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spiffyone

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Everything posted by spiffyone

  1. True. But then again Punch Out NES was a good game in and of itself. In comparison to the arcade original it may be lacking, but taken on its own it's a good game that is fondly remembered by many (will the same be said about Ms. Spears in a number of years? Considering she's not looked back fondly right now, I'd say no).
  2. As Golden Axe Warrior is basically Sega's version of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda, I would propose that an Atari "version" of those games (you'll get why the quotation marks in a second) be Adventure III (as Adventure II was already indie released for Atari 5200). After all, Golden Axe Warrior and Legend of Zelda are both basically upgraded versions of Atari's own Adventure, which was the original action/adventure game in the video game industry (both GAW and LoZ being action/adventures as well). Here's Adventure II for those that haven't seen it yet: "Simply" (yes, I know it's not simple at all) replace the dot character with an actual animated sprite, complete with sword swinging action, add some common enemy characters in the overworld and, boom: Instant 7800 Adventure (or in this case, Adventure III). Maybe the duck-billed dragons could be boss fights in this new version. I proposed that very game when I proposed a version of Wonder Boy/Adventure Island starring Bentley Bear, who I believed should've been Atari's mascot. Bob is coming through with the latter with the anticipated release of Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest, so maybe someone will pick up this idea and run with it. Also on my wishlist: 1. An Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES version) style RPG, but one with a first person turn based battle system ala the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest games. By Ultima IV NES style I mean a WRPG with JRPG graphical style. More freedom allowed than a typical JRPG. In Ultima IV you could basically battle anyone you wanted to just by initiating the encounter as well as steal items and have it count against the morality choices. NES style because I prefer the style of the sprites in that version over the computer versions. Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest first person battles because I prefer that sort of simplified battle system to Ultima IV's more strategic overhead placement battle system, and it would show off the ol' 7800's ability to have massively sized sprites on screen for boss battles. Here's Ultima IV NES version for those that haven't seen it: 2. NES had Castlevania; SMS had Master of Darkness, which was basically Sega's version of Castlevania. NES and SMS both had Ninja Gaiden games. I propose hitting two birds with one stone: a mash up of Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania. Totally '80s, you play as a ninja going against monsters (vampires, werewolves, demons, those goddamn bats that plague your existence in both Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden) in Dracula's (or, better yet, Satan's) castle. Yeah. Totally. *air guitar. You get the agility of a ninja (so no more marrying a goddamn jump like you do in Castlevania) with the enemy design of Castlevania. Level design would be a mash up of both (stairs ala Castlevania; ladders on walls and wall jumps ala Ninja Gaiden). 3. A Space Harrier type rail shooter. From my (very limited) understanding, 7800 could handle that type of pseudo 3D better than the other consoles with display list manipulation (call me out if I'm way wrong here, btw). Might be a great game to show off the 7800's prowess. Plus I just dig rail shooters, specifically Space Harrier. Maybe someone could hack, say, Motor Psycho to make this one?
  3. Food Fight - only home conversion of the cult arcade game, and programmed by the designers of the console hardware. Ninja Golf - off the wall original 7800 title that shows off the hardware pretty well and became something of an internet sensation as far as obscure games go. Pole Position II - this one is easy: it was the pack in game for the bundled units. Good or bad, it "defines" 7800 as much as Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt and Alex Kidd in Miracle World does for many NES and SMS owners, respectively.
  4. In case I haven't already stated it: Sign me up for a non-XM version. Thanks Bob. And, once again, thanks for the thanks in the title screen. Warms my heart every time I see it.
  5. What's the status of the project? Haven't seen anything in a while. If carts are ready to be ordered, I'd like to be put on the list.
  6. Adventure III The original Adventure was the first action/adventure game, and Legend of Zelda (LoZ) was obviously inspired by that VCS/2600 classic. There's an Adventure II for 5200 (sadly I've never played it as I don't have a 5200). It looks like what a 5200 sequel to the Atari 2600 classic would've been had it been released during the 5200's time on store shelves: familiar, but very much updated in both graphics and gameplay. It only makes sense then that there'd be an Adventure III for 7800, and that it too would feel like an update from Adventure II on 5200. That would "fit" the basic idea of imagining what form updates to Atari IP would take during the 7800 years, which was the foundation that sprung BB:Crystal Quest, particularly if it too borrows from Zelda's additions to the genre in much the same way Zelda borrowed from the original 2600 Adventure. We'd then have a unique take on Wonder Boy/Adventure Island in the form of BB: Crystal Quest and Legend of Zelda/Golden Axe Warrior in the form of Adventure III. Going along this line of thinking, a unique, Atari branded "take" on a Castlevania-style game "fits" just as well. Similar gameplay, but Atari branded, just like Sega did with Master of Darkness on SMS, so not an exact clone in any way. Use the Haunted House branding, perhaps. I know that HH was also an action/adventure (first real "survival horror", btw), but exploration/item hunting/door unlocking can be added as well. After all, the MSX version of Castlevania, Vampire Killer, had that sort of gameplay.
  7. Been a while since I've been on the forums, but I'm so happy to see the project still alive and progressing as well as it has. I tried the latest demo out last night, and it has really come together in ways that I only imagined when I first floated the idea a year ago. Stellar work, Bob. F'n stellar. One quibble though: Why are the buttons swapped around in the latest release? Was that something users wanted? It seems strange to me to have the attack button not be the primary (first) button, as that's the way it was with games of this sort on NES (everything from Adventure Island to the Super Mario games to Mega Man had jump on button 2/A and attack on button 1/B). SMS was a different story, with it not being a "set rule" (Alex Kidd in Miracle World had attack on button 1, jump on button 2; Wonder Boy had it reversed). I'm playing it on MESS using a USB joypad, and pulling off basic jumps over rocks is more difficult than it ought to be, even more than pulling off the more difficult jumps in the earliest demos where you had the buttons set up so the first was attack and the second was jump. I gather that when this is released in cart form, this will still be an issue for me as I'll be playing using the 7800's EU joypad. Thinking about it, I can see the way you have it currently set up being better for those unfortunate souls who have to deal with the stock 7800 joystick (why, oh why, couldn't we have gotten the joypad in the States?), but...c'mon, man. Perhaps a settings menu would be a solution. More work for you, and I'm sorry for that (you've done such amazing work on this already), but my right thumb implores you. Oh, and to your question on music: Again, more work for you (sorry), but I'd rather have some music. As another poster alluded, good game music is the cherry on top, especially for a platformer. Even the games that inspired Crystal Quest (Wonder Boy and Adventure Island) both have really memorable tunes that instantly pop in my head when I think of my favorite 8-bit platformers. The thing is, I really don't wish for you to be dealing with hand coding the music, so this is only if you can find a way to set up easier an easier work environment for Pokey music. Then you can go crazy with the FM chip on the XM for the sequel Wait...would adding Pokey music make this an XM only game, or an XM enhanced game (still playable on a stock 7800)? I'm still a bit unclear on that
  8. My problem with Scrapyard Dog is that it could've been more than it was. I can't be the only one who played the game's second area and thought to myself that it would be really cool if some of those doors the player can knock on actually led to something (NPC conversations or even other areas). I really think Scrapyard Dog should've been the 7800's answer to side scrolling action/adventure games (or action/RPGs) like Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, Castlevania II (which was a good idea hampered by sucky design decisions), and the like. Maybe that was part of the developer's intentions (those doors really do feel like an idea that was going to go somewhere) but they couldn't implement all they hoped due to budgetary issues (like, say, not getting the go-ahead to have a much larger ROM capacity).
  9. Wow...really? That's awfully nice of you. Thanks. I haven't been able to play the more recent updates (my primary laptop wigged out on me a bit, and I'm using a netbook right now , but I am dipping my feet back into Linux distros with the most recent Ubuntu and Joli OS, which I am really enjoying so far , but, regardless, this little thing's Atom isn't going to be my go-to for games). From what I have played of the previous versions of the game, however, I liked what I experienced. That said, I do have to agree somewhat with the opinions pertaining to difficulty, but I am split as to whether it's a "bad" thing or a "good" thing (the difficulty being as high as it is, I mean). On the one hand, I like the fact that it's high because, hey, that's the Atari Way (it was all about getting as far as possible and high scores, after all), but on the other hand I wonder about accessibility being a sticking point for some players, and dampening the experience for them. I'm sure you've already had this internal debate with yourself, though. All in all, though, I really liked what I saw/played. When I proposed the idea, I was thinking of it being a somewhat modified Wonder Boy clone (ala NES' Adventure Island), but it reminds me of a mix of that game with a small bit of NES action games like, say, Ninja Gaiden (with the high amount of enemy encounters, more constant combat action, etc.). Speaking of which: Ninja Golf Gaiden. Get on it ASAP after this one. Think Ninja Gaiden, but with the Ninja Golf ninja, and instead of swinging his sword, he swings his golf club. It's gold I tell ya...GOLD!
  10. I'm wondering whether I should rehash my arguments against SMW on this board, or whether some of you have read my arguments against it being "great" on other boards. Eh, I'll give a quick rundown: Good game, IMHO. I like it. Not a great game. Not a masterpiece. There are design issues, in terms of both level design but mainly in terms of how the cape's physics seem to go against design intent. SMB3 has issues, but they aren't as glaring.
  11. I disagree with you, and I'm right. At least as far as Turbo/Hyper and Dash/Champion were concerned. Genesis had as many frames of animation, and a higher speed setting. Music was a toss up between all three versions (there were actually some stage themes that were best on TG16, imho, namely Chun-Li's, and some extra effects on Guile's theme). And by that virtue it wasn't better. At all. The graphics and music were better. Stage design was a bit overbearing. But that slowdown was goddamn atrocious. Made the game nearly unplayable, or at the very least made me not want to play the damned thing and go running back to GnG on Genesis. Super R-Type was kind of like that, and that one made me angry, tbqh. I love R-Type. I almost hate Super R-Type, at least played on actual SNES hardware. Yes, it was. Like with all consles, devs got around hardware limitations. It took some really tight code for Manifred Trenz to pump out a game like Rendering Ranger on SNES, and even then it's not all that great shakes (looks good, but there's a lot of reused assets and very same-y looking sprites in that game, which, iirc, was due to the SNES having less sprite size variation than Genesis). Probably not. Likely not. But then again if it had a 68k the entire board would've likely had to change. Some Genesis games suffered slowdown, but mainly when there was a lot of things going on at once, with all manner of sprite sizes or really CPU intensive routines that stressed the 68k. But it took a lot to stress that processor, at least compared to the SNES CPU. Let me put it to you this way: Rotation, scaling and stuff like Mode 7 and even polygons could be "faked"/done on Genesis using CPU intensive software routines. There are games on Genesis that use polygonal models that run entirely on CPU brute force, the type that would take the FX processor on SNES. No, I'm not alluding to Virtua Racer, as that used the SVP chip. I'm referring to games like Red Zone and Star Cruiser (a JP only release). Rotation/scaling and pseudo-mode 7? Check out the rocking tower in Bloodlines, the "scaling" used in Panorama Cotton (which also shows off how the greater variety of sprite sizes available to the Genesis video display processor, in addition to CPU grunt strength, can pull off scaling and rotation on a console that actually doesn't have in hardware support for that sort of thing), and the secret area in the indie release, Pier Solar.
  12. This does bring up an interesting problem, actually. Then again, would Famicom have been released at all in the US/NA market? If ColecoVision and Atari 5200 had been given fuller life cycles, if The Crash had been avoided completely, would Nintendo have even entered the market? Remember, they did approach Atari with the rights to Famicom even after The Crash had occurred, so fearful were they of competing on Atari's turf (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em is apparently also an old Japanese saying ). Also, Famicom was released in July '83, but recalled and reissued later on. So, when was that? How long did it take to fix the manufacturing issues, hash out new marketing, consumer and retail relations, etc. That's a key question as well. And, of course, gens do have some overlap, and some models are discontinued early but still part of whatever gen they're introduced in (so even though Atari most likely would've discontinued 5200...perhaps, it still would've been of the same gen as ColecoVision, with 7800 being a next gen product). Eh...I like the list I agreed to earlier. Keeps everything nice and simple.
  13. I'm resurrecting the thread because I really do think this needs to be hashed out. BTW, I go with the earlier statements by Retro Rogue, and the list supplied by BillyHW, with some changes (NEO GEO stays with TG16/Genesis/SNES as it was part of that gen, but 32x, although an add-on to Genesis would be itself part of the later gen. Everything else stays as he listed, with WiiU, 720, and PS4 making up the 8th/9th gen (depending on how one lists the Pong and Oddyssey 1 as either gen 0 or 1). It was created by people that think videogaming started in 1985. Actually, it wasn't. Look at the discussion page of the Wiki, and you'll see noted "Atari historians" overruling things left and right. I've had my disagreement with them, but those disagreements were labeled "original research", which is not applicable in an encyclopedia. I call it "common sense". Historically, Atari stated that 5200 was a "high end companion model" to 2600. That is, not a "replacement". Common sense, however, shows that had it taken off it very well might have been, but regardless it was the successor model and by being positioned as a "high end" model, Atari was, in fact, basically stating that it was a next gen product. Well, yes, of course. That right there's just common sense, isn't it? Now go argue that on the Wiki, and prepare to be shot down because they have "proof" which is not really proof at all that 5200 should be lumped in with 2600 in the same gen.; it's only proof of Atari's desire not to "replace" 2600 outright/discontinue it, which isn't abnormal because it's very much how the console industry has operated each gen since that time. Atari introduced 5200 to ensure that if consumers went for a next gen system, they'd go for Atari's next gen system. I think anyone can agree to that. So why then is 5200 and, by extension, ColecoVision (which was marketed as a "3rd wave"/"3rd generation" console, btw), and possibly Vectrex as well, lumped in with 2600 in the 2nd gen? Because Atari kept the 2600 alive? Because they used the terms "high end" and "companion model"? So what? "High end" simply denotes that they were going after a certain consumer (those who wanted to upgrade from 2600, or wanted something more substantial than 2600 could provide, i.e. next gen console consumers), and "companion" simply denotes that both products were to be on market at the same time, meaning Atari wasn't killing 2600, and would target it to those either uninterested in, or unwilling or unable to purchase into (due to higher costs) the next gen who were still interested in getting a game system. Guess what? That's no different than what happens EVERY gen, particularly with the best selling console of the previous gen. It's kept alive as a "low end" model targeted to budget conscious consumers. Proof? NES, SNES/Genesis, PS1, and PS2. All kept alive as "low end/budget models" long after the next gen products were introduced onto market. Nintendo kept NES alive until around '95 in the US and '03 in Japan, well after SNES was released. Hell, when SNES was released Nintendo made no real mention of "replacing" NES, if memory serves right. But common sense showed that that's exactly what it was as far as the early adopter, "core" gamer consumer market was concerned. It would "replace" their old NES consoles. But to newer, budget consumers it would be their most likely purchase, which is why Nintendo kept it on market for all that time. 5200, like SNES later, was Atari's salvo to keep that "core" group buying Atari products; that 2600 was still there as the "lower end" product simply meant that it served the same exact sort of strategic placement that NES did all through the '90s while SNES was shoring up more and more of a consumer base. Again, I argued it, as have others in this very topic. But that's "original research" NOTE: I don't hold ill will or disrespect toward the Atari historians. I just think they have this one issue completely wrong, but they seem very much against that idea.
  14. Probably a RAM limitation in conjunction with possible bus contention related issues. But most likely a simple matter of RAM. A lot of the higher quality 2D fighting ports on Saturn needed an extra RAM cart to be as close to arcade perfect as possible.
  15. Gotta disagree here. The 3DO version is, IMHO, overall better than the Jag version. Extra levels, really awesome music tracks and sound effects, and, IMHO, slightly better control. The 3DO version was developed in 10 weeks, apparently. Really bad, really rushed port. The Jag version, IMHO, is actually among my favorite versions. I actually prefer the fact that it doesn't have music, as it feels a bit more on the scary side. Matter of fact, when I played DOOM 3, I was struck by the thought midway through that "hey...this reminds me of JagDOOM". As an aside, I really think DOOM 3 is wrongly judged. No, it's not a guns blazing FPS, but, IMHO, it's a damned good "survival horror" action/adventure game.
  16. I wonder how much of that was technical issues with regards to porting 3DO code over (even though it was all in C, as all 3DO games had to be, surely the differences in hardware had a negative effect on things), and how much of it had to do with the old switcheroo done to make the company's own hardware look better in comparison (similar to how Coleco and Mattel crippled versions of their games that appeared on the competition's systems). On Need for Speed, though, I have to point out that some 3DO stalwarts state that the PS1 and Saturn versions, while running smoother/faster and with more features (more cars, more tracks) also have a less accurate driving model as they err more towards an arcade racing game than the racing simulation of the original design. However, I don't think the change was due to technical factors as much as market factors (honestly, back then, arcade racers were more fun and approachable to a wider audience, and even now that holds true). Still, it does make the 3DO version not exactly the same as the later versions. Actually, there's no 16-bit port of Super Turbo. Only vanilla Super (without the Turbo option and the Super meters). As for Samurai Shodown, while it ran somewhat slower than the 16-bit versions, part of that was likely due to streaming info off of the CD. Also, the SNES and Genesis versions, to my recollection, don't have the sprite scaling/zooming feature found in the NEO GEO and 3DO versions, so those versions have the benefit of not having to deal with larger sprite sets. Oh, and the animation is also a bit more cut down in the SNES and Genesis versions (and, iirc, Genesis had slightly more animations per frame than SNES). I'm guessing that the smaller sprite sizes and probably more cut down animation on SNES and Genesis also helped them in that regard against 3DO with the Street Fighter titles (negating the fact that the former two had vanilla Super while the latter had Super Turbo). Would've liked to have seen a 3DO version of Alpha or Alpha 2 though. Even SNES got a port of the latter.
  17. The issue with that, unfortunately, was that the 3DO business model meant that, at least in the early going (until Trip and company saw the error of their ways), the hardware manufacturers themselves didn't get a cut of software revenue at all. That's why the 3DO was so expensive at launch - Matsushita (parent company of Panasonic) was trying to make as much profit off of the hardware sales as possible. When LG/Goldstar released their 3DO unit, they came in at $499 because their strategy was to undercut Panasonic's price point, and, while taking less profit per unit sold, hopefully make up for it by selling more units than Panasonic. It wasn't until Trip and company figured out where they went wrong and enticed Matsushita and LG to drop price by cutting them into software revenues that the price dropped on both units to more market friendly standards (iirc, they both dropped down to $399 by holiday season '94, then $299 in response to the Saturn surprise launch, and then $199 by that holiday season after the PS1 had launched). But, of course, he wound up irking developers by A. increasing their royalty payments by 2x, from $3 to $6 (because Trip sure as heck wasn't gonna take that money out of his pocket to pay the 3DO manufacturers when he could rob Peter to pay Paul), and B. decide to start 3DO on the path of developing games of their own when they had promised 3rd parties that they wouldn't do that. So, in that context, I don't think Atari could've changed anything much by going with 3DO (as far as changing the 3DO model). They would've still needed to make money off of hardware, and that would've meant launching at a high price point. And LG/Goldstar, Matsushita/Panasonic, Sanyo and the rest were MUCH larger and wealthier companies than Atari. Also, on a slightly humorous note, I'm sure Atari releasing what was, in effect, a sort of off-spring of the Amiga (RJ Mical had something to do with both Amiga and 3DO, and 3DO's OS was said to be very AmigaOS-like) would've been a sign of the End Times. Oh, I did too. But later. 3DO was a gift from my older brother, a used console bought shortly before 3DO called it quits. Jag was bought years later, shortly before I came to join this forum, actually. Looking back, and with today's eyes, of the two, 3DO was, all around, the better product (maybe not in theoretical "power", but relative "power" and ease of development) but was stymied by that poorly thought out business model. Had the 3DO Company simply sold the technology, and their technical know-how, to Panasonic (as they later did with the M2 tech when they sold the tech and parts of their engineering company to Panasonic), Panasonic would've gone with the razor blade model and it likely would've been the market leader, taking the position that Sony had but doing so a couple of years earlier.
  18. Keep in mind I don't think that Atari would become market leader with Panther. That's not the point. Rather, the point would be to have a successful enough product to bring some profit into the company sooner rather than later. Not having new product with room for potential growth until '93 with Jag brought that to Atari later; releasing Panther in '91 would've brought it to them sooner, and possibly more of it because Panther, unlike Jaguar, was at least somewhat similar to ST hardware (iirc; or at least much more than Jag). How to counter the growing Genesis market as well as the SNES hype in '91? Well, perhaps targeting older gamers would've been the best move for Atari. It's something they tried, on some level, with Jaguar, but Jaguar was released a bit too early, IMHO, as far as market conditions were concerned (the 16-bit market was at it's apex in '93). So, okay, Atari wouldn't have a Mario to target the "E for Everyone" market that Nintendo always goes for, nor would they have a Sonic to target the "older kids/teens" who wanted something with a bit more attitude. But there was a game released in '91 on ST (and Amiga) that may have, if Atari approached the devs with a Panther dev kit early enough, been a salvo to the older teen/adult gamer: Another World/Out of this World. Perhaps securing an exclusive window on that title would've been enough to position Panther as the "game console for adults". It wouldn't have been positioned to "win", but positioned to target a profitable niche. If Atari did need something earlier, though, then approaching NEC for US/NA and EU rights over PC Engine in '88 or so would've been a smarter move as well (and if it happened, Panther likely would've been shelved earlier, saving R&D money on Atari's part). That would've given Atari product in '88/89 in the US and EU markets. While under such a deal they wouldn't make as much on hardware, if they were smart about it and picked up publishing rights over Japanese games, as well as started internal software development themselves, they could've laid the groundwork to possibly transition into a software company should their hardware business fail to catch on.
  19. My main issues with Desert Falcon has to do with playability. Part of that is due to the isometric viewpoint. There are too many height/plane variants that enemies can be on, and it makes it difficult to aim and shoot them. Another issue is the fact that power ups being on the ground make the game very start/stop. I tend to play the game by sticking to the ground, tbqh, to avoid both issues. I would've liked to have seen more boss battle variety as well. It's a good game, IMHO, and a showcase for 7800 graphics in the early going, but it could've been more. Maybe if they had stuck to a ground run 'n gun style set up, with all the action happening on one plane/height. Actually, I think that could've worked quite well, and much better than the final product.
  20. Ah, so you'll make some non-XM versions but are just waiting for the XM to ship first? Good. I was hoping there'd still be a chance at non-XM versions. As for the topic at hand, while it absolutely goes against etiquette, I don't want to rush to judgment. It could be a case of someone just being an asshat, or it could be the case of someone experiencing financial difficulties and doing something that they normally wouldn't do. And, y'know...as much as it sucks to say it, with the economy in the shape that it's in (as far as the job market is concerned) there's sadly a lot of that sort of thing going around. As messed up as it is to state: I honestly hope the person is just being a douche rather than going through some real life troubles.
  21. Hate to resurrect this topic again, but something someone stated earlier about the ARM CPU in 3DO being halted when things were being texture mapped Is that actually true? From my understanding, 3DO used a dual ported bus, so the graphics processors would be doing their thing somewhat separately from the CPU (well, the CPU and the math co-processor would be handling calculations, obviously). The 3DO specs I've read stated that the VRAM was dual ported, and was "capable of holding/executing code and data". Wouldn't this lessen any bus contention issues? Why would the CPU need to halt while things were being texture mapped?
  22. I'm not going through all these pages to look for one of my old posts, but I'm pretty sure I posted in this topic long ago. The little mini-debate about the CPU of the console jogged my memory (BTW, IMHO, the answer to the question of whether the console designers really wanted TOM to be the CPU of the console is answered by simply opening up a Jag and seeing what's silkscreened on TOM: it says right there, "CPU". That's good enough for me). Anyway, f I recall correctly, I went on about replacing the 68k with another RISC processor, probably an R3000 based derivative, like the CoJag arcade board used. But that might've been too costly for Atari. Regardless, I do stand by my earlier assessment that it would've been better in the long term had Atari stuck with the Panther release date in '91, and wait on the Jag until '94 at the earliest. The Jag, by then, had Panther proved somewhat successful (and I think it would've been somewhat profitable for Atari) would've been revised a bit and certainly the dev tools would've been hashed out better. That aside, I think it was an absolute mistake for Atari to lack hardware up until Jag. What did they have in '91? The pretty irrelevant by that point (though still profitable) 2600 Jr., the very much irrelevant at that point 7800, a Lynx portable that had sadly failed to take off, an 8-bit line that was dead, and a 16-bit computer line that dying. If Atari was trying to save some amount of profitability, not having real product in '91 that had room for growth was a bad move, IMHO. So, what would I have done in '93? I would've been ordering the early preparations for the finalization of the Jaguar hardware for a '94 or '95 launch, and I would've been prepping for another year of Panther on shelves, possibly (hopefully) by that point introducing a price drop for that system to coincide with the holiday push, and maybe a few key titles. I don't know how feasible it would've been to have ports of ST games on Panther, but from my admittedly limited understanding, Atari would've likely have had ST based dev kits for Panther anyway (as they shared the same CPU, and, from what I've read, the Panther graphics processor was in some ways similar to the ST Blitter...right?), but that would've at least given a deeper avenue of potential software and a readily installed base of potential developers (at least in Europe). It wouldn't have been impossible for Panther to have taken off, on some level, in Europe, IMHO. ST had a good userbase there, and Panther likely would've had a little bit more "power" than the typical ST set up (typical in terms of how many consumers owned it; the highest selling ST variant) and at lower cost. It would've been either go with Panther in '91, and keep developing and "fixing" Jaguar designs for a late '94 release, or do something even earlier: Approach NEC with the intent of handling distribution and marketing of the US and EU versions of PC Engine (which became known as TurboGrafx-16) in '87 for an '88 launch, and release that as the successor to 7800 under the Atari brand. The key is to secure an iron clad contract with NEC so they don't and couldn't pull out of the deal, and basically try to make money without doing much of the "grunt" work of actually spending R&D on a console design, dev tools/documentation, etc. Atari would be streamlined to handle the business of selling the product. They'd be making money off of NEC's work. Now, this is obviously looking back with today's eyes...but, honestly...that might've been the best road to take for both Atari and NEC. And it certainly would've been better for TG16 owners as they wouldn't have those dillweeds at NEC America (mis)handling the game releases as they did.
  23. Just noticed someone had pulled an Altered Beast on this topic about a month or two ago (WISE FROM YO GWAVE...!) Looking back at some of these posts...wow...kind of embarrassing, actually. I think I made some good points, but should've just taken more of a high road on some things. And armchair quarterbacking is something I often engage in; it's a fault. I admit it. That said...I still think Atari shouldn't have skipped Panther, and should've held back on Jag for a bit. It didn't make sense, IMHO, to not have product out in '91. Even if Panther wasn't great hardware from a developer's standpoint (and there can be an argument made with regards to more RAM needed, etc.), and even if Sega and Nintendo would've outsold it by plenty (most likely scenario), it would seem Atari was a tiny bit more financially stable in '91 (the year Panther was to be released) so might've been on more solid ground than they were with Jaguar with regards to launching and supporting a console. Also, even if it was lapped in sales by Genesis and SNES, if it came in at an affordable price point (particularly if lower priced than the competition) it would've garnered some sales. ...another scenario I've thought of lately as I've gotten back into playing TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine games: What if Atari had signed a deal with NEC to handle the PC Engine in the US? Or, better yet, the SuperGrafx (which was released in Japan in '89, the same year that NEC launched the vanilla PC Engine as the TurboGrafx-16 in the US)? Anyway, the reason for my responding and resurrecting this topic: This has been debated since that game was released. I know I stated earlier in the topic (back when the topic was first alive) that it's FMV...but now I'm not so sure. It is pulling off things that 3DO shouldn't really be doing, however, as the draw distance is very good (better than some early PS1 and Saturn games, actually), and it seems the amount of polys onscreen outweigh 3DO's capabilities. But...not really. There is something "funny" going on, but not FMV, according to one of the members of the dev team: Source: http://tinyurl.com/853ane3 Maybe what accounts for that strange "feeling" I get when playing the game that I'm playing FMV isn't that it is FMV, but rather the program they're using in conjunction with the apparently 24fps framerate. It isn't the graphics, per se, but the motion of the whole thing, especially when the track turns and parts of the track I've passed come into view further away. The way they scroll into site seems very...movie like. It just feels very different than how Virtua Racer 32x; Checkered Flag Jaguar; Daytona USA Saturn; Ridge Racer PS1; and Crusin' USA N64 did on their respective consoles.
  24. Just remembered something else: Sega also owned the rights to Wonder Boy's music. So in this hypothetical scenario of taking the engine and modifying it with the Crystal Castles/Bentley Bear IP, the music would have to be all new as well. ...honestly...I think if this were done, it should be Pokey music. I also don't think this would need to be XM only, as stock 7800 could pull it off based on previous comments by others in this topic.
  25. Well, the idea was to take out the Wonder Boy IP from Wonder Boy the game, similar to how Hudson did it when making Adventure Island. From what I had remembered when I thought the Bentley thing up, everything else was pretty much kept intact from the transition from Wonder Boy to Adventure Island - only the characters were changed (I kind of got this a bit wrong, btw, which I'll get to later). So, I figured his weapons would be the same as those used in Wonder Boy and Adventure Island: stone axes. But the more I think about it, the less "sense" this makes. Why would a bear throw stone axes? Then again, does it make much sense for a bear wearing clothes to collect gems in order to stop the plot of an evil witch (the original "plot" of Crystal Castles? That said , I like the idea of wands instead of a stone axe, to better "fit" the character. It made absolute sense for Tom-Tom, a cave boy, and Master Higgins, who was in the tropics, to throw a stone axe - stone axes "fit" those thematic elements in Wonder Boy and Adventure Island; wands "fit" Bentley's "world" better than stone axes. Such a change would fit even more since later on you could "power up" the wand to throw fireballs (if I recall, in Adventure Island, you could power up the axe to a fireball weapon). As for gems, it makes the most "sense" for him to collect them, as he did in Crystal Castles. In terms of how this would fit the Wonder Boy game engine, I guess they'd replace the fruits and veggies. Different colored gems replace the different types of fruit (bananas, apples, etc.). Going back to the changes between Wonder Boy and Adventure Island: things were changed quite a bit. Some enemy sprites were completely changed to different creatures all together. Snakes and snails remained snakes and snails, but their coloring, and "look" were quite a bit different, and in Adventure Island the snakes spit fireballs. Also, the bees/wasps in Wonder Boy were replaced with birds (crows?) in Adventure Island. Of course, this goes right back to the idea of having Crystal Castle enemies in place of those used in Wonder Boy, where possible. Where it isn't possible, new enemies could be created by modifying the original Wonder Boy sprites a bit to better fit the Crystal Castles IP. As for level design: The levels themselves would be the same as those used in Wonder Boy, obviously, as this would be a port of Wonder Boy with the Crystal Castles IP grafted on. Now, while the design of the levels wouldn't change, the art design would. Just like the character sprites themselves, the "look" of levels can change. So, yeah...Crystal Castle themed level art (or art that "fits" that IP more) rather than a change in actual level design. Take the opening of Level 2 in both Wonder Boy and Adventure Island: I don't think having a palm tree would make "sense" with the Crystal Castles IP. Forests, like the first level of those two games, with forest-y trees? Sure. Tropical trees? Not with Bentley. So maybe such instances of the level sprites looking too "tropical" can be changed to fit the more "forest" style motif. The level design itself wouldn't change, just the art. This would also work with one of those levels in Wonder Boy (and, iirc, Adventure Island) that take place in a desert. Modify the colors of the desert to make the sand look like snow, and we now have a snow level that fits the world of Bentley. The rest of levels/worlds in both games "fit" this Crystal Castile-ized version already, since they take place in caves, and, well, a castle. A few changes here and there (I know...more difficult than I'm stating) would make for a game that, while being the "same" as Wonder Boy, and Adventure Island in terms of gameplay and level design has it's own "look". As for "story", both Wonder Boy and Adventure Island have stories focusing on having the protagonists girlfriend captured by an evil king (or wizard). In Wonder Boy, it was Tom-Tom's girlfriend Tanya who was kidnapped by the evil king/wizard/monster Drancon; in Adventure Island, it was Master Higgin's girlfriend Tina (called Princess Leilani in the NES manual) who was kidnapped by the evil king/wizard Quiller. Might as well not go too far from that "source" story. Crystal Castles already has an evil witch in it, Berthilda, so reuse her to take the place of Drancon/Quiller. Change Tanya/Tina to a bear (named, I dunno...Tawny, which would fit if she were actually golden brown), and boom! It works. Maybe something like this? CRYSTAL CALAMITY The Calamitous Adventures of Bentley Bear AN UNBEARABLE SITUATION Once upon a time, Bentley Bear thwarted the witch Berthilda's evil plot to place him in permanent hibernation, defeating her and escaping her Crystal Castles. Returning to his forest home, Bentley's life went back to normal...or so he thought. The evil witch has returned for her revenge, kidnapping Bentley's beloved girlfriend Tawny, and putting Bentley under a spell that slowly drains his life energy. To save Tawny and break the spell, Bentley must collect life gems, brave the attacks of Berthilda's cronies while traveling through dangerous forests, snowy plains, and dark caves and, finally, defeat the evil witch once and for all.
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