April 2012 – Page 3 – Obsolete Gamer

Home Alone

There’s some really unique game play here, which won me over right away: There’s an overview of the “neighborhood”, which consists of the 5 houses that Harry and Marv are trying to rob. The game gives you 20 minutes to slow down the Bandits before the cops arrive. You do this by staying ahead of them inside the houses. Moving around the neighborhood in a motorized sled, you enter each house to set up traps. Once you’ve entered, there’s a blueprint map where you do this; marbles, toys, oil…a number of things to slow them down, because they seem to be too stupid to look down at the floor, I suppose. Once they’re inside, you go into “attack” mode, using weapons against them.

Humor

J.A. Laraque

Five Don’ts of gaming

You are not going for a Twin Galaxies record so when you decide to have a retro game night with your friends do not show how you can beat Super Mario Bros 3 with one life because it will just piss us off and make us retaliate on you. On the other hand, if you want to school your friends in a game of Temco Bowl go right ahead.

Classic Windows Games Computer Games

Dan Epp

Ascendancy

As could be expected in any multi-civilization strategy game, Ascendancy included a robust diplomacy element. As new species discovered your existence, their attitudes and responses were influenced by how you reacted to them. Peace treaties, hostilities, technology exchanges, invitations to join in current conflicts were examples of some of the outcomes resulting from an exchange of diplomatic pleasantries. As in real life, species who considered you weak would make broader demands and reject overtures; species who considered you strong worked on making you their best friend.

Arcade Games

J.A. Laraque

Weird Games: The Typing of the Dead

No, seriously, each zombie or monster has a word and you must type out the word fast enough to kill it. How does it know you typed the word or if you spelled it right? I think those questions asked means you are sympathetic to the zombie cause so shut up and play!

Editorials

Patrick Scott Patterson

What is gaming’s ‘Greatest Generation’?

Over the past several years I have seen and dealt with players who will put the topic up for constant debate. I have seen classic arcade gamers refer to anything console as “lame” and unimportant in comparison, even going so far as to note the NES as the death of their generation instead of the massive industry crash years before it. I have seen modern gamers question the loyalty of the classic gaming fans and I’ve seen every generation inbetween sing the virtues of their preferred generations of gaming.

Bootleg Games

Luis Zena

Street Fighter 2

The game’s music is just awful and deserves the mute button. This is what you can expect from a pirate though. This one is an original pirate that got hacked to different other franchises. I’m sure there is a Mortal Kombat that is a clone of this game just with a different title screen and a better character select screen but I could be wrong. Overall, you will get a good laugh playing this game with a friend after a couple of beers. You can also pick this game up for a good price of around 5-10 usd so at least we can be happy it’s affordable.

Blog

J.A. Laraque

Retro Gear: Nintendo NES Controller Bra

Now your girlfriend can have a D-Pad for her double D’s (if you’re lucky). Etsy has the ultimate bra for you to practice your Konami code on and perhaps if you do it right you will unlock the next level. This retro piece of geekdom comes in sizes 32A to 38DD and only costs $35 bucks. Now if you know how to push your girl’s buttons, you might end up in bed

Company Representatives Gamer Profiles

J.A. Laraque

Nathan Bradford: Mr. Gravity

The controls are simple yet addicting, there is a lot to explore in such an early game including lots of secrets that I’m still discovering despite having played through the game nearly a dozen times. There is a level system which makes me want to keep playing it rather than simply just going through it. There is more than one ending. Overall I feel it’s a very well made game for its time.

Sega Master System

Simon Lethbridge

Fantasy Zone 2

The biggest difference between this and the first Fantasy Zone game is that each round is now divided into several different areas. Destroying enemies still releases coins (and notes now, too) of varying value but some Menon bases leave behind a blue warp instead. These allow you to travel back and forth between the areas, each of which generally contains four or five bases. There is also one base that will leave behind a red warp when destroyed. This leads to the boss but you can’t enter it until all the bases are destroyed.

Game Reviews

J.A. Laraque

American Dad Dubstep: Kickit

A mini dubstep this time featuring Stan from American Dad and his rocket boot.

Company Representatives Gamer Profiles

J.A. Laraque

Jeremy Heintz: DreamWorks Animation

Simplistic controls and challenging mazes – The Legend of Zelda challenges you in way that you don’t see in current generation games. The labyrinths are long a boss fight are epic.

Hardware

J.A. Laraque

iCade 8-Bitty

Recently iCade released their 8-Bitty, a retro gamepad that looks and feels like the classic NES game pad. The device is wireless and uses blue-tooth connectivity allowing you to pair your pad with your Apple or Android device. The pad features four buttons and the classic D-Pad and it fits in your pocket. The 8-bitty runs on two AAA batteries and has a power saver mode so you are not always replacing them.

Hardware

Jonathan Bodan

The Logitech G9x Laser Gaming Mouse Review

When you first look at the mouse the design looks to be a bit bizarre but when you hold it with your hands it gives you a great feeling of control and it gets better. The interchangeable grip allows you to drop that smooth surface the mouse original comes with and allows you to replace it with a textured grip. The textured grip is not rough enough to feel like you are holding a piece of sand paper but gritty enough to where it won’t slip of your hands when you build some moisture. The bottom pads give the mouse a gentle glide over your mouse pad but other flat surfaces will work just as well.

Interviews

J.A. Laraque

The Interview: Twin Galaxies Video Game Trading Cards

The Twin Galaxies Video Game Trading Card Set was originally created to celebrate Twin Galaxies’ 30th Anniversary. But the vision for the card set soon expanded to encompass the history of the worldwide video game industry, with cards created to honor the iconic industry pioneers, the world champions, the video game personalities, landmark milestones and events and significant people who, through their creative contributions, have enriched the global video game community. The card set already honors people including Atari Founder Nolan Bushnell in addition to the most recent world record holders on the hottest new games on the Nintendo Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Company Representatives Gamer Profiles

J.A. Laraque

Casey Spencer: React Games

Each level was challenging and unique. Very rewarding when you finally beat it after hours of playing. The music for the game was awesome.

Blog

Patrick Scott Patterson

Latest sales figures show all three modern consoles now top lifetime NES sales

Now, according to sales-tracking website VGChartz.com the PlayStation 3 has now also topped the lofty NES numbers. Not only does this put all three PlayStation consoles into the top five best-selling consoles of all-time, but it also means the PS3 joins the Nintendo Wii and XBox 360 in that short list. All three modern consoles have now topped the NES lifetime sales figures, a first for any console generation in history. (Author’s note: All three consoles have also topped the NES software sales figures, according to the same website.)

Company Representatives Gamer Profiles

J.A. Laraque

Tiane: Creative

I’ve spent so much time on it, that if it wasn’t my favorite I would have to ask myself some serious life questions..