A Sprite

Do you want Raiden or Xevious? STUN Runner or BallBlazer? That's as far as we can get, playing fair. Watch out, it's about to get brutal... Scrapyard Dog, Asteroids, Xenophobe, and Rampage on the Lynx destroy their 7800 counterparts. Each of these games also features exclusive features for the Lynx that can't be found in any other port. The Lynx simply has more games than the 7800. Check out this under appreciated channel on youtube to see how many more - http://www.youtube.com/user/AtariLynxChannel#p/u Last reason to choose a Lynx - while every 7800 game can be played through emulation, not every Lynx game can. If you aren't holding an actual, physical Lynx in your hands, you're missing out. Because of their screens, one day, there won't be any left. Get one now, while you still can...

I agree, can I lock this thread now, so we can just forget about it? Why lock a thread? why the censorship? Nothing malicious is being said, no feelings are hurt, I've answered questions about the code, the history, and a couple Lynx questions. If people don't want to participate in this conversation it will die. D. Scott Williamson I heard you're involved with The Conduit series? Correct me if I'm wrong. The rest of this post is going to appear amazingly silly. The first game in the series was an attempt to prove the Wii was an underrated piece of hardware. It failed by many accounts, due to a lack of stand out moments and severe repetition. Now the second title is on the way, and looks to make good on the promises of the first. Reading up on it, reveals the quote that nothing makes it in unless it actually excites the team. What generates excitement in creating a world? What's the difference between a good design and a bad? How does one stand out in a sea of me-too titles?

Really? Why would you do that to yourself? I typed that thinking "Crap, I'm going to get trolled." And hoping you guys made it worth reading at least. Sadly, I'm wearing a shirt and jeans. But, like, they're black, and for all you know I could be slicing my wrists or something. TL, DR: "Star Castle will always be real to me, man!"

From now on, no collector can have a perfect set. Most of us won't even be allowed to touch it. Sure, other games are kept away from the public, but none so important to the era's history or of this quality. But. I understand. The same way I understand there's only one "The Last Supper" painted by the original artist. Okay, maybe an arcade conversion's not that big of an achievement by society's judgement, but it is art. If everyone could own it, it would be just one more game. So I'm willing to take what little I am allowed. We've lost an experience, and gained a story. Perhaps even a crusade, for those who need something to protest. And wisdom. I know personally, every game I own just became that much more precious to me. And I respect more, those who created them. Thank you, for that.

Damn, just 5 years too late for my vote to count. I would have LOVED to have seen negative points awarded to game systems for bad games, as it really gives you a better idea of just how precious a gift good design was in that wild primordial swamp. But it's okay... This entire series is a treasure. Stories of fighting absurd limits with incredible imagination are why I got into gaming in the first place, and your reviews are as much example of that as the games themselves...this is bringing me back to the love I once had for the medium. Thank you.

Magic. I watch you set plan a complex series of maths to fire off in response to every instant movement of a human hand on an instrument decades old, and it's a fine art. Not the game, but the program, the interface, the dance between player and machine - what you're doing in conquering these challenges, it's like if someone took a single reed flute and split it into pieces so fine it became a string instrument, then took that unlikely creation, handed it to a random volunteer from the crowd and made it play "Voodoo Child". You're spooky, man. But it's so much more than the tricks under the hood, isn't it? Most people will never see it's true beauty... I ask myself what's the point, for you and for us, and I realize... It's not just nostalgia. It's a time machine. It's a way to go back to the past, and break it. Change it so much that it's nothing like what really happened... Go Atari! You wouldn't happen to be doing all your posting from a glowing hot tub, would you? Anyways, sorry about all the cheering, it's just whenever you go to work on this, however much you squeeze in, just know that you inspired a bunch of random people from around the world to stop what they were doing, escape gray adult worries for a moment, and become a bunch of kids watching a magic show...

Saw it in passing. Thought you guys might get a kick out of it.

Metroid Prime. Elder Scrolls. Thief. I'm willing to wait and see. Shattered Memories already killed it for me...

I'm sorry, but this issue was...disappointing. I'm trying to be fair, but... 1. Hang-On is compared, unfavorably, to Rad Racer. Rad Racer was Squaresoft's clone of Yu Suzuki's Outrun, and it was Yu Suzuki who programmed the arcade version of Hang-On, so of course there are going to be similarities. You might as well compare compare Super Mario World's jumping and smashing bricks with his fist to Alex Kidd in Miracle World, who can also jump and break blocks with his fist. 2. The article about Final Fight uses a sprite from an entirely different game in the series. If it were IGN or the Angry Video Game Nerd who made these mistakes, they'd be crucified. I realize the Retrogaming Times depends entirely on fan enthusiasm, but shouldn't true fans at least be able to educate others about their hobby?

KOF begs for the abuse. Ignoring the lazy stereotypes in pig people land, which you're forced to look at since there are only 5 or so stages, the programmers thought it would be a good idea to zoom in on their big beautiful sprites. Why is it a surprise that people would point out how ugly they become? The developers already suggested we didn't need to be politically correct, so there's no need to worry about hurting their feelings. I think the ridiculous amount of praise for Blaz Blue is making up for the ridiculous ways the Guilty Gear series was underrated. They were called average games at the time of release due to their limited animation, but years later hardcore tournament players consider them some of the best, most balanced games ever released. Whoops. So much for judging gameplay over graphics. Game critics were revealed as being just fans with better written opinions. The whole mess became common knowledge among anyone paying attention when the Streetfighter HD designer started blogging. What was an honest critic to do?

Taking Control. (followed by whatever subtitle you care to add. ) What makes videogames unique as a medium is the active participation of the player in constructing the experience. There's a kind of silent conversation between creator and audience, whether it's as simple as "One more hit and you'll die! What do you do now?" or as complex as "Your desire to be close to someone you love can hurt them, how do you balance each other's needs?" As games become more and more advanced, we see the participation of the player growing - witness the emergence of sandbox games. This narrative even extends to the time before videogames - what would later become pinball games had no flippers. The player's sole participation was in launching the ball...

Dancing Plate steps up and demands to be counted. How can you refuse? The box art features poorly drawn Chinese caricatures, which is to be expected for the time, but it's the tumor growing out of one girl's cheek that instantly wins our sympathies. The gameplay earns an F from the Videogame critic - listen! The game plays music for you! Not good music. Not fair music. In fact, it's rather like listening to a drunken elderly car alarm reminisce about it's first dance, but it's proof positive that someone somewhere was trying... They just failed in every way someone can fail, and still create a working game. For that accomplishment, alone, they deserve our praise.

Once upon a time Golgo 13 was a sophisticated tale of intrigue and betrayal, that danced to a killer soundtrack. I wake up from the party 10 years later, and try to dance again... When did I did I start hopping around like a flea on crack? Where are my shoes? A gun makes life a little easier. But I walk into a maze, and immediately get lost because every place looks the same. That fucking maze song is going to drive me insane... This is probably a metaphor for growing up, but damn... I played this for fun? I don't understand that kid anymore.

Just check out a review of any random game they've designed. Years from now, our children will be making their own angry youtube rants over this shit. -Myth Makers: Super Kart GP, reviewed by Review Busters -Wikipedia -Kidz Sports: International Soccer, reviewed by Yahoo Games. I wish I owned a Wii...

Golden age as a term is generally given to any era of time where a product first exploded into mass consciousness. The Golden Age of (Hollywood) movies is considered to be the end of the silent era into the the late '50's. The Golden era of (American) Television is late 40's to early 60's. For (American superhero) comic books it would be from the late 1930s until the late 1940s. None of this has anything to with quality, though nostalgic audiences may remember otherwise. Usually these golden eras are marked by basic good vs. evil narratives, and a lack of overt sexuality that give them a lasting aura of innocence. ( Censorship helps, in videogames, a lack of storage space and processing power had the same effect. ) As for why anyone would consider them superior to Nintendo style games? (Honestly, I don't, but people aren't shy about talking...) Time. You can pick them up, have a go for 15 minutes to half an hour, and not worry about them when you go back to whatever else needs done. They ask nothing of you. They were also imaginative - just try to sell Dig Dug to a series of investors and shareholders now ( "And you insert your hose inside them, and - " "We've heard enough." ), and you'll see what's been lost in the modern era. Plus...there's something magical about bright lights on the black void of space. You insert a coin. You step into another world. PS: 1981 or 1989? You can't have been born in both. Being baptized doesn't count.