Videogames History

WonderSwan Review

2007-03-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

The WonderSwan is a portable gaming system released back in '98 in Japan and a few other Asian countries. The WonderSwan is inexpensive, costs around 4800 yen ($50), about the price of a new game, and the games aren't much more expensive, and are around $35-40. Also, battery life is the longest of the portables I've played, so this is a good portable for a person that doesn't have much money, and want a portable gaming system.
Size, Button Layout & Controls9/10

The WS is a small system, at around 74.3 X 121 X 17.5 milimeters, it is smaller than the GBA, and will easily fit into a back pocket. If you use an AA battery, the size increases to a 74.3 X 121 X 24.3 milimeters, but it isn't much of a problem. The only thing that might be problematic is that there is an area that is protruding in the shape of a battery and it gets in the way of the grip, but you'll probably live with it.

The button layout for the WS is odd, as there are two buttons and two D-pad like buttons. Most games will pay like the GBA, which is horizontally, and the lower D-Pad, the X-Buttons will serve as the directional buttons and the two buttons, A and B, will serve as action commands. But in other games, the upper D-Pad, the Y buttons, will serve as the directions and the X buttons will serve as the actions, just like the classical Game Boy.. so the WS has an interesting concept of being able to play games horizontally and vertically.

There are two other buttons, one being the start button and the other being a sound button, which controls sound. Also, the WS has an ON/OFF switch on the left side, and a contrast wheel on the bottom of the console. And finally, in the top right corner, there is a hole where you can put a wrist strap on.
Screen & Graphics9/10

The screen for the WS is bigger than the Game Boy, and just as big as the GBA, maybe a teeny bit smaller. You'll see that the graphics are way better than the Game Boy, and almost as good as the GBA in Black and White. You can also control the contrast by using the wheel on the bottom to make games darker or lighter. Most games look decent, but not many push the hardware to produce the best.
Sound & Game Format8/10

The Sound in the WS can get a little annoying, as there isn't a switch to control the sound, but a button to choose from three levels of sound. Loud, Medium, and None. So it's essential to buy an earphone adapter to play games without bothering others, but the music and voice samples are great on most games. But again, not many of the games push the hardware, so it's not easy to see the WS's full potential. Just expect average portable device sound here.
The WS has a rectangular shaped cartridge, and the data port is exposed, so you'll either need to keep the game in the WS or in a case. Ive heard the WS's cart has something like 3 or 4 times a Game Boy Color's Cartridge, so the game has more possibilities.
Battery Life & Protection10/10 (more like 12 but oh well...)
This is the WS's strength point: Battery Life. Ive really never went over 30 hours on a game boy pocket, which requires two AA batteries, and never over 25 with a Game Boy Color. The GBA SP's mileage is 10 hours with the backlight, and 18 without. The WS's surpasses all. I've went over 30 with this baby, I'm sure it can achieve far more in a different contrast. that's 30 hours on one AA, more than doubling the GB, GBC and GBA SP's mileage, and it also doesn't compromise any features that have been shown to this point, except for the backlight, but you can just put a flashlight in your mouth and lower the contrast and... ta-da! You'll be able to play in the dark!

The WS doesn't really need protection, because the games are in black and white, and a streak or two won't hurt you in the gameplay. And if you tie a wrist strap to prevent it from falling, you won't break it either. You can probably just put the WS in a leather case, or you can buy a glove, cut the fingers out and stitch it, because the WS is so compact and will fit in there. But if you must, you can go ahead and buy a WS protector at a game store that has WS appliances.
Game Library, Fun Factor & Additional Features9/10
The WS's horsepower quite doesn't match up to the GBA or the NGPC, so it can't really support frantic action games, although they have a few really good titles like pocket fighters. So what does this leave us? Strategy games and turn based games like Card Games and RPG's. I only have one WS card game, and that is Tekken Card Challenge, but there are plenty of RPG's like Digimon Ver. WonderSwan and more. The WS heavily relies on the japanese market, so there arent too many games with english in them. So if you understand Japanese, go for those RPG's, but if you don't, well... your library will be limited. Just get a driving game or an action game.
I've heard the WS supports connection between the PS2 and the PocketStation, I do have a Japanese WS and a Japanese PS2, so all i need to do is to bribe my friend to give me his Japanese PocketStation. I don't have a clue what this connection may do, but it sounds fun to me!

Overall Comment
If you're in the market for an inexpensive portable, the WS is a must, because the System and the Games aren't expensive, and the battery life is the best ive seen so far. But if you do not understand Japanese and are an avid fan of RPG's, you'll most likely be disappointed with this experience, unless you don't care about the storyline. I have to say the WS isn't really import friendly, but it is a great system after all.

RETRO: Panasonic REAL 3DO Interactive Multiplayer FZ-1

2007-03-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

Jaguar History - Technical Aspects

2007-03-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

In 1991, the Sega Genesis was at the cutting edge of videogame technology in America and enjoying strong sales. NEC's Turbografx-16 was a distant second, and the Super Nintendo was yet to be released. Rumors swirled about various new peripherals and consoles - Genesis and Neo-Geo CD drives, the Sony Playstation, and a CD drive for the forthcoming Super Nintendo. Another rumor to circulate in 1991 was that Atari was back with a new 32-bit console called the Panther that was set to debut against the Super Nintendo later that year. However, after the Summer CES that year, Atari announced that the Panther was cancelled so that they could concentrate on a new machine, the 64-bit Jaguar. Behind the scenes, Atari had actually been developing both systems at the same time, but the Jaguar had progressed at such a rate that it made sense to skip the Panther.

Atari was very tight-lipped about its new machine at first, but then it began sending out press releases announcing the Jaguar with various technical specifications. Atari said they planned to debut the machine in 1993, and that there would definitely be a 64-bit RISC based processor at its core. This was exciting news to gamers, as it would seemingly make it the most technically advanced machine, well beyond the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Even better, Atari said the price would be between $100 and $150.

Technically, the Jaguar was impressive. Five processors reside in three chips, two of them being proprietary (Tom and Jerry) with a third being a Motorola 68000 coprocessor. The GPU runs at 26.591Mhz and is rated at 26.591 MIPS (Millions of Instructions Per Second). There is a 64-bit data bus for communication and two megabytes of fast-page mode DRAM. Development systems cost between $7,500 and $9,000 and ran on IBM PC or Atari TT030 computers, with art development possible on various other machines.

When Atari finally announced the official launch of the Jaguar, the price tag was $200 and was bundled with a Cybermorph cartridge and one controller. However, when it actually hit store shelves the price had climbed to $250. Even with a higher price tag, sales were brisk. IBM was manufacturing the system for Atari, and things were looking up. Atari was set to market the Jaguar with a $3 million advertising budget, a telephone support line, and promised support from over 20 third party developers. However, retailers and the media were still skeptical that Atari could deliver quality software and keep all of its promises.

When the machine actually hit the streets, the reaction was mixed. Some gamers were excited by the increased power, while some felt that the system fell short of its promises. Some people claimed that the the Jaguar wasn't actually a true 64-bit system, that it was simply two 32-bit processors working in parallel. However, Atari was pressing forward with their advertising campaign touting its 64-bit power, and an impressive number of third-party titles had been announced in development. Unfortunately for these developers, the Jaguar proved very difficult to program for and Atari did not have sufficient development tools. Many Jaguar games were consequently delayed, and others were rushed out the door and were less than impressive. Ultimately, many announced developers simply did not develop any Jaguar titles.

The Idea for 32X

2007-03-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

The idea for the 32X originally came from Sega of Japan and was handed to Sega of America to work on. SOA decided that it was better for the unit to be an upgrade to the existing Mega Drive rather than a separate console. This move would have the advantage of making the 32X more appealing to users who would rather upgrade their current hardware then buy an all-new standalone console. SOA went with the SOJ design plan to have twin 32-bit processors and a separate graphics processor. In November 1994, the 32X was released in the US, a month later in Japan (where it was called the Super 32X) and in January 1995 in Europe.

At first, the 32X was a success. Sega was unable to ship the 1 million units it had promised and ended up shipping about half of that to retailers because of slow production. Nevertheless, the 32X sold out in many areas and Genesis owners were keen to get their hands on it in time for Christmas. With a non-existent library of games and none bundled with the unit, consumers who had bought the 32X had to be patient for a while.

Things then started going down hill. Complaints started coming in about the the unit not being compatible with some older TVs, which prompted Sega to release an adaptor to rectify the problem, at a price of course. Another issue was the metallic clips, which had to be placed on both sides of the cartridge slot to protect it from electromagnetic interference. Apparently, many parents found it difficult to clip them on around the cartridge covers. I can't seem to believe that this was a major problem, but then again what do I know except for what I read.

A third factor was news coming in from Sega of Japan about the Saturn, which left gamers confused. Was the 32X the thing to have, or was it the Saturn, or maybe the Sega CD! Unsatisfied customers took back their 32X hardware and software to their stores and the 32X seemed to be in big trouble. Upcoming games were slowly cancelled and both Sega and retailers across the US realized that the 32X didn't have long to live. By the Christmas of 1995, the 32-bit console was dead and buried, with DarXide being the last game ever to be released for it. I personally have no memories of the 32X because I didn't own it until recently, but reading about how it was ultimately the beginning of Sega's decline as a hardware console company really makes me sad (and for some reason angry at Sony! Don't ask why)

The 32X retailed for $159. 27 games were released for the European 32X, 18 for the Japanese Super 32X and 39 for the American Sega 32X.

32X History - 32X games and History

2006-11-03T00:06:00.000-08:00

The Sega 32X (Japanese: スーパー32X) is an add-on for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis video game console by Sega.
In Japan, it was distributed under the name Sega Super 32X. In North America, its name was the Sega Genesis 32X. In Europe, Australia, and other countries that use PAL, it was called the Sega Mega Drive 32X. Most gamers, for simplicity's sake, refer to it as just the "32X".

Market history
With the release of the Super Famicom in Japan and the Super NES in North America, Sega needed to leapfrog Nintendo in the technological department. The Sega Mega-CD, known as Sega CD in North America, had not worked as well, in a business sense, as Sega had wanted it to. Sega had various developments underway, named after planets. Some used System 16 technology, as the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, as well as other arcade games, did.
The 32X was released in mid-November 1994 in North America for $150, Japan on December 3rd 1994 for ¥16,800, and Europe in January 1995 for £170 / DM 400.

Technical aspects
The Sega 32X can only be used in conjunction with a Mega Drive/Genesis system; it is plugged in where the cartridge bay is. Besides playing its own cartridges, it also acts as a passthrough for Mega Drive games so it can be a permanent attachment. (The SVP based Virtua Racing was the only exception.) The 32X came with several spacers so it would work with all (then current) versions of the Mega Drive. (The Genesis 3, which lacks circuitry needed, and appropriate plugs, to work with the 32X, was introduced later.) It could be used with the Sega Multi-Mega/Sega CDX system, but the spacers would not accommodate the CDX, which created a number of user-unfriendly conditions in the unit. Without the use of the spacers, some of the 32X hardware was left exposed and vulnerable. The combined unit was also very prone to tipping over, risking damage to the unit and games. In addition to the physical problems, there was also an issue with FCC approval.
Most 32X games cannot be played unless the distribution region of the game matches the region of the console. A few games are not locked and can be played on a console from any region (e.g. Fifa 96). Two games, Darxide and FIFA Soccer '96, were only released for the PAL 32X.
All but one of the games released for the Japanese market were released in the United States, albeit some had different names. The one Japanese-only game was Sangokushi IV (known as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV").
In addition to regular cartridge-based 32X games, there were also a very small number 32X CD games. As the name suggests, these required both the 32X and Mega-CD/Sega CD addons. The lack of a significant userbase due to the high cost of purchasing all three necessary components saw only five games released, only one of those developed by Sega. The most notable of these was a new version of the infamous Night Trap with 32,768 onscreen colors instead of the 64 found on the regular Mega-CD/Sega CD version.

Technical specifications
Processor: Twin SH2 32 bit RISC processors with a clock speed of 23 MHz, 40 MIPS each
Video RAM: Two linear framebuffers with support for RLE compression and an overdraw mode to simplify compositing objects with transparency. All scaling, rotation, and 3D operations are performed in software on the SH2 processors.
Color depth: 32,768 simultaneous colors on screen at standard Mega Drive/Genesis resolution. Video output can overlay Mega Drive/Genesis graphics or vice versa. Mega Drive/Genesis video effects such as shadow or hilight do not affect 32X video.
Memory: 256KB (2 MBit) program RAM and two 128KB (1 MBit) framebuffers.
Audio: Stereo 10-bit PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) mixing with Mega Drive/Genesis sound for a total of 12 audio channels of varying capability, 22 with the addition of a Mega-CD/Sega CD.
I/O: Same as Mega Drive/Genesis.
Storage: 32X cartridges are fundamentally the same as Mega Drive/Genesis cartridges with some small differences in the plastic casing. A few CD-ROM games were developed that also required a Mega-CD/Sega CD.
Compatibility: Compatible with Mega Drive/Genesis models 1 and 2, JVC Wondermega/X'Eye and the Multi-Mega/CDX. The 32X does not work with the Genesis 3 which lacks some of the necessary interface logic.

History

Development
On January 8, 1994, Hayao Nakayama, then CEO of Sega, ordered his company to make a 32-bit cartridge based console that would be in stores by Christmas 1994. This would at first be named "Project Jupiter", but after Sega found CD technology cheaper, they decided to modify it instead of dropping the cartridge project (that would be called "Project Saturn"). Hideki Sato and some other Sega of Japan engineers came over to collaborate about the project with Sega of America's Joe Miller. The first idea was a new Mega Drive/Genesis with more colors and a 32-bit processor. Miller thought that an add-on to the Mega Drive/Genesis would be a better idea, because he felt that gamers would not buy an improved version of the Mega Drive/Genesis. And so, this project was codenamed Project Mars, and Sega of America was going to shape the project.
At the same time, however, Sega of Japan was working on the Sega Saturn, a CD-based 32-bit videogame system. Sega of America did not learn of this until Project Mars was already in progress.

Launch
The video-gaming public first got a glimpse at the Summer 1994 CES in Chicago, Illinois. Players highly anticipated the system, because it would make the Genesis superior to the Super Famicom/SNES. The console was unmasked as the 32X, with a price projection of $170 (USD), at a gamers' day, held by Sega of America in September 1994.
The 32X hit the market in North America in November 1994, during the same month the Sega Saturn was released in Japan. Many industry insiders speculated that the 32X was doomed from the beginning as the Sega Saturn hardware was widely regarded as more powerful than the 32X and had the support of many Japanese third party software developers (a necessary resource required for any gaming platform's long term success) which the 32X was sorely lacking.
Only 500,000 consoles had been produced for North American consumption, yet orders were in the millions. The console allegedly had numerous mechanical problems. Games had been rushed for the system in the run up to Christmas 1994. Some early games came with errors in programming, causing crashes and glitches on certain titles. Other games required leaving out parts in order to make the Christmas deadline; Doom 32X is missing almost half the levels present on the PC. Many complained that their 32X was not working with their Mega Drive/Genesis or television. Sega was forced to give away adapters.
Since this was an expensive add-on system, Sega decided to offer a £50 discount on games with the console in Europe. However, the offer came in the form of rebate vouchers, which were difficult to take advantage of. Just like its North American counterpart, this console was initially popular. Orders exceeded one million, but not enough were produced, and supply shortage problems arose.

Decline
By mid-1995, the time the Sega executives realized their blunder, it was too late. Developers and licensees had abandoned this console in favor of what they perceived to be a true 32-bit console, the Sega Saturn. Even though the 32X was a 32-bit system, the games did not appear to take full advantage of 32 bit processing; many games were rushed and produced in 2D. Many were just slightly-enhanced ports of Genesis or old arcade games such as Mortal Kombat II and Space Harrier.
Due to successful marketing, customers perceived the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation as the true next-generation consoles, due to their rich launch titles and 3D graphics. Also, customers perceived that Sega abandoned the 32X despite promises to the contrary, due to the launch of the Saturn.
Console makers, prior to the launch of PlayStation 2, would often abandon platforms and offer no backwards compatibility with older systems. For this reason Sega's 32X customers felt cheated because of the apparent lower quality of the game, and the inevitability of obsolescence.
Store shelves became littered with unwanted Sega 32X systems, and prices for a new one dropped as low as $19.95. Sega planned a console named the Sega Neptune, which would have been a Genesis and 32X in one. However, by the time a prototype was developed, the Sega Saturn was going to be released, and Sega cancelled the Neptune.
The situation became so bad that the 32X was actually mocked on Saturday Night Live, as well as in the gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, which likened the 32X to a 'waffle maker' and the games as 'batter'. The Sega 32X fiasco is now considered one of the most poorly planned console releases ever.
The last game made for the 32X in the US was Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996). The last ever 32X game was Darxide, which had been intended by Frontier Developments to be a launch title for the ill-fated Neptune. Both these games now command a high value from collectors — but especially Darxide (up to $1000) due to its scarcity, reputation and auspicious creator (David Braben, co-writer of the groundbreaking game Elite). Nevertheless, it is exceeded in rarity by the European PAL versions of the games Primal Rage and T-Mek. For obscure reasons a mere handful of copies of these games are known to be in circulation - with T-Mek being so scarce that until a copy surfaced on eBay in late 2005, it was widely held that the PAL release was only a rumour. The appearance of a copy has fuelled speculation that other rumoured but unconfirmed PAL games may also exist, in particular BC Racers.
For many years prior, console makers promised devices like the 32X (for consoles such as the Colecovision, Intellivision II, and some Atari systems) that would extend and enhance the original system. The 32X was the first product released that fundamentally altered the original console's abilities. However, deficient in software titles and lacking the 3D capabilities the gaming community demanded, the add-on represented a technological dead end, ultimately punishing early adopters. Ignorant of the idea that console systems' primary strength is in standardization, Sega had created three different platforms (the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and the Mega-CD/Sega CD and the 32X add-ons) all under the same banner, stealing valuable shelf space from itself and confusing both vendors and consumers in the process. The entire episode demonstrated that producing such add-ons is likely to have detrimental effects on a system's brand marketing strategy.
The system ended production worldwide in 1996.

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Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

2006-11-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

From Geekcomix:

The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in America in 1985, after some limited success in Japan as the Famicom. Over the next few years, its user base would grow exponentially until the NES surpassed the Atari VCS/2600 peak set in 1982.6 As of 1990, there were over 19 million NES systems in the United States alone.5
In addition to the tremendous success of the system, its games had a great deal prosperity. For example, Super Mario Bros. 3 released in 1989 grossed over $500 million just in America. In the field of entertainment, only the movie E.T. has made more revenue.3 Super Mario Bros. 3 would sell more than 7 million copies in America and 4 million in Japan, which is more copies than any other game in history. Sheff wrote, "By record-industry standards, 'SMB3' went platinum eleven times. Michael Jackson is one of the few artists to have accomplished this feat."9
By 1990, the money earned from Nintendo's NES and its games allowed Nintendo to usurp Toyota as Japan's most successful company. In the entertainment business, Nintendo netted as much as all of the American movie studios combined, and more than the three television networks had in the previous two years. In the five short years since the system was released, the NES could be found in more than a third of the household in America and Japan. 9
This monopoly gave Nintendo significant control over the market during the Fourth Generation, which they utilized in various malicious schemes. Despite all of this, they are still one of the most popular and well-known companies in the world.
Nintendo's only competitor in the 8-bit market was Sega with their Sega Master System. While the Master System did have many more features than the NES (which is evident in a side-by-side comparison) it lacked the third party support that Nintendo had and was not much competition. The Master System sold a total of 2 million units and at times had a market share of 11%, these were the only reason the system survived as long as it did.

American Laser Games History

2006-10-29T02:11:00.000-08:00

American Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created a wide variety of light gun laserdisc video games. The company was founded in the late 1980's by Robert Grebe, who had originally created the system to train police officers, and later adapted the technology to more mainstream entertainment.

The company lasted until the late 1990's, by which time it had begun making games for the 3DO and "games for girls" for the PC (under the moniker Her Interactive), beginning with McKenzie & Co.. In 2001, the development and publishing rights to all of the games that were produced by American Laser Games were purchased by Digital Leisure, Inc. Many of these games were then re-released for the PC and in DVD TV game format.

The company also released a light-gun controller, the PC Gamegun, for home computer use. It proved unsuccessful, however, due to its poor accuracy.

Laserdisc + Light Gun Arcade Games

Mad Dog McCree
Who Shot Johnny Rock?
Gallagher's Gallery
Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold
Space Pirates
Crime Patrol
Crime Patrol 2: Drug Wars
Fast Draw Showdown
The Last Bounty Hunter
Shootout at Old Tucson

Ms. Pac-Man Trivia

2006-10-29T02:04:00.000-08:00

A Ms. Pac-Man machine has a storyline based around it in the Friends episode The One Where Joey Dates Rachel. The plotline revolves around Chandler entering rude words onto the game's high-score screen and then attempting to beat his scores (thus removing them) before Ross's seven year old son arrives. In reality, Ms. Pac-Man doesn't have a high-score screen, displaying only the single best score, and the game doesn't allow players to enter their initials.
In one series of strips in Bill Amend's popular newspaper comic strip FoxTrot, Jason Fox, who is in fifth grade and still detests girls, has a nightmare in which he is romanced by Tomb Raider heroine Lara Croft. In one of these strips, Lara keeps trying to persuade Jason to play her game, and Jason declares that he'll never play a video game starring a girl. At this point, Lara says, "Permit me to reintroduce you to someone," and Ms. Pac-Man appears: "Hi, Jason. Remember me?"
A Ms. Pac-Man unit appears in the 1983 movie "WarGames", in the 1983 movie "Joysticks", in the 1984 movie "Tightrope" (the cabinet appears in the background of the bar scene), in the 1990 movie "The Grifters", in the 1999 movie "Man On The Moon" and in the 2002 movie "Van Wilder".
A Ms. Pac-man machine is seen in Scrubs in the episode My Own Private Practice Guy. Todd comments "Oh Ms. Pac-man I would sex that bow right off your head. Eat those dots you naughty, naughty girl."
The Ms. Pac-Man world record of 933,580 points was achieved by Abdner Ashman, of Queens, NY, on Thursday, April 6, 2006 at the Apollo Amusements showroom in Pompano Beach, FL, as verified by official referees from the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, who were present to witness the accomplishment.
Some versions of the game had an "expert" level, where if you hold the joystick up while pressing the start button, the whole game speed doubled (including music and sound effects). Others have Ms. Pac-Man going twice her speed while the rest of the game went normal speed. The latter allowed for people to obtain much higher scores.
Many people have mistakenly called the game Mrs. Pac Man, which can upset many a video game purist.
In the 1980's cartoon version of Pac-Man, she was named Pepper (while the male Pac-Man was often called Packie) because she was never given a name.
In 1982, R. Cade and the Video Victims recorded a song titled "Ms. Pac-Man", using sound effects from the game, and released it on the album "Victim of the Video", a lesser-known video game song album.
While not inspired by the game, the song Game Over by rapper Lil Flip samples heavily from it.
In the movie Are We There Yet?, Lindsay tells Nick that Kevin had a bad dream playing Ms. Pac-Man at the mall but refers to her as Lady Pac-Man.
There is an obscure glitch in the original arcade game. If the player inserts a coin at the title screen, before Blinky appears, and begins, the walls of the first maze will be blue instead of pink.
At least one version of the game (found in a diner near the Kansas-Nebraska border) has the monsters turn into blue mice when Ms. Pac-Man eats the energizers.

Activision History

2006-10-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

Prior to the formation of Activision, software for video game consoles was published exclusively by the makers of the systems for which the games were designed. For example, Atari was the only publisher of games for the Atari 2600. This was particularly galling to the developers of the games, as they received no financial rewards for games that did well, and didn't even receive credit in the manuals. After watching a number of games turn into multi-million-dollar best sellers, a number of programmers decided they had had enough and left. Activision became the first third-party game publisher for game consoles.[1]

The company was founded by former music industry executive Jim Levy and former Atari programmers David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead. Atari's company policy at the time was not to credit game creators for their individual contributions; Levy took the approach of crediting and promoting game creators along with the games themselves. This was an important draw that helped the newly formed company attract experienced talent. Crane, Kaplan, Levy, Miller, and Whitehead received the Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" award in 2003 in recognition of this step.

The departure of the four programmers, whose titles made up more than half of Atari's cartridge sales at the time, caused legal action between the two companies which was not ultimately settled until 1982. As the market for game consoles started to decline, Activision branched out, producing game titles for home computers as well, and acquiring smaller publishers.

In 1982, Activision released Pitfall!, which is considered by many to be the first platform game as well as the best selling title on the 2600. Although the team's technical prowess had already been proven, it was Pitfall! that turned them into a huge success. This not only resulted in a legion of clones, including stand-up arcade games, but can be said to have launched the entire platform genre which became a major part of video games through the 1980s.

In 1985, Activision merged with struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom. Jim Levy was a big fan of Infocom's titles and wanted Infocom to remain solvent. However, about six months after the "InfoWedding", Bruce Davis took over as CEO of Activision. Davis was against the merger from the start and was heavy-handed in management of them. He also forced marketing changes on Infocom which caused sales of their games to plummet. Eventually, in 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to Activision's headquarters in Silicon Valley; five did.

In 1988 Activision started to get involved in other types of software besides video games, such as business applications. As a result, Activision changed its corporate name to Mediagenic in order to have a name that would globally represent all its fields of activities.(Mediagenic is often mistaken to be a company that purchased Activision but in reality it was only Activision with a different name). Despite this change, Mediagenic continued to largely use the Activision brand on its video games of the various platforms it was publishing for, notably the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Master System, the Atari 7800, Commodore 64 and Amiga. The decision of the company to get involved in various fields at the expense of video gaming proved to be a move so bad that in 1992 Mediagenic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The new Activision
The failure of Mediagenic resulted in a reorganization and merger with The Disc Company with Mediagenic again being the acquirer. After emerging from bankruptcy, Mediagenic officially changed its entity name back to Activision in the state of Delaware on December 1992. At that point Activision moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Southern California. While emerging from bankruptcy, it continued to develop games for PCs and video game consoles and resumed making strategic acquisitions. Activision chose from then on to only concentrate itself in video gaming and nothing else.

In 1991 Activision packaged 20 of Infocom's past games into a CD-ROM collection called The Lost Treasures of Infocom sans most of the "feelies" Infocom was famous for. The success of this compilation led to the 1992 release of 11 more Infocom titles in The Lost Treasures of Infocom II.

In 2003, Activision, along with several other game software publishers, was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its accounting practices, namely the use of the "return reserve" to allegedly smooth quarterly results.

In 2004, the company marked its 25th anniversary, and stated that it had posted record earnings and the twelfth consecutive year of revenue growth.

In 2006, Activision secured the video game license to make games based on the world of James Bond from MGM Interactive. An exclusive agreement between the two begins in September 2007 with Activision's first game set to be released in May 2008.

Sega 32X - Quick History and Specs List

2006-10-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

The 32x debuted in 1994. It was an add-on for the Genesis. It connects to the Genesis by plugging-in the unit into the Genesis's cartage port. It is said that the 32x increase the speed of the unit by 19x! This increase in performance is possible thanks to its 2 RISC based processors.
The 32X
The Sega 32X added better color (finally), faster performance, and 3D graphics to the Genesis and Sega CD. The whole idea is sort of strange considering that when you get the Genesis and attach a Sega CD and the 32X you now have a huge chunk of hardware worth well over $400 with massive parallel processing power that still pales in comparison to say a Saturn. Still, the whole thing wasn't too bad with some great translations like Virtua Racing Deluxe and Virtua Fighter. The system had a few notable titles released before it's quick demise at the release of the Saturn and Playstation.
The idea of emulating every aspect of the 32X is quite a challenge. You'd have to emulate both the Genesis and the Sega CD first, and then write up your SH-2 core and God knows how the 32X sound processor works. The 32X is another case of someone reverse-engineering the hardware to gain the knowledge to emulate the machine. Even though the 32X, (for the most part) takes over the Genesis unit, it still allows you to play Genesis games by passing through the data from the 32x to the Genesis unit.

Quick Specs List:

Released: 1994

Processor: Dual Hitachi SH2 RISC Processors (one master and one slave)
operating at 23Mhz each

Co-Processor: 68000, Z80, VDP (Genesis) 68000 (Sega CD)

Data Path width: 32-bits within 32X

Color Palette: 32,768

On screen: 32,768

3D Capabilities: 50,000 Texture Mapped Polygons per second

Sound: Stereo PCM plus an extra 2 channels to the Genesis and Sega CD

Ram: extra 512 Kilbytes for the Genesis and Sega CD

Cart Size: 16 - 32 Megabit

Pong TV Game - History

2006-10-20T05:22:00.000-07:00

The paleolithic ‘pong’
in the beginning, there was nothing. well, actually, there was
pinball, some shooting gallery games, a few nickel peep-show
machines and those mechanical genies that would guess your
weight and give a glimpse of your future. but it was probably
pretty hard trying to beat your buddies at who weighs less.
(there was bell, there was edison, there was fermi. and then there was higinbotham)

---
'tennis for two' on an oscilloscope
working at brookhaven national laboratory, a us nuclear research
lab in upton, new york, william a. higinbotham, a chain-smoking,
fun-loving character and self-confessed pinball player, wants to
develop an open house exhibit at bnl that will entertain people as
they learn. his idea is to use a small analog computer in the lab to
graph and display the trajectory of a moving ball on an oscilloscope,
with which users can interact.
missile trajectory plotting is one of the specialties of computers at
this time, the other being cryptography.
along with technical specialist robert v. dvorak who actually
assembles the device, to create in three weeks the game system they
name tennis for two, and it debuts with other exhibits in the
brookhaven gymnasium at the next open house in october 1958.
in the rudimentary side-view tennis game, the ball bounces off a long
horizontal line at the bottom of the oscilloscope, and there is a small
vertical line in the centre to represent the net.
the game was simple, but fun to play, and its charm was infectious.
http://www.pong-story.com/inventor.htm
brookhaven national laboratory - www.bnl.gov
tribute to william higinbotham, inventor of 'pong' - fas.org/cp/pong_fas.htm

---
'spacewar!'
at MIT circa 1961 there's a group of hard core computer nerds calling
themselves the tech model railroad club : wayne witanen and j. martin graetz,
along with 25 year-old steve russell, they develop the idea to pit two spaceships
with limited fuel supplies against each other in a missle duel. the program
becomes 'spacewar !', the world's first fully interactive videogame, with russell
as main programmer (1962).
two spaceships called the wedge and the needle, according to their shapes, are
rendered in rough outlined graphics. it causes a sensation at MIT's annual
science open house, and a scoring system must be introduced to limit people's time
at the control switches used to play. it is such a huge hit with the computer
community that copies are quickly spread around to other educational facilities in
the u.s. across the then burgeoning internet precursor ARPAnet.
and once again, just like willy higinbotham, russell doesn't seek to copyright or
patent his work. most likely because the system 'spacewar !' is running on is the
size of a refrigerator and costs us$120,000. due to its public domain status, the
game will end up being one of the most copied concepts in videogame history.
'spacewar !' ? http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar

---
who really invented the videogame ?
in 1949, a young engineer named ralph baer, was given an assignment
to build a television set.
in 1966 with the help of bob tremblay and bob solomon they are
ready to demonstrate a system that allows spots to be moved around
on a tv screen. in january of 1967 baer puts technician bill harrison
to work to build the first multi-game unit. it plays 'chase' games, has a
'light gun' and a variety of other simple games. they call the system the
‘home tv game’. in early 1968 baer files for the first videogame patent,
and by the end of that year they again demonstrate the system,
capable of switching between ping-pong, volleyball, handball, hockey
and even several shooting games to be used with a newly designed
‘light-gun’.
during many years of litigation defending his patent, baer learns of
higinbotham's creation, and he describes it as a simple, oscilloscope-
based ballistics demonstration.
unfortunately, the man at the centre of this controversy cannot speak for
himself: william higinbotham, owner of 20 patents concerning electronic
circuits, passes away on november 10, 1995, at the age of 84.
after further developing the system was released as the first ever
commercially available home videogame to magnavox dealers as the
‘odyssey’ in may of 1972.
the graphics are so rudimentary that the system comes with a set of two
sizes of colour mylar overlays to put on the television screen to represent
the various playfields, including tennis and hockey.

---
the arcade
in the footsteps of pioneers william higinbotham, ralph baer and steve russel
nolan bushnell, the zeus of the videogame industry, is about to create an
entire entertainment industry, which in a few short years will eclipse even the
80 year old movie business.
at 19 years old, he becomes convinced of the commercial viability of a videogame
like 'spacewar', if only the system that ran it could be scaled down from university
mainframes and into a more reasonably compact version. he begins an eight year
odyssey to do just that: produce an arcade version of 'spacewar'.
1971 bushnell leaves ampex to work on the computer space game full time and
when he finally completes it that year he finds a buyer in nutting associates,
a manufacturer of coin-op trivia games. 1,500 of the units are built, with a futuristic
design and fiberglass cabinet, but the game does not sell well.
bushnell comes to the conclusion that the procedures of using various buttons for
the thrusting and rotating of the ships are just too complicated for half-pissed bar
patrons to comprehend. he becomes convinced that any successful video arcade
game has to be extremely easy to understand from the get-go.
at least the futuristic fibreglass cabinet is a hit...

---
'pong' released
bushnell, cofounder of atari in 1972 (a term from the japanese game go, whose
meaning is equivalent to "check" in chess.) bushnell hires al alcorn to program
games.
since alcorn is inexperienced, bushnell has him program a simple video tennis
game as an exercise. they call the game 'pong', for two reasons:
1) 'pong' is the sound the game makes when the ball hits a paddle or side of the
screen, and
2) the name 'ping-pong' is already copyrighted. 'pong' is but a polished variant
of the game willie higinbotham displayed on his oscilloscope.

---
ROM chips
now the arcade is about to get a whole lot more crowded, between 1971 and 1973,
30 videogames are produced for the arcade by 11 manufacturers.
in 1974 the company kee games, headed by joe keenan releases 'tank',
designed by scott bristow. gameplay consists of two tanks facing off in a maze,
while trying to avoid land mines scattered about. the game breaks new technical
ground by incorporating ROM chips to hold graphics memory, enabling it to display
more complicated detail on-screen than the simple blocks of 'pong'.
'tank' becomes the biggest hit of 1974, kee and atari 'merge' back into
one company.

---
'pong' is a tv based game
in 1974 atari employees bob brown and harold lee propose a home version of 'pong',
able to be hooked up to any tv set. retailers are skittish over the short life of magnavox's
tv-based 'odyssey' game and the system languishes in the atari labs.
in 1975 they cut a deal to sell the system under the sears tele-games label.
the order is for 150,000 units. bushnell has nowhere near the facilities to produce that
many in the time sears wants them, so he taps a venture capitalist for a $10 million
line-of-credit to expand. by christmas, atari's US$100 home 'pong' console becomes sears
biggest selling item, with reports of people waiting outside stores for hours to get one.
and once again dozens of manufacturers swarm out with myriad versions of home 'pong'
games. almost all of these machines are based on the new 'pong-on-a-chip' circuit
developed by general instruments.

Krisalis Software - Company Profiles

2006-10-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Formerly known as Teque, Krisalis was a leading UK developer and publisher of quality strategy and soccer games. Here's a brief profile from the company's website back in 1996: "As well as producing games for Spectrum, Amiga, ST and many consoles, Krisalis was an ardent supporter of the slightly neglected Archimedes market. Krisalis brought major games created by other companies to Archimedes owners that they would have otherwise missed out on such as Chuck Rock, Populous, James Pond, Lemmings and Lotus Challenge. The number of people employed by Krisalis has continued to increase steadily over the years, and the number of staff on the Krisalis books now nears 40. As the numbers increased, so did the need for more office space, and so 1996 saw the expansion into adjacent buildings. As computers and consoles have come & gone, so Krisalis have evolved and looked to the next wave of machines. From development of games for Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC and MSX, through Amiga, ST, Megadrive, Archimedes, SNES and 3D0, we are now focused on both original titles and conversions for Playstation and Dreamcast. Nobody can tell what's coming next, but Krisalis will certainly be there. Generally, Krisalis are feeling very positive towards the Jaguar and think that if Atari can get enough machines into the market place, backed up with sufficient marketing, then it could be a great success. However, if they delay much longer then Sony may well steal this success away from them. Timing and marketing will prove to be crucial factors. Krisalis do see themselves as pioneers, and are already planning to release three Jaguar titles. Those currently in development include the highly-acclaimed platformer Soccer Kid and Battle Chess for other publishers. Work is also about to commence on a new football game. Krisalis believe that if developers don't commit to the Jaguar at this early stage it could well damage the console's changes. It's a good product. It's got good press. It has been very well received. They should go for it."
Tony Kavanagh (Managing Director)

From 2001 and until 2003 Krisalis games were published by The 3DO Company.

Games Published

Amiga
Arabian Nights
Sabre Team A1200

Amiga CD32
John Barnes Football
Soccer Kid

PC
Laser Squad
Sabre Team

Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Manchester United
Manchester United Europe

Games Developed

3DO
Cannon Fodder

Amiga
Arabian Nights
Sabre Team A1200

Nintendo 64
Airport Inc.

PC
Airport Tycoon
Laser Squad
Lego Land
Sabre Team

PlayStation
Black & White

Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Manchester United Europe

Super NES
The Adventures of Kid Kleets (Soccer Kid)

3DO History

2006-10-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Similar to the goal of the Phillips CD-I, a company called 3D0 set out to create a new standard in multimedia. Their creation became the 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer. It was capable of running 3D0 interactive software (games), Audio CD’s, CD+G, Photo CD, and Video CD’s using an add on. Rather then manufacturing their new system, 3D0 decided to make 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer a franchise. Sanyo, Panasonic and Goldstar all bought rights to manufacture the 3D0 system. Once produced and sold, 3D0 would claim a royalty for each system and $3 for each game sold.
In October of 1993, Panasonic began sales of the first 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer. The systems capabilities were clearly quite ahead of it’s time. Although it was not the first 32-bit system in history, the 3D0 was the first 32-bit system in the United States. The images shown are of Panasonic’s 3D0 models FZ-1 R.E.A.L 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer, and FZ-10 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer. There are several more models established by other companies, but other then a few additions they are all pretty much the same. As groundbreaking as the console was, the 3D0 was also one of the most expensive systems ever released. At a whopping $700USD or more, this machine only seemed to attract the wealthy. Even after a few price drops, the 3D0 never recovered from its initial reputation as a rich man's videogame system. Since 3D0 placed no software licensing restrictions, the 3D0 amassed a large library of games. Some quality titles such as “Need For Speed” and “Road Rash” became quite popular. Others (as with Atari 2600 titles) were sheer crap.
In 1995 the 3D0 company began announcing a new technology called 3D0 M2. This technology was rumored to have 7 times the power of any console released at the time. M2 would come standard in a new 3D0 system, or be used to upgrade existing systems.The 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer could have had the capability to compete even with newer 32-bit systems, but M2 never became reality. M2 technology was sold off to another company (Matsushita), and 3D0 machines never saw the upgrade. Gamers found themselves more interested in cheaper 16-bit consoles, and eventually newer 32-bit systems entered the market. 3D0 games and systems found their way into clearance bins starting in 1996.The system eventually died the end of that year.
FACT: 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer had only one controller port. However, this wasn't a problem since extra controllers (up to 8) could be easily daisy-chained to another controller. The original Panasonic controllers have a built-in stereo headphone jack along with a volume control dial. The system has its own internal memory to save games and other information. It has 2 expansion ports which were to be used for future upgrades such as memory cards, modems, digital video cartridges and the M2 system upgrade. The 3D0 was definitely designed for the long haul.

US 32X Game List

2006-10-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

US 32X Game List

Afterburner - 32X Version of the Sega Arcade Classic

Blackthorne - Enhanced version of the Rough-Tough Interplay Sidescroller.

Cosmic Carnage - Stupid Futuristic Boxing Game 32X Style!

Doom - 32X Version the PC Shooter (32X version doesn't even run full screen tho..)

Evander Hollyfield 'Real Deal' Boxing - Beatdown by Hollyfield

Knuckles Chaotix - 32X's Sonic title

Kolibri - It's got a hummingbird on the cover.

Mortal Kombat 2 - Better graphics than the SNES version, but terrible sound.

Motocross Championship - Dirt bikin' fun, just like ESPN2!

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition - Coo B-bal game, this version second only to Jaguar and PSX.

NFL Quarterback Club - Football Game

Night Trap (32XCD) - Cheezy FMV and a whip-cream bikini, woohoo!

Pitfall: the Mayan Adventure - Sidescroll Adventure, the Jaguar version is better =)

Primal Rage - Dino-Fighting!, by Atari, Jag CD version is also good.

R.B.I. Baseball '95 - Sega Sports Baseball Game

Slam City With Scotty Pippin (32XCD) - All FMV B-Ball game over 4CD's Yeehaw!

Space Harrier - 32X Version of the Sega Arcade Classic

Spider-Man: Web of Fire - THE Spidey Game, my spider sense is tingling!

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - Star Trek bridge sim, snooze-fest.

Star Wars Arcade - 32X Version of the Atari Arcade Classic

T-Mek - 32X Version of the Atari Arcade Semi-Classic

Tempo - Happy, kiddy sidescroll adventure.

Toughman Contest - Cool 32X boxing Game

Virtua Fighter - Best Home Version of the Sega Arcade Classic

Virtua Racing Deluxe - 32X Version of the Sega Arcade Classic

WWF Raw - Idiotic wrestling game.

WWF WrestleMania - See above.

32X Games Reviews Part 1

2006-10-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

AFTERBURNER (1 PLAYER) 60%

Afterburner is based on a late 80's arcade jet fighter game of the same name, you view the action from behind your plane, which is equipped with machine guns and lock-on missiles. Gameplay is strictly arcade and the graphics and sound are much better than the Megadrive version, (due to faster scaling and more colors) but gameplay is where it fails ... miserably, there is no skill or technique required for playing, the action is so fast and frantic that if you think\look at what your shooting, you'll be dead! and you wont know what hit you. The only way to make any progress in the game is to, turn the difficulty right down, put your guns on auto fire, and wobble the D-pad around like a nutter! WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT! This coupled with an over responsive cross hair, and hit or miss controls, seals the games fate.

B

BC RACERS (2 PLAYERS) 40%

BC Racers is a Mario Kart style game set in the stone age, the characters are funny, colorful and well drawn, each have their own strengths and weaknesses. So the graphics are o.k, what about gameplay and sound? Well the sound is rubbish, and it's practically unplayable because it skips and stutters and jumps about so much, that you cant gage punches properly at other players or tell wether your turbo is on or not. This problem is greatly magnified in the split screen 2 player mode. In the end this is a poor port of an average game, and if you really have to own it, get the Mega CD or SNES versions instead.

BLACKTHORNE (1 PLAYER) 90%

Wow! a great 32X game! (rub your eyes) Blackthorne is a 2D platform adventure game in the same vein as Flashback and Abe's Odessy, only cooler. In the game you have to rescue slaves from an army of evil Ork type monsters by strategic gunning and puzzle solving. The graphics and sound are very good , with sharp digitized sprites, nicely drawn backdrops and silky smooth animation. Gameplay and control is intuitive and easy to use, your character can run, jump, roll, shoot, throw bombs and hide in the shadows to take cover from incoming fire. Enemy AI is spot on, and hapless slaves often get shot up in a gunfight. Blackthorne was released on other consoles too, (GBA being the most recent) but 32X owners will be happy to know that this is the best console version out there.

BRUTAL UNLEASHED (2 PLAYERS) 50%

Brutal is a 2D fighting game. You main characters are martial arts animals, dogs, rabbits and the like. There is nothing drastically wrong with the game except it's so stale and boring ... that and the fact that it doesn't offer anything new over the Megadrive, Mega CD and SNES versions. The graphics are nice, colorful and well animated, but gameplay is hampered by you having to choose a character and EARN your attack moves by competing in a series of one on one fights ... big mistake, fighters of this type should be fun and fast paced, (like Street Fighter) not drawn out and tedious like this one.

COSMIC CARNAGE (2 PLAYERS)45%

Cosmic Carnage is a 2D one on one fighter in which alien fighters battle choose different body armour before each round to increase their fighting potential, the characters are large and colorful and there is a lot of sprite scaling going on, as you punch, kick, grapple and rip limbs off each other ... and this is where it goes wrong. I'm pretty sure that this game was designed to show off what the 32X could do, because the extra color pallete and mode 7 style scaling is gratuitously over used, to the extent that the game looks silly, the colors are gaudy and the sprite scaling simply scales too much, bringing large, ugly pixels right up to the screen. To make matters worse the fighters are restricted to only a handful of stiff, awkward attacks, the gameplay has all but been forgotten, in a quest to showcase the 32X extra capabilities over the Megadrive ... could this have been done on the Megadive? ... No ... And who cares.

D

DARXIDE (1 PLAYER) 60%

Darxide is a 3D polygonal space shooter viewed from behind your ship. The ship is equipped with the usual lasers and rockets needed to blast all those alien ships and asteroids that cross your path. The graphics are some of the nicest you'll see on the 32X, it's done in proper 3D textured polygons and they all animate and scale very smoothly (probably achieved by not having to do much background ... space is black y'see) and the draw distance isn't an issue because objects fade nicely into view from the dark void, adding to the feeling of being in deep space. The sound is o.k, with minimal sound effects and a passable trippy-techno sound track playing in the background. But poor gameplay and bad controls spoil all of this. Targeting enemies is a tricky affair , due to an over responsive cross hair and a rubbish radar that is just a load of colored dots at the top of the screen do nothing to convey a sense of distance. Could have been a great game ... but is just mediocre.

DOOM (1 PLAYER) 88%

Needs no introduction really. Doom is THE original first person shooter, now other reviews have given the 32X version a hard time for not having full screen (there is a border around the edge of the screen) I on the other hand think this is a pretty good conversion for loads of reasons. The game features levels from both Doom 1 and 2, the graphics are sharp, smooth and colorful, the controls are tight and easy to use, and the sound is exactly the same as it was in the original PC Doom. Nothing has been lost from the gameplay, it's still fast, frantic, fraggin' fun, and you'll forget the smaller screen size after about 5 minutes play anyway.

K

KNUCKLES CHAOTIX (1 PLAYER) 79%

This is yet another 32X title to recieve unfair criticism by reviewers. I suppose that Sonic 1,2 & 3 fans might be a little dissapointed because Chaotix doesn't really play like a classic sonic title. You play as Knuckles over Sonic style stages, and you are always attached to various buddies by an invisible bungee type force who helps (hinders) your progress through the game, so team work is the order of the day here. The graphics are lush and colorful, with sprite scaling effects (albeit a bit blocky on the knuckles sprite) and a 3D polygon sub level where you must collect blue orbs (Tempest stylee). Not being a huge sonic fan I judged the game with an unbiased view, I'm not saying this is a great game, but the 32X is short on decent titles, and this is one of the better ones.

K

KOLIBRI (1 PLAYER) 20%

Strange game Kolibri, it's a shoot 'em up that see's you take control of a humming bird. So what's wrong with it then? Well first of all the gameplay, it's hard to know what you're supposed to do, and when you do complete a mission, you still don't know. The control of your humming bird while being quite authentic is annoying, like swimming against a strong tide, the graphics are pretty, but boring (flowers, plants, trees and the like) and it slows down qite a bit when there are too many sprites on screen, most noticeable when you are rescuing your humming bird brethren from the evil insects, in which case you cant tell which one is your bird because they look exactly like you do, and they follow you around the place, leading to you getting killed. Kolibri sucks ... nuff said!

Sega Dreamcast History

2006-10-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: code-named "Blackbelt," "Dural," and "Katana" during development) was Sega's seventh & final video game console and the successor to the company's Sega Saturn. An attempt to recapture the console market with a next-generation system, it was designed to supersede Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo 64, and although generally considered to be "ahead of its time" (literally fifteen months before the PlayStation 2 and three years (based on original release dates, not U.S. release dates) before GameCube or Xbox) it failed to gather enough momentum before the release of the PlayStation 2 in March 2000. After the Dreamcast was discontinued, Sega withdrew entirely from the console hardware business.

History

When the time came to design the successor to the Sega Saturn, the new President of Sega, Shoichiro Irimajiri, took the unusual step of hiring an outsider. He hired Tatsuo Yamamoto from IBM Austin to head a skunkworks group to develop the next-generation console. It soon became apparent that the existing Japanese hardware group led by Hideki Sato did not want to relinquish control of the hardware department, bringing rise to two competing designs led by two different groups.

Design

A timeline of the development of the console's GPU may be found here.

The Japanese group led by Hideki Sato settled on an Hitachi SH4 processor with a PowerVR graphics processor developed by VideoLogic (now Imagination Technologies) and manufactured by NEC. This was originally codenamed "White Belt". The first Japanese prototype boards were silkscreened "Guppy", and the later ones "Katana".

The US skunkworks group (in a secret suite at the 303 Twin Dolphin Drive building) led by Tatsuo Yamamoto settled on an IBM/Motorola PowerPC 603e processor with a 3dfx Voodoo 2 graphics processor, which was originally codenamed "Black Belt". The first US prototype boards were silkscreened "Shark".

The Japanese hardware was codenamed "Dural", then later, "Katana". "Black Belt" and "Shark" were the only codenames used by the US hardware team (the hardware team was called "Black Belt team"; the "Shark" was in response to the Japanese team's "Guppy").

When 3dfx declared its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April 1997, it revealed every detail of the contract with Sega. Sega had been keeping the development of its next-generation console secret during this competition, and was outraged when 3dfx publicly laid out its deal with Sega over the new system in the IPO.

In July 1997, perhaps as a result of 3dfx's IPO, it was decided that the Japanese "Katana" would be the chosen format, renamed Dreamcast. In September 1997, 3dfx filed a lawsuit against Sega and NEC (later including VideoLogic), stating "breach of contract", and accusing Sega of starting the deal in bad faith to take 3dfx technology, although they later settled.

Launch

The Dreamcast was released on November 27, 1998 in Japan, on September 9, 1999 in North America (the date 9/9/99 featured heavily in US promotion) and on October 14, 1999 in Europe. The tagline used to promote the console in the US was, "It's thinking", and in Europe "Up to 6 Billion Players".

The Dreamcast was the first console to include a built-in modem and Internet support for online gaming (besides the NES, Satellaview, and the Nintendo 64DD). It enjoyed brisk sales in its first season, and was one of Sega's most successful hardware units. In the United States alone, a record 300,000 units (citation Maclean's September 24, 1999) had been pre-ordered before launch and Sega sold 500,000 consoles in just two weeks (including 225,000 sold on the first 24 hours which became a video game record until the PlayStation 2 launched a year later). In fact, due to brisk sales and hardware shortages, Sega was unable to fulfill all of the advance orders. Sega confirmed that it made $98.4 million on combined hardware and software sales with the Dreamcast with its September 9, 1999 launch. Sega even compared the record figure to the opening day gross of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which made $28.5 million during the first 24 hours in theaters.

Before the launch in the United States, Sega had already taken the extra step in displaying Dreamcast's capabilities in stores nationwide. Much like the PlayStation's launch in North America, the displays of titles such as Soul Calibur, Sonic Adventure, Power Stone, and Hydro Thunder helped the Dreamcast succeed in the first year.

Electronic Arts announced it would not support the Dreamcast unless it sold 1 million units. When this happened within a record 90 days, EA went back on their word and declined to support the Dreamcast in favor of Sony's upcoming PlayStation 2. Although the Dreamcast had none of EA's popular sports games (due in part to EA's losses from the past Sega Saturn), Sega Sports titles helped to fill that void.

Competition

In April 1999, Sony announced its PlayStation 2, designed to be backwards-compatible with the older PlayStation. The actual release of the PS2 was not until March 2000 in Japan, and late October 2000 in the US. Sony's press release, despite being a year ahead of the launch of the PS2, was enough to divert a lot of attention from Sega. With the looming PS2 launch in Japan, the Dreamcast was largely ignored in that territory. The Dreamcast had great initial success in the US, but had trouble maintaining this with the PS2's release.

Dreamcast's overall superior games (vs. early PS2 games), online capabilities including SegaNet (the PS2 would not go online until late 2002), and significantly lower price (1/2 cost) did little to help sales once the Playstation 2 was launched. American public attention was focused upon the Playstation 2's much hyped graphics and its ability to play DVDs (the DVD format did not catch on in Japan until after the release of the PS2 as the LD was the established standard). During the holiday season of 2000, the Dreamcast was largely ignored even as the PlayStation 2 was plagued by production shortages, as people often paid in excess of $1000 on eBay for Sony's next-generation console.

The biggest competition between the two systems in the US was their football games (NFL 2K1 vs. Madden NFL 2001). Both games were highly regarded with NFL 2k1 having the advantage of online play (coinciding with release of SegaNet) and Madden arguably having a graphics edge. NFL 2K1 outsold Madden 2001. It sold about 410,000 copies which was about the number of PS2s sold in America [citation needed].

Quality of the overall PlayStation 2 library wouldn't catch up until a year later after developers abandoned Dreamcast development en masse and cancelled many nearly completed projects. Sony already enjoyed brand-name dominance over Sega after the huge success of the original PlayStation and commercial failure of the Sega Saturn, Sega 32X, and Sega CD, which contributed to poorer sales of the Dreamcast.

In 2000, the announcement of the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube was widely regarded as the last straw for the Dreamcast, since both competitors had deep pockets, which fueled speculation that Sega did not have the resources for a prolonged marketing campaign.

Sega's decision to release the Dreamcast early, or even at all, is still debated. While it was largely regarded as a risky gamble, the Dreamcast was initially successful. Ultimately, anticipation of competitors' newer consoles resulted in stagnation of Dreamcast sales. The GameCube and Xbox weren't released until well after the Dreamcast was officially discontinued (nearly a year later).

End of production

On January 31, 2001, Sega announced that production of Dreamcast hardware was to be discontinued by March of that year, although the 50 to 60 titles still in production would be published. The last North American release was NHL 2K2, which was released in February 2002. With the company announcing no plans to develop a next-generation successor to the Dreamcast, this was Sega's last foray into the home console business. By the time Sega decided to cease development of the Dreamcast, about 10 million consoles had been sold. One key reason cited for the failure of the Dreamcast was Sega's poor relations with the games publishers (such as Electronics Arts, following the poor performance of previous consoles.

Though the Dreamcast was officially discontinued in early 2001, commercial games were still developed and released afterwards, particularly in Japan. Many consider the critically acclaimed arcade shooter Ikaruga developed by Treasure to be the Dreamcast's swan song. It was released in September 2002 in Japan only after a large amount of speculation on the game's fate; its US release was on the GameCube in April 2003. Hacked unreleased games like Propeller Arena and Half-Life continued to become available to the public by warez groups like Echelon.

On February 24, 2004, Sega released their final Dreamcast game, Puyo Pop Fever, although a small number of third-party games are still being released, such as Trizeal, Rajirugi, and most recently Under Defeat (released in March 2006).

Despite its short lifespan, the Dreamcast is still a very popular and highly-regarded console among many fans due to its impressive library of both mainstream and quirky titles. It is even starting to become a cult classic, as the system is getting harder to find (in fact, although the Dreamcast was officially discontinued in January 2001, Sega continued to produce the console for a short time afterwards due to rising demand, not least among collectors and hardcore fans).

Several Dreamcast emulation projects have emerged after the Dreamcast's end of production, with Chankast being the most notable.

GD-ROM

The Dreamcast used a proprietary format called GD-ROM or "GigaDisc" for storing games and software. Sega chose the GD-ROM format for its increased capacity while using inexpensive compact disc technology. All Dreamcast consoles could also play audio compact discs until the introduction of revised GD-ROM drives in 2001 that could not read burned CDs of any kind.

Windows CE

Microsoft co-operated with Sega in hopes of promoting its Windows CE operating system for video games. Windows CE offered easy porting of existing PC applications, but offered limited capabilities compared to the Dreamcast's native operating system. When developers took advantage of the easy development offered by Windows CE, the resulting games (e.g., Sega Rally 2) lagged in performance and framerate. The only Windows CE application known by most users was the pack-in CD containing a CE-based dialer and web browser.

The Dreamcast used the same technology as the Sega NAOMI arcade game hardware platform, therefore NAOMI-based games such as Crazy Taxi were easily ported to the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast, however, had less memory and games were loaded from GD-ROM discs (while some NAOMI games were released on GD-ROM most used ROM boards).

Graphics Output

The Dreamcast is able to output true 640x480 VGA (480p60 EDTV), which (at the time) set it apart from other consoles. The system, when combined with the VGA adapter accessory (mentioned below), had the ability to display high-res, non-interlaced picture(s).

The feature was underused by the public despite the potential for improved video quality with the use of a PC monitor or HDTV set. This was likely due to lack of knowledge on the subject. Also, a few notable games were not compatible with this mode, including certain Capcom fighting games and 2D shoot-'em-up games.

Other well known graphic implementations such as, cel-shading and bump mapping, were first seen on Sega's console. In fact, the first completely cel-shaded animation game was Jet Set Radio (Jet Grind Radio in US), released in 2000 on the Dreamcast.

Connectivity

Much like the successive GameCube, the Dreamcast has the ability to connect to a handheld gaming unit. Using a special cable, with specific games, the Dreamcast could connect with the Neo Geo Pocket. SNK and Capcom took advantage of the connectivity to allow players of Capcom vs SNK and The King of Fighters to trade points between the console and handheld versions of their games.

Online

Dreamcast consoles came packed with a disc containing web browser software allowing dial-up Internet access. Dream Passport was the Japanese browser, Planetweb was used in America, and DreamKey in Europe. Version 3.0 of Planetweb included broadband capabilities, Java, Flash, and mouse support. In Europe, the final version of DreamKey was 3.0.

While Planetweb was a browser created specifically for the US market, Europe's DreamKey was in fact a translated version of the Japanese Dream Passport. It was used on some American game releases (such as Metropolis Street Racer); here it was called Internet Viewer.

The Dreamcast was one of the first home console systems to offer online gameplay with the game ChuChu Rocket! (which was distributed free to Dreamcast owners in Europe). Sega also has the honors of the first online console sports title (Sega Sports NFL 2K1) as well as the first ever online console RPG (Phantasy Star Online). The SegaNet online dial-up service (US$29/month membership) attracted 750,000 subscribers in America alone. About twenty-two games, including Quake III Arena and Phantasy Star Online, supported SegaNet. Other major online games include 4x4 Evolution (first crossplatform online game), Starlancer, and Ferrari F355 Challenge. Although the online features of most commercially-released online-capable Dreamcast games are no longer supported, with the complete shut-down of support in the US, some games are still playable online in Japan. Yet, fans have developed servers for playing Phantasy Star Online and the North American version of Quake III Arena which can still be played online by finding or setting up a server using software and a map pack released by Sega. The games still playable online are Quake III Arena, Starlancer, 4x4 Evolution, Phantasy Star Online, Maximum Pool Online, and Sega Swirl, which still have dozens of players online.

In Europe, the online service was known as Dreamarena. This was created and operated for Sega Europe by a partnership between ICL and BT (ICL developed the web sites and software, with BT providing the dial-up capabilities and network infrastructure). The service was free and the game servers hosted within it could not otherwise be accessed from the Internet. Dreamarena ran until the beginning of March 2002. As the DreamKey web browser was customised to only work with Dreamarena, Sega subsequently offered a free replacement version which would allow connection with the user's own Internet service provider.

The modem module in the Dreamcast could easily be replaced with a broadband module to allow networked gaming over Ethernet. Phantasy Star Online, Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament, Outtrigger, Bomberman Online, and POD Speedzone included support for this device. It should be noted, however, that not all of those games supported the Ethernet adapter; the US release of Phantasy Star Online only officially supported dial-up connectivity, however it was possible to use the Japanese version of the game to configure usage of the Ethernet adapter (or, alternatively, another Japanese title that configured the same settings in the system BIOS) and then play the US release of the game with the Ethernet adapter.

The standard Dreamcast unit is made of white and grey plastic. The power light, like the Dreamcast logo in NTSC regions, is orange (this color was chosen because the Japanese consider it to be lucky). Games were sold in jewel cases which initially had the Dreamcast name and logo on a white background, but later games used a black background (blue in Europe).

The unit was packaged with a video cable which supports composite video and right/left stereo audio. Available separately were an S-Video cable, a RF connector (included as standard in the UK and Portugal) and a VGA adapter (see accessories below).

In the United States, a black Dreamcast was released in limited numbers with a sports pack which included two Sega Sports titles. Electronics Boutique offered a blue Dreamcast through its website. Similar offerings were sold through the Lik-sang website. Cases of different colors like blue, red, orange, and green were sold for replacements of the original casing. In Japan, Sega released many varieties of the system, including limited edition Sonic anniversary editions, and Hello Kitty outfits. The Sega Dreamcast Hello Kitty was released in 2000 in Japan. Due to its limited production, it has become an extremely rare collector's piece. The package contains a keyboard, a controller, a VMU, a mouse, and a Hello Kitty trivia game. The console and accessories are translucent pink in color with some printed designs. The Sega Dreamcast Hello Kitty special edition was also available in a blue with all the same accessories.

The Brazilian version, manufactured by Tec Toy under license, was essentially the same as the US version, however its video output was converted to the PAL-M standard and it didn't come with the modem, which was available separately.

The Dreamcast in Europe had its spiral logo in blue, similar to the logo on earlier Sega systems. This change in logo is thought to have been for copyright reasons. A German company, Tivola, had been using a similar swirl logo years before Sega branded the Dreamcast with the orange swirl. As well as the VGA mode (again using an adapter), the European Dreamcast supported PAL video, in both 50Hz and 60Hz modes. This was a first for games consoles, as no previous PAL console had offered the option to play games at full speed, using the ability of more modern PAL televisions to operate at 60Hz. This became a feature of all major consoles released since. The 60Hz option had to be enabled on the game disc, however, but only a small number of games lacked this. Games in Europe were sold in jewel cases exactly twice as thick as their US counterparts, possibly to enable the inclusion of thick instruction booklets containing instructions in multiple languages.

A third-party company from China named Treamcast released a portable modified Dreamcast which used the original first party Dreamcast components with a custom made plastic casing. This small system with its fold-down display resembled the later PS One. Many companies included software and a remote with the unit that enabled it to play MP3s and Video CDs. When the internet import videogame store, Lik-Sang, contacted Sega to ask permission to sell a modified version of the system with Sega trademarks on the system, they were told that Sega did not approve of the unit, and felt that it violated their trademarks. In reality, this system is not any different from selling a Dreamcast pre-modified with a third party shell, as the system's internals still use first party hardware, and contain no modifications whatsoever aside from the outside casing and modifications for internal sound and video.

Recently, in 2005, the internet import store, Lan-Kwei, has started selling a "Treamcast" portable modified Dreamcast with a 16:9 widescreen LCD. Aside from the cosmetic differences in the case to accommodate the larger screen, there are no differences between the original Treamcast portable modified Dreamcast and the newer widescreen model.

The Visual Memory Unit, or "VMU", was the Dreamcast's memory card. It had a monochrome LCD screen, a D-Pad, and two gaming buttons. It could play minigames loaded onto it (a Chao game was obtainable in Sonic Adventure, for example). It could also display a list of the saved game data stored on it, and two VMUs could be connected together (end-to-end, needing no other hardware) to exchange data.

Standard memory cards could also be purchased without the additional features of the VMU. Most of these were manufactured by third-party companies (such as the Nexus Memory Card), although Sega eventually released a 4X memory card. The 4X cards did not have the VMU screen or stand-alone abilities, but they had four times the space by switching between four 200-block sectors.

Controller and Rumble Pack Most Dreamcast games supported a rumble pack ("Jump Pack"), which was sold separately and could be plugged into the controller. In Japan, the Jump Pack was named the "Puru Puru Pack".

The Dreamcast controller offered an analog stick, a D-pad, a Start button, four gaming buttons (labeled A, B, X, and Y), and two analog index finger triggers on the underside. It also contained two slots which fit memory cards or the rumble pack; the uppermost one had a window through which the VMU's display could be seen. The Dreamcast controller was somewhat large and a few players found it difficult to hold.

VGA Adapter Unique to the Dreamcast among current console gaming systems, it could use a VGA adapter for output to a computer display and HDTV compatible sets (which provided much better quality than a television set).

Not all games are compatible with the VGA adapter, but there are work arounds to trick all but a handful of games into working with it.

Dreamcast Mouse and Keyboard The Dreamcast supported a mouse as well as a keyboard which was useful when using the included web browser, but was also supported by certain games such as The Typing of the Dead, Quake 3, Phantasy Star Online and Railroad Tycoon 2. Other games such as REZ offer undocumented mouse support.

Fishing Rod A motion sensitive fishing rod was released for the few fishing games on the system.

Microphone There was a microphone peripheral used for Alien Front Online, version 2.6 of the Planetweb Web browser (long distance calling support), the European Planet Ring collection and Seaman (the first console game to use voice recognition in the US).

Lightgun

Sega also produced a light gun for the system, although this was not sold in the US presumably because Sega did not want its name on a gun in the light of recent school shootings. American versions of light gun games even blocked out using the official gun. Several third parties made compatible guns for the few light gun games released, including The House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission. The only other light gun compatible games were Death Crimson OX and its Japanese only prequel, Virtua Cop 2 on the Sega Smash Pack, and a light gun minigame in Demolition Racer No Exit.

Arcade Stick Sega also released the heavy-duty Arcade Stick, a digital joystick with six buttons using the same microswitch assemblies as commercial arcade machines. Although it could not be used for many Dreamcast games due to the lack of an analog joystick, it was well received and helped cement the Dreamcast's reputation for 2D shooters and fighting games. The Arcade Stick itself lives on beyond the Dreamcast, as adaptors are now available to use it on other hardware platforms.

Third-party sticks were also made, like the ASCII Dreamcast fighting Pad, which some regard as having a more comfortable 6-button configuration and a more precise digital direction pad.

Twin Sticks A twin stick peripheral was released specifically for use with the game Virtual-On. This add-on mimicked the original dual arcade stick setup and made gameplay much more precise. They are extremely rare and versions that appear on ebay sell for over $100.

Dreameye Sega developed the Dreameye, a digital camera for the Dreamcast, but it was only released in Japan.

Samba de Amigo controller Sega developed a special "maracas" controller for the Samba de Amigo music game.

Cancelled Accessories Toward the end of the Dreamcast's lifespan, Sega created and displayed prototypes of a high-capacity VMU/MP3 player, DVD player, and Zip drive peripherals. None of these items became available to the public.

Sega 32X - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006-10-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

Market history
With the release of the Super Famicom in Japan and the Super NES in North America, Sega needed to leapfrog Nintendo in the technological department. The Sega Mega-CD, known as Sega CD in North America, had not worked as well, in a business sense, as Sega had wanted it to. Sega had various developments underway, named after planets. Some used System 16 technology, as the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, as well as other arcade games, did.
The 32X was released in mid-November 1994 in North America for $150, Japan on December 3rd 1994 for ¥16,800, and Europe in January 1995 for £170 / DM 400.

Technical aspects
The Sega 32X can only be used in conjunction with a Mega Drive/Genesis system; it is plugged in where the cartridge bay is. Besides playing its own cartridges, it also acts as a passthrough for Mega Drive games so it can be a permanent attachment. (The SVP based Virtua Racing was the only exception.) The 32X came with several spacers so it would work with all (then current) versions of the Mega Drive. (The Genesis 3, which lacks circuitry needed, and appropriate plugs, to work with the 32X, was introduced later.) It could be used with the Sega Multi-Mega/Sega CDX system, but the spacers would not accommodate the CDX, which created a number of user-unfriendly conditions in the unit. Without the use of the spacers, some of the 32X hardware was left exposed and vulnerable. The combined unit was also very prone to tipping over, risking damage to the unit and games. In addition to the physical problems, there was also an issue with FCC approval.
Most 32X games cannot be played unless the distribution region of the game matches the region of the console. A few games are not locked and can be played on a console from any region (e.g. Fifa 96). Two games, Darxide and FIFA Soccer '96, were only released for the PAL 32X.
All but one of the games released for the Japanese market were released in the United States, albeit some had different names. The one Japanese-only game was Sangokushi IV (known as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV").
In addition to regular cartridge-based 32X games, there were also a very small number 32X CD games. As the name suggests, these required both the 32X and Mega-CD/Sega CD addons. The lack of a significant userbase due to the high cost of purchasing all three necessary components saw only five games released, only one of those developed by Sega. The most notable of these was a new version of the infamous Night Trap with 32,768 onscreen colors instead of the 64 found on the regular Mega-CD/Sega CD version.

History

Development
On January 8, 1994, Hayao Nakayama, then CEO of Sega, ordered his company to make a 32-bit cartridge based console that would be in stores by Christmas 1994. This would at first be named "Project Jupiter", but after Sega found CD technology cheaper, they decided to modify it instead of dropping the cartridge project (that would be called "Project Saturn"). Hideki Sato and some other Sega of Japan engineers came over to collaborate about the project with Sega of America's Joe Miller. The first idea was a new Mega Drive/Genesis with more colors and a 32-bit processor. Miller thought that an add-on to the Mega Drive/Genesis would be a better idea, because he felt that gamers would not buy an improved version of the Mega Drive/Genesis. And so, this project was codenamed Project Mars, and Sega of America was going to shape the project.
At the same time, however, Sega of Japan was working on the Sega Saturn, a CD-based 32-bit videogame system. Sega of America did not learn of this until Project Mars was already in progress.

Launch
The video-gaming public first got a glimpse at the Summer 1994 CES in Chicago. Players highly anticipated the system, because it would make the Genesis superior to the Super Famicom/SNES. The console was unmasked as the 32X, with a price projection of $170 (USD), at a gamers' day, held by Sega of America in September 1994.
The 32X hit the market in North America in November 1994, during the same month the Sega Saturn was released in Japan. Many industry insiders speculated that the 32X was doomed from the beginning as the Sega Saturn hardware was widely regarded as more powerful than the 32X and had the support of many Japanese third party software developers (a necessary resource required for any gaming platform's long term success) which the 32X was sorely lacking.
Only 500,000 consoles had been produced for North American consumption, yet orders were in the millions. The console allegedly had numerous mechanical problems. Games had been rushed for the system in the run up to Christmas 1994. Some early games came with errors in programming, causing crashes and glitches on certain titles. Other games required leaving out parts in order to make the Christmas deadline; Doom 32X is missing almost half the levels present on the PC. Many complained that their 32X was not working with their Mega Drive/Genesis or television. Sega was forced to give away adapters.
Since this was an expensive add-on system, Sega decided to offer a £50 discount on games with the console in Europe. However, the offer came in the form of rebate vouchers, which were difficult to take advantage of. Just like its North American counterpart, this console was initially popular. Orders exceeded one million, but not enough were produced, and supply shortage problems arose.

Decline
By mid-1995, the time the Sega executives realized their blunder, it was too late. Developers and licensees had abandoned this console in favor of what they perceived to be a true 32-bit console, the Sega Saturn. Even though the 32X was a 32-bit system, the games did not appear to take full advantage of 32 bit processing; many games were rushed and produced in 2D. Many were just slightly-enhanced ports of Genesis or old arcade games such as Mortal Kombat II and Space Harrier.
Due to successful marketing, customers perceived the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation as the true next-generation consoles, due to their rich launch titles and 3D graphics. Also, customers perceived that Sega abandoned the 32X despite promises to the contrary, due to the launch of the Saturn.
Console makers, prior to the launch of PlayStation 2, would often abandon platforms and offer no backwards compatibility with older systems. For this reason Sega's 32X customers felt cheated because of the apparent lower quality of the game, and the inevitability of obsolescence.
Store shelves became littered with unwanted Sega 32X systems, and prices for a new one dropped as low as $19.95. Sega planned a console named the Sega Neptune, which would have been a Genesis and 32X in one. However, by the time a prototype was developed, the Sega Saturn was going to be released, and Sega cancelled the Neptune.
The situation became so bad that the 32X was actually mocked on Saturday Night Live, as well as in the gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, which likened the 32X to a 'waffle maker' and the games as 'batter'. The Sega 32X fiasco is now considered one of the most poorly planned console releases ever.
The last game made for the 32X in the US was Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996). The last ever 32X game was Darxide, which had been intended by Frontier Developments to be a launch title for the ill-fated Neptune. Both these games now command a high value from collectors — but especially Darxide (up to $1000) due to its scarcity, reputation and auspicious creator (David Braben, co-writer of the groundbreaking game Elite). Nevertheless, it is exceeded in rarity by the European PAL versions of the games Primal Rage and T-Mek. For obscure reasons a mere handful of copies of these games are known to be in circulation - with T-Mek being so scarce that until a copy surfaced on eBay in late 2005, it was widely held that the PAL release was only a rumour. The appearance of a copy has fuelled speculation that other rumoured but unconfirmed PAL games may also exist, in particular BC Racers.
For many years prior, console makers promised devices like the 32X (for consoles such as the Colecovision, Intellivision II, and some Atari systems) that would extend and enhance the original system. The 32X was the first product released that fundamentally altered the original console's abilities. However, deficient in software titles and lacking the 3D capabilities the gaming community demanded, the add-on represented a technological dead end, ultimately punishing early adopters. Ignorant of the idea that console systems' primary strength is in standardization, Sega had created three different platforms (the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and the Mega-CD/Sega CD and the 32X add-ons) all under the same banner, stealing valuable shelf space from itself and confusing both vendors and consumers in the process. The entire episode demonstrated that producing such add-ons is likely to have detrimental effects on a system's brand marketing strategy.
The system ended production worldwide in 1996.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Nintendo 64 - Ultra 64 - Brief history (Wikipedia)

2006-10-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Nintendo 64 (Japanese: ニンテンドウロクジュウヨン Nintendō Rokujūyon), commonly called the N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. The N64 was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan; September 29, 1996 in North America; March 1, 1997 in Europe/Australia, September 1, 1997 in France, October 15, 1997 in Brazil (the system also saw a release in Latin America, albeit an unofficial one). It was released with three launch games in Japan (Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64 and Saikyou Haniu Shogi), and two in North America and PAL region (Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64). The Nintendo 64 cost $199 at launch in the United States.
The N64 was first publicly introduced on November 24, 1995 as the Nintendo Ultra 64 at the 7th Annual Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in Japan (though preview pictures from the Nintendo "Project Reality" console had been published in American magazines as early as June 1993). The first published photos from the event were presented on the web via coverage by Game Zero magazine two days after the event.[2] Official coverage by Nintendo soon followed a few weeks later on the nascent Nintendo Power website, and then in volume #85 of their print magazine.
During the developmental stages the N64 was referred to by its code name, Project Reality. The name Project Reality came from the speculation within Nintendo that this console could produce CGI on par with then-current supercomputers. Once unveiled to the public the name changed to Nintendo Ultra 64. Nintendo dropped "Ultra" from the name on February 1, 1996, just months before its Japanese debut, because the word "Ultra" was trademarked by another company, Konami, for its Ultra Games division.

After first announcing the project, two companies, Rareware (UK) and Midway (USA), created the arcade games Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA which claimed to use the Ultra 64 hardware. In fact, the hardware had nothing to do with what was finally released; the arcade games used hard drives and TMS processors. Killer Instinct was the most advanced game of its time graphically, featuring pre-rendered movie backgrounds that were streamed off the hard drive and animated as the characters moved horizontally.
Nintendo touted many of the system's more unusual features as groundbreaking and innovative, but many of these features had, in fact, been implemented before by the Atari Jaguar. Regardless, the Nintendo 64 was the first popular system to combine these features and make a significant impact upon gamers.
The system was designed by Silicon Graphics Inc., and features their trademark dithered 32-bit graphics. The early N64 development system was an SGI Indy equipped with an add-on board that contained a full N64 system.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Sega Saturn History - from Wikipedia

2006-10-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

The Sega Saturn (セガサターン, Sega Satān?) is a 32-bit video game console, first released on November 22, 1994 in Japan, April 27, 1995 in North America and July 8, 1995 in Europe. Approximately 170,000 machines were sold the first day of the Japanese launch. 5,000 were sold in the weekend following the United Kingdom launch.
At one time, the Sega Saturn held second place in the console wars, placing it above Nintendo's Super Famicom in Japan and Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in North America and Europe, but the Saturn slowly lost market share to Sony's PlayStation and, outside Japan, the cartridge-based Nintendo 64.
The Japanese Saturn was rushed to the market, just a few weeks ahead of its rival, Sony's PlayStation. This led to very few games being available at launch.
The system was supported in North America and Europe until late 1998, and in Japan until the end of 2000. The last official game for the system, Yukyu Gensokyoku Perpetual Collection, was released by Mediaworks in December that year. Interestingly, a game called Sega Saturn: Lost & Found VOL #1 was released in the US by Older Games in August of 2004 (although it is not playable with a retail, unmodified Saturn).

Development
Sega's 27-member Away Team, comprising employees from every aspect of hardware engineering, product development and marketing, worked exclusively for two years to ensure the Sega Saturn's hardware and design met the precise needs of both the U.S. and Japanese markets. The Saturn was a powerful machine for the time, but its design, with two CPUs and 6 other processors, made harnessing its power extremely difficult. Rumours suggest that the original plan called for a single processor, but a second one was added late in development to increase potential performance.

One very fast central processor would be preferable. I don't think that all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs - most can only get about one-and-a-half times the speed you can get from one SH-2. I think only one out of 100 programmers is good enough to get that kind of speed out of the Saturn.

—Yu Suzuki Regarding the Sega Saturn's complicated architecture.
Third-party development was further hindered by the initial lack of useful software libraries and development tools, requiring developers to write in assembly language to achieve decent performance. Programmers would often utilize only one CPU to simplify development in titles such as Alien Trilogy.
The main disadvantage of the dual CPU architecture was that both processors shared the same bus, and besides 4K of on-chip memory, all data and program code for both CPUs were located in the same shared 2 MB of main memory. This meant that without very careful division of processing, the second CPU would often have to wait while the first CPU was working, reducing its processing ability.
The hardware also lacked light sourcing and hardware video decompression support. Nevertheless, when properly utilized, the dual processors in the Saturn could produce impressive results such as the 1997 ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D by Lobotomy Software, and later games like Burning Rangers were able to achieve true transparency effects on hardware that used simple polygon stipples as a replacement for transparency effects in the past.
From a market viewpoint, the architectural design problems of the Saturn meant that it quickly lost third party support to the PlayStation. Unlike the Playstation's use of triangles as its basic geometric primitive, the Saturn rendered quadrilaterals. This proved a hindrance as most industry standard design tools were based around triangles, and multiplatform games were usually developed with triangles and the Playstation's larger market share in mind.
If used correctly the quadrilateral rendering of the Saturn would show less texture distortion than was common on Playstation titles, as demonstrated by several cross-platform titles such as Wipeout and Destruction Derby. The quadrilateral-focussed hardware and a 50% greater amount of video RAM also gave the Saturn an advantage for 2D game engines and attracted many developers of RPGs, arcade games and traditional 2D fighting games. A 4 MB RAM cart, released only in Japan, boosted available memory even further for games such as Capcom's X-Men Vs Street Fighter.

The unreleased Saturn version of Shenmue.
Tomb Raider was originally designed for the Saturn's quadrilateral-based hardware and as a result was incapable of displaying levels containing any triangular parts. This restriction remained in place for most of the 32-bit sequels. On the other hand, the quadrilateral ability allowed the Saturn to render First-person shooter games better than other consoles at the time, games like Quake, Powerslave, Duke Nukem 3D, HeXen. Also, the extra video RAM allowed larger levels than in PlayStation versions.
A true example of the Saturn's capability is widely considered to be the systems version of Shenmue, Yu Suzuki's multi-million dollar project that would eventually find a new home on the Saturn's successor, the Sega Dreamcast. Work on the title is believed to have been fairly complete, and several technical demos and gameplay footage have since been released to the public. The footage displays a system capable of producing fully rendered, entirely 3D locations and characters.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License

History of Nintendo Super NES

2006-10-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

The release of the Mega Drive and Turbografix-16 consoles in 1989 meant that Nintendo too had to come up with a 16-bit machine to stay in the game. It did not release the SNES in Japan until November 1990, known there as the Super Famicom, in the US in September 1991 and in the UK in April 1992, simply because the NES was doing well and new games were still being released for it. When it finally hit the market though, it proved to be a powerful and impressive competitor to Sega's Mega Drive and NEC's Turbografix-16.
The SNES had a much slower processor then the Mega Drive, but it really excelled when it came to its graphics processor. It could produce 32K colors, 256 of which could be displayed on screen at the same time, and had special hardware modes that allowed for effects such as scaling, rotating and transparency. This was the SNES's strong point.
Animation effects in games that involved scaling objects (i.e. zooming in and out of screen) or rotating them required lots of graphical sequences at a high frame rate that took up lots of space and processing power. The SNES's solution was to provide abstract hardware modes that a game could use in order to achieve effects like scaling, rotation and transparency. The famous Mode 7 was the hardware mode responsible for scaling and rotating.
In addition to its built-in hardware modes, Nintendo later released a whole array of chips that added processing power as well as other features to games. They came built into games' PCBs as opposed to plugging into the console's extension port. The Super FX chip, which allowed for 3D graphics to be rendered in games, upped the SNES's speed to 10.5MHz and the Super FX2 upped it to 21MHz. Many more chips were made available, and most of them played a large part in keeping the SNES competitive even in the face of the newer 32-bit consoles.
One thing Nintendo did differently this time round was they didn't force software developers to write games exclusively for them. Actually, this wasn't even an option for Nintendo because the major third-party software developers were already signed up with Sega. The move was a right one, and many quality games available for the Mega Drive got written for the SNES. Others, such as the arcade hit Street Fighter II, made their debut on the SNES. The censored version of Mortal Kombat was a bit embarrassing, but anyway...
Of course, there was that whole issue with Nintendo and Sony (and later on Philips) who were working on a CD add-on for the SNES. When Nintendo decided that loading times would plague games and broke the deal, Sony decided to start work on their own CD-based console, and we all know what happened next. More on this in the Playstation section.
The SNES retailed for $200 in the US and £150 in the UK. Over 46 million units were sold worldwide. The one pictured below is the European version. The US version has a completely different look. Much like Beauty and the Beast.
Technical Specs:
CPU: 16-bit 65816 (3.58MHz)RAM: 128KB (1Mb), 64KB (0.5Mb) Video RAMGraphics: Dedicated graphics processorColors: 32768 (256 on screen)Sprites: 128Sprite Size: 64x64 pixelsResolution: 512x448 pixelsSound: 8-channel 8-bit Sony SPC700 digitized sound

Sony Playstation history

2006-10-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

The history of the Playstation begins in 1988 when Sony and Nintendo were working together to develop the Super Disc. The Super Disc was going to be a CD-ROM attachment that was intended to be part of Nintendo's soon to be released Super Nintendo game. However, Sony and Nintendo parted ways business-wise and the Super Disc was never introduced or used by Nintendo. In 1991, Sony used a modified version of the Super Disk as part of their new game console - the Sony Playstation. Research and development for the PlayStation had began in 1990, headed by Sony engineer, Ken Kutaragi.

Only two hundred models of the first Playstation (that could play Super Nintendo game cartridges) were manufactured by Sony. The original Playstation was designed as a multi-media and multi-purpose entertainment unit. Besides being able to play Super Nintendo games, the Playstation could play audio CDs and could read CDs with computer and video information as well. In 1994, the new PlayStation X (PSX) was released that was no longer compatable with Nintendo game cartridges and only played CD-ROM based games. A smart move that soon made Playstations the best selling game console.

Link: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_playstation.htm

Nintendo SNES - History

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The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES or SNES) was built by Nintendo in the 1990s. It was the sucessor to the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States and Europe. It was the major rival of Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis.
Market History 1988 Nintendo executives at first were not interested in making a new system when rival Sega announced that they would release their 16-Bit Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis in 1988. However, the executives were quick to see the Genesis taking over the market in North America, due to its large library of sports games and arcade ports, as well as its superior technology. The NES did not do well in Europe, and the Megadrive surpassed the SNES there as well.
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Nintendo CEO at the time, had put Masayuki Uemura in charge of designing the console. They had originally planned for the Famicom/NES to be 16-bit systems, but those components were too expensive at the time, and so they were 8-bit systems. With the components being cheaper at the time, Nintendo did not hesitate to build a more powerful system.
1990 The Super Famicom was released November 21, 1990 in Japan. The United States Version of the Super NES was released September 1, 1991 with a starting price of $200. The first Super NES set was packaged with Super Mario World and two controllers. The PAL version of the SNES was released in the United Kingdom for £150 in April 1992. Its German release came a few weeks later.
A few months later, the Power Set, a bare-bones version of the SNES, would be released in North America, which went for $100. Towards the middle of its life, the North American set was distributed like it was the first time, but the game varied. One set was sold with the Super Game Boy accessory.
Internally, the consoles were only different depending on the TV standard in that country. Many Australian video games came from Europe because both used PAL systems. RPG's can be translated into other languages, because of how important the text is in the game. Yet many action titles and shooters didn't have changes to the languages because the text wasn't too important to the game play.
The U. S. release was not as easy as the Super Famicom had been. The SNES was not backwards compatible with the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was a popular system. There was be hesitation to buy a new console when games from the old one wouldn't work. In addition, Sega had gotten some very popular titles out for their Genesis console, including Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was vital to the Genesis' marketing, as many people favored Sonic over Mario due to the "coolness" factor. In addition, the Genesis was about $50 cheaper than the SNES.
Thanks to the the marginally superior technical capabilities over its main competitor, Nintendo's family-friendly image, popularity of icon game characters like Super Mario, the Super NES was popular throughout the world through the early to mid-1990s. The SNES played a game of catchup and won, although in the United States the Genesis was more successful. In the end Nintendo had twice as many sales of it's console than Sega.
The number of games for the SNES was larger. It many exclusive titles, some of which were considered to be the best video games at the time. It also had many best-selling (and often still expensive) RPGs, such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. Some Super NES games are enhanced remakes of Famicom/NES games. One example is Super Mario All Stars, another is Ninja Gaiden Trilogy.
The European console was similar to the Japanese Super Famicom. Nintendo never got much of a footing in Europe, particularly due to the distribution problems. Ironically, there were converters available that allowed users to play Sega Master System games on the Sega Megadrive. Both consoles were very popular in Europe.
1996 An SNES redesign, which was lighter in weight, came out in October 1997 for $99.99 in the United States to get the last few sales from people still interested in the 16-Bit market. The game was packaged with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The RF Ports and expansion ports did not come with the version; Hopes of an SNES-CD died, and the resources helped make the Playstation.
The Super NES was superseded by the Nintendo 64. Many of the successful games for the system are being revived in the Game Boy Advance, which has remarkably similar capabilities.
After 1999 The SNES was in popular decline from 1996 to 1999, with the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 eating away at its marketing share. However, even though the Super NES was discontinued in North America and Europe in 1999, like the NES, it left the mark of many million cartridges and more than the NES did. The second hand market was burgeoning on the SNES as it did on the NES. Around this time, many gamers began to rediscover the SNES. The NES and SNES continued to be in production in Japan until late 2003.
Meanwhile, SNES enthusiasts were programming an emulator called ZSNES. In 1998, ZSNES was released. One year later, ZSNES got its rival, SNES9X. Nintendo had the same stance against SNES emulation as it had on NES emulation.
ROM images of Super NES Game Paks, which have been claimed to be potentially illegal, are actually getting easier to find, since the SNES went out of production in North America in 1999. Nintendo claimed that ROMs are nothing but gratuitous piracy, but the company actually brought it onto itself. Others claim that ROMs are used to preserve the games since the cartridges are more fragile. Like its predecessor the NES, the Super NES has a continued interest among its fans, continuing to thrive on a huge secondhand market and proliferate ROM images. There has been a larger demand for a secondhand market and emulation for the SNES than the NES.
The revival of the SNES is settling back down. The second hand market is declining, and SNES ROMs are getting easier to find. The NES and SNES are likely to command legions of fans in many years to come.
SNES Hardware Specifications
CPU: WDC 65C816 16 bit processor running at 1.79, 2.68 MHz, or 3.58 MHz (Changeable), with 128 KiB of RAM
Sound CPU: 8-bit Sony SPC700 running at 4.1 MHz, with 64 KiB of RAM, PC file name extension: .SPC
Main sound Chip: 8-channel DSP with hardware decompression similar to ADPCM
Memory Cycle Time: 279 Minutes
Cartridge Size Specifications: 2Megabits - 48 Megabits
Audio RAM: 512 KB
Sound Channels: 8, Uses compressed wave samples
Pulse Code Modulator: 16-Bit
Picture Processor Unit: 16-Bit
Palette: 32,768 Colors
Texture and map RAM: 64 KiB
Onscreen colors: 241 in mode 1 or 256 in mode 7, not counting sum-blending
Resolution: Most games used 256x224 pixels; there were tricks to get 512x448 but these were rarely used.
Maximum onscreen sprites: 128 (32 per line)
Maximum number of sprite pixels on one scanline: 256. The picture generator had a bug such that it would drop the frontmost sprites instead of the rearmost sprites if a scanline exceeded the limit.
Most common display modes: Pixel-to-pixel text mode 1 (16 colors per tile; 3 scrolling layers) and affine mapped text mode 7 (256 colors per tile; one rotating/scaling layer)
Power Input: 120V AC, 60 Hz, 17 Watts
Power Output: 10V DC, 850 mA (NTSC), 9V AC (PAL)
Controller Response: 16 Milliseconds
2 seven-pin controller ports in the front of the machine

Note: this Wikipedia article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Specifications of Atari Jaguar

2006-10-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

A. Physical dimensions:

Size: 9.5" x 10" x 2.5"
Controls: Power on/off
Display: Programmable screen resolution. Horizontal resolution is
dependent on the amount of scanline buffer space given to the
"Tom" graphics processor. Maximum vertical resolution varies
according to the refresh rate (NTSC or PAL). Reportedly, a
stock Jaguar (without additional memory) running NTSC can
display up to 576 rows of pixels.
24-bit "True Color" display with 16,777,216 colors
simultaneously (additional 8 bits of supplimental graphics
data support possible)
Multiple-resolution, multiple-color depth objects (monochrome,
2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit) can be used
simultaneously
Ports: Cartridge slot/expansion port (32 bits)
RF video output
Video edge connector (video/audio output)
(supports NTSC and PAL; provides S-Video, Composite, RGB
outputs, accessible by optional add-on connector)
Two controller ports
Digital Signal Processor port (includes high-speed synchronous
serial input/output)
Controllers: Eight-directional joypad
Size 6.25" x 5" x 1.6", cord 7 feet
Three fire buttons (A, B, C)
Pause and Option buttons
12-key keypad (accepts game-specific overlays)

The Jaguar has five processors which are contained in three chips. Two of
the chips are proprietary designs, nicknamed "Tom" and "Jerry". The third
chip is a standard Motorola 68000, and used as a coprocessor. Tom and
Jerry are built using an 0.5 micron silicon process. With proper
programming, all five processors can run in parallel.

- "Tom"
- 750,000 transistors, 208 pins
- Graphics Processing Unit (processor #1)
- 32-bit RISC architecture (32/64 processor)
- 64 registers of 32 bits wide
- Has access to all 64 bits of the system bus
- Can read 64 bits of data in one instruction
- Rated at 26.591 MIPS (million instructions per second)
- Runs at 26.591 MHz
- 4K bytes of zero wait-state internal SRAM
- Performs a wide range of high-speed graphic effects
- Programmable
- Object processor (processor #2)
- 64-bit RISC architecture
- 64-bit wide registers
- Programmable processor that can act as a variety of different video
architectures, such as a sprite engine, a pixel-mapped display, a
character-mapped system, and others.
- Blitter (processor #3)
- 64-bit RISC architecture
- 64-bit wide registers
- Performs high-speed logical operations
- Hardware support for Z-buffering and Gouraud shading
- DRAM memory controller
- 64 bits
- Accesses the DRAM directly

- "Jerry"
- 600,000 transistors, 144 pins
- Digital Signal Processor (processor #4)
- 32 bits (32-bit registers)
- Rated at 26.6 MIPS (million instructions per second)
- Runs at 26.6 MHz
- Same RISC core as the Graphics Processing Unit
- Not limited to sound generation
- 8K bytes of zero wait-state internal SRAM
- CD-quality sound (16-bit stereo)
- Number of sound channels limited by software
- Two DACs (stereo) convert digital data to analog sound signals
- Full stereo capabilities
- Wavetable synthesis, FM synthesis, FM Sample synthesis, and AM
synthesis
- A clock control block, incorporating timers, and a UART
- Joystick control

- Motorola 68000 (processor #5)
- Runs at 13.295MHz
- General purpose control processor

Communication is performed with a high speed 64-bit data bus, rated at
106.364 megabytes/second. The 68000 is only able to access 16 bits of
this bus at a time.

The Jaguar contains two megabytes (16 megabits) of fast page-mode DRAM,
in four chips with 512 K each. Game cartridges can support up to six
megabytes (48 megabits) of information, and can contain an EEPROM
(electrically erasable/programmable read-only memory) chip to save game
information and settings. Up to 100,000 writes can be performed with the
EEPROM; after that, future writes may not be saved (performance varies
widely, but 100,000 is a guaranteed minimum). Depending on use, this
limit should take from 10 to 50 years to reach.

The Jaguar uses 24-bit addressing, and is reportedly capable of accessing
data as follows:

Six megabytes cartridge ROM
Eight megabytes DRAM
Two megabytes miscellaneous/expansion

All of the processors can access the main DRAM memory area directly. The
Digital Signal Processor and the Graphics Processor can execute code out
of either their internal caches, or out of main memory. The only
limitations are that

(1) "jump" instructions in main memory have certain restrictions; the JMP
(unconditional jump) command is longword-aligned, while the JR
(jump-indexed-by-register) command must be either word- or longword-
aligned. And
(2) running out of the cache is much faster (up to four times faster) and
efficient.

Some believe that the inability to jump/branch in main memory makes the
main memory feature useless.

Swapping data between the caches and the main memory is a quick, low
overhead operation, and therefore the main memory is often used as "swap
space" for cache code. The RISC compiler included in the latest Jaguar
developer's kit produced code that transparently swaps code through the
cache. This effectively allowed developers write RISC code without
concern for the cache size limits.

Compressed cartridge data can be uncompressed in real-time, and ratios of
up to 14:1 have been cited. In theory, a Jaguar cartridge can store up to
84 megabytes (672 megabits) of data, though actual results will vary
widely (most often, images are compressed, while sound and code are not).
Compression is performed with BPEG, an enhanced JPEG image decompression
mechanism. BPEG supercedes the former JagPEG algorithm, working up to 10
times faster and with more flexibility.

Other Jaguar features:
- Support for ComLynx I/O for communications with the Atari Lynx hand-held
game system and networked multiconsole games (on DSP port, accessible
by optional add-on connector). Networking of up to 32 Jaguar units
available.
- The two controller ports can be expanded to support "dozens" of
controllers
- Digital and analog interfaces
- Keyboards, mice, and light guns are possible
- Expansion port allows connection to cable TV and other networks
- Digital Signal Processor port allows connection to modems and digital
audio peripherals (such as DAT players)
- One megabyte per second serial interface
- 9600 baud, RS-232 serial port (accessible with optional interface)
- General-purpose I/O bits via the cartridge port
- Can accomodate future expansions of different processor types, I/O
types, video types, and memory types and/or quantities.

Jaguar Cartridges Available

2006-10-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

Jaguar Cartridges
1. CyberMorph (Jaguar 3D pack-in)
2. Trevor McFur (in Crescent Galaxy)
3. Dino Dudes (Fun, frustrating fun)
4. Raiden (You can't beat arcaders)
5. Tempest 2000 (Adrenaline rush)
6. Wolfenstein 3D (classic, updated)
7. Brutal Sports Football (bizarre)
8. Alien vs. Predator (Sooo scary)
9. Dragon (Bruce Lee Story- karate)
10. DOOM (Special Edition- superb)
11. Club Drive (Polygon car driving)
12. Checkered Flag (Jag 3D Racing)
13. Iron Soldier (Smashing fun- 3D)
14. Kasumi Ninja (A 2D beat-em-up)
15. Bubsy (in Fractured Furry Tails)
16. Zool 2 (The fastest platform fun)
17. Val D'Isere Skiing/Snowboarding
18. Cannon Fodder (War goes sensible)
19. Syndicate (strategic action sim)
20. Troy Aikman (NFS Football sim.)
21. Theme Park (strategic simulator)
22. Sensible Soccer (Best footy out!)
23. Double Dragon 5 (kids' beat-em-up)
24. Hover Strike (hovercraft at war)
25. Pinball Fantasies (4 cool tables)
26. Super Burn Out (Motorbike Racing)
27. Flashback (cool platform adventure)
28. White Men Can't Jump (Basketball)
29. Flip-Out (Graphically great puzzler)
30. RayMan (The nicest platformer yet)
31. Ultra Vortek (Lethal beat 'em up)
32. Power Drive Rally (Sooo realistic)
33. Pitfall (The Mayan Adventure -hot)
34. Ruiner Pinball (Wacky Video pinball)
35. Missile Command 3D (Excellent fun)

Atari Jaguar Console - Brief History

2006-10-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

In 1993 Atari Corp finally returned to the home video game console market with its advancement 64 bit multimedia entertainment system called the Atari Jaguar 64. This system featured high resolution graphics, superb stereo sound and DSP expansion capabilities which made it the perfect platform for a whole new generation of video games and accessories. However, Atari Corp's short lived re-entry back into the market would not last long, with Sega's Saturn and Sony's Playstation consoles looming on the horizon and Jaguar 64 sales not meeting expectations the plug was pulled on both the Jaguar 64 and Atari Corp itself in 1996 when Atari allowed itself to be reverse merged with JTS Corp, a little known hard disk manufacture who was hungry for a fresh injection of fast cash and an easy route to becoming a company with publicly traded stock. ATC ceased to exist on the stock exchange and JTS took its place. The stock then proceeded to nose dive from $3-4 per share to .65 cents per share (one time as low as .12 cents) and had held around that number until the company went bankrupt.
JTS management then liquidated the remaining stock of Jaguar 64's and related products and ceased support to the Jaguar 64 line. Under the shadow of an SEC investigation for not maintaining Atari's business as specified in the reverse merger agreement, JTS quickly sold the Atari division.
On March 3, 1998 JTS sold its Atari division to Hasbro Interactive for $5 million and Hasbro began to sell retro-game versions of Atari's most popular titles for the PC and Playstation markets. Hasbro only pursued software releases of Atari titles and no plans of utilizing any of Atari proprietary hardware designs for any new console or handheld games ever came about. Hasbro Interactive was purchased among other US companies by Infogrames, a well known European game company. All of the US companies were pulled together an became Atari, Inc. In 2004 Atari would make its first return into the console market with the Flashback-1 console, other consoles are on the horizon including Flashback 2.0, a 100% 2600 VCS compatible game console and rumor has it other more powerful consoles based on Atari proprietary chip designs are in the works.

Atari had many bold plans and announcements for the Jaguar platform when it came out, however many of the promises quickly fell short, It was these unfortunate turns of events which caused certain projects to be cancelled and products which were completed to never see the site of day. Above you see the Jaguar 64 as we know it, in other sectoins you will see an image of what the Jaguar developers system looked like in 1993. You will also see an image of a completely finished Atari product which could have given the Jaguar 64 some real power, other unusual and possibly breakthrough products never saw the light of day

The Jaguar Modem

2006-10-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Jaguar Modem is a finished product that connects to the Jaguar's DSP port. It came equipped with a combination headphone-microphone headset so gamers could talk to one another while they played against each other. The modem got its power from the Jaguar's power supply and had two telephone jacks, a power switch and 2 LED lights (for power and data connection).
We tried out the modems with Ultra Vortek, the only game known to have code written into it for use with the Jaguar modem. We managed to connect at 19,200 at each end (the apparent maximum connect speed) and the game played beautifully. So much so that we were going at it for hours! There was nary a hitch in the game's speed, although the voice quality was slightly less than optimal.
The Jaguar voice modem is truly a work of art. Had games like Battlesphere, Doom, Iron Soldier II and others supported this device (not to mention being delivered on time), the modem may have provided powerful ammunition against rival videogame systems.

Check it out at: http://www.atarihq.com/museum/jaglynx/jagmodem.html

Atari Jaguar CD - Review - Console History

2006-10-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Atari Jaguar CD or Jag CD was a CD-ROM peripheral for the Atari Jaguar video game console.
Late in the life span of the company, Atari released this long-promised CD-ROM unit. The device sat atop the Jaguar console, plugging into the cartridge slot, the physical design of the system sometimes compared to a toilet. The drive had its own cartridge slot to allow cartridge games to be played without removing the CD drive. There was a separate "Memory Track" cartridge for storing saved game position and high scores.
The Jaguar CD unit featured a double speed (2x) drive and built-in VLM (Virtual Light Machine) software. The VLM, which provided a sophisticated video light show when an audio CD was played in the machine, was as popular among buyers as the games themselves. Packaged with the drive were two games (Blue Lightning and Vid Grid), a music CD (Tempest 2000 soundtrack), and a Myst demo disc.
Jaguar CD games could include as much as 790MB of data, considerably more than conventional CD-ROMs. The designers chose to ignore established CD-ROM formats and instead created their own based on the audio CD format. While allowing for dramatically more storage on the disc and foiling casual piracy, the format only provided limited error correction.
The drive was manufactured for Atari by Phillips in the United States. The initial shipment was 20,000 units. Comments from Atari a few weeks after the unit was launched stated that the entire inventory had been sold, and that another batch would be ordered. However, with the JT Storage reverse takeover looming just a few months away, it is possible that those 20,000 drives were the only units ever produced.
While the ratio of CD to cartridge games is fairly low, the CD add-on unit has always held an interest to gamers. In particular, the value of the CD add-on has gone up dramatically in the past few years, mainly due to low supply. Also, it is now possible to (legally) download and burn several encrypted demos (Black Ice/White Noise, Native, Atomic) to play on an actual CD unit with no modification. Due to this, the homebrew sector is active with several titles in progress (Eerievale). However, a third-party cartridge (Protector SE, B&C's cart) is still required for unencrypted games (Painter).

History Of Atari

2006-10-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

The trials and tribulations of Atari could fill a small book (and, in
fact, once did). To summarize VERY briefly, the history of Atari is as
follows:

1972 Atari Inc. founded by Nolan Bushnell from a $250 investment.
Pong arcade game becomes a smash sensation.
1976 Atari Inc. sold by Bushnell to Warner Inc. for $28 million.
1980 Atari Inc. posts record sales. $2 billion profits annually.
Atari occupies 80 offices in Sunnyvale, CA.
1983 Decline of video games and irresponsible spending by Atari Inc.
results in record losses ($536 million, up to $2 million
daily).
1984 Warner divides Atari Inc. Home division (Atari Corp.) is sold to
Jack Tramiel.
1985 Atari Corp. releases Atari ST home computer.
1989 Atari Corp. releases Atari Lynx, the world's first color
hand-held video game system (see the Atari Lynx FAQ).
1993 Atari Games becomes Time-Warner Interactive.
1993 Atari Corp. releases Atari Jaguar, the world's first 64-bit home
video game system.
1996 Time-Warner Interactive (Atari Games) sold to WMS.
1996 Atari Corp. announces reverse merger with JTS Corporation.
1996 Atari Corp. and JTS connsumate deal on July 31 1996.
1998 Hasbro acquires the rights to Atari Corp.'s name and properties
1999 Hasbro releases their rights to the Jaguar to the public; Atari
is reborn as their new home video game label.

Sega 32X - History - Technical Aspects

2006-10-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

The idea for the 32X originally came from Sega of Japan and was handed to Sega of America to work on. SOA decided that it was better for the unit to be an upgrade to the existing Mega Drive rather than a separate console. This move would have the advantage of making the 32X more appealing to users who would rather upgrade their current hardware then buy an all-new standalone console. SOA went with the SOJ design plan to have twin 32-bit processors and a separate graphics processor. In November 1994, the 32X was released in the US, a month later in Japan (where it was called the Super 32X) and in January 1995 in Europe.
At first, the 32X was a success. Sega was unable to ship the 1 million units it had promised and ended up shipping about half of that to retailers because of slow production. Nevertheless, the 32X sold out in many areas and Genesis owners were keen to get their hands on it in time for Christmas. With a non-existent library of games and none bundled with the unit, consumers who had bought the 32X had to be patient for a while.
Things then started going down hill. Complaints started coming in about the the unit not being compatible with some older TVs, which prompted Sega to release an adaptor to rectify the problem, at a price of course. Another issue was the metallic clips, which had to be placed on both sides of the cartridge slot to protect it from electromagnetic interference. Apparently, many parents found it difficult to clip them on around the cartridge covers. I can't seem to believe that this was a major problem, but then again what do I know except for what I read.
A third factor was news coming in from Sega of Japan about the Saturn, which left gamers confused. Was the 32X the thing to have, or was it the Saturn, or maybe the Sega CD! Unsatisfied customers took back their 32X hardware and software to their stores and the 32X seemed to be in big trouble. Upcoming games were slowly cancelled and both Sega and retailers across the US realized that the 32X didn't have long to live. By the Christmas of 1995, the 32-bit console was dead and buried, with DarXide being the last game ever to be released for it. I personally have no memories of the 32X because I didn't own it until recently, but reading about how it was ultimately the beginning of Sega's decline as a hardware console company really makes me sad (and for some reason angry at Sony! Don't ask why)
The 32X retailed for $159. 27 games were released for the European 32X, 18 for the Japanese Super 32X and 39 for the American Sega 32X.
Technical Specs:
CPU: Two Hitachi 32-bit RISC processors at 23MHz/40MIPSCo-processors: Genesis 68000, Z80, VDP and 32X VDPRAM: 4Mb plus the Mega Drive RAMColors: 32,768 simultaneous colorsGraphics: RISC processors and dual frame buffers with rotation and scaling hardware supportPolygons: Renders up to 50,000 polygons per secondResolution: 320x224Sound: 2-channel stereo digital PCM (+12 channels of the Mega Drive)

Alien Gate- Philips CD-i Review - History

2006-10-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

Alien Gate

Released
1992

Genre
Shooter

Publisher
Philips Interactive Media

Developer
SPC Vision

Catalog ID
810 0049

DVC Required
No

Players
1
Description
A terrifying evil is threatening the safety of your planet. Hordes of monsters are advancing through the Alien Gate with one objective in mind - the destruction of your world! Only you can ward off this danger. As a rocket fighter pilot, your coolheadedness will be tested to the utmost. The last battle has begun.

Review
Hasn't been reviewed yet

Game Media
Front - Back - Disc

Tips & Tricks
Cheats

The 7th Guest - Philips CD-i Review - History Collection

2006-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

The 7th Guest

Released
1993

Genre
Adventure

Publisher
Philips Interactive Media

Developer
Trilobyte

Catalog ID
811 0040

DVC Required
Yes

Players
1
Description
A stunning interactive drama of mystery and intrigue... You don't know why you're in the mansion of the long-gone master toy maker, but you do know that you're not alone... The 7th Guest on CD-i promises to keep you on the edge of your seat with a combination of vivid imagery, special effects and cinematic shocks. The 7th Guest on CD-i features CD-i Digital Video, terrifyingly real virtual environments, haunted rooms to explore - complete with live actors - bizarre puzzles to solve, games to play and a chilling soundtrack.

Review
Hasn't been reviewed yet

Game Media
Front - Back - Disc1 - Disc2

Tips & Tricks
Walkthrough

Cheats

History of the Philips CD-i

2006-10-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

1984
Philips and Sony began independently to work on another derivative of CD which would combine audio, text and graphics.
1985
The two companies joined forces to develop a draft standard at the beginning of 1985, and later that year Matsushita joined in to work on the development of integrated circuits.
1986
The first public announcement of the new product - Compact Disc-Interactive - was made at the first industry conference convened in March 1986 to promote CD-ROM in the United States. A provisional standard (the ‘Green Book’) was issued in May.
1987
A full functional specification of the system was issued in March 1987.CD-i discs and prototypes were demonstrated to licensees in June 1987.
1988
The first working samples of players were distributed to developers in Autumn 1988.

1990
Philips introduced a range of hardware options and developers’ tools to encourage small software houses to enter the industry. A package was released, aimed at users who wanted to evaluate CD-i, both through playing back existing software, and/or use the supplied software to emulate a CD-i disc. The package, launched in February 1990 in the United States, and from mid-1990 in Europe, comprised the 180 player/controller/interfaces together with a monitor, a 100 Mbyte hard disc, and basic authoring software which allowed the user to put together graphics, text and audio using a sequence editor. The price also included limited studio services for processing images and audio, as well as one place on two training courses for designers and programmers. For users who were already experienced at software development on PC systems, one of the erstwhile ‘taboo’ products — the PC Bridge — enabled video, audio and text files to be created within the PC operating system MS-DOS, and then converted to CD-i format.
1991-1993
The 16-bit CD-ROM based system was not promoted as a gaming platform. In advertising, Phillips highlighted the multimedia applications that the CD-i would be able to perform. Dutch electronics giant Philips, begins to introduce its Compact Disc Interactive (CD-i) technology to industrial users before marketing it as an entertainment system for consumers. It is based on CD-ROM ('Read Only Memory') technology which stores and reads information in the same way as a compact disc. CD-i systems can play audio discs and films as well as numerous other publications from computer games to illustrated encyclopaedias.Philips sold various professional CD-i players next to the standard consumer models. Both types of players comply fully to the CD-i standard as defined in the Green Book and were based on the same CPU and audio and video ICs, but the professional players usually offered some extra features. There were professional players with an integrated floppy disk drive, parallel ports to connect a printer or ZIP-drive, SCSI-ports, Ethernet network connections or with up to 5 MB of extra RAM. Some players had a feature that enabled the users to customise the start-up screen of the player shell. Several professional players were especially made for CD-i development studios since they included input ports to connect an emulator to simulate the playback of a CD-i disc from an external hard disk for testing purposes.Although there were various models of CD-i players, every CD-i disc performed exactly the same in terms of system speed or audio and video quality on every CD-i system. The Green Book extensively specifies how and at what speed the audio and video data should be read from the disc and parsed trough the appropriate decoding ICs. Even if a faster CPU was used in a CD-i player (which is allowed by the Green Book, but never implemented in any CD-i player) system performance would only rise slightly because the real-time retrieval of audio and video from a disc is not influenced by the processor.
1994
By 1994, with low sales, Philips decided to alter its approach to advertising the CD-i. It was finally marketed as videogame platform. The console was redesigned to more resemble a standard gaming system. The price was lowered to $299 and a pack-in game named Burn:Cycle was included.
1995
Philips' decision had been made too late. By this time there was heavy anticipation centered on the upcoming release of the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation systems. Sales for the revamped CD-i were poor. In the summer of 1995, Philips began to release versions of CD-i software for play on the Sega Saturn and PC. Also in the summer of 1995, Philips announced plans to release a modem add-on for the CD-I, though there was no set date.
1996
In the summer of 1996, Philips announced that they would be discontinuing the CD-i system. Reportedly, Philips had lost close to one billion dollars on the console since its introduction to the US.In early fall 1996; Philips did eventually release an Internet terminal designed for use with television sets. It retailed for $329.

Atari 2600 - History (1977-1991)

2006-10-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Considered the granddaddy of video game systems, the Atari 2600 was the first to effectively penetrate the home market. The system got off to a slow start after its 1977 release, but its popularity soared with the release of arcade translations like Space Invaders and Asteroids. By the start of the 80's, the system was a legitimate phenomenon, making Atari one of the most recognized brand names in the world. The 2600 introduced several practical innovations that boosted its popularity, including removable cartridges, detachable controllers, different types of controllers, and the ability to select different game variations from a single cartridge. Although many other technically superior consoles were released during the 80's, the Atari 2600 remained in production in one form or another long after most of its competitors had folded, all the way up until 1991.
Console design: A-. The Atari 2600 was practical in design, with easy-access cartridge slot and a series of silver switches across the front. The system went through several incarnations during its lifetime, but the original version with six switches and distinctive fake wood facade is the most sought-after by collectors. The second version, which is far more common, raised the controller ports on the back (making them easier to reach) and moved the difficulty switches to the back (making them harder to reach). The third iteration replaced the wood front with a solid black strip labeled with a white "Atari 2600" insignia. The final version had a slim, compact design not much larger than a VHS tape. It was produced in modest quantities from the mid-80s until the end of the system's lifetime.
Console durability: B. Built like tanks, the 2600 consoles are highly durable, and it's not hard to find one in good working condition. Compared to newer consoles like the NES, the 2600 has aged extremely well.
Controllers: B. One strength of the 2600 is its ability to support third-party controllers. The standard Atari joystick was cheap and prone to breakage, but several other companies stepped in to produce quality alternatives. One limitation of the Atari 2600 joysticks is their single button configuration, although certain games came up with imaginative ways to overcome this. In addition to joysticks, analog "paddle" controllers were shipped with the early systems, providing unique precision control and also allowing for four-player simultaneous play. The paddles do however have a tendency to get "shaky" over time, but this problem can be remedied with cleaning and oil.
Media: A. Being a pioneer in removable games, Atari designed their cartridges perfectly. Compact, handsome, and nearly indestructible, the games easily stack and have a handy label on the outer edge. Large enough to display artwork, Atari plastered its games with dramatic, artistic mosaics that tended to belie the actual content of the game. Activision took a different approach with its game labels, displaying an actual screen shot of the game. Third party companies experimented with a number of cartridge designs, and you can often identify the manufacturer of most Atari 2600 games by simply looking at the cartridge color and shape.
Packaging: B. Atari 2600 games were sold in cheap but attractive boxes. Most games, especially those from Atari, feature elaborate artwork across the front. The back usually displays a screenshot and a brief description of the game. Most boxes made by Atari and Activision were printed in an array of colors. Although there wasn't any apparent rhyme or reason behind the colors used, the boxes definitely look nice lining a shelf. Atari eventually moved to a "silver with red trim" color scheme to maintain consistency with their 5200 line.
Games: B. The number of high-quality, inexpensive titles in the 2600 library easily compensate for the substantial number of "duds". Atari's initial games (pre-1980) tended to be very rudimentary, but as the newer, arcade-style games demanded richer visuals, the quality of the 2600's graphics increased. In 1980 a group of ex-Atari employees formed Activision, the first third-party software company. Activision carved out a sizeable chunk out of Atari's market by producing some of the best titles for the system, including Pitfall, River Raid, and Kaboom. Inspired by Activision's success, other companies, both established and new, jumped into the fray with their own lines of games. The resulting glut, combined with a general lowering of quality, ultimately led to a dramatic video game "crash" in 1983, of which few video game companies survived.
Graphics: C+. The early Atari 2600 games were primitive and blocky, but the system's flexible architecture gave programmers the freedom to develop techniques to squeeze more and more out of the system. Thanks to Activision and other third-party developers pushing the envelope, Atari 2600 games gradually became more sophisticated, with high-resolution, flicker-free graphics and impressive special effects.
Audio: C+. Like the graphics, developers gradually learned how to harness the system's sound capabilities, eventually producing games with realistic sound effects and even harmonized music.
Collectability: A. Due to its massive popularity and incredibly long lifespan, the Atari 2600 is an ideal system for collectors. Literally hundreds of titles were produced for the system, including a long list of classics like Adventure, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Battlezone, Asteroids, and Frogger. Fortunately, the best titles are very cheap and easy to find, and all instruction manuals are available online (at www.atariage.com). The cartridges work like new after a proper cleaning, although the label quality can vary. Most games are easy to play and provide timeless fun.
Innovations: Removable cartridges, detachable controllers, joystick controllers, paddles controllers, four-player games, game variations, difficulty switches, black and white TV switch.

Nintendo GameCube Review

2006-10-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

With Microsoft's Xbox targeting the mature audience and Sony's Playstation 2 dominating the mainstream, Nintendo's GameCube seemed content to appeal to its traditional fan base and the younger demographic. Lightweight and compact, this cube-shaped console resembled a Fisher Price toy with its indigo color scheme and large plastic handle. Under the hood however, the Gamecube was nearly as powerful as the Xbox, and had a technical edge over the PS2. One odd design quirk was its use of small, proprietary disks instead of DVDs. While this helped curb piracy and allowed for a more compact design, the system's lack of DVD movie playback was considered a drawback.
Much like the Nintendo 64 that came before it, the GameCube boasted many superb first-party (Nintendo) titles, but lagged behind Sony and Microsoft in terms of third-party support. Still, one could argue that the GameCube library emphasizes quality over quantity, with smash hits like Mario Sunshine, Zelda the Wind Waker, Donkey Konga, Wave Race Blue Storm, and Metroid Prime. Most of these titles were ideal for multi-player action and family-oriented fun. Although many third-party software developers ignored the GameCube, there were a few big-name exceptions. Sega put its full weight behind the Cube, publishing a series of quality Sonic titles, and LucasArts provided several Star Wars exclusives. The system lacked mature titles, but Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil 4 were notable exceptions.
Due to its compact, lightweight design, Nintendo could undercut its competitors in terms of price. Unlike Sony and Microsoft which were taking a loss on each machine sold (made up quickly in software sales, of course), Nintendo actually made money on each console. Still, the system's selection of games was meager, with most third-party games simply ports of PS2 titles. In the end, Nintendo settled into third place in the competitive console wars, closely behind Microsoft's Xbox.
Console design: A-. Often described as "cute", the diminutive GameCube features four controller ports, two memory card slots, and a pop-top lid. The top of the unit features power, open, and reset buttons. A large gray handle protrudes from the back of the unit, but I always questioned its usefulness. Unlike the PS2 and Xbox, a component video cable for the system is not available in North America, although it can be imported. The GameCube saves its game data via tiny memory cards. Initially, the capacity of these cards was ridiculously small, but thankfully, third-party companies stepped in to provide cards with huge capacities. I own one third-party memory card, and that has been sufficient to hold my entire GameCube collection of 50+ titles.
Console durability: B. The GameCube tends to be more durable than the PS2, putting it on par with the Xbox. For certain games, I've encountered issues with intermittent "clicking" noises, but these have been rare occurrences.
Controllers: C. While the Nintendo controller appears innovative on the surface, closer scrutiny reveals a button layout very similar to the Xbox controller. There are two analog thumbsticks, but the yellow one on the lower right is small and feels uncomfortable. The tiny digital pad also feels a bit awkward. The main buttons include easy-to-press A and B buttons, but the bean-shaped X and Y are counter-intuitive. Triggers on the back of the controller exhibit a lot of range, but this feature is rarely put to good use. Finally, the ill-conceived Z button, located on the back-right of the controller, is both hard to reach and easy to forget. Overall, the controller is fair but far from optimal. On a positive note, Nintendo was the only console maker to release a first-party wireless controller, and this well-constructed "Wavebird" is a must-have for any serious GameCube player. Its only flaw is the lack of force-feedback.
Media: B. The small GameCube disks are interesting, and probably more durable that DVDs. One drawback is the fact that they have less capacity, necessitating some games (like Resident Evil 4) to come packaged with two disks.
Packaging: B. While similar in shape and size to normal DVD cases, the proprietary GameCube cases use less plastic and don't feel quite as sturdy.
Games: B. Due to a lack of support from third-party publishers, the Gamecube was often left out in the cold as hit titles like Silent Hill 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4 were released for the PS2 and Xbox. What the GameCube did possess was its recognizable stable of franchises including Zelda, Mario, Metroid, F-Zero, Wave Race, and Donkey Kong. The Cube also boasted the best selection of games suitable for young players, including Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario Party, Super Smash Brothers Melee, and Super Monkey Ball. The console was lacking in several other genres however, including RPGs and fighting games.
Graphics: A-. The GameCube's graphics are slightly better defined than the PS2, and virtually indistinguishable from the Xbox. However, the GameCube does not provide the same degree of high-definition support that Xbox gamers enjoy.
Collectability: A-. Compared to the Xbox and PS2, the Cube has a modest library, but many enjoyable first-party exclusives. The GameCube consoles are extremely cheap and durable. Outstanding titles like Mario Kart Double Dash, Zelda the Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron more than justify owning this system.
Innovations: Mini disk format, handle on console, wireless controller

Philips CD-i History (1991 - 1994)

2006-10-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

This "interactive multimedia CD player" was mainly manufactured by Philips, although a few other vendors produced their own versions. The CD-i (short for "Compact Disc Interactive") was truly an odd system that never gained a foothold in the home electronics market. Initially it focused on self-improvement, CD-video, and educational titles, but later attempted to tap into the more-lucrative video game market. Like so many other early CD-based systems (including the 3DO), the system's game library specialized in full-motion video titles with limited play value. There aren't many worthwhile games for the CD-i, and you could argue that there are none at all. Probably the most notable titles were a Mario platformer and three Zelda adventures. How Philips managed to secure these respectable licenses from Nintendo is a mystery, but even those were mediocre and are best left forgotten.
Console design: D-. The Philips CD-i console looks like a typical component-sized compact disk player with a single controller port on the front. While huge in size and seriously heavy, it's an otherwise uninteresting machine. A second controller port is inexplicably located on the back of the unit. The system comes with a wireless remote and also supports a high-quality S-video output.
Console durability: C. These systems are heavy and durable. Most older CD players are susceptible to some degree of read problems after heavy use, but fortunately, CD-i systems are not prone to heavy use.
Controllers: D. The CD-i controller is as generic as they come. The directional pad on the left side of the controller feels comfortable enough (there's a tiny, screw-on joystick attachment), and the right side sports four buttons (there are no shoulder buttons). Inexplicably, only two functions are mapped to these four buttons, so what's the point of having four? On the bottom of the controller there's a small switch that toggles the "cursor speed" on the navigational menus. In theory, the wireless remote can serve as a controller, but it's awkward to use with most games.
Media: B. This system doesn't take full advantage of the CD medium, but at least the load times are reasonable.
Packaging: C+. Most CD-i games are packaged in standard plastic CD cases which store easily without taking up much space. For some reason however, Philips opted to wrap these in a cardboard sleeve, creating an ugly, unnecessary extra layer of packaging.
Games: F. The CD-i library is loaded with worthless, antiquated "self-help" tiles and "CD movies", and its game selection is pathetic. While some games have decent production values, they lack the basic playability that Genesis and SNES players are accustomed to. When it came to video games, Philips obviously didn't "get it". The single worthwhile title I've come across is "NFL Instant Replay", which allows you to predict referee calls after watching old footage from actual games.
Graphics: B. The Philips CD-i had the ability to render rich 2D graphics and smooth, full motion video. The high-quality video output makes the graphics look particularly sharp. Unfortunately, few titles took full advantage of the CD-i's graphic capabilities.
Audio: A. The CD-i has the ability to generate high quality music and crisp digitized sound effects.
Collectability: F. Every system has its fans, but unless you're a die-hard video game collector, there is no reason to collect for the CD-i. While the systems themselves are relatively easy and inexpensive to acquire, the controllers are surprisingly rare and pricey. Most of the games are readily available (new), but few are worth owning.
Innovations: Wireless remote, CD movies, S-video output

3DO History (1993 - 1994)

2006-10-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

As the first 32-bit game system and arguably the most over-hyped machine in video game history, the 3DO promised to be much more than just a game console. Eschewing the "video game" label altogether, the system was marketed as an "interactive multiplayer", offering the ability to play audio, video, and photo disks in addition to games. It was the first (but not the last) attempt to deliver an "all-in-one box" to fulfill the age-old promise of "multi-media convergence". Despite its ambitious claims, the 3DO was ultimately exposed as an overrated game console that couldn't even compete with the 16-bit machines.
Unlike the other major console vendors of the day, the 3DO company never actually manufactured a system. Instead, it licensed its hardware technology to companies like Goldstar, Sanyo, and Panasonic, which produced different versions of the 3DO. One downside of this scheme was that the manufacturers had to make their money from the hardware itself (unlike Sega or Nintendo who could make up a loss with software sales). Consequently, cutting-edge gamers found themselves shelling out an astounding $700 for the system when it was first introduced. The 3DO amassed a respectable library of software, but it was mostly comprised of PC ports, full motion video (FMV) titles, and primitive polygon shooters. There were precious few arcade-style titles like those enjoying popularity on the 16-bit systems. Many of the 3DO's "exclusive" titles tanked, and the price of the system tumbled dramatically. By the time the Saturn and Playstation hit the scene, the 3DO had already faded into obscurity.
In concept, the 3DO was replete with flaws that would doom it from day one. The system was equipped with only one controller port, at a time when other systems were releasing multi-taps to accommodate a four and eight-player games. 3DO controllers could be "daisy-chained" together, but this was awkward. The next mistake was designing the original controller with only five buttons, despite the fact that six buttons were required to play some of the more popular games of the time. The 3DO had the ability to save games (and high scores) to memory, but its limited capacity could not be easily expanded (if at all). While all 3DO systems were supposed to be compatible, certain games didn't run well (or at all) on particular brands of consoles. The premise of an "all-in-one" multimedia center never materialized, because 3DO never really offered any legitimate entertainment options outside of games. Then there was the cost factor. Very few kids - who comprised the bulk of the game-playing market - could afford the system. Finally, 3DO falsely assumed that better looking, cutting edge games would be more fun to play, which of course is not necessarily the case.
The 3DO did produce a few notable hits, including superb versions of Madden Football, Road Rash, Need For Speed, and Samurai Shodown. Gex, a fun side-scroller starring a smart-aleck gecko lizard, provided the 3DO with an unofficial mascot. If you enjoy full motion video (FMV) titles, the 3DO produced some the best versions of these games, including Night Trap and Dragon's Lair. In the final analysis however, the 3DO failed to make a lasting impact on the video game industry.
Console design: D+. Several varieties of 3DO consoles were produced, but all resemble generic black boxes with few external controls. Some of the more heavy-duty models featured motorized CD trays, while other lightweight versions had cheap, pop-top lids. The single controller port is an unforgivable flaw that's almost comical. To its credit, the systems did support high-quality audio and video output, including S-video and surround sound.
Console durability: C-. Since the 3DO is basically a glorified CD player, dirty lenses issues can lead to disk read problems. Unfortunately, these problems are often confused with incompatibility issues exhibited by certain combinations of games and system models.
Controllers: D. The 3DO controllers are remarkably mediocre. With only five buttons (not counting the tiny "X" and "P" buttons), it was insufficient for many popular games (including Street Fighter 2), necessitating six-button alternative controllers. In addition, the controllers are cheaply constructed, with "loose" directional pads that make it too easy to accidentally hit the diagonal angles.
Media: B. It's hard to criticize the CD media for storing video games, but most 3DO titles misused the extra capacity of the medium by included gratuitous cut-scenes and generic pre-recorded soundtracks. 3DO games have varying load times, but in general it's not an issue.
Packaging: D. The tall boxes used to house 3DO games are definitely overkill, and they will waste a lot of room on your shelf.

Sega 32X - History (1994 - 1995)

2006-10-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

This ill-conceived console add-on was not only a dismal failure, but it crippled Sega's future. The 32X was a mushroom-shaped module that plugged into the top of the Genesis. Originally priced at $150, several $10 coupons for 32X games were generously included. Although the system contained two powerful 32-bit processors, it was hamstrung by its backward compatibility with Genesis games (not unlike the Sega CD). Although the 32X "launch" titles showed promise, the system never received any decent third-party support. A few standout titles like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter nicely utilized its 3D polygon graphic capabilities, but most 32X games resembled Genesis titles with flashier colors. With an eye towards the next generation of systems, most gamers (and retailers) looked past the 32X, and the system was discontinued within a year after its release.
A total of 36 games were released for the 32X (including four Sega 32X/Sega CD hybrids) so it's quite feasible to collect the entire library. Individual cartridges are not hard to locate, but since the games were packaged in cheap yellow cardboard boxes, collecting complete versions can be an expensive proposition.
On a personal note, I embraced the system when it arrived, but quickly abandoned it with the arrival of the Sony Playstation. I can still recall the time I sold my Genesis system to a video game exchange store (a move I would live to regret). I was all about the new Playstation at the time, and anxious to unload my old stuff for cash. Apparently the store already had a load of 32X's, because the clerk refused to give me anything for it. He advised me to give it to a friend instead. Not knowing anyone I could offer it to, I told the guy he could have it for free. Not only did he refuse to take it, but he warned me not to leave it on the counter! It was a funny situation, and I think that illustrates how poorly the 32X was regarded by the end of its short life cycle. When I began (re)collecting old games in the late 90's, I (re)purchased a brand new 32X on-line for a paltry $19.99. To this day, the 32X is considered a source of great amusement among collectors.
Console design: D. The 32X didn't mesh well with the Genesis base system. Designed to suggest a turbo-charged motor protruding from the hood of a muscle car, it actually looked more like a mushroom. It also added a mess of wires and its own freakin' power adapter. If you already had the Sega CD add-on, topping it off with a 32X created an unsightly, black plastic monstrosity. Adding insult to injury, its three bulky adapters were capable of producing brownouts in small towns.
Console durability: A. Since there are really no moving parts in the 32X, it doesn't break easily, even after being tossed in a garbage can (this has verified on a number of occasions).
Controllers: B. The Sega CD uses the same controllers as the Sega Genesis. These are highly regarded, despite their limited number of buttons.
Media: B-. 32X cartridges are slightly larger than their Genesis, but lack an end label.
Packaging: D. While Sega's yellow and gold color scheme was attractive, the fact that most 32X games were packaged in cheap cardboard boxes was a real turnoff. Why Sega didn't stick with those sturdy plastic cases is beyond me. If the idea was to save a few bucks, then shame on them.
Games: D. The small 32X library is loaded with mediocre titles, and even some of the more innovative efforts like Kolibri (a hummingbird shooter) and Knuckles Chaotics (two characters bound together) fell flat. The one game that truly stands out is Virtua Racer - it's the best version I've played to date.
Graphics: C+. Only a handful of titles like Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racer, and Shadow Squadron truly demonstrated what the 32X was capable of. These games feature smoothly rendered 3D polygon graphics. Most 32X games simply utilized the system's extensive color palette, sometimes with disastrous results; e.g. the shamelessly gaudy Cosmic Carnage. Shooters like Space Harrier and Afterburner attempted to demonstrate the system's scaling capabilities, but these were hampered by severe pixelation.
Audio: C. The 32X was supposed to utilize "Q-Sound" technology, but I couldn't tell the difference between this and standard Genesis audio.
Collectability: B. Collectors may value their 32X collections, but casual gamers won't miss this ill-conceived contraption. The main component of the 32X is easy to acquire, but it can be difficult to locate one with all of the necessary connective parts and wires. I'd recommend acquiring a complete system in the box. Most 32X games are easy to find unless you are looking for the complete versions. Two of the more difficult to track down games are World Series Baseball and Spiderman: Web of Fire.
Innovations: First console add-on to upgrade CPU power.

Atari Jaguar and Atari Jaguar CD (1993 - 1996) - History

2006-10-15T09:42:00.002-07:00

Of all the ill-fated consoles of the 90's, the Jaguar was certainly one of the biggest disasters. While Atari correctly sensed the emergence of 3D graphics, the system was woefully underpowered in this regard. The Jaguar received little third-party support, and most of Atari's games were second-rate versions of arcade hits like Virtua Racing and Mortal Kombat. Although the Jaguar controller included a numeric keypad, it inexplicably had only three regular buttons. This despite the fact that the Super Nintendo had made six buttons the new standard the year before. The Jaguar never gained much of a market share, and by the time Atari released a CD attachment and six-button controller, the system had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Jaguar is Atari's claim that it was the first 64-bit console, as loudly proclaimed by their "do the math" marketing campaign. In the early 90's, the "bit" metric was mainly based on the CPU of the machine. Although certain components within the Jaguar could process 64 bits at a time, the CPU (central processing unit) was in fact 32-bit. This led to a major controversy, with many in the industry labeling Atari's marketing tactics as deceptive. The Jaguar's modest library of games did little to back up the 64-bit claim. Most of its 3D games were slow and clunky, and its 2D games, although sharp and colorful, often lacked the playability of similar titles for the Genesis or SNES.
It's also interesting to note that the system was touted as "Made in the USA" at a time when retailers were pushing American-made products. But by the time the system's price was slashed to $99, few gamers were taking the system seriously. The Jaguar's demise also spelled the end of Atari as a corporation, as the company was subsequently dissolved.
Console design: C+. Although some have compared its shape to that of a toilet seat, the Jaguar console is actually a slick looking, uncluttered machine. Its only control is a bright red power button, and its two controller ports are tucked neatly under the front edge. Both the system and its CD attachment feel very lightweight and their thin plastic shells suggest cheap construction. The ports to attach video cables in the back look like exposed ends of a circuit board, suggesting that Atari was cutting corners in a big way.
Console durability: B/D. The Jaguar is solid state, although its lightweight construction does not inspire confidence in its durability. The CD attachment is fragile and prone to loading problems. I've personally encounters problems with my system not being able to determine if I was trying to run a CD game or cartridge.
Controllers: D. For a console released in 1993, a controller with only three buttons is unacceptable. By the time Atari got a clue and released an eight-button replacement (complete with shoulder buttons), it was too late. And while Atari's controllers sported a complete numeric keypad, it took up a hell of a lot of room, and few games took advantage of it.
Media: B/B. Jaguar cartridges are about the size of a Genesis cartridge, but feature a curved, rounded "handle" on the top edge. The utility of this is questionable; how many people have trouble pulling cartridges out of their consoles? None, at last count. Worse yet, it didn't allow for an end label. As for the CD games, they really don't offer anything over the cartridges, except they add load times and are more fragile.

The True Path - Part 2 - Pokémon fanfics

2006-10-15T09:42:00.001-07:00

Poliwag!Bubble attack!" cried a young pokemon trainer. His faithful tadpole pokemon released a shower of bubbles on a tiny bird. "Pid-geeeeeey!"the pokemon cried out as the powerful bubbles popped against its body. Zander Starling stared as the Pidgey flapped its wings harder and harder,creating a strong wind. "Oh-no! It's gust attack!"he cried out. He stared as his Poliwag was being blown back. Suddenly Zander got an idea. "Poliwag!Use water gun on that tree and rocket yourself back into Pidgey!". The pokemon obeyed and let loose a cascade of water onto a tree and shot itself back into the Pidgey, making it faint. "Great work Poliwag!"the twelve year old from Cerulean cried. His Poliwag had started out weak, at a low level, but Zander had been fighting wild pokemon whenever he saw them. It was about noontime. He had the rest of the day to travel down route one to viridian city. He recalled his Poliwag and continued down the road. He hadn't seen a pokemon worth catching all morning, he just hoped he would see one by the end of the day. Zander stopped by a stream."I think Poliwag deserves a swim"he said aloud to himself. He released Poliwag and watched it splash in the shallows. He smiled at the happy pokemon. He yawned loudly. "Gee I wish I hadn't gotten up so early this morning". He removed his backback, lay down on the grass, and pulled his hat down over his face. He fell asleep listening to his Poliwag swimming around happily and splashing water around. Zander awoke to his Poliwag splashing water on him. "WHA-mmmph". Poliwag put its tail over his mouth so he wouldn't yell. There was silence for a moment until Zander heard voices coming from a ways away, and then a large explosion. "What's that?"he asked himself. He crawled over to a row of bushes, he parted them and peered through. He was not prepared for what he saw. Two women in black uniforms with a red R imprinted on them stood over a young girl wearing shorts and a red tanktop with brunette hair. Beside them were two pokemon,Two large eared dinosaur/rodents. The only difference between them was one was blue, the other was purple. "Niiii-doran!" they cried in unison. They stood triumphantly over a blue-green plantlike pokemon."Odd..." it sighed, unable to move. Zander already knew what the defeated pokemon was, it was an Oddish. He took his pokedex out of his pocket, and aimed it at the two other pokemon. On the screen it showed a picture of the two pokemon, along with a bar showing their health. The mechanical voice spoke"Nidoran Male and Nidoran Female, poison pokemon, these two pokemon have poison barbs over their bodies which will poison their enemies if they get too close". Both pokemon's health bar were only a little over half full. "Team Rocket..." he whispered. One of the women laughed. "You actually thought you could beat us?". The other woman who had shorter hair chuckled."Hand over your pathetic pokemon!".She smiled mischeviously. "You cannot beat the infamous Kathy and Megan of Team Rocket!". The girl who had been silent up to this point snarled. "I'll never give up my pokemon to creeps like you!". The two team rocket members moved in on the girl. This was when Zander decided to intervene. "Poliwag, Water Gun!"he yelled. The stream of water drove the two thieves and their pokemon into a tree. "What?!" cried the short haired Team Rocket member who had introduced herself as Kathy. The two Nidoran shook off the blow they had taken and charged Poliwag. "Hypnosis now!"Zander cried. The swirl on poliwag's stomach began to turn, and the two enemies eyes began to droop, until finally they fell asleep. The girl stared in fascination. Zander glared at the two pokemon thieves. " Is that all you've got?". "I wanted a challenge!". The twosome scowled. The one called Megan replied."we'll be back. She threw a round black orb, and the area filled with smoke. When it cleared only Zander the girl Oddish and Poliwag remained.He helped the girl up. She smiled at him and thanked him for saving her. "My name's Lana"she said. "This here's my Oddish" she gestured toward the plantlike pokemon who was playing tag with poliwag. Zander smiled back. "where are you headed?" he asked. "Viridian, I'm from Vermilion, I came to Pallet to get my starter pokemon this morning" she replied. "me too" Zander stated. " I'm from Cerulean". "however I got a late start". Zander realized she had gotten to Oak's after him but had caught up because he had taken a nap. "well our pokemon seem to get along"Lana smiled, looking at the two pokemon chasing each other around the clearing. Zander nodded. "Can I travel with you for awhile?"Lana asked. "So if team rocket ambushes me again we can take them on so it isn't two on one?". "Sure" Zander said. " I was about to ask you the same thing!". She grinned. "Cool". They recalled their pokemon and continued down the road to Viridian.

The True Path - Part 1 - Pokémon fanfics

2006-10-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

In the quiet town of Pallet a shop owner had gotten out of bed early to clean his shop. He stopped his brooming and stared out the window of his store at a young boy walking up the street toward Professor Oak's laboratory. The boy wore a silver windbreaker and a pair of jeans . He wore a blue bucket hat over his brown hair. A backpack hung over his shoulder, on the side there was a red and white orb with the words Pokemon League over it. The shopkeeper assumed he was beginning his pokemon journey this morning, and went back to sweeping his floor. Zander was happy he had decided to wear his coat, it was colder here in Pallet than it was back in Cerulean. His mind wandered back there to his family. His parents and his older sister, Carol, wondering what pokemon he would choose, and how he would do on his pokemon journey. The twelve year old stared up at the famous Oak Laboratory. He ascended the steps and stood in front of the door. He could see his breath as he sighed, excited about beginning his pokemon journey. He saw a doorbell to the left of the doorway, he pressed it, his finger trembling with anticipation. He heard a bell ring inside."Who is it?" said a voice. Startled, Zander looked around for the source of the voice." E-excuse me?" Zander spoke nervously. " I asked who you are,"the voice spoke again. "I'm speaking to you over the speakers, they're right next to the door,". Zander spotted them. " Oh i see them,". he replied. " I'm Zander Starling, I'm here to pick a starter pokemon,". The voice chuckled,". Sorry about all that, come inside". He turned the handle and stepped inside. He looked around but saw the man who spoke over the speaker nowhere to be seen. A middle aged man came out a door into the hall and walked over to him. " I'm Professor Oak" he said shaking Zander's hand. The boy's mouth hung open. " I can't believe I'm talking with Professor Oak!". The professor smiled down at him. "So shall we go and get you a starter pokemon?". Zander nodded, his mouth still open. "Right this way" the professor turned and led Him down the hallway to a door. He opened it and they stepped inside. Zander looked around at the many shelves lined with books, and a computer over in the corner. But what really caught his eye was the table in the center of the room with several red and white orbs, known as pokeballs. He rushed over to it and read each name plate beneath each ball. The professor liked Zander, he thought enthusiasm was important in a trainer. The boy held two pokeballs in his hands, he had narrowed his choice down to these two. "Poliwag or Oddish" he mumbled to himself. He thought of their evolutions, attacks, and strength. Eventually he set down the pokeball containing Oddish and picked up Poliwag's. "I've made a choice professor". "What is it?". Zander tossed the ball from hand to hand."A Poliwag". The professor nodded. "Good choice". the boy pressed a gray button the pokeball and in a flash of white light a dark blue figure appeared, resembling a tadpole with a swirl on its stomach . "Po-liwag!" the creature cried. It stared up at Zander loking him over, it finally went over and jumped up and down. telling Zander to pick it up.He reached down and the pokemon stepped into his arms. "Hey little guy, you and me are gonna be great friends!". "Poliwag!" the pokemon agreed. Oak patted the Poliwag on the head. " The professor reached into his pocket and retrieved a red device. "here is your pokedex"he stated. "It tells th levels,attacks,and stats of pokemon". Zander grinned."Thanks, I'm gonna be needing it on my journey. Oak looked at his wristwatch. "You should get going, you'll want to get to Viridian by nightfall, it's a long trip". Zander nodded. He pressed the gray button again and a red beam of light returned Poliwag to the pokeball. Oak walked Zander to the door.The boy thanked him and set off down the road to the town limits. Zander's pokemon journey had begun.

Virtual Boy History

2006-10-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Boy born 21 July 95

In the spring of '94 rumours about Nintendo's VR-project started circulating in the media. It was Gunpei Yokoi and his R&D1 team that, with the aid of the people at Reflection Technology Inc., had been working on the Virtual Boy for two years. Speculation began about how the new machine would revolutionize the gaming market and sketches of the VB began to circulate. By the time the Shoshinkai-exhibition came the hype was enormous! Everybody wanted to know what Gunpei Yokoi had accomplished this time. (Gunpei is the genius that developed both the Game Boy and the Game&Watch machines, so the expectations were quite high!)
ShoshinkaiThe visitors at Shoshinkai weren't pleased at all. They thought the VB was only a pathetic attempt by Nintendo to draw attention from Sega and Sony's new 32-bit consoles. But the Virtual Boy was produced by Nintendo, the most respected video game company in the world. Great confusion broke out, they didn't know what to think! The console and the games looked crappy but it was from Nintendo, so could it really be that bad? Most of the dissatisfaction was in the games: nothing revolutionary at all, and they were all in red! The red colors supposedly gave the game a better 3D look. At the big WCES (Winter Commercial Electronics Show) four months later, some new better games were shown: Mario Clash, Teleroboxing and Galactic Pinball. These new games were quite good so the press became a little bit curious. Maybe the VB wasn't going to be such a big flop after all.
The VB is releasedOn the 21st of July, 1995, the Virtual Boy was released in Japan and in the states a month later. Nintendo thought it would sell very well (they hoped it would sell 3 million copies) because the VB didn't have any competing consoles. Both the Saturn and the Playstation played in a totally different league. They couldn't have been more wrong! In Japan, the VB sold poorly and the price dropped drastically on both the machine and the games. Nintendo estimated that the VB would sell 250,000 copies in Japan but it ended up selling less than 50,000! One problem that arose (which worried the parents) was that it was said that playing the VB could cause eye damage to children under the age of seven. In the US, the machine hardly sold at all and it was never released in Europe. Players bought Playstations and Saturns instead, even though they cost twice as much! At Shoshinkai 95 Hiroshi Yamauchi (the big boss at Nintendo) confessed that the machine had sold less than Nintendo had calculated, but they hadn't lost all their hope for this strange product yet. New games that made better use of the VB´s special skills were to be released. Unfortunately, by now most of the players of the world weren't interested in the Virtual Boy. Nintendo just had to live with the fact that the Virtual Boy was a flop! No, they don't produce VB games at all anymore.

Nintendo History - (1889 -1968)

2006-10-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

1889...
Fusajiro founds Nintendo Koppai to sell his Hanafunda cards.
This year Fusajiro Yamauchi who lived in Kyoto Japan founded Nintendo Koppai to begin producing and selling the special playing cards called "Hanafunda" (a.k.a. "Daitoryo" and "President") in Kyoto (Fusajiro was the great grandfather of the present Nintendo president). All the cards that Fusajiro produced was tenderly hand made using the bark from the mulberry or mitsu-mata trees. The Hanafunda deck consisted of 48 cards divided in 12 different suits, one for each month of the year. Instead of numbers the cards had different symbols like the wind, a deer, the moon or the chrysanthemum. Different combinations of symbols and suits was worth different many points. The most popular Hanafunda game you could play was a simple matching cards game that could become very complex and was taken very seriously by the players. The cards was sold in Nintendo's own shops in both Kyoto and Osaka but they became most popular in the Kyoto region. In other regions Fusajiro sold other cards with different symbols like swords and mountains. At first the Hanafunda cards was only used as a domestic amusement and Fusajiro didn´t sold any big amounts of the handmade cards but after a while the cards began to be used in gambling and after a while the Yakuza (The Japanese Mafia) began using the Hanafunda cards in their high stake games and since all the professional players wanted to start a new game with a new fresh deck Fusajiro suddenly had problems keeping up with the demands! He had to start training apprentices to massproduce the cards.
1907
Nintendo expands!
Fusajiro expands his business and Nintendo becomes the first company to succeed in manufacturing western style playing cards and managing to successfully sell them in Japan. Now Fusajiro needed a better distribution system for his cards so Fusajiro struck a deal with Japan Tobacco & Salt Public Corporation to sell the cards in their stores.
1929
Fusajiro retires and Sekiryo Yamauchi takes over the company.
Fusajiro retires and Sekiryo Kaneda which after his marriage with Fusajiro's daughter Tei Yamauchi got the Yamauchi surname took over as the second Nintendo president. By now Nintendo was the largest playing cards company in Japan!
1933
Establishes a joint-venture partnership called Yamauchi Nintendo &Co.
Sekiryo Yamauchi established an joint-venture partnership named Yamauchi Nintendo & Co and moved the company's HQ to a new building constructed next door.
1947
A distribution company was established.
An distribution company named Marufuku Co. Ltd. was established to distribute Nintendo's new western style cards like the pinochle and poker decks.
1949
Hiroshi Yamauchi takes office as president at Nintendo after his grandfather Sekiryo.
Hiroshi Yamauchi (the current president at Nintendo) took office as president instead of his father Shikanojo who ran away when Hiroshi was only 5 years old leaving him and his mother Kimi alone. He knew that he was not welcome by the Nintendo's employees so he started firing all the old managers and many of the old workers to make sure that there were no one to question his authority!
1951
Name change to Nintendo Playing Cards Co. Ltd.
Hiroshi changed the distribution company's name to Nintendo Playing Cards Co. Ltd. (or Nintendo Karuta Co. Ltd in Japan)
1952
Hiroshi modernized Nintendo and moved the HQ!
Hiroshi moved the Nintendo HQ to a newer building on the Takamatsu-cho street and consolidated the production plants in Kyoto to make the card producing process more efficient.
1953
Modernizing the card making process.
Nintendo began using plastic-coated cards.
1959
Hiroshi strikes deal with Disney!
Hiroshi strikes an a deal with Disney to let Nintendo produce playing cards featuring Disney's characters. With the aid of successful TV ads and a good distribution system through many big toy and department stores around Japan these cards sold in no less than 600.000 packs that same year.
1962
Nintendo lists stock at the Osaka and the Kyoto Stock Exchange
In January, Nintendo listed stock on the second section of the Osaka Stock Exchange and on the Kyoto Stock Exchange.
1963(-68)
Name change to Nintendo Co. Ltd and starts to produce various products.
This year they changed the company name to what it is today, Nintendo Co. Ltd. and started to manufacturing games and toys instead of playing cards. New products were produced. For example a portioned instant rice which sadly became a failure. After that Hiroshi opened a "love hotel" with room rented by the hour. Fact is that Hiroshi himself was a big costumer at this love hotel although that he was a married man (His wife knew about his visits but she ignored it)! Another of Hiroshi's projects was "Daiya" a taxi company which was going well but after having to negotiate with far to powerful taxi driver unions wanting higher salaries etc he closed this business and later he also closed the love hotel also.

History of the Nintendo Entertainment System

2006-10-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Brazil. In Japan it is known as the Nintendo Family Computer (任天堂ファミリーコンピュータ), or Famicom (ファミコン). The most successful gaming console of its time in Asia and North America, the NES helped revitalize the video game industry following the video game crash of 1983, and set the standard for subsequent consoles in everything from game design (the first modern platform game, Super Mario Bros., was the system's first "killer game") to business practices. The NES was the first console for which the manufacturer openly courted third-party developers.
This article is specifically about the history of the console. For a general overview of the system itself, please see the main Nintendo Entertainment System article.

Neo Geo History

2006-10-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Neo-Geo is the name of a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. The system offered comparatively colorful 2D graphics and high-quality sound. A major platform for arcade games at the time, the system was also available as a costly home console. The two versions of the system were known as the AES (Advanced Entertainment System, the Home Version) and the MVS (Multi Video System, the Arcade Version).

Initially, the home system was only available for rent or for use in hotel settings, but SNK quickly began selling the system through stores when customer response indicated that people were willing to spend the money. Compared to the other consoles of the time, the Neo Geo AES was incredibly powerful, thanks to its high-end graphics and sound chipsets. The home system featured two CPUs: a 16-bit Motorola 68000 main processor running at 12 MHz and an 8-bit ZiLOG Z-80A coprocessor running at 4 MHz. The system's main CPU was over 50 percent faster than the 68000 processor found in Sega's Genesis console (12MHz vs ~7.6MHz). The Neo Geo AES also had the benefit of its specialized audio and video chipsets. A custom video chipset allowed the system to display 4,096 colors and 380 individual sprites onscreen simultaneously (compared to 64 simultaneous colors and 80 individual sprites for the Genesis), while the onboard Yamaha 2610 sound chip gave the system 15 channels of sound with seven channels reserved specifically for digital sound effects. Surround-Sound was also used in a number of games.
The console was planned to debut at $599 USD and included two joystick controllers and a game (either Baseball Stars or NAM-1975). However, this plan was quickly scrapped and when the system had its national launch it debuted at $649.99 with two joysticks, a memory card, and a single pack-in game, Magician Lord (the early Neo Geo boxes had a gold sticker announcing the inclusion of Magician Lord over the initially planned choice of two games), this package was known as the "Gold System". The system was also released in a "Silver System" package, which included one joystick controller and did not include a game or memory card. Other games cost $200 and up — each. With these "premium" prices though, most gamers weren't able to afford the system and so the console was only accessible to a niche market.
Scandinavian flyer showing MVS arcade cabinets.The Neo Geo was only to be driven further into cult status by changing mainstream tastes which soon demanded flashy, 3D graphics. Yet, the quality of Neo Geo games kept it alive in arcades, particularly in Japan, where the newest installment of the flagship King of Fighters was certain to cause a stir with each release.
The last game by SNK for the Neo Geo system, Samurai Spirits Zero Special, was released on October 19, 2004. SNK decided to abandon the hardware due to the rampant piracy of games built for the system, which SNK believed was partially responsible for their bankruptcy in 2000. SNK ceased to manufacture home consoles by the end of 1997, but software for both formats and arcade hardware was produced for many years after. Measured from the introduction of the arcade hardware in 1990 to the release of the last home cartridge in 2004, the Neo Geo's 14-year official span of support from its manufacturer makes it the second longest-lived arcade or home system ever produced, only behind the Atari 2600, which was supported from 1977 until 1992.
Despite the end of official support from SNK, many titles are still expected to be launched by third party developers. For example, a new cartridge-based game called Last Hope was released for the home console in 2006 by the independent NG:DEV.TEAM, running at 60 fps and showcasing the continued ability of the Neo Geo even sixteen years after its debut. The game features both hand-drawn and CG graphics with transparency and lighting effects as well as a techno soundtrack.
The GameTap subscription service currently includes a Neo Geo emulator and a small library of Neo Geo games.

Magnavox Odyssey

2006-10-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Magnavox Odyssey was the world's first commercially sold video game console. It was released in May, 1972, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by roughly three and a half years. The Odyssey was designed by Ralph Baer, who had a working prototype finished by 1968. This prototype is affectionately known as the "Brown Box" to video game collectors. While many collecters consider the Odyssey analog rather than digital (because of the addition of analog circuitry for the output, game control, and the use of discrete components), Baer has said he considers the console to be digital (ref). The games and logic itself are implemented in DTL, a common pre-TTL digital design component using discrete transistors and diodes. Unlike any conventional console today, the system was powered by batteries. The Odyssey lacks sound capability, something that was corrected with the "Pong systems" of several years later, including Magnavox's own Odyssey-labled Pong consoles.
The Odyssey uses a type of removable circuit card that inserts into a slot similar to a cartridge slot; these do not contain any components but have a series of jumpers between pins of the card connector. These jumpers interconnect different analog signal generators to produce the screen output. The system was sold with translucent plastic overlays that gamers could put on their TV screen to simulate color graphics, though only two TV sizes were supported. Some of these overlays could even be used with the same cartridges, though with different rules for playing. It was also sold with plastic game tokens and score sheets to help keep score, much like traditional board games.
The Odyssey was released in May 1972. Sales of the console were hurt by poor marketing by Magnavox retail stores. Many consumers were led to believe that the Odyssey would work only on Magnavox televisions. Magnavox won a court case against Nolan Bushnell for patent infringement in Bushnell's design of Pong, as it resembled the tennis game for the Odyssey.
The Odyssey was also designed to support an add-on peripheral, the first-ever commercial "light gun" called the Shooting Gallery. This detected light from the TV screen, however pointing the gun at a nearby light bulb also registered as a "hit".
Ralph Baer went on to invent the classic electronic game Simon for Mattel in 1978. Magnavox later released several other Pong-like consoles based on the name Odyssey (which did not use cartridges or game cards), and at one point a truly programmable, cartridge based console, the Odyssey, in 1978.
Nintendo's first venture in the electronic gaming world was the distribution of the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan in 1975, before the company introduced its own consoles.

Acclaim Entertainment History

2006-10-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed, and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and, to a lesser extent, personal computer systems and arcade games.

History
Founded in 1987 as a Delaware corporation, Acclaim maintained operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, and Japan. As they grew, they purchased some independent studios, including Iguana Entertainment of Austin, Texas, and Sculptured Software of Salt Lake City, Utah
Many of Acclaim's products were licensed titles: games based on comics, television series (including wrestling shows) and movies. They were also responsible for the ports of many of Midway's arcade games in the early-to-mid 1990s, including the Mortal Kombat series. They also published some games from other companies that at the time of publishment didn't have an American branch, such as Rare's Wizards and Warriors, Technos Japan's Double Dragon II and Taito's Bust-A-Move series.
The waning of the arcade game industry, coupled with some poor sales and public enthusiasm from several key titles led to the eventual loss of many of their licenses. One result of this was their late refactoring of the Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX series. Late into development, nude, and semi-nude content (e.g., full motion video of strippers and nude female riders) was added in hopes of boosting sales. However, like most of their other contemporary titles, BMX XXX sold poorly and was derided for its trashy content and poor gameplay. To add to that, their arcade game Batman Forever had poor sales also due to poor gameplay.
A less significant aspect of Acclaim's business was the development and publication of strategy guides relating to their software products and the issuance of "special edition" comic magazines, via Acclaim Comics, to support the more lucrative brand names.
During Acclaim's decline towards bankruptcy, they made several infamous business and marketing decisions. One example was a promise to UK gamers that a 500 pound prize would be awarded to up to five winners who would name their baby "Turok", to promote the release of Turok Evolution. Another was an attempt to buy advertising space on actual tombstones for a Shadowman game.
Acclaim also suffered multiple lawsuits, a portion of them with former partners. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen sued over unpaid royalties. Dave Mirra sued for fear of being associated with BMX XXX. Another was from Acclaim's own investors, claiming that Acclaim management had published misleading financial reports.
Acclaim suffered severe financial problems in 2004, the result of most of their video and computer game titles selling very poorly. This resulted in the closure of Acclaim Studios Cheltenham and Acclaim Studios Manchester in England and other places and their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving many employees unpaid. Amongst the titles under development at the UK studios were Emergency Mayhem, and Made Man.
On 1 September 2004, Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York, which will virtually annihilate their company in liquidating all possible assets to pay off their enormous debt which reportedly tops USD$100 million.
An attempt to reopen the Cheltenham and Manchester studios (under the new name Exclaim) failed due to legal wrangling over IP, with both the US and UK administrators claiming rights.
In August 2005, former Activision executive Howard Marks purchased the name "Acclaim" for a reported $100,000. In the beginning of 2006, Marks formed a new company called Acclaim Games. According to a job listing for the company, Acclaim Games will "be the first US major brand to bring some of the most successful online games in the world, specifically designed to meet the community and multiplayer experience that the 36 million U.S. tweens and the 41 million European tweens want."
On 7 July 2006, Throwback Entertainment announced that it acquired over 150 Acclaim-published titles and vows to bring some into the next-generation.

Game titles:
AFL Live 2003 PC, PS2, XBOX
AFL Live 2004 PC, PS2, XBOX
AFL Live Premiership Edition PC, PS2, XBOX
All-Star Baseball PS, PS2, N64, Xbox, GameCube
Armorines: Project Swarm PS, N64, GBC
Aggressive Inline PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Batman Forever
Blast Lacrosse PS
BMX XXX Xbox, GameCube
Burnout PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Constructor PC
Crazy Taxi Game cube,PS2,Game boy,Arcade coin machene
D PS, Saturn, 3D0, PC
ECW Anarchy Rulz Dreamcast, PS
ECW Hardcore Revolution Dreamcast, PS, N64, GBC
Extreme-G N64
Extreme-G 2 N64, PC
Extreme-G 3 PS2, GameCube
XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association PS2, GameCube, Xbox
Fantastic Four PS
Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance PS2, XBox, PC
Juiced PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Jupiter Strike PS
Legends of Wrestling PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Legends of Wrestling II PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Marvel's X-Men NES
Machines PC
Othello NES
Re-volt Dreamcast, PS, N64, PC
Shadowman Dreamcast, N64, PS, PC
Shadowman: 2econd Coming PS2
Showdown: Legends of Wrestling PS2, Xbox
Smash TV NES
South Park PS, N64, PC
South Park Rally PS, N64, PC, Dreamcast
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack PS, N64, PC, Dreamcast
Space Jam PS, Saturn, PC
Summer Heat Beach Volleyball PS2
The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk GB
The Simpsons: Bart Meets Radioactive Man NES
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants NES, Master System
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World NES
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Juggernauts GB
The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare SNES, Genesis
The Simpsons: Virtual Bart SNES, Genesis
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter N64, PC
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil N64, GBC, PC
Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion N64
Turok: Rage Wars N64, GBC
Turok: Evolution PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC
WWF In Your House PS
WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game SNES, Genesis, Saturn, Arcade, PS
WWF War Zone PS, N64
WWF Attitude PS, N64
Vexx PS2, Xbox, GameCube