It's Not Been The Best Of Evenings...

Well, here we are...

Me, Gnome and the other three people that populate this blog...

I've just watched my second team Liverpool getting unceremoniously dumped from the Champions League Final by *cough!* AC 'Mother-feckin' Milan...

Not good, obviously... and at times like this, you clutch at straws that can uplift you...

Well how about this...

On Monday, (when I originally posted the piss poor review of "Stweet's Of Wage" for the Master System) I actually received a lovely package...

An original Gameboy Colour 'Pikachu Edition' PLUS a Gameboy Camera peripheral AND a roll of film filled PRINTER!

Gee Whillickers Batman!

You mean I could take pix on my Gameboy Colour? And actually print them out?

Hell Yes!

How about that?

So far, I've actually only taken one pic... But at some point I can dick about with it and actually print off photos!! Cripes how retrospectively cool is that?

Check the whole shit out here...

Related posts: GBC Pokemon Pinball, The Bit Corp. Gamate, Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel

Master System Monday # 10: "'Ave Some Of That Yer Bastard..."

Jesus! Monday again and this time with the MOTHER of all hangovers, after a three day birthday binge that at one point included absynthe...

I've felt like a hollow shell of a man all day, so it's fitting that the artistic merits of this particular post are suitably empty and vacuous... The video 'review' of Streets Of Rage (or Stweets Of Wage...)has got to be one of the most piss poor pieces of video blogging ever aired. The guy doing the voice over and describing/reviewing the game sounds like a Brummie Arthur Pewty, continuously recoursing to " 'Ave that..." every time he runs out of something to say about the game...

It made me laugh and I hope it will give you a chuckle!

"'Ave that yer bastards..." LOL! :)

Classic Sierra adventures on the Pocket PC

Pocket Sarien, a fantastic AGI emulator, FreeSCI, an aptly named Sierra Creative Interpreter emulator, an easy to use guide on installing & using them and some links to freely available retro adventure games are all happily available in one convenient place. And if you are still wondering what the fuss is all about, well, following the link provided will give your Pocket PC a chance to host classic Sierra adventures. You know, King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Quest for Glory, the lot. Oh, and you could even try some pretty obscure classics such as Gold Rush!.

Related posts: Warring States PPC, Top 5 emulators for Pocket PC, Pocket UFO

The Game Boy Advance does stuff in 3D

See the lovely YouTube video box directly above this sentence? Great. Now, press play and watch the GBA produce some amazing 3D graphics, almost on par with (very) early and not very well-coded N64 graphics. The video is a product of the BlueRoses engine and an excellent contribution of Unseen64 to the retro gaming community.

Related posts: Pokemon Pinball GBC, the GameBoy Color feature, pirated GBA cartridges

Master System Monday # 9: Caleb's Collection!

"Monday Monday... Looks good to me..." So sang California soft rockers, The Mamas and The Papas. But obviously they didn't have a clue about the true nature of the day, because Monday is always a ball ache. Waking up knowing you've got the whole working week ahead of you, scraping yourself out of bed and facing the dreary prospect of the same old shit on a different day...

It's at times like this that we have to look for the things that can brighten the gloom of this darkest of days. One such glimmer comes from the opportunity to wax lyrical about the Sega Master System, (you know that 8 bit marvel, whose games can coincidentally be played on the equally fantastic handheld Sega Game Gear...)

Today's topic is to showcase the truly wonderful collection of Caleb (he of Saturn Junkyard and Hunyak fame).
Caleb is a commited Retro Gamer and self confessed good will store/garage sale addict. He recognises the intrinsic value of older games that other gamers have consigned to the scrap heap. His Master System collection is rather lovely... Look here...

Consequently he is amassing quite a collection of retro consoles and games. Showcased here is Caleb's quite fantastic Master System collection, replete as it is with TWO light guns AND the legendary 3D glasses.

(There are many reasons to enjoy retro gaming, as considered by the marvellous Racketboy here...)

Oh and the other wonderful feature is that Caleb also cleverly informs us that any Dreamcast owner (and you all should be...) can also enjoy Master System fun via an emulation disc!

You see Monday aint so bad after all...

Master System Monday # 8:Tribute to Sega Master System

A very quick post as it's late and I'm missing being in Barcelona (bah!). This lovely video montage, to the strains of AM2's Space Harrier (the first game in the clip) is a lovely synopsis of the systems graphical abilities! Enjoy!

Cool Herders DS

Having got all giddy about the re-emergence of the Sega Saturn classic NiGHTS, on the Nintendo Wii, imagine my absolute delight in finding out that the independently produced homebrew Dreamcast game Cool Herders was being ported to Nintendo's flagship handheld console, the DS!

This cute sheep herding (yes you read that correctly, sheep herding) game is actually far more suited to the DS than the Dreamcast, as the graphics are more in keeping with Nintendo's style, and its agricultural theme can be likened to Harvest Moon games for the DS forerunner, the Game Boy Advance. (Jeez that was a long sentence.)

I'm hoping that this might lead to more homebrew Dreamcast appearing on the DS. Alice Dreams or Last Hope perhaps?

Oh and while I'm on the subject of Dreamcasts and DS games, having armed myself with both my VMU game Chao Adventure, and my DS and my entire games collection of DS games for this weekend's trip to Barcelona - only my Dreamcast VMU saw any action! So a seven year old peripheral for the Dreamcast can still cut the gaming mustard! Happy days! Photo evidence of this phenomena will appear on this forum soon...

Related posts: Overclocking a DS Lite, the leaked Sonic Rush BETA, Resident Evil DS: Inappropriate Touching

PaRappa the Rapper PSP

PaRappa the Rapper, one of the first rhythm video games ever, hit the PlayStation in 1996 and bizarrely featured a rapping dancing dog and an appropriately abnormal plot. PaRappa quickly achieved hit status and was in part to blame for the video game invasion of clubs and other bastions of mainstream culture such as ...uhm... open air parties.

Now, more than ten years later, Parappa the Rapper is ready to invade buses and hopefully classrooms, using only a Sony PSP, as Sony announced the handheld version of the game should be hitting shelves early this summer. The game will be more or less a straight PSOne port sporting a few enhancements such as wireless multiplayer and downloadable songs. Yummy & porny, if I may say so.

Related posts: The PSP Final Fantasy remakes, Atari 7800 PSP emulator, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars pics

Pokemon Pinball (Game Boy Colour)

I have taken a Game Boy Colour into my place of work this week, in order to snatch those illicit minutes of gaming that one can only sneak when you should be doing your job. Game Boys of various types are big news in my house at the moment, due to a resurgence of interest in Pokemon.

Now I never got into Pokemon, despite indulging my kids interest by buying cards, Pokeballs, capsule toys (and even going to the cinema to watch Pokemon the Movie). Hell, I can even name a few - Squirtle, Blastoise, Bulbasaur and Pikachu! But as a game, the Game Boy franchise just never appealed. My middle son -13, is now teaching his younger brother- 9, the ways of the Pokemon on GBA, like some sage like guru... They've both abandoned PS2, DC, PSP and DS to concentrate on the different versions of Pokemon for the GBA, with such names as Sapphire, Fire Red and Leaf Green. In fact it's safe to say that my middle son has got a good eight whole years (on and off) from these games...

Now, as well as a rather lovely Mario game (definitive Nintendo fayre), I have a rather fabulous Pokemon Pinball game which I'm loving at the moment. This is not in any way like the 'gotta catch 'em all' Pokemon franchise they are playing, just a rather fabulous Pinball sim, but very heavily Pokemon themed.

The cartridge itself has a rather lovely rumble pack, supported by two AAA batteries. It looks a little ungamely, but works extremely well. This game does not feel in any way like a retro title, (unlike Game Gear games), it actually retains a feel, stylisation and flavour that stands up very well against any of its PSP or DS peers. I'm lucky enough to own two Gameboy Colours.

You can pick up these babies for peanuts these days. If I were you I would snag one and Pokemon Pinball ASAP!

Related posts: Game Gear & Burnt Face Man, Game Boy Color Colours, the Game Boy Color feature

Master System Monday # 7: The Sega Master System Guitar

Holy 8 Bit Systems Batman!

Wow! I was just editing the piss poor post I put up for Master System Monday #7 (Jeez time flies...) When I came upon this! Lawks-a lordy!

An electric guitar fused with a Master System! There is a God! Jesus! If only Alex Kidd had one of these beauties he could still be Sega's mascot!

If Jimi Hendrix had one of these he could still be alive! Possibly!

Anyway, this is the sort of stuff and nonsense which makes life worth living as far as I'm concerned...

Hey and we're almost near to Wii day! (May 16th - Father Krishna's almost top secret 40th birthday - No, please I don't want a fuss...)

Life is good! :)