Astron Belt gameplay
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Click over to watch.
Still another laserdisc game, this one used special animation footage produced by Toei in 1979, though I can't tell just now where it might be from, assuming it was borrowed from some anime production.
Labels: flying, Sega, shooting games
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posted by Avi Green @ 7:57 AM,
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Cube Quest cassette
Another early game that used laserdisc technology.
Its perspective reminds me of Gyruss, which came out the same year, and if it weren't for the fact that this game has a more "square shaped" way of maneuvering the spaceship, I'd almost think this were a more 3D based version of that rotation based classic! Here, you enter a cube-based labyrinth where you fight various enemies inside. There are at least 54 corridors to go through here, and when you've completed them, you're awarded with the Treasure of Mytha, Master of the Cube Quest. Good fun.
Labels: flying, shooting games
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posted by Avi Green @ 7:44 AM,
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Mega Zone recording
Click ahead and take a look at...
A game similar to Xevious, what else? To add to the fun, there's also some special dots that give you more points (ten each, from what I can tell).
Labels: action, Konami, overhead scrollers, shooting games
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posted by Avi Green @ 7:37 AM,
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'99: The Last War video
A neat game from the mid-80s.
Using a pretty impressive interface, what we have here is a game with vague similarities to other classics as the Space Invaders and Galaxian series, but you can move your tank around - that is, you can "move it up to the far end" of the screen. Very cool.
Labels: action, shooting games
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posted by Avi Green @ 7:29 AM,
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UbiSoft opens Canadian branch
Another developer branch being opened overseas:
TORONTO (Reuters) - French videogame maker Ubisoft Entertainment SA is set to open a Toronto studio that will create 800 jobs over 10 years, the Ontario government said on Monday.Considering how the economy and employment suffered lately, this could be just what they need.
The Canadian province said in a statement it will invest C$263 million ($227 million) over 10 years in the company. It added that Ubisoft will invest over half a billion in the video game studio, expected to open later this year.
Ontario, Canada's manufacturing heartland, has been losing jobs in the midst of the nagging global economic downturn.
The announcement comes just one month after data showed Canada's unemployment rate hit an 11-year high in May as the recession resulted in big layoffs. The unemployment rate in Toronto was 9.3 percent in May.
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posted by Avi Green @ 5:42 AM,
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This planned Asteroids adaptation will surely crash-land
Tinseltown continues its pointless adaptations of video games, with the latest planned being based on the classic Asteroids:
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Universal Pictures has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids."There was plenty of fun to be had in a game where you need to blast a whole swarm of rocks in space, but how does that fun translate into a movie? Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm sure they'll be adding some alien invaders to the mix, if this movie is ever made. But even if it allows for the producers to create their own plot from scratch, I don't have high hopes for it, period. Nor do I have any for the movies they want to make based on Battleship and Candyland, if they go ahead with those.
Matthew Lopez will write the script for the feature adaptation.
In "Asteroids," originally released as an arcade game in 1979, a player controlled a triangular spaceship in an asteroid field. The object was to shoot and destroy the hulking masses of rock and the occasional flying saucer while avoiding smashing into both.
As opposed to today's games, there is no story line or fancy world-building mythology, so the studio would be creating a plot from scratch. Universal is familiar with such a development process: It's in the middle of doing just that for several of the Hasbro board-game properties it's translating to the big screen, among them "Battleship" and "Candyland."
Lopez came out of Disney's writing program and worked on that studio's recent movies "Bedtime Stories" and "Race to Witch Mountain." He also wrote the most recent draft of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," currently in production with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel starring.
And the screenwriter they're assigning was involved in the Witch Mountain remake, which, as Big Hollywood argued, was insulting to the US military. One more reason I wouldn't trust this planned movie they're making.
Labels: adaptations, Atari, card and board games
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posted by Avi Green @ 5:30 AM,
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Battle Shark: war in a periscope
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
First, here's a short clip of the action:
For a video that's a little longer, click here.
An awesome adventure set partly underwater where you control a submarine in a futuristic war. Even above water, the missiles don't go that fast ahead, which is why you need to time your attacks carefully to try for the best-aimed shots at the enemy vessels. In the arcade version, you would view the action through a special computerized periscope. A very clever concept.
Labels: shooting games, Taito
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posted by Avi Green @ 1:38 PM,
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2020 Super Baseball
I once posted the following video as part of a post that included the whole Baseball Stars series from SNK, but the thing is, it's not really part of that series, since it's a futuristic take on the sport. That's why now, I'm going to post it as it's own topic. Here's the video:
Man, this is great. As a game set in the future it features cybernetic players duking it out in an advanced stadium. There's also plenty of tongue-in-cheekiness to add to the fun. Once again, play ball - in the far-flung future!
Labels: SNK-Playmore, sports
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posted by Avi Green @ 1:17 PM,
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Konami's X-Men: the 6-player edition!
I was wondering what games there were out there that I could post more than one entry about (the home version of Atari's Tetris, published under the Tengen label, was certainly one of those). Then, lo and behold, I discovered the ultimate possibility: a recording of the SIX-player version of the X-Men beat-em-up game made in 1992, which I'd also posted another entry of here! Presented in four parts, check out this masterpiece:
From what I can tell, this may have used a kind of double-split monitor to convey everything onscreen, if you'll note the mid-screen effect when characters walk across it. With the exception of a minor glitch here, this is definitely awesome stuff! Like I said at least a year ago, this is one of the few games I know of where six can join in the fun! If you can find this version and the right emulator to run it on, be sure to give it a try with a couple more friends and take on Magneto and the gang. Whoopee!
Labels: action, comic book games, Konami, side scrollers
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posted by Avi Green @ 9:32 AM,
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More about the increase in girl gamers
Thursday, July 02, 2009
USA Today's Game Hunters blog writes about how there's more signs that women are playing more video games.
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posted by Avi Green @ 5:55 AM,
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A post for the King of Fighters 2003
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
And this was the installment produced after SNK stood erect again after a brief bankruptcy. Here's some videos featuring the endings (Yep, they certainly had them here).
The girls are once again just so super-cute here. Were the designers trying to depict Athena in a way similar to Lynn Minmay of Macross fame? Well, it certainly works!
Labels: fighting, SNK-Playmore
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posted by Avi Green @ 11:35 AM,
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Sand Scorpion short
Take a look ahead.
What's really weird about this game? Not that you hear the Japanese lyrics from Sailor Moon on the tape - that was deliberately installed here. It's the title, because this is really just another plane battle! The real background music for this game can be found on Arcade History.
Labels: action, overhead scrollers, shooting games
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posted by Avi Green @ 11:23 AM,
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Champion Wrestler video
Right after the bell clang.
This is even better, IMO, than the WWF-based games Technos made at the time, thanks in part to the camera-effects it has. Come to think of it, it's even better than the one Midway made a couple years afterwards! I just wish it were in English, so I could understand the commentary, but then again, even the Japanese commentary is brilliant! Man, this is cool stuff.
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posted by Avi Green @ 8:19 AM,
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An adventure that sounds quite "Munchable"
USA Today has a review of a new game called the Munchables, featuring an alien invasion by enemy fruits and vegetables, and the heroes of the world in this game need to stop them. It sounds like a lot of fun.
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posted by Avi Green @ 8:02 AM,
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Kabuki Klash kassette
Monday, June 29, 2009
A fight in the Far East:
Not that this actually does officially star kabuki performers, indeed, there are more than just that, but anyway, what we have here is a game with yet more weapon fighters. And to distinguish itself even more, it's possible obtain extra power/speed/points. It's also based on a RPG in Japan called Far East of Eden by Tengai Makyo.
Labels: adaptations, fighting
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posted by Avi Green @ 8:17 AM,
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The new market of health games
Saturday, June 27, 2009
This article talks about how games intended to advance healthy fitness are becoming a serious business:
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Videogames were once blamed for rising obesity rates but are now being championed by the medical industry and for use by government departments for their health benefits.It's great to see that games promoting a positive development are making headway!
Games like Electronic Arts' "EA Sports Active" and Nintendo's "Wii Fit" have got players of all ages moving -- and game developers and investors looking for hot new titles to cash in on this booming segment of the market.
Big John Games' upcoming "Butt Kicker" Nintendo DSi game will provide an action-based environment in which players fight against cigarettes and "Karate Bears" for Wii teaches players real karate routines using the Wii's motion-sensor controllers.
With interest in health games rising, the fifth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston expanded to 390 people this year from 100, including developers, investors and medical experts, while numbers at many other conferences are down up to 40 percent.
"Healthcare is 18 percent of the GDP of the United States and so games for health is probably the largest sector of activity in the serious games field long-term," said Ben Sawyer, co-founder of The Games for Health Project.
"If you add up the 18 month sales of "Wii Fit" and the sales of "EA Sports Active," Konami's "Dance Dance Revolution" and other healthy games, the worldwide retail numbers are over $2 billion."
Dr. Michael Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop which fosters innovation in children's learning, has just released a report looking at how digital games can play a beneficial and educational role in health care.
"The White House should launch a national initiative to promote research and development of proven games," said Levine.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, whose mission is to improve the health and healthcare of all Americans, has also called for a public engagement campaign supported by the president, Congress and the federal agencies to teach parents, teachers and health providers about the healthy side of gaming.
"States' governors should direct their school technology officers to look at innovations like "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Wii Fit" as a way to extend the reach of physical education and comprehensive health education," said Dr. Debra Lieberman, director of Health Games Research for the foundation.
The Games for Health Conference also showcased how videogames are being used to help doctors and patients alike.
Serious games developer Virtual Heroes is working on a new first-person shooter sequel for Hope Lab's popular "Re-Mission" game, which has been distributed to cancer patients in 81 countries since 2006.
"We're taking their existing concept and trying to raise the fun bar and creating more lifelike and enjoyable environments within the human body," explained Jerry Heneghan, CEO of Virtual Heroes.
"Players will take control of Roxy, the protagonist, and have new weapons to battle cancer with thanks to input from cancer patients."
Virtual Heroes is also updating its HumanSim technology with a new human physiology engine, technology has been used by Duke Medical Center's nursing school to train nurses virtually.
Heneghan said he hopes this software will inspire gamers to turn to careers in healthcare and make people in the medical profession more proficient with more grants and funding flowing into universities for health games.
Labels: Electronic Arts, health matters, Nintendo
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posted by Avi Green @ 1:23 PM,
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A filming of Power Spikes II
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Another in V-System's volleyball series:
This seems to be more sci-fi styled than the previous games in this series, as here, the players can wear special cyber-gear. You'll notice how in the background on the scoreboard side, they seem to be referencing Turbo Force, the game that preceded Aero Fighters, and the referee is none other than than Tee-Bee, the Swedish-manufactured robot who appeared in Aero Fighters as the player two character when you select Sweden! Isn't that something.
Labels: sports, Video System
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posted by Avi Green @ 7:24 AM,
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