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| COVERING 3 DECADES OF SPOOKY GAMING | ||
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| COVERING 3 DECADES OF SPOOKY GAMING | ||
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Ahhhh!!!! It can't be...It's the scary
October issue of Retrogaming Times Monthly. Actually, this
issue is not really all that scary. I tried to get most of
the columnists to do some type of Halloween themed write-up,
but many just did their own thing. Therefore, there is no
need to be afraid of diving into this issue as most of it is
pretty tame. However, a new monster does make his appearance
in the murky depths of this magazine...that being the
infamous Vectrexenstein (a relative of Frankenstein no
doubt!), who I must add is much scarier than any other
monster I've ever known.
With that aside, I do want to mention that
this issue contains the last "RTM Idiocy" column, as many
people have voiced their dislike of it and so I decided it
would be best to let it die off. However, Mark Sabbatini
should be back with something even more interesting that
will make RTM an even better magazine. I do know I loved
hearing some of his personal tidbits that he jotted down in
his farewell Idiocy column, so I know he has some good
classic gaming stories to tell us about. One of the other
things that I heard being voiced was that people wanted to
see "The Many Faces Of..." make a comeback to RTM, since it
had been the backbone of the magazine for many years. All I
can say in response to that is it depends on Alan Hewston.
He's been meaning to continue the column as there are still
a TON of faces that he has yet to write up about. However,
his time has been constrained because of his current job. He
says he still brings his "Many Faces of..." material to work
everyday in hopes of getting some free time to write
something up, so those of you out there that think the
column is dead, I can assure you that it is not. It will be
back and Retrogaming Times Monthly will have its backbone
once again.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Halloween
and gets to devour a lot of candy! Whether you are a mummy,
ghoul, pirate, or even Vectrexenstein, I am, sure you all
will enjoy this latest issue of Retrogaming Times Monthly.
Feel free to continue to send in comments on what you like
and dislike as well, since it will only help make the
magazine better in the future. Now, off to the ghoulish
columns!
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The Pacific
Pinball Expo -Submitted by David Lundin, Jr America's Video
Game Expo -Submitted by Bryan Roppolo
Pinball Expo 2009 -Submitted by Bryan Roppolo
CCAG Show 2009.5 |
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New to High Score Monthly? Click here for the rules. PRIZE: 1st Place:
2nd Place:
Game Description:
“In the cold dark night you make your way through the ghoulish castle of Dr. Frankenstein. There you must prevent him from completing his creation. Your only chance is to gather stones from the dungeon and bring them to the tower where you must build a barricade around FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER before he has accumulated enough energy to come alive. To succeed you will have to move fast, avoiding poisonous spiders, vampire bats and terrifying ghosts. Complete the job and the village will be safe forever.” Frankenstein’s Monster, released by Data Age in 1983, is another interesting game for the Atari VCS/2600. It is a platformer, similar to Pitfall! and Pitfall! 2. You control the “player” and must make your way to the third lower level dodging and jumping over Ghosts, Tarantulas, Spiders and Deadly Water to get a piece of the wall that you need to build around Frankenstein’s Monster to win the game. Once you bring it back to the top floor, the screen changes to an open area where you need to dodge tons of zigzagging Bats in order to place your piece of the wall. To win the game you must repeat this whole process 6 times, within a very short time limit and increasing difficulty. The game has an unusual scoring system where you start out with 500 points and each time you hit a creature or lose a life you lose points. You only gain points on the 2nd screen if you make it to the top. Frankenstein’s Monster has colorful graphics and a great effect when you fail. It reminds me of Dragon’s Lair, the laserdisc coin-op classic, when Dirk loses a life, and just as cool. Unfortunately there is no music whatsoever, but the fun game-play makes up for that. Play the game then go see the 1931 classic! |
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It is night. Pitch black. It is raining. It is cold. Winter is in the air. You come to a corner. Alone on the corner is a small, brick building with the lights off inside. However, there is a “glow” peaking through the cracked door and the windows. You walk inside. Against the walls are video game machines with their glowing screens and musical noise. In the center of the room is a machine with a very, very, very tall person playing. No one else seems to be in the building. Familiar sounds are coming from the machine. Excited, you move closer. The person is dressed in black with very long, pitch black hair rolling down to the floor. You move even closer. Now the screen is in complete full view. You notice the score, 1 million points! And then out of nowhere the plumber dies! The kill screen! You just witnessed a kill screen! The player slowly turns around to face you. No!! It is not human!!! It is some sort of gruesome monster with a butcher knife. And he stabs you over and over while repeating: “Kill screen… kill you, kill screen… kill you, kill screen… kill you!!” Boo!!!!!!!! Happy Halloween everyone! And now for something truly scary… There I was, standing with a microphone in hand on a stage in front of thousands of people with Billy Mitchell, Tim McVey, Steve Sanders and many others to my left and Todd Rogers and others to my right, along with Walter Day in front of me. Yes, I was very afraid…. The scary event I just mentioned above was only a very small part of the “International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum” Launch Party which was held on August 13, 2009. It was an event that I will never forget. Here’s a brief history about the reasoning for the Hall of Fame and Museum:
My understanding is that the Hall of Fame part will be just that, a Hall of Fame for the greatest players and designers from the video game industry. On the other side of the coin, the museum part will be fully interactive; with playable video games covering everything from the very beginning to the very latest. I arrived at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa at 10:30 in the morning. The convention center is very big and the main room is huge. Against the walls they had various consoles from retro to modern, computers and even coin-ops. Sadly, I had no time to play any of the games. They also had various side rooms which contained even more things to game on as well as the tournaments. Against the walls there were a bunch of historical posters and news articles about Twin Galaxies and video games. In the center of the room artwork was hanging depicting what the Hall of Fame and Museum might look like. I had a great time talking to all of the players and attendees. It was exciting to see that I have fans. Walter Day made a poster for each of the players as well as trading cards which we signed and gave to attendees and of course traded with each other. Those are great, even though my card picture is blurry. Seriously, Walter Day is the greatest! The morning of the event he asked the artist for the cards. Sadly, the artist forgot to make cards for me and Greg. So, Walter had to quickly drive to the office, scan some unfortunately low resolution pictures (which is why they are blurry), then drive to the print press to make them. He got to the event 4 minutes before he had to cut the ribbon! What an incredible man!!!! He did this all for only two people!
At night in the auditorium we watched a preview of Frag and tons of never seen video of Twin Galaxies plus behind the scenes footage of the famous Life Magazine picture. That stuff was great! Afterwards, all of the players went up on stage and got a medallion, which brings us back to the beginning of my article. Walter handed us the microphone and wanted each one of us to talk about ourselves. Let me tell you, I was very nervous. I wanted to say so much, but I did not know quite how to get the words out of my mouth. I ended up talking about donating my Phoenix cartridge (I was there due to my Phoenix world record) and Beany Bopper manual (I have the world record for Beany Bopper as well) and then quickly gave the microphone to Todd Rogers. After the event, Tim McVey brought me, Trickman Terry, and Ken Williams (both from vgevo.com and Electronic Gaming Monthly fame) to the original location of Twin Galaxies which is now an eye-glass store. It felt great to be standing on that street, right where the famous Life Magazine picture was taken! I want to say thank you to Tim McVey and Walter Day for your generous hospitality and kindness. Also, I would like to say thank you to all of my new fans and friends that I never knew I had until I attended this event! Game On and I will see you in Ottumwa next year!! |
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The movie basically follows a crossover plot from the game Mortal Kombat 1 into Mortal Kombat 2. Shang Tsung kills Liu Kang’s brother, Sonya Blade is after Kano, Johnny Cage is looking to make bigger movies, among other backstories from the video game. It all eventually leads to the characters from Mortal Kombat being brought on a boat to a tournament that will determine Earth’s fate. The Outworld had won 9 out of 10 tournaments, and if Earth looses this tournament, then Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and the Outworld would have free reign over the world. Led by Rayden, the Earth forces hold off the Outworld forces and Kano. Johnny Cage and Shang Tsung make a deal that Johnny Cage would fight Goro, Outworld’s champion, and then Shang Tsung gets the choice of who he wants to fight for the final event. Eventually it turns out to be Liu Kang vs. Shang Tsung, and Shang Tsung gets the Pit Fatality (if you don’t know what this is, watch the movie!). Overall, this is probably one of the best, if not the best , video game to movie conversion that has ever been made. It is accurate to the story of Mortal Kombat, and does have the Pit Fatality which everyone was looking for. It does not go soft, with people getting killed left and right on both sides. American theatre prevented the graphic fatalities, but the stage fatality made up for it. While Mortal Kombat
the wasn’t the greatest game ever made nor was this movie, it was
important to the industry in that it showed a video game motion
picture could be made right. Too bad the sequel didn’t live up to
expectations, but Resident Evil and Silent Hill wouldn’t be here if
it wasn’t for this one. While Mortal Kombat the movie might not have
been the best of all time, it was the most influential movie in
video game history. Movie Rating:
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1998 was without a doubt a very important year in video game history, as
some of the most well-known, and well-liked titles of all time were
released for the very first time. Final Fantasy Tactics, Parasite Eve
and Tekken 3 were all released for the Playstation 1, with other massive
titles such as Starcraft, Pokémon Red/Blue, Half Life and The Legend of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time being released on other consoles, including the
recently launched Gameboy Color. For any game to stand out during this
period would rightly be seen as a massive achievement, and Hideo
Kojima’s ‘Metal Gear Solid’, a follow-up to the original Metal Gear
games created many years prior, is seen by many as not only the best
game released on the Playstation 1, but one of the greatest games of all
time.
You control Snake with the left joystick, but with no control over the
fixed camera – except when you’re in first person mode. The stealth
mechanics involve Snake taking cover on the corner of any object,
peering round the corner to check for enemies and other obstacles ahead.
The rigid and often predictable enemy AI is one of the most charming
factors of the game, as large exaggerated question marks appear above an
enemy’s head if they hear a noise or find unknown footsteps. If they
encounter Solid Snake face to face, a large exclamation mark appears in
the same manner (before they start shooting wildly at you, that is!).
Enemies enter alert mode when they encounter Snake, causing a 99.99
timer to appear on screen. When this timer runs out, the enemies will
forget about ever seeing Snake, and will return to their normal
patterns. However, if Snake successfully eliminates all of the enemies
in close proximity without dying himself, then the timer will end
immediately, allowing him to continue on his journey. There are other
methods of not being seen however, such as equipping the now infamous
cardboard box (night vision goggles) which enable Snake to see enemies
hidden in the shadows. In addition, close inspection of the radar shown
in the top right side of the screen proves to be a very useful tool in
both sneaking past your enemies and remaining aware of just where
they’ve slinked off too during a boss battle!
As well as the impressive story mode, Metal Gear Solid offers a training
option. This gives players the chance to improve and perfect their
sneaking skills, use of weapons, and other hiding techniques. There are
many challenges in the standard version of the game, but more VR
(virtual reality) tasks were made available in the updated version.
Also, as much as I want to go into great detail about the storyline and
fascinating characters, both on Snake’s side and against, I really don’t
think I could do it justice in just a few short lines. They have been
created with great care, and characters like the aforementioned Psycho
Mantis, Sniper Wolf, and Otacon really break the barrier between a game
for a child, and an adult-experience, causing the player to feel sorrow,
joy, or anger on the character’s behalf.
You can’t have a review for this game without discussing the music. Much
of the music was composed and performed by the Konami Computer
Entertainment Sound Team Japan (consisting of Takanari Ishiyama, Gigi
Meroni, Kazuki Muraoka, Lee Jeon Myung and Hiroyuki Togo). Released as a
separate CD, the music has a fast-paced synthesized feel to it and is
very catchy and memorable. The music featured in cutscenes was more
cinematic, with orchestral elements. The main theme song proved to be a
big hit, with the talented ‘Video Games Live’ orchestra recreating the
music live on stage. |
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This is James Sorge debuting with “Dual Perspective.” This column will review games both as a standard review and from the World Record standpoint of playing the game. This first column looks at one of my personal favorites, “Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos”, which was released on the NES in 1990 by Tecmo, as part of the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy in 1995, and more recently on Virtual Console.
Graphics: C
Sound: B
Difficulty: A
Reply Value: B | ||
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Mega Man: Wily Wars is a unique Capcom release. It is the only Mega Man game collection ever put out that has updated graphics and redesigned boss patterns. It is also the only game that has a mode where you can mix and match weapons from other Mega Man games in it.
Graphics: 10 / 100
Sound:
9 / 10
Controls: N/A
Game
play: 8 / 10
Replay
value, longevity: 8 / 10
Overall rating: 8 / 10 Thanks to UsaSatsui for providing the video above |
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Before I turn my attention to our Halloween themed Apple II game, some
personal news to report. Several weeks ago, I received a call from the
former manager of my most recent job (where I got laid off in April). He
asked me: "Are you working yet? If not, would you be interested in a job
where I have some influence over the manager?" |
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Bringing the Vectrex to Life on Retrogaming Times Monthly
I
originally was supposed to do something at 7 PM Friday evening. Alas, at
the last moment, those plans fell through. That left me getting home a
little earlier than expected. Since there has been some clamoring for
RTM to feature more 80's video game systems, I decided to give a little
attention to the Vectrex system. |
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Educators can be frighteningly stupid. Not all of them and not about all things, having been a teacher myself at times and marrying someone who at this moment is teaching geology to kids by having them dissect chocolate chip cookies. And I have no use for people who go on rants about "useless" public schools. But there are times I'd rather pull my hypothetical kids from certain "educators" and let them gorge on Playstation and Froot Loops (learning moment: intentionally misspelled to resolve lawsuit noting the cereal contains no fruit). There's the Texas people who want to delete Ceasar Chevez and inset the bible into textbooks. The zero-tolerance people who expel honor students for nail clippers. The people who think "edutainment" makes learning fun. Our priorities being what they are, it's that last one that's a real disgrace. Things are vastly better today than the early days of computing when programmers thought kids would wax euphoric at "adventures" where monsters were slayed by answering grammar questions and "football" where "plays" were subtraction problems. Did anyone ever have fun in "The Oregon Trail" beyond shooting animals for food? As this column's tour through video gaming's failed platforms lurches into fall, the good and awful edutainment efforts on our current platform - the Sinclair ZX81 - gets a turn at the head of the class. To avoid inflicting the punishment of so many misguided parents and instructors back in the day, I'm also throwing in a few massively fun classics from other platforms (mentioned in earlier columns, although it's been a few years). Since I'm assuming I have no audience to lose, the good stuff first (these games are not for the ZX81, but are worth noting):
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I thought the Coleco Adam was the greatest computer ever. From the moment I saw a blurb about the "integrated" package for a breakthrough $600 I was in love. I devoured every printed word, never minding phrases like "written from spec sheets" because the demo units were hidden "behind darkly tinted glass." When they finally reached stores I ogled the boxes and pestered my grandparents, who'd spoiled me a time or two, to buy one during a visit. Even though my grandfather never used so much as a typewriter in his life and still hadn't 15 years later, it's clear he was a lot smarter than me in this instance. This month we're dealing a messy execution to this long-running column about the more obscure moments of retrocomputing stupidity, due to what I hear are a few too many complaints about the bitterness of it all (not to mention weariness at having nostalgic favorites mocked). I agree negative and bitter people are a drag, so I'm willing to cave for reasons of taste (but certainly not political correctness which, after all, has been one of my primary targets). So, in a twist stolen from an old Trevanian thriller, the guns for this final episode will be turned on the executioner. But to repeat a tired disclaimer one final time: I'm writing about stuff I mostly owned and loved, often in lieu of far superior and more popular gear. I beat up the Radio Shack Color Computer while having purchased more than 20 of the machines, the majority of which I still own (along with most of its magazines, software and accessories). I also owned a decent collection of Sinclair machines, and bought vast numbers of other obsolete computers and consoles from garage sales , thrift stores and Third-World countries (seriously - I spent more shipping most of the latter from places like Guyana and Siberia than I paid for them). That doesn't mean I'm above recognizing what the masses thought of the gear I had a crush on or needed their approval to feel fine about using those kludges of chippery. Anyhow, what follows are just some of the many, many, many stupid and incorrect things I've done and thought with old machines:
And perhaps the biggest screw-up of all: I decided in high school to abandon my aspirations of being a computer programmer because I didn't want the negative stigma. Instead I became a journalist. |
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Video Game Tattler |
| Video Game Tattler is written by Tom Zjaba, who also does tons of video game comics at http://www.arcadeafterdark.com. He also writes prose stories and features a new comic book he is working on called Tabloid at his comic book site - http://www.kzcomics.com |
Vectrexenstein: "Arrrrghh!" Me: "Help!" Oh no, I have just been devoured by Vectrexenstein! Therefore, I will have to keep this "Game Over" brief as I don't have much life left inside of me. Anyway, I hope everyone has a scary, yet fun, Halloween. Heck, why not pass out this issue of Retrogaming Times Monthly instead of candy, as we all know RTM is the candy to us classic video gamers. This is Bryan signing off from another issue of....
Vectrexenstein: "Yummy!" |
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“Macabre Mission
Beyond the Grave”
In
1982 the mayor of Ottumwa, Iowa, Jerry Parker, proclaimed that the
town was the “Video Game Capital of the World” after the famous Life
Magazine photo was taken in front of the Twin Galaxies arcade (which
included the top game players, their machines, and some cheerleaders
as well!). In 2009 the governor of Iowa, Chet Culver, issued a
proclamation, restating that Ottumwa, Iowa was indeed the “Video
Game Capital of the World.” Soon after that proclamation they held
an Opening Ceremony motioning towards making
the town the home of the International Video Game Hall of Fame and
Museum. As he did 27 years earlier, Walter Day, the founder of Twin
Galaxies, returned to Ottumwa to endorse this proclamation. The
Launch Party was a huge all day event where thousands of players and
attendees from all over the world came to support the making of the
International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum and endorsed
Ottumwa towards becoming the Video Game Capital of the World. At
the event the organizers had many home video game consoles,
computers, and arcade machines for everyone to play. Plus there
were tournaments for Guitar Hero and Halo, as well as a wonderful
multi-media display documenting Ottumwa’s legacy as the “Video Game
Capital of the World.”
At
lunch all of the players went to the Canteen, which is a landmark.
It was established in the 1930’s and everything is original. It
probably holds 50 people and was packed with us, the fans and the
camera crews. Billy Mitchell and Tim McVey even had a “canteen”
eating contest, which is exactly like something you might see on the
Food Network or Travel Channel. But, who won? You will have to ask
Billy or Tim to find out!
Hello,
and this is James Sorge again with this month’s “Movies with a
Byte.” The victim for October is…“Mortal Kombat,” starring Robin
Shou as Liu Kang, Christopher Lambert as Rayden, Cary Hiroyuki
Tagawa as Shang Tsung, and Bridgette Wilson as Sonya Blade.
Developed and published by Konami, Metal Gear Solid features a clever
combination of action and stealth gameplay, which was a huge step
forward from the original Metal Gear games, yet remained faithful the
these previous titles. Voiced by David Hayter, the enigmatic protagonist
Solid Snake (a retired soldier) is on a mission south-west of Alaska in
the Bering Sea, as he aims to end the threat of terrorist organization
FOXHOUND, a group Snake had formally been a part of that had since
turned rogue, who aim to launch a nuclear strike. Gameplay is open in
that you have the ability to complete the entire game without killing a
single enemy (except for the bosses), but you are also offered a range
of weapons enabling you to kill anything that moves. Weapons in the game
include a .45 caliber pistol, a FAMAS and a stinger amongst others. Each
of the weapons is useful in respective areas, particularly in boss
fights. For example, when Snake encounters his arch enemy Liquid, who is
controlling a powerful HIND D Russian attack and transport chopper on
the roof, the stinger (a heat seeking missile) is incredibly useful in
winning the battle.
One of the most memorable scenes is the boss battle with Psycho Mantis.
You enter a seemingly empty corridor with newfound acquaintance Meryl,
only for her to become possessed shortly thereafter. When you enter the
next room, an office, Meryl proceeds to seduce you (albeit while aiming
a gun at your face). You soon discover that Psycho Mantis, a floating
man who wears a gas-mask to help him to prevent people's thoughts from
"forcing their way into his mind", is behind the attack. He proceeds to
ask you to put your controller on the floor, as he moves it from side to
side with the power of his mind. “Big whoop, it’s not that cool”. He
then reads your memory card, commenting on your saved games – Awesome.
It’s one of the most creative boss battles I’ve ever encountered and
amazes me to this day. I’ve had people tell me they bought the game
simply on a whim after having heard about this particular boss battle.
The World Record Perspective:
Switching
gears, Bryan announced several months ago that the October issue would
be Halloween themed. Unfortunately, I had already talked about Nightmare
Gallery in a previous issue or otherwise, that game would have been
perfect for this month. 
I had played the Vectrex (as many did) in stores when it was first
released in the 80's. The system was quite a novelty due to it's built
in monitor. Since I already had the Atari 5200 and the Apple II at home,
there really was no motivation for me to purchase a Vectrex.
Villains Turn Table on Mega Man
Jeff Gordon Seeks New Race 
Donkey Kong - The Other Story
