7/24/05
Here's a little somethin' I've been working on for the past week... a fresh new 2600 game called Solar Plexus! I plan to release this as a cartridge this fall, but in the meantime, you can enjoy the game with the 2600 emulator of your choice. I personally recommend Z26 or Stella, myself.
Solar Plexus is easy to play, as a good 2600 game should be. Just guide your ship around the screen with the joystick, and hold the fire button to boost your speed. Collecting the fuel pods on the edges of the screen will replenish your steadily dwindling fuel supply, but watch out! The more fuel pods you collect, the more dangerous and unpredictable the bouncing red fireball becomes. Can you complete all five panic levels and reveal the final form of the Solar Plexus?
You're probably wondering how a guy like me was able to make a game for the infamously difficult to program Atari 2600 in such a short period of time. After all, it took Howard Scott Warshaw four months to design the lackluster E.T., and that was considered a tight schedule in the early 1980's!
The one thing I've got that Mr. Warshaw and friends didn't is a great programming tool... namely, Batari BASIC. This compiler, designed by Fred Quimby, transforms development of 2600 games from a frustrating hassle to a hobby that's as fun as the software you'll create! Sure, it's not as feature-packed as assembly language, but at least you'll have most of your hair left when you're done making your game.
7/18/05
The Gameroom Blitz continues its weekly series on PSP emulation with a comprehensive guide to fMSX. This MSX computer emulator is pretty difficult to set up if you don't know where to begin... fortunately, the Blitz takes you through each step, offering links to everything you'll need to squeeze the most fun out of this spectacular software.
Before I go, I wanted to tell you about a couple of games I played in the past week, and let you know about a great title that'll be released in the United States next week.
PROPELLER ARENA: Take Microsoft's brilliant Crimson Skies, then throw in a contemporary setting and a hard rockin' attitude inspired by Crazy Taxi, and you've got this slick but insubstancial airplane battle game. While the game's age and the Dreamcast's dated hardware keep Propeller Arena from being as impressive as Crimson Skies, it's nevertheless an outstanding title, with colorful graphics and tight control. All that's missing in Propeller Arena are larger playfields with more variety... each level rigidly sticks to a particular theme, and you're forced to circle back when you stray outside each stage's restrictive invisible boundaries. Despite all that, there was a lot of potential here, as clearly demonstrated by the success of Crimson Skies on the XBox. Shame on Sega for shelving this nearly finished Dreamcast game, then blaming the cancellation on September 11th's terrorist attacks!
INTELLIGENT QUBE: Don't expect mercy from this mindbogglingly original puzzle game. Even when you start to think you're doing well, the game will come to a shocking end, and you'll be informed that your IQ hovers somewhere between that of Paris Hilton and a tree stump. You'll keep coming back for more abuse, however, because Intelligent Qube serves up compelling action and a movie-quality soundtrack along with its underhanded insults. Removing the steadily rolling rows of blocks that threaten to push you off the edge of the screen takes both fast reflexes and careful planning. Setting mines under the right blocks will allow you to start a chain reaction that blows up multiple cubes, but blast the wrong ones and the platform you're standing on will start to crumble, threatening to drop you into the inky void below. Imagine a nightmare where you're trapped in a game of Klax, and you've got a pretty good idea of what to expect from Intelligent Qube.
GRAFFITI KINGDOM: You remember Magic Pengel, right? Oh... you don't, do you? Well, let me catch you up to speed. Taito's role-playing game was unique in that you had absolute control over the design of your hero. No longer were you stuck making minor adjustments to the physique and skin color of a generic humanoid... anything and everything you could imagine could be brought to life by drawing out its features. There was just one problem, however. While the ability to draw your own characters from scratch was exciting, the lame combat system, which used chance rather than skill to determine the victor of each battle, left much to be desired.
Taito has addressed this issue in the sequel, Graffiti Kingdom, which will be on store shelves next Wednesday. The turn-based combat has been replaced with action-packed real-time battles, either against swarms of computer controlled enemies or your friend's own twisted creations. On top of that, the almost limitless customization options in the first game have been expanded, allowing you to create startlingly lifelike creatures like these.
Graffiti Kingdom's lighthearted setting and refreshing originality could make it the next Katamari Damacy... or the next Guitaroo Man, if nobody bothers to buy it. Don't make the mistake of missing out on Graffiti Kingdom... if you don't get it now, chances are, you'll be shelling out seventy dollars for it next year.
7/12/05
Sadly, Rolenta Press can't publish Awesome NES. Company president Leonard Herman informed me that he just couldn't afford to publish a full-color book of its size, although at the same time, he did seem impressed with my work so far. Guess I'll just have to keep searching for publishers with an interest in the project...
There's good news, though. I'm going to be working on a handful of projects that should put food on the table until I'm able to find a more permanent career. Also, there's a new feature on The Gameroom Blitz, which I plan to update on a weekly basis. People have had so much difficulty installing and running certain emulators on the PSP that I thought it was high time to offer detailed walkthroughs for the most difficult software on the system... particularly emulators like fMSX and PCEP with complex installation procedures and indecipherable Japanese instruction manuals. You'll find the first installment of this feature here.
7/5/05
Good news for those of you following the progress of Awesome NES. I've finished the basic layout for the majority of the pages in the book. The next step is to collect screenshots and cartridge artwork for the games listed in the guide. This is how all the pages in the guide will look when Awesome NES is complete:
I'm also hunting down a publisher for the book... right now, Rolenta Press seems to be my best bet. I've contacted Leonard Herman, the founder of Rolenta, and I should receive a response from him shortly. Special thanks go to Chris Kohler for the suggestion to talk to Leonard about publishing the book. Let's just hope that he's receptive to the idea... whatever his decision, you can be sure that you'll hear about it in a future update of the site.
7/4/05
It's been a long time coming, but at last, the latest feature on The Gameroom Blitz has arrived! Complete Convergence showcases ten of the best emulators available for the PSP. Which of these programs will ultimately be declared the champion? Click here and find out!