The Pop-Culture E-Zine
We say better late then never!
This 8 year old infographic by Reddit user Adiost (aka: Dmitry Pankin) celebrates the PlayStation timeline from its beginnings in 1994 with the groundbreaking PS, all the way through to the PS Vita Slim in 2014 – 20 years of awesome play (well, 28 years, but who is counting)! 😉
image source: imgur
According to this Bloomberg article, Sega is gearing up to reboot a couple of iconic Dreamcast titles, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio as part of their Super Game initiative!
These titles will be first ones released under Sega’s Super Game initiative, which Sega announced a year ago. Sega’s Super Game aims to develop recurring revenue sources and build online communities around its stable of video games.
Mimicking Fortnite’s model, Sega’s Super Game setup will offer their games as free to play, be available across multiple platforms, host large multiplayer contests and include extras like vehicles, construction and social events on top of the usual combat, ensuring they get players to purchase in-game items.
Not sure how we feel about this approach from Sega, but if it works for Epic Games with Fortnite, then we guess that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – if you can’t beat them, copy their business model!
If you don’t want to stuff around with finding, downloading, configuring and tearing your hair out in making video gaming emulators work on your computer, then check out the Internet Archive’s Console Living Room.
The Internet Archive Console Living Room harkens back to the revolution of the change in the hearth of the home, when the fireplace and later, the television, were transformed by gaming consoles into a centre of videogaming entertainment. Connected via strange adapters and relying on the television’s speaker to put out pew pew pew sounds, these games were resplendent with simple graphics and simpler rules.
Via the use of the JSMESS emulator system, this allows direct access to different emulator programs in your browser with no additional plugins or settings, meaning that these games can be enjoyed again without mucking around in looking for emulators or games. Simply click on the screenshot or “Emulate This” button for each individual cartridge, and on modern browsers the games will just start to run. As nostalgia, a teaching tool, or just plain fun, you’ll find hundreds of the games that started a billion-dollar industry.
NOTE: These games are best enjoyed in an up to date version of a modern browser. Currently, there is no sound in the games, although that feature will be added soon.
image source: Internet Archive – Console Living Room
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Your awesome Commodore 64 magazine, Reset64 issue 14 is out now for your reading pleasure!
If you want to read an awesome contemporary C64-centric magazine full of news, reviews, interviews and everything in-between, then you are in luck – go and grab the latest Reset64 mag right now!
This issue’s theme is all about one of our fave gaming genres, run ‘n’ gun. This page turner of an issue was lovingly put together by like-minded (and very cool) peeps. We love Ant Stiller’s cover art and Del Seymour’s amazing editorial illustrations – it’s just full of eye candy!
Grab Reset64 Issues 14 right here!
Image source: Reset64
With the Australian F1 GP being on this weekend, we’ve been playing Slipstream non-stop on our Switch for this last week, and we must say, this is the closest we’ll get to a modern OutRun, especially OutRun 2006/Coast 2 Coast (with a mix of F-Zero & Sonic The Hedgehog), with amazing drifting, slipstreaming and speed mechanics, complimented with a cool time rewind feature and a thumping synth pop soundtrack.
Slipstream has been a labour of love for Brazilian solo developer, Sandro Luiz de Paula (ansdor) since 2015. The love and attention to detail really stands out. Sandro’s Slipstream has pulled us right into one of our favourite arcade racer periods of the 80s and early 90s with gorgeous 2D sprite scaling and colourful pixel art graphics. This all amounts to an authentic retro experience on modern consoles with smooth and constant 60fps gameplay.
The entire package of Slipstream, from its graphics (with Pixelated, CRT and NTSC filters), speed and racing mechanics, awesome soundtracks to its six game modes, all combine to draw you into racing across a variety of twenty exotic locations from all around the world, including cities, deserts, forests, mountains and beaches. With a plethora of other retro inspired racers out there, Slipstream stands out with its speed, drifting, rewinding and slipstreaming mechanics, which add depth to the driving gameplay, resulting in a strategic, challenging and fun experience – what more could you ask for?! Oh yeah, it gets better, grab a few friends or family members and have yourself a local 4-player split-screen race.
The six game modes add longevity and variety for solo players, with different challenges. If you are time poor and need a quick fix of racing, then the single race or time trial modes are for you. If you have a bit more time on your hands, then the other modes (Grand Tour – just like in OutRun, Cannonball, Grand Prix and Battle Royale) provide ample challenges to test your racing skills. There are also some secrets to discover, which we won’t spoil for you here. Just like the arcade racers from yesteryear, Slipstream’s difficulty is dialled up, but luckily you don’t have to pump coins to continue enjoying the racing!
For under US$10/A$15, you get bang for your buck here, with an abundance of modes and amazing content. This all amounts to transporting gamers back three or so decades, when racing games were pure fun. The nostalgia that Slipstream induces is strong, so if you ever played and enjoyed racing games in the 80s and early 90s, then we highly recommend you add Slipstream to your games library!
Disclaimer: Nintendo Switch review code for Slipstream was provided by BlitWorks.
There is no doubt that we are still in the honeymoon period with our gorgeous Taito EGRET II mini tabletop arcade, but there are a few seasoned classics that could easily knock it off its perch!
Of course the Sega Astro City mini is another beautiful little arcade in the mould of the EGRET, just a tad smaller in stature and without a number of bells and whistles that its bigger brother enjoys.
The arcade mini contenders face-off!
Going toe to toe!
Then there are the tabeltop heavyweights that have withstood the test of time, Grandstand’s seminal Astro Wars (1981) and Nintendo’s Game & Watch tabletops from 1983. We would’ve added the Vectrex too, but we thought otherwise 😉
Now don’t get us started about superior graphics and sounds on the Sega and Taito arcade minis, that is a given, however there is something quite charming about VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) displays and simple pew pew pew sound effects – they never get old!
We have wasted too many batteries to count playing Astro Wars, Mario’s Cement Factory and Donkey Kong Jr., which we still keep coming back to till this day – that’s 4 decades, and counting! Let’s see if we will be saying the same about the new arcade minis from Sega and Taito in the 2060s.
Let the Tabletop Royal Rumble begin!
For now, the EGRET II mini with the trackball & paddle controller is consuming our gaming time!
image source: FURiOUS via Twitter
Super Mario World has been in our top 5 all-time favourite games for 3 decades – it is that good!
Now we recall playing SMW for hours and hours on end (we still do!), so you can imagine our jaw-dropping to the floor when we saw Brazilian gamer, Matheus Furtado (aka: FURiOUS) setting a new Super Mario World (0 Exit) speedrun record by completing it in 41.022 seconds!
Check it out!
Fastest completion of Super Mario World (0 Exit) – 41.022 sec
Record holder @furious_ said the hardest part was placing Yoshi in the right spot to spit out the red shells 🐢 #Mar10 pic.twitter.com/zwOQd94CM7
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) March 10, 2022
PS: If you want to watch this speedrun effort on Twitch with all the beautiful SMW music and sound effects, go here.
The origin story of The Oregon Trail game dates to a long, long time ago when three teachers created this legendary game. Bill Heinemann, Don Rawitsch, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 created this game to teach kids about the 19th-century pioneer.
After this game was created, it got famous because of its interesting concept and easy-to-understand interface. Kids who grew up between in the ’70s and ’80s know how popular this iconic computer game is.
Many people think that this game is long forgotten and dead. But that’s not true because it’s popular among young players even today. To keep the gaming audience intact, this game has seen quite a few revisions that have only made it better.
If you like this game or want to know more about it, read on!
Did you know that The Oregon Trail game online has been released on multiple platforms by multiple game makers who acquired the rights? But the main essence of this game hasn’t been adulterated. It remains the same, which is the prime reason behind its popularity.
Below are three ways in which this game depicts the life of 19th-century travellers.
One of the main themes of The Oregon Trail is death. And dying in the game is kind of fun. Wondering why we are saying that? Because people of a party might suddenly fall ill and die.
Most of the time, the cause of death was a simple broken leg or drowning while crossing a river. But people in the game have also died due to cholera, measles, typhoid, exhaustion, dysentery, and snakebite.
Besides people, the death of animals due to illness, mainly oxen, was quite common. If the members of a party want, they could even organise a funeral for the people who have died and then move ahead on the trail.
The next interesting aspect is hunting, which kept almost all the players hooked to the Oregon Trail game online free. For hunting, players would require pixelated guns that they can purchase at the beginning or during the game.
During the game, you can get different hunting options. Also, you can hunt a variety of wild animals, which includes squirrels, deer, rabbits, elk, bison, and bears.
When this game was initially released, it didn’t have advanced graphics. Also, to kill an animal, players would have to type “POW,” “WHAM,” or “BANG.” Whether you make a successful hunt or not depends on how quickly you can type the letters. And if there was a spelling error, you might miss the target.
After that, the game got updated, including a little man who could shoot in eight different directions at the fast-moving animals. And the most recent version made it possible for players to hunt using crosshairs, which could be controlled using a mouse.
Players mostly targeted bison because they were the slowest moving animals, but they offered the most weight in the food. Next are the squirrels that moved fast but gave very small weight to the food.
Now the thing is, even if a player killed a large animal, they could only carry 100 lbs in their wagon. It was done to give a real-like feel to the game players.
The third interesting aspect of The Oregon Trail game original was the scoring. Players would get a score at the end of the game. The awarded score depends on a few factors like remaining possessions, survivors, cash, and the profession that players have selected at the beginning.
Different professionals offered different points. For instance, the given points would double if you have selected a carpenter. And tripled if you have selected a farmer. But if you have selected a banker, you won’t get any bonus.
The original Oregon Trail was established due to the following:
Mining made the Oregon Trail famous because travellers moved south of Oregon during the California Gold Rush to make money. While moving, they followed the route once used in the Oregon Trail between 1848 and 1855.
Fur trading was another reason that led to the establishment of the Oregon Trail. Wondering how? During the 1940s, fur trading became the primary source of income for the people of Canada, the U.S., and the Pacific Western area.
While the game was fun, the real Oregon Trail was difficult. This difficulty came mainly due to three factors: pestilence, war and the harsh natural environment.
Pioneers faced difficulty finding clean water, and many had to resort to drinking dirty water, resulting in dysentery and death. Water-borne diseases such as cholera and smallpox also affected the masses. The conditions were only worsened by the bad weather.
In the final years of the trail’s use, conflicts between the pioneers and natives became common. This made moving westward using the Oregon Trail more challenging than ever before.
Traversing the Oregon Trail was no easy feat – but the game makes it all fun and games for the sake of entertainment.
The cartoonish and silly parts of the game, like death by dysentery, will seem funnier now that you understand the realities of the Oregon Trail and the story of how the game came to be.
Whether you’ve played it for hours on end before or have never played it, the Oregon Trail is a game you should experience at least once once on a modern computer. Play The Oregon Trail on your browser for free on Classic Reload!
image source: Classic Reload
When the Taito Egret II Mini was announced in 2021, our collective jaws dropped at this cute and awesome little arcade unit. The Egret II was packed with Taito’s greatest arcade hits, which was a good start. But that wasn’t all! To differentiate itself from the Sega Astro City Mini and any other mini arcade unit on the market, Taito’s offering had a rotating screen (just like its big brother), so you could play games in either TATE (portrait) or landscape (horizontal) orientation – how clever and awesome is that?!
You turn me on!
The games menu is quite intuitive. The orientation of the game is also depicted, which is a great feature
The downside to all this great news was that the Egret II Mini was only going to be available to a limited set of countries for pre-orders. But, we managed to get our hands on the Taito Egret II Mini, and we must say, this thing is so cool and oozes quality – everything looks and feels top notch! The rotating screen is something to behold and feels industrial grade, which is a relief. The other great feature is the ability to switch and lock the joystick in 4-way mode or the usual 8-way – this makes a big difference for games that only have four directions of play!
8-Way or 4-Way – another neat feature!
Taito’s Egret II Mini comes pre-installed with 40 games (see list below), from platformers, shoot’em ups to puzzle, beat’em ups and fighting games to keep you entertained. There are bound to be games you like in Taito’s stable of arcade hits that come with this mini arcade unit. We absolutely love Bubble Bobble, Tatsujin (aka: Truxton), Elevator Action Returns, Rastan Saga and The New Zealand Story to name just a few.
Horizontal? No way!
You spin me right ’round, baby, right ’round
Vertical – that’s much better!
Taito Egret II mini vs Sega Astro City mini: Both are darn cute & awesome!
An essential purchase with the Egret II Mini is the paddle and trackball games expansion set, which incudes the aforementioned paddle and trackball controller and an additional 10 games on an SD card! Speaking of which, we can’t wait to see what the clever modders out there will do with the SD card slot on the Egret II.
It is still early days playing on our Egret II Mini, but so far during this honeymoon period, we love it. This mini arcade unit is packed with great games and feels pretty good to play on. Let’s be honest, this thing is great, but its price does cause a wince. The standard Egret II mini is approx. AU$280 and above (depending on the exchange rate) and that is without shipping. If you want the limited edition (blue joystick top and blue fire buttons), then you pretty much double the price of the standard unit, but we reckon save your dollars and stick with the standard if you really got to have the Taito Egret II mini.
For anyone in Australia looking to get the Taito EGRET II Mini, check them out on Play Asia!
We love the little extras we got with our Taito EGRET II mini
Egret II specs and features:
Games:
image source: ININ Games
Fancy checking out some assembly code of a classic arcade game from 42 years ago?
Thanks to Rob Hogan, you can now check out Eugene Jarvis’ (and his fellow Williams programmers’) assembly code from one of the most successful arcade titles from the golden age of the arcades, Defender!
Oh how we wish we had the necessary skills to comb through the code to find Easter eggs and amusing comments, as we are quite sure Eugene and co. would have inserted in this tough 1980 scrolling blaster!
If you do find some surprises in the code from ‘Dr J’ (aka: Eugene Jarvis), please let us all know either via Twitter or Facebook!
PS: This Defender code is for the ‘Red Label’ version of the game, which was one of four versions (the others being: White, Blue and Green) that were distributed to arcades.