VG Music: Flash FM

I scored Vice City Stories today for my new PSP, so I thought I'd make a Vice City post in celebration. Flash FM isn't the best station, but damn it it's good enough to use as some background music while you play MAME or pretend to work.

Crazy Taxi Wallpapers

On spring break this year I ran into a Crazy Taxi arcade cabinet. I've been addicted ever since. It's 14 years late to arrive at the party, but fuck it, I'm ready to make some CRAZY MONEY.

Good thing I've kept the Dreamcast running all the years.

 

World of Warcraft Art Gallery

As a World of Warcraft player, one tends to accumulate a collection of official WoW artwork. Here are some of my favorites. You might be able to guess that I main an Undead Warlock. Time to go pwn some n00bs. Enjoy!

Song of the Week: Afterburner II

I'm a huge fan of Afterburner II for the arcade. Not that I ever got to play it in an arcade, but I secretly imagine that one day I'll have the full machine in an arcade basement. Anyway, the music is awesome and it's time to start Song of the Week and VG Music posts back up!

I chose a weird version for the Song of the Week, it's a vocalize Meiko Japanese thing. Why this version? Too much Jack and Coke.

Top Gun Box Scans

Weclome... to the DANGERZONE! Top Gun is another NES game that gets a really bad rap. We can probably thank AVGN for that, but I suppose the game isn't without its problems. Landing on the aircraft carrier is pretty damn tough, but so what? Ok... full disclosure, Top Gun isn't Afterburner II (which is fucking amazing), and I only saw Top Gun for the first time last night (what the hell is wrong with me?), but piloting an 8-Bit Tomcat has its perks. In this case most of those perks consist of listening to the 8-bit Top Gun anthem on the title screen.

Love the copytext on the back of the box; it perfectly captures the "in-your-fucking-face" extreme '80s action attitude.

Chiptunes: 8-Bit Daft Punk's "Get Lucky"

Daft Punk's new album Random Access Memories launches May 20, but the 1st single "Get Lucky" has been out for a few weeks. This 8-Bit version isn't as good as the real thing, but it's pretty cool to see that the music is already inspiring all manner of remixing.

8-Bit Version by Floating Point

The real deal.

Hydlide Manual Scans

Knowledge is the most powerful weapon. Minutes into my quest to beat Hydlide, I had about a dozen questions. Thanks to the DigiPress NES Manual Archive I was able to get the Hydlide manual scans and begin to understand the game. I have to admit, seeing all the artwork and cheesy Engrish instructions has given me the motivation I needed. Things are looking up.

Here are .PNGs of all the important manual pages. The generic FCC regulations page and the password page have been removed to save some space. Enjoy!

Hydlide Time

I said there'd be a Hydlide post this weekend, and damn it I was serious. I bought Hydlide at a flea market as a kid sometime around 1998, and played it for a few minutes before deciding it was total shit. From time to time, I'd try it out, but never accomplish a thing. Years later, the internet confirmed what I already knew... but perhaps we were all wrong. Thus this experiment:

I'm going to attempt to play Hydlide, I hope I don't die (irl).

Listening to the music is out of the question, but I also want to hear the sound effects. I'll be using an emulator to disable the music channel, and playing some Daft Punk etc. instead. Instead of using the in-game password system, I'll be using save states. As far as I can tell, this won't provide me with any gameplay advantages, as long as I don't save in the middle of battles and stuff.

Ok. 

Wish me luck :(

Pixel Art: The Guardian Legend Redesign

This is what The Guardian Legend hero might look like in 2 colors instead of the 3 on the NES.

Pixel Art: RPG Sprites X2

Once I get started doing these things, I can't stop. The dude on the left is based off of the legends of people with faces on their chests popular in early European reports of the Americas. The others are just weird.

Pixel Art: RPG Sprites X

It's been way too long since I've done some Pixel Art. I like how these dudes turned out, and it's good to be back in my preferred mode of single-color-on-black. 

Hydlide Promo Flier

Oh, Hydlide. I got stuff to say about Hydlide, don't worry. but not now. Now I gotta go drink a 44 oz. White Russian, Dude-style, and play Hero Quest. 

You guys have a fun Friday, Hydlide's comin this weekend.

Ultima: Exodus NES Box Scans

I love NES box art and the copy text on the back. Ideally, we'd all own complete in box sets of all the games we love, but its a damn naer impossible (and expensive dream). Especially since I bought Ultima 3 for 4 bucks from a friend who hated it. At the time I wanted to play Ultima Online, but 15 bucks a month was out of the question for my 7th grade hobo self. Nevertheless, Exodus remains one of my favorite games of all time and like a fine, cliched wine it gets better with aged cheese. Yes. That'll do pig. That'll do.

The box boasts 100 hours of gameplay. You just can't get that kind of quality shit for 4 bucks these days.





It's way too late to be playing Ultima

So what? No one can stop me!

Ultima World Map

Ultima is a huge motherfucker of a game. Sure, a lot of the towns are carbon copies of other towns, but because space was saved in this way the world itself feels vast and open when you're in the grit and the shit. Notice how they took continents and just spun them 90 degrees to further save space. Overall it was a brilliant tactic. 

However, Ultima II on PC is still my favorite for some inexplicable reason.

Inspiring Words from Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson, author of classic American texts such a Nature, Self-Reliance and "The Divinity School Address" was clearly a man ahead of his time. It's amazing how he could see into the future and it's no wonder Inafune picked his words above all others to adorn one of the most beloved and inspirational video games of all time.

Wizards and Warriors NES Box Scans

Back in the day box art was badass. Look at that dude, he's about to seriously fuck up that goblin. Surprisingly  the copytext and story for W&W isn't total corporate vomit. More of a Lord of the Rings meets Le Morte D'Arthur while hooking up with a drunk Ghost 'n Goblins.

In a world where magic reigns supreme in almost every game or movie, it's refreshing to have Wizards and Warriors break the trend. "Yo! magic is shit dog, hack some bitches up, holla!" says the box.

The game taunts you by promising "untold riches" to the "ultimate knight warrior." Are you an ultimate enough warrior to knight the shit out of this game? Of course you aren't, you probably use savestates. Pussy.

Horses Coming to Minecraft 1.6

Minecraft developer Jeb announced today that horses and horse armor will be available in Minecraft 1.6. You will also be able to tie them to fence posts. It'll be a sad day for the piggies, but I'm sure players will love the change. Can't wait!

Look at the pig. He so jelly.

Lockarm: The Ultimate Video Game

In 1989, Nintendo Power released the results of a contest to design a video game. Lockarm was the winner, but there were never any plans to put it into production. But what an awesome game this would have made. Hell, with all the indie titles coming out these days, you'd think someone would find this guy and get this shit happening. 

Lockarm seems like it would have drawn on all the classic video game tropes: cemetery, city, and desert levels (along with 9 more) would have resulted in something like a cross between Mega Man and Ghost 'n Goblins. Anyway, file this under "could have been."

TMNT Pinball AD

It's been far too long since my last post, so I'm starting out lazily. Found these badass TMNT Pinball fliers today while reading the incredibly detailed Hardcore Gaming 101 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle post. I might have to look more closely a few of the titles soon (been playing the NES version for a few days now... and people say Ninja Gaiden and Ghost & Goblins are hard), but check out their article if you're into Turtles.