onmode-ky

I think the mention you saw was in error. From searching around the Web, it appears that the source of that report was the website of a TV station in Sacramento. Actual press releases from SNK reflect what we got, Gang Wars and Time Soldiers releasing as Minis and Blazing Star releasing for iOS/Android. It would have been unlikely for Blazing Star to release as a Mini, anyway. As a 1998 Neo Geo release, it would probably have gone into SNK's Neo Geo Station category on the PS Store instead, with separate, expensive PS3 and PSP releases. SNK's Minis have been arcade titles from before the Neo Geo. onmode-ky

I'm probably the only one curious about this. . . . Are you sure it's 6 games? The standard Jakks Ms. Pac-Man TV Game had 5 Namco games on it, while the later wireless edition included 2 more. I don't think there was ever a 6-game variant, though I have a very vague memory of the Home Shopping Network having a special edition that had more content--but I don't think it was only 1 more game. What games are on yours, once you've tried it? Also, what's the Acclaim-published PS2 title in your picture, as well as the unpictured GameCube game? onmode-ky

Well, if your contract with the IP owner says, "Do X and do not do Y," then doing Y even as an unlockable easter egg still leaves you open to clear breach of contract litigation. . . . For whatever reason, it sounds like Taito/SE just did not want the 2600 Space Invaders on the system. It wouldn't be the first time they've made some odd choices in this field; the games chosen to be on Jakks Pacific's Taito TV Game from last year apparently were selected by them, and it included a game that originally used a trackball. Bill, about the Sega systems, do you know why AtGames went and put those 40 knock-off-ish games on them? They didn't do it on the FB4, and it's not as if 40 Sega Genesis games isn't attractive enough for a system clearly marketed to Genesis-interested consumers. I can't really see the point of adding a bunch of titles virtually no one would be interested in anyway. If the intention is simply to make the Sega systems' game count look more competitive with the FB4 on the same shelf . . . then why 80 total instead of the same number as the FB4? That then makes the FB4 look worse (to the layman consumer), especially with the Atari material being visibly more technologically primitive. So, I wonder what the real reason is. Hmm, maybe they wanted to add them to all their systems, but Atari said no? onmode-ky

I watched Part 2 of your AtGames Sega preview, and the emulator definitely is still yielding screwy sound. The quality of the sound seems okay, but pitches are off, and not consistently even within the same instrument/channel. A specific example: in Streets of Rage 2, YouTube footage shows that the chord in the intro when the pair of large hands appears over the city is supposed to be a minor chord. In your footage, it ends up sounding like an augmented chord instead. Also bizarre, different instruments seem to suffer the effects differently, while also being amplified to different degrees (Comix Zone showing this well), such that what is supposed to be a melody comes out as cacophony. If you're the type of player who doesn't pay any attention to the music when playing, then this may be okay, but if I were in the market for this product, it would be a dealbreaker. I can't imagine sitting through a game where the entire soundtrack sounds like members of an orchestra or band playing different music simultaneously, and I'm not a purist when it comes to this type of product. The sound being a little different from the original, I can deal with that (I probably wouldn't even notice, for the Genesis library); the sound being discordant all the time, not so much. I would be amused if that game turned out to be the original 2600 Space Invaders. Heh, "whim of the licensor" is presumably the same reason why, in 2004, Majesco released a Frogger-only plug-n-play system alongside a 6-in-1 Konami plug-n-play system--which included Frogger--for the same exact price. It otherwise makes no sense, unless you believe there are two markets being served: 1. Frogger superfan-type collectors out there who would ignore the fact that the system only has one game for the same cost; 2. sensible consumers looking for more games for their buck. It was a very strange product lineup indeed. onmode-ky

Different company. Bandai wouldn't even have access to Jakks' messed-up Xevious code that got into the last model (2008) of their Namco series. Where did you buy it that priced it $10 (40%) above MSRP? Thanks for the images. So, it seems the packaging, manual, and software all neglect to disclose who developed the onboard programming. Bummer for me. It sounds like it's either a well-converted port or an emulator that fiddles with the display aspects of the games, then. When I talked about this Bandai system with the guy who did Jakks' Xevious port (before it got botched in the final model of the series--again, that wasn't his fault), he mentioned that the games' score panels were likely easy to modify as far as where that part of video RAM got displayed by an emulator. I think Jakks would have been rather upset if Bandai had used their controller design. It probably wouldn't be something they could litigate for, though. Is there anything interesting written on the Bandai system's board? Yeah, I thought the GameKey idea was pretty good, but apparently the retailers didn't agree. The self-centering twisty-top stick applied to other games would have been nice. onmode-ky

Of course I would find out about Bill's overview of AtGames' upcoming Sega emulator systems only the day after I published the latest update of my comprehensive plug-n-play games list to my website (and to the related thread here at AtariAge). That's just the way it goes. Bill, are the games lists for AtGames' FB4 and Sega systems finalized for the end product to be sold in stores, or could those still get changed? I'll need to add them to my site's Retro Contents page (that lists what retro games appear in plug-n-play systems). Then again, AtGames made so many Sega models in the past and tinkered with the games lists so often between (within?) models that I gave up trying to track what games were in which of their systems a long time ago. Speaking of the games lists, I find it odd that 2 of the 3 Capcom games in the portable are Street Fighter II variants. It's odd because, of the two AtGames systems on offer, they're on the one that does not support head-to-head play. Or does it? I can't recall you mentioning that. Also, your Sega review demonstrated a few games, and I'm pretty sure the emulator's sound problems are still there. I'm not intimately familiar with either Comix Zone or Street Fighter II, but the music in your footage of those two games sounded quite wrong. Instruments were out of tune with each other, and melodies sounded nonsensical, almost like just random strings of notes. Looking up footage of those two games on YouTube, I found them not sounding like that. I don't think these are issues stemming from your video capture setup; do the comparison yourself, and I think you'll see (hear) what I'm talking about. onmode-ky Edit: I forgot to mention this: in addition to the FB4, Amazon.com also has AtGames' Sega emulator systems, the Atari paddles pair set, and a set of 5 Atari posters up for preorder (from Amazon.com, not a Marketplace seller). The latter 2 products are $24.99, while the plug-n-play systems are all $59.99.

I believe the guy intended "four-minute-long levels" in his text rather than "four minute-long levels." He really should have used hyphens. As for the actual level count, Renegade Kid's website says, "Nintendo eShop version features a total of 40 levels." I think you're confusing the HD version's details. WayForward announced that they would be making a Wii U version of MSF, of that much I am certain. I have not heard anything about an Ouya version, nor can I find any news talking about that. I would recommend MSF simply because I think WayForward makes great games. I can't anti-recommend Mutant Mudds, though, because I've never heard of it. onmode-ky

Well, I think that's a bit of a grey area. In my opinion, once it's been converted, it's no longer the original code. You can still say that it's "based on the original code," but I would disagree if you claimed it were "running the original code." Granted, if you have a bad emulator, you could run the original code and actually have less faithful results than a port based on the original code. But, you could, in that case, claim "it's running the original code" and not get any objection from me--as far as terminology, anyway. The claim at Toy Fair from Bandai was that it was original code in this product. My interest in this actually does not stem from an interest in faithful gameplay, but rather from just wanting to nail down the simple fact of whether this is a port or an emulation. Emulation is historically rare in plug-n-play games; that's the reason for my curiosity. onmode-ky P.S. *ahem* Still curious about the company logos at startup.

Heh, yeah, it really is a crap-shoot with the generics. One is awful, while another is okay. I'm glad you managed to find one that was the latter. Regarding Jakks Pacific's World Poker Tour system, another plus about it is that it (originally, anyway) came with a DVD that gave a tutorial or something on the form of poker used in the game (Texas Hold'em?). So, even if she's unfamiliar with that form of the game, there's a bit of help available. Indeed, that was a good idea. The The Price Is Right system was discussed here a few years ago, and it got good reviews. It has the voices of Drew Carey and Rich Fields in it (the contemporary console renditions of the show didn't) and supports up to 9 players passing the controller around. Instead of licensing actual products, the developers opted to use fake product names based on real products, which I thought made for a fun meta-game in and of itself. I think the only complaint I ever read about it was that you couldn't always tell how high-end an item was, which could make price guessing difficult. If you're curious, here are the Jakks TV Games systems that were based on game shows: Wheel of Fortune (2 models of this), Deal or No Deal, Jeopardy!, 1 vs. 100, Smarter than a 5th Grader, and The Price Is Right. Toymaker Senario LLC also released some plug-n-play systems based on game shows a long time ago: Win, Lose, or Draw, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and The Apprentice, though I really know nothing about them at all. By the way, Jakks made a Bejeweled Deluxe system; I don't know if Bejeweled's gameplay depends on reflexes and timing, but I know it's a popular casual game, so maybe it's simple and easy to follow. onmode-ky

Both of the systems you linked to appear to be generic Chinese productions OEM-created for packaging and distribution by other firms. In the cases of those two, I've seen the first one branded by Techno Source, and the second one is branded by Excalibur Electronics. I believe the Golden Nugget casino plug-n-play put out by Majesco in 2004 was also of this type. None of these are systems I have first-hand experience with, but based on past, similar products, there's a pretty good chance that the games will look ugly and feature annoying sound. Still, maybe their basic gameplay is decent; they're just reproducing existing games with straightforward rules, after all. And, maybe graphics are not a concern, while sound can always be muted. A.I., though, that could be a crap shoot. The only card/casino plug-n-play system that's coming to mind which is definitely not an OEM product is the World Poker Tour system developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Jakks Pacific in late 2004. I believe it is strictly poker, though. I would have responded to this topic sooner, but since I have neither first-hand experience nor personal interest in these types of games, my advice isn't particularly sound. Still, in light of the lack of input you received, I thought I might try to contribute something. onmode-ky

Video and photos aside, can you start up the system and confirm? I still haven't decided to get one myself yet, what with the rerun game selection, control complaints, user-unfriendly form factor and pause system, and price over $20. onmode-ky

I compared the footage of Space Invaders from Bill's video against footage of the game in Jakks' recent Taito TV Game from Austin's review of that unit, and this one is definitely not a straight arcade emulation as that one was (yes, I'm not the first to realize this, but I wanted to explicitly state it). The most obvious differences: this one fits a 4:3 aspect ratio; as PacManPlus noted, the Invaders all move in unison; the text is not identical. They do a good job with the sound effects' fidelity, though. Still, what's on the FB4 is neither a 2600 ROM nor an arcade Space Invaders ROM . . . so was that just newly written/compiled to run natively on the ARM, then? That would probably be the easiest way to get it done. Bill, do you know if their software (emulators, menus) is internally developed or if they contract an outside developer? onmode-ky

I'm not sure what you're referring to. To my knowledge, AtGames has never made a Taito anything. Might you be thinking of the 2004 Arcade Legends Taito plug-n-play from Radica Games (5-in-1; you're probably not thinking of this one, since its Space Invaders is clearly a port and doesn't look like what's in Bill's footage) or the 2011 TV Games "Retro Arcade featuring Space Invaders" Taito plug-n-play from Jakks Pacific (10-in-1)? The emulation engine in the Jakks product was developed by Code Mystics and is, in that specific incarnation, for Generalplus hardware. It would not work on AtGames' ARM hardware. However, since Jakks' system was running the arcade ROM, it's reasonable to assume this FB4, also emulation-based, is running the arcade ROM, too, hence the resemblance. It certainly doesn't look like anything a 2600 could output. I have to say, though, that it's odd to have an arcade emulator programmed for the product, to play just one game. Pirate box shot? I assumed the packaging shown in Bill's video was the actual box that AtGames will use, or at least a mockup of what they intend to use. Bill, do you have a list handy of what new games (paired with the companies they're from) are in the FB4? I know you showed the full game selection menu in the video, but I have no idea which of those games were in their FB3 and which are new--and I'll admit I'm too lazy to look up and compare the lists side by side myself. Besides, I'm not familiar enough with the 2600 library to know which of those titles are from third parties, besides Taito. onmode-ky

That specific Midway machine (which was licensed rather than produced directly by Midway; the firm which made the machines has since gone out of business, judging from the death of their website) was first offered in Target stores in autumn 2005 for $500. It was discussed in several threads here at the time. This thread is the first one I found through forum search that specifically talked about this unit, and it was also talked about a year later in this thread with follow-up products from the same company. There are other valid results from searching the forum for "target midway" as well. The general evaluation at the time: the games are decent ports but displayed on a poor 13" TV and with rickety controls, and the cabinet is too small for an average adult. For what you were getting, $500 was (way) too much for most of us. The prices dropped later in the holiday season, though I don't know if they ever went below $350. Come to think of it, I didn't join in the discussions about the system at the time it was launched because I was still a lurker then and hadn't signed up as an AtariAger yet. onmode-ky

At ~$110 (shipped), the Ninostarter isn't a deal in the normal sense of the word. However, it is a limited-time opportunity (closes August 31st, US-only) to add more value to an existing offer. This is clubNamco.com's website-exclusive Wizard's Edition of the upcoming Level-5/Studio Ghibli RPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. The Wizard's Edition as originally described would only come with the game, a plush Drippy, a hardcover Wizard's Companion book of over 300 pages, and some DLC. The Ninostarter is meant to work like Kickstarter's stretch goals, adding more content to the package depending on how many preorders they get within the active time period. So far, one goal has been reached, adding a set of 5 Ni no Kuni prints (pictures, I guess?) to the package. The second goal, if reached by August 31st, will add a physical, golden Wizard's Coin. Anyone want to preorder a few hundred? The game releases in January. onmode-ky

I would say that these are the reasons someone would get the Bandai system on top of the older Jakks systems: - They're interested in the direct link to the 255th board of Pac-Man. - They want to display it, either still in the box or just with the controller on its side on a shelf, the bottom facing the viewer (so that it looks like a pixelated statue of Pac-Man). - They really like Bosconian. This is one of few plug-n-plays which properly plays Bosconian as an 8-direction game. The only other one is Jakks' wireless variant of the Ms. Pac-Man Namco TV Game (that variant added New Rally-X and Bosconian to the original 5-game selection of the Namco 2 model), which is a bit hard to find nowadays. All the other Jakks systems with Bosconian use 4-way sticks. However, Mingy Jongo's post above says the Bandai system's stick isn't very good. - They are interested in sharper graphics than the Jakks systems (which were QVGA resolution). I'm not actually certain that the graphics are sharper, but the videos I've seen online seem like it. - They believe this new model is more arcade-accurate than Jakks' renditions. At the least, though, the screen layouts do not match the original arcade games. - They prefer hitting buttons with their right hand instead of their left. And, um, they don't like ergonomic things--nor easy game pausing. I've heard that pausing on this new system requires you to hold the A and B buttons for a bit. If any of the above apply to you, maybe you should get yourself one. By the way, there is no apostrophe in the word "Jakks" (which, technically, is all upper-case). onmode-ky

On component cables, the 2000 and 3000 are on equal footing. It's composite cables where the 3000 is superior; the 2000 on composite can only output video content, not game content. Other differences between the 2000 and 3000: - 3000 has a built-in microphone - 3000 has a more vivid screen that is, at the same time, apparently more prone to interlacing effects - some cosmetic differences (most noticeably, the metal ring on the back is thinner on the 3000), including a slightly different shape; I find the edges on my 2000 more comfortable than those on a 3000 - 3000 is much easier to find now than the 2000, which was only in production for about a year In addition to the D-pad problem Atariboy mentioned, I've also heard that the 1000's Square button is weaker than the other face buttons. This is no longer an issue in the newer models. I really like these games, so I feel compelled to correct your spelling. Namely, there are no apostrophes: Ys and The Legend of Heroes. And while I'm wearing my grammar cop hat . . . are you aware that you frequently use apostrophes where there shouldn't be any? In simple plurals, most commonly. I'll take off my hat now. Some favorite UMD releases of mine that haven't been mentioned yet--note that the PSP is region-free: DariusBurst (import) Gradius Collection Salamander Portable (import) TwinBee Portable (import) Parodius Portable (import) PC Engine Best Collection: Soldier Collection (import) PC Engine Best Collection: Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Collection (import) Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA (import) Half-Minute Hero Hammerin' Hero Invizimals Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Star Ocean: First Departure Star Ocean: Second Evolution Also, I don't have them, but I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned any Monster Hunter or Phantasy Star Portable games. onmode-ky

This seems to be an appropriate thread in which to ask my Final Fantasy IV question. I've never played the game before (beyond the first hour or so, that is). It's been in my library for many years, though; I have it both for the PS1 in Final Fantasy Chronicles and for the DS in the 3D-graphics remake. Is it worth getting the PSP's Complete Collection on top of these? I feel kind of silly buying the game a third time. Yes, it does have much more vivid graphics than the PS1 release, and it does have extra content that, well, it seems no one thinks is worth playing. But are these elements worth a third time around, or do you think I should just play what I already have? onmode-ky P.S. The PS1 renditions of FF5, FF6, and Chrono Trigger are, to my recollection, plagued with load times before every battle and every opening of the menu, but the PS1 version of FF4 does not have that.

I was discussing this system with someone, and they pointed out that promotional screenshots show several games having side panels where things like the score are displayed, games which were originally on vertically oriented monitors with those elements displayed above/below the playfield. This is visible in PacManPlus' attached images in the post above this one (the part of the screens where "High Score," "1Up," and "Credit" are displayed). This detail, combined with PacManPlus' statement that "they took the copyright out completely from the game itself," leads me to wonder: perhaps these are not emulations after all, but rather ports once again? This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since ports can still be programmed well enough to accurately mimic the original programming, but it would contradict the Bandai claims that they run "the original code." Also, I still really want to know, are there any company logos at startup other than Namco Bandai's? onmode-ky

The claim by Bandai's representative at Toy Fair was that the system does run the original code (i.e., running on emulation, rather than being ports). Do all the games display Namco manufacturing? I'm curious if any of the ROMs are, say, Midway ones. I believe Mingy Jongo was saying that the games are more accurately reproduced here than in any other retro controller, including the Ms. Pac-Man retro controllers, rather than "ones" in his text referring to games on the system. The Ms. Pac-Man plug-n-play system would be the second Namco TV Game from Jakks Pacific, in 2004, which was noted for being more arcade-accurate than the first, 2003 Namco TV Game system. Can either of you, or anyone else who owns the system now, tell me if there are any company logos at startup besides that of Namco Bandai? I'm still trying to find out who developed the software for this one. Also, if you open it up and see anything noteworthy on the mainboard, please let me know as well. onmode-ky

Just an off-topic game recommendation: Schizophretard, I think you would enjoy Invizimals. It's a 2009 (in Europe; 2010 for North America) PSP augmented reality game, using the PSP camera accessory, with which it was available bundled. As my first augmented reality experience, it was quite an eye-opener, even as someone not normally into that type of game (it plays sort of like a real-life Pokemon). The screencap feature was a particular highlight. Europe got a pair of sequels, as well, the first of which made it to North America. If you have a PSP, I think it's definitely worth checking out. onmode-ky

Bandai America's Pac-Man Connect-and-Play plug-n-play system is now available, at least at Toys 'R Us stores and from Amazon.com. I picked one up, but I haven't removed it from the packaging. What I can see, though, is that the box is a lot bigger than it needs to be, and the controller base is so thick and blocky that I'm pretty sure it will hurt to actually play the system. Nowhere on the box does it refer to any company aside from Namco Bandai, so I still don't know who developed it. Two other new plug-n-play systems were also on the shelf at Toys 'R Us: Jakks Pacific's Walking Dead Zombie Hunter light gun game (developed by Merge Interactive, formerly known as Super Happy Fun Fun, who developed the earlier Big Buck Hunter plug-n-play light gun games for Jakks) and Jakks' touchpad-based remake of one of their earlier Spider-Man plug-n-play systems (converted by Code Mystics, most recently known for Atari's Greatest Hits on DS/iOS/Android and Jakks' Taito Space Invaders plug-n-play system). The 2012 release slate is finally starting up. onmode-ky

Actually, that's exactly what was done. The brain isn't that different, both the NES, 2600, and 7800 run off 6502 assembly. What differs is the sound and graphics hardware, which is what was changed accordingly for the ports. Ah, I see. I knew that the CPU instruction sets were the same, but I had thought that with such early hardware, the sound and video components of the code might be tied too inextricably to the logic and the hardware timings to make that kind of porting feasible. Maybe I'm too pessimistic. Given their lack of experience with hardware design, added to their inability to deliver really good work on something they have lots of experience with, I don't think Option #2 there would work out so well. They did hire the former Sega of America Director of Technology to help fix their Genesis emulator back when they first made it, but it was apparently so wanky that the best he could do for them was, well, not a whole lot, as you can see from the production versions. The sound issues stem from some timing errors in the emulator, it seems. It seems that way. It's how I see everyone spell out "Geniclone," probably due to how Famiclone has an "i" before "clone." I'd argue that the 'i' in "Famiclone" comes from the fourth letter of "Famicom," though (and that 'i' comes from the 'i' in "family computer"). Oh, well, if that's the accepted spelling, I won't fight an uphill battle. Americans don't pronounce "karaoke" the proper way, after all ("carry oaky"???). onmode-ky

I think there's some time perception compression going on due to the years that have passed since these events, or perhaps due to the PS2's domination over the Xbox and GameCube during those years. The Xbox 360 being a hot topic in 2004 (which sounds accurate; Wikipedia puts actual hardware design as starting in 2003) puts it 3 years after the release of the Xbox and only 1 year prior to its own release. The Wii's controller was revealed late in 2005, which is near the Xbox 360's launch and 4 years after the GameCube's release, and the Wii's final name was revealed a bit before E3 2006, about half a year before its own launch. So, while the Xbox and GameCube may feel like they were quickly pushed aside to you, they were actually on their own, without news of successors, for a few years each. Personally, I remember several years of games only for the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube, with no talk of the next generation (outside of pure speculation). The part I'm saying is absurd, though, is not the part about developers flocking to non-console platforms. That part is definitely true. The Square Enix official is claiming, however, that the reason this is happening is because this round of the console cycle has gone on too long, that the length of the round has been the driving factor behind the success of Web and mobile gaming. He's arguing that if the next Xbox and PlayStation systems had launched in, say, 2010-2011 (meaning buzz from system reveals in 2009-2010), Web and mobile gaming would not have grown into the behemoths they are now because developers who had failed on PS3 and Xbox 360 would be instead trying again on the new-generation consoles. This doesn't make sense to me. The whole claim about "devs failing on a generation will wait and try again on the next generation" makes no sense because this means they go for years without doing anything and then spend a ton of money (that came from where, exactly?) to retry on the next generation. Developers who had given up on the PS3 generation would not have had the money anyway to join the theoretical PS4 generation. Web and mobile development is widespread because it's cheap and already has a large consumer base. The lack of availability of an expensive option is rarely what causes the popularity of a cheap option. Who says, "I would have chosen the much riskier, costlier option had it been there for me"? Compulsive gamblers aside. Moreover, when in history has the new generation launched with a greater rate of game releases than the then-current generation's rate? He claims developers who failed and gave up on one generation would come back for the next, which would mean that the size of the developer pool for next-generation systems would exceed the size of the current-generation systems. This has never happened. Web and mobile gaming are popular, yes. Would they not be popular if the next Xbox and PlayStation systems were already out? No. onmode-ky

What I find most strange about the Square Enix officer's statement is that he's actually not talking about things from either a technology OR consumer standpoint. He's not saying at all that the current consoles are out of date, nor is he saying that consumers are eager for new systems. Instead, his claim is that developers who couldn't make it with the current generation normally waited until the next generation started to try again, but due to the length of this generation, they didn't wait and instead migrated to platforms like Web browsers and iOS, from which they will not return to console hardware. Is it just me, or does that not make any sense? It sounds like he's saying that developers who didn't make it on, say, the PS1 sat on their butts and twiddled their thumbs until the PS2 came out. Really? Absurd much? How so? The Xbox 360 is finishing its 7th year. There is likewise a 7-year gap between the releases of the Famicom and the Super Famicom (and about 6 years between NES and SNES). You must have been a late adopter, then. There were 5 years between the releases of the GameCube and Wii and 4 years between the Xbox and Xbox 360. onmode-ky