XM games - Imaginary game release thread

[Lendorien]

Alright, it seems there have been a lot of serious discussion threads about the XM and the 7800 of late. But where's the goofy fun? Seriously?

 

And now, all of us preorder people are waiting breathlessly for any news about it and new releases for it. We're all hoping that all sorts of stuff will appear that will drive the NES fanboys nuts and make them buy a 7800...

 

Unfortunately, most of us fanboys/girls will never program a game. But some of us have imaginations and can even use Windows paint. In the XM label thread some folks came up with some crazy labels for potential XM games... I think we need a few more.

 

So here's a thread to post the release announcement for your (completely hypothetical/imaginary) game. Yeah, What game would you like to see released for the console? Though do keep in mind that ACTUAL game licenses can't be used, so if it's a port, it'll have to be renamed somehow. Say... like "Excellent Mariano Siblings 3" or "Second-to last Fantasy" or "Golden Hatchet." Something like that.

 

Don't forget to include screenies/box label art if you have them. Oh and what features it uses on the XM.

 

Bonus points if the awesomeness of your post inspires someone to actually make the game.

Edited February 14, 2011 by Lendorien

[ApolloBoy]

I came up with this, which if I had my way, would be released next year...

Cyber Buster 1 Outlines.rtf

[toiletunes]

A.E. The Additional Earthly. This is a game where you fall into pits and avoid C.A.A. (Central Agency of Studies) Agents who steal candy. There's some kind of Easter Egg if you find the flower. Enhanced sound and more detailed pits.

[S1500]

I dunno, my half-hearted comparison to the 32X got nothing but responses of "SACRILEGE!" when I uttered the words.

[DracIsBack]

I dunno, my half-hearted comparison to the 32X got nothing but responses of "SACRILEGE!" when I uttered the words.

 

That's because it's not the same. You need to look beyond the form factor of it plugging in. This is more akin to taking hardware intended for a cartridge (ie. sound chip, RAM, mappers) typical of the day and putting it in one unit instead of multiple cartridges.

 

32X was VERY different:

 

- It transformed the 16-bit Genesis into a machine capable of about 1 million instructions per second to a 32-bit console capable of running 40 million instructions a second. This doesn't give the 7800 additional CPUs

- It enabled a console that couldn't do scaling, rotation and 3D texture mapping to do so in hardware, typical of other 32 bit machines. This does not jump the 7800 up a tier into 16-bit or 32 bit consoles.

- It increased the 64 colors onscreen out of 512 colors to 32,768 on screen colors out of 16.7 million! This does not increase the color palette of the 7800.

 

The XM does:

 

- Adds RAM, much like cartridges back in the day did. See IMPOSSIBLE MISSION, WINTER GAMES, TOWER TOPPLER, JINKS

- It adds sound hardware, just like COMMANDO and BALLBLAZER did with the POKEY. Atari also originally intended to offer other sound chips (see GUMBY) than POKEY. This chip was used in arcades of the day. While I tend to agree that this one aspect may be overkill, the idea has precendence.

- It adds mapper hardware that enable the existing MARIA to do a bit more, in a way that's similar to the NES mapper chips did with the PPU. See Castlevania 3 or Super Mario 3 Mike Tyson's Punch Out for examples.

- It saves high scores, similar to the intended 7800 HIGH SCORE cart. See Curt's reproduction from a few years ago.

- It allows connection of peripherals, similar to the initial 7800s with expansion ports (removed from most 7800s)

 

 

If this were like the 32X, it would transform the 7800 into a SUPER NINTENDO or something. It doesn't.

 

What it does do is enhance the 7800 in a way that would have been how Atari intended and/or how Nintendo enhanced the NES in cartridge ... but without the expense of building invidivual carts to do so.

[Rex Dart]

I dunno, my half-hearted comparison to the 32X got nothing but responses of "SACRILEGE!" when I uttered the words.

 

That's because it's not the same. You need to look beyond the form factor of it plugging in.

 

Well.... or not. Depends what sort of comparison you're trying to make.

 

 

32X was VERY different.

If this were like the 32X, it would transform the 7800 into a SUPER NINTENDO or something. It doesn't.

 

What it does do is enhance the 7800 in a way that would have been how Atari intended and/or how Nintendo enhanced the NES in cartridge ... but without the expense of building invidivual carts to do so.

 

Really, it'd only have to turn the 7800 into something of a higher-end contemporary.... like how the 32x turned the genesis into a SNES w/ SuperFX2 chips. But I supposed it would be more accurate to compare the XM to the Aladdin for the NES, based on the specifics of how it operates, huh?

[DracIsBack]

Really, it'd only have to turn the 7800 into something of a higher-end contemporary.... like how the 32x turned the genesis into a SNES w/ SuperFX2 chips.

 

I'm pretty sure that if the 32X were pushed as hard as the SNES was pushed, you'd see a hell of a lot more out of it than you would out of the SNES.

[Lendorien]

Er. Thanks for derailing the thread guys. >_<

[atomickneedrop]

we could be talking about the ALF port on the 7800, and it ends up a hate-fest on the 32x.

[HammR25]

I'd love to see a Knight Rider game. It would be 32x better than the 2600 version.

[Ransom]

Naturally there would have to be an Adventure III game.

[S1500]

I'd love to see a Knight Rider game. It would be 32x better than the 2600 version.

 

Heh. I didn't mean to derail, but had to bring it up.

 

But what about PANCAKE BOY!?! I still want to see a homebrew of that on any console, just so it exists, and that crazy guy's prophecy comes true.

[Tubular Gearhead]

Naturally there would have to be an Adventure III game.

 

Absolutely!!! Just for mentioning my #1 wish you get a +1 sir!

[Innovative Leisure]

How about a port of Duke Nukem 1 with FM sound and high score capabilities?

[Atari_Falcon]

Okay, my "wishlist" for XM games:

 

- Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles 2+3 and/or Double Dragon 2 with pokey sound

- Mario Land Clone with pokey and (ab)using extra RAM

- Raiden with Yamaha sound and tons of sprites

- Sonic

- Total Carnage

[Rex Dart]

One game that'd make me buy the XM without a second thought... STUN Runner. Should be theoretically doable in a similar fashion to the Lynx port, right?

 

 

Please say yes...

[Lendorien]

Naturally there would have to be an Adventure III game.

 

A great idea. But what sort of features would the game have?

 

• Top down obviously, and with a much better animated guy with more detailed scenery.
  
• He'd have to have a weapon (like AD&D for intellivision). Maybe even multiple weapons. A close range one and a long range one.
  
• How about an inventory that you access by pressing button 2. You'd have to collect stuff to solve puzzles.
  
• Perhaps include a in game map that clears as you go along in your inventory?
  
• Also, how about a real antagonist. A character you have to avoid, like a wizard or something.
  
• And ingame screenie of text that explains the background of the story (such as it is)?
  

 

Wait, this is starting to sound like Legend of Zelda.

 

Still, it would be pretty cool. Anyone want to do a label mockup?

[toiletunes]

There's lots of games I'd like to see, I'll take whatever I can get.

 

Does anyone remember the game where you run around on a ship and knock down pirates with barrels? Sorry if that description is too vague, I'll remember the name eventually...

[The_Laird]

One game that'd make me buy the XM without a second thought... STUN Runner. Should be theoretically doable in a similar fashion to the Lynx port, right?

 

 

Please say yes...

 

The 7800 can't do hardware scaling and no where near as fast as the Lynx either so I would say no.

[Rex Dart]

One game that'd make me buy the XM without a second thought... STUN Runner. Should be theoretically doable in a similar fashion to the Lynx port, right?

 

 

Please say yes...

 

The 7800 can't do hardware scaling and no where near as fast as the Lynx either so I would say no.

 

 

Sure, but it can load the hell out of some sprites... what if the scaling was already done & stored as sprites?

[Rex Dart]

There's lots of games I'd like to see, I'll take whatever I can get.

 

Does anyone remember the game where you run around on a ship and knock down pirates with barrels? Sorry if that description is too vague, I'll remember the name eventually...

 

 

Yeah, Higemaru would be kinda cool.

[The_Laird]

One game that'd make me buy the XM without a second thought... STUN Runner. Should be theoretically doable in a similar fashion to the Lynx port, right?

 

 

Please say yes...

 

The 7800 can't do hardware scaling and no where near as fast as the Lynx either so I would say no.

 

 

Sure, but it can load the hell out of some sprites... what if the scaling was already done & stored as sprites?

 

Because half the speed in the Lynx version is attained with the use of scaling and the Lynx is also double the clock speed of the 7800. Go look at the other 8 bit version some of which run on systems with a faster CPU than the 7800 and you will see that it would be very hard to do that game justice.

[Rex Dart]

What's the other 8 bit version?

[toiletunes]

Yes- Higemaru. thanks, Rex.

 

One screen, no scrolling, and a bunch of sprites. 7800 could do this no problem.

[GroovyBee]

Looking at this video of

their aren't many moving sprites so its definitely possible on the 7800.

 

As for STUN Runner it should be possible given that you can do hardware polygon filling with MARIA. See this emulator only demo by andym00. The scaled graphics would be a bit of a ROM hog.