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Classic Xbox Games Specials!

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Checking in this morning, we noticed that Microsoft has unleashed their latest Xbox games sale, which has quite a few classic titles that piqued our interest! The beauty of the backwards compatibility of the Xbox means that no matter which console you have (after the X360), then these games will all work!

Go to the Xbox Games Specials to grab yourself a bargain. In case you were interested, these were our picks from this sale:

  • Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night ($4.97 / 50% off)
  • Castlevania Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75% off)
  • Contra Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75% off)
  • Metal Gear Solid HD Edition 2 & 3 ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Silent Hill: HD Collection ($12.61 / 75% off)
  • Final Fantasy VII ($12.07 / 50% off)
  • Resident Evil ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75 off)

 



Rediscovering ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’

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Transformers Revenge of the Fallen video gameBy: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A. 

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is like the video game Alien 3, the game is far superior to the films that they are based on.

For a 2009 game, the graphics and gameplay are amazing. When you are playing as Optimus Prime or Bumblebee, the missions can seem rather repetitive, but it’s enjoyable. The graphics were criticised when the game was released. However, they still look impressive to me. I’ve never been a big stickler for graphics; if the gameplay is fun, I can overlook problems with the graphics. The online mode was praised by critics.

The plot of the game is that the Autobots try to hunt down the remaining Decepticons after the demise of their leader, Megatron. The Fallen is a new adversary, but the plot could’ve done without that added foe.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen video game screenshotimage source: Gaming Nexus

Of all the Michael Bay “Transformer” films, the second instalment, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” is the sloppiest and most annoying. The jive talking, little robots could be one of the most disgusting characters in recent cinema history. Who could watch that and think it wasn’t in poor taste and tone deaf? I’ve never thought that the film was a total waste like some. I think John Turturro is very funny in the movie, and some of the action scenes are impressive, if you can tell who’s fighting who. So much work went into the visual effects, too bad it didn’t have a better screenplay and story. Michael Bay is a talented filmmaker. The “Bad Boy” films and “Pain & Gain” are entertaining films, I just wish he could have made one exceptional “Transformer’s” film. The first one is fun, but it’s not a great film. With a franchise as global as “Transformers,” Bay had a lot of toys in the toybox to work and create from. Perhaps, he still has a great Transformers film in him, but I think he’s handed the franchise off to younger directors. Paramount, who owns the rights to the Transformers franchise, will never stop making films about Autobots and Decepticons.

“Fallen” is one of the best third-person shooter games I’ve ever played. There are villains I didn’t think I was capable of defeating, and I like that in a game.

 

Relics Unearthed From The Codemasters Vault

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When we saw Codemasters’ thread on Twitter of all the relics they found in their vault, our knees buckled due to all of the nostalgia. Check out the classic games, consoles and peripherals they unearthed from their storage, some being over three decades old! We are well and truly intoxicated with nostalgia.

The gobsmackingly gorgeous Sega Saturn Development Unit. It’s MASSIVE!


source: Codemasters via Twitter

 

 

Classic Gaming Consoles Redesigned as Cars

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Here is something to ponder, what if classic video game consoles were made into cars?

Ponder no more, as Jennings FordDirect from the UK has answered our question – check them out!

image source: Jennings FordDirect

[story source: technobob]

 

Lessons A Huge AAA Success Like GTA 5 Can Teach Indie Developers

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Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar Games’ colossal juggernaut of a title, was developed on a budget of $265 million. The end product was a detailed open-world game with cutting edge graphics and AI programming of unparalleled complexity (for the time).

All that is just about as distant as you can get from indie game development.

Rockstar has decades of industry experience, GTA is one of the most popular mainstream AAA franchises around and the company spent more than half of its hundreds-of-millions budget on marketing. It also just cracked over 95 million copies sold.

Anyone with an inkling of what indie development looks like will know that these things are worlds apart.

And yet, in the underlying fabric of the game itself – not the product – are lessons that small teams working remotely and one-man devs can learn from, if only conceptually. Development of a title like GTA 5 is a unique beast in terms of project management, and unlike anything most AAA developers have to deal with let alone indies, so we’ll be focusing on just the game itself.

It’s also a tough example because, due to its high budget, there was very little the developers couldn’t allow themselves. Even so, interviews and other sources have revealed that over the course of the game’s development a number of features and mechanics were cut either due to time or monetary constraints.

This brings us to our first lesson, and one that can be applied to gaming universally – scope. You need to know the scope of what you want to do, what you can get done, and sync the two together. Game development can be arduous work even when the crunch hasn’t set in, and indie developers are certainly hit harder than AAA in this regard.

In the case of indie devs, when they’re working from a much smaller budget or are developing for free, the stress of getting your title out into the open can be confounded with making that title the best it can be. Feature-creep must be avoided, cut what needs to be cut and stay focused on your scope.

Too many indie developers give up their daily lives to create their first game, release it, then patch it profusely only to end up with health issues, broken relationships and a financially unsuccessful game because they lost sight of what could be feasibly achieved.

Big productions like GTA 5 have specific committees to keep an eye out for this, reining in the project if too many features are planned, pushing the limits of deadlines and budgets.

On the other hand, indie developers have more control over their work and need to be their own supervisors. If GTA 5 had stretched itself too thin because adding additional feature X and Y would be “cool”, it wouldn’t be the critically acclaimed success it is today.

Another thing GTA 5 gets right is the ratio of content to scale. AAA titles these days pride themselves on how expansive their maps are and how much sheer content there is – you’d think that more is universally better. Thing is, even though the settings of Los Santos and Blaine County are large, together, they’re hardly the largest open world in gaming.

Instead, Rockstar knew to limit the physical size of the map to the amount of content they’d produce. Thus, GTA 5 has a large amount of unique content distributed evenly and organically throughout the action-space. Things aren’t too cramped nor are they too far between.

Relating gameplay content with map size is very specific to open-world sandboxes, but the principle can be applied to any game. The pacing, amount and length of content needs to be in balance.

There is no golden ratio and that “balance” varies depending on the project. Maybe a sombre exploration game is well balanced when quiet moments are predominant, where an action-packed FPS is well balanced when you keep the adrenaline pumping.

Generally, as an indie developer, realistic goals are essential, and no-one should be gunning for a spectacle the scope and size of GTA 5 right off the bat. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn from the game and how it implements basic game design principles, because these principles are universal and GTA 5 implements them masterfully.

image source: Rockstar Games

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Logan Smith
Logan has been obsessed with Rockstar Games ever since the Grand Theft Auto series went 3D with GTA III. He spends his time wandering Los Santos while eagerly waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2 to finally land.

 

 

 

Is the ‘Alien’ Universe So Beloved?

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Another multiplayer shooter title set in the “Alien” cinematic universe for consoles and PCs is in the works at game developer Cold Iron Studios. The developer was just acquired by FoxNext Games, part of 21st Century Fox.

Aaron Loeb, FoxNext Games president of studios, said in announcing the deal, “…all of us at FoxNext Games are thrilled to be working with them (Cold Iron) as they create an action-packed persistent world, steeped in the mysteries of this beloved ‘Alien’ universe.”

Loeb’s quote got me thinking: Is the “Alien” universe still “beloved”?

“Alien: Covenant” was a big disappointment at the box office. It doesn’t seem like the best time to invest in making a new “Alien” game. There needs to be a break from the “Alien” franchise for a while. I’m an “Alien” universe fan. “Alien 3” for Super Nintendo and “Aliens: Colonial Marines” for Xbox 360 are two of my all-time favourite video games. And James Cameron’s “Aliens” is one of the greatest action movies ever made.

When it comes to first-person shooter games, it’ll be hard to top “Aliens: Colonial Marines.” If FoxNext Games and the creative team at Cold Iron can create something as entertaining as “Colonial Marines” it’ll be a surprising accomplishment, but fans of the “Alien” universe are not demanding a new game. But if they make something fun and original, I’ll probably be buying it on the day of its release.

Lately, with the films “Prometheus” and “Aliens: Covenant,” I’ve felt a little burned by the franchise. I did find the third act of “Covenant” entertaining, but overall, it felt like forced storytelling by the legendary Ridley Scott.

Game play is key; although, could a new game set in the “Alien” universe tell a better story than some of the recent films? As an “Alien” fan, I’ll keep my hopes up that FoxNext Games can produce something distinctive.

 

image source: jonvilma.com

 

Grade 2A’s Museum of Gaming

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We were blown away when we saw this tweet (thanks to Dan Donahoo) – a museum of gaming put together by primary school kids, wow!

The tweet that piqued our interest
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We just had to get in touch with teacher Tamryn Kingsley from Aitken Creek Primary School to find out more about Grade 2A’s Museum of Gaming.

Grade 2A’s Museum of Gaming
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Tamryn was originally a Merchandise Planner, but she has now found her calling as a teacher. She’s been at Aitken Creek Primary School for two years and is passionate about integrating technology into her classroom.

AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: How did the museum come about?
Tamryn Kingsley [TK]: At our school we engage students in an inquiry process through ‘Challenge Based Learning’. Challenge based learning revolves around students being set a challenge and working towards finding a solution for the challenge. The ‘Big Idea’ this term is ‘Change’ and the challenge is ‘Inform society of the changes in gaming’. In discussions with students (Grade 2) none of them had ever heard of the Atari! I knew that my mum still had our old Atari’s from when we were kids so I began to raid her garage which opened up a can of worms… I thought, what better way to engage students with their learning than having the physical items to explore.

To learn about ‘Change’, Grade 2A accepted the challenge to ‘Inform society of the changes in gaming’
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ARG: Is the museum a regular part of the curriculum – or is this the first time you’ve done it?
TK: This was something that only my class participated in and it was the first time I had done it. It is something I would definitely do again as the children were so engaged in the learning that was going along with it, as well as developing fundamental skills.

Last year my Grade 2s developed their own games using the program Scratch and we are currently working with the whole Grade 2 cohort this year to do the same thing. This is a huge inquiry process into gaming which results in students creating games and then showcasing their games through a game convention.

We have a new Digital Technologies curriculum that has been rolled out across Victoria this year. Wherever I can, I integrate tech and gaming into my curriculum. For example, making game controllers using Makey Makey invention kits.

Controller designs for the Makey Makey project
makey-makey-controllers(photo source)

ARG: What was the aim of the museum?
TK: As well as relating to the ‘Challenge Based Learning’ challenge, the museum also linked with Literacy and Numeracy curriculum areas. During Reading and Writing lessons we explored the purpose of informative texts. It was then that I introduced the gaming consoles to the students, from there they worked in groups to explore and find out information about their console. Their aim at this stage was to find out everything they could about it. We created timelines of when the consoles were released comparing consoles in years.

Kids worked in groups to find out about the consoles
research

During discussions we talked about where would we find these kinds of ‘artefacts’. From this the kids came up with wanting to open their very own ‘Gaming Museum’, which brought up a lot of questions: Who works in a museum? How do they run? Who is in charge of what? How do they make displays? In order to run an effective museum we began to explore different jobs required in the museum and the skills that each job brought with them. Students began to assess the skills they could each bring and chose the jobs that they thought they could provide the most to.

The class created timelines of when the consoles were released and chose jobs
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With the jobs allocated, it was time for everyone to take on their role and prepare the museum.

The Directors and Public Relations team organised an open day for parents and other students to come in and explore the museum.

The Registrars took lists of the artefacts we had at the museum to make sure we did not loose anything!

The Educators reviewed all the research so when they took ‘tours’ they were able to answer questions.

Graphic Designers were busy designing the ‘look’ of the artefact labels, choosing fonts, colours, size and typing up all the information. We had been to Melbourne Museum and ACMI this year, so they looked back at photos and used their knowledge of the labelling to help them.

Designing the artefact labels
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The Exhibit Designers were trying to work out how they could make glass cases… They decided to use their knowledge of 3D shapes to make cases using PlayDoh and skewers. Unfortunately as the artefacts were bigger their structures began to collapse – they got 10 points for effort though…

ARG: What consoles and games did you have in the museum?
TK:

  • Raise the Devil Electronic Pinball
  • Tomytronics Tennis
  • Mario Cement Factory
  • Xbox 360
  • PlayStation 2
  • Atari 2600 Jr
  • PSP
  • Pokemon Nintendo 64

All the lovely consoles and games
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ARG: Where did the consoles and games come from – are they yours?
TK: Some of the consoles were ones my mum had hidden in her garage. Most of them were actually my brother’s when he was younger, which I fondly remember playing. She had the Atari, Mario Cement Factory, and the Tennis and Pinball games. The rest were from my sister and her husband, who are big fans of gaming. I was warned not to damage or lose them!

ARG: Are you a fan of video games, and classic games in particular?
TK: I do love playing games occasionally, but I am not a huge gamer. What I love about games is the connections that you can make with kids though gaming and the types of learning that takes place. Making these real world and authentic connections with students creates more powerful learning.

ARG: What did the kids think of the museum?

  • ‘Magnificent!’ – Ronan
  • ‘Our museum was good because we added lots of information’ – Jaylen
  • ‘It was like a mini ACMI’ – Jessica
  • ‘I liked it because it was ordered from oldest to newest’ – Zain
  • ‘I thought it was amazing, because we put a lot of effort into it’ – Talia
  • ‘I think it was very good because a lot of people commented on how good it was. We really liked it too and we were really proud of ourselves’ – Abaan

The awesome kids of Grade 2A – great work guys!
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The museum opened for business and parents and other students came to enjoy it and learnmog-3

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So, that’s the story of Grade 2A’s Museum of Gaming – an awesome example of Challenge Based Learning. We can’t wait to see what Tamryn and the kids and staff of Aitken Creek Primary School do next!

Photos from Tamryn Kingsley (unless otherwise stated)

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Time For Some Retro Recycling

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What should you do when your console dies and goes to console-heaven? Take a leaf out of Michael Chipper’s book and recycle it into a cool clock!

Game Boy Colour Clock
Game Boy Colour Clock

PlayStation Clock
PS Clock

PS3 Clock
PS3 Clock

Game Boy Clock
Game Boy Clock

Nintendo Wii Clock
Wii Clock

Xbox 360 Clock
Xbox 360 Clock

PS2 Clock
PS2 Clock

Xbox Clock
Xbox Clock

Source: SlothJunk on Etsy via Cheezburger

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Editor and Researcher at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Video Gaming: Promo, Demo Bits and Dev Kits

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What goes on behind the scenes in the video gaming business is somewhat of a mystery to the ordinary gaming punter, till now! We searched high and low for a number of luxurious video gaming dev kits, demo disks, promo bits and pieces you wouldn’t see every day. Take a gander at this lot!

promo_SegaAnimaniumDisc

promo_DOA5_PS3

promo_X360_120GB

promo_X360_rear

promo_X360_dev

Promo_Sega_DevKit

Promo_Sega_DevKit_rear

Promo_Lynx

Promo_DreamcastDev

promo_GTAIV

promo_Saturn

promo_Nintendo-Dolphin-GDEV-NPDP

Image sources: Atari Age, MDK137, Square Faction, Giant Bomb and Gamesniped