Exposing my socks to the world

To take the guess work out of creating games, I have begun compiling How-To guides.



Up first is How to make an RPG.

The Azure Heights Pokémon Laboratory has way, way more information about the Pokémon in the Red, Blue, and Yellow Pokémon games than is healthy.

Really great for research, though.

Space Shuttle Project for the NES is a simulation of virtually all aspects of launching and flying a space shuttle.



It’s every bit as exciting as it sounds.

I remember renting Shatterhand several years ago and really not liking it.



Apparently, I’m in the minority on that: that game gets favorable reviews here, here, here, and several other places.



I just can’t find a bad review of this game, am I really the only person who didn’t like it?

I will be attending AsylumLAN 11 this weekend.



Regular updates should resume on Monday!



-basscomm

Shadowgate is one of those kind of games that you really like, or you really don’t. Fortunately, I liked it when I bought it for my Game Boy Color.



The official site has a lot of information on this series of games.



They also have a lot of information on another good NES/Game Boy Color game, Deja Vu.

For those of you just joining us, Nintendo announced that they would be giving those who pre-order Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker a special disc. The special disc has previews of some games (F-Zero, 1080 Avalanche, Wario World, The Wind Waker {of course}, and some others), but more importantly than that, there’s two versions of one of the best game that I’ve ever played: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the not released in the United States Master Quest.



The Ocarina of Time is exactly the same as the Nintendo 64 version. Right down to the last pixel. If you really want to know about it, there’s about a thousand places on the Internet where you can get a review of it.



The Master Quest is, for all intents and purposes, exactly like the original game with one major exception: the dungeons are harder. How are they harder? The puzzles have been reworked slightly, and there are more enemies to deal with. So far, I only managed to play through the first dungeon (once I figure out how to play and sleep at the same time while getting the benefits of both, I’ll be set).



So the main differences are:

• The L button is used for targeting instead of the Z button.
• The C-Stick is used instead of the C-Buttons (you could also use the X, Y, or Z buttons {C-Up is always C-Up})

So, it’s a perfect translation, and it’s definately more than enough to hold you over until the Wind Waker comes out, assuming you actually are looking forward to it (which I am).

So, what exactly is Konami Collector’s Series: Castlevania and Contra? Essentially, it’s five classic NES games (Castlevania, Castlevania 2, Castlevania 3, Contra, and Super C) packaged with an emulator, and sells for $10 (marked down from $20).


What does all this mean? I don’t have to fight my Nintendo whenever I want to play one of these games and, more importantly, I got them all for really cheap (Castlevania 2 runs $10 by itself in cartridge form around here).



So how does it look?



The games themselves look exactly the same as they did when they were released. No effort was made to ‘bring them up to date’ graphics-wise, and that’s just fine with me.



So how does it sound?



The sound is as close as you can get. It sounds like you have a Nintendo wedged in your computer somewhere.



I think this is a great idea and I hope it sets a precedent for other companies. I’d love to see other classic compilations for my computer. Especially games that are super tough to find (and consequently super expensive), Nintendos starting to finally wear out, and at the bargain price, you can’t go wrong.



Besides, being able to play my NES games on my computer legally still boggles my mind.

• Nightshade Ad



• Nightshade manual scan (PDF)



• Nightshade manual (text only)



• Nightshade review (kind of) at the GGDB



• GameFAQs reviews

Hopefully that will get you started on your quest to help rid Metro City of evil.



Or maybe it will just leave you shaking your head, either way, it’s a win-win situation for me.

Gamespot recently posted Microsoft and Sega’s plans for Phantasy Star Online. The most important parts of the article to point out are as follows:

1. The game will retail for $39.99
2. It comes with a free 60-day online trial
3. It will cost $8.95 per month, IN ADDITION TO the Xbox Live fee
4. The game can be played offline, BUT you must have a valid Xbox Live account

This is the first game on Xbox Live to charge an additional monthly fee… I wonder if this trend will continue.