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Sega Genesis

Sega Genesis is 20 Years Old Today

By Shaun Hatton - August 14th, 2009

sega

Sega Genesis is 20 years old today. Sadly, I don’t feel like dressing up in my Cobra Commander outfit to commemorate this occasion because it is freaking hot today. Sorry kids!

The Genesis was my first realization that videogames got better. Before it was released, I thought the world was just going to have Sega Master System and Nintendo till the end of time. Boy, was I a stupid 10-year-old or what?

I remember when it first came out this group of cousins of mine got it right away and never let me play it. They said the controller was too big for my hands, so that I probably shouldn’t buy one either. I think they just wanted to be the only people will cool things. I believe this worked out well for them, because I was secretly planning on vomiting on the fucking thing. I took their advice and I never bought a Genesis, opting instead for a Super Nintendo. In fact, the Genesis I own now was a gift from a friend.

Anyhow, in celebration of this historic event, Sega is asking fans to vote on which Genesis game should appear next on XBLA. I have a suggestion: Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. Too bad it’s not on the list. This probably just means they’re working on it, right?

Posted in News Bytes, Sega Genesis | 4 Comments »

Pocket Drive Arcade is a Tabletop Genesis

By Shaun Hatton - April 15th, 2009

Pocket Drive Arcade is a Tabletop Genesis

There’s something about Sega fans and their undying appreciation for the company’s consoles that one can just not mess with. Youtube user pocketlucho has created a tabletop arcade unit that actually houses a Genesis console. What went into making this? From the looks of things, a Genesis 3 (I hear collector’s crying at that mentioning), a Space Invaders TV game, a PSOne LCD screen, some wood, and a hell of a lot of creativity and skill.

The process is documented on elotrolado.net with plenty of photos and text. Oh, and he’s also made one using a PC Engine, it seems. This is easily the coolest thing I’ve seen all day. Luckily I didn’t find this yesterday, because it would have had to compete with this video.

Pocket Drive Arcade on YouTube »
Pocket Drive Arcade step-by-step instructions »

Via reddit.com

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, Sega Genesis | No Comments »

Virtual Console VS The Compilation

By Toronto Thumbs Staff - March 4th, 2008

The business model for the Virtual Console is more profitable than releasing titles via compilation discs.

With the last generation of games, if you had the hankering for some classic gaming action, you would either have to check out a used game store for the original game or you could likely pick up a compilation disc.

Now that we have services such as the Wii’s Virtual Console, getting our retro gaming fix has become much easier, but also much more expensive. The pricing for Virtual Console titles is something that has been argued about in the past in other publications, so we won’t focus on that too much. Eight dollars is still a damn fine deal for Super Metroid no matter how you look at it.

Instead, consider the fact that compilation discs of the last generation were usually had on the cheap and that more often than not they included a bunch of games we weren’t even interested in among the ones we were looking to play. So for some, downloadable games are better than the compilation disc. Downloads are a no-frills way to enjoy only the games you want to play. You don’t have to worry about storage (memory issues aside) and you don’t have to worry about losing disc cases or manuals.

But then there are those people who just like having a lot of games to choose from when it’s game time. And then there are the collectors who like having the original packaging for their games. For them, a disc featuring a bunch of titles is where it’s at, especially since they can be had for as little as $20, sometimes even less. In fact, the only issue that compilation discs sometimes have is less-than-exact emulation of the original games and some button mapping problems.

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Posted in Features, Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Virtual Console, Wii | 2 Comments »

RETRO REVIEW: Phantasy Star

By Shaun Hatton - December 21st, 2007

Phantasy Star is perhaps the greatest 8-bit game of all time.

The year was 1988. The game, Phantasy Star. I had seen a commercial for it on TV. Usually video game commercials came in one flavour: Nintendo. On the rare occasion that there was a commercial for a Sega Master System game, my ears would perk up and it would have all my attention.

A little back story for you: it was a time when there were no in-store game kiosks – only the locked glass cabinet at Toys ‘R’ Us. Behind the glass were TVs with the latest video game systems hooked up to them. And the Sega display always had HANG-ON/Safari Hunt in it. Because this was a game I already had, it wasn’t nearly as captivating as seeing another game in action. The only other way I’d see a new game would be in the Sears catalogue, the Sega game brochures that would come with games, or on the even rarer occasion that one of my friends got a new game. Mostly everyone I knew had a Nintendo Entertainment System, however. And so getting to see a new Sega game was always an exciting event even though, in retrospect, not all of them were that great.

Phantasy Star, on the other hand, was absolutely amazing, and still is. One of the first images I’d seen of the game was of a mid-air fight with an enemy that seemingly filled the whole screen: GOLD DRAGON. Its colours were bright, its linework was bold, and was that a giant fireball it was spitting out, right at the screen? Yes, yes it was. On the strength of that screenshot alone, I knew I had to have the game.

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Posted in Retro Reviews, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System | 2 Comments »