Microsoft’s “Game Room” gets off to shaky start
Today saw the release of Microsoft’s new release for the Xbox 360 and PC – called Game Room. It’s basically an arcade for your avatars to visit, and you can play classic arcade, Atari and Intellivision games. Here’s the kicker though – after a 10 minute demo you either have to pay to play (like an arcade – surprise!) or pay Microsoft points for the cabinet to play infinitely in your own arcade. Sadly though this morning, immediately after release it was not possible to actually load the arcade, the loading bar got to about 25% before stopping with the only way out to go back to dashboard.
But thankfully Microsoft have since fixed the fault and all the fun of the fair… uh… Game Room is available to us all. I’ve had a quick play through each game and even purchased two – Tempest and Shao-Lin Road – so thought I would share my impressions.
iPhone Amiga emulator on the way
Quick post but this had to be shared. My good friends at All About The Games report that there is an Amiga emulator for the iPod/iPhone in development.
Details are scant at the moment – it’s nowhere near finished, and of course it could all be killed off any time thanks to licencing issues but it’s sounding promising. It’s being developed by Stuart Carnie who is responsible for the C64 emulator that has enjoyed some success since release last year. Apparently it runs full speed on the 3GS, and gets a “respectable” frame rate on older touch models, so fingers crossed we’ll be looking at some good stuff in the near future.
No doubt the app will be bundled with games, and will have no scope to import your own disk files. I doubt Workbench will be included either as that would open it up to all sorts of shenanigans.
As a big Amiga fanboy (yes, I admit it) and a fan of the iPod touch I’ll be keeping my eyes on this one – expect more news as I see it.
(Source: AATG)
Highway Encounter – The Atari ST version
First off, just quickly – I’m not dead. I’ve had to put the regular blogging to one side recently as I have a new job, Christmas happened and other personal stuff is getting in the way. I just don’t have the time to write as I used to, and since I only get about 1 hit a day (if I’m lucky) on this blog I figured I would leave it be until I settle a bit. I do intend on writing more when I can, it’s just I can’t right now.
However, I had to blog about this – turns out there was an ST version of Speccy classic Highway Encounter. Any regular readers (ha!) may remember I took a look at that back in September and time had been kind. Well now we can play it with a bit of a graphical update – yay for us. If you are reading this on the main page, then I suggest you click “read more” to find out how, along with more details… Read more…
Robocop (Amiga)
In 1987 Paul Verhoeven gave the world Robocop and it was good. A sci-fi action film now famed for its often imitated biting social and media commentary brought it above and beyond the normal 80’s blockbuster fodder.
Not that Robocop skimped on the violence and gore of course, and for young Mr Tom aged 8 at the time that was cool. Commentary be damned – Robo was a big-ass cyborg with a big-ass gun who fought a big-ass robot. Due to the 18 certificate placed on the film it would be quite a few years before I even saw a heavy edited version (Once I even called him… Airhead), so the inevitable tie-in game of the movie was all I had.
Initially an arcade game, Robocop was ported to pretty much every platform on the sun. Ocean software probably would have made a Casio calculator port if given the chance. It was the Speccy version I initially owned, but after upgrading to the Amiga I played it on there as well. After all, the huge improvement in hardware would lead to a better game right?
Well… Read more…
Game & Watch coming to DSiWare
When talking about home video gaming, it doesn’t get much more retro than Nintendo’s classic Game & Watch series of handhelds. Growing up in the 80s I had a few myself (I wonder what happened to them?) so I can happily pass along the news that Game & Watch is coming to DSiWare.
Back in July Nintendo released 9 of these Game & Watch DSiWare games in Japan. Strangely none were dual screen titles, instead customer got Ball (pictured), Flagman, Vermin, Judge, Helmet, Chef, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario’s Cement Factory and Manhole. Each of these titles cost 200 points.
According to GamerBytes, these titles have now been rated by the Australian Classification Board meaning they are coming to the West. The release date and Western price is not yet known, as these have not been officially announced yet. Makes me almost want to get a DSi. Almost.
(Source: GamerBytes)
Final Fight: Double Impact coming to XBLA/PSN
IGN reports that the classic Capcom beat-em-up is making it’s return. Despite the name, this is not a new or updated version of Final Fight, but rather a double pack consisting of the original versions of Final Fight and the much lesser known (and not as good) Magic Sword, which is also a side scrolling beat-em-up.
So both games are in the one download, and both boast two visual modes. One is the normal untouched graphics and the other will “make the games shine in crisp and clear HD glory”. So a filter like Super Eagle then I guess. Leaderboards and drop-in online play are present in both games.
Release date and pricing has yet to be announced.
(Source: IGN)
Paradroid ’90 (Amiga)
It’s good fun catching up with games I missed first time around. In this case, I’m talking about Paradroid ’90, which in turn was a port/update to the original Paradroid on the C64. The Andrew Braybrook programmed C64 original is the best known version, and stands up as one of the essential titles for the old 8-bit machine.
The Amiga version, also by Braybrook, boasts improved graphics and sound thanks to the much more powerful hardware. So I guess the question is cosmetic improvements aside – does the Amiga version fare as well as the classic C64 original? 5 years and a new generation of hardware separate the two games, but does that count for anything?
Read on…
C64 Emulator back on iPhone
Back in early September, Manomio LLC released a Commodore 64 app for the iPhone/iPod Touch. A mere 2 days later, it was pulled by Apple after they found it was possible to run programs via the emulated C64 app. Only C64 programs you understand, but Apple didn’t like it regardless.
However Eurogamer are reporting that the app is finally back, all locked down but with 3 new games included – International Soccer, International Basketball and International Tennis – which takes the game count up to 8. They also mention version 1.2 of the app is on it’s way, along with more games and some freebies including Bruce Lee. Hey, shame there’s no Speccy emulator on the iPhone, or you could play the superior version of Bruce Lee!
The C64 app is available now and will cost you £2.99, which may or may not be value for money depending on your views about emulation.
(Source: Eurogamer)
C64 vs Speccy – Bruce Lee
Fighting was something that Bruce Lee was good at. It was the very thing he was famous for, so it’s apt that a conversation on the Eurogamer forums about the C64 version of the game would lead to my inspiration to write my first “which version is better” article. A quick warning – I am very much biased in favour of the Spectrum. Old fan boys die hard. I do not promise impartiality, although I shall try my best.
So Bruce Lee on the Spectrum, or Bruce on the Commodore 64 – which is better? Well there’s only one way to find out…
Retro related goodies on WiiWare this week
I know I don’t post much about the Wii and WiiWare, but news that Nintendo are releasing a decent amount of retro, and retro-remake games on WiiWare this week so I couldn’t really ignore it. GamerBytes have posted the full details of each, but we’re looking at ExciteBike World Rally as the headliner. It’s a remake of the NES original, and visually at least it seems to keep close to the spirit of the 1984 classic. It also includes online play which could at least be interesting, and is priced at a fairly acceptable 1,000 Wii points.
Also on the menu are Frogger Returns (500 points) and Virtual Console releases for Wonderboy III: The Dragon’s Trap on the Master System and Cybernoid on the Commodore 64. Both of these are 500 points, and for the record I used to love Cybernoid, and it’s sequel even more so.
DSiWare has Bomberman Blitz for 500 points this week as well. All of these releases should be available right now – a good week all in all.
(Source: GamerBytes)
