Archive for March, 2009
Keep Playing: Rewind - Castlevania Bloodlines
Some may remember my Keep Playing video for the newest Samba de Amigo game released by Gearbox software. My Powet.TV cohort Sindra — one of the most prolific Keep Playing directors — has begun a new spinoff show called Keep Playing: Rewind. This series will focus on the 8-bit and 16-bit world of gaming which, while not necessarily about imports, is certainly retro!
But why listen to me blather on when I can have Sindra do it for me? Er, not that she blathers, I just mean… uh… watch the first episode! Leave a comment to let us know if you like it, and I can make sure we bring more Keep Playing: Rewind videos to Rising Stuff!
YouTube
Show Notes
Keep Playing: Rewind - Castlevania Bloodlines @ Powet.TV
(More Keep Playing videos after the jump)
D2 (Dreamcast) Review by mobiusclimber
WARP is far from my favorite developer, having released two horror titles that, for me, just weren’t that good. They both tried to do something different and, in so doing, failed. D attempted to streamline the point-and-click genre by doing away with a cursor and limiting the things you can interact with. This made the game incredibly boring since there was very little to actually do. The puzzles were mostly fairly easy to figure out, the storyline was nonsensical, the graphics were terrible even for a 3D Saturn title, and the game was incredibly short. It had to be since WARP thought it would be a lot of fun if gamers were forced to finish the game in two hours or less or they’d be treated to a Game Over screen. Did I mention you can’t save the game at all ever? Innovative, sure, but not exactly fun, particularly for someone who doesn’t have an hour plus to spend playing a game in one sitting. Enemy Zero was their next attempt at point-and-click horror. It, oddly enough, featured the same blonde-haired woman named Laura that D had, though apparently it isn’t meant to be the same person. Maybe.
Enemy Zero also tried something new, this time giving Laura the ability to fight back against the horrors, the frightening… invisible… horrors. Yes, the only way to know if you’re staring down an enemy is to listen to a… well… for the sake of brevity we’ll call it a sonar device. Anyone guessing that this made the game nearly unplayable would be correct in that assumption. Yet the worst part wasn’t the action, it was the long boring sequences of solving puzzles, wandering back and forth through empty corridors with nothing to do, over and over again. Horror titles should not be this tedious.
Mahjong for the Japanese Impaired
The following guide was written our awesome Rising Stuff forum member BTD. Try the guide out and make sure you leave him some feedback.
So you want to learn to play Mahjong but everywhere you go there’s about 734 different rules. Well unfortunately there’s no real way around this. Or is there? This is a guide for people who want to know the rules of Mahjong just enough to play it and be able to actually enjoy playing. I have beaten two different Mahjong video games using these techniques (let’s be serious though, there’s no technique). Now will this guide make you equipped to go out and brave the fields of live gameplay? Probably not, but it will let you finally see those school girls drop a thread or two (if that’s your prerogative). Not that I play H mahjong games or anything…
Enough poor comedy and lack of quality writing from me… On to the lesson!
Dreamcast Price Guide
We’ve had this guide up on our forums for awhile, but we figured we should make it public knowledge now that it’s been reviewed by our membership. Prepare yourself for the magic of… The Dreamcast Import Price Guide!
Takuya’s Game Reviews: Rockman
In this installment, Takuya faces off against the Famicom game Rockman (released in the West as Mega Man). This was originally going to be the first game review by Takuya but we thought it was too short. It still is, but that kind of makes it funny. Takuya says he would be willing to make more of these but doesn’t know what game to do next. Please feel free to suggest any game that we have in stock at the store and we will make a list.
Famicom Denshimail: Batteries
YouTube Version
Video Netcast Version
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Direct Link: Famicom Denshimail - Batteries (2009/03/23)
Welcome to Famicom Denshimail — the new Famicom Dojo segment where we answer your burning video game questions! (But not your questions about burning video games…)
This week we talk about why the Famicom Disk System uses batteries, and whether or not it’s a viable solution for your gaming needs. Also — an “experiment”.
Show Notes
Famicom Denshimail: Batteries @ Powet.TV
Also, don’t forget to join our Facebook page to keep up-to-date on Famicom Dojo news!
Identifying Pirated Famicom Carts
Toneman over on Famicom World has created some useful hints for identifying Famicom cart pirates. I found it a very informative read.
Takuya’s Game Reviews: Karateka
I would like to introduce you all to Takuya. He is one of my best friends and an overall awesome guy. He is a real life Karateka (practitioner of karate) and an Oita Prefecture champion. He is also a retro gamer and he agreed to let us film him playing the Famicom version of the game Karateka. He was pretty shy about speaking English, but I think he did a very good job. If you like the video, maybe he will do more. Enjoy.
MarsCon 2009
This year, like many years before, a bunch of us ventured to MarsCon (the one in Bloomington, MN) to run a room party. I didn’t get a lot of footage, so this video is fairly short — but we had a very good time.
The Topher Marohl Show Episode 1
Our resident Playdia expert Topher Marohl has his own show! I know. This is fantastic news. So how does this show relate to Japanese import games? Well, you will just have to watch to see.
