Greetings and welcome to the world of WildWillyWilson (AKA ianwilson1978)

I recently was made aware of this website by a friend and have since been avidly viewing it - having recently made my first purchase from the store (look forward to receiving this guys…)!.

I would like to firstly offer my gratitude to the team at Rising Stuff for allowing me the opportunity to contribute to the website. I have found both Alex and Sensei very helpful and welcoming…

I am 30 years old (31 on 27/9- please make a note in your diaries!) and live in Newcastle Upon Tyne-UK (does this sound like a dating ad?!). Since March this year I have rekindled my love for the Sega Megadrive and started a hardware/software collection. Like many a child of the early 1990’s I owned this fantastic console (at UK launch in 1990) and now 19 years later it still remains my favourite console of all time.

Why is it my favourite you may ask? Well, where do I start…

• Classic arcade conversions (See Golden Axe & Strider…).
• The dawn of the 16 Bit Era- the true Golden Age of gaming in my opinion and never to be bettered.
• Those brooding looks- it really was a fantastic looking machine; especially the Japanese model.
• The birthplace of classic franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog.
• Fantastic original games such as ToeJam & Earl.
• True heaven for any Shoot-Em-Up fan with a vast array of titles and many many classics.

I could quite happily go on…

To the current generation of kids happily playing their PS3 or XBox 360 (I own a PS3 myself), taking a look at the Megadrive now it might strike them as a simple machine with basic, dare I say crude, graphics and sound. However this is to misunderstand what the Megadrive stood for at the time- in an era where amusement halls where a haven for kids to have a machine that produced near perfect arcade ports was really something special!

However, I am digressing…

Prior to owning my first Megadrive a friend of mine bought an imported machine from a local importer in Sunderland called Megaware. This was in 1988/1989 and its what I now believe was an Asian PAL Megadrive (more on this here). Hence my love affair with the Megadrive started- the first game I played being Altered Beast (which we completed on our first run and the console and game where handed back to his mother- it was a Christmas present!).

Fast forward to 1990 and I received my PAL MD, whilst most of the games I played where PAL region I did play quite a few also which were JPN NTSC (the old method of filing the cartridge slot- shudder to think of it now!). Games like Fatman, Ringside Angel & Dai Makai-Mura etc… I always thought the cover artwork was fantastic and the Japanese/Asian machine itself looked more purposeful with “16 Bit” emblazoned in gold along with the dark red and blue colouring (though I will always have a soft spot for the PAL MK1 machine also).

With this in mind I made the decision this year to collect a full set of official Japanese releases- 427 less Tetris (which wasnt an official commercial release). A daunting task I agree but one which I’m determined to complete funds permitting, I’m not setting a time limit- though to have this achieved by 2011/2012 would be great.

So I needed somewhere to use as a focus point/portal for this project and after looking at various You Tube channel’s (and in particular a certain one by Luke Morse) I decided to create my own You Tube channel. This seemed a great outlet to record the progress of my collection along with recording gameplay footage for each game I purchase amongst other things.

5 months on and I have met some friendly people who share a love for all things retro gaming related. I have a total of 66 games to date in my collection- 30 of which have gameplay videos uploaded and I will be uploading the remainder in the near future.

I look forward to contributing to this site further in the future and thank you for your time!

Ian.

Wow, a Castlevania game I’ve never heard of! Sindra reviews this much-improved followup to the Game Boy Castlevania Adventure.

Show Notes:
KEEP PLAYING: Rewind - Castlevania: Belmont’s Revenge @ Powet.TV

WARNING: The following post is not about video games.  If you are looking for a post about video games skip to the next one.  Oh.. that one is about hamburgers.  Perhaps skip that one too..

On Monday August 17th I became a father. This is up there with my wedding as one of the happiest moments of my life. I am still a bit overwhelmed but I want to write my thoughts down before I forget any details.

First of all the fact that I am writing this right now is a bit unexpected.  I thought I still had some time. Misako’s due date was September 4^th. But like myself (who was 3 weeks early) the newest member of our family couldn’t wait.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a loooong while since we had any form of a contest here on Rising Stuff, so now it’s time to get back to business! In an effort to get all of our lazy gamer bums out of the basement and into the sun for a few short hours and in celebration of the new PlayStation 3 Slim, we are now going to sponsor the RISING STUFF COOKOFF CONTEST 2009.

Here’s how it’s going to work.

Whoever can make the best looking burgers as voted by our forum members will will win a bunch of sweet stuff.

1st Prize One Boxed copy of Burger Time, $15 store credit
2nd Prize One loose copy of burger time, $10 store credit
3rd Prize $5 store credit

So be sure to post your best burger here before September 21st, 2009 to get your chance at the burgeriest adventure around!

Rules [IMPORTANT]
1. You must also include something in the picture to prove that it’s your burger. No burger forgery! This should be something like a piece of paper that says “Rising Stuff is Awesome.” or “No Fatties Please” or something.
2. Burgers must be made with love.
3. Voting will take place between September 21st until the end of them month and a winner we be announced around October 1st.
4. Multiple entries are allowed.

Okay! Post your burgers away!

Sindra, the hardest working woman at Keep Playing (well, the only one), does it again with Arcus Odyssey.

Show Notes:
KEEP PLAYING: Rewind - Arcus Odyssey @ Powet.TV

This is part one in an ongoing series of reviews looking at freebie games from the good folks at Rising Stuff. Alex, being a kind and gentle soul, decided to send me some free games with my last purchase, games which were given to me with the directive that I had to review them for the blog. Hearing this, I knew I was truly blessed, for Alex was my friend and comrade; whatever he had in store for me had to be something worthy of review, but not just that, it had to be a wonderful, marvelous creation, so good it had to be shared amongst friends. Or, you know, it could just be some junk that Alex knew he’d never be able to sell in the store. It could always be that. When the package arrived, I tore it open, eager to see what untold treasures awaited me. I was, for a brief moment, no longer the cynical, jaded pessimist that adulthood had turned me into. I was transported back to a wondrous time of my childhood where everything was fresh and new and exciting. I was a kid at Christmas, unwrapping a delightful present. Then reality sunk in, and I became the jaded pessimist once more. This present from Alex was worse than Grandma’s package of socks! In fact, the only present I could think of that was on par with this was the one our dog Koy liked to leave in the yard! However, a promise was a promise, and I’m determined to review these so-called games. So hit the jump if you’re the kinda person to watch Hostel with one hand on the pause button and one in the pants, ’cause these games are the worst kind of torture imaginable.

Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.thebrothersduomazov.com/

Run by three MANLY men who in my opinion are some of the BEST gaming minds in the PCE/TG community. Reviews are colorful and, unlike many sites, have lots of screenshots… and more than just 1-2 shots from a few seconds into level 1.  Reviews are added regularly, with the daunting goal of EVERY TG/PCE game ever released eventually being added.

Check it out, let your friends know.

I’m proposing a series of possible articles by throwing one right on this page.

Obviously I have planned out in my head quite a multiple more. This set of articles will generally be about accessories - controllers, gimmicky add-ons and what-have-you - that are compatible with Import gaming systems. Note that since I said “compatible”, this means that I let myself some room for checking out non-import items. Reasons for that may range from a particular item just being that unique, to just being that good in quality, or to being the non-import variant of an import item because I was too cheap to actually import it.

In this first episode I got bored and thought “Ok, the Super Nintendo has tons of neat arcade sticks. Where’s a half-decent one for Genesis?” - then I realized I referred to them by their American titles. Then I just shrugged and went “Whatever.”

Click the “More” button if you want to actually read the thing.(… wait, it’s not a button. It’s a URL. And it says “Read the rest of this post”. No wait. “entry”. Way to go, Kiddo.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Starting Wednesday the 12th, Japan started the holiday of Obon.  This is the Day Japanese people believe the spirits of their dead ancestors will return home.  Kind of a spiritual family reunion.  It is also a reunion for the living as family members who have moved to other cities will return to their hometowns for the holiday. There are special ceremonies, dances (Bon Odori) and foods during this time.  In some areas the light lanterns and set them on the water.  It is a solemn occasion but also happy because it unites peoples families together.  They will travel to the grave sites and guide the spirits home after that is usually a fairly large party.  The holiday extends for a few days so after the family gatherings, people will often meet with their old friends and classmates they grew up with but maybe haven’t seen since last Obon.

So why is this posted on the main page of Rising Stuff?  Because if you have placed and order in the last few days or are placing one in the next few days, it will not be shipped out until Monday the 17th.  The post office is closed as are most of the banks and many other businesses.  But as soon as it opens again on Monday, we will get all the orders out right away.

Sindra does it again with a classic NES game. This one is a quasi-sequel to the Legend of Kage, sort of in the spirit of Elite Beat Agents and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! Sort of.

(And yes, it’s been since pointed out to her that it’s pronounced “Ka-gay” and not “Cage”.)

Show Notes:
KEEP PLAYING: Rewind - Demon Sword @ Powet.TV