Gabriel

June 21, 2003

Can the GBA Player and a broadband adaptor be plugged in at the same time? I sure hope you wouldn't have to swap them or anything...

I don't know where the broadband adaptor sits, but I presume it plugs into the bottom of the NGC (the only place it could). Because of this, offhand, I see no way you could have both hooked up at once.

Don't suppose there's any way to set the analog stick as the controls, can you?

Sorry, I forgot this entirely in the review (too much time ranting and too little time telling what you can actually do with the controller). Yes, the left analog stick can be used to control the games. The right analog stick serves no function.

Can anyone tell me what support (if any) the GBA Player has for Super Gameboy extensions?

From my test of Battle Arena Toshinden and Missile Command/Asteroids (the only Super Game Boy type games I still own) there is as much support for the Super Game Boy features as there is on the GBA itself. That is to say, NONE.

June 21, 2003

Ooops!

I forgot to mention, the Game Boy Player saves your settings. So if you like a certain background or alternate controller configuration, you don't have to be inconvenienced to change it when you first power up the system.

And you don't even need a memory card! So, a big thumbs up on that one.

June 21, 2003

Yesterday, I was able to get a Game Boy Player for my Game Cube. I thought I would do a semi-review for the people who are still waiting for it.

Hookup and Basic Operation

The Game Boy Player is a 1 inch thick base that attaches to the bottom of your Nintendo Game Cube. Installing it is a mostly painless process. All you do is remove the cover for the high speed port, plug the Game Boy Player into the Game Cube, and tighten two screws. With this accomplished, the hardware work is out of the way. The Game Boy Player doesn't require a separate AC adaptor or any extra wires, so don't worry about a Sega 32X style tangle.

To use the Game Boy Player, you must put a boot disc (included) into the Game Cube. You are also instructed to have a Game Boy game plugged into the Game Boy Player before you power on the Game Cube. Organization-wise, things are pretty simple. The Game Boy cartridge port is on the bottom of the system. The only real trick is that cartridges are plugged into the Player with their label facing down. A link cable port is above the cartridge port for the use of the various Game Boy Advance perhiperals. There is also a VERY useful eject switch on the right side of the Game Boy Player to get those cartridges out when you're done playing.

When in use, Game Boy Cartridges can be hot swapped. When you're tired of playing a game, you hit the Z trigger on your GameCube controller, and select the option to change cartridges. You are then given directions to swap cartriges, and the new game will start as soon as you get it plugged in.

The manual shows a e-card reader being attached to the system, so it is definitely a supported perhiperal. I don't have that item, so I can't check.

Multi-player by use of the Game Boy Advance link cable is also supported. I didn't have anyone around to test this out with me, so I don't know how well it works. The instruction book does have a couple of oddities regarding this. Unlike every other Game Boy Advance product which goes out of their way to indicate that different Game Boy systems can be linked by the multi-player cables, the Game Boy Player manual implies that only Game Boy Advance systems can be linked to the Player for multiplayer. The manual also says that you should NOT link two Game Boy Players together for multiplayer use.

Also mentioned, but untested by me, was the mention that with a Game Boy to Game Cube special link cable, the Game Boy Advance could be used as an additional controller for games played on the Player.

Overall, it was very easy to set up. And it seems to hit the major bases of Game Boy play.

Actual Use and Features

So, with all that set up and examination out of the way, it was time to play. The Game Boy Player definitely delivers on its promise of allowing you to play Game Boy games through your Game Cube on your TV. So the question becomes how good is the experience?

First off, I must admit some serious bias against the default GameCube controller. I think that it is a piece of crap. So, right off the bat, I found games almost totally unplayable. The Game Boy Advance SP's pad and buttons are sometimes a little flakey, but they were a dream compared to the sheer goofiness of control delivered through the NGC pad. Overall, the NGC controller felt WAY too loose, and alternated between being overly sensitive and not responsive at all.

You can configure the controller a bit. The default setup has the left d-pad acting as the GBA d-pad, A button equals A button, B button = B button, Start = Start, Shoulder Buttons = Shoulder Buttons, X and Y = Select, and Z trigger activates the special functions menu. Since my problem was in the controller itself, this option for alternate configuration didn't help me. So, I probably need to invest in one of those NGC to GBA link cable thingies.

The Z trigger brings up the menu, and it's much better than the old Super Game Boy this time around.

First off, you can select from 20 different frames to have around the image of your game. Most of these are pretty bland, and lacking the character of those on the Super Game Boy. But, they're only background images, so it doesn't matter too much. Most of the designs are just different colors of Game Boy systems. There's also a Tetris theme, a space theme, a sci-fi metal plating theme, and some other random color/texture type things. As far as I could tell, there were no cutesy little animations for each background like the Super Game Boy had.

Moving on, you can select to view the games windowed in a frame like above, or "full screen". This is a little bit of a misnomer, because the games never actually take up the full screen. You'll always have the top and bottom of your "frame" visible. Still, this feature kicks ass, and it's clear that Nintendo listened to at least some of the criticism about the Super Game Boy.

Next there is the option to configure the controller. As I mentioned, this function wasn't of much use to me. The default setup seems fine. Plus, you can't manually configure things. You must select from a preset list of button configurations.

After that, we come upon an option called "Screen Filter". This option allows you to make the image presented sharper or blur it a bit. It's a bit of a fudge for the differences in a GBA screen and your TV. The options here are "sharp", "normal", and "soft". Personally, I didn't see much difference between the selections. People with HDTVs or other high end video equipment may have different experiences.

Now we have a confusing option. The next option is a timer. You can set a timer to present a notification anywhere from 1 minute to an hour from now. I'm bewildered by this feature, and I don't know why you'd want it other than to let you know you've been playing a game for an hour and it's time to stop. So, I'd have to say this is the most useless feature that could have been included and move on.

Lastly, there is the option to change game paks. Select this option, say yes, I want to change a game, pop the game out and put a new one in. It's that simple.

I tested the GBA with several games: Pac Man Collection, Konami Arcade, Joust/Defender, Qix, Gradius Galaxies, Robotech, Tekken, Zone of the Enders: Fist of Mars, and maybe a couple of others. Every one of them worked fine. The only problem was playing them with the godawful NGC controller. But otherwise things were good. The playability of Gradius Galaxies and Robotech increased tremendously on the big screen.

Some games looked like I was watching a VCR recording of them. It's hard to explain, but the image just looked slightly dimmer and not quite as sharp. This was limited to the Game Boy Color Games, and the Advance games didn't have the quirk.

Overall

In the end, I think the GB Player was worth the $50 I paid for it. In the end, it really depends on what games you have for the Game Boy (and whether you like the NGC controllers). For my part, the action games were improved tremendously on the GB Player. Robotech went from a totally unplayable game to something actually kind of enjoyable. So, I'd definitely recommend it to people heavy on action games or people that just want to save batteries.

However, if the GBA action game library just doesn't appeal to you, then you may want to skip this. It's not going to replace your GBA SP.

June 16, 2003

The 32X needs to be connected as follows:

The 32X is plugged into the Genesis.

The 32X is also connected to the Genesis by another cable (looks like a serial cable).

The connection to the TV is through the 32X, and NOT through the Genesis RF. The Genesis itself will not be connected to the TV when the combo is set up properly.

June 14, 2003

Need for Speed

Guardian War

Road Rash

Shockwave

Star Control II (even though I didn't really enjoy it, I know a great many people who did and still play it now and again today)

June 11, 2003

When I was a kid, I was really excited to get hold of Swordquest: Earthworld. I remember being so happy. And I rushed home to plug it into my 2600.

After 15 minutes, I realized I had a total dog of a game on my hands. I felt royally ripped off. So, I went back to K-mart to return the turdpile of a game. After some effort, I was able to trade the game in for another.

I opted for E.T. I don't know why. There were certainly better offerings available (I seem to remember seeing a Berzerk cartridge), and I HATED the movie. But, for whatever reason, I had wanted E.T.

When I got it home, it took me 1 hour to determine that I had another godawful dog of a game. But, at least it was 4 times better than Swordquest: Earthworld.

June 11, 2003

Even though I enjoy 2600 Defender for what it is, it also happens to be a flickering nightmare. It definitely beats Pac-Man for more flicker.

You see, at least in Pac Man, your Pac Guy doesn't flicker, only the ghosts do. The maze, wafers, and vitamin are similarly consistent. And honestly, the ghost flicker is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.

In Defender, your exhaust flickers madly at all times.

Your ship drops out of existence every time you shoot.

Every enemy in the game flickers, and flickers badly.

And all 5 humanoids flicker.

And the city below you doesn't exactly scroll smoothly.

Sorry. Defender wins the epileptic spasm inducing contest hands down.

June 8, 2003

Missile Command.

June 4, 2003

How rare and nifty are Genesis 3s?

A friend of mine called me up last night telling me he happened upon one for free along with some games. He was wanting to test it and needed a compatible RF adaptor. It uses the same one as the 32X and Genesis 2, right?

He got one game in the batch that I wanted. I was wondering if a Genesis 3 was rare and wonderful enough to see if I should try to trade for or purchase the console too.

June 4, 2003

I'd say that the Colecovision controllers are easily the worst ever, and that's the way I voted on the poll.

June 4, 2003

I played game 2b tonight. After I got 1,000,000 I became the kamikaze Defender. When I finished killing off all my ships I had a score of 1,018,850.

June 3, 2003

(1) Zelda didn't use black outlines. So that eliminates that complaint.

(2) I think Dark Cloud 2 looks gorgeous: Like an illustrated storybook. You can see photos here: http://www.psxnation.com/reviews/ps2review...idnumber=000443

(3) Do you dislike cartoons in general (Disney, anime, et cetera)?

The sole complaint isn't the black outlines. My complaint is about the entire technique. I strongly dislike the way it makes games (and animation it is used in) look.

I like animation just fine. I prefer anime, and within that subset I prefer the examples from the late 80s and early 90s.

That being said, cel shading doesn't look anything like animation. It jumps out at you and says, "I'm half ass light shaded computer graphics! Watch me suck!" And I wince everytime I see the technique used in actual animation.

It's probably bearable for a short sequence, perhaps 1 second, maybe 2 at most. But all that a video game does is put the poor technique in front of you for long sustained periods of time.

June 2, 2003

I love my Atari 5200, controllers and all!

June 2, 2003

Windwaker = Cel shading childish nightmare

Does this mean you dislike Jet Set Radio and Dark Cloud 2 (both cel-shaded)? I suspect the real reason you dislike Wind Waker has nothing to do with the anime-style.

Anyway, I thought WW looked absolutely beautiful. I just didn't like the gameplay.

In my case, the answer is yes.

In addition to not finding the subject matter of Jet Set Radio even remotely to my liking, I absolutely despised the graphics.

I haven't seen Dark Cloud 2, so I can't comment on it. However, if it uses cel shading, I know that it is not for me.

Among the many things that ruined the Robotech video game for me was the cel shading. Everything looked like heavily outlined cutouts. It's amusing that in attempting to make the game match the animation of the show, the designers managed to make the original cheap 20 year old animation look absolutely stellar compared to year 2000 computer graphics.

And I can barely look at Monster Rancher 3. A game that would otherwise be fine except for the damnable cel shading technique which makes it one of the ugliest games of all time.

There is a Breath of Fire game for the PS2 that came out recently. I hadn't seen it at the time, but the guy I talk to at the mall game store was recommending the series to me. I thought I might pick up the PS2 implementation of the series only to look at the back of the box and see... goddamn cel shaded graphics. I certainly won't purchase that iteration of the game.

IMO, cel shading doesn't make things look like a cartoon. It makes them look substandard. It also accentuates all the unnatural movements inherent in computer animation. From looking at demos of the new Zelda game, it is the most eye numbingly bad implementation of cel shading yet.

I can only hope that cel shading is a graphics fad that will go away very soon.

All of the preceeding is just my rather strong opinion. If you like cel shaded games, then keep enjoying them. However, I don't, and, to me, the graphic style severely detracts from the games.

June 2, 2003

Well, my friend finally remembered to bring over the videogame stuff he had promised to give to me.

It wasn't spectacular, but it was still pretty cool. This is what he gave me:

Atari 2600 Vader (no switchbox or AC adaptor)

1 joystick controller (sadly, it needs work)

5 games. They were all commons. One of them was a Sears Telegames. I think its the Sears version of Air/Sea Battle, the first Atari 2600 game I ever saw.

I haven't tested any of the stuff except for the joystick yet. They look in good shape, so I'm fairly sure they work. Even if they don't, they were free, so I have no complaints.

So, in the end, it wasn't exactly Christmas. But it was still pretty cool.

Additionally, the marketing lady here at work saw my note I had posted in the break room about wanting old videogames. She mentioned that she might have some stuff for me. She seems to have forgotten about it today, but if she remembers, maybe I'll get more free stuff!

May 22, 2003

Atari 2600 = It was a present, so it was free! Too bad I don't have it anymore. I recently bought one off eBay as a gift for a friend. It was well over $100 with 30 games.

Commodore Vic 20 = It was a present, so it was FREE! I don't have it anymore. I remember long days of playing Gorf, Jupiter Lander, and Chopper Command. I also learned how to program on it.

Atari 5200 = My first one was also a present, so it was free! But I left it and my awesome collection of games in a house that got bulldozed. The one I recently acquired to replace my old love was $110 with a bunch of games. I've been playing Berzerk on it quite a bit recently.

Commodore 64 = I've had several of these at one time or another. The odd thing is that they were all effectively free. I'd trade things for them and eventually get the item I traded back and STILL keep the C64. I mostly just used it to tinker around in BASIC. I don't have one anymore. Similar to how I would acquire them, I'd give them away for nothing.

Atari 7800 = Recently acquired from eBay with quite a few games for $80. About all I play on it are 2600 games (I've been addicted to Venture lately) and Pole Position II.

NES = I didn't buy one until the top loader came out. I forget whether I got it for $20 or if I got one when they dropped down to $5 at Wal Mart. I play this one off and on. I have a lot of RPGs for it. About the only action game I spend much time on is Wild Gunman, because I love gun games.

Genesis = About $150. I got the Genesis with Sonic pack for about $120 or $130 and Star Control on discount. I initially loved it. At one time I had over 100 games for it. However, over time I grew bored with it. Few of the games really kept attention long term. Nowadays, my library for it is fairly small and I don't play it very much.

SNES = About $150. I bought it as a present for a friend. He wanted the one with the pack in game. Every once in a while we still play Mortal Kombat II on it. And I sometimes play Starfox on it.

SegaCD = Over $300. I got a front loader when they were nearly brand new. The SegaCD had great pack ins initially. Too bad they cut out all of those great games to pack Sewer Shark with it. Recently I acquired another front loader for $70. I mainly use this system to play Dark Wizard, which is an awesome tactical RPG.

32X = $250. I bought it brand new before the pack in. And I also purchased Star Wars Arcade at the same time. Unlike most people, I didn't feel like I got ripped off. I still play Space Harrier, Virtua Racing Deluxe, and a little bit of Metal Head on it.

3DO = $300+ I got the Panasonic front loading model. I also got Need for Speed and Star Control II at the same time. I eventually traded this console and all my games for a Jaguar with a few games. I miss the original Need for Speed.

Jaguar = I traded the 3DO and a shitload of games for it. In retrospect, I made a shitty deal. It's worth it for Tempest 2000, but little else.

Nomad = I think I got mine for $50 or $60. It didn't come with a pack in. I used to play a LOT of the Williams Greatest Hits cart on it. Since I got the GBA, I've retired this very nice little system.

PS1 = I purchased 2. The first one was purchased the day of release along with Battle Arena Toshinden for a total of over $350. The second one was purchased after the price drop to $200. I've been thinking of buying a few of the $50 PS1s for future use. I don't actually play the PS1s anymore though. I play PS1 games on my PS2.

Saturn = I had one of these for a while. It was a gift, so it was FREE! It died though. I liked Fighters Megamix (but that game certainly hasn't aged well). Panzer Dragoon Zwei was about the only game I truly loved.

N64 = I purchased one near when they first came out for $250. I didn't purchase a game for quite some time, and just rented things. This is the only system I've ever done this with. After finding that I didn't like any of the games (I thought I would like Starfox 64, but ended up greatly disappointed), and realizing the game I had purchased it for was never going to appear (Robotech), I gave it to a friend that wanted it. Recently, I've had to reacquire one (I finally got hold of Ogre Battle 64!). To get it I had to find a new copy of Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis for the GBA to trade. So effectively, I paid $35 for a N64, 2 controllers, Killer Instinct Gold, Deadly Arts, Rogue Squadron, and a memory pak.

Dreamcast = I purchased 2 of this system also. My first one cost $20 with Dead or Alive 2 and Soul Calibur, 1 memory unit, and 2 controllers. My second one cost $40, system and one controller only. This is probably the flakiest system ever. I've actually been through about 5 of them and they die if you look at them funny. The only reason I keep one around is for Soul Calibur. If Soul Calibur 2 is any good, then I'll likely just give up on this console.

PS2 = I paid $280+. I got it with Ace Combat 4 and a memory card. This was probably one of the best videogame system purchases I ever made. I'm nearly constantly playing something or other on it. Lately, I've been using it a bit more as a PS1, and enjoying a games of Front Mission 3 and Final Fantasy 1 on it.

X-Box = I paid well over $400 and probably very close to $500. I got the basic set (no pack in), a controller S, and Dead or Alive 3. I also got a service arrangement. I've already had to return my X-Box once, and its likely I'll have to return this one as well because of malfunctions. Since I don't like FPS games, and Sega managed to ruin Panzer Dragoon, about all I have for it is DOA3 and DOA Volleyball. I might get Mechassault soon though. Depending on what special features this system's version of The Sims has, I might get it. I'll also be purchasing Soul Calibur 2 for it, but I'll be getting all three versions of that game anyway.

GameBoy Advance = I have two, a regular blue one and a silver GBA-SP. I purchased the regular one for about $110 with Namco Museum. The GBA-SP was $100 also. The GBAs are awesome little things. They have great selections of games and the backwards compatibility just makes them better. I play a lot of Dragon Warrior II and Namco Museum on it.

GameCube = I paid about $250. I got the basic system package, a spare controller, a standard memory card, and Godzilla. It would be better if the controllers didn't totally suck ass. I mostly use it to play Godzilla. Overall, It was a decent purchase. It isn't spectacular by any means, but it seems worth it for a couple of games.

That's all I remember right now.

May 18, 2003

i dont think the menacer had any games released for it other than the 6-in-1. But Konami did have a Genesis version of the Justifier that worked with Lethal Enforcers 1 and 2

I dimly remember a licensed Terminator game. I may be mistaken, but I think that awful Aerosmith gun game had a Genesis version that used the Menacer as well.

There was some Menacer game that was under development at about the same time as Phantasy Star IV I remember seeing pictures of. It looked fairly neat at the time. It almost had me wanting to go out and hunt down a Menacer. I don't remember the title mentioned or even if it was ever released.

May 18, 2003

Project Titan could become a rarity because it's a POS.

BAH!

But I can't contradict your statement. I have yet to play the game. Its still sitting on my shelf sealed in its shrinkwrap. I had intended to play it yesterday, but the only game I ended up spending time on was Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 on my PS2.

I just know that I LOVED Time Crisis, and every review I've read of Project Titan said that it was more of the exact same formula.

If only Sega would make a PS2 and Guncon 2 compatible version of Virtua Cop 1 and 2, then the world would be complete.

May 18, 2003

Well, I did pick up a light gun game for SNES since it was CIB mint for $1, but I still don't have the Super Scope 6 to play it with.

I have a similar situation. Somewhere around here I have the Super Scope pack in game. But I don't have the Super Scope. It doesn't really matter though, the SNES I currently have isn't mine. I may need to grab one from GameStop sometime soon.

Of course, that makes me wonder something. What was the less supported gun, the SNES Super Scope or the Genesis Menacer?

May 18, 2003

One thing to remember is that The Transformers became big after the great videogame crash. The Transformers fad fell neatly in the time period after the death of the classic consoles, and before the rise of the NES. That's the age of Commodore 64s and very little major, "mass-market" video game software.

The box art for the C64 version of the game probably lacks Optimus Prime and Megatron for a very simply reason. Those toy figures were out of production at the time. Advertising them on a current videogame cover would have been pointless. Instead, we see Cyclonus, Blitzwing, Hot Rod, and Springer, all of which are "movie era" characters. That would be about right, because I believe that Transformers: The Movie was a 1986 release. Transformers: The Movie also marked the end of the massive popularity the toys had in the 80s.

May 18, 2003

Around here it seems like the ONLY place to get old videogames is GameStop (no older than NES) or the used game shop on the mall (some scattered common 2600 carts). The hastings book and video store has been good lately, but they only go back to PS1 games.

Most Goodwills, thrift stores, or garage sales that I've visited for the past 6 months have been devoid of games. The only exception is a Goodwill that has 2 EA sports games and a couple of Sonic games for the Genesis. The games were in a glass case, and impossible to examine. I think they wanted $10 for each.

May 18, 2003

I think my 2600 and NES collections might be about to get a shot in the arm.

On Thursday, I accidentally bumped into a friend that I hadn't seen in quite some time. In fact, it had been so long since I had heard from him, and when I had he was not doing so well, that I was beginning to think he was dead. So, it was exceptionally good news to see him alive and well.

We arranged to hang out this past Saturday, and we basically shot the shit all day long. Currently, my friend has a shitty job in a podunk crap town. He's maintenance at a really crummy apartment complex. Some of his stories about the tenants were pretty amusing, and some of his stories were downright sick or scary.

Anyways, being a classic videogame lover, I asked him if he had found any video games that had been left behind by evicted residents. He replied that he found such things regularly. In fact, he knew that he had seen several Atari 2600s, complete with controllers but no games. He also remembered having a couple of NESes, and one of them had been like mine (a top loader).

I asked him how much the apartment complex would get for selling these things, and he told me that they would sell the old systems, from VCS to NES, for $5 each. Of course, I was quite amazed that they sold a top loader NES for $5, and I had paid over $100 this past Christmas on ebay for an Atari 2600 and 30 games.

So, I told my friend flat out that such things were worth $5 for the controllers ALONE to me. I offerred to pay him for any orphan systems he would bring to me. He agreed, and told me that he'd only charge me if he couldn't sneak them past the apartment manager. And he also said he had at least one Atari 2600 that was fully working with controllers that he'd bring me next week.

So now, I'm gonna sit tight and see what my friend brings me next week. I feel like its Christmas in May.

May 18, 2003

Cool. I have found the losing formula on this site. All I have to do to be ignored is post about PS1 games!

Does my above post actually have the complete list of PS1 Guncon compatible games? I'm missing Point Blank 1 and 2 and Elemental Gearbolt and wondering if there were any others I missed.

I must have ALL the Guncon games! Muahahahahahaha!

May 17, 2003

Anyone have any inkling how common Time Crisis: Project Titan for the PS1 is? I'm inclined to believe that its fairly rare, considering that I'd never seen it until a week ago, and I don't see it pop up all that often on ebay. On the other hand, I've scored 2 NIP copies of the game, complete with Guncons, recently.

Related to the Guncon, what PS1 games use it? I know of Time Crisis, Time Crisis: Project Titan, Point Blank 1, 2, and 3, and Elemental Gearbolt (I think that was the title). Are there any others?

In similar happy news, I found a pristine copy of RPG Maker for the PS1 for $15. I'm glad that I decided against trying to get one off ebay for $35.

May 17, 2003

not in austrailia

My mistake then. But the way the post was phrased, it looked as if the prices being quoted were US prices, not currency conversions.

Personally, I'd say to get the GBA-SP. I think it has better games than the GC anyway.

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Posts posted by Gabriel