Renato

Is that the one on the SNES that was kind of a half-port, half-reworking of the PC Engine one? Or am I thinking of something else? "Blood Rondo" or something like that?

OK, but let's not forget that back in the early 90s every other game was a dismal boring platformer with the ubiquitous "gotta rescue the princess" plot. I didn't mention Plok, Aero the Acrobat, that McDonalds game, etc. for a reason (and those are only the ones which I still remember!). Having said that... Yeah, I was really surprised to see Megaman 9 and 10! At first my brain didn't understand what I was seeing. Was this a joke? A parody? Hehe.

I don't know that game but I went to karaoke with the daughter of the head of Koei a few years ago. That's as close as I ever got to those games.

That's a bit harsh. Hiroshi Sasagawa is still there, and apart from Gatchaman and Mach55, Tatsunoko is most famous for his works, which have undergone several recent remakes.

Ok... Why? As I recall the only advantage over the SGB was that it was also compatible with the Color games that came after... Did it do the Advance carts too? I never had one but I certainly remember going to my friend's house to play the Back to the Future games. On cassette tape, lol. Also I remember GODS and Days of Thunder on the Amiga..

I had an Atari 2600 with Frogs & Flies, Combat, Cannonball Man, etc. My friends had Busy Police and Superman. My favourite was probably that game made by Sega with the squadron of five triangles spaceships shooting infinitely scrolling waves of aliens. I had recently looked up the name but I forgot it again.

I always liked the classic Megaman series, never really got into the whole X thing. I see they remade it in 3D for the PSP, though. As for R-type, yeah, another classic, but way too hard for my likes. That and Gradius, with the one-hit-you're-dead-and-have-to-restart-with-nothing scenario makes my blood boil.

2091. Actually, the PC Engine one featured is "Eternal Love Song". However, I too found it odd that Macross 2036 was conspicuously absent while the Wonderswan piece of boredom was there.

Regarding the HG-branded Revoltech releases... I can't help but feel that Kaiyodo is trying to get rid of overstock that they can't sell because everyone in Japan has now caught on to the fact that they suck so badly. It seems to me like a case of "crap, can't get rid of these... 'ere, Tommy, you want some?" Works out well for everyone..?

It's nice to have an "All things video games" thread, but recently it seems to be about "video game news" than anything else, so I propose starting a discussion on the stuff we all grew up with and get nostalgic pangs for every so often now. I'll start by explaining that I had hardly played any video games for probably over a decade until I bought a PSP when Macross Ace Frontier came out. MAF was fun and everything, but it was the old school emulators that got me hooked again. Back in the day I had a Super NES and Gameboy, and I believed they were the greatest things on the planet. Going to school in the UK I bought CVG (Computer & Video Games) magazine every month (with awesome airbrushed artwork on the cover every issue), and later switched to the new NMS (Nintendo Magazine System -- yeah, what a name). The free gifts were incredible at the time. A "Time Boy" clock/keyring in the shape of a gameboy, the entire Street Fighter 2 arcade soundtrack on CD (with all the speech and everything)... Anyway, needless to say most of my favourite games were on Nintendo machines. Here are some which I enjoy even to this day. Axelay: There was a wholesale store called Makro which always had an excellent selection of hardcore shooters like this. I distinctly remember Cybernator and Super Aleste being on the same shelf, but I went and got this one. It was the European mainland edition because it came with two instruction booklets, one in English and one in Portuguese. Holy crap were these graphics gobsmackingly-insane. It moved like 3D, but it was all cool sprite-scaling and Mode 7 wizardry. And the music was amazing. It was around this time that I realized that the Konami logo was really just a seal of quality, and a guarantee of fun. Starfox/Starwing All the UK mags made a big deal about this one not least for the fact that it was the first real, full speed 3D shooter on a console (unless you count Faceball 2000?) but also for the involvement of British developer Argonaut Software. That meant lots of interviews with the staff. Ironically due to copyright reasons the name had to be changed since there already was some Starfox game on the Spectrum or C64 or some Amstrad thing, who knows. The game itself was incredibly fun, and I remember playing it with my friends on my 12th birthday party. "BOGEY ON MY SIX!" Yoshi's Island: As this one was released really late in the life of the console, I don't really have as "nostalgic" feelings for it as the others, yet have plenty of memories trying to solve all the puzzles and whatnot. The control system was like no other game before it and extremely daunting at first, as the whole structure of the game was based on the concept of getting Yoshi to aim and throw his eggs at enemies, obstacles, power-ups; and the whole thing gets even more complex when you incorporate the calculations you have to make to get the eggs to rebound at the perfect angle to hit the switch that activates the thing to transform Yoshi into a car (with comedy vertically-extending axles) or helicopter and whatnot. Yeah, weird but really fun. And I never managed to unlock all the levels, as there are still some flowers and coins and stuff that I never found. Street Fighter 2: The big one. My cousin and I played the hell out of this game. "SHORYUUKEN!!" Mario Paint: OK, so, not really a game. But it was certainly something I spent a lot of time on, since I loved drawing and making animations. The sound composer was great too, and the fly-squatting game was the most fun I've ever had with a mouse-click type of game. Simple but sweet. Super Game Boy: Again, not a game. BUT.... since I had LOADS of Gameboy games, I thought it was a godsend. To be able to play GB games on TV, in colour?? Also, being able to mess with the screen borders and stuff as player 2 when your mate is trying to concentrate on staying alive is really fun. You can even graffiti over the screen, blocking his view if you're feeling douchey-like. Donkey Kong GB: I bought this at the same time as the Super GB, I think on the day of release. I remember they both came out at the same time. This is not the Gameboy version of Donkey Kong Country, which came out later, this is the "extended" version of the classic DK game. 100 levels of puzzle-solving, barrel-jumping, switch-flicking, deep-sea diving, monkey-tail-climbing, key-finding, trash-can-throwing, back-flipping, power-line-swinging action! Looking back now it seems really easy, but back in the day I remember being stuck on figuring out some of the more complex levels. The perfect portable game. Zelda: Link's Awakening: A great adventure. I don't know what else to say. I also got the other GB Zelda games that Capcom developed, and they were good, too, but they seemed much more systematic than the organic, natural feel of the flow of the original's story. I don't know why I never got the SNES one. Those were some of the ones which I remember the most. I often play retro games now, too, in particular shooting games. It's just a simple form of grammar that I can pick up and enjoy for a few minutes when I have free time, and that's what gaming is to me -- I'm not into hardcore RPGs for that reason. I'll write about those games too at a later date: Gunhed, Soldier Blade, Aleste, Zanac, etc. Oh, and I forgot SCRAMBLED VALKYRIE, hehe.

Yeah, and I was expecting a whole section on EXACTLY how the guitar-stick system works for the 19kai, but alas...

It was me who said it. Funny how people keep getting us mixed up

First variant for the Hi-metal VF-1 series announced: Max 1J http://p-bandai.jp/tamashiiwebshouten/item-1000005848/ http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=32627&view=findpost&p=853139

Pic time! Here's April's gathering featuring guests of honour Graham and Tenjin.(second pic, taken outside the BigWest offices). Also, Tenjin's exhibition last week (first pic, with that modeller girl from Hobby Japan, and myself). Enjoy! Also, thanks to Save and the rest of the gang for everything. I think I ate too much, too fast at the all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant that night, though! Thank god my meeting the following day began in the afternoon because I was paying the price all morning.

I know what Graham means when he describes a round of MUF as essentially playing with 100 valk toys all at once. It's basically your own custom, virtual collection. However, I also agree with the viewpoint that having tangible objects will always "feel" more comfortable when compared to digital data, whether it be a CD or a DVD or a valk. I have so many MP3s and JPGs and DOCs of stuff that would normally be in CD/LP format, or in a photo album, or be a printout, but due to space, I keep it as data. As such, it is prone to accidental deletion or almost equally bad, loss. I know I have an MP3 of Casey Rankin's rare Christmas song somewhere in my files, but even if I start searching for it now I probably won't find it before New Year. I can't label every single file. My books, CDs, records and DVDs are in order on shelves, and ever since I was a kid I've loved displaying them in cabinets, kind of like a library of cool. Even toy/model kit boxes. So when people walked into my room they'd be struck with a fistful of pop culture. And that's what I used to feel when I used to walk into a toystore. The Volks store in Nipponbashi, Osaka still has the most amazing display which will make you want to impulse-buy truckfuls of Chogokins, but now it seems we're shifting to "see it in a magazine or online, place order, and then wait for it to come to your door". I understand that for most of the members here this is the way it has been for about a decade, but it's new to me. Interesting turn this thread has taken.

I searched, but I can't find the actual Hi-Metal Fire Valk thread. Never mind, I'll just put this here. I was browsing through the new issue of Figure Oh. It seems that the add-on pack and Sound Booster have been delayed another month, making them July and August releases respectively. It's a case of "You've waited 15 years, what's the bloody difference?" Very nice of Bandai. In the meantime, I've concocted a makeshift stand from "whatever was lying around". EDIT -- What the hell?? The Fire Valk thread was on the first page?? This search feature is even worse than the old board. Yeah, so are my eyes, but that's a given.

I took a look at this in the bookshop today. Interesting stuff. Nothing I would buy, but I was very impressed at the level of detail, and even the interviews with the pilots! Also, apparently the Fire Valk is based on the VF-19E variant. Huh. Lastly, it seems they finally explained what those random tubes under the chest are: yep, they're guns, Mauler-type. For those who know what that means.

From what I can tell, that is very much the case. One cannot walk into the toy section of some department store and buy a Yamato valk. The retail outlets are extremely limited, you have to go to a model kit/hobby store, and even those are becoming rarer than ever these days, outside of areas like Akihabara. Specialty stores are closing everywhere. When I lived in Tokyo nine years ago I could just go over to Kichijoji without travelling all the way into the city and I would have several shops to compare Valk prices. They are all gone (though there is a Yodobashi Camera there now). Even just going into Shinjuku you had a Mandarake, Sakuraya and several garage kit shops to choose from. Again, all gone (again, you do have Yodobashi, though). Literally, outside of Akihabara, Nakano and that one Mandarake in Shibuya, I don't know any physical shop in Tokyo where you could get a Yamato valk today. C'est le Suckage.

I can think of one: Peeeace Walkerrrr.... Ba-baaaaa-baaam! He's the man, the man with the silent gunnn.... So much downloadable crap for that one. Even the T-shirts you can buy at Uniqlo can be downloaded and worn by Snake and gang when you input the barcode! You need a PSN account though, so I haven't done it yet. As for the new Macross game... I wonder if this screenshot isn't from the new "Another Century's Episode" game on the PS3, since they have VF-25's in that one too.

When I checked a few weeks ago, it had still only started to play in some areas. In particular I remember Okinawa was one of them, it only started showing there at the beginning of this month. I think it's more to do with the number of prints which are making the rounds across the country than it being so popular they extended it. It's certainly not playing in Tokyo anymore, and it was only in Kyoto for a couple of months at most. Then again, it could be a mix of both. It may have been popular enough to extend the range of release, meaning that originally it may have been a limited release for the largely-populated areas, Kanto, Kansai, Chubu, what have you, then eventually they decided to release it to the other regions. Hmm. I assume we would have heard an announcement about a DVD/BR by now if it hadn't been for that. So in a way it's a good thing.

Sorry if this has been debated before (in its own topic), I did a search and the usual junk came up, but nothing really relevant. For quite a while we have had web exclusive editions of collector toys for the even more hardcore fans, one particular long-runner which comes to mind is the "E-Hobby Special" variant for each new popular Transformer mold, through which we got some classic reissues in original Diaclone colours. Recently we have seen a few more companies do web and magazine tie-up exclusive add-ons and variations of niche market toys. But the newest trend seems to be full-blown new molds based on unique designs becoming exclusives. Case in point: the Bandai VF-25 Fast Packs, their Sound Booster and set with fists, stand etc. (I guess technically these are add-ons, though it seems most of this stuff should have been included in the original toy), and Yamato's model-kit style offerings: the Fanracer, the Regult and Zentran soldier, etc. I think we have reached a point where the market for these items no longer functions in the same way that it did ten years ago. The hardcore otaku population (that is, the generation brought up on real robot anime) is shrinking, and thus so is the consumer base for these companies specializing in niche items such as valkyries. The high price and low production run for most of these items already gave us an indication of how deeply embedded in the subculture we are when we "shop around" for these things, but now it looks like we won't even be able to do that. More and more things are becoming exclusive, limited, or even order-made (such as the 1/2000 SDF-1). It's almost as if we're back to the garage-kit days. There has been a lot of discussions on this in the various threads, and I've noticed several patterns, but let's try to tackle the issue itself. As I have stated before, I am of the opinion that this is an indication that we have certainly passed the peak of the real robot revival period, and we will slowly be re-entering the dark ages. Otaku are getting old. We had a good run, though. My lament is that Japan never attempted to appeal the wonder of its sci-fi anime to the mainstream. Generating interest outside of the original fandom rather than merely targeting those who were kids when the show was on the air may bring you sales in the now, but you kill your market and yourself in the long run. At least that's what I think -- I'm no analyst, but it certainly appears to be proving true right now. Let's see if we can gather different perspectives on this. I'd be interested to hear everyone's opinions.

For the love of god, read this: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=228

Tell me about it. I remember the wait was well over a year in the UK. I couldn't take it anymore and got my uncle to send the US version over. I remember popping it in the VCR the second it came through the post... and approximately 35 minutes later, I went "woah". I was a little disappointed, though. No scenes with the Eden characters, no epilogue, it felt like it was missing something. I felt vindicated when I got to see the movie edition the following year. By that point I had waited 2 or 3 years for the REAL ending. So... yeah. This is NOTHING.

Well, let's be realistic. Look how few people are posting in this thread (despite the CAD news) compared to the Yamato Regult thread for example. If there is such relative low interest in this thing even within MACROSS WORLD, then I would not be surprised if Yamato shunned away from the hassle of going through the whole distributor and retailer malarkey when they can just target the few who want them through the web. If they're doing that for a Regult, then I don't think it would come as a shock that a sound booster may get the same treatment. I don't like it either, but "desperate times... etc."

I have Portable Ops as well, and it seems there is no bonus if you have stored data from that game. I think that was only with Portable Ops Plus. Actually I must have had that game for about a year and a half and yet only played it for a total of 2 hours. The horrible controls, bothersome objectives (dragging enemies around) and the fact that I got Mac Ace Frontier soon afterward just ruined the whole experience for me. Waste of money. I might go back to it eventually, though, since I'm into Metal Gear again, but really, after Peace Walker, what would be the point? As I mentioned, I'm really crap. Playing on the train, I just cannot concentrate in case I miss my stop, plus the missions are too damn long. I finally made some breakthroughs this morning, thank god for weekends. I don't want to spend all my life on this thing, but this is going to be a huge game, and I've still got loads to go. Argh. Sometimes I wonder what "fun" is. I really am enjoying myself, but why do I find myself cursing like a Tourette's patient everytime I pick up a PSP? Oh, the rage. EDIT: I'm wearing my Peace Walker T-shirt today, so I'm in full metal gear! Triple pun for da veann!