Pacific - Cut the Rope - touchpad interface; based on the phone game
- Namco Bandai (Bandai America) - Pac-Man Connect-and-Play - allegedly emulated collection of 11 Namco games + direct link to Pac-Man board 255 - existing thread for this
- Jazwares - Fruit Ninja - prop-based motion interface; based on the phone game

So, at least two new firms coming into the category this year. Is this the beginning of a resurgence, or will they drop out shortly afterward due to low sales? Speaking of which, Jakks Pacific cited their Golden Tee Golf TV Game as an underperforming title from their 2011 lineup. And, that AtGames iMuga site I referred to in my previous post in this topic has disappeared.

onmode-ky

[BioForceApe]

I think you might be in the minority. From what I've read, Color Dreams was one of those "renegade" publishers of NES games, not actually approved/licensed by Nintendo, and their games were generally considered to be pretty bad. I've never played any of them, so I have no opinion of my own to offer, but the reputation is rather poor. I think they were the ones who had plans for a "supercart," though, with its own CPU (a Z-80?) overriding the NES', so at least they had some interesting ideas (the project was scrapped, however). I read all this stuff somewhere online, but I don't remember where.

I suppose if you're the collecting type, this device from Pelican would have been a good way to get a bunch of Color Dreams' games, though not on original carts. I wonder how well they sold.

onmode-ky

You missed one. The ATGames PlayPal Plug and Play, otherwise known as the POGA and the FunPlay 20-in-1, the "Time "Plug and Play" ", or the "PowerShock" in spain.

[onmode-ky]

I think you might be in the minority. From what I've read, Color Dreams was one of those "renegade" publishers of NES games, not actually approved/licensed by Nintendo, and their games were generally considered to be pretty bad. I've never played any of them, so I have no opinion of my own to offer, but the reputation is rather poor. I think they were the ones who had plans for a "supercart," though, with its own CPU (a Z-80?) overriding the NES', so at least they had some interesting ideas (the project was scrapped, however). I read all this stuff somewhere online, but I don't remember where.

I suppose if you're the collecting type, this device from Pelican would have been a good way to get a bunch of Color Dreams' games, though not on original carts. I wonder how well they sold.

onmode-ky

You missed one. The ATGames PlayPal Plug and Play, otherwise known as the POGA and the FunPlay 20-in-1, the "Time "Plug and Play" ", or the "PowerShock" in spain.

I'm pretty sure the system you're talking about is the same as the one in my list as "sega sms/gg 20-in-1 (js, na) sega **12/09/2006 *12/31/2006 12/08/2007" (which is an abbreviation for "Sega Master System/Game Gear 20-in-1 (joystick form factor, native hardware), known announced on 12/09/2006, known listed for sale on 12/31/2006, known in existence on 12/08/2007"). It's listed under PlayPal, because that was one of the first names under which it appeared, and I never could determine who the original manufacturer was. I'd have guessed known Sega licensor AtGames--and it's AtGames, not ATGames, incidentally--but I don't think AtGames was associated with the very first releases of the system. If they were, they hid it well. Oh, and I know it says "js" for "joystick," while your video clip shows something with a D-pad; the "js" bit is really to differentiate from the handheld version, with the built-in LCD screen. Early shots of the TV-connection-only version had an actual stick, which was topped by a white-gloved fist. The intention was for the whole system to look like Sonic running with his arm extended out sideways.

I also have a separate entry under AtGames, "*sega sms/gg 20-in-1 pad (licensed by time co., na) 12/28/2008," which I'm fairly certain is the exact same thing. Any other names under which this system was released I decided not to include separately, because they're, well, the same thing, and in all those cases, I have little doubt that it's AtGames now producing them under an OEM arrangement.

The recently announced NeoGeo X will eventually be in the list, since it's supposed to have the ability to connect to a TV, but it's currently yet another case of my not being sure who actually makes (is going to make) the thing. Blaze Europe is distributing (in Europe) and has so far done the only press announcement for it, but as Blaze's Atari Flashback 3 and Sega Mega Drive products all actually come from AtGames, I'd wager the NeoGeo X is not "really" their own product as well.

By the way, did you quote my 2005 post by accident? I can't see any relation between the quoted text and what you wrote.

onmode-ky

[BioForceApe]

Oop sorry. I tried to quote "your list of games" but I clicked to quote the second post on accident...

Plus, the sound chip on the plug and play game I posted has a different pitch (1 semitone far from the SMS/GG's sound key programming) and I dont know why.

Edited by BioForceApe, Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:25 PM.

[high voltage]

If you search on Digital Press, they got a comprehensive PnP listing, I think it coverd over 150 already. Might be useful.

here's mine:

[onmode-ky]

I've just discovered a few more upcoming systems in Jakks Pacific's TV Games line, from a March 30th blog post. The source is a press release, which I found on Google, but I can't find an actual press date for the document (the file itself has an early January date, but I don't think it was published until at least Toy Fair).

The new systems, like the previously discovered, upcoming Cut the Rope port, use touchpad interfaces. Here's what the press release says about them:

• SpongeBob SquarePants TV Games Touch: For all SpongeBob SquarePants fans, this adventure features Spongetastic puzzle games that are action packed and hilarious just like everyone’s favorite SpongeBob. Gamers can touch, drag, point and tap the screen to control the action! SRP $19.99 (ages 5+)

• Star Wars TVG Touch: Gamers can play classic Jedi battles, fly ships, duel with their Lightsaber and blast away Droids to protect the galaxy. To defeat the Dark Side and save the Republic, simply touch, drag, point and tap the screen to control the action! SRP $19.99 (ages 5+)

• Spider-Man TVG Touch: Sling webs and bash baddies with Spider-Man! By touching, dragging, pointing and tapping the controller, Spider-Man’s fans can battle his most notorious villains like Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, and more! SRP $19.99 (ages 5+)

Basically, Jakks is launching the TV Games Touch line with their most popular TV Games licenses. Note that these three properties were also part of their TV Games Motion launch (not to be confused with their earlier Ultimotion line).

If you search on Digital Press, they got a comprehensive PnP listing, I think it coverd over 150 already. Might be useful.

You're talking about the really long discussion thread in the DP forum, that had a title like "Unofficial TV Plug-and-Play Games List," right? For some reason, I can't locate that thread anymore, but I do know about it. The last time I looked at it, though, its most recent activity was in early 2009, so it's likely quite out of date. Besides, even if there are over 150 systems covered in it, between my two lists, I cover over 300. :) Thanks, anyway. I don't cover bootlegs/pirates, though, and I think the Systema systems in your pictures are unlicensed collections of pirated/hacked Atari VCS and NES/Famicom games. The sudoku one looks like a repackaging of the sudoku game distributed in the US by Senario.

onmode-ky

Edit: It appears that the 3 Jakks titles mentioned above are re-releases of earlier TV Games systems, adapted for touchpad controls. And, they apparently really were shown off at Toy Fair. Projected release in August.

Edited by onmode-ky, Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:15 PM.

[onmode-ky]

I've kept watch for new activity for 2013 in the plug-n-play games market, looking through CES and NY Toy Fair media online, and my conclusion is: the ghost town that has been the PnP market for years will be nearly a null void this year. The only inkling of a new release I could find was a light-gun-style shooting game from Jakks Pacific, the Star Wars Clone Wars Blaster that had a mock-up product box at Toy Fair. They've done one such game each year since 2009, with only 2010's Toy Story Mania model not being developed by Merge Interactive (used to be known as Super Happy Fun Fun). And, coincidentally, Merge's website reported in December that they had signed a new contract for a project with Jakks.

Last year, Toy Fair revealed new plug-n-play products coming from Bandai America (the Pac-Man Connect-and-Play), Jazwares (a Fruit Ninja tie-in that, like the Fruit Ninja electronic accessories that were simultaneously announced, never released--so maybe Jazwares' license collapsed), and Jakks Pacific (their Walking Dead light gun game and their touchpad TV Games did release, but not the Cut the Rope model they announced). This year, in contrast, nothing at all from anyone besides Jakks, who has just one. Sure, later this year, maybe AtGames will do yet another set of Atari Flashback and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulation units, but those are becoming like the sports games of plug-n-play. This looks the deadest year for plug-n-play since the resurgence ~10 years ago, by far.

It's kind of a pity, too. In 2011, systems from Jakks Pacific proved that the relatively new Generalplus chips were powerful enough to do not only fairly good emulation of older arcade hardware (Code Mystics' Taito Space Invaders TV Game system--remember that everything else retro from Jakks had been ported, not emulated), but even polygon graphics. Really, I played the 2011 Golden Tee Golf TV Game system (developed by HotGen) recently, and the course landscapes in that are polygon maps (trees and shrubs are size-scaled sprites, though). Radica's Golden Tee Golf from about 5 years earlier was all 2D, overhead views, aside from tee-off. The tech is so much more capable now . . . but the market has moved on. C'est la vie.

onmode-ky

[raindog]

I think with stuff like GameStick becoming available for under $100, in a year or two we might see another wave of plug-and-plays with HDMI, a wireless stick, and an Android-based emulator and/or licensed games. You can roll your own for about 50 bucks right now, but not with an arcade stick or any sort of legitimacy.

If there is another wave, I doubt it'll succeed... 20-25 years is usually the sweet spot for nostalgia. Space Invaders turns 40 in about 4 years. It's no longer the game today's kids' parents played.... it's becoming the game their grandparents played. But who knows, those Victrola-style CD players were doing pretty well for a while there.

Still hoping to get one more great Namco-collection-on-a-stick, though.

[onmode-ky]

A correction to my previous post: 2011 was actually not the first time polygon graphics appeared in a plug-n-play game system. It has come to my attention that the 2009 Star Wars Clone Wars game I described in the fifth paragraph of this post actually used polygons, not just sprites, though I completely did not notice at the time I wrote the post. At any rate, it was built on the same hardware as the 2011 Golden Tee Golf system, and it's apparently not the only 2009 Jakks Pacific release that had polygon graphics.

I think with stuff like GameStick becoming available for under $100, in a year or two we might see another wave of plug-and-plays with HDMI, a wireless stick, and an Android-based emulator and/or licensed games.

You're not the first person I've heard make this prediction (or at least a similar one), but I'm skeptical of the chances that will happen. HDMI will increase the cost of the product, as would wireless, and I don't think it provides any increased incentive for a consumer to buy a plug-n-play system. If there are already very few people buying them now at the $20 to $40 range, would a widescreen and progressive scan image really convince them to buy otherwise equivalent products for more money? There would likely be no increase in resolution, simply due to the limits of what the rest of the hardware could do, so it would probably be 480p at best. The nature of the games content would probably be about the same (licensed content based on established gaming genres--retro game content has not done well in plug-n-play lately, so we could probably forget about that), so with that element being unchanged and without the incentive of downloading new games that things like Ouya and the GameStick promise, I don't see HDMI-capable dedicated systems successfully reopening the market.

But maybe you'll be right, and the toy companies will try the idea out. They're certainly looking for some way to fight the invasion of tablets into their space, and last year's "app toys" attempts were 90% failures, based on an estimate I read at a toy industry news site.

onmode-ky

[onmode-ky]

I've done another of my periodic updates to my plug-n-play info website, as well as attaching an updated pair of pnpgames*.txt files to the first post in this topic. However, the new content is either disappointing (only one new 2013 plug-n-play product discovered since the last update, for a total of just two upcoming products* I know of) or likely of interest only to data-hoarders like me (newly discovered details about a few unreleased projects from years past). The main reason I'm writing this post is to share a photo.

I know there are some people who collect plug-n-play games. My own collection can't possibly compete with theirs in size. However, I've never known of anyone putting their plug-n-play boxes into any kind of display--anyone besides me, that is. Here's what I did with several of my plug-n-play boxes:



From left to right, forming a backdrop for a great battle between Duel Maid factions, we have boxes for:

- Namco I (Pac-Man - this is the original cardboard box design, with the long "lip")
- Namco II (Ms. Pac-Man - one of the first units to use the short "lip" packaging)
- Classic Arcade Pinball (3 proprietary tables)
- Atari Paddles Deluxe 2-Player
- Dragonball Z (can't say I'm very familiar with the manga/anime, but this unit has the best ball-and-paddle game design I've seen since Warlords)
- Capcom
- Namco III (Super Pac-Man - I'm fortunate I got one of these in the cardboard box packaging, just before Jakks Pacific switched them to blister packs)
- [Sakura Taisen GB, Pocket Sakura Pack, with Pocket Sakura on top - not a plug-n-play game, obviously, but going from left to right, this is what's there]
- Kenshin Dragon Quest (there's actually a second box behind the visible one; the first one of these I got had a dead sensor array and thus was unplayable--and the second one now has the same problem, actually :( )
- Taito (Jakks Pacific's model, this plastic box is in front of the Kenshin Dragon Quest; the little white knickknack on top of it, behind its white handle, is just something I put there)

There are also some PS3 and PSP special edition game boxes stacked atop the boxes described above. The boxes for my C64 DTV (plastic pyramid box) and Atari Flashback 2 (large cardboard box) are stored elsewhere, not in a "display" environment, and my Namco IV (blister pack) and Namco V (plastic box) are kept at my parents' home.

Overall, a row of vividly colorful boxes, fronted by a vividly colorful diorama. Looks good to me.

onmode-ky

*Both of the upcoming products are light-gun-style games developed by Merge Interactive for Jakks Pacific, a Star Wars: The Clone Wars title and a Duck Commander (Duck Dynasty) title.

[onmode-ky]

I've made what is likely to be the last update of 2013 to my plug-n-play info website, including the latest pair of pnpgames*.txt files (also attached to this thread's first post). The main updates of note: all post-2007 AtGames Sega Genesis/Mega Drive systems are now identified as running their games natively rather than through an emulation layer (and the chips AtGames uses for its Sega products have been added to the CPU data table); both of Jakks Pacific's 2013 models (Duck Commander and Star Wars Clone Trooper light-gun-style games) are now dated with actual retail appearances; AtGames' Intellivision announcement is included; some older AtGames systems have had their game lists added to the Retro Contents page; a nifty easter egg in a (non-retro) new release has been added to the hidden codes section. As usual, my site's revision history lists all the changes in detail.

So far, it still looks like 2013 will only have 2 new products in the plug-n-play category, the gun games from Jakks. AtGames announced the Intellivision tie-up, but it was revealed so recently that I think there's a good chance there won't be an actual release from the venture during 2013. They also have other products in the works, but given that they haven't been revealed yet at all, it's difficult to say what might arrive before the end of the year. All in all, the Intellivision announcement spices things up a bit, but 2013 is still on track to be the deadest year for plug-n-play since the market's revival.

onmode-ky

[raindog]

I've never known of anyone putting their plug-n-play boxes into any kind of display--anyone besides me, that is.

 

Missed this post the first time around -- see below. Not my complete collection -- lost about a dozen to a flood a couple years ago, and half a dozen others are MIA somewhere in a huge pile of unmarked moving boxes. But close enough at this point. I realized I'd never be a completist when they started doing the children's movie license stuff, so it's simultaneously incomplete and, in retrospect, excessive.

 

 

All in all, the Intellivision announcement spices things up a bit, but 2013 is still on track to be the deadest year for plug-n-play since the market's revival.

 

That's the first plug-n-play I've been interested in since that last Pac-Man one. I'd be pretty surprised if they got Intellivision emulation up and running (unless the Intellivision Lives guys did an ARM port or something), so I just hope they find a way to do justice to the original controller, and not just replace it with a generic Famiclone-style pad again.

[brojamfootball]

Hmmm, I have not seen that Commando/Ghosts and Goblins before.

[raindog]

Found it in (I think) Target years ago. It's by Jakks, is "GameKey Ready", and also includes 1942. It survived the flood but I've never opened it to see what it's like.

 

I think it's this entry in onmode-ky's list:

capcom (gk)			hotgen						**02/18/2004

[onmode-ky]

Not my complete collection -- lost about a dozen to a flood a couple years ago, and half a dozen others are MIA somewhere in a huge pile of unmarked moving boxes. But close enough at this point.

Wow, an entire bookcase! Are any of those opened (all of mine are)?
 

That's the first plug-n-play I've been interested in since that last Pac-Man one. I'd be pretty surprised if they got Intellivision emulation up and running (unless the Intellivision Lives guys did an ARM port or something), so I just hope they find a way to do justice to the original controller, and not just replace it with a generic Famiclone-style pad again.

AtGames might not be using ARM-based chips anymore. Given that their current Genesis systems are all GOACs, they may have switched architectures for other projects, too. But, I'm just nitpicking here, and I do think it's likely that the Intellivision will be emulated, ARM or whatever. Bill Loguidice feels they're going for a fair amount of authenticity with the project.

Personally, the last plug-n-play that got me really interested was the 2011 Taito one that Jakks did, which you also have. The fact that Code Mystics developed it with their emulation engine played a big part in it catching my eye. More recently, I was also rather interested in this year's Star Wars Clone Trooper game (enough to drive half an hour into unfamiliar territory to find one), but that was more out of curiosity regarding certain technical aspects of it rather than personal interest.
 

Hmmm, I have not seen that Commando/Ghosts and Goblins before.

Sure you have! It's in my picture up above, in post #61! :) It's at a different angle in my shot, though, and I only mention it in my picture's description as "Capcom." raindog is right; that one is the "capcom (gk)" line in my list. I remember that when I saw the press release about it in 2004, I was very excited, because 1942 was the exact title I was really hoping to see in one of these retro plug-n-plays. Little did I know it would be nearly 2 years before it was actually released--and then when it did, it seemingly was restricted to Canada for many months. I gave up waiting for it to show up in my local stores and asked a relative in Vancouver to get me one from a Future Shop/Best Buy (thus, mine has a bilingual box). I think I only ended up seeing it in a store myself one time, in a Toys 'R Us a long time later. Thankfully, it fully lived up to expectations when I finally did get and play it. The ports of the 3 games play very well. I think you should open yours up, raindog.

Incidentally, while some Capcom games for the Genesis have seen plug-n-play releases, no other Capcom arcade plug-n-play ever got released--but Jakks Pacific had plans for more. As noted at my site, ports for Mega Man, Section Z, Gun.Smoke, and Mega Man 2 were all worked on, by two different studios at different times, and the latter pair were even completed and ESRB-rated. The former pair, meanwhile, seem to have been started on even before the games that did get released.

Say, if anyone here has a Flashback 3 or 4 (the AtGames Flashbacks), would you mind opening it up and posting a picture of its PCB? One of my first clues that AtGames had switched processors on their Genesis systems was from a picture of a recent model's PCB, which had some ID data silk screened on it. I'd like to see if the Flashbacks may have that as well.

onmode-ky

P.S. I recently took a photo of the PCB in a Bandai Pac-Man Connect-and-Play (2012). It has an 8-MB SDRAM module (overkill for those games?), 2 glob tops (presumably ROM and MCU), something I think is an EEPROM (save data), and no useful text printed anywhere. :( Bandai implied in its PR statements that the system ran on emulation, but I still don't know what chip it uses.

[raindog]

Almost none of the blister packs are opened... which made it all the more disappointing when I found the 3 mini Atari pnps (on a keychain) I had, floating in water, only to discover that water had still gotten into them and corroded everything. (Several of the Atgames ones with the weird asymmetrical packaging and styrofoam inside, the same shape as the Sonic one next to the Commodore in my picture, were floating too, but there was no question they were toast.) I opened the C64 one the day I got it because it was just plastic and cardboard scotch-taped to a styrofoam base. I opened the early Namco, Atari and Activision ones that weren't in blister packs, then lost the packaging for the Activision one which is why it's not on display (not even sure where it is).

 

Most of them are unopened. Not because I think they'll be worth something someday, but because there are a lot of things I just haven't cared about as much since my partner died six years ago. He and I liked playing things like Kaboom (sadly never adequately represented in pnps since it wasn't included in any of the paddle collections) and Pong and every once in a while, Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man. Since then I've gotten a few pnps out of habit, but missed a bunch of them during his illness and several years afterward. (The other thing is, having lost some clients during his illness when I didn't adequately balance billing hours with taking care of him, while I'd drop 40 bucks after tax and shipping on a pnp in 2004 the way most people would order a coffee, spending 40 bucks is a decision I have to actually think about even now, making impulse buying something I used to do.)

 

These days I'm happy enough playing emulators on my Android TV stick with a wireless controller and HDMI output, our TV being big enough to represent even portrait mode games bigger than they were in the arcade. My girl plays console games as far back as the PS2 -- as I type this, she's having a conversation with someone in the "Honest Hearts" add-on to Fallout New Vegas -- but having been a PC gamer till we met, even N64 games seem primitive to her, so "old arcade games on a stick" isn't something we can enjoy together. So I haven't opened any more of them in his absence. I don't know that I ever will. But they're brightly colored and to me, fun to look at (well, except for that mini-golf motion controlled one up on top that was in the back of my station wagon for a year and a half between two moves; that one's not so colorful anymore).

 

PNPs are something I used to be excited about. Now I'm merely interested.