Retrogaming Times Monthly #43

[Albert]

Issue #43 of Retrogaming Times Monthly is now online. Highlights from the December 2007 issue include:

• Many Faces of Miner 2049'er
• NES'cade - Donkey Kong
• Nintendo Realm - Late Sep 1986
• Apple ][ Incider - Giving Thanks
• Mastering Sega - Bomber Raid
• What if Atari released the Famicon? - Part 1

You can find all these and more inside this month's Retrogaming Times Monthly, which has been published now 123 months in a row!

[thomasholzer]

Excellent read as usual.

Maybe a GB Miner 2049er comparison would have been good to be included?!?

[A Sprite]

I'll second it, but I think the reviews in "the many faces" are more about the author's nostalgia than comparing all the 8 bit systems available to the collector today.

 

There's no other reason to include the 7800 ( briefly test marketed in 1984, released in 1986) and exclude the Famicom. ( released in 1983, brought to America in 1985 )

 

No offense to the author, who's attention to detail is second to none, but it's the work of a fan, not a historian.

 

Edit: Rereading my original words, I sounded like a Disney villain. I've hopefully removed the inflammatory parts - my criticism is sincerely meant, but I acknowledge the author's right to ignore it if he chooses - what he does should never stop being fun for him.

 

That said, I'd kill to see the NES, Master System, and Gameboy at least acknowleged in the lineup of classic ports along side the other 8 bit machines, or for someone to offer to take them on as Lost Faces.

Edited December 13, 2007 by A Sprite

[Trebor]

Great read (As always). Minor complaint though respecting the article "What if... Atari released the Famicom in the West (Part 1)" by Eric Noss, they are using the older less accurate color palette to showcase Donkey Kong on the 7800. Here is a better example of what the 7800 looks like in comparison to the NES:

 

 

-Trebor

[frogstar_robot]

I'll second it, but I think the reviews in "the many faces" are more about the author's nostalgia than comparing all the 8 bit systems available to the collector today.

 

There's no other reason to include the 7800 ( briefly test marketed in 1984, released in 1986) and exclude the Famicom. ( released in 1983, brought to America in 1985 )

 

No offense to the author, who's attention to detail is second to none, but it's the work of a fan, not a historian.

 

Edit: Rereading my original words, I sounded like a Disney villain. I've hopefully removed the inflammatory parts - my criticism is sincerely meant, but I acknowledge the author's right to ignore it if he chooses - what he does should never stop being fun for him.

 

That said, I'd kill to see the NES, Master System, and Gameboy at least acknowleged in the lineup of classic ports along side the other 8 bit machines, or for someone to offer to take them on as Lost Faces.

 

It's a historical emphasis on the site. For the longest time, they didn't cover the NES at all as they mainly prefer to cover pre-crash of '84 systems and games. It isn't the year that a console was released or the bitness for columns like Many Faces; it's that Many Faces articles concentrate on pre-crash systems and titles. Even though the NES is 8-bit, it marked the start of an entirely different sort of gaming in the West. Even though there is the odd title like Balderdash or Galaga that exists on systems like the NES, most of the games compared/contrasted on Many Faces just don't exist on post crash systems or they exist in forms so radically different that it isn't the same game. The NES in particular was notorious for having "nintendized" arcade ports. I'm not saying all such titles are bad games but most are better reviewed as separate titles in their own right.

[Cybergoth]

I'd also prefer if the NES and Master System titles would be considered for the series. It's just odd to have all halfway popular 8-Bit machines covered but two.