Store Review: That's Entertainment; Worcester, MA

In lieu of my silence on this blog for quite some time, I've decided to write a couple of reviews of the places that no self-respecting retro gamer can miss.

First off, I'd like to tip my hat to a wonderful place in Worcester, MA called That's Entertainment. Walking along Park Ave on a beautiful spring day, its hard not to notice the place. Hardly tucked into a brick building, That's E sports a massive collection of posters littering the windows of their business with the likes of Sonic, Mario, and various comic book characters and anime goddesses. A quick step inside, and down a short hallway, you find yourself in a huge room of nerdy goodness. From comic books to retro games and systems, to DVDs, collectible cards, and roleplaying books and supplies... They even have quite the selection of vinyl albums for the audiophile nerds (myself included).

Being the huge SEGA fan that I am, I was delighted to find Saturn bundles that included flightsticks, lightguns and arcade sticks, not to mention Saturns in fabulous condition, for less than 40 USD. Among the thousands of treasures were a boxed Odyssey 2, A SEGA Nomad, a Neo Geo Pocket Color, a complete Mario Paint set, import games... The list goes on. I could type for hours, but on to the review! Remember, scoring is based on gaming section of the store only.

Selection: 7/10
The gaming section of That's E seemed like it wasn't worked over at all. Every time you'd stop in something new would be on display. Which is quite good considering not many stores I'll be reviewing in this series have very good game turnover. The gaming section was split up, with the uncommon and common games stacked on four two-sided shelving units about 2 meters high, and the rarer games and consoles in a glass case beside the counter. As far as what they had, I was surprised several times by the number of SEGA Genesis games that they had to offer that I didn't already own. Among others, some gems I picked up over the past 6 months include Splatterhouse 2 (SG)[B+M], Flashback (SG)[B+M], Another World (SG), Megaman X4 (SS) [B+M], Panzer Dragoon (SS) [B+M], and the Sega Nomad. Even after combing through their selection quite thoroughly, I know to have my friends still in Massachusetts check their selection every once in a while for me. Definitely a must-see.

Pricing: 6/10
The pricing at That's Entertainment was fair. I found that, unlike a lot of used games stores, they did not attempt to drum up the worth of games that were simply not rare or even that good, as seems to be the case for places that don't have that great of a selection. I paid less than I would have elsewhere for things that I wouldn't have found in one place, in other words. Still, it was no garage sale or pawn shop, and with knowledge of gaming in general comes knowledge of 'fair' prices. To their credit, though, they kept the pricing low enough that the question of whether or not to pay the price was a simple one, and the internal debate time was much shorter.

Service: 8/10
Even though it was a madhouse every day they were open, they knew exactly what I was after, even just after the fourth visit. Employees kept poking subtle fun at my love for SEGA goodness, which was a delight. At least they were paying attention. When I announced my departure from Worcester, one employee in particular said, "Well, with you gone, who are we going to unload all this SEGA crap onto?" Which was really amusing. He'd occasionally showcase what wasn't on display yet that was close to my particular interests, which was incredibly valuable and helpful. Of course, as with fancy record stores and nerd shops, there is an expected level of 'know-it-all-ness', an opinionated, haughty disregard for the likes or dislikes of the customers, and at That's Entertainment it was cut down considerably, mostly due to their diverse clientèle; everyone in the store was looking for something different.

Overall: 7/10
If you're just a nerd for old games, That's Entertainment has just enough to keep you busy, and just the right amount of selection turnover to keep you coming back. Even if you're just starting to get into collecting games and systems, they have base systems for incredibly cheap, and bundles that tempt even a seasoned collector. Everyone's friendly and willing to help you, and if you come back often enough, they'll keep an eye out for you, which is an incredibly valuable asset.

-That's Entertainment-

Address:
244 Park Ave. Worcester, MA

Phone:
(508) 755-4207

Web:
www.thatse.com


Well, that concludes the first store review here. Soon I'll be telling you a few must-visits for retro gamers in Seattle, WA.

Review: Trigger Heart Exelica

Trigger Heart Exelica, for those of you who don't know, is a NAOMI port, and is one of the last games officially published for the Dreamcast before Sega decided it would be a wonderful idea to stop production of GD + ROM discs, the format responsible for the NAOMI arcade systems and traditional Dreamcast games. Like most of the other games made after the Dreamcast's 'official' death, it is both an arcade shooter, and incredibly hard to find. The game is virtually invisible on eBay after almost a year since its release, and when it shows up it is usually upwards of 90 USD. Needless to say, it's hard to lock down a legitimate copy. Being the big Dreamcast fan that I am, I sadly admitted defeat; I didn't jump the gun when it was released, and sorely missed the opportunity to buy it brand-new. Until I happened upon a small stack of sealed Trigger Hearts in a wonderful place called Pink Godzilla. Going rate was 59 USD, so I picked it up, brought it home and... I opened it. I know, I could have just pirated the game to play, then sold it a year from now making probably 600% what I paid for it, but where's the fun in that?

Anyway, Trigger Heart Exelica is much like a traditional arcade shooter. You fly your character around the bottom of the screen, and shoot towards a barrage of enemies floating your way, and eventually you fight a big ship that spits thousands of colorful rays at varying speeds at you while you dodge like mad. You can, and probably will, play this game just like a normal shooter. But the developers at Warashi give us something else to play with. There's a 'capture' button that's used to, well... Capture the enemy ships, via a 'tractor beam', and if you are really adventurous, you can master a technique that involves spinning your ship around and launching the captured vessel into the oncoming throng.

Graphics: 5/10
There's only so much you can do with an arcade shooter. All of the visual tricks have been exhausted over the past few years, and it's becoming somewhat formulaic. In the sense that the levels all start with a similar swooshy animatic of your character coming into view, the tiny enemies on the screen, even the bullet shapes and colors are similar. I suppose that this is useful in an arcade setting, because if you want to get people to sit down and pay money to play a game, it has to attract people who are interested in shooters, but in a console setting it doesn't make much sense; it translates into serial banality. Don't get me wrong, Trigger Heart is gorgeous in its own right. It's just that it's just as 'pretty' or 'ugly' as it's predecessors.

Story: 2/10
Once again, I find myself needing to explain how arcade ports don't need stories to be anything special. The reason I give Trigger Heart 2/10 instead of anything lower is because something kind of sweet happens in the end, and you find yourself wanting to know why it happened... that's as deep as I can delve without issuing a spoiler. All of a sudden, you're snapped out of your 'gaming mode' of just blasting enemies all over, and you wonder what you missed the whole time you were just gunning away. And I can't read Japanese, they very well could have set up quite an intricate story in the little guidebook, none of which, again, was present in the game barring a small act of heroism. Again, arcade games really don't need stories to be good games, their intention is to grab and entertain for a short period. No one wants to sit through a dialog before they get to start shooting.

Gameplay: 7/10
Stripped of all the bells and whistles, Trigger Heart is just another shooter. Even with all of the innovative stuff, you can still complete the game knowing none of it. Despite this, the game's base is a solid shooter, and the simple gameplay mechanics are very polished. The innovation of using enemy ships as a weapon is also a very refreshing idea in a genre that is so overwhelmed with formula, and is probably the reason most consumers purchased it. But the way the developers implemented this feature in the Dreamcast port is kind of clunky, and hard to use. Sure, you capture a ship after holding a button for a few seconds, but to spin, you have to hold a secondary button, and circle your character around at exactly the right speed, and let go of the captured aircraft at the perfect time. This method is very difficult to master, especially because either you find yourself spinning on the D-pad too fast or too slow for the character to catch up. So, in effect, your character onscreen looks like they're jockeying for some reason, and the longer it takes for you to figure it out, the more enemies pop up. What I found to be more useful is exploding a ship by capturing it and letting go of the button almost instantly. It clears up the screen little by little, and I found it to be useful in certain cases. And all but one level can be played entirely without any of these tricks. Sure, it might take you a bit longer to beat the game, but the only level where you absolutely need to use the 'capture' feature is level 4, which is comprised of a maze of rapidly-firing turrets (think second level of Ikaruga). Without it the level is virtually impossible. The game is also surprisingly short. I expected more than five short levels. Sure, for the arcades it seems like a good idea to end the game at some point, but it literally took me no longer than 45 minutes, at most, to complete the game. As for replayability, the only reason I can see that one would replay Trigger Heart is to either play as a different character (one shoots straight, the other shoots wide), or to master the throwing technique.

Difficulty: 6/10
The game is not difficult. What I've been told is that it adjusts the difficulty of the game based upon your performance in-game, but this just makes it far too easy to beat without a sweat. I want to be able to select a difficulty and the game give me that difficulty through to the bitter end. A beginner could easily continue once or twice during the first level and not have to break a sweat until level four. Simply put, the game has killed all reasons to play itself again. I know that when I play a game on 'normal' difficulty and I'm done with it, I want to at least try, if the experience was a good one, to beat it a second time on a harder difficulty.

Overall: 5/10
Sure, it's a new game for the Dreamcast, it's something else for the many shooter fans in the world to play for a while, and it's gameplay is somewhat innovative. But the game looks identical to many of its predecessors, is far too easy and short, and the innovation is undetectable to the casual player. To be perfectly honest, I don't think I should have opened the game in the first place, I'll let the next sad chap find out that he spent far too much on a game that could have been much better than it was. As a collector's item, I paid a great price for a piece of history, and I'm glad I made the purchase. As a game, well, it truly belongs in coin-op and not at home.

Retro Gaming Tips: Game Crazy

I am ashamed to admit that I'm probably the most frequent shopper at the local Game Crazy. Every lunch break I get, I walk a few blocks down the main street and get my fill of Guitar Hero II or whatever they have plugged in, and chat it up with the employees at Game Crazy. My initial draw to the store was that, out of the big three games stores in the U.S. (Gamestop, EB Games, and Game Crazy), Game Crazy was the last to eliminate old games from their inventory. So up until they decided to follow suit and clear out all of their Genesis, Super NES, Playstation, NES, Dreamcast, and sometimes Saturn games, there were a few must-haves in every store. Then they decided, a few months ago, to start a massive clearance, at 3 games for $10. That troubled me, but enabled me to get a few great deals. Then they reduced the price further to 2 games for $5, and shortly thereafter announced that they would no longer be accepting classic trade-ins. That wasn't a shocker for me, it just made me a bit pissed. Only one game store chain had the guts to keep old games in their inventory, and then became exactly like every other store.

And then I remembered something. Something very interesting. Their 'Do Not Special Order' book.

Apparently, a customer at any Game Crazy can 'special order' from the entire catalog of all Game Crazy stores in the known universe. Once I realized this, I took advantage of the 'wonderful' 2 for $5 deal, and special ordered some extremely rare games that weren't on the list.

This is how crazy my quest was:

First, I ordered Bust-A-Move 4, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and Last Blade 2, all on the Dreamcast, all not on the list. They called the next day, saying that the whole of Game Crazy didn't have any. Even more odd was that, sure enough, a week later, the 'Do Not Special Order' list was updated. To include... Bust-A-Move 4, Garou, and Last Blade. Odd... It was almost as if they were correcting a mistake, like they overlooked a few rares on the Dreamcast on their list, and decided to 'amend' it. So after a while, it became a game. I would order extreme rares that they didn't know about, and watch the list grow. And because all of the games I was ordering were Sega games, they, at one point, added a ton of Sega games to the list, on every platform. But I kept ordering. Policenauts wasn't on the list, I ordered, they amended. It goes on for literally months, as I try to milk Game Crazy for everything it's worth. Now the list is literally 30 pages, cross-platform, where originally it was maybe five pages, and mostly on Nintendo and Sony platforms. They even stopped calling the Game Crazy that I order from with updates on my orders, on wether or not they are coming in.

Did it pay off?

Yes.

I recieved a dozen or more games through my insane, mad quest that's putting their Special Orders Department through loops, paying only $2.50 per game, plus a shipping fee, which is $6.00. (The interesting thing about the fee is that if the Special Orders Department can't locate the game for you, then you get your 6 bucks back and use it toward another order.) Turns out that they also sent me a complete Bust-A-Move 4 months after they said they couldn't get it... So far, I have recieved:

Raiden Trad - Genesis
Phantasy Star II - Genesis
Phantasy Star IV - Genesis
Thunder Force II - Genesis
Thunder Force III - Genesis
Beyond Oasis - Genesis
ChuChu Rocket - Dreamcast
Bomberman Online - Dreamcast
MDK2 - Dreamcast
Gauntlet Legends - Dreamcast
Bust-A-Move 4 - Dreamcast
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Dreamcast
Bust-A-Move - Game Gear
Rayman - Saturn

Sure, none of them are too rare, but I checked on eBay, and did some math.

Alright, here's how I got my data. Browsing/searching eBay, I'd find a list of prices for each game. Not knowing what the auction price would end up being, I had to take my data from the Buy It Now options. If the game came to me in a form less than complete (without box and/or manual) I either took my data from listings that did not specify completion, or if there was no other option, I took the lower half of the price listings to form an average. If any item on eBay was a combination offer, I, of course, didn't include it.

How I figured what I paid was based on GC's promotional offers, either 3 for $10 ($3.33 ea.) or 2 for $5 ($2.5 ea.). Considering I probably got most of those games after the company stopped accepting classic trade ins, I probably got most, if not all of them for $2.50 each. But because I can't be certain, I 'assumed' for this exercize that half I bought for $3.33, and the other half for $2.50.

I did not factor in the cost of shipping in either instance, for GC orders, it's $6.00/order, and on eBay it could range from $2.00 to $10.00, depending on the seller. This comparison is based off face value alone.

Approximate eBay prices (Data taken July 27, 2007):

Raiden Trad: $15.37
Thunder Force 2: $7.07
Phantasy Star 2: $13.51
Phantasy Star 4: $32.23
Beyond Oasis: $13.00
Thunder Force 3: $23.95
Rayman (Saturn): $36.49
Bust-A-Move 4: $20.04
Bomberman Online: $23.90
ChuChu Rocket: $8.33
MDK2: $7.88
Gauntlet Legends (Dreamcast): $11.64
Bust-A-Move (Game Gear): $27.65

*Parentheses are to separate types of systems, i.e. Saturn Rayman is worth more than PSX Rayman.*

So total, on an average, and using eBay, I would have spent:
$241.06 sans shipping.

I paid:
No more than $37.90 sans shipping.

So overall, I figure I saved:
Approx. $203.16

And per game, I figure I saved:
Approx. $15.62

These prices are probably better than I would have seen at garage sales. One thing is, almost none of the games come complete in the box/case or with a manual.

Your Tip: Get going to your local Game Crazy and browse the 'Do Not Special Order' book before it's too late! And, if you can get behind the counter, you can browse their system for ideas, but don't bet on it unless you know whoever's working there. It helps to have a wish list before you go in, so that you don't get discouraged if you go in and several things are on the list.

A look back: Gaming adverts in the 1980s

When we look back at the history of gaming, one aspect of gaming culture remains under the radar. Other than the few random displays of Intellivision commericals posted for laughs, gaming commercials are seldom the topic of serious discussion. If you think about it though, this is how the gaming world communicates to the non-gamer. Nobody can help that their marathon run of sitcom-watching, or their stint of pseudo-intellectualism watching the nightly news gets interrupted by the latest and greatest of the gaming world. This is a topic that should be analyzed, not just by the likes of me, but by gaming analysts across the net, as it is another way we can get to the heart of how gaming fits in with the rest of the world of media.

This is part 1 of 3. The second part will cover the early to mid nineties, and part 3 will detail some ad goodness from the late 90s to today.

Atari VCS: Super Breakout!



Now that I mention it, there's something very similar between many of the Atari commercials from the early 80s and the Wii commercials we see every once in a while these days: they both emphasize family, all-ages, and easy fun. If you think about it, the Atari 2600 is probably the easiest console to play, other than the Wii, so it had the same appeal to non-gamers as the Wii does now. The one thing that puzzles me is that at a time when gaming wasn't as rampant through out society as it is now, the commercial makes an assumption about those watching it with this line in particular: "If you like Breakout!, you'll love Super Breakout!" The assumption is that those watching the ad will have played Breakout! before. But the core aspect of the commercial is that it caters more to adults or parents than it does to kids. Parents will see this and think, "Awww, that's sweet. It's just a nice family playing together and having fun."
This idea of family fun, I think is the core of the ad. Gameplay is showcased fairly well, with the announcer stating how cool Super Breakout! is, and graphics aren't mentioned at all. This, I believe is drastically different from nearly all advertisements after this time period, because there was always a nod or a slap to the competition. The Atari VCS went virtually unchallenged until the Intellivision, so, in a way, this is a gaming ad in its purest form. There's no hint of belittling another company, there's no overhype on graphics.

Intellivision: AD&D



As we can see with this ad, the Intellivision comes onto the market, and becomes the biggest threat to Atari's VCS. This time period is reflected in the advertisement very well. Rather than the ad focusing on family fun, it appeals to kids directly, especially by hiring Henry Thomas. This slight shift in ad appeal just boosts the 'gimmie factor', the power kids have over their parents to empty their wallets at the slightest wimper. And, as the Intellivision itself did very well, the ad is just a minor step up from Atari's own commercials in complexity and overall difference. There's still the family hanging out in front of the screen, there's still those more unlikely to play the games actually playing them in the ads (i.e. the mom and dad, and the sister, vs. the boy) and both stress overall fun, and conclude with the console's logo. The commercial still appeals to parents though, despite the shift in focus, because it's still 'cutesy'.

NES: The Legend of Zelda



After the home gaming crash in the early 80s, Nintendo picked up the slack that Atari left. Basically, Nintendo had to prove that gaming at home was still fun to an audience that was pretty much fed up by then. So, as we see in this ad, Nintendo promotes three different products; The Legend of Zelda, their 'Newsletter' and the NES. Which is a lot to trust to a company that's trying to sell a video gaming machine to consumers that thought they had been screwed so badly by Atari. I also noticed that the focus on the parents, (which was present up until this advert) was completely gone. In fact, as an adult, at this moment, I even find this commercial to be extremely off-putting. The focus is entirely on the kids this time around, a trend we will see until gaming 'grows up'. Also, this is one of the first examples I've found of a company promoting the games' graphics in an ad.

Sega Master System: Thunder Blade/Phantasy Star



As Nintendo's leading competitor during this era, Sega attempts to copy much of the feeling of Nintendo's commercials. One thing that I find completely different from this commercial to the last is that Sega is promoting two games at once. Contrasting the three different Nintendo products that are being promoted, Sega's display of Super Thunder Blade and Phantasy Star reveals that Sega was strained during this period. The ad space was bought, and they needed to fill it with previews for a new game, fill it with a current game, show gameplay footage, show how much the kids dug it, and promote a system that wasn't selling. Quite a tall order to be filled with one advert, and Sega does it seamlessly, much as Nintendo does, and it still maintains the look and feel of advertisements from the period.

Sega Genesis Launch Promo



Sega wanted a head start on Nintendo for the 16-bit era, and they seemed to pull it off quite well, considering the market failure that was the Master System. They begin by assuming that the arcade crash never happened, and that everyone was dying to play Altered Beast on their TVs. It's easy to write this aspect of 16-bit gaming off, since the arcades are all but extinct these days, but for the 16- and 8-bit gamer of the late 80s, the arcades were the place to find excellent graphics, interesting and innovative gameplay, and upcoming titles for their consoles. So, we find Sega asserting, very early on in the game, that their hardware can handle all the kids' favorite arcade hits, and do it on your TV. This, Sega knew, would drive initial console sales, as rehashes are a lot easier to pump out than innovative, new titles, and people would go crazy to play Ghouls 'N Ghosts at home. This definitely gave Sega leverage against the NES, and propelled its user base through the impending launch of the SNES. This ad also minimizes the amount of time the player is in the picture, much less his parents, and that follows an overall trend in promotion, and is evident in the ads we see these days.

Well, there goes the 80s. I missed quite a bit in the process, but as all blogs must be, this is a short and sweet look into advertisements in a large period of gaming. Stick around for a few to see part 2, the '90s.

The death of gameplay

In a time where we enjoy games that are rich and colorful in graphics, have immense breathtaking stories that span multiple titles and generations, and that create a vibrant atmosphere, it's hard to think that successful games were ever made without them. Somewhere between the inclusion of FMV in games and creating more and more realistic environments in 3D we forgot one very important thing: Gameplay.

This is how I define gameplay: "The way the main object in a game interacts with its surroundings, and the way the player interacts with that main object."
And while this definition can be stretched and molded to include atmosphere and graphics, I cannot go that far. Basically, gameplay is the game as it would function without a story, without complex graphics, without a setting, without HP incentive... Just how Carl Johnson jumps, how he aims, how the cars he gets into drive. Just how fast Megaman walks, how difficult the game is on a barebones level. This Wiki entry for the word sums it up pretty well.

Many of the games we see today push gameplay so far away from the overall experience of the game that playing the game bears almost no resemblance to the games we called 'good' in the 16-bit era. For instance, put a game like Fatal Frame in a feild full of bunnies and flowers, and it couldn't hold its own. Completely remove any ounce of story and every word of dialogue in Final Fantasy and the game just wouldn't be nearly as fun to play. On the contrary, take the barebones game mechanics and programming of Mario 3 and make him a steelworker in a factory, or a bunny rabbit. Not much changes there, the game would be fun, no matter the setting, the mood, or the story. Not many primetime home console games could hold their own if stripped in this fashion.

If you look at most of the games that are being recycled right now, many of them were set apart from the others in an earlier era because of gameplay. Metal Gear Solid capitalized on its innovative look at an action game. Prince of Persia took platforming to a completely new level. These games weren't made by their atmosphere, their graphics, or their story (arguably). These games offered something new to the gaming world in gameplay alone. Because no matter which direction the plot twisted in Metal Gear Solid, as long as I was hiding from security cameras and surprising pseudo-Stormtrooper bastards with a neck-snap, I couldn't have cared less. If both of these games had horrible gameplay they wouldn't have made any ripples in the industry at all.

Rewind for a bit. It's now 1991, and the companies battling for gaming dominance are Sega and Nintendo. Sega introduces the "Mario killer", Sonic the Hedgehog, and he spins in every living room with a T.V. And he does it using gameplay. Sonic had the right speed, the right movements, perfect interaction with his surroundings. The game was fun, above all else. Sure, it looked good, but just looking good wouldn't have cut it if the game played horribly. Looking good wouldn't have made Nintendo worry.

Today, games can get away with sub-par gameplay, or have little to no gameplay whatsoever and appeal to a wide audience. All of the new Grand Theft Autos come to mind in particular. If the games were stripped of their 'badass' feel, and were simply a series of driving and shooting tests, the game itself is laughable. Yet the game heralds a lot of industry support, and clones are being made left and right.

The trend of forgetting gameplay amidst graphics and story can be scatter-plotted right alongside the rising costs of videogame production. With the advent of more and more realistic surroundings becoming more and more accessable, the switch from the arcades to the home console industry, and corporations worth billions ruling the gaming world, gameplay became second or even third to things that almost didn't exist before. Not only that, but budgets are now rivaling and even surpassing the costs of making a Hollywood movie. A team of 50 and a budget of 500k+ isn't needed to make a gameplay-intensive title. Nor is it needed to make a good title. And with this trend the market changes as well, as we come to expect more and more of a cinematic experience from our games.

The market has shifted so far away from gameplay that there are very few places in the industry for this overly ignored aspect of gaming to hide:

Handhelds. Good, solid gameplay translates to the ability of a player to pick up the game from any point and know what they're supposed to do. Since Tetris is nearly 100% gameplay, it has a solid place in the handheld market. Open the DS and keep bricking.

Xbox Live. The reason why Geometry Wars isn't being sold wrapped in plastic is that nobody would buy it. It would go completely unnoticed because the market would scoff at paying a premium to play any game without the expected level of graphics detail, or a comprehensive storyline. The gameplay is all there, and it is flawless, but it takes more than 'funness' to sell a game anymore.

Bargain bins. The few titles that do come out that own gameplay and not much else either go unnoticed by the general public or become eccentric's purchases. Hence they get traded in by the Madden/Halo crowd and sink to the bottom of the pile. Katamari is a game that comes to mind.

Dead consoles. The Dreamcast is still the champion of shooters, even 4 years after its official death. When developers develop games for the Dreamcast, they know they're not selling to the crowd that loves to rip it up, Counter-Strike style, and so they tend to make games different from the industry expectations. And these games tend to embrace gameplay as their sole focus in making the game fun.

I'm very far from telling you that every new game is crap. You'd also be taking me a step too far if you think I'm insinuating no current games embrace gameplay. The core of my argument lies in the simple fact that we just don't look for gameplay anymore. The focus is not where it once was, which is solely on how the games played. The essence of games now is how they makes us feel, how pleasant to look at they are, how complex and driving the story is. I just remember a simpler time when absolutely none of this mattered, and a game was good if it played well.

Review: Edge Presents FILE #1

On a late night trip to Walgreen's for a pint of ice cream on New Year's day, I decided to head over to the Barnes and Noble to pick up the latest issue of Retro Gamer. Well, suffice to say, I was late again. Two months in a row I've missed out on the opportunity to pick up such a fantastic magazine, just because I'm too lazy to trek to the Eastside to pick up a mag when it's raining.

I frantically began looking for something like Retro Gamer when FILE caught my eye. Well, not really the magazine itself, just the words "Mega Drive" and "Saturn" caught my eye, so I picked it up.

After having a few days to digest the content, I have to say that I'm impressed.

It turns out that EDGE Magazine from the UK picked up at around the same time that gaming started going sour. There were an overabundance of consoles, all promising the same thing, and none of them delivering it.

What sets this retro inspection apart from publications like Retro Gamer is that it provides a look into the climate of the time like nothing else available, especially to those who hadn't had their ears pressed to the rumbling gaming ground in 1993. FILE gives the view of then, not of now.

Another thing that surprised me about EDGE's roots is that the gaming mag didn't think that all their readers were dumbasses, like many others (EDGE included) do now. I can literally turn to any page without adverts and not have a clue as to what the article was about. The games they preview and review have been lost in the folds of time, and in the shuffling of consoles; even the best Retroinspections of Retro Gamer fails to even mention some of the games that were once called amazing.

Other than giving incredible insight into the gaming world of then, it is almost necessary to look into gaming's past (precisely at the moment that FILE picks up) to understand and predict what's happening now. At this moment in gaming we're reading about a console that's supposed to change the face of gaming, one that's going to herald in the new generation on HDMI cables and multi-core processors... Then they called it the 3DO.

FILE picks up the "Neverending Story" of gaming at a crutial point in the timeline: A major shift was happening from 2D to 3D, and many developers and console manufacturers struggled to keep afloat above their own predictions, and EDGE told the story how it was.

EDGE has always had beautiful editorial content, and now I see that it's been there all along. Accompanying the gross technical specification lists and dribble about MIPS, et cetera, there are genuine marks of editorial interest and intrigue that become the core of good articles, and in turn, of good magazines.

Verdict: While it does take a bit of puzzling to really understand what's going on on most of the pages, FILE presents an unexplored look into gaming's past through the history of EDGE magazine. Only for those who really care about EDGE Magazine or for those who really want details about gaming's history at this crutial point. Everyone else will think it's boring, and will probably piss off to some review of a shitty PS3 game in EGM and start drooling.

Review: Metal Slug Anthology

Being the huge SNK and Metal Slug fan that I am, it goes unsaid that this was the first title I picked up for my brand, spankin' new Wii. Having played all of the games included in the collection before, I wasn't really looking for anything awesomely new. And face it, play one Metal Slug, play them all. But the series has always amazed me, with its incredibly hard gameplay, inventive weapons, and breathtaking level of detail. So much love and dedication is shown in every sprite of all the Metal Slug games that it still amazes me, even after all this time. Even the screens taken for the manuals (or the screen above) feel like they're in motion. So, Metal Slug is a great franchise to bundle and sell. But is it a great pick for the Wii? Is it a good collection?

Graphics: 8/10
Even though the original Metal Slug came out in 1996, and of course, this is 11 years later, the game still remains one of the most visually amazing and incredibly detailed games I have ever set eyes on. I'm glad that the visuals didn't change much from Metal Slug to Metal Slug 6 (even if it does feels a bit stale) simply because it works. There's not more that can be asked from a 2D sidescrolling shooter, graphically speaking. Even if I compare this game to the more 'graphics intensive' titles of today, the Metal Slug games still would receive a high mark. Frame by frame, the action is drawn so meticulously, and taken in motion, every frame is drawn with the same detail. Playing any Metal Slug game is a sight to behold. The few points I took off were for the sheer lack of innovation on SNK's part when it came to upping the anté with the graphics in the natural progression of the series. While Metal Slug 6 retains the same incredible attention to detail as Metal Slug, it also retains... everything else. I personally am glad for this conservative graphics perspective because it works so well, but I would still have liked to seen something different, at least an effort into making the games not look identical to the untrained, non-SNK-fanatic eye.

Story: 1/10
Yep. One point out of ten. Why? It's an arcade game, there's no story at all. From the onset of each game you just parachute into the action, shooting first and asking questions never. There are no friendly kills in any of the Metal Slug games included, so why would you need to know who not to shoot? Asking for a story from Metal Slug is like asking a bowl of molten lava for a popsicle. The paltry attempt at a story in the manual is god-awful, even to the point of making the game less fun. Apparently, the predictable story is pretty much rampant through the series. The same bad guys you thwarted in the last three episodes are back at it again. Honestly.... none of this matters. The game is fun as it is, even without the extra 'immersion factor' a storyline could provide. I really think that taking time out to tell a comprehensive story in a game like Metal Slug would greatly take away from the game itself, to the point of annoyance. I know whenever I play Samurai Shodown 4, and they have their little small interactions before the fight, I never read them, and I just hit *Start* until they're gone. Arcade games need no storyline, and honestly, good games with excellent gameplay don't need them either. And I think that the concept of creating a fun shooter came before the concept of a battle between the 'Regular Army' (*sigh*) and the 'Rebellion Army'.

Gameplay: 9/10
Whether or not you're the spoiled, story-hungry, Metal Gear Solid fan, or the gamer who 'oohs' and 'ahs' over volumetric shading and next-gen realism, Metal Slug is still fun. The game is a solid shooter, above all else. Completely disregarding the graphics element would still leave us with an instant classic; Metal Slug with any control scheme will prove to be a great shooter. Because I'm a traditional old-fart, the configuration that tickles my fancy most is the "Wii Remote" configuration, wherein you use the remote tilted on its side, and you flick it to throw a grenade. Other than the "Nunchuck Only" option (which is the ultimate, play-Metal Slug-with-one-hand, lazy gamer configuration) and the "Wii Remote" control scheme, I couldn't master any of the other configurations. I was either tilting too far one way, or not enough another way, or using the wrong hand... Left should simply be left, people. That's why Nintendo invented the D-pad. And screw everyone who will read this and say, "Well, that's what makes the Wii special." Yeah, on Wii games. Not 11-year old arcade titles. But still, I can't complain because the option is there, and the several different control schemes really shows off how many ways the Wii remote can be used. Taken for what it is, the Metal Slug games have one of the best gameplay mechanics in a shooter I have played. Even on the Wii, and after finding out which mode works for you best, the games remain the same.

Difficulty: 10/10
One of the ways that this compilation betters the games is that it offers several different difficulty modes. You can play with unlimited credits for casual play, or you can play with, say 10 credits, for those white-knuckle moments we all experience. As is, the games all remain a big ball of stress until the end. The bosses are tough as nails, and the games are set up as an even playing feild - one shot, and you're gone. Sometimes the odds are stacked against you; when the enemy soldiers hide behind sandbags and you're wide open, or when they have sheilds, and you have nothing but the coins in your pocket to keep you going... But then hop into one of the several vehicles SNK has coded before you and cut through them like butter. The difficulty greatly weighs in on the fact that you either have lightning reflexes or a sharp eye. Of course, for those who have neither, there's also the option of emptying your payload of grenades before you die again. The aspect that the game is incredibly difficult on its own, and that this compilation can make it that much easier or that much harder is a testament to the compilation itself, even if it is as uninventive as creating a coin limit.

Overall: 7/10
The package itself is all that it advertises: Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, 4, 5, and 6, all playable on the Wii. The games themselves are true classics and should be played again, over and over. The main problem I have with the Anthology part of this whole mess is that there is little to no incentive or bonus for completing the games. There are about 4 wimpy galleries to be bought for a measly one credit, each containing concept art (*snore*), a 'Music' section, just in case you wanted to hear all those great Metal Slug hits again, and an interview with one of the games' creators. I thought that would be interesting to watch, but instead, it was a bunch of text. Thanks, guys. It really was worth killing that alien spaceship and dying 14 times on that creatures brain to read what I could've read in EDGE ten years ago. Where's Metal Slug: First Mission? Perhaps an early build of the game? Something I can play? Something I can watch? The Anthology sucks for bonus crap. Usually you need to unlock the games, unlock something... Something worth playing. Apparently not. Another thing that kind of bugs me was that there is no internet option, where you ccan duke it out online with someone. Not that it would be of much use, what, with the network being in such an early stage of development... But still, the option might have been nice. Honestly, SNK/Playmore could have just bundled the games together, offered little to no menus, absolutely no bonus crap, and one configuration, and Metal Slug would still be a great game.