New Games/General Gaming

[DE.]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

My thoughts exactly. I think you could skip random battles in the PC version and speed up walking speed. I have a feeling I would prefer that to what we will be served up in this remake. I just can't see them capturing the charm and kookiness of the original. I mean, how will they even do those scenes in the Honeybee inn with realistic graphics??  It will look ridiculous at best, creepy at worst 

Yeah, indeed. A lot of the stuff in FF7 that was creepy (normal in Japan tbf, but creepy to us), weird or downright bizarre tended to come across as amusing in 1997 due to the blocky graphics and weird translations. There's so much stuff that just wouldn't retain that same amusement factor in a remake - when you think about it Cid's abusive relationship with Shera is pretty awful, but because of the graphics and translations it's more 'ha, ha, what a dick Cid is' rather than 'holy shit, this guy is a wife beating asshole'. I assume a lot of that stuff will be toned down in the remake or removed completely, but then, how faithful is it to the original game? Not especially.

I also assume some enemies will be missing from the remake. Remember Hell House? 

And frankly, I do not want to see this definition of nightmare fuel in a remake:

In fact the whole ShinRa mansion in Nibelheim would just be horrifically creepy with improved graphics quality. It was unsettling enough in the original game.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, DE. said:

Yeah, indeed. A lot of the stuff in FF7 that was creepy (normal in Japan tbf, but creepy to us), weird or downright bizarre tended to come across as amusing in 1997 due to the blocky graphics and weird translations. There's so much stuff that just wouldn't retain that same amusement factor in a remake - when you think about it Cid's abusive relationship with Shera is pretty awful, but because of the graphics and translations it's more 'ha, ha, what a dick Cid is' rather than 'holy shit, this guy is a wife beating asshole'. I assume a lot of that stuff will be toned down in the remake or removed completely, but then, how faithful is it to the original game? Not especially.

I also assume some enemies will be missing from the remake. Remember Hell House? 

And frankly, I do not want to see this definition of nightmare fuel in a remake:

In fact the whole ShinRa mansion in Nibelheim would just be horrifically creepy with improved graphics quality. It was unsettling enough in the original game.

Now that is a trip down memory lane. Good times..

Ya, pretty sure the part where Hojo was trying mate Red XII and Aeries will be avoided also. 

[DE.]

3 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Now that is a trip down memory lane. Good times..

Ya, pretty sure the part where Hojo was trying mate Red XII and Aeries will be avoided also. 

Haha, yeah... FF7 was really out there. Also, Hellatic Hojo...

In graphically enhanced HD? No thanks...

For some reason Bizarro Septhiroth creeped me out as well

WTF.

This game is actually a lot creepier than I've ever given it credit for.

[Norbert Rassragr]

FF 12 is worth a go. I only have a PS 2, so I missed out on the later ones. I read the remake will skip the cross dressing bit to get into the gangster's house, so it'll probably be a bit more PC (if you excuse the pun) so the screaming outrage idiots who find Friends offensive won't complain and cry on social media. I normally have a theme with the name, so one time it was figures from the French revolution, another time they were all Nazis.......

[DE.]

11 minutes ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

FF 12 is worth a go. I only have a PS 2, so I missed out on the later ones. I read the remake will skip the cross dressing bit to get into the gangster's house, so it'll probably be a bit more PC (if you excuse the pun) so the screaming outrage idiots who find Friends offensive won't complain and cry on social media. I normally have a theme with the name, so one time it was figures from the French revolution, another time they were all Nazis.......

Yeah, I figured as much. In all honesty I'm not sure how well that entire sequence would translate to modern gaming anyway. 

I got the PS4 enhanced version FF12 for Christmas, so I have that to play at some point. No shame in only having a PS2 btw, it's a great console. I installed a hard drive into mine to avoid using the disc drive, works pretty well! 

[Norbert Rassragr]

Yeah, I stopped buying consoles after the PS 2. Didn't really have the money, and the games I had were good enough. I'm the sort to use something until it breaks rather than just throw something away as the new thing is brought out. I liked the licensing system that is on FF 12, but FF 8's set up was way too convoluted and complex. I've not really got into 9 or 10 yet, but I'll start those once I finish 12. 

[DE.]

I'm not one for throwing out systems either. I'm currently in possession of an Atari 2600, Sega Master System, NES, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Panasonic 3DO, Philips CDi, Sega Mega Drive I & II, Sega Mega CD, Sega Pico, Super Famicom, Super Nintendo, PS1 (multiple), N64, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, PS2 (multiple), Xbox, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, PSVR, NES Mini, SNES Mini & Oculus Rift, plus multiple games for all of the above systems... so yeah, I either have a collection or a problem depending on whether you're a gaming enthusiast or my missus. 

FF8's junctioning system isn't actually particularly difficult once you get your head around it. I read through a guide which explained it and once I started messing around with it I got what I was doing pretty quickly. The main issue with the junctioning system is that you can effectively break the game within the first hour by leveling up all of your GFs (summons) which give you extra abilities, extra HP, extra strength, etc. Once you've got junctioning sorted and have enough magic the game becomes reallllly easy. The story is worth playing through though at least once imo, but I know some people don't like it. Much like FF7 it's a bit... out there. But I like that.

[Norbert Rassragr]

That's more consoles than I can think of. If I won the Euromillions, I'd have a room with that sort of list, though I would throw out a couple of the duplicate machines. Completely forgot the Panasonic 3D0 and Philips CDi existed. I think you're only missing the Atari Jaguar, the Neo Geo and the one Commodore made then you'll have all of them. Being in my mid to late 30's, I grew up in Hong Kong during the 90's and Mega Drive games were half the price they were in the UK, and you could get some really crap games like Slaughter Sport or World Cup 92 (sic). And the shops sold gadgets that you could copy the cartridge onto the 3.5 inch floppy disks with the metal catch. Completely illegal, but no-one gave a crap until armed police raided the shop.

I apologise that this has nothing to do with new games, but it's not often you hear of someone owning a Panasonic 3D0. It's like finding out someone has a laser disk player with all sorts of weird Japanese programmes like Ultra man.

[perthblue02]

"I think you're only missing the Atari Jaguar, the Neo Geo and the one Commodore made then you'll have all of them"

The Amiga CD32, great bit of kit although probably a year late, mind you even if it was a year earlier I am sure the big bods at Commodore would have still screwed it up somehow. Although the CD32 lack of success was probably due to it not  being able to be sold in the US

Edited April 6, 2018 by perthblue02

[DE.]

10 hours ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

That's more consoles than I can think of. If I won the Euromillions, I'd have a room with that sort of list, though I would throw out a couple of the duplicate machines. Completely forgot the Panasonic 3D0 and Philips CDi existed. I think you're only missing the Atari Jaguar, the Neo Geo and the one Commodore made then you'll have all of them. Being in my mid to late 30's, I grew up in Hong Kong during the 90's and Mega Drive games were half the price they were in the UK, and you could get some really crap games like Slaughter Sport or World Cup 92 (sic). And the shops sold gadgets that you could copy the cartridge onto the 3.5 inch floppy disks with the metal catch. Completely illegal, but no-one gave a crap until armed police raided the shop.

I apologise that this has nothing to do with new games, but it's not often you hear of someone owning a Panasonic 3D0. It's like finding out someone has a laser disk player with all sorts of weird Japanese programmes like Ultra man.

Unfortunately the Jaguar, Neo Geo and Amiga CD32 tend to be quite expensive. At the moment Jags sell for about £100-£180 depending on accessories, CD32 around £200+ and Neo Geo the same (prices for Neo Geo games are also outrageous). I haven't spent more than £100 on a single system, the 3DO was the most expensive at £90 (which is still nothing compared to its RRP in the 90s!). 

From what I've read Asia was a bit of a wild west situation when it came to 90s consoles. Clones and pirated games everywhere. Sounds like fun.  

I forgot to mention I actually have an Amiga 500 as well. Would like a CDTV but again, rare and expensive. Other stuff I'm missing but would like to get is an original Japanese Famicom (not that hard to get but getting a step down converter would be the expensive part), Sega 32X (goes for well over £100, can't bring myself to spend that much on such a poor add on) and a Virtual Boy (expensive).

Basically I've hit the price ceiling in terms of collecting. I don't have THAT much spare cash so unless I find a bargain the above will probably all remain absent.

[DE.]

10 hours ago, perthblue02 said:

"I think you're only missing the Atari Jaguar, the Neo Geo and the one Commodore made then you'll have all of them"

The Amiga CD32, great bit of kit although probably a year late, mind you even if it was a year earlier I am sure the big bods at Commodore would have still screwed it up somehow. Although the CD32 lack of success was probably due to it not  being able to be sold in the US

That did contribute pretty hugely, as Commodore ended up with a ton of stock they could do nothing with, but I think CD32 was doomed anyway. The company was already in poor financial health and most of the games were just ports of good Amiga 500/1200 games. I think even over here the PlayStation would still have crushed it.

[perthblue02]

4 hours ago, DE. said:

That did contribute pretty hugely, as Commodore ended up with a ton of stock they could do nothing with, but I think CD32 was doomed anyway. The company was already in poor financial health and most of the games were just ports of good Amiga 500/1200 games. I think even over here the PlayStation would still have crushed it.

The farce of a lawsuit did not help (10 million $ judgement against Commodore) but with initial sales in the UK and Europe and it accounting for (from memory) approx 40% of all cd system based sales the Christmas after launch the base was there for it to push on. True to farce Commodore International management even with stock elsewhere they messed up the supply chain on components so could not meet demand from Europe /Canada.

The biggest mistake imo was not developing ,announcing and releasing the A1200 add on with the akiko chip at the same time as the cd32 launch , which would have probably doubled the number of cd32 users, and given software developers a push to get behind the system.

Just a pity Commodore UK pulled out of the bidding after the Com Int bankruptcy sale.

Must admit was still using my modified 1200 as a main comp well into 2002,

Edited April 7, 2018 by perthblue02

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The Atari Jaguar.. the memories are flooding back there.Saved all my penny's up for one of those in the early 90's,the graphics were hailed as groundbreaking at the time.

Look archaic now,how things have moved at a pace...

 

[DE.]

2 hours ago, perthblue02 said:

The farce of a lawsuit did not help (10 million $ judgement against Commodore) but with initial sales in the UK and Europe and it accounting for (from memory) approx 40% of all cd system based sales the Christmas after launch the base was there for it to push on. True to farce Commodore International management even with stock elsewhere they messed up the supply chain on components so could not meet demand from Europe /Canada.

The biggest mistake imo was not developing ,announcing and releasing the A1200 add on with the akiko chip at the same time as the cd32 launch , which would have probably doubled the number of cd32 users, and given software developers a push to get behind the system.

Just a pity Commodore UK pulled out of the bidding after the Com Int bankruptcy sale.

Must admit was still using my modified 1200 as a main comp well into 2002,

The A500 and A1200 were both really nice pieces of kit. So nice that Commodore struggled to move out of their shadow. Hell, my A500 works to this day. I had to replace the floppy disk drive a few years ago but other than that it's as good as the day my dad bought it, save for a little yellowing. 

1 hour ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

The Atari Jaguar.. the memories are flooding back there.Saved all my penny's up for one of those in the early 90's,the graphics were hailed as groundbreaking at the time.

Look archaic now,how things have moved at a pace...

 

Damn, I didn't know anybody who had a Jaguar. They were actually planning to do an Atari Jaguar VR headset - I think prototypes do exist. They released a CD add on too. Unfortunately Atari's money ran out and the Jaguar was buried pretty fast. Still a homebrew community going to this day which is pretty cool.

What irks me is that ten years ago Electronics Boutique (I think) had a sale on leftover Jaguar stock - selling boxed Jaguars for £9.99! I wasn't really into retro gaming at the time so it totally passed me by  you're lucky to see a second hand one selling for less than £150 these days.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Yes,I remember the Jag falling out of favour pretty quickly...ended up selling mine to a second hand shop on Bolton Rd!

Amazed at those prices now.

Edited April 7, 2018 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[DE.]

Prices on retro gaming are up across the board at the moment, but especially with rare stuff like the Jaguar, CD32, 32X, etc. 

It's a great time to get a PS1, PS2, PS3, Mega Drive, XBOX 360 or Wii though. Prices on all of those consoles remain reasonable, and a lot of the games are dirt cheap at the moment too. Still a lot of awesome games from the last gen that are worth picking up and giving a go. 

[Norbert Rassragr]

You can turn one of those Raspberry Pi jobbies into an old console that covers the various machines over this period. I get ads for it on my facebook page. I'm not sure I would though, as I worked for Unipart in 2016, and they used those machines in part of the process to test Sky boxes after they have been fixed, and they were fairly temperamental. When they went down, it took hours for the technician guy to connect them back up again. 

Anyway, let's indulge in nostalgia a bit more. It's hard to believe this was revolutionary once.

Though I preferred this one:

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

15 hours ago, DE. said:

Prices on retro gaming are up across the board at the moment, but especially with rare stuff like the Jaguar, CD32, 32X, etc. 

It's a great time to get a PS1, PS2, PS3, Mega Drive, XBOX 360 or Wii though. Prices on all of those consoles remain reasonable, and a lot of the games are dirt cheap at the moment too. Still a lot of awesome games from the last gen that are worth picking up and giving a go. 

Do you have all your consoles set up in one room? 

[Norbert Rassragr]

On 4/6/2018 at 16:06, DE. said:

I also assume some enemies will be missing from the remake. Remember Hell House? 

And frankly, I do not want to see this definition of nightmare fuel in a remake:

In fact the whole ShinRa mansion in Nibelheim would just be horrifically creepy with improved graphics quality. It was unsettling enough in the original game.

I liked Hell House because of it's weird lame looks. I can imagine the designers thinking "well we've got the zombie ones done,  and those dudes that look like hedgehogs, what would be completely unexpected." "I know, a robot that's like a house that's had a jumbo jet has crash into it." And there are some monsters like Ying/Yang that would be fantastic in the remake, along with all the WEAPONS and Hojo monsters.

 

[DE.]

20 hours ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

You can turn one of those Raspberry Pi jobbies into an old console that covers the various machines over this period. I get ads for it on my facebook page. I'm not sure I would though, as I worked for Unipart in 2016, and they used those machines in part of the process to test Sky boxes after they have been fixed, and they were fairly temperamental. When they went down, it took hours for the technician guy to connect them back up again. 

The NES/SNES minis aren't much more than Raspberry Pi machines in official clothing, to be fair. From what I understand those setups work fine, but still... it's not the real thing

6 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Do you have all your consoles set up in one room? 

Nah, they're set up based on the best TV to use. The 8/16/32 bit consoles are pretty much all in the spare room with the 17" CRT. The Dreamcast/PS2/XBOX/Gamecube are in the bedroom with the 32" TV, and the latest consoles (plus the CDi, for some reason) are in the living room with the 50" TV! 

I keep all the leads and wires packed away, as it gets horrifically messy if they're all hooked up behind the TV. I just get the leads out as and when I need them.

1 minute ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

I liked Hell House because of it's weird lame looks. I can imagine the designers thinking "well we've got the zombie ones done,  and those dudes that look like hedgehogs, what would be completely unexpected." "I know, a robot that's like a house that's had a jumbo jet has crash into it." And there are some monsters like Ying/Yang that would be fantastic in the remake, along with all the WEAPONS and Hojo monsters.

There's a lot of very... unique monster designs in FF7. FF8 was a little more conservative in that sense. I'm not sure exactly how faithful they will be in the remake. If random encounters are completely gone, which I assume they will be, then most of the monsters will probably be gone too. We'll basically just be left with ShinRa soldiers and bosses/mini-bosses.

[Norbert Rassragr]

I hope not. The random encounters annoyed means you'd be trying to either find or avoid battles and it would be annoying. I'd try and fit all the different monsters in, and perhaps put a couple more new ones as well. With the extra computing power since 1997 there's no reason that you can't have them roaming around. Especially since it'll be over 3 games. 

[DE.]

One of the great things about Final Fantasy 8 is that one of your GFs can learn an ability that, if applied, will completely remove random encounters from the game. If you want to you can literally learn this at the very start of the game, too. Because monsters and bosses level up with you in FF8 failing to level up doesn't handicap you, either. If anything the lower level you are the easier the game is, due to the way the junctioning system works.

[Norbert Rassragr]

Which GF does that? I presume it'll take up one of those 4 abilities you can do.

[Bigdoggsteel]

2 hours ago, DE. said:

The NES/SNES minis aren't much more than Raspberry Pi machines in official clothing, to be fair. From what I understand those setups work fine, but still... it's not the real thing

Nah, they're set up based on the best TV to use. The 8/16/32 bit consoles are pretty much all in the spare room with the 17" CRT. The Dreamcast/PS2/XBOX/Gamecube are in the bedroom with the 32" TV, and the latest consoles (plus the CDi, for some reason) are in the living room with the 50" TV! 

I keep all the leads and wires packed away, as it gets horrifically messy if they're all hooked up behind the TV. I just get the leads out as and when I need them.

There's a lot of very... unique monster designs in FF7. FF8 was a little more conservative in that sense. I'm not sure exactly how faithful they will be in the remake. If random encounters are completely gone, which I assume they will be, then most of the monsters will probably be gone too. We'll basically just be left with ShinRa soldiers and bosses/mini-bosses.

Ya, I hate the leads. It's very hard to cut down on clutter cables though. That's why I was wondering how you had your set up? I would love something like that, but the thoughts of messing with cables scares me off. Having the games on one console then ruins the authentic experience of playing it in its original form. For some of those consoles you have though, you can't even get the games on ps or Xbox online shops. 

I just don't know when I would find the time to play them all is the thing, I barely have time for one game on ps4 these days 

[DE.]

13 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya, I hate the leads. It's very hard to cut down on clutter cables though. That's why I was wondering how you had your set up? I would love something like that, but the thoughts of messing with cables scares me off. Having the games on one console then ruins the authentic experience of playing it in its original form. For some of those consoles you have though, you can't even get the games on ps or Xbox online shops. 

I just don't know when I would find the time to play them all is the thing, I barely have time for one game on ps4 these days 

Having the leads all out at once would be horrible, but keeping them packed away makes it pretty easy. Most consoles only really have a power cable and an RF/Scart/AV/HDMI lead. A lot of them can swap around as well. PS1 & PS2 for example can use the same cables, and so can PS3/PS4. 

In all honesty I barely play mine either. They're more like decorations or ornaments  I just like walking in and seeing them all sitting there. Most of what I actually play is VR these days. What is cool is that with the Oculus Rift somebody made a program which emulates the Virtual Boy. It does a great job too - even adjusts the movement so that it doesn't give the user the headaches that the actual Virtual Boy does.