Oh yeah, check out that sweet 16. TG 16 that is! This thing rocks with the most awesome carts called Hu-Cards. That and the graphics are pretty impressive. What it is lacking though is more decent games to play on it. But those will come in time.

Another addition to my growing adopted family is the Sega Master System. This too is in need of some better games, but the built in Jungle Hunt is great, for some reason I just LOVE the Light Phaser (Zapper to the uninitiated). What games do I pick up for these? That is the question…

If it is not clear my love of classic gaming, peep my newwest baby.

 

Yes, I have finally dived back earlier than NES in my classic collection. The Atari 2600 was my first system, and after giving my new one a test it still shines as a great device. Honestly it takes less effort getting an Atari cart working than an NES one. The simplicity of the games does not hamper the fun either. I think I can actually appreciate the raw skill requirement of these games more now then I could as a youngster. It probably helps being able to comprehend the goals. Anyone else love them some classic gaming? What was your favorite atari title?

Well the announcement was made, I am playing World of Warcraft. I am part of that group that just made the game exceed 10 million players. Despite my years of hate filled speeches about the game, it is not really that bad.

I have been running around the Trollbane server as TheHorn, a beast of a Tauren Warrior that loves to cook. Right now I am hanging out in Barrens. Last night I had my first experience grouping with strangers. A thanks to Misscow a lovely shaman that helped me much. If you are interested in joining me let me know here or on langaming.net. If we can get enough lanners with a penchant for the horde I would like to create the Tauren Brothers Assault Guild aka. TBAG.

Man the addiction that is Rock Band really is all encompassing. I personally am in it for the singing. I loved Karaoke Revolution, but having the rest of the band there really diminishes the cheesy vibe. I mean hey, they are banging on plastic drums and fisherprice guitars. So my horrible belting out of the greatest rock hits is not so out of place.

The peripheral that I speak of though is one of my own, a mic stand. Yup, during lunch today I made a trek down to the pawn shop and picked up a nice stand with a boom arm. Josh, Eric, and I made sure not to let it slip that it was for Rock Band lest the POSER label be firmly affixed upon our brows. Now all that is left is to decorate and personalize the stand. Check me I will be like the next Steve Tyler. Without the mutant lips…

I cannot yet reveal it, but something unexpected and unbelievable has happened in James land. Something NEVER thought possible. I will make the announcement on LANcast 21 (the official podcast of langaming.net) and then I will make a post about it. Until then shiver with…..an…tici…….pation!

If you have not been by NBC lately you need to take a gander at awesomeness in the form of American Gladiators. Reality TV editing aside this show rocks. It takes a lot from the original and does not really try to reinvent much, which is good. I was always a fan of the original and even enjoy it on ESPN Classic. Oh yeah and there is Crush….yeah…..

The hobby of gaming never seems to grow old. Whenever one route of interest begins to die some new facet can be awakened. There seems to be an ebb and flow with different elements taking over much like the seasons of the year. Spring is really a time of game mixing among friends, telling everyone what adventures they personally missed. Next we have summer which usually begins with a wealth of the biggest gaming news and ends with a slow down that allows for collecting of classic gaming tidbits and other oddities. As we come in the fall we have the beginning rush of “HOT, NEW” titles of every sort that you will bust out with friends every weekend through October. As we head toward winter and all of the “family holidays” we spend less time with our compatriots of gaming, this is used to cleanse the pallet and also dive deeply into the solo experiences. The cycle continues on and on.
I initially had a fear that I would be missing my classic gaming season having moved to a new home in July. Also a steady increase in responsibility here at LANgaming.net which along with writing, podcasting, editing, requires much more time spent with all current generation systems. So with my classic collection still in boxes I used XBLA and DS arcade collections, but they simply could not sate my needs. When I classic game I like the feel of the original consoles, controllers, even down to cleaning cartridges I want the experience to be complete. My summer had left me unfulfilled until a kind stranger bestowed upon me a Nintendo Virtual Boy.

The Virtual Boy has been something I have yearned for in my collection for quite sometime. This last creation of incredible engineer of fun Gunpei Yokoi has intrigued me due to its odd design and the child in me that never got to experience it.

Brief History Lesson: Gunpei Yokoi (September 10, 1941 – October 4, 1997)
As an employee of Nintendo, Gunpei was responsible for many wonderful toys and games. The Ultra Hand (an extending hand toy) was his first design. This was followed by numerous other great toys up until Nintendo began moving towards gaming and Gunpei was moved along as well into this new realm. Gunpei created not only the incredible Game and Watch portable games, but along with them what is known today as the D-Pad. Later with Research and Development 1 Gunpei helped create Nintendo classics such as Kid Icarus, and the iconic Metroid. Next came what is arguably his greatest gift to gaming, the Game Boy. The shining success of the Game Boy probably had much to do with why Nintendo took a chance with the Virtual Boy. While this final invention of Gunpei failed to do much of anything its uniqueness will not soon be forgotten.

Well, the Virtual Boy is as people describe, somewhat awkward, can give you a headache with excessive use, and well the red and black graphics are just that. However there is an immersive quality that is reminiscent of being up close to a cabinet at an old dark arcade, a sense of shutting out the surrounds that you cannot capture any other way. The speakers are placed right with your ears and add to this sensory absorbing sensation presented by the Virtual Boy. The Virtual Boy does provide a sense some what 3 dimensional depth. This was a console that much like the Wii was a toss of the dice and sometimes you are going to get snake eyes. On the plus side at least it is not the Atari Jaguar.

Currently the only title I have for the Virtual Boy is Red Alarm. Red Alarm is a shooter that is reminiscent of Star Fox with the rails removed. Once you have accepted the the vector-like graphics Red Alarm is a quite solid game. The controls really impressed me along with good sound and a fun variety of graphics. Swooping in on a fleeing bunch of tiny stick figure pilots on a runway is just good fun.

The Virtual Boy has certainly fed the classic gaming bug in a wonderful way. I am looking forward to picking up some additional titles and experiencing all that it has to offer. It is a unique piece of gaming history and only reinforces what a tragedy it is that Gunpei Yokoi is no longer with us. As we look forward into all that the future of games and the joys they hold, never forget to look back and enjoy the past.

Podcasting requires little more than a microphone, Internet access and an ability to ramble on and on. Good podcasting however is quite a skill, one that unfortunately few possess among the droves that attempt to both entertain and inform us in a digital format. Here at langaming.net we have even thrown our hats into the ring with LANcast, which I am happy to say has hit episode 6 and is always improving. In the attempt to continue to improve LANcast and to simply keep abreast of all the happenings in the world of gaming I regularly sample many of the offerings of the podcast buffet. Today I would to point you to some of the best of the entrees, the 1UP Radio Network.

The first great thing about 1UP Radio is the one stop shop selection. Everything from World of Warcraft to Retrogaming has its place on 1UP Radio. Additionally, not having to deal with amateurs to electronic entertainment is a real treat after scraping together the majority of gaming podcasts in hopes to get one informed view. Now lets take a closer look at a few of the individual shows and see where they stand in their own hierarchy.

GFW Radio, by the crew from Games for Windows Magazine, is easily the most entertaining gaming podcast on the Internet. The show lead by Jeff Green (GFW Editor) contains an almost gourmet mix of humor, general geekdom, and gaming information focused around PC. Most shows open with an original bit of ongoing humor involving one of two characters that usually bust the most immaculate and hilarious nerdcore raps that even M.C. Chris should give respect. Beyond all of the geekiness and humor GFW radio has easily one of the most mature and well spoken casts you can find. The shows only fault, by no error of the cast, seems to be a recent string of technical difficulties affecting everything from sound quality to outright losing a large chunk of an episode. These are all trials that I will easily endure in order to continue getting my weekly dose of GFW. If you never listen to another podcast do yourself a favor and give GFW radio a try.

Retronauts will always hold a special place in my heart as the first podcast to which I ever listened. If it were not for the always solid performance in this show my interest in the entire medium would have quickly waned. Retronauts is a show headed by Jeremy Parish (1UP editor) that is a rarity in the podcasting ring since it tackles retro-gaming. This is a subject near and dear to me, and seeing it treated with such respect and knowledge does an aging gamer proud. Each Retronauts focuses on one main topic such as “the games of the C64” or a deep look into a single title such as Diablo, added to this is a short review of the retro downloadable titles released each week. While Jeremy is certainly an expert on classic gaming he is never afraid to take the show out of his comfort zone and tackle subjects to which he is quite novice. Being focused on classic topics allows an episode of Retronauts to have a replayability uncommon to the podcast format feeling more like a good book than the most recent newspaper. The only flaw I ever found in Retronauts was when Jeremy took a break and did not record an episode for over a month, but a new episode is up this week so check it out.

1UP Yours is the best option for coverage of all the latest news and games for whatever your modern console of choice may be. Simply put if you rely on your gaming podcast to keep you up to date on all of the goings on in the industry 1UP Yours will not let you down. A cast including a variety of 1UP network editors and any number of guests allows for some healthy discussion of the topics at hand. I really cannot find a flaw in the 1UP Yours show, only that GFW radio is more entertaining and I already read more gaming news than any sane person should.

EGM Live is a podcast that is complimentary to Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine. The cast includes numerous editors from EGM. Really it is hard to find what to say about EGM Live, for the longest time it felt like a bland version of the other shows on 1UP radio. Recently though the show has undergone a new format which has helped tremendously. Now EGM Live is broken up into smaller pieces that seem to take advantage of most of the casts strengths. I can only say most of the casts strengths because even I felt embarrassed listening to Jennifer Tsao’s obvious lack of ability to interview Ted Price from Insomniac. I would like to make it clear that I have no grudge against her and in general Jennifer does a fine job on the show and as managing editor of EGM, but hands down that was the most unprofessional interview I have ever witnessed. That aside the new format is really working for the show and seems to just keep getting better.

In addition to the shows mentioned 1UP radio has Legendary Thread a podcast devoted to World of Warcraft, and Sports Anomaly which specializes in sports video games. Since neither of these topics mean much of anything to me my opinion would be useless. Considering the batting average of 1UP radio I doubt you will go wrong trying either of these shows if the subjects are appealing to you.

1UP radio is a wealth of great information and entertainment that should not be missed in this sea of modern Internet talk radio. 1UP radio is not where I stop in my podcast listening and next time I will cover some other podcasts worth checking out and maybe a few worth avoiding.

Why has there never been a great Speed Racer game? You have action, adventure, a car full of cool abilities, and a large cast of villains including plenty of generic goons. How could such an iconic character have such few and stumbling attempts into the gaming world? The reason why is that up until this point Speed Racer has been forced to fit into preexisting genres of gaming.

Speed Racer is not a platformer, but has on foot battling sequences. Speed Racer is not a racing game in the sense that Need for Speed or Forza are racing games. Speed Racer exists in an area that has never been considered, and that is an adventure racer.

By adventure racer I mean a racing game that is lacking laps around the same course. This is a point A to point Z race with interesting challenges presented at all of the letters in between. One minute you are utilizing your rotary saws as enemy cars are slamming you off the path in a forest and next you are auto-jack jumping over crevices along craggy mountain tops.

In addition to course challenges I see battles with over cars. By battles I do not mean Twisted Metal, but instead a challenge in driving wit and skill. Perhaps a bar could appear on screen representing this and as you pass, make headway, and navigate the various obstacles your driving mettle “defeats” the opponent making them no longer a threat in the race. Not all racers could be taken out in this fashion however, boss fights too should make an appearance. If you do not think that boss fights should exist in a Speed Racer race you have never seen “The Race Against the Mammoth Car” this episode perfectly shows how such a boss fight could occur.

Adventure races also need not be over in any short amount of time. Some of Speed’s races have lasted well over a day, so one adventure race taking place over several hours would not be a fault. All that would be necessary to make these races tolerable would be some Save/Checkpoints throughout the course. This would give time to the variety of terrain types I mentioned earlier to be realized.

One balancing act in a speed racer game is that of the cars abilities. I feel that giving a player a limited number of uses of most power ups take the player out of the Mach 5 and forces the realization that this is a video game. Instead a meter or each ability could exist that recharges when the ability is not in use. This method gives the player the option to use it whenever they feel the ability is needed, but still gives the need to manage the resource. As for one use items (pickups) you could call in Trixie in her helicopter to drop smoke bombs and such.

While any outside the car moment could be handled with cut scenes, various other gaming options could be available depending on the developers choice. Once such side mission could involve Spritle and Chim-Chim in a stealth mode sneaking aboard any one of the many vehicles they have been stowaways on. Trixie helicopter could support numerous flying challenges. Most importantly is Speed Racer’s sweet karate abilities could make a nice beat’em up segment. Truthfully all of this is optional because the variety of gameplay options viable in the driving segment should be strong enough to require no other diversion.

Ultimately the reason I am spilling out the needs of a new Speed Racer is twofold. First never has a great Speed Racer title been released. Secondly, the Speed Racer live action movie is in production and while I have faith in the movie coming out true to the source material I fear the inevitable tie-in game. This is a real chance for a movie game to shine. Lets hope it does so.

Now since I have never had the ability to play any of the Speed Racer games I hit the Digital Press forums to get some opinions:

(InsaneDavid)…The best of them is the PlayStation release. It plays like a poor man’s Ridge Racer but it’s still a lot of fun if you’re a Speed Racer / MachGoGoGo fan.

(klausien)…I had heard the SNES game was also awful, but nothing could have prepared me for how bad it really was. It is so framey that its almost totally unplayable. I couldn’t believe my eyes considering that it really didn’t look that bad in screenshots. I haven’t put much time into it.

(roushimsx) …I agree that the playstation one was probably the best. It’s seriously short and obscenely easy, but it’s still fun for a day or two while you learn all of the short cuts.

Runner up would probably be the PC version (the Genesis version was a seriously watered down version of it), though it hasn’t aged terribly well. Back when it came out, it sure was awesome (I think I still have the box for it somewhere)

After that would be the SNES release. The driving segments were quite terrible and the side scrolling bits weren’t very well done either

Well here is to hoping that someone in the development community is listening. I really hope that one day a video game will allow me to live my powerful Mach 5 dreams, because until then I will have to continue getting by in my Geo Metro or as I call it 3 Cylinders of Fury.

Greetings, I am James Roberts. I wanted to start writing an article here on LANGaming.Net to simply express views and ideas I have about gaming, gamers, and the industry in general. However, I thought it might be in my best interest to first share with you my background of gaming as well as certain truths that hold true in my version of reality. Basically this is a disclaimer for any tomfoolery or offending comments that probably will ensue down the road.

The Atari 2600 was my first exposure to gaming (I hope the same is true for some of you reading this, I do not need to feel any older than I am). My parents had the Atari in their bedroom where they would indulge is sessions of Space Invaders. While wearing He-man underroos I came of an age that I could appreciate this interactive entertainment. I can remember spending hours attempting to understand the games that were missing books and manuals usually with my Voltron record as a soundtrack. To this day I have no idea what was the purpose of Haunted House, and I know that I can totally own I Want My Mommy. Gaining enough lives in Laser Blast so that I could run to the bathroom without getting game over was probably a sign of things to come. I am sure at least some of you can remember growing up with the rich cousins or friends (unless you are the rich cousin or friend, in that case we only liked you for your toys). These cousins are who granted me my first real access and exposure to the NES. Here I was sitting with the Haunted House conundrum only to be suddenly thrust into the likes of Metroid, and Zelda. I did not even know where to begin. Fortunately there was the OLDER KID; yes that early teen that would grace you with their presence to systematically bring the pain to any game while the young ones looked on like wide eyed Ewoks in awe of C-3PO. This guy was so good I can remember him laying waste to games with which even today I struggle. Not only did I see him defeat Ghosts n’ Goblins, but I can swear to this day that I remember him having a completed Final Fantasy save file where the entire party were White Mages. OLDER KID taught me what real gaming was with a plethora of magazines and guides, and the sheer persistence to understand the game and systematically take it down.

Eventually I got a NES to call my very own along with some seriously ball-busting games. It seems that my parents had a knack for picking up some very challenging titles. No Mario present here, instead I was handed titles like Journey to Silius and Kabuki Quantum Fighter from the outset. While I honestly never beat many of the titles from my youth I did overcome many obstacles and I owe it to them for my patience and abilities that various titles through out the years have pressed without finding a breaking point only a string of colorful language. During my teen years an EGM in hand was a very solid ice-breaker for many conversations that have since turned into lifelong friendships. This is one of the more important elements to gaming as a whole, the sense of community that it provides. During the teens I discovered the RPG and the greatest of all 16-bit genres the 2D Fighter. To this day I think the term quarter circle should be replaced by Hadoken in all geometric literature. From this point I entered into the realm of PC gaming. Co-op games of Doom over a 14.4 baud modem were the pinnacle of gaming as far as I was concerned. Then came the first Unreal which was had the best graphics ever on my sweet Viper 770 graphics card. However, Tribes for me is still the most original and enjoyable FPS today with Unreal Tournament following at a close second. Since then I worshipped at the black throne of Sony as the PS2 seemed to grant my every gaming wish (and it continues to do so, God of War II ‘nuff said). My tastes during the PS2 generation mainly focused on titles with strong artistic merit. This includes the Silent Hill and afore mentioned God of War Series, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, God Hand as well as numerous others. I am also a bit of a sucker for musical games like Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Hero, and a little DDR. As of now the newest system in my arsenal is the Magnificent, Incredible, (and a series of other positive adjectives) Nintendo DS. Yes I have yet to take the next gen plunge because all of my negative 360 talk early on has been thrown in my face with recent offerings like Gears of War. Also the much anticipated Wii has shown me little more then endless collections of minigames and sloppy ports. The PS3, well something “could” happen. Now I sit in front of a new PC preparing for the next LAG LAN party this weekend. To my left sit an assortment of classic consoles NES, Genesis, etc… To my back stands a 5ft. cardboard Mario like the Sword of Damocles assuring you that I will never weave lies in the tapestry of my opinions.

Facts and Thoughts:Fact: If I played every game half as well as I trash talked I would be unstoppable. But then where would the fun be?

Thought: A Gamecube and PS2 orgy would result in the perfect game controller.