Obsolete Gamer – Page 41 – Never stop gaming!

Profiled: Derek Smart

When you have a chance to talk with someone who created over 17 games you’re going to want to pick his brain on the state of gaming today in comparison to gaming in the past. Derek and his independent game development company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has developed a number of games from Battlecruiser 3000AD to the current Line of Defense MMO which can be found on Steam Early Access. We talked with Derek about his early days, including what influenced him to get into game development and the struggles one can go through when creating their first game. We also talked a little about GamersGate and the evolution and near extinction of the video game manual. We even talked about the rumor of Derek purchasing the IP of the Decent Freespace license.

Sega Genesis

Simon Reed

Kid Chameleon

You can collect suits throughout stages by hitting the various P blocks (most of the time they just hold gems), and grabbing masks which transform you into various forms.These include a sword wielding samurai, a knight who can charge and destroy walls, a Jason Vorhees clone who can fling axes, and – most amusingly – a tank driving skeleton.Fortunately the costumes aren’t the only entertaining thing here, with the enemies themselves an interesting bunch.

Company Representatives

J.A. Laraque

Profiled: Aidan Price

We sat down with Aidan Price from East Asia Soft to talk about their upcoming game Lost Sea and about Aidan’s gaming influences which included classic games such as the original Super Mario Bros. and Contra for the NES. Aidan also worked on a number of projects before his work as game designer on Lost Sea included Brink and Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers. Aidan comes to us from Hong Kong so we can add that stamp to our virtual passport of places we have visited on Gamer Profiles and he gave us some inside into how gamers and arcades are a bit different than in the States and his native U.K. so check out the interview and let us know what you think.

The Obsolete Gamer Show

J.A. Laraque

The Obsolete Gamer Show: The Ryan Culver Show

With the Uncharted movie buzz there is no doubt who we at Obsolete Gamer feel should be staring in the lead. He already played the part in the commercial for PlayStation’s All Star Battle Royale and oh, by the way, he pretty much lives the part in real life. Not only is Ryan Culver an actor, but his is a pilot, a true adventurer and does extreme sports as well, seriously, who better to play Nathan Drake.

Modern PC Gaming

Aaron Brown

Darkspore

My overall impression of the game is mixed. On one hand, the combat is crisp and fun, especially when you’re cooperating with friends. The abilities are satisfyingly destructive and the heroes that I played all felt unique. It’s like playing league of legends in action RPG flavor, in that you only have a handful of spells available at one time, but a ton of different characters to choose from. There’s a good mix of enemy types with various special abilities you’ll need to adjust to. On the other hand, there are aspects of the game that worry me.

Notables Gamers

J.A. Laraque

Profiled: Brad Smith

Gamer Profiles heads to the great white north to talk with developer, Brad Smith on his latest project titled, Lizard. His Kickstarter brings us a cool platformer for the NES where you explore an 8-bit world while wearing a lizard for a true retro inspired adventure. Brad has been a fan of classic games all his life from Metroid 2 on the Gameboy to Prince of Persia on the PC. Brad is also a fan of video game music and began creating his own music own music for the Nintendo.

Company Representatives

J.A. Laraque

Gamer Profile: Loris Malek

We’ve talked with fantastic people from around the world and Loris from Moon Spider is no different. Their game, Harold is an interesting mix between Pitfall and Lemmings that gives you that hardcore, but unique gameplay that gamers have been asking for. Loris grew up in France and could have opened up shop in his home town or the west cost of the U.S. but made Miami his home. He is a true fan of classic games and even had an awesome system of sharing console systems and games growing up as a kid in Nice, France, check out our extended interview to learn more.

Game Boy

Simon Reed

The Mummy

The main thing that works about The Mummy is that it never feels that strongly tied to the movie. Instead it feels more linked to a game like Solomon’s Key – in spirit at least. This is a good thing. It has you tackling self-contained stages, with the main task to collect a set amount of relics as you venture deeper into the tomb. The most interesting element of the game is that there are three characters to play as, and you’ll have to utilise each of their unique abilities to reach the end. Evelyn has the largest jump, Rick is good in combat, and Jonathan handles the explosives.

GameCube

Lewis Packwood

Doshin the Giant

Doshin the Giant managed to suck me into its world entirely. At its core the game is incredibly simple, yet somehow utterly compulsive: you play a friendly yellow giant whose aim is to help four tribes scattered across several islands. The villagers’ requests are pretty simple – they generally amount to raising or lowering the ground or moving trees about – and every time you help them out they send a bit of love your way. The more they love you, the bigger you get, so that by the end of each ‘day’ in the game Doshin is usually towering above even the highest mountains. However, come the next day, he always reverts to his original size, although all the changes you made to the islands remain the same.

Company Representatives

J.A. Laraque

Gamer Profile: Jan Kavan

CBE Software is an independent video game studio in the Czech Republic that has released a number of games including their current game, the fantastic, J.U.L.I.A: Among the Stars We had a chance to talk with Jan Kavan, one of the dynamic duo at CBE Software about his experiences growing up as a fan of video games in a gaming culture different than many may be used to.

Company Representatives

J.A. Laraque

Gamer Profile: Agustín Cordes

Senscape was founded in 2010 and released the award winning title, Scratches. Agustin is a true fan of classic games specially horror and adventure games such as Kings Quest and Alone in the Dark. He is currently crowd-funding a video game adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Modern PC Gaming

Honorabili

Wasteland 2 Review

Every location and they way you interact with the people in those locations affects the world in a large or limited way, depending on how relevant they are to the storyline of the game. Much like Fallout 2, this game is also filled with easter eggs, pop culture jokes, and inside jokes. Exploration is encouraged as the game will reward you with rare items which usually don’t seem useful but they may be useful to a character that you might meet after 10-20 hours of gameplay later. It’s this kind of depth that makes Wasteland 2 as enjoyable as playing all the RPGs I mentioned previously.

Game Boy

Simon Reed

NBA 3 on 3 Featuring Kobe Bryant

B allows you to swap your player, and A lets you swipe to attempt to regain the ball. Doing this at the correct time is crucial, and thanks to the game’s clear graphics it’s easier to do than you’d expect. So the game’s well designed and fun to play, but it’s elevated even further by its excellent presentation. An example are the sound effects that you hear during games, such as when you dispossess someone of the ball, manage to score, or lose the ball yourself. They all sound like SFX from an Atari 2600 shoot-em-up, and are therefore brilliant. It helps stops the game from feeling too serious too.

NES

Eric Bailey

City Connection

Oh, and there are balloons. They are worth bonus points, and grant a city-warp effect when three are collected. Magical warp balloons, yes. Even with those hexing helium semi-spheres, City Connection just poses too many cheap deaths in the player’s direction to really be any fun. This is a “challenge for challenge’s sake” sort of game, where only those who played it without other choice or in search of something utterly difficult and minimally rewarding would ever truly grow fond.

The Adventures of Gilligan's Island - NES

NES

Adam R.

The Adventures of Gilligan’s Island

The game instead has the Skipper as the central character with Gilligan as your sidekick. You basically walk across the jungle looking for the other castaways. On the way the duo are attacked by birds, warthogs, and other animals of the jungle. The Skipper has the ability to punch (which doesn’t seem to do anything), but running away is more effective. Gilligan is so mindless that he often falls behinds or into pits. Leaving you to have to rescue him time and time again.

Sega Master System

Luis Zena

Phantasy Star

This is your classic RPG hands down. You can level up and have lots of fun. The game is turn-based so it requires some savvy strategy at times especially with the tougher monsters and boss fights. You will also spend lots of time grinding which is perfect for classic RPG fanatics!

NES

Mike NESquester Wright

10 Yard Fight

The game clock is divided into two fast counting thirty minute halves, which I appreciate since I’d probably still playing the game of Baseball I began if I didn’t say to hell with it. The difficulty is ranked from high school to Super Bowl and is presented well with different uniform and endzone graphics for each. On a sour note, it gives the illusion that it is similar to a career mode, as any other team you defeat gives you the message “You are on your way to the Super Bowl!” but guess what? NESquester kicked the Super Bowl team’s candy asses before this review was started and was greeted by the screen below…

World of Warships: Serov, It Came Down To A Two CV Duel

World of Warships: Serov, It Came Down To A Two CV Duel

World of Warships: V. Cuniberti, Super Lucky Win Ace Submariner Nodlehs

World of Warships: Undine, The Silent Service Needs No Team

Transformers G1 Headmaster – Mindwipe KO: Unboxing & Review

Profiled: Derek Smart

Kid Chameleon

Profiled: Aidan Price

The Obsolete Gamer Show: The Ryan Culver Show

Darkspore

Profiled: Brad Smith

Gamer Profile: Loris Malek

The Mummy

Doshin the Giant

Gamer Profile: Jan Kavan

Gamer Profile: Agustín Cordes

Wasteland 2 Review

NBA 3 on 3 Featuring Kobe Bryant

City Connection

The Adventures of Gilligan’s Island

Phantasy Star

10 Yard Fight