| September 27, 2005... I
Love a Classics Collection with
Ambition! |
Good news for everyone looking forward to Capcom Classics
Collection... according to this review on IGN, the compilation
contains content not found in the original arcade games.
This includes not only the original mission from the Genesis
version of MERCS, but the option to start dream matches
between the characters from all three Street Fighter II
releases.
Capcom Classics Collection will be officially released
tomorrow. If you haven't already preordered the game,
now would be a pretty good time to think about a
purchase! For just twenty dollars, you can't go
wrong.
| September 26,
2005... Late to the Grand Theft
Party |
It is 2005, and I still hate Grand Theft Auto. I
discovered this the hard way when I bought a copy of San
Andreas from some random guy who couldn't sell it to
GameStop. I took the game off his hands for sixteen
bucks. On one hand, that's a fraction of its original
retail price, but probably a whole lot more than I should have
spent, considering my opinion of past GTA releases.
I will give San Andreas credit for the improvements it's
brought to the series. There's not much you can do to
fix a fundamentally flawed game like Grand Theft Auto, but at
least Rockstar tried to bring purpose to the aimless wandering
by letting the player improve their character's abilities with
exercise. Running from the cops boosts CJ's stamina,
while taking a bicycle instead of a car to each mission makes
him a more skilled cyclist.
The atmosphere feels very genuine, too. Forget that
the game was designed in Europe... you'll never question the
authenticity of the setting or the characters, thanks to
convincing dialogue and voice overs to match. Naturally,
there's a lot of rap music in the San Andreas soundtrack, but
if you're not a fan of hip-hop and don't mind breaking the
fourth wall, you can tune into alternative rock, country, or
even 70's funk instead while driving that car your stole to
your next mission.
However, the game itself just isn't much fun. You can
squeeze some entertainment out of San Andreas if you color
outside the lines, but actually playing the game as Rockstar
intended is a mind-numbing experience. The missions are
long, dull, and frustrating... if you're gunned down by cops
or rival gang members while trying to complete one, you're
dropped at the footsteps of a hospital miles away from your
house. Your only real option is to restart from a save
point, slowing the game to a crawl despite the streaming
playfield designed to keep San Andreas and its predecessors
running at a brisk, even pace.
The bottom line is, I still prefer True Crime: Streets of
L.A. True, it's a glitchy, overly ambitious jumble of a
game with an obnoxious hero and ridiculous plot twists.
I still can't get over one of the endings, which pitted you
against zombies and dragons (what, no vampire cowboys?
Oh wait, that's been covered already). Despite all that,
True Crime was fast-paced and fun, because the designers
wisely chose to seperate each mission from the open-ended
design of the city. You could explore your surroundings
at your leisure, then get down to business battling the bad
guys. If your were brought down by the criminals' flying
fists or bullets, you were sent back to the beginning of THAT
MISSION, not a clinic nine blocks away.
Having said that, I don't have high hopes for the sequel to
True Crime. Shockingly, Luxoflux has disposed of both
the title character and the karma system that kept a running
tab on his morality. The only thing they should have
thrown in the trash was the desperate pandering that made
Streets of L.A. hard to take seriously. Unfortunately,
it seems that things will only get worse now that the bright
lights of Los Angeles have been replaced with the dirty back
alleys of New York.
I actually have higher hopes for Total Overdose... I played
the demo of this upcoming Eidos release and liked the
irreverent approach to the typical third-person action game,
even if it was full of cheesy Latin stereotypes and lackluster
graphics. At least the designers were willing to stand
up and admit that their game is silly, unlike the starchy yet
equally absurd Dead to Rights.
Well, enough of that. There's a new review on the
site... this time, it's We Love Katamari, the sequel to the
little budget game that could. While I'm on the subject,
check out the review of the game on 1UP. I make a cameo
appearance in the seedy dive where fans of the game are
reciting poetry. Jeremy exaggerated me a little for
comedic effect, though. See, I'm usually not that
friendly.
| September 24,
2005... Rise and Fall of
the Imperfects |
9/24/05
Attention PSP owners! If you've got emulators on your
system and are thinking of buying Burnout Legends, or any
other new game, you've got to read this. This
information will save you a lot of heartbreak... about three
hundred dollars' worth, to be precise!
And now, some random thoughts on Rise of the Imperfects,
the new Marvel fighting game by Electronic Arts...
* The GameCube version is a full ten dollars less
than its Playstation 2 and XBox counterparts. Someone
from the Higher Voltage message board theorized that the drop
in price was due to the game's lack of online support.
If you don't have a broadband internet connection or just
aren't that excited about online gaming, the GameCube version
is the way to go.
* According to the back of the box, the term "super
hero" is a joint trademark of Marvel and DC Comics. One
can only guess how these two massive corporations managed to
claim the rights to such a broad concept, but one thing is
clear... it must really suck to be Image right about now.
* The commercials for Rise of the Imperfects kind of
creep me out. Did anyone really need to see a grown man
donning Underoos featuring all the game's characters? If
that weren't sad enough, he ultimately decides to docorate his
dong with the face of Paragon, the game's female warrior.
* Why are game companies like EA suddenly deciding
that NOW is the right time to start ripping off Power Stone,
five years after its Dreamcast debut? Aren't they a
little behind the curve on this? Furthermore, why hasn't
Capcom released any sequels to the game? Seems like the
PSP would be perfect for a Power Stone revival.
| September 19,
2005... ™ Symbols
are Funny (also, game
reviews) |
The Game Live tour (sponsored by Mountain Dew™ , G4™ ,
Creative Labs™ , Alienware™ , and new X-treme Depends™
undergarments) took a brief stop in my town this
afternoon. You can guess where I was for most of the
day!
Most of the games they had on display were already
available as demos at GameStop, where you DIDN'T have to
endure eardrum-piercing techno music while you played
them. Nevertheless, I did experience a few games I
hadn't tried, such as...
SERIOUS SAM II: Thankfully, Serious Sam is anything
but, injecting a welcome dose of humor into what is an
otherwise by-the-numbers first person shooter. Hordes of
enemies chase after you, ranging from hulking stone natives to
red soldiers that bear an eerie resemblence to Halo's Master
Chief (I doubt that's just a coincidence). You blow
these creatures away with a selection of weapons, including my
personal favorite, the explosive parrot. He just looks
sooo adorable perched on your arm, but he's anything but
harmless when he's released, making a beeline for the nearest
foe and leaving behind a hail of bones and colorful feathers
in his wake. If this sounds like your kind of game, make
sure you pick it up for the PC... the XBox version looks
surprisingly awful, with bland environments and textures so
blurry you'd swear someone swapped your system with a Nintendo
64 while you weren't looking.
NEED FOR SPEED: MOST WANTED: The next game in the
Need for Speed series is more original than the last, and is
shaping up to be a much smarter buy than the disappointing
L.A. Rush. This time, you're not just racing against the
clock and other opponents, but fighting to stay on the road as
a half dozen cops swarm your car. You'll have to
outsmart the officers to win each race, but they won't make it
easy for you, using their own vehicles as roadblocks and
temporary holding cells. There seemed to be some frame
rate issues, but I tend to attribute that to a buggy XBox
which also locked up the first time I tried to play it.
This isn't the first time the police have made an appearance
in a Need for Speed game, and with any luck, it won't be the
last!
MORTAL KOMBAT: SHAOLIN MONKS: It's a Mortal Kombat
spin-off that's actually more fun than the official games in
the series! Shaolin Monks is a fast-paced beat 'em up
with control as razor-sharp as the spikes you'll use to finish
off the grotesque enemies in your path. The game is
combo-friendly as well as player-friendly... you don't have to
memorize lengthy button combinations to pull off fatalities
and special moves, and both Liu Kang and Kung Lao are armed
with launchers which let them bat around the bruised bodies of
their adversaries. It's fun, fun, fun, the way Mortal
Kombat should have been from the very beginning!
You'll find more of my impressions of the Game Live tour at
my LiveJournal and 1UP blog. And hey, I wouldn't mind a
bit if you'd share your own opinions of these games at the
official Gameroom Blitz forum... after all, that's why it's
there!
| September 17,
2005... Here Comes the Gaming
Goodness! |
September's been a great month for gamers. We were
hit with a double dose of Burnout action earlier this week,
and next week, we can look forward to the long-awaited sequel
to Katamari Damacy. Closing out the month is the release
of Capcom Classics Collection for the XBox, Playstation 2,
and, uh... XBox. Hey, Nintendo, what gives?
October will be even more exciting, with the American
debuts of Trauma Center and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.
Treasure's sequel to Gunstar Heroes will also debut this
month... will it live up to the legacy of the original on the
Sega Genesis? Only time will tell, but we won't have to
wait long for the answer!
I hate to end this upbeat update on a sour note, but, uh...
here's a review of Capcom Fighting Evolution. What's the
final word on Capcom's latest 2D fighter? "Blah."
| September 13, 2005...
Storming the Graffiti Kingdom, One Boss at a
Time |
It wasn't love at first sight, but I'm really starting to
get into Graffiti Kingdom. In case you missed last
month's updates, this is the action/adventure game by Taito
and Hot-B that lets you create your own mighty monsters by
drawing them and assigning them abilities. Who needs to
catch 'em all when you can make 'em yourself?
Anyway, if you already own this game, or plan to buy it,
there's something you should know that will save you a whole
lot of frustration. About halfway through Graffiti
Kingdom, you'll find yourself locked in a danger-filled room
along with a bouncing pink boss named Telepin.
Chasing the obnoxious creature around the screen will only
result in your getting beaten like a red-headed circus
monkey. Instead, stand next to the red and blue blocks
in the stage and face north. When Telepin comes a
callin', respond with a barrage of close-quarter attacks...
I've found that the Fear Slap works especially well for this
purpose.
Telepin will try to smack you around with his cheap-o
combination attacks, but if you're playing as the Rainbow
Bear, his arsenal of weapons will fly over your head faster
than a Dennis Miller joke at a taping of The Man Show.
You'll also be protected from the stage's roulette of doom...
any dangers triggered by the roulette will also slip right
past you.
Hold your ground, tagging Telepin whenever the opportunity
presents itself, and victory will be yours in a matter of
minutes! This is a big improvement over the hour it took
for me to find this trick... O_o
| September 11,
2005... Playstation 2 Mascots Battle to the
Death! |
This update brings with it a new featured game, more
content in the Game Boy Advance section of the site, and a
preview of the latest installments in three of Sony's most
popular franchises.
The folks at GameStop were kind enough to supply me with
demo versions of three upcoming Playstation 2 releases when I
preordered my copy of We Love Katamari. Here's my
initial impressions of all three games, in what I like to call
the free play three-way!
SLY 3: HONOR AMONG THIEVES: Out of all three series,
Sly Cooper seems to have aged the worst. The cel-shaded
characters that were pretty impressive in 2002 are starting to
show some rough edges, and I don't just mean that
figuratively... Sly and his friends are constructed from low
polygon builds that make them look more primitive and angular
than cartoony. While there aren't any noticable
improvements to the graphics, at least the designers at Sucker
Punch have thrown some new ideas into the mix. Sly,
Bentley, and Murray fight together in some stages, with play
cycling from one hero to the next as the battle
progresses. There's also a two player competitive mode
which pits Sly against the frigid female cop Carmalita
Fox. The screen is split into two halves, like the two
player mode in the Sega Genesis classic Sonic the Hedgehog
2. Sadly, handling two screens' worth of action proves
to be a bit much for the Playstation 2, as two player games
run at a noticably slower clip than the single player
adventure.
RATCHET: DEADLOCKED: The fourth installment of the
Ratchet and Clank series was pretty much what I'd expected it
would be... a rock solid, combat-heavy shooter with all the
quality of Insomniac's previous releases, but far less of the
lighthearted humor. The storyline mirrors the plot of
the similarly named movie starring Mimi Rogers and Rutger
Hauer (who and who?), with a heaping helping of The Running
Man thrown in to give Ratchet an excuse to blow away hundreds
of laser cannons and heavily armed battle droids. The
game itself plays like the arena fights in the previous two
Ratchet and Clank titles, emphasizing gunplay over puzzles and
platforming. While Clank is no longer part of the
equation, Ratchet is given two android assistants which fight
in tandem with him and can be programmed to perform simple
tasks. Finally, there are a quartet of new vehicles, and
a weapon system that lets you enhance your firearms with the
power to freeze, shock, or scorch your adversaries.
JAK X: COMBAT RACING: Jak X is the biggest departure
from the previous games in its series... this time, the nearly
mute elf and his fuzzy sidekick Daxter (who you only wish
could be as quiet) have entered themselves in an underground
racing tournament. The various events in this
competition leave the game with somewhat of an identity
crisis... you're never sure if Jak X wants to be WipeOut,
Twisted Metal, or ATV: Off-Road Fury. All of these modes
play well enough, though, and the Artifact Race (where the
racers desperately scramble to collect valuable items
scattered throughout an open playfield) isn't like anything
you've ever seen in a driving game. The lightweight dune
buggies leave the control feeling a little floaty, but this
only adds to the challenge of the game, not the
frustration. If you liked the Jak and Daxter series and
have already burned through Burnout, Jak X could be a great
way to scratch that violent racing itch.
| September 7,
2005... Can't Beat the Real
Thing |
Mega Man's back. Not the handful of cheesy
descendants Capcom's been handing us for the past decade, but
the real, honest to goodness blue bomber we loved in the
1980's. The only catch is, he looks like he should be on
a bag of Huggies.
I don't mind the cutesy look, but I imagine that thousands
of PSP owners, weaned on the gigantic breasts of the Dead or
Alive girls, are going to complain bitterly about the game's
new visual style. With its chubby characters and soft
pastel colors, Rockman Rockman (the game's redundant tentative
title) is actually LESS edgy than the original Mega Man,
released in 1987 for the family friendly NES.
No matter how he looks, it's great to have the real Mega
Man back. There were rumors that Capcom was finished
with the original series... rumors which have thankfully been
disproven by this upcoming PSP release. Between this,
Capcom Classics Collection, and Okami, it seems that Capcom is
going to have a lot of fans this Christmas.
| September 1,
2005... Back to
School |
College has left me exhausted, but I've worked up just
enough energy to write a new review for the game of the day
week month. You'll find it on the bottom of the
page.
You'll find a lot more commentary on the new forum (subtle
plug, huh? :D). Give it a look, and if you like what you
see, sign up and start a few conversations of your own!
| August 29, 2005... That
Didn't Take Long, Did It? |
The new message board is ready! Dive right in... the
water's fine!
| August 27, 2005... A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum |
I have a note for the members of the message board who
don't come to spam or troll it. Yeah, I'm talking to
both of you. I hope you guys weren't too attached,
because the forum is set to be phased out in favor of
something better.
I've been thinking about doing this for a while... the
forum I used for the past four years was pretty low-tech, with
a barebones layout and limited customization options.
However, the catalyst for my decision was that the bans I've
set with Boards2Go just aren't doing their jobs. They're so
easily circumvented that they may as well not exist.
I'll be shopping for a new freeware forum over the next
week. Until I find one that meets with my satisfaction, all
activity on the current message board will be frozen. When the
new forum is ready to launch, all readers of this site will be
informed of the change, and the old message board will be
permanently retired.
Only registered users will be able to post in the new
forum. I originally wanted my message board to be open to
everyone, but recent events have demonstrated that this just
isn't practical. I apologize in advance for the
inconvenience. If it's any consolation, I'll work to
make the new forum worth the hassle.
I'd like to thank the loyal friends of The Gameroom Blitz,
who have supported both the site and its message board for the
past four years. Know that this loyalty is appreciated,
and will not go unrewarded.
| August 23, 2005... A
Strong Case for
Antioxidants |
Good news for all you fans of emulation on the PSP...
there's a new chapter of Complete Convergence that takes you
through the steps to play both Turbografx-16 and TurboDuo
games on your potent portable.
And now, an open letter to Free Radical Design, the
creators of TimeSplitters 2:
I have a question for you. What do you have against
game saves? Were you bullied by a game save in high
school? Did a game save run over your cat when you were
a child? TimeSplitters 2 makes it clear that
you're holding some kind of grudge.
TimeSplitters 2 forces the player to complete missions from
start to finish, without the chance to take a break or save
their hard-earned progress. As a result, they're forced
to repeat these missions over, and over, and over again, until
they complete them perfectly. This is what we gamers
call NOT FUN. We also call it "aggravating",
"repetitive", and "asinine".
Look, I know you've been traumatized by game saves in the
past. I'm deeply sorry about the pain they've caused
you. However, for the sake of your products, perhaps
it's time to reconcile your differences with game saves and
come to some sort of understanding. You eventually
worked through your phobia of unlimited continues back
when you were designing NES games for Rare, so I know you can
get through this. Fans of TimeSplitters (assuming they
haven't all died from high blood pressure and aneurysms) will
thank you for it.
| August 20, 2005... Fun
with Creative Breeding |
Nintendogs is set to be released in the United States in
just two days. While I'm certain Nintendo's virtual pet
simulation will be almost as successful here as it was in
Japan, I can't help but think that its focus is too
narrow. All three versions of the game feature
purebred dogs, which are quite nice if you can actually afford
them. However, it's safe to assume that most Americans
own pets with a more, er, diverse heritage.
If Nintendo REALLY wanted to move copies of their latest
game in the States, they'd release a special edition of
Nintendogs for those of us who first met our canine companions
at an animal shelter, rather than a puppy mill. I
imagine it'd look a little something like this...
| August 16, 2005... Hey,
$25 Was a Good Price for an Xbox Back in
2005 |
The weather has cooled down to a reasonable temperature, I
found an XBox for just twenty five dollars, and there's a new
review on the site. Oh yeah, life is good.
| August 10,
2005... Looks Like It's Back to College for
Me! |
My (mercifully) brief time at the job from hell ™ has
scared me straight... straight back to college, that is.
If I can finish my education and get a bachelor's degree, I
should never have to settle for being stuck in a dank cellar
with a loud-mouthed moron again.
Well, enough of that. I don't know how frequently
this site will be updated when I start taking classes, but I
wouldn't count on it being often. There is some good
news, however. I'm working on an article for the 1UP web
site, and I just discovered that On-File is still floating
around on the Internet. Right now, it's stuck at
Geocities, but I'll move it to my Charter web server space
when I get the chance.
| August 3, 2005... Move
Over Tetris, Now There's Something
Meteos |
I've been shirking my web site updating responsibilities
for the past two weeks, and for that, I apologize. Let
me offer these tasty bits of gaming news as atonement for my
extended absence...
First, there's a Commodore 64 game currently in development
that takes the system to the next level. The slick
side-scrolling shooter Metal Dust looks as though it would be
more at home on the mighty Amiga computer, but there's a price
to be paid for those sprite-saturated screens. You'll
need to pull a 32X and buy an upgrade cartridge in order to
play Metal Dust, but judging from this preview movie alone, it
may just be worth the purchase.
Next, there's Meteos. I found this wacky, wild puzzle
game at GameStop for the tempting price of $19.99.
"Tempting" quickly became "irresistable" when I realized I
still had ten bucks in store credit and a GameStop rebate
card. I went home eight dollars poorer and one DS game
richer, but after playing Meteos for a few hours, I can safely
say that I got the better end of that deal.
Is it as good as Lumines? No, not really.
Rubbing the screen with your stylus like a crazed instant
lottery addict with his last spare nickel isn't as effective
as the game's detractors would have you believe, but it does
become a crutch in desperate situations.
This makes Meteos a less solid game, but it's also a lot
more innovative than Lumines, which would have been a
paint-by-numbers puzzler if not for the tension-raising
timeline. Much of Meteos' appeal comes from its inspired
and completely unexpected gameplay, which encourages you to
push blocks off the top of the screen. Launching a
mountain of colorful shapes into the sky with repeated matches
offers a sense of satisfaction that's hard to find in your
typical puzzle game.
Finally, there's the demo of Burnout Revenge, which I had
the chance to play briefly at GameStop. It's a great
game (would you expect anything less from the Burnout
series?), but from what I've seen so far, I'm not convinced
that it will be on par with the incredible Burnout 3.
The endless assault of drab browns and greys in the stage I
tried is an unwelcome departure from the colorful scenery in
previous Burnout releases. I hope this isn't a sign of
things to come, but if it is, someone needs to tell EA that
the grunge look died with Kurt Cobain and that it's certainly
not welcome in yet another video game. C'mon, game
designers... today's consoles can display millions of
colors. Why settle for just two?
| July 24, 2005... Flex
That Solar Plexus |
Here's a little somethin' I've been working on for the past
week... a fresh new 2600 game called Solar Plexus! I
plan to release this as a cartridge this fall, but in the
meantime, you can enjoy the game with the 2600 emulator of
your choice. I personally recommend Z26 or Stella,
myself.
Solar Plexus is easy to play, as a good 2600 game should
be. Just guide your ship around the screen with the
joystick, and hold the fire button to boost your speed.
Collecting the fuel pods on the edges of the screen will
replenish your steadily dwindling fuel supply, but watch
out! The more fuel pods you collect, the more dangerous
and unpredictable the bouncing red fireball becomes. Can
you complete all five panic levels and reveal the final form
of the Solar Plexus?
You're probably wondering how a guy like me was able to
make a game for the infamously difficult to program Atari 2600
in such a short period of time. After all, it took
Howard Scott Warshaw four months to design the lackluster
E.T., and that was considered a tight schedule in the early
1980's!
The one thing I've got that Mr. Warshaw and friends didn't
is a great programming tool... namely, Batari BASIC.
This compiler, designed by Fred Quimby, transforms development
of 2600 games from a frustrating hassle to a hobby that's as
fun as the software you'll create! Sure, it's not as
feature-packed as assembly language, but at least you'll have
most of your hair left when you're done making your game.
| July 18, 2005... Three
Reviews, No Waiting |
The Gameroom Blitz continues its weekly series on PSP
emulation with a comprehensive guide to fMSX. This MSX
computer emulator is pretty difficult to set up if you don't
know where to begin... fortunately, the Blitz takes you
through each step, offering links to everything you'll need to
squeeze the most fun out of this spectacular software.
Before I go, I wanted to tell you about a couple of games I
played in the past week, and let you know about a great title
that'll be released in the United States next week.
PROPELLER ARENA: Take Microsoft's brilliant Crimson
Skies, then throw in a contemporary setting and a hard rockin'
attitude inspired by Crazy Taxi, and you've got this slick but
insubstancial airplane battle game. While the game's age
and the Dreamcast's dated hardware keep Propeller Arena from
being as impressive as Crimson Skies, it's nevertheless an
outstanding title, with colorful graphics and tight
control. All that's missing in Propeller Arena are
larger playfields with more variety... each level rigidly
sticks to a particular theme, and you're forced to circle back
when you stray outside each stage's restrictive invisible
boundaries. Despite all that, there was a lot of
potential here, as clearly demonstrated by the success of
Crimson Skies on the XBox. Shame on Sega for shelving
this nearly finished Dreamcast game, then blaming the
cancellation on September 11th's terrorist attacks!
INTELLIGENT QUBE: Don't expect mercy from this
mindbogglingly original puzzle game. Even when you start
to think you're doing well, the game will come to a shocking
end, and you'll be informed that your IQ hovers somewhere
between that of Paris Hilton and a tree stump. You'll
keep coming back for more abuse, however, because Intelligent
Qube serves up compelling action and a movie-quality
soundtrack along with its underhanded insults. Removing
the steadily rolling rows of blocks that threaten to push you
off the edge of the screen takes both fast reflexes and
careful planning. Setting mines under the right blocks
will allow you to start a chain reaction that blows up
multiple cubes, but blast the wrong ones and the platform
you're standing on will start to crumble, threatening to drop
you into the inky void below. Imagine a nightmare where
you're trapped in a game of Klax, and you've got a pretty good
idea of what to expect from Intelligent Qube.
GRAFFITI KINGDOM: You remember Magic Pengel,
right? Oh... you don't, do you? Well, let me catch
you up to speed. Taito's role-playing game was unique in
that you had absolute control over the design of your
hero. No longer were you stuck making minor adjustments
to the physique and skin color of a generic humanoid...
anything and everything you could imagine could be brought to
life by drawing out its features. There was just one
problem, however. While the ability to draw your own
characters from scratch was exciting, the lame combat system,
which used chance rather than skill to determine the victor of
each battle, left much to be desired.
Taito has addressed this issue in the sequel, Graffiti
Kingdom, which will be on store shelves next Wednesday.
The turn-based combat has been replaced with action-packed
real-time battles, either against swarms of computer
controlled enemies or your friend's own twisted
creations. On top of that, the almost limitless
customization options in the first game have been expanded,
allowing you to create startlingly lifelike creatures like
these.
Graffiti Kingdom's lighthearted setting and refreshing
originality could make it the next Katamari Damacy... or the
next Guitaroo Man, if nobody bothers to buy it. Don't
make the mistake of missing out on Graffiti Kingdom... if you
don't get it now, chances are, you'll be shelling out seventy
dollars for it next year.
| July 12,
2005... Rolenta
Roadblock |
Sadly, Rolenta Press can't publish Awesome NES.
Company president Leonard Herman informed me that he just
couldn't afford to publish a full-color book of its size,
although at the same time, he did seem impressed with my work
so far. Guess I'll just have to keep searching for
publishers with an interest in the project...
There's good news, though. I'm going to be working on
a handful of projects that should put food on the table until
I'm able to find a more permanent career. Also, there's
a new feature on The Gameroom Blitz, which I plan to update on
a weekly basis. People have had so much difficulty
installing and running certain emulators on the PSP that I
thought it was high time to offer detailed walkthroughs for
the most difficult software on the system... particularly
emulators like fMSX and PCEP with complex installation
procedures and indecipherable Japanese instruction
manuals. You'll find the first installment of this
feature here.
| July 5, 2005... Awesome
NES Progress Report |
Good news for those of you following the progress of
Awesome NES. I've finished the basic layout for the
majority of the pages in the book. The next step is to
collect screenshots and cartridge artwork for the games listed
in the guide.
I'm also hunting down a publisher for the book... right
now, Rolenta Press seems to be my best bet. I've
contacted Leonard Herman, the founder of Rolenta, and I should
receive a response from him shortly. Special thanks go
to Chris Kohler for the suggestion to talk to Leonard about
publishing the book. Let's just hope that he's receptive
to the idea... whatever his decision, you can be sure that
you'll hear about it in a future update of the site.
| July 4,
2005... Complete
Convergence |
It's been a long time coming, but at last, the latest
feature on The Gameroom Blitz has arrived! Complete
Convergence showcases ten of the best emulators available for
the PSP. Which of these programs will ultimately be
declared the champion? Click here and find
out!