The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Nintendo’s Power Glove – it’s so bad, that it’s so damn good! The Power Glove may not have worked as promised, but it’s legacy in pop culture is undeniable. Three film-makers (Adam Ward, Andrew Austin and Paula Kosowski ) have embarked on creating a documentary that chronicles Nintendo’s notorious game controller.
Check out the official trailer below of ‘The Power Of Glove‘ documentary.
We are not alone when we say, we cannot wait for this to be released!
In the early eighties, the video gaming industry was brought to its knees. It seemed that every man and his dog wanted in on the video gaming action. These fly-by-night cowboys flooded the market with mediocre products, subsequently leading to the great video games crash!
In the midst of the video gaming ruins, one bold company, Nintendo, had plans of their own. Undeterred, they were quietly tinkering away creating their own home video gaming system, the ‘Family Computer’ (Famicom).
Nintendo had offered Atari the rights to market, brand and sell the Famicom outside of Japan. Imagine if Atari had taken up Nintendo’s offer! They would most probably still be in business and not become a derelict company ripe for pillaging.
On this day (July 15) in 1983, Nintendo released (in Japan), what was to become a video gaming revolution, the Family Computer (Famicom). What happened after that, well, as they say, the rest is history. Happy anniversary to the Famicom, and thank you Nintendo for resuscitating the home video gaming market!
Vital Stats:
Released: July 15, 1983 (Japan)
Generation: Third Generation (8-bit)
CPU: Ricoh 2A03 8-bit (MOS Technology 6502 core)
Media: ROM cartridge
Retail Price: ¥34,800
Units sold: 61.91 million (combined Famicom & NES)
Vital Stats source: Wikipedia
On this day (July 9) in 1981, Nintendo unleashed Donkey Kong in the arcades! Since then, millions of gamers have fallen in love with the great Nintendo gorilla. DK (as he is affectionately known) has gone from being the villain to now being the hero.
From humble beginnings – kidnapping Pauline and throwing barrels at a plumber, DK has come a long way and truly grown up. He has definitely kept us all entertained. Happy Birthday big fella!
What is your favourite DK game?
Image source: Cheezburger
Finally, we are privy to the conversation between Nintendo’s 3DS and Sony’s PS Vita. So what is the conversation about? Let’s just say that the poor little PS Vita is after some friendly advice from the 3DS. This may start a Nintendo vs Sony war!
source: The Warp Zone
Let’s face it, we all have our video game character crushes. Don’t even try to deny it! Some of us even have a list of virtual females we would love to date or have as girlfriends (Ed: Really? That is sad!).
The nerd playboy, Melvin (Michael Adams Davis from The Warp Zone), has taken time out of his busy schedule to put together a ‘Top 5 Video Game Girlfriends‘ list for us hot blooded gamers. No drooling allowed!
source: The Warp Zone
What do you get when you cross a Rubik’s Cube wiz that is also a Mega Man fan? Watch Kyudan’s video and find out.
Before anyone complains about the colour of 8-bit Mega Man, you should be aware that the standard Rubik’s Cube does not have the colour scheme to support two separate shades of blue on such a small scale.
source: Kyudan
Fancy yourself as a game developer? Do you have an adventure game concept? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then check out the ‘engine’ that can bring your adventure game concept to life – Adventure Game Studio (AGS)!
Image source: AGS
AGS is a free development editor that provides an integrated development environment (IDE) running on any flavour of Windows (XP and above). Don’t worry if you suck at drawing, the editor is packed with features and resources to assist in that manner to get you on your way.
Hey, it is free, so you have nothing to lose. Unleash your inner adventure game developer now!
Are you feeling lucky, punk! Well, do you? If you are going to the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo (SRGE) on the weekend of July 13 -14, then you are one lucky son of a gun.
If you haven’t grabbed your tickets, then head on over to SRGE and snap some up now.
SRGE 2013 Highlights:
source: SRGE
Expo Details:
What: Seattle Retro Gaming Expo (SRGE)
When: July 13-14, 2013
Where: Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington, USA
Warning: the following video contains explicit content and language! Proceed with caution!
Right, with that warning out of the way, we can now click on play and watch Biting Elbows awesome official video for their track, ‘Bad Motherf**ker’. This video could have been inspired by ‘Mirror’s Edge’. Whatever the inspiration, we are glad Biting Elbows created this slick first-person chase video.
WARNING: Explicit lyrics! —- WARNING: Explicit content!
source: Biting Elbows
The Retro Duo Portable V2.0: another clone system to satisfy your nostalgic hunger. These so-called ‘clones’ are fast growing in popularity. Companies like Hyperkin and Retro-Bit have capitalised on the popularity of retro gaming by producing systems that can play your old console cartridges.
Retro-Bit is having a second crack at this caper by creating the Retro Duo Portable (RDP) V2.0 – a portable (to an extent) unit that plays SNES carts from any region without hacking or modifications. The RDP V2.0 is also capable of playing NES carts using the bundled RetroPort adapter, which sticks out like a sore thumb. The RDP V2.0 can also play Sega Mega Drive / Genesis cartridges using the RetroGEN adapter, which is sold separately.
Retro-Bit’s first attempt at hardware console creation was modest. The screen wasn’t too flash, the unit felt cheap and games compatibility was limited. They have learned from the experience and introduced a number of improvements for V2.0. These include: upgraded LCD screen, crisper sound, improved D-pad and button layout, better battery life (Lithium-ion) with LED indicator and most importantly, enhanced game cartridge compatibility.
The RDP V2.0 comes in a slick looking package. Inside you will find a vast amount of gear – the console itself, a plastic stand, TV/AV connection cable, power supply unit, RetroPort adapter, a controller hub and two SuperRetro controllers (which can also be used on your SNES!).
After playing with the unit for a number of hours (on one battery charge!), here are our thoughts:
The unit feels sturdy in hand and has a nice soft coating. It doesn’t suffer from that cheap feel you get from other ‘clones’.
The D-pad and button layout is identical to a SNES pad, so you should feel right at home. However, the shoulder buttons do let the controls down as they are too close to the cartridge slot, but this is only a minor niggle. The external control pads are great to use if you intend on hooking the RDP V2.0 up to a TV, or if you use them natively on your SNES.
We did have a few compatibility issues with the Super FX SNES games, but overall we were pleased with Retro-Bit’s claim of improved compatibility.
Using the RetroPort adapter to play your NES carts basically renders the unit ‘un-portable’. The adapter sticks out above the unit which looks damn ugly. But hey, if you want to play your native old NES carts, you will put up with this unsightliness. Playing the RDP V2.0 with the RetroPort adapter definitely got attention on public transport.
The improved LCD screen is better than the original RDP (it has an increased pixel count), but it has a long way to go. You still have to ‘angle’ or ‘tilt’ the unit to get the best visibility, which gets annoying after a while. There is a contrast reset button which has three preset contrast settings for brightness. The clarity is average when compared to modern handhelds; but considering the price of the unit, it is understandable.
The beefing up of the sound is great in theory, however we did find the sound became distorted at maximum volume with a distinct ‘crackling’ on certain games (Super Smash TV). The sound was fine when playing with headphones, however the placement of the headphone jack should have been placed on the side of the unit, not on top (it gets in the way!).
Should you rush out and buy the Retro Duo Portable V2.0? It depends, if you are happy emulating (legally) your 8-bit and 16-bit Sega or Nintendo games, then the answer is no. However, if you want a system that you can plug in your library of SNES, NES and Mega Drive carts, then the RDP V2.0 is perfect. The other plus to owning the RDP V2.0 is that you will safeguard your Sega and Nintendo hardware from further abuse, and let’s face it, these old consoles won’t last forever!
Verdict: If you like the sound of a console that can play your SNES and NES cartridges out of the box, then check this unit out.