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What made the NES so interesting?
I often like to cover oddities here; details of computers and arcade systems people may not have heard of, that didn’t sell well but had unique or interesting characteristics. But focusing on oddities like that can disguise the fact that sometimes, even systems that were very popular can stand out for unique design. Such be it with the Nintendo Entertainment System: had Nintendo’s console flopped, it’d definitely have a post already. But it doesn’t. Let’s fix that! And answer a simple question I was asked: what’s the deal with special chip games?
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Donkey Kong's Discount Replacement: Hero in the Castle of Doom
D! K! Donkey Kong! He may be the leader of the bunch, but by 1985, America knew him well. A little too well. Unlike today, when the game and its sequel are considered classics, at the time arcade operators thought it was just another old game for the dustbin of history. And where there are worthless circuit boards, there are enterprising entrepreneurs trying to make them worthwhile again. Did they succeed in making a better game than Nintendo’s classic?
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Fact-checking a dead company: Is the Turbo Duo faster?
I’m assured that marketing is very important in order to let the people know about goods and services. But sometimes… marketers aren’t entirely truthful. Shocking, I know. Let’s look at one particular claim made by Turbo Technologies about the Turbo Duo. Is it as good as they say? If it is, great! If it’s not, well, we can call them up. Surely they’re still around. The Turbo Duo is a pretty cool console, after all.
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Genesis from Another World: the Sega System C
There’s a concept called the “Uncanny Valley”; when a human looks at a cartoonish face, they’ll generally recognize it as a person. When they’re presented with a photorealistic face, they’ll similarly recognize it. But when presented with an image that is highly realistic but just a bit “off”, the human will tend to find it repulsive or disturbing. Today, we’ll take a look at yet another Sega arcade board: one that would trigger an “uncanny valley” reaction in a Sega Genesis, if you gave it a human brain.
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Neo Geo Genesis 1 1/2: The Alpha 68K-V
Last year, I wrote up an article on the Alpha 68k arcade platform. A complex system made primarily with discrete logic by the Alpha Denshi Corporation, it would eventually become the basis of the Neo Geo. There was one game, though, that I really wanted to talk about and couldn’t. The highest development of the Alpha 68k system before it united with SNK. I didn’t have it then– now I do. Let the Gang Wars begin!
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The Teddy Boy Blues Just Don't Stop
Oh, sure, you know Teddy Boy Blues in the arcades. But that was just the beginning for Teddy Boy. Before you know it, he’ll be traveling around the world and across platforms– and as we’ll see, he won’t be taking Yohko Ishino with him. Where will Teddy Boy go? Why would you trust him to launch your new console? Just how many soundtracks does one game need?
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The Power of Cross-Marketing: Teddy Boy Blues
Imagine making a game based on a song. A song of a futile love, heartbreak, and a teddy boy. Now, remember that it’s 1985, and you’re making an arcade game. (For the Sega System 1, as this is just the Sega System 1 blog now) Would you come up with a boy with a tiny grease gun that can shrink your foes rather than pump them full of lead running through a series of non-Euclidean mazes? …you wouldn’t? Well, thankfully, Ishii Youji did.
